38 - Adventurer Affairs
In Alamsars, there is a managed labyrinth.
It is a labyrinth managed to prevent monster outbreaks and to ensure that adventurers do not enter the innermost chamber.
The primary characteristic of such a labyrinth is the management of the adventurers who challenge it.
Not everyone can challenge the labyrinth, and sometimes, one is forced to do so even if they are reluctant.
From the perspective of the Alamsars Guild, which manages the labyrinth, it was a precious source of income that produced monster materials, magic stones, and treasures.
In such a managed labyrinth, it is necessary to send a certain number of adventurers to keep the monster population in check.
Which means—.
"The right to challenge the labyrinth?"
The three of us—me, Novem, and Aria—had found that request while looking at the many bulletin boards at the guild.
The content of the request—or rather, it was a party wanting to sell their right, and they were looking for another party to take over the duty of challenging the labyrinth in their stead.
It was a request posted by the guild.
Aria tilted her head as she looked at it.
"Do you need a right to challenge a labyrinth? That wasn't the case in Darion."
Darion basically lacked the know-how and power to manage a labyrinth, so they took a style of deploying large numbers of knights and adventurers to subjugate it.
Labyrinths have a nature of gradually deepening, and at a certain stage, they spit out a massive amount of monsters and then vanish.
However, if the number of monsters is low, they continue to deepen and grow further as a labyrinth.
Novem checked the details more closely.
"So this is how they manage it in Alamsars. The party requirements are... three vanguards, two rearguards, and at least one support. It's impossible for us."
Currently, the three of us are operating together.
We mainly go outside to defeat monsters and earn income by selling their materials.
A voice spoke from the Jewel Orb.
It was the voice of the Fourth Generation.
"With rights come duties. There is no need to force yourselves to challenge it, but the fact remains that you need to gather people... Riel, move with the intention of gathering about six people."
I gripped the Jewel Orb and replied.
It was a signal for "Understood." In a place with many people, I couldn't exactly speak out loud.
While I can hear the voices of my ancestors, my internal thoughts do not reach them.
"...Let's gather them here so we can get six people. Though, they'll likely be young adventurers who aren't tied to their hometowns."
I felt the conditions were strict.
There are many adventurers who are fine with leaving their hometowns, but young adventurers with potential are sought after by people other than us.
Aria muttered while looking at me.
"You're probably just planning to look for cute girls anyway."
Since she's been particularly clingy lately, I shot back.
"I don't care if they're a man; if they're capable, I'll bring them on board!"
However, Novem—.
"No, if possible, let's stick with women. It would be troublesome if various problems arose, and I hear there are many disputes between men and women."
I was rejected quite bluntly.
No matter how much I've said before that I'm not seeking a harem, Novem gently changes the subject.
I don't know what she's thinking.
(If I were to build a harem, I wonder if Novem would get angry... somehow, that feels incredibly lonely.)
Being too jealous is a problem, but it's far too lonely if the person you're interested in isn't jealous at all.
Aria spoke as if she had remembered something.
"I've heard that too! In places where there are few men, the women fight among themselves, and in places where there are many men, the men fight among themselves!"
As if satisfied with her own conclusion, Aria nodded repeatedly.
Then, as if having overheard this, an adventurer chuckled and corrected her.
An adventurer who looked like a mage, wearing a hood, explained in detail to Aria.
"Young lady, that's slightly mistaken."
Recognizing from the voice that he was a middle-aged man, Aria adjusted her manner of speaking since he was her elder.
"What do you mean?"
His explanation was—.
"Basically, adventurers rarely become lovers with one another. They often date ordinary people. After all, it's a dangerous job. They don't want to see a comrade's face even after they've returned. Besides, when you're comrades, your opinions often clash during work."
"I-is that so?"
"That's right. Besides, there are times when the work requires staying overnight. While traveling, you see the unpleasant sides of your partner regardless of gender. From a man's perspective, he wants to keep his fantasies about women, so he turns to ordinary women or prostitutes. From a woman's perspective, an ordinary man is likely more attractive than a colleague who doesn't treat her as a woman. Oops, these are just general examples, so it's not always absolute. But many adventurers are like that."
Hearing that, I remembered Zelfie-san.
(If I recall, the person she married was an ordinary person. She seemed to have many adventurer acquaintances, but I wonder if she really disliked colleagues?)
Rondo-san was lovers with Rachel-san from the same party, so it's true that it doesn't always apply.
However, I could understand that many adventurers are like that.
"Isn't it bad that they don't treat them as women...?"
When Aria countered, he said,
"You're both risking your lives. In a place like that, would you be happy to be protected or underestimated just because you're a woman? It's common courtesy to treat them as a fellow adventurer."
Told that, Aria fell silent.
Since she has had similar experiences herself, she probably couldn't talk back.
Novem thanked the adventurer who had taught them. Aria followed suit—.
"Thank you for your kindness."
"Th-thank you."
After I also gave my thanks, the hooded adventurer took a request form and headed toward the reception.
I thought there were many indifferent residents, but it seems there are kind people too.
"...Now, since romance between party members isn't a good idea, I think we should start gathering people in earnest. First, why don't we try putting up a flyer for member recruitment?"
I proposed recruiting party members by writing the necessary details in a general manner.
But the reaction from the two was poor.
Aria said,
"That involves interviews and such, right? Like forming a temporary party and going outside together? In that case, wouldn't it be better to approach people ourselves?"
Novem felt the same.
However, their opinions aren't entirely reliable.
"There is the method of having the guild introduce someone, but they must be someone who can satisfy the House Walt family's house rules. Interviews are fine, but I would still prefer to verify them with our own eyes."
At this point, I'll just ignore Novem's opinion.
"Alright, then let's not recruit and instead approach people ourselves. (We still have time, so we can take our time searching. It's better than rushing and failing.)"
If we stay in Alamsars for a while, the number of adventurers we talk to will increase.
Alternatively, there's the method of approaching newcomers, guiding them, and then recruiting them.
Since I'm being taught by Zelfie-san in Darion, I can do the basics.
Using that to teach the basics of adventuring and putting them in my debt might be a good idea.
"Well, shall we go and earn some money energetically today?"
When I said that and headed for the reception, Aria said,
"The one who seems the least motivated is Riel, though."
Once outside, I used a skill to confirm the location of the monsters.
The skills of the Fifth and Sixth Generations are truly convenient.
Where are the monsters?
Where should we fight?
How much should we fight?
It makes it easy to plan the steps.
To move to where the monsters are gathered, I can move quickly with the Fourth Generation's skill.
Here, to avoid leaving the other two behind, if I use the Second Generation's skill on them as well, their movement speed will increase.
In combat, even with some disadvantages, there were no problems.
When surrounded by Goblins—.
"Riel-sama! Two are heading your way!"
Hearing Novem's voice from behind, I sensed the movements of the two Goblins approaching my back with the Second Generation's skill.
While turning around, I parried the opponent's weapon with my saber, then drew a spare saber with my left hand and finished one off.
Using the defeated Goblin as a shield, I blocked the other's movement and threw my saber into its head to finish it.
Finally, I used magic—.
"Lightning!"
Purple lightning struck the surrounding Goblins, scorching them black.
Aria saw this and shouted at me.
"Th-that's scary! Make sure to give a warning when you're going to use that!"
Even though I'm constantly aware of the positions of allies and enemies with my skill, Aria says it's scary when magic suddenly comes from behind.
(I already explained that, though...)
Does this mean our coordination in combat is immature?
Watching my combat, my ancestors gave their evaluations.
The Second Generation was calm—.
"Seal the opponent's movements before you get surrounded. No matter how much you can win, do not fight the way you just did."
The Third Generation was leisurely.
"Now, now, this is all experience. It's hard to fight when surrounded. You have to understand that in actual combat. Though, I wonder if Riel actually understands."
The Fourth Generation said,
"For now, we have no choice but to fight opponents we can beat and polish our coordination."
The Fifth Generation agreed.
"If you use Riel's skill [Experience] on everyone to gain experience all at once, wouldn't the coordination improve more quickly? That skill was originally meant to obtain more experience than just growth, after all."
The Sixth Generation called my actions reckless.
"Do not underestimate even an enemy you can defeat. You will pay for that price with your own life someday, Riel."
The Seventh Generation was the most lenient.
"However, with Riel's ability, he can get through this much. It's only natural, but the lack of people is painful."
Yes.
Currently, we are short-handed and cannot operate as we wish.
Since we have no luggage carrier, we have to return once we've collected a certain amount of materials and magic stones.
Even if we know we can fight more, we cannot fight to the point of throwing away monster materials and magic stones.
Avoiding actions that don't make money is also important as an adventurer. We aren't adventurers to fight, but to live.
(I want experience, but it would be bad to drag the two of them around just to engage in combat.)
There's also the matter of Novem and Aria.
I couldn't engage in combat thinking only of myself.
The Second Generation began evaluating today's work.
"Basically, this is the limit for three people. It would be quite different if we added a support or one more capable vanguard or rearguard... well, that will be a future challenge. It's not like a newcomer will come and immediately allow us to earn more than we do now."
(...We can't earn more?)
Indeed, it's not as simple as saying a party can earn more just because a newcomer suddenly joins.
Training the newcomer, coordination within the party.
Those things needed to be polished over time.
(I wonder if there isn't some promising talent out there.)
Even though I knew it was greedy, I couldn't help but hope.
After returning from work, we washed off the blood and sweat at a public bath near the guild and returned to the mansion.
Since we were able to live in the mansion owned by the Sarkrai family in Alamsars, we were living a life where we basically didn't have to pay rent.
Upon returning, Miranda-san greeted us.
"Welcome back~"
Thinking that it's not bad to have someone say welcome back, I entered the mansion, but—.
"Guh!!"
"R-Riel-sama!"
"Aha, ahahaha!!"
Suddenly my foot slipped, and I collapsed in the entrance.
Novem rushed over, and I stood up with her help.
Aria was laughing as she looked at me.
"Wh-what? Something slippery..."
When I touched the floor, there was liquid spilled there.
"Are you okay? Oh, is this...?"
Miranda-san also rushed over, looked at the floor, and touched it with her hand.
"Come to think of it, I dropped an egg in the entrance. But that's strange? I'm sure I wiped it up thoroughly... oh, sorry, Riel. Did it hurt?"
To be honest, it did hurt, but if I said "It hurts" to a woman apologizing, the Fourth Generation would probably go wild, so I endured it.
"No, I was just not paying enough attention. I'm fine. More importantly, Aria! You're laughing too much!"
When I looked at Aria, who was clutching her stomach and laughing behind me, she had tears in her eyes.
An exasperated voice came from the Jewel Orb.
It was the voices of the Second and Third Generations.
"Riel, you really lack attention. You might seriously need to think about this."
"That's true..."
Novem was also exasperated, but her target was Aria.
As expected, Novem is on my side.
"Aria-san, that's too cruel."
"Sorry, sorry. But the way you fell was just amazing... I'm starting again just thinking about it."
It seemed she had hit a funny bone, as Aria looked desperate to hold back her laughter.
I stood up and entered the mansion.
Novem supported my body, and Aria followed behind.
Miranda-san was cleaning the floor.
"I really did wipe it, though."
Miranda-san seemed perplexed, but we also had luggage, so we wanted to go put our equipment in our rooms.
And so, I went to put my luggage in my room.
Since the rooms are separate, I headed to the room I was borrowing. Novem's room was next to mine, and Aria's room was next to hers.
However—.
"GYAAAAA!!"
Aria's scream rang out, and we rushed to Aria's room.
"What's wrong, Aria... pfft!!"
Looking inside from the door, I burst out laughing.
There was Aria, fallen over with her head stuck in a pot.
For a moment, I wondered what happened, but since she seemed to be alive, I started laughing.
"That's amazing, Aria! Did a pot on the shelf actually fall on you the moment you opened the door? Isn't that a miracle! And that scream just now didn't sound like a girl's at all!"
Pressing my forehead with my left hand and pointing at Aria, I laughed loudly.
Seeing that, Aria, who had pulled her face out of the pot, glared at me.
"Y-you...!"
Novem warned me this time.
"Riel-sama, you're laughing too much as well."
"My bad. But it was funny."
"Riel!!"
Aria threw the pot at me, so I caught it and shot back, "That's dangerous!"
Miranda-san came to the room to see what was happening and looked at the shelf in Aria's room. She was perplexed this time as well.
"That's strange. This pot should have been on the middle shelf. Perhaps I remembered it wrong."
I thought Aria might have moved it, but she denied it.
(Since I suddenly started living in someone else's house, have these kinds of occurrences increased? Even so, there are a lot of these kinds of troubles in this house.)
I had experienced things like this many times since I started living in Miranda-san's mansion. I found it a bit strange.
I considered if Miranda-san was doing it intentionally, but her reaction remained blue, showing no hostility.
(Shannon, who is blind? That's also unthinkable...)
While I was seriously wondering if there was a ghost in the mansion, the Fifth Generation spoke.
"Good grief, a punishment is necessary for this."
For whom?
(It's not for me, right?)
Feeling a slight bad premonition, I tried touching the Jewel Orb.
But there was no response.
The Fifth Generation did not intend to say it here.