Chapter 2: A Mission Was Accepted, or So It Was Told

“I accepted a mission!”

Those were the first words out of an oddly excited Shion as she entered under the afternoon sun.

Two days had passed since Renya left for the mountains on his journey of self-discovery. That meant that for two days, he was nowhere to be found in town. Upon returning from his training regimen, he was showered by a barrage of grievances from the two girls, who did not appreciate his sudden and unannounced absence. Apparently, running off with nothing but a boxed lunch and not returning at night had made Shion and Rona worried that something had happened to him.

Renya’s plan had been to spend a whole two days training outside and getting used to his body, all the while sneaking in short naps and rationing his food. At the time, this seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea. In hindsight, he conceded that taking only a single meal’s worth of food would make people assume he intended to come back during the same day.

Nevertheless, he had told them beforehand that he was going to be gone for about two days, so he maintained the stance that he was not to blame. He maintained it secretly, of course, because Shion was currently in the midst of an emphatic lecture about how worried-sick-and-couldn’t-sleep-at-night they were, and arguing right now would be the equivalent of pouring oil on a fire. On the outside, he continued to apologize profusely. After all, it was true that he made them worry, and there was something refreshing about knowing someone was concerned for his safety. All in all, the process of repeatedly lowering his head and saying sorry was not entirely disagreeable.

At the moment, however, there were other matters to attend to, so he set those thoughts aside. Specifically, he felt a dire need to improve his living standards after slogging through yet another unappetizing lunch. The current environment was unacceptable. He had asked the inn’s master to boil some water and pour it into a lidded ceramic jar with a wide opening. While it cooled, he had purchased some apple-like fruits from a nearby stall, and he was currently in the process of cutting them into bite-sized pieces. He threw them into the thoroughly-cooled water, skin included, and closed the lid. All that remained was to let it sit for a few days, after which he would be able to use the mixture to produce what he needed — in theory, anyway. He only knew the steps on paper.

Rona stood at his side curiously observing his work, but he made no attempt to explain what he was doing. He doubted she would understand even if he did.

“Um… Renya?”

He had already asked the inn’s owner to put it someplace in the kitchen where it would not get in the way. When he requested for it to be left alone for a few days, the owner raised an eyebrow and told him that he was going to come back to a pile of rotten mush. He shrugged and smiled awkwardly, no better response coming to mind. Trying to explain the difference between rotting and fermenting to someone from this world seemed like a tad too much agony for what it was worth, not to mention the fact that both technically referred to the same phenomenon. People just called the useful stuff fermenting and the nasty stuff rotting. To be honest, even Renya could not point to what the difference was.

“Hey, Renya…”

“I heard you the first time. You accepted a mission, right?” Realizing that Shion was starting to sound crabby, possibly because she thought she was being ignored, he finally said something. He actually was listening; he just did not hear anything that necessitated a reply. In his opinion, if she had something to say, she should just say it.

“What kind of mission is it?”

“Apparently, they discovered a new dungeon. It’s about a day’s travel from the south gate by wagon.”

Eighty kilometers away, more or less. Having no sense of distance, Renya could not tell if that was considered near or far, but it did seem odd for a dungeon to have remained undiscovered all this time in a place like that. When he posed the question to Shion, he was treated to an explanation of how dungeons worked.

There were two types of dungeons. One consisted of ruins of structures or abandoned mines that, left standing, became home to monsters. The others were known as organic dungeons. These were created when an object called a dungeon core appeared somewhere and began reshaping its surroundings. It would also generate monsters, store treasure, and slaughter adventurers who came for its riches. Then it would suck the mana out of their dead bodies, growing ever more powerful. Much about the dungeon cores remained a mystery, including their formation and ability to generate monsters, and research into their nature was limited.

“The one they discovered this time is one of the bio types, and the mission is to eliminate it.”

“Even if it’s a new dungeon, are we seriously going in solo?”

“No, we’re doing a raid together with a bunch of parties.”

A raid referred to a concerted effort by a number of parties. According to Shion, raid parties were formed fairly frequently when the guild put out missions that were likely beyond the capabilities of a single party to complete. Everything about this sounded like a game to Renya, but Shion assured him that it was very much real, and very much not to be taken lightly.

When left alone, organic dungeons absorbed mana from their surroundings, meaning they would grow on their own. The larger they became, the more monsters they could generate, and the stronger those monsters would be. Eventually, this could lead to an outbreak of monsters with devastating consequences for nearby areas. It was therefore imperative whenever an organic dungeon was discovered to gather a large number of adventurers and destroy its core swiftly.

“How many parties are participating?”

“Four, including us. Nineteen people in total.”

Subtracting the three of them left sixteen others, which was about five people per party. Since most parties consisted of four to six people, they were sitting right on the average. With no reference to compare against, however, he had no way of gauging their strength. He looked to Rona, seeking her opinion, but she shook her head.

“Information is always lacking for new dungeons, so in most cases, no one knows the appropriate raid party size,” she explained.

“Is it just me or does this not sound like the best job?”

“If it formed recently, then it’s likely to be on the smaller side. Clearing it should be fairly easy, as well. Also, since it’s unexplored, you can expect to find a good deal of raw materials and treasure. As a job, it’s actually pretty rewarding.”

“Renya,” said a scowling Shion, “how come you’re asking Rona instead of me?”

If he were to be honest, he would tell her it was because Rona obviously seemed more knowledgeable and experienced. Honesty, however, would not serve him well here. What he needed was tact. Though he did not know how the girls came to form a party, when Shion was present, Rona always played the part of the blithe priest-in-training. The reason was unclear to him, but so long as Rona refused to break character, he had to watch what he said. It would not do to break her cover. Painfully aware of Shion’s piercing glare, he hemmed and hawed as he tried to piece together an excuse.

“The two of you are about equal when it comes to knowledge and experience, right? With that in mind, I figured that asking Rona the Faithful might earn me some points with God. Never hurts to be in his good books.”

Judging by the young girl’s depiction of the Administrators, however, “God” here did not sound like the kind of person to go through the trouble of blessing all his priestly servants for their devotion. He was, of course, not actually expecting any benefit, but for an excuse he pulled out of his ass, he thought it was quite good.

“Hmph… If you put it that way, I guess you have a point,” said Shion.

“You’re the leader, right, Shion? Don’t worry. You’ll have the final say. Whatever you decide, I’ll follow,” said Renya.

“Huh?!”

A synchronized sound of surprise escaped the pair. He looked at them, equally baffled by their response. Their conversation just slammed into a big, red question mark and ground to a halt.

“…Did I say something weird?”

“I totally thought you were going to be leader, Renya.”

“Mmm, to be honest, I was under the same assumption.”

“…Why, damn it? Why did you think that?”

Renya let out a breath, then grimaced. Leaders had to take responsibility for others. That sounded extremely unappealing. In fact, it sounded so unappealing that he had prepared a response in advance, just in case. He had a feeling he might need one. As it turned out, he was right.

“At the very least, I assume you understand why it’s a bad idea to have a Wanderer, who by definition knows very little about this world, as your leader, right?” he asked, fully confident that the truth of his claim was self-evident.

It was not.

“I’m still of the opinion that a male leader is preferable. We’ll have less trouble dealing with others.”

“Agreed. Besides, you’ll probably make better decisions than me.”

Where is this baseless confidence in me coming from, damn it? And if you want me to be leader so much, why the hell are you the one who went and accepted the mission, huh?

He felt frustration welling up from within. It rose to his throat, threatening to burst forth and unleash his unfettered ire upon the two girls before him.

But then he saw their puppy eyes, and he promptly wilted.

With the most earnest of gazes, they assaulted his conscience, asking — imploring — him to take up the mantle. He looked down and sighed. Grudgingly, he surrendered with a nod.

“…Fine. Shion, the next time you want to accept a mission, say something to me first. Assuming I’m going to be leader, that is.”

“Hm, good point. I got ahead of myself. Sorry.”

She lowered her head in sincere apology. He waved it off.

“Moving on, then. What’s the reward and time commitment?”

“Six gold per party as necessary expenses. The back-and-forth is two days, and exploring the dungeon is another two days, so four days in total. It’s an elimination mission, so we’re to kill as many monsters inside as possible. A ten-gold bonus will be rewarded upon successful destruction of the dungeon core.”

“How are we getting there? Wagon? Or on foot?”

“By wagon. The guild will provide them. We depart tomorrow morning, but before that, there’s a meet-and-greet for the participating parties later tonight at a tavern near the guild called the Silver Stein Shelter.”

Shion finished answering with a proud look on her face. Presumably, Renya was supposed to feel impressed by how well-prepared she was. All he really felt was a headache.

If he had to pick out the most serious problem among the countless ones she just presented him, it was time, or rather, the lack thereof. The departure was too soon and the meeting even sooner. In fact, heading to the meeting would leave them with almost no time to prepare. The guild probably posted the mission a while ago, and Shion, who happened to see it in the nick of time, immediately dashed off to the guild to accept it before time was up.

What she did not understand about such missions, however, was that one did not simply walk into a dungeon. He looked to Rona. Her grimace told him that she saw the same problem.

“Shion… Next time, let’s try using our heads a little bit before accepting a mission, okay?”

“Huh? What?”

Their concern went straight over Shion’s head. Despite that, she seemed to clue in to the fact that she was in trouble. Panic crept into her features as she looked back and forth between him and Rona. He considered giving her a good lecturing, but reconsidered when he saw her expression. In general, people improved more when praised than scolded. Assuming this still applied for this world, since Shion had already realized she made a mistake, what she needed now was not harsh words, but a pat on the back.

Renya nodded. The reasoning was sound. This was by no means him turning mellow at the sight of a flustered Shion. This was cold, hard logic. He turned to Rona. She gave him a pat on the shoulder and a look that said she understood.

“Well, there’s no use crying over spilled milk… Rona, can you go do some emergency shopping?”

“Yes, I suppose I’ll have to. Four days’ worth of food and water along with rope and torches, as well as medicine and bandages. Anything else?”

“What about stuff to sleep on? You two have some, but I don’t.”

“I’ll buy yours, too. If I remember anything else along the way, I’ll buy those, too.”

“Thanks. Can you pay for us? We can split the cost later.”

Rona nodded to him and rushed off. He watched her leave the inn, then turned to Shion to find her with her head down, looking rather disheartened. Presumably, the consequences of her actions had finally dawned on her.

“There’s… a lot of preparation to do, I guess…”

“Just keep that in mind for next time. Tell me something, though. This isn’t your first time accepting a mission, right? Did it slip your mind somehow?” he asked, being very careful to phrase it as a question and not an admonishment.

“Usually, Rona already finished doing everything by the time I get involved…” she replied, her face red with embarrassment.

Renya let out a deep sigh. Back when he first met the two of them, he thought Shion was the baby-sitter of the two. It was almost funny how wrong he was. Almost.

“I see… You should thank her later. As for the two of us, we should go show up for that meet-and-greet. It’s okay if we’re missing a member, right?”

“…Probably?”

It might not be okay.

Seeing that he was not going to get any reliable information out of Shion, he grit his teeth and decided that if anything went wrong, he would just have to take the fall and apologize.

“Anyway, let’s start heading to that Silver Stein Shelter place. If we run into any problems, we’ll just talk our way through them.”

He hoped that they were simply going to show up, say hi, make some small talk, and leave. His gut, however, told him that things were not going to go that smoothly. He hated his gut at that moment; it had the terribly inconvenient tendency to be right.

Located near the guildhall, the Silver Stein Shelter sounded like the kind of place that would be bustling with activity. Upon arrival, Renya was surprised to find the opposite to be true; from sunup to sundown and all through the night, the tavern was perpetually quiet.

Part of the reason was the owner being a moody sort who never made small talk. There was also a distinct lack of attractive staff. However, the most important reason was by far the fact that this tavern was under the direct management of the Adventurers Guild. Being in essence a guild tavern, it was naturally frequented by the guild’s members. Adventurers were, of course, a fairly heterogeneous lot. On average, though, they tended to not be the most upstanding of citizens, and where they gathered, normal people avoided. In fact, even guild members often preferred other places where there was an abundance of charming ladies on the staff roster. The guild’s population was, after all, primarily young and male.

The tavern was, however, the go-to location for adventurers to gather for discussion and debate. With its low traffic, it was easier to avoid being overheard when discussing more confidential topics. This was likely why the guild kept it running even though business was miserable. Still, there was a significant cost to operating a business, and the guild had attempted to pull in more customers by hiring cute waitresses and competent chefs. Their efforts unfortunately ended in vain. Due to its reputation as a gathering spot for adventurers, traffic did not improve, and an exodus of the new staff soon followed.

Renya had learned all of that from Rona. Her knowledge impressed him.

The two of them pushed open the double doors of the tavern and entered. After adjusting to the dimmer ambiance inside, they found a counter, behind which stood a balding middle-aged man who definitely did not look like a good partner for conversation. He glared at them questioningly, violating the most basic rule of customer service. It seemed futile to point that out to the man, though, so Renya matched his dour attitude.

“We’re here for a guild mission. A meet-and-greet for clearing the dungeon to the south. Is it here?”

The man was likely the owner. Seeming to understand what Renya was talking about, he motioned with his chin toward a corner of the room, where a group of people were occupying a number of tables. At a glance, they seemed to be simply engaging in the kind of vacuous chitchat that such groups were wont to do.

Shion, however, noticed none of that. Her attention was focused on the faint but definitely-bulging vein at Renya’s temple. The owner’s chin tilt did not rub Renya the right way.

“R-Renya, it’s not good to make a scene here…”

“I know. This is this and that is that. I know how to handle myself.”

At Shion’s urging, he walked away from the counter and headed for the corner of the tavern. Rather, he would have, had the owner not spoken up.

“Hold on, tough guy.”

“…What?”

“You sit on my chair, you pay for a drink. It’s the rule here. What’ll it be?”

“Water.”

“My ass,” snapped the owner. “This is a tavern. We drink the good stuff here. What’s the problem, kid? You can’t drink? And you’re playing the adventurer game?” This time, it was the owner who was annoyed by Renya’s terse reply. The two of them now had matching veins bulging on their temples.

From the man’s perspective, some punk kid just strolled into his bar with a girl and stared at him like he had a bone to pick. Then, of all things, the kid ordered water. In a tavern. Was this a joke? Or was he just plain stupid? Either way, he was asking for it. Just as he was about to go teach the kid a lesson, the owner froze. It was as if a bucket of ice was just poured into his veins. The kid was looking — simply looking — at him. Nothing else. It was the same kid. That had not changed. What changed was the look itself — a reflection of how he appeared to the kid. At first, he was a man. Then, a disagreeable man. Now, it.

“U-Uhh… Water, right?”

“Yeah. Water. Can I have water?”

The kid’s voice was calm and entirely devoid of emotion. The owner grabbed the water he used for cutting drinks, then quickly poured it into two glasses and set them on the counter, feeling as if he were speaking to a piece of winter itself.

“Are you okay with water, Shion?”

“What? Oh, sure. This isn’t really the time or place for drinking alcohol, anyway.”

“Okay. How much?” the kid said, turning to him.

“Huh?”

Seeing the blankness on his face, the kid spoke again in the same flat tone.

“For the water. I assume it’s not free?”

“O-Oh. Right. One copper each.”

The kid dropped the coins on the counter, picked up the glasses, handed one to Shion, and turned to leave. The relief from that alone was immense. He unwittingly let out a deep breath, feeling as though he fell into a demonic realm and just managed to safely return. As he watched the two of them approach the group he’d pointed them to, he made a mental note to remember the face of that kid. It was a face to be avoided at all costs.

Renya, meanwhile, paid no attention to the concerns of the owner. In fact, he had already forgotten about the owner entirely. Despite that, he didn’t feel much better, because now a good number of his soon-to-be allies were eying him with unpleasant smirks. They were probably sizing him up, and it was a thoroughly disagreeable experience. Suppressing the urge to leave right then and there, he sat down at a table. Walking away here might be considered a failure to complete a mission, and that was worse. Shion took a seat beside him, obeying the pattern of each party occupying their own table.

“It looks like everyone’s here,” said a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was solidly built and wore leather armor reinforced by metal plates. His golden hair was cropped short, and his piercing blue eyes were carefully scanning the room. Two longswords hung from his hips. They looked finely crafted, and both showed signs of extensive use.

“That’s Harz Reisen. Their party is the Crimson Bearers and he’s their leader. He’s a skilled adventurer, rank B, and wields dual swords,” whispered Shion. Apparently, she sat next to him just so she could offer such comments. For some reason, she had extensive knowledge of adventurers. This knowledge, he found after asking, came more from a strong interest in adventurers that bordered on worship than any tangible need. Gradually, this intense curiosity had caused her to become intimately familiar with the goings-on of the adventuring scene. It was, in a way, similar to the dynamic with idols.

Harz sat at a table with two women and two other men. The ongoing stream of mumbling commentary at his ear informed him that one woman was a mage, one was a thief, and the men were both warriors. Aside from Harz, everyone else was rank C.

“Everyone’s here? Seriously? You’re telling me that’s the rest of them?” snarked a young brown-haired man whose table manners needed some work. He was leaning back in his chair and had both feet on the table in front of him.

“Zest Fatality, a rapier user and the leader of Sharpfang. He’s rank C… but that’s actually because he has some behavior issues. In terms of pure skill, he’s apparently rank B.”

Zest’s party consisted of him and five women. He was a warrior. As for his ladies, there were two rank-D thieves, two rank-D priests, and one rank-B mage. When Renya asked Shion why the mage wasn’t the leader, she simply replied, “Because she’s female.” As she continued to explain, leaning in close to keep her voice low, Renya found himself impressed — and maybe a little dumbfounded — by how much she knew.

“Who exactly are you referring to by ‘that?’” said a gaunt man in a low, subdued voice. He wore a gray robe and held a gnarly staff. His red hair fanned upwards and outwards.

“That’s… the leader of the Inquirers, Azu Hound. He’s famous for being a rare case of a mage who leads a party. He’s rank D.”

Four other men were in his party. They all wore thick plate armor. According to Shion, their primary tactic was to have the four men buy enough time for Azu to pummel their enemies with magecraft. Due to the fact that the four men only focused on shielding their leader, their ranks remained low at F.

As Shion rattled off detail after intimate detail about these parties, something occurred to Renya. On one hand, the fact that she knew so much was worthy of praise. On the other hand, she had to find all of this out from somewhere, and that raised some serious concerns about how adventurers handled sensitive information. Further attempts to contemplate the state of information security in the adventuring field, however, was disturbed by a loud bark of annoyance.

“Hey, you! We’re talking about you!”

“…?”

Realizing that the statement was directed at him, he turned toward the person who spoke, eyebrow raised in curiosity. It was Zest. The man still sat like he was being swallowed by his seat. With one of his ladies under each arm, he shot Renya a dark look.

“Just two people? That’s it? What, are you trying to leech off us?”

“No, we have a priest who’s absent. She’s currently doing some preparations for the trip. I apologize for the misunderstanding. We mean no offense.”

As expected, trouble came knocking. Renya had suspected that somebody would try to stir things up, and to be honest, he really wanted to be proven wrong. Nevertheless, he did not let his annoyance show on his face, as that would only invite more trouble. Their party size was definitely on the smaller side, so it made sense for him to take the initiative and apologize. He stood up and lowered his head to Zest.

“Tch. This ain’t no game, you know? But whatever. If you die, I’ll just get a share of your reward. It’s all good by me.”

“Stop that, Zest,” said Harz. “We’re in this together. Nothing good will come of a fight between allies. The mission hasn’t even started yet.” His reproving tone earned him an even darker glare from Zest.

“This is how I do things. What, you got a problem?”

“No. But there’s no point in feuding amongst ourselves, is there?”

“I’m sorry for causing trouble,” added Renya, “but we’ll pull our weight. I ask that you trust me on this.”

“Trust, huh? Trust’s a nice word. Thing is, we don’t know you. Who the hell are you, anyway?”

Renya was about to tell them his name and party when he happened upon a problem: he had no party. Not a named one, at least.

“We all became adventurers recently, so we don’t have a party name yet. I’m Renya Kunugi.”

“The hell?!” exclaimed Zest, sounding like he’d just heard the most outrageous thing in his life.

Renya was puzzled. Nothing he said seemed particularly strange.

“Is something the matter?”

“You’re telling me you’re all a bunch of nobodies who just started adventuring recently? Which means you’re rank F?”

“That’s right. What about it?”

“You messing with me, kid? Or are you just a bunch of leeches? ‘Pull our weight,’ my ass! What weight are three rank Fs gonna pull?!”

Renya smiled wryly and shook his head. He did not say anything back. Zest’s outrage was not entirely unwarranted; from his perspective, they probably did look like a bunch of freeloaders. Zest, however, seemed to have interpreted Renya’s smile as an affront, and rage began to boil out of his deathly glare.

“Th-The mission didn’t have any rank requirements. There was also no limit to the number of people. It should be fine for us to take part—”

“Shut up, kid! Get out of here!”

Shion, who couldn’t bear to hear any more, spoke up, but her interjection only served to redirect Zest’s fury toward herself. In his outburst, he hurled the glass in his hand at her, liquid still sloshing around inside. It flew toward her with a speed that was sure to cause harm on impact. She flinchingly took cover, but Renya happened to be in the way, so he intervened. In one smooth motion, he snatched the glass out of the air and set it down on a table. Half of its contents had already spilled during its flight, but when he placed it back down, the other half twirled around the brim before settling into the glass.

“You punk kid…”

This also seemed to offend Zest in some way. He motioned with his eyes at his thief girl, who abruptly flicked her wrist.

Four knives shot across the room directly at Renya.

As a warning shot, it seemed a little excessive. Nevertheless, since he was the cause of all this to begin with, Renya had no one to blame but himself. With a sigh, he reached out plucked them out of their flight, two in each hand. Their tips still pointed at him, but their bodies were locked firmly between his fingers. He drove them into the table around the glass, one on each side. The girl was presumably a skilled thrower who trusted her aim, so this might have had the effect of denting her self-confidence, as she looked completely stunned, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“So,” Renya continued in a thoroughly nonchalant manner, “I heard this was supposed to be a simple meet-and-greet. Doesn’t feel like that right now, does it?”

“And whose fault do you think that is, punk?”

The display just now should have dispelled any doubts about his skill, but Zest sounded reluctant to back down. So Renya nodded and said,

“You’re right. It’s my fault. We’ll leave, then. We’ll do our job, of course… and we won’t need help.”

“Renya?!”

“We’ll do it our way,” he said as he calmed a bewildered Shion, “and you can do it your way. That’s probably for the best, I think?”

“It might very well be,” agreed Harz. “We’ll proceed on our own, as well. Otherwise, all the animosity will get in the way of work.”

“Can we wrap up this meeting, then?” asked Renya.

“Sure. Once we get there, we’ll see how things play out,” confirmed Harz with a grin.

“We… won’t need help, either. Less trouble that way,” muttered Azu.

Harz clapped his hands together.

“That’s three out of four parties. We have a majority.”

“Whatever. We don’t need a bunch of dead weights like you clowns, either!”

“Right. We’re leaving, then,” said Renya with a quick nod. He turned to Shion and, before she could protest, gave her a push on the back to usher her out with him. As he turned, Zest called out to them, his words dripping with bile.

“Hey, rookie, you’d better watch your back!”

“The same to you.” He did not look back. The flare of rage behind him was tangible. As he left the store, a loud clatter entered his ears. He paid it no mind. It was not hard to imagine what happened; Zest probably snapped, and a bunch of things snapped with him.

“Renya, I…”

“Okay, that’s enough. Listen, I was the one who ruined the meeting.”

On their way back to the inn, Renya heard the beginnings of what might be a long string of muttering, so he preemptively put a stop to them. Shock caused Shion to pause for a moment, but she soon attempted to open her mouth again. So he turned toward her, wrapped his hand around her forehead, and squeezed, giving her a small taste of his patented iron claw.

“O-Ow! Ow ow ow! Renya?! You’re going to grind through my skull!”

“I said don’t worry about it. So, don’t worry about it. If Rona complains, just tell her I snapped and caused a riot. Got it? Say yes if you got it. Otherwise, I’ll assume you haven’t, in which case I keep squeezing.”

“Keep squeezing?! B-But, the reason they looked down on us was me to begin— Gyaaaa!”

“Huh, I don’t hear an answer. More squeezing it is, then. By the way, Shion, would you believe me if I told you I can crush a goblin’s skull with one hand?”

“Th-That’s insane! There’s no way you can— Wait, can you?!”

“Remember how I was disposing of dead bodies at the settlers’ village? I gave it a try. They make a nice crispy sound when they crack.”

“I-I got it! I got it, so let me go already!”

As soon as he let go, Shion held her head in her hands and looked at him with tears in her eyes. He saw the slightest spark of resistance in those eyes, so he curled just the edges of his lips upwards and brandished his fingers at her. She did not protest further.

“Of course, from the very beginning, I had a feeling this was going to get messy.”

His gut, as it turned out, was right again. It needed to stop doing that so much. He looked at Shion, and she made no reply.

She was, after all, too busy running frantically away from him, lest his iron claw struck again.

“You did that on purpose.”

Renya glanced at the accuser, who swayed back and forth as the horse wagon tottered down the road.

Rona glared back. Her arms and legs were crossed, and her expression was crosser. Rather than her usual overly-tight attire, she wore a priest robe that actually fit her, supplemented by a chest guard. Arm guards protected her arms, and a one-handed mace hung from her waist. Her soft, fluffy hair no longer fluttered freely, having been tied neatly back. Only her large eyes remained unchanged, and even they lost their naive glow. There was the air of a warrior about her.

“Damn, it’s freaky how you can do that…” he said, marveling at what some clothes and a new hairdo could do. His remark, however, seemed to go right over her head. “Never mind. Anyway, what was that about doing something on purpose?”

It had been a long time since they’d left the city and began to endure the wagon’s jostling. The wagon was, very literally, a wagon. The human-friendly features of a carriage were nowhere to be found. It was just a cart and a horse and some rope in between.

Naturally there was no roof, and aside from the driver’s box, the only place to sit was on the seats embedded in the cart, whose wooden, cushionless surfaces promised plenty of soreness for the user’s rear end.

The Adventurers Guild had provided them with four wagons, which could either have been coincidence or a calculated decision after hearing about the events that transpired during the meetup. Regardless, it afforded them the luxury of not sharing a wagon with any other party.

In Renya’s party, Shion was the only one who knew how to handle a horse. Renya himself had no horse-riding experience, and Rona apparently always sat behind Shion, so she had never handled a horse herself. Naturally, this forced Shion into the driver’s box, which left him and Rona sitting in the cart facing each other.

“The meetup, Renya. I was talking about the meetup. And how you went out of your way to poke the hornet’s nest.”

Rona hadn’t attended the meetup, so she ended up leaving on this mission without learning of its details. She pieced it together, though, when she saw how the other parties looked at them when they were about to depart. At first, she thought it might have been Shion who fell for someone’s provocation. This was soon refuted by Renya, who told her it was his doing and led to her prior comment.

“I didn’t exactly go out of my way…”

“But you could have smoothed things over if you wished, yes?”

He sure could have. Seeing that he nodded, Rona continued.

“Let me guess. With relations already strained, you figured it’d be easier to break with them completely and fly solo.”

“Disregarding the veracity of that statement for a minute… Are we seriously going to discuss this here?”

“Is there a problem? The other parties can’t hear us.”

Rona was right. They could barely hear each other sitting face-to-face. The bumpy road combined with the creaky wagon made it impossible to hear anyone talk from some distance away. With their wagon being the last in a line of four, even the sharpest ears could not listen in on their conversation.

Unless, of course, those ears were located in their wagon.

Renya glanced meaningfully toward the driver’s box, but Rona shook her head.

“She has her hands full with the horse. She’s not listening.”

“You can’t know that—”

“Yes I can. Now, your answer, please?”

For a moment, Renya considered dodging the question. Rona claimed Shion wasn’t listening, but the driver’s box was almost within arm’s reach. Whether or not she could hear them was still up in the air. At the same time, even if she did hear, he had nothing to lose. In the end, he went with the honest answer.

“You’re right. Once I saw their faces and knew their ranks, my mind was set.”

“Would you like to explain why?”

“Sure. All of them have higher ranks, and there are more of them. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they’d look down on us. Especially someone with his ugly mug,” he explained as an image of Zest’s face flashed in his mind.

An adventurer’s rank was determined not only by skill, but also through other factors such as contribution to the guild. Therefore, a higher-ranked adventurer was not necessarily a better adventurer. Despite that, Zest had turned hostile as soon as he learned of their ranks.

“If I hate somebody’s guts, I’d rather be on my own than force myself to work with them. It’s more efficient that way, too. Besides, with this many people, it’s not like we’re going to frolic through the dungeon together as one big, happy family, right?”

“That… is true. Normally, we would split up into two groups or leave one party outside.”

Trying to squeeze nineteen people into the narrow corridors of a dungeon all at the same time sounded like a recipe for disaster. Usually, as Rona just described, roles would be assigned before exploration began, during which one party would stay behind as the lifeline. This amounted to getting the short end of the stick, but it was nevertheless a vital role during raids with many participating members. In case those who ventured in did not return, the party that remained outside was responsible for returning to town to seek help.

“Huh. Doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong with splitting up into four groups either, then.”

“True, though I personally wouldn’t recommend it.”

While Renya’s proposal was technically feasible, it also implied that they would be venturing into dangerous territory with no lifeline, which likely put it at odds with Rona’s safety-first attitude.

“Trying to work with people you can’t trust seems even more dangerous to me.”

“Good point. I agree.”

“In any case, here’s my proposal: we take it easy and wait these couple of days out, doing the bare minimum of work to make us look like we’re contributing.”

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind. You’ve got my vote, leader.”

Seeing that his plan resonated with her safety-first philosophy — better interpreted as her Shion-first philosophy — Rona threw her full support behind him. Renya sighed and smiled a little, slightly impressed by the degree to which her concern for her friend dictated her behavior.

“So, what’s the deal? Once we make our bumpy way to the dungeon, are we going to dive in right away?” he asked.

“Of course not. It takes us a day to get there. We’ll set up camp near the entrance tonight. Clearing the dungeon will come tomorrow.”

“We’re camping out tonight, huh… Not much to look forward to in terms of food,” he grumbled. His miserable expression amused Rona, who broke out in a laugh. This in turn caused Shion to turn around and eye them with a sour look.

“You two seem to be having a lot of fun back there… Let me in on the conversation.”

“We’re just chatting. It’s nothing important. What is important, though, is that our horse stays on course, so keep your eyes on it.”

“But I’ve been doing this for so long… Someone switch with me already.”

Renya felt for Shion; her job as driver was important. Even though he had never handled a horse, it was not hard to imagine how tiring it must be to hold the reins and maintain constant control over the horse so it keeps going forward in a straight line. On top of that, she had no one to talk to.

“I’d switch with you if I knew the first thing about horses.”

“I’ll teach you, then. Come over and I’ll show you how I handle a beast… when it gets naughty, if you know what I mean,” Shion said, smirking at him.

“Whoa, whoa, watch your words, young woman!” exclaimed Renya. “Where’d you learn to say something like that? I’d love to know sometime. Also, quit it with the smirking.”

“You know, Renya,” said Rona, casting her gaze downwards and pretending to not hear what just transpired, “Shion’s probably feeling pretty bored right now.”

Ever since Rona had revealed that Shion was of noble blood, neither of them divulged any further details. To date, Renya still knew nothing else about Shion’s background. Assuming what Rona said was true, though, Shion would be what was commonly referred to as a “princess.” And said princess just cracked one heck of a dirty joke. This was apparently a very upsetting sight to behold for Rona.

“…Please, can you go entertain her before things get even worse?” sighed Rona, sensing that Shion might say something more outrageous if no one kept her company.

Personally, Renya was perfectly fine with raunchy jokes, but Rona was clearly not. He decided to oblige.

“Will do.” As he got up, noticing that Rona was quietly massaging her temples, he added, “Tough job, huh?”

Despite the swaying of the cart, Renya’s steps were steady as he made his way over to the driver’s box, sat down, and took the reins from Shion. A session of horse-handling lessons ensued, during which there was much hand-holding of the non-figurative sort. The somewhat overly intimate nature of her instruction aside, by the end of it, he at least managed to figure out how to keep the wagon going straight.

Next, as part of what was apparently a two-in-one deal, he was made to switch with Rona, who also received Shion’s contact-heavy coaching. The fact that Shion got a lot touchier with her second pupil did not escape his notice. Nor did it the riders of the wagon ahead, who watched the playful antics of the two girls with menace in their eyes.

Renya knew why the others were upset. In fact, he could probably make their case for them: the girls were too loud, they weren’t taking this seriously enough — they were being monster beacons. He knew this perfectly well, and he had no intention of doing anything about it. Instead, he sat back and idly gazed at the pair in the driver’s box, who were in the midst of a good-natured pushing contest.

Renya was of the opinion that witnessing the sight of two pretty girls having a good time with each other was in and of itself worth the price of admission. It was a delightful treat for the eyes. While there was the minor risk of such antics attracting trouble, it seemed a poor reason to be critical.

To be fair, there were times when such playfulness was unwarranted, such as in the middle of a flight through dark and dangerous woods. Currently, however, they were on an established path where there was a reasonable guarantee of safety. There were also nineteen of them. Nineteen. Were these adventurers seriously so craven as to fume with nervous rage at the playful banter of two young women?

Renya thought back to the meetup, recalling the faces of the other raid members. Zest’s party was all female except for him. That seemed like a recipe for plenty of commotion, but a glance over at Zest’s wagon at the front revealed it to be strangely quiet. Zest sat with a short, silver-haired girl in his arms, his posture arrogant as always. His other party members, Renya noticed, were warring with their eyes. Presumably, the embraced girl was Zest’s favorite, and the remaining girls were checking each other through mutual deterrence.

At a glance, Zest’s party seemed like a harem-lover’s dream come true. The undercurrents he observed, however, told a very different story. Their party atmosphere was probably terrible, but Zest did not seem even slightly bothered. Was that boundless confidence? Or was he just plain stupid? Renya thought about it a little.

Probably just plain stupid.

Next in line was Harz’s wagon, which was hushed, moody, and altogether carried the atmosphere of a funeral. All the party members were focused on inspecting their equipment. Conversation was kept to a bare minimum, conveying only necessary information. No one made small talk. Even the presence of female members failed to impart any hint of liveliness or energy to the party. While this certainly could be interpreted as the cool composure of seasoned veterans, Renya found that he was getting depressed just looking at them, so he stopped.

He skipped right over the third wagon. He knew it belonged to Azu’s party, and he never bothered looking at it. The reason was simple: its passengers consisted of the Fortress Four and one sullen mage. To his surprise, a quick glance at their wagon revealed that there was actually some conversation between the Fortress Four and Azu. Perhaps it was a testament to the bond that tended to form between shielders and the shielded. There was an element of trust that cultivated friendships.

Such thoughts occupied Renya’s mind as the wagon made its bumpy way down the road. Just when he was getting fed up with the the hard wooden seat’s tireless attempt to grind away his tailbone, they reached their destination.