Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Volume 1 - Daily Life of A Maid Mage
016 – Fighting among comrades is not acceptable (1)
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Author's Note: I think this story will be a bit dark. It's about occupational discrimination and bullying. But I think it's a story you can't miss.
TL Note: Translated the pharmaceutical profession as apothecary; seemed more fitting for the medieval time period.
"From the Firefly Mushroom Forest, the umbrella of a Skog Manietel (Forest Jellyfish) and a Mohne Fiari (Moonlight Butterfly)… duly noted. The quality is also perfect. You saved me. I wanted to go and get them myself, but it seems impossible for the time being."
After the apothecary Nils carefully retrieved the quest items, he rubbed his feet with a bitter smile. Normally, he would never leave the collection of medicinal ingredients to someone else, but he had injured his foot the other day while on a trip and he had been sentenced to a month's rest. He could walk around his house without much trouble, but with the lingering pain in his leg he wouldn't be able to work outside the city for the time being.
For generic materials used in medicines that could be found in stores, a private herb garden would have been enough to supply him with all he needed. The specially commissioned products, however, required materials that could only be obtained by venturing into dangerous places. Thus, he had decided to enlist the help of senior adventurers like Alex.
"Well, just take it easy and take care of yourself. If something happens, we'll get the materials for you again," Alex assured him.
Nils signed off on the quest form, certifying completion, before returning Nadia's bewitching smile with some well wishes. Then, as he handed the form back to Alex, Nils's eyebrows slightly furrowed. His gaze was directed to something behind Alex and the others, but when Alex looked back there was only the scenery of the store and the outside world through the window.
"What happened?"
"Hmm…"
Nils stood up with a tad of difficulty and moved to the window, limping slightly. He gazed out of the window with a pondering look.
Alex looked at his friends and walked up to the window as well. Outside the window was the main street leading to the east gate. Shopping strips and the downtown area spread out along the street, bustling with customers and tourists. It seemed that Nils's gaze was directed at a certain location.
"Look over there."
Across the street from Nils, in front of a general store, Alex saw Shiori, who seemed to be chatting with the owner of the general store. Rurie's appearance was eliciting laughter from people who were passing by on the street as the slime bobbed and plopped amiably around Shiori's feet. Two people in street clothes called out to Shiori as they passed her and she also waved to them in response. The customers who came out of the store also chatted with her, and then walked away, smiling and laughing. It was a quite a sight to behold how many acquaintances she had and how well-liked she was.
"Shiori…? But what's wrong?" Ellen asked.
Nils shook his head at Ellen's question.
"She's doesn't seem to notice… but, look, over there by the old bookstore a little ways off."
When Alex turned his gaze towards the direction Nils was pointing, he saw three distinct women who stood out from the throng of people around them. At first glance the women, with adventurer-like apperances, seemed to be chatting amongst themselves on the street corner. However, after a moment of observation, the women seemed to be shooting frequent glances in Shiori's direction while talking. They also laughed, but the smiles lacked mirth.
"… What a nasty way of laughing!" Linus muttered softly. It seemed that he thought the same thing as Alex.
"Looks like they've been following her around lately. They're always watching her like that—from a distance. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but it's happening too often to be a coincidence."
Nils said that yesterday, too, they had been in his storefront, peering across the street at Shiori who had been shopping at the time. They had been talking in hushed tones, with the occasional mocking laugh.
"…Maybe this is the so-called 'bullying the small fry', huh?" Nadia commented.
"Small fry?" Alex parroted Nadia's words involuntarily.
Nadia looked at Ellen and Nils, her expression bitter. "Vanguards like you aren't going to be very familiar with this, but it's quite common for the rearguards to be harassed by their fellow adventurers."
Unlike the vanguards who were capable of directly attacking targets, the rearguards' contributions were often less noticeable, often resulting in others looking down on the rearguards. Bullying the rearguard was a more direct manifestation of that condescension. The abusers didn't like to see people who seemingly contributed little to the fight be lauded by the general public. The only function that the rearguards performed, in the bullies' eyes, was paltry support from a position of backline safety and ease.
"I've heard stories about the harassment of the rearguards, but… what's with the 'small fry' thing?" Alex asked.
"… It's a derogatory term for non-combatants like apothecaries, or healers like us… and maid mages like her. We're weak, can't fight, and die easily, so we're small fry," Nils explained.
"It's a derogatory term that people in the same rearguard positions also like to use. There are rearguards who can actively participate in battle, such as offensive mages or summoners. They think it's strange that those who can't even help in battle are adventurers when they themselves are fighting and contributing so well as rearguards," Ellen said, continuing from where Nils left off. Alex was shocked.
"An adventurer's job is not just to fight and defeat monsters. It's only because you provide support that we can fight with all our might. And yet…"
"There are some who don't think so. Though past B-rank, no one thinks like that anymore, C-rank and below are still full of people who have that misconception about rearguards. It's because up to C-rank or so, teams could get by with just brute force even if they didn't have supporting rearguards, especially those teams with members with high initial talent and ability. These sorts then go on to continue the tradition of 'bullying the small fry', just like those women." Nadia pointed to the women with a nudge of her chin, and Alex looked at them again. One of them looked like a spell-sword. There was also a mage and an archer.
"They had just been recently promoted to C-rank a little earlier than their peers, so they're getting a little arrogant. They've also been getting a little snarky with the newcomers because of their high opinions of themselves. But I didn't think they were messing with Shiori."
"Shiori had a crucial hand in that huge success the other day, right? Apparently a messenger from some nobleman came. That's probably why some people are jealous of her."
That was the uproar over the missing noble's son. The scene of Elias presenting the group with a handwritten letter of enthusiastic gratitude from the head of the Count Enqvist family was still fresh in Alex's memory. He and Clemens had been showered with appreciative handshakes while Shiori had been left bewildered by the assortment of high-quality soaps that had been gifted to her as the servants loudly praised the group's excellent work in the rescue.
Because of that, some newcomers to the branch who didn't know much about Shiori had been suspicious of her. They wondered why a lesser mage, with a lowly maidservant style of magic, was being praised and admired by so many.
While Alex watched, Shiori had wrapped up her small talk with the store owner. She waved back to the lady and walked off, heading towards the east gate. The women who had been observing her looked at each other and nodded, then turned and followed Shiori from a distance.
"What to do? From the atmosphere it seems that things aren't going to be fun, but…"
Everyone snorted at Linus's words. Those troublemakers certainly wouldn't be doing anything nice for Shiori, that was for sure, given their low opinion of her.
"Even if Shiori isn't exactly B-rank, I'm sure she can still deal with it herself," Nadia said, but Ellen and Nils looked anxious. It might have been the intuition of non-combatants, or 'small fries' as the unconscionable people called them.
"We should go, too."
Although Shiori was B-rank and the women were C-rank, in terms of pure combat power, the group of troublemakers had a far greater advantage. Alex didn't want to think about it, but if the worst were to happen…. Nadia and the rest agreed to follow Shiori and the scheming women, though Alex was still worried about the situation.
"Just let me know the results later." Nils sent them off with that, and the group started walking after Shiori and the others.
Author's Note: Even in MMORPGs, there is disdain for professions and even discrimination based on the skills one possesses, so it is natural that there would be in the real world…
Proofreader Comment:
Healers and tanks get the fastest queue times in pretty much anything because everyone wants them in a party. If there's any discrimination in MMOs at all, it's actually against the overabundance of DPS type classes and how no one wants you to play the non-meta DPS with lower damage output, not the presence of support/healers. Even moreso in a real life setting… who the hell would think healing or even supportive potions is useless in a fight? I can ignore a lot, but this is really nonsensical.