Playing as a Tank

One truth I realized after having my ears touched and my head patted by people for quite a long time:

There’s no distinction between men and women when it comes to cuteness.

While most of the people working at the request office were female staff, there were some male staff as well.

In addition, the three or four hunters who visited the request office early in the morning also showed as much interest as the office staff when they saw me, whom they had only heard about in rumors.

After that, with gestures and questions pouring in from all directions, even ten ears wouldn’t have been enough.

If I had to categorize it, it was all positive attention, but it was gradually becoming overwhelming.

If I stayed any longer in the request office that would soon be crowded with people, I felt like I might inadvertently cause trouble.

Therefore, I uttered a name that somehow seemed sufficient to surprise people just by hearing it.

“Ah, Big Sister Tana!”
“”””?!””””

As expected, noticeably surprised gazes.

I took advantage of the moment when the gazes that had been focused on me briefly shifted away and ran off.

By the way, for so many people to collectively fall into a state of confusion just from hearing a name.

Tana clearly had quite excellent qualities as a tank as well.

Well, anyway.

I also confirmed that my base favorability was quite high.

Judging from their favorable attitudes from the first meeting, I thought they would grant most requests without much difficulty, so I opened the achievement window to check the achievements I had already been thinking about.

[『The Giving Tree』 Get the title]
[0/1]

“Hmm… they should at least let me deliver some herbs, right?”

The achievement I decided to progress first was one that was related to the favorability of the request office staff in some ways.

It was an achievement that could be cleared simply by completing any request among the various ones entrusted to the guild, and distributing all the rewards for completing the request to the request office staff.

There was only one reason why I didn’t achieve such a simple achievement in my first playthrough.

Because it had the condition that you needed to distribute the rewards from the ‘first’ request completed as a member of the Lunatic Guild.

In my first playthrough, where I was busy growing without knowing anything, I immediately used or equipped whatever I received as a reward for completing my first request, whether it was a potion or an accessory, so it was an achievement that had slipped away without me even knowing.

But for now, when I can’t enter dungeons yet, it’s also one of the easiest achievements.

All I had to do was complete any trivial request, and then just hand over any modest reward to the request office staff.

The epitome of an easy win.

I still don’t know exactly what effect the title 『The Giving Tree』 has, but as long as it doesn’t apply some strange status ailment, there’s no particular problem.

However, it had become a busy time just as I was about to return to the request office to ask if there was a request that even a young child like me could complete without difficulty.

So for now, I decided to wait for a relatively less busy time while sitting on a bench in the corridor—

-Grab.

“Found you!”

Right after that, my cheeks began to be pulled by slender fingers that came almost simultaneously.

“Ah, thish hutwrts!”
“Why ‘this hurts’! This is what happens when the child who was said to be surrounded by request office staff couldn’t be found anywhere!”

In the end, I had to obediently listen to the scolding that seemed familiar from somewhere, about how I shouldn’t wander around here and there without a guardian.

After that, I began to be dragged somewhere by fingers that were firmly interlaced to prevent me from pulling my hand away.

So, after walking in step for about ten minutes with someone who only uttered the two words “it’s a secret” no matter how much I asked where we were going.

-Click.

“I’ve brought Lua~.”

We arrived at an ambiguous room that was different from Asha’s office, somewhat like an ordinary meeting room but also somewhat like a lounge.

Almost simultaneously, I faced familiar red eyes behind light sunglasses.

A light voice filled only with mischief, without a trace of seriousness, followed.

“Hmm… Does she take after her father? Somehow, she doesn’t resemble you at all, Asha?”
“What did you say? Do you want to have all your dungeon access permits confiscated?”
“I’m sorry, sister. Please severely punish this sinner.”

I was literally dumbfounded by a voice I certainly shouldn’t have been able to hear until much later, by the appearance of a person I had no reason to meet in the early part of the story.

That’s because I should have only met the man now doing push-ups in front of Asha after entering the middle part of the story.

And not like this, without a trace of gravitas, but in a relaxed posture sitting on the luxury leather chair in the principal’s office of the top academy in .

“Stop making a spectacle of yourself in front of the child and get up, Reiner.”
“Yes.”

I was once again speechless at the sight of [Reiner], who quickly got up as Asha said and dusted off his clothes.

“So, may I examine that abnormal ability that even Ifrit couldn’t penetrate? Cute little lady?”

However, regardless of what state I was in, he bluntly asked if he could examine my ability without much concern.

In addition, he even deliberately attached a title at the end that couldn’t be heard with a sane mind.

I unconsciously hid behind Asha as goosebumps ran excessively from head to toe.

“There’s that bad habit again. Ask again without those last six syllables.”
“…How picky.”
“Then, shall we completely reconsider the cooperation between and the Lunatic Guild?”
“Excellent talent usually comes from under a meticulous guardian.”

So, only after another question mark was uttered from Reiner’s mouth did I slowly nod.

Of course, while still hiding behind Asha.

Rationally thinking, he probably wouldn’t try anything in front of Asha.

If I had to determine whether he was an enemy or ally between the two, he would clearly be closer to an ally, but how to put it.

It felt like a kind of physiological repulsion…

Reiner’s characteristic playful voice that made people’s skin crawl had an impact beyond imagination when it directly pierced my ears.

Anyway, since I ‘agreed’ to Reiner’s question, it was inevitable that this frivolous person would at least roughly grasp my stats or skills.

“…Holy shit. Is she really a kid?”

That seemingly normal face gradually distorted until it finally took on an expression of astonishment.

What was uttered from his slightly trembling lips afterward were raw words that hadn’t passed through any kind of mental filter.

“How on earth have you been raising such a monster child all this time? And in that small village?”
“…Is there no word you can’t say to a child?”
“I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious! Frankly speaking, if she had any bad thoughts, she could have reduced that small village to ruins and more!”

It seemed he finally noticed the true nature of my overpowered skills.

Well, considering that there’s no secret Reiner’s unique abnormal ability can’t uncover, it’s not that surprising…

But it doesn’t feel good to be so openly treated as a monster.

“Anyway, she can’t take classes with other children. Unless she’s isolated and taught separately.”
“As an academy principal, are you going to make this young child an outcast among her peers?”
“There’s a limit to how dangerous someone should be. What if she loses control of her power and goes berserk?”

After that, Asha and Reiner’s voices continued to run parallel.

So, as my ears began to hurt from their opinions that weren’t converging at all.

“…Big Sister. I’m hungry.”

To stop this nutritionally void argument, I uttered words that Asha couldn’t ignore.

I briefly glared at the person who had suddenly appeared and was trying to collapse my roadmap and plans in an instant.

No, not ending with just a glare, I explicitly expressed my dislike.

“If you keep treating me like a monster, I’ll dislike you, mister.”
“Ah, mis…ter? But you call Asha ‘big sister’?”
“Reiner mister is mister. Asha big sister is big sister. What, is there a problem?”

I barely held back from spitting on that seemingly normal face.

Honestly, considering all the hardships I had to endure because of him in my first playthrough, I wanted to pounce on him right now…

But one way or another, he is a necessary character for the story progression.

If he had been just an ordinary extra, nothing more and nothing less, I would have already beaten him half to death.

“Let’s go, Big Sister.”

So, in the complete opposite way from when I was led here earlier, I grabbed Asha’s hand and pulled her out of the room.