Chapter 4: Makoto Takatsuki Forms His First Party
“Well now, it’s our rising star rookie, the Goblin Cleaner!”
“Good job sweeping up all those grunts!”
“Hey, how’s about you fry some bigger fish sometime!”
“Come now, he’s just an apprentice mage.”
“And he’s solo to boot!”
“Please, there ain’t no apprentice mage dumb enough to go solo!”
Raucous laughter filled the room from all sides. The moment I got back to the adventurer’s guild, the hecklers got going.
How did it come to this...
Three months had passed since I’d first become an adventurer. I’d turned in the horned rabbits with no problem at all. As a bonus, I’d also reported that I’d slain five goblins. The guild lady had remarked that she couldn’t believe me and that I could’ve gotten myself killed.
I mean, I hadn’t put myself in that much danger.
I’d felt a little smug after surprising the guild workers, so I spent every day after that hunting goblins. Somehow, this became a hot topic around the adventurer’s guild.
When asked, I told them I’d hunted the goblins near the Forest of Fiends, and they seemed to accept that answer. The Forest of Fiends had plenty of goblins loitering around its edges, so there wasn’t any cause for concern. They said it’d only be a problem if there were goblins living near any human settlements.
The guild lady had warned me that the Forest of Fiends was too dangerous for someone in stone rank though; she said that I should wait until I was silver rank before going anywhere near it. They must have thought I was in such a rush to rank up that I was risking my life for it.
My actual goals were to level up and extend my lifespan. I wasn’t too concerned with my adventurer rank. Even if I did raise my rank, I’d still be an apprentice mage, which would give the rest of the adventurers even more ammunition for their jokes...
Every time I leveled up, my stats would slightly increase. That is, my Strength, Stamina, and Magic. Sadly, they were really slow to rise. Man, I just wasn’t getting any stronger...
While those rewards were meager, goblins were dangerous, human-attacking monsters, so defeating them awarded reverence points. This was much appreciated since I didn’t earn a single point from those horned rabbits or giant rats. Gaining reverence points extended my lifespan, which was now slightly under ten years. I just had to grind a little at a time.
The act of leveling up was fun in itself too. Level-ups were always the most exciting part of an RPG, and that went double for this fantasy world. There wasn’t an accompanying victory theme, though. You’d think RPG Player would pull through for me there.
Hunting goblins was pretty easy once you got used to it. They were low-risk fights that gave steady experience. When I saw lone goblins near the Forest of Fiends, I didn’t hesitate to slay them. As a result, people started calling me the Goblin Cleaner.
Man, I thought, what a lame name. I wish they would’ve given me something a little slicker.
“C’mon, fellas,” began one conversation I’d rather not have heard, “we oughta show a little more respect to goblin huntin’. The kid’s doin’ all that work alone!”
“You first. Why not invite him to your party if you think he’s so great?”
“Whoa, hold it there. Whaddya expect me to do with an apprentice mage who can barely cast water magic?”
“Hah, that’s what I’m saying.”
I decided to ignore them.
There was a bench near the skewer stall in the guild entrance and I settled down there to order food.
“Hi, Chef,” I said, “I’ll have the skewer platter.”
“Comin’ right up. Anythin’ to drink?”
“Apple soda.”
The staple meal from this stall was skewers and beer. I wasn’t great at handling my alcohol, so I instead opted for soft drinks.
“One rice ball too.”
“Comin’ right up.”
I munched on the perfectly salted rice ball as I waited for my skewers to get grilled. The rice was a bit harder than what I was used to in Japan. The scent of burning sauce tickled my nose.
The guild had other stalls, but this one was my favorite. The food here tasted pretty similar to chicken skewers back in Japan. What’s more, I’d heard it was an otherworlder who’d spread this recipe around the world. It made me wonder if that otherworlder came from Japan too.
“Skewer platter, order up.”
The chef set down a five-skewer meal in front of me. The cooked meat actually came from the horned rabbits I’d captured in the Great Forest; yes, the client for my first quest had been this very shop. I’d been a regular ever since.
I bit into a plump thigh cut that was drenched in a sweet and spicy sauce, and its juices flowed across my tongue.
“As good as ever,” I told the chef.
“Thanks. By the way, how’d the day’s hunt go?” The chef and I were pretty well acquainted, so we could talk with each other casually.
“Twenty-two goblins and five horned rabbits. I told the guild to let you get the meat in stock.”
“Looks like I owe ya again,” said the chef. “Your drink’s on the house.”
This exchange was also one we’d gotten well acquainted with.
“But I gotta say,” continued the chef, “I’m amazed you don’t get bored with hunting nothing but goblins. What level are you at?”
“Level 14, I think.”
“You’re a strange fella. 14’s the level of a full-fledged adventurer! Why, back in my day...”
The chef here used to be an adventurer like me. I’d heard that he’d even hit level 40 as a warrior, but then had to retire after he’d injured his leg. These days, he spent his time running this food stall, but the old adventuring stories he occasionally told had some valuable lessons to teach.
“Ah, the old timer’s fired up again,” said an adventurer as he approached. “Chef, I’ll take an ale and a skewer of whatever you got.”
“There ya are, Lucas,” said the chef. “Just got back?”
“From slaying the sand dragon in Great Keith,” said the burly, middle-aged warrior as he dropped down on a seat next to me with a thud. “They made me stay sober the whole trip. The pay was good, but man, was it rough. Oh, Makoto, haven’t seen you in a while.”
“It’s only been five days, but yeah, good work out there.”
“Welp, I’ll drink to that,” said Lucas after getting his pint. “Whew, that’s the stuff!”
Lucas was one of Macallan’s veterans and a gold rank adventurer. He and the chef seemed to go way back. He’d also been tasked with guiding the rookies, which had included me in my earlier days.
“By the way, Makoto, ain’t it about time you try a dungeon on for size? You’re almost level 15.”
“I was planning to give a beginner dungeon a try once I hit level 20,” I stated.
“The recommended level for those dungeons is around 10, though...”
“Well, I’m weak. I’d rather be careful.” I didn’t think I’d said anything strange, but Lucas and the chef still gave each other a look.
“Y’know, any other rookie would be itching to take this stuff on,” remarked the chef.
“Guess there ain’t much for a veteran to warn you about...” added Lucas.
Was it so strange for me to take things slow?
“Well now, got a party going on here?” A beautiful blonde lady came and sat between Lucas and me.
“Oh, hello, Mary,” I greeted her. “Did you just finish work for the day?”
“Hey! Mary, you don’t gotta butt in like that!”
Mary was a receptionist for the adventurer’s guild. Since I often accepted quests, I saw her all the time. She’d been a great help over the last few months.
She was also a lover of all things alcoholic, so she’d always come to the guild for drinks after work. Because of that, hanging out together had become part of my daily routine...although I preferred to eat dinner while sober.
“I’ll have an ale,” she ordered. “And fry up whatever veggies you got!”
“Comin’ right up.”
“All right, cheers!” She took a sip of her ale. “Whew, nothin’ beats a cold one after a hard day’s work!”
“C’mon, Mary, you can do better than drinking at a dinky food stall. Why not find yourself a nice man and go out to a fancy bar?”
“You nuts, Lucas?! You know how hectic a guild receptionist’s job is! And monsters have been going nuts lately, so I don’t have any time to find a man!” She turned to the chef. “Pops, gimme a refill!”
“Try to pace yourself, Mary,” the chef cautioned.
Mary really was beautiful until she opened her mouth. But when you sat her in front of alcohol, she could drink any adventurer under the table.
“Wow, Makoto, still drinkin’ your juice?” remarked Mary. “After all the cash you made today, you oughta let loose with some real drinks!”
“Hey now,” said the chef in exasperation, “that ain’t something a guild employee should say out loud.”
“I drink every now and then,” I assured her.
I could order alcohol whenever I liked since the drinking age in this country was thirteen, but I just didn’t like the stuff. That first ale I’d tried tasted bitter, while that flaming cocktail on the rocks had made me convulse and spit it out the moment it’d touched my tongue. I could only stomach cocktails made from apple soda; however, I limited myself to a single glass, since even those got me drunk in an instant.
Lucas had taught me that, while I didn’t have to chug ales by the barrelful, adventurers treated peers who couldn’t drink as targets for mockery.
“Why just every now and then?” asked the chef.
“Lucas told me that adventurers make you the butt of their jokes if you can’t drink a single pint,” I explained. Really, Chef, how do you forget these things...
“Ah, now that you mention it, they do! Ha ha ha!”
“Gee, what a responsible kid!” remarked Mary. “Another round, Chef!”
“Comin’ right up. But how ’bout you learn from the kid and drink less than every day? Not that I’m one to lecture ya.”
“F’real, how’s this kid so responsible at his age?! Be a kid! Like...this!”
I found myself in a headlock. One where Mary’s sizable chest was being pressed against my back.
Oh dear. Calm Mind, activate! Play it cool, Makoto! Play it cool.
Mary was a popular figure within the adventurer’s guild, so I could feel the heat of their jealous glares scorching in my direction. Some of them belonged to the people who’d been making fun of me earlier.
“Tch!” “Lucky bastard...” “More like an ‘ain’t shit’ mage.”
I could hear their curses from here. None of this was my fault, by the way!
“Mary, you’re drunk,” I told her.
“C’mooon, I ain’t even tipsy! I got room for more!”
She was now hugging me from behind!
“How many goblins did you get today? Twenty two? Good boy, good boy...”
And now she was ruffling my head while still hugging me. Mary had a tendency to get a little touchy-feely when drunk, so there were many adventurers who’d misread her intentions and fallen hard for her.
She was a witch, but I was the man who could resist the temptations of a goddess. This didn’t even faze m—
Boing.
Something very soft was being pressed into my back. I shall not waver! But oh, so soft...
“Ha! You’re just a goblin hunter. Don’t let it go to your head!”
I turned toward that voice and saw a young man dressed like a warrior facing me. I think his name was Jean. He was one of Macallan’s rookie adventurers, just like me. He’d become an adventurer around six months ago and was currently in bronze rank, also just like me. People said that rising to bronze from stone rank in just six months was pretty impressive, but it was clear that he didn’t take kindly to the fame I’d garnered in my three-month career.
“Cool it, Jean. You oughta get along with your fellow rookies.”
“Lucas! Why haven’t you helped me train lately?” asked Jean.
“I guide people while they’re in stone rank, but once you’re bronze, you’re treated as someone who can fend for themselves.”
“Now, now, Jean,” added Mary. “Makoto’s such a delicate boy, you’ll scare him.”
I wasn’t particularly scared... Well, maybe. I couldn’t speak too soon; Jean had a mage and a cleric standing behind him. Guess they were in a party. Three on one? Yeah, this situation called for some delicacy.
“I don’t see what the big deal is, Jean. He’s just an apprentice mage. What’s someone with Swordfighter (Mid Rank) worrying about him for?”
The voice reasoning with Jean belonged to the red-haired mage behind him whose dress erred on the skimpier side. She was beautiful and undeniably bold about it.
“Yeah, we should be completing more hunting quests so we can hit iron rank,” said the cleric. She was more the cute, baby-faced type.
That’s a lot of girls. Was he running a harem party or something?
Well, screw you, Jean! A real man quests solo in silence!
“Well now, a hunting quest!” said Lucas in an effort to change the subject. “What’s the target?”
“We’re hunting a lone ogre! It got spotted by a traveler not long ago.”
“Hunting an ogre at bronze rank?” commented Lucas. “That there’s a rite of passage, so good luck.”
“Thanks! We’ll show you what we’re made of! You hear that, Makoto? I’m the one who’s gonna hit iron rank first!”
Jean got the last word and left us behind. The cleric girl bowed her head a bit to apologize. She was a good girl. The mage, well, didn’t seem to care.
“Hey, don’t let it get you down,” said Mary as she tried to comfort me. I wasn’t down at all, though.
“I’m just taking it easy,” I said. My only plans for tomorrow were to kill more goblins.
“Yeah, uh, I wouldn’t call killing twenty two goblins in a single day all on your own ‘taking it easy.’” Lucas stated the obvious, but hunting goblins really was the safest, easiest option for me. I was the type to max out my level before taking on a boss, so I planned to keep this up for a while.
After wrapping up my goblin hunt the next day, I found myself walking on the path back to the city. I was thinking about hunting a horned rabbit so I could get more stock for the chef’s store, when suddenly—
BEEEEEEEEEP!
All of a sudden, my Sense Danger skill blared a warning siren at maximum volume in my head. Was there a deadly monster nearby? I checked to see if my Stealth skill was activated, and sure enough, it was. I was fine; I hadn’t been found out.
Something’s there, I thought. Within the haze ahead, about fifty meters in front of me, I saw a massive human-like silhouette. Was this the lone ogre? Its figure was stout with what appeared to be horns growing from its head, but...were these monsters always so enormous?
The average ogre was usually about two or three meters tall, but this guy was over five. Every one of its steps thudded heavily and made the ground tremble beneath my feet.
There were normally other monsters roaming around this area, but right now, I couldn’t spot a single one. They all must’ve run away. No chance I was getting that horned rabbit, then. Guess I’d give up on that for the day. Just go home and report this beast to the guild. I started to quietly sneak toward safety when...
“Eeeeeeek!” shrieked a woman’s voice.
“Damn you!” shouted a man’s voice.
Wait a minute, I thought, are people getting attacked?!
When I looked closely, I saw several people who looked like adventurers. A three-person party with a swordfighter, a mage, and a cleric. They were all young; they didn’t appear to be veterans.
“Wait, it’s just them.” It was the same party that had gotten in my face just yesterday—Jean’s.
They did say they were going to hunt an ogre. And right now, they were in trouble. Served ’em right. Or, so I would’ve liked to say, but I’d be in a lot more trouble if I got entangled in this fight too. I stayed to observe while I kept my Stealth skill active.
They are going to run, I hoped, right?
The golden rule in adventuring was to value your own life. If you were faced with an enemy stronger than yourself, the first priority should be escape. Lucas warned me about that over and over back when I was in stone rank. These people should have heard the same things.
Hmm, I thought. I think the mage and the cleric...are going to get caught.
I wasn’t sure if it was due to fear or panic, but they couldn’t quite seem to escape. The ogre was going to catch up.
“Emily!” shouted Jean as he grabbed the cleric’s hand and ran off with her.
“Hey! What about me?!” cried the mage. Guess Jean prioritized the cleric above her. The truth’s gotta hurt.
Oh, the mage tripped. The ogre was fast approaching. She was in trouble.
Save the mage?
Yes
No
My RPG Player skill displayed an option. I was a bit stunned; it was asking for a lot from a bronze rank apprentice mage!
You could leave her behind, suggested the goddess. Simple and concise. I considered it, but...
Save the mage?
Yes
No
The text box continued blinking. Could it quit annoying me and give me some time to agonize over this decision?! It’d be game over if I died!
“Eek! D-Don’t come any closer!”
The mage’s legs gave out. The ogre was right in front of her. Jean was screaming at her to run...but it looked like he wasn’t coming to help. He ought to. The cleric looked distraught as she covered her mouth.
Ah, screw it. There went my time to think.
“N-Nooo! Help me!”
The mage screamed in vain as the gigantic ogre reached out its hand.
Fine! I resigned myself. If nobody else will...
“Water Magic: Ice Cutter!”
Two blades of ice were stabbed into the ogre’s eyes.
“Gyaaaaagh!” The ogre screamed as it covered its eyes in pain.
“Hey, run while you can!”
“Uh, er, wait, what?” The mage was clearly confused. I put myself between her and the ogre and drew the goddess’s dagger.
Hey! I told you, no dying on my watch!
The goddess didn’t seem to approve. Sorry, but I wanted to play the hero.
The languishing ogre was so large that I had to look up at it. Its arms were each as wide as tree trunks and coated in a coarse fuzz as thick as wire. This guy was way too big. How was I going to fight something like this?
As an aside, my mana reserves were almost completely drained. I wouldn’t be generating any more water.
“Hey! Start running already!” I told the mage one more time.
“R-Right!”
And with that, she took off just like I told her. Good. But while she was making her escape, the ogre was pulling the ice blades from its eyes. The wounds in those areas were healing quickly.
“Oh c’mon, give me a break!” I knew ogres had regenerative abilities, but I didn’t know they were so fast-acting. Even a cut from my dagger would probably heal in no time.
“Hey, ugly! Over here!” I shouted at the ogre. I didn’t know if it could understand words, but I tried to draw its attention toward me. The ogre blinked, aimed its glare at me, and quickly raised its foot to squash me like a bug. This was bad.
Quick, Dodge skill! I activated the skill from my Thief training to evade the giant’s attack. The foot came down close enough to graze my nose and ruffle my hair, but it did pass me by. I continued to dodge, dodge, dodge, and dodge some more as the giant’s foot continued to slam against the ground with a THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Getting stepped on would mean instant death. However, I used Calm Mind to subdue my fear and continued spamming my Dodge skill.
I glanced around to see if that mage had made it far enough away.
Yep, she had. Which meant it was time...
For my Flee skill!
I activated my skill and distanced myself from the ogre. But the ogre gave chase, its face red with rage.
Ooh, scary stuff. Seeing a giant monster make a beeline for you sure has an impact. Good thing my Calm Mind skill kept the terror from paralyzing me. Didn’t change the fact that I’d be dead meat if the ogre caught me, though.
I was no match for the monster in raw speed, so I moved into the brush of the forest and weaved through the trees. After a bit of running, I found my destination: a marsh.
Water Magic: Walk on Water. With that skill active, I waited for the ogre atop the marsh’s surface.
Water Magic: Fog. I controlled the fog to obscure as much of the ogre’s vision as I could. That beast wouldn’t see the marsh coming.
“This way, stupid!”
The moment of truth. Would it go well? If not, I’d run.
The ogre charged straight ahead. Good, just like that. I’d continue walking on water until the perfect moment. The ogre waded into the marsh to catch me; it probably didn’t think the marsh would be too deep.
Sorry, but in a few more steps, the floor falls out, I thought. It’ll get much deeper soon.
With a sudden splash and a large spray of water, the ogre lost its balance; its leg sunk into the marsh. Of course, its first reaction was to paddle for the surface.
“Oh no you don’t!”
Water Magic: Flow. I used my water-controlling magic to create a whirlpool in the marsh. The ogre was caught by the leg and became ensnared in its depths. I used the marsh’s water and the sludge lining the bottom to suck the ogre in even deeper.
“Aaaaaaaaaaargh AAAAA...” The ogre let out pained wails as it sank beneath the surface.
I waited a while after that to make sure the ogre would drown. For ten whole minutes, it struggled and flailed underwater without catching its breath once. How tough was this guy?
“I hope that worked...” I finally began to break out in a nervous sweat.
“Heeey! Are you okay?” shouted Jean. He came along with his party. Looked like they were all safe.
“Yeah, I’ve just about defeated it,” I said as the ogre’s lifeless body floated to the surface.
“W-Wait... You’re telling me you defeated that huge ogre?!”
“W-Wow...”
Jean and the cleric expressed just how astonished they were.
“Th-Thank you,” the mage said to me.
“Uh, well, guess we should take its head back with us,” said Jean as he scratched his neck in annoyance. He swiftly beheaded the ogre I’d taken out.
After that, we avoided the rest of the monsters and returned to the guild. Phew, I was beat. I decided I’d be going to sleep early that night.
“Hey, fellas, take a gander at this ogre! This big guy makes any other look like a runt! And guess who slayed it?”
Lucas was in the area of the guild where adventurers showed off the day’s hunts, and he was shouting with an ale in his hand. He was surrounded by other adventurers, all of them drunk. I was told that the ogre I’d fought today was no ordinary ogre, but instead a rare species known as a big ogre. Lucas had chewed me out earlier by saying that fighting a big ogre alone was an act of suicide, but he didn’t seem too angry about that right now. Flip-flopping wasn’t a new phenomenon for him.
“Well, who killed it?” asked Mary.
“None other than our rising star rookie, Makoto! He ain’t no Goblin Cleaner anymore!”
The audience erupted in cheers and awe. For the third time, I might add.
“We gotta give him a new nickname!” “How about ‘Ogre Killer’?” “He’s only killed one.” “Yeah, but it was a big ogre he took on solo!” “Man, that’s amazing!” “Mary’s already got a thing for him too.” “Yeah, that pisses me off...”
I watched the hubbub from a distance as I sat on my familiar skewer stand bench.
“Well, if it ain’t the man of the hour,” laughed the chef.
“Tired. I want sleep.” I wanted to pass out, but the place where I always slept was the guild’s rest area, so I couldn’t fall asleep in this racket even if I wanted to.
“Well, nothin’ wrong with that either. How about a drink?”
“After all the ale they gave me, water.”
“Comin’ right up.”
The chef brought out a pint glass filled with water. It was lukewarm.
“Water Magic: Freeze.”
Drinking the cooled water sip by sip helped me sober up.
“Hey, is this seat open?” asked a voice from beside me. It was that mage I’d saved earlier today.
“Sure, go ahead.”
The mage sat down next to me. She had red hair and ruby, upturned eyes that gave off a fiery impression. Oh yeah, and she was beautiful too.
Now that I’d gotten to really look at her, I noticed that she had pointed ears. An elf? Huh, I didn’t know she was an elf. This was my first time seeing one since coming to this world, but they’re a staple of fantasy. I quietly got a bit excited.
But that didn’t explain why her hair and eyes were red. The books I’d read in the temple said that elves had blonde or silver hair and blue or green eyes. Maybe she was from a different race? I’d have to ask Mary about it later.
“Hey, Pops, can I get a cocktail?” asked the mage.
“Comin’ right up.”
He placed a soda-mixed cocktail on the counter.
“Thanks again for today,” she said.
“You’re welcome.” We lightly clinked our glasses together.
“Anyway, my name’s Lucy. And I owe you my life, Makoto.”
“You don’t have to sweat it. The guild already rewarded me plenty. I built up a ton of reverence points too.” When I checked my Soul Book after slaying the ogre, I saw that my lifespan had extended by about a week. Emotionally, though, I felt like my lifespan had shortened by the same amount. I think I’d be happy not to fight another ogre any time soon.
“But I gotta say, I’m impressed. You’re in bronze rank, right? And you still took down that big ogre all by yourself.”
“I was just lucky,” I responded.
“Yeah, well, I can cast high rank magic but still wound up being totally useless...”
Ah, so Lucy could use high rank magic. I couldn’t be more jealous. Too bad I didn’t get to see that magic for myself today.
“Hey, that’s impressive too. I wish I could trade my skills for yours.”
“That’s not what matters!” Lucy said emphatically. “Sure, I’ve got strong skills, but I can’t control them at all. How do you use magic so quickly? You were able to cast spells without an incantation.”
“Yeah, technically.” My magic relied on my meager amount of mana, so I had limited ammo. I had to overwhelm my opponents to stand a chance, which I couldn’t do if I had to wait for an incantation to finish. “You can cast without incantations once you reach mastery level 50.”
“I know that much, but I can’t imagine how long it’d take to get there...”
“Well, it’s been a year and three months since I started learning magic from scratch.”
“What?” spouted Lucy. “Y-You’ve gotta be kidding!”
“I’m not, though. I came from another world, after all.”
“An otherworlder...” she mused. “Those heroes who came here one year ago...”
“I mean, I’m no hero... Well, to be fair, some of my classmates are.” My classmates who possessed strong skills had gone on to make quite the name for themselves over this past year. Lots of them had been assigned top positions in countries all over. They might have broken this world’s game balance a little. Not that I’d know anything about that!
“I knew it, you otherworlders really are something else!”
Lucy had sparkles in her eyes. Yep, there was definitely a misunderstanding here. She knew how low my stats were, right?
“U-Um,” began Lucy as she set down her glass and took my hand. She then brought her body in close and whispered into my ear. “Would you like to form a party with me?”
Hey. Lucy? Your face is getting kinda close there. I didn’t have Calm Mind or RPG Player active either—I couldn’t use my skills correctly when drunk. Which forced me to gaze into Lucy’s eyes at point-blank range. Having her lovely face look back at me was making me panic.
C-Calm, I thought. Stay calm. I’ll turn on Calm Mind.
Unfortunately, I was too drunk to activate the skill that had become my old reliable standby.
Crap, I fretted, I drank too much. Stop! Don’t bring that face any closer!
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!”
A loud voice brought me back to my senses. It was that cleric who was in Jean’s party. Jean was right next to her.
“What’s it to you, Emily?” retorted Lucy.
“Oh, it’s a lot! You only just got with our party! And you were the one who asked to join us in the first place!”
“Yeah, and? You two left me for dead, so I’m done with you.”
Ooh, it seemed like Lucy was still holding a grudge about how her party had escaped the ogre without her. But hey, Jean did tell her to run for her life, right?
“Look, Lucy,” said Jean, “I’m sorry about before. But I just couldn’t save the both of you.”
“Yeah, ’cause you two are lovebirds,” responded Lucy as she shut down his apology. “I don’t need a leader who I can’t trust.”
“Who do you think you are?!” shouted Emily. She came up to grab Lucy by the collar.
“Aw, can it, slut. I know that you slept with Jean back when I first joined your party since you were worried about having some competition. Or was it just a coincidence that you two disappeared that night?”
“D-Don’t be ridiculous!” Emily sputtered.
Uh, okay... This conversation was getting a little too spicy for a virgin like me. I guess parties got very close in fantasy worlds...
Meanwhile, Jean was paralyzed as he watched the two women fight. Was he not going to stop them? C’mon, you’re the leader here.
“Hey, what’s all the commotion?”
“Ooh, is this a fight?”
Lucas and Mary had come over to watch.
“Just a drunken quarrel.”
“All right, then. Emily, Lucy, break it off.” Mary got in between the two girls’ glares. She seemed used to this. “Jean. I believe you have something you’d like to say to Makoto, no?”
Did he? I looked over to Jean, but he turned away from me and started fidgeting uncomfortably. What, was he about to ask me on a date or something?
“I-I’m sorry, Makoto!” said Jean suddenly as he deeply bowed his head. “Thank you for saving us!”
“Uh, it’s no big deal,” I responded, “but sure, you’re welcome.”
Was he worried about that? He might’ve been more responsible than I thought.
“What a magnanimous heart you have...”
I didn’t really know how to respond to him getting so emotional...
“Makoto, please, can you find it in your heart to forgive Jean for what he said before?” Even Emily, the cleric, was apologizing. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to forgive either...
“All right, Makoto, roast their useless asses!”
“Cram it, Lucy!”
A valid suggestion, I thought. Lucy, that verbal boomerang you just threw came back to wack you. It’s sticking out of your head right now.
“Makoto, can we call you and Jean even?” Mary asked.
“I mean, it’s not about being even,” I responded. “I never cared in the first place.”
“Rookies should get along,” said Lucas to wrap up this issue. “That should settle things with Jean. Now then, Lucy...”
“Wh-What?”
“You’re going to form a party with Makoto?”
“Y-Yeah, I am!” answered Lucy with her chest held high. Wait, did I even agree to this?
My RPG Player skill displayed a choice.
Add Lucy to your party?
Yes
▶No
Hmm. What was I going to do? Lucy was beautiful. But a negative thought crossed my mind—wouldn’t she be disappointed when she saw my stats or skills?
“No” seemed like the safe option here.
“Makoto,” asked Lucas, “are you going to form a party?”
“Hmm, I was thinking I’d stay solo.”
“Huh? Come on!” Lucy cried.
“Hah! Look who got dumped!” sneered Emily with a smug look on her face.
Hey, Emily? You’re gonna start another fight.
“B-But why?” asked Lucy as she stumbled backwards.
There wasn’t any complicated reasoning behind my rejection—I just didn’t know the girl. Lucas didn’t seem to approve of my answer, though.
“Makoto. I think you’re going to have a lot of trouble in the long run as a solo apprentice mage,” said Lucas.
“I was just gonna take it slow. I’m fine with staying at bronze rank for a while.”
“No, see, you didn’t ‘take it slow’—that big ogre was way beyond what bronze rank adventurers should be able to handle in the first place...”
“Anyway, my stats are low too,” I added. “Lucy’s gonna get disappointed.” I showed Lucy my Soul Book to prove my point.
“What the heck are these stats?!” Lucy exclaimed.
“M-Makoto... You’ve really been adventuring like this?” asked Jean, dumbfounded. “You can’t even swing a sword...”
Emily was similarly shocked: “Wait... A 3 in Magic? Are... Are you even a mage?”
Aw, can it. Also, Jean and Emily, I never said you could read my Soul Book too. Eyes to yourselves! I’ll sue.
“See? Aren’t his stats awful? But widdle Makoto’s been doing his best solo. Good boy, Makoto.” Mary patted my head to comfort me. Was this supposed to be a compliment?
“You’ve got no Strength, no Stamina, and no Magic,” noted Lucas as he chugged a beer. “All ya got is a stupid high magic mastery!”
“Whaaaa?! You’ve got a 90 in water magic mastery! H-How...” Lucy looked at me like I was some sort of freak. Kinda rude.
“I don’t have a lot of mana, so all I can do is get creative with how I use what I’ve got.” I’d been training my mastery like crazy this past year for a reason.
“So that’s why you led the big ogre to a body of water to defeat it?” asked Jean, sounding a bit impressed.
“Anyway, Lucy,” I continued, “I think you get the point, so you oughta ask someone else.”
“H-Hold on! I don’t mind, really!” Well now, I didn’t expect her to persist even after I showed her my stats.
“Think about it, Makoto,” pleaded Lucy. “My Fire Magic (King Rank) skill would totally come in handy!”
“King rank, huh? That’s impressive...” Even my classmates rarely had skills that strong. Her magic was something rare, all right.
I turned the idea over in my mind. To be honest, I’d given up on ever forming a party back when I was training at the Water Temple. After my stats had been mocked so many times, I was prepared to stay solo forever.
“But, Lucy, aren’t there plenty of others who’d take you?” She was a mage with a king rank skill. I figured other parties would be tripping over themselves to add her strength to their team, but Lucy just looked down.
“Th-That’s not the issue. At my level, I can choose which party to join myself.”
“Since when?” butted in Emily. “You don’t last a month in any party you join before getting kicked out. You’re famous for being nothing but trouble.”
“Do you ever shut up?!” Lucy snapped.
“Hey, it’s the truth!”
Lucy and Emily stood their ground like cats hissing at each other.
“All right, you two, I think you need some drinks.” Mary took Jean and Emily away.
Thank you, Mary.
“Lucy has powerful skills,” Lucas explained, “but she still can’t quite control them.”
“It’s true that I haven’t been able to stick with a party before, but I think I’d feel comfortable if I were with you,” Lucy clarified.
Hmm. Comfortable, huh? An apprentice mage with dumpster-tier stats and a mage who couldn’t control her skills. It sounded pretty unbalanced to me—we’d be a two-person party with two magic roles.
“You do realize that I’m an apprentice mage, right?” I asked dubiously.
“Don’t worry! We can train together!”
Lucy was being persistent about this. I’d always wanted to train with a fellow mage, though. I’d been surrounded by toddlers at the Water Temple, so it had never really felt like I was practicing with my peers.
Add Lucy to your party?
Yes
No
Hm? The choice came up again. Didn’t I select “No” on this already? Were these choices just for aesthetics? Talk about useless.
“Why not, you know?” suggested Lucas. “Just give the party thing a try and see how it goes.”
“It would be good for you, Makoto,” said Mary as she came back. “You ought to spend more time with your fellow adventurers.”
“A partner’s a special thing, Makoto.”
Even the chef was pushing me into this. They were making it really hard to refuse. Come to think of it, yeah, I’d seen this in RPGs before.
The ol’ forced party member cutscene.
I took another look at Lucy. She was a strong-willed mage with large, sharp eyes. I’d taken a glance at other adventurers, so I knew she was one of the most beautiful girls in the guild. And she had Fire Magic (King Rank) on top of it—she’d be wasted on me. Getting greedy would probably come back to bite me. But my RPG Player skill made it clear which option it wanted.
Add Lucy to your party?
▶Yes
No
Fine, I thought, I get it.
I extended my right hand toward Lucy.
“I’d be happy to have you.”
“No, the pleasure’s all mine!”
Lucy shook my hand with a beaming smile.
And so, I gained my first partner since coming to this world.
◇ A Fujiwara Trading Company Bunny-Eared Employee’s Perspective ◇
“Heh heh heh. It is merely a matter of time before my esteemed Tackie invites me to his party.”
The boss had been in a pretty good mood ever since he’d met that otherworlder friend of his the other day. Seeing the boss happy made me happy too, but I had some doubts.
“Uh, Boss? Speaking of Mister Takatsuki, do you think he’ll be fine as an adventurer? He’s adventuring on his own despite only being an apprentice mage, no’h?”
He didn’t look too strong. The boss said his abilities were pretty weak all around too.
“If it wouldn’t be a hindrance, I could provide him my assistance’h.”
I was a silver rank adventurer, so I knew how brutal this line of work could be. I didn’t want to see the boss cry if his dear friend were injured by a monster, or potentially even killed.
“No, that’s quite all right,” said the boss with a grin. “Tackie’s playstyle is the definition of cautious.”
“I see...”
Guess the boss had faith in his friend.
“Perhaps I should invite Tackie to the Catgirl Cantina next,” murmured the boss. I just happened to overhear.
“Boss? Might you be visiting that store a bit too frequently?”
The Catgirl Cantina was a pub where all the waitresses were feline races. The boss was a regular there. The feline women who worked there were all beauties. I wondered if the boss had a favorite...
“Oh my, you heard that? Well, that shop would surely instill within Tackie an appreciation for the wonders of catgirls.”
The boss was grinning ear to ear. I found myself reaching for my own bunny ears. I didn’t like this conversation much.
“Worry not, my dear Nina! Rest assured that your bunny ears are magnificent!”
Ah, did that show up in my expression?
“Th-Thank you very much.” Hearing the boss compliment me made my cheeks loosen and my temperature rise. I was happy to hear the boss compliment bunny ears.
Other humans made beastmen out to be imbeciles, but the boss was always a gentleman to us. That made him incredibly popular among the beastmen of Macallan, which in turn made me a bit uneasy.
“I merely patronize the Catgirl Cantina due to its excellent food. I’d like to obtain the rights to manage it myself one day...”
“It’s not quite that simple... You’ll fail if you invest without a plan’h.”
I’d never worried about this stuff in my days as an adventurer or a fighter. But I was different now. My perspective had completely shifted to that of a merchant’s.
“Fortunately, those paintings I stocked for a nominal price seem to have caught the eyes of some nobles. They must have quite a bit of money to spare given the sum they wish to purchase them for.”
“Is that your Appraisal (Ultra Rank) skill at work? It never ceases to amaze’h.”
Many of the people who’d come from another world possessed powerful skills. The boss’s stats were no better than normal, but his skills were exceptional. Appraisal (Ultra Rank) and Storage (Ultra Rank) were incredibly rare skills. A single one of them would be considered hitting the jackpot in life.
But I get the feeling that those aren’t all he has’h, I thought. It was just a hunch, but I didn’t know how deep the boss’s powers ran. Well, I just had to stick with him.
Though I’m still worried about the boss’s friend...
I watched the boss gleefully take inventory of his products and kept my concerns to myself.
And so, time passed.
One day, I heard rumors of someone incredible—he’d set the adventurer’s guild record for the quickest rank up from stone to bronze and defeated a big ogre solo: it was Makoto Takatsuki, the adventurer.
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