The Interview

As I waited in the owner's room, I heard a knock at the door.

It seemed the two part-timers had arrived.

"Come in," I said, and the door swung open rather vigorously. "Excuse me～!" "Excuse me," came the responses. In walked a dog… rabbit? I wasn't sure which, but a beast-eared adventurer with light brown ears, a big chest, and gym clothes walked in, followed by a blonde dog-eared girl with glasses wearing a white lab coat. Both had white tips on their ears.

They'd changed out of the cosplay maid outfit that served as the inn's uniform, but what was with those getups? Their characters were intense right from the start, oi.

"… Quite the outfits you two have there."

"Nkyu! These are super easy to move in! I found them in the dungeon!"

"Yeah, same for me. These are quite functional, I like them. They'd probably cost several gold coins if I bought them in the Imperial Capital."

Ah, come to think of it, I'd prepared those as dungeon treasure. Gym clothes, lab coats, glasses, that sort of thing. I never thought anyone would actually wear them, but they do sell weird stuff like this in the Imperial Capital… Huh? What was that? I just felt a chill run down my spine.

Well, whatever. It's our first meeting, so let's start with introductions.

"I'm Kehma, this village's chief and working as a secretary to the inn's owner. Sorry about the other day, I couldn't participate in the interview due to some business. Um, sorry, but what are your names?"

"I'm Setsuna! A pugilist. I heard you were sleepy and asleep."

"I'm Nayuta, an alchemist. Pleased to meet you, Village Chief-san. Do you want medicine that lets you work twenty-three hours a day?"

What kind of demonic medicine is that? No thanks. And that's definitely the addictive kind.

"It's just nutritional drinks with no side effects. Energy drinks for concentration and stamina drinks for endurance. The effects are weaker than a potion's and won't give you visible recovery, but they're cheap with great cost-performance. Any reasonably skilled alchemist can make them."

Sounds wicked either way. In various meanings.

"So, you two were adventurers, right? Why did you come here?"

"We walked here!"

That's not what I meant.

Holding back my retort to Setsuna's immediate joke, I waited for Nayuta to answer instead.

It would probably be better to listen to her explanation.

"Um, my sister and I form a party together. We were originally planning to just pass through here on our way to Tsuia. But then, the settlement was bigger than the information we had said, and the dungeon was better than expected, so we decided to earn a bit here. As you can see, we got some good stuff."

Sudden changes in plans seem to be common for adventurers. Not many of them plan their adventures meticulously. They earn when they can earn, and sometimes they pass right by their destination.

"Plans are just plans," as they say.

"… I see. Sisters, huh. You don't look very alike though?"

"My sister and I have different fathers. We're what you call half-sisters… I'd appreciate it if you didn't pry too much into our family matters."

Half-sisters with different fathers, huh… Seems like a complicated family situation. Better not to touch on that.

By the way, while Nayuta had golden retriever-like blonde hair, Setsuna's brown hair had a very beast-like quality to it.

"For reference, I'm a dog beastkin, but my sister is half dog and half rabbit. Beastkin usually take after one of their parents, but rarely, mixed breeds can be born too."

"Dograbbit! Halves are rare!"

With that, Setsuna spun around and showed me her curly tail. It really did look like a rabbit and dog tail averaged together.

Beastkin halves. So those exist? Now that I think about it, Nayuta's bushy dog tail was visible even from the front, but Setsuna's tiny curly one wasn't visible until she turned around.

I wonder if a dog and cat would make a catdog, or a lion and tiger would make a liger… Would a horse and deer make a "ba-ka"? Now I'm curious.

"Is it alright if I ask why you became adventurers?"

"Nkyu, Nayuta, you explain."

"It's not much of a story. Our village was destroyed by monsters. Pretty common, right? Oh, you should be careful of a black wolf."

"O-oh, the black wolf? It came last winter. It might come again."

"… I see."

Nayuta furrowed her brows slightly. She adjusted her glasses' position as if to hide it.

If it was Rin, I could help set up a scenario where they get their revenge in the dungeon.

Don't know how that would turn out though.

"So, how's working at our inn?"

"It's a great job! The staff meals are delicious, and we still have time to dive into the dungeon too."

"I'd be grateful if you could keep employing us for a while longer. There are various rare magic tools to be found, and as an alchemist, I'm very interested. You got the register and massage chair from here too, right?"

"Yeah. I'll keep you employed for now, but if you'd like, would you want to officially settle down and take permanent positions here? Young female adventurers are rare, and the village would welcome you."

Currently, the male-to-female ratio in Golen Village is about seven to three. That's including our inn.

Adventurers are mostly men to begin with. Some have migrated from Tsuia with their wives, but as Village Chief, I suppose I need to help the villagers find marriage partners?

"That sounds good too. The food here is delicious. What do you think, Nayuta?"

"Right, I'll consider it. As a candidate for a base to settle down in."

I wasn't expecting much, but they seem fairly willing.

"Do you have any questions or requests? Like wanting a raise?"

"Room and meals are enough for wages… My sister eats a lot, so that's especially helpful."

"Nkyuu, how embarrassing. Sorry for being a no-good sisteeeer."

"Yes yes. As for a question… Who is Kuro-senpai? Some kind of ace assassin? Oh, um, you don't have to answer if it would put our lives at risk. As a fellow dog-ear, I was just a bit curious. Being able to go toe-to-toe with my sister at that age is quite the 'anomaly.'"

"Kuro-chan was super strong! She's still got room to grow. I bet she'll definitely be an A-Rank adventurer in the future!"

"Ahh, yeah. Well, even I don't really know."

Kuro—that is, Niku Kuroinu's true identity is unknown even to me, her master, aside from her being a dog-eared beastkin. Judging by her eye and hair color, I think she might have some hero blood in her though.

After all, her current daily DP is 160 DP. Considering that Gozoh, our village's adventurer representative, gives 85 DP per day, you can see how abnormal that value is. How did she get like this? Is she just a bundle of talent?

"Come to think of it, I haven't asked about your ranks. What are they?"

"We're both C-Rank. But I think we're B-Rank level in strength. We just haven't taken the promotion exam."

"Nobles have too many hassles. You get taxed heavily when you hit B-Rank, and C-Rank is comfortable enough for dungeon diving without those restrictions. Especially as beastkin, some countries are annoying about it."

Is that how it works. I feel like I understand now why there are so many C-Rank adventurers.

After that, we chatted amicably for a while before wrapping up the interview.

The fool—… the carefree, airheaded Setsuna with her constant smile, and the reliable Nayuta.

They're uneven in various ways, but they seem well-balanced as sisters. I have to say they're good sisters.

However, I strengthened my vigilance toward those two from this interview.

"By the way, Setsuna… the older sister made a joke about my question."

When I asked "why did you come here," she answered "we walked here." In Japanese, that's not an uncommon misunderstanding. But in the common language, there's a clear difference between "why" and "how."

How is it in this world? I asked Rokuko.

"—Come to think of it, that was a strange answer, wasn't it?"

Now then, just who are these sisters?