Chapter 113
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Cooperation Means Getting Along!
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Kudan was the frontline tank.
Aika was the frontline dealer, Sihoon the midliner.
And Anastasia was the backline dealer—this time around, I took on the role of backline supporter.
"You can even handle support duties! That's amazing, Lord Rubelt!"
The moment I suggested the formation, Aika beamed at me with a bright smile, praising me first and foremost.
Not to be outdone, Anastasia chimed in.
"Hunters who can function as all-rounders are incredibly rare. To pull that off... As expected of you, Lord Rubelt!"
"Thanks."
I expressed my gratitude lightly, then cast auxiliary spells on everyone.
Strength boost, speed increase, endurance enhancement—the most basic buffs.
"Just to confirm, let me run through it again. Kudan blocks the enemy's attacks up front. Then Aika and Sihoon strike, and Anastasia provides covering fire whenever an opening appears."
"Yes!"
"Got it."
"Okay."
We reconfirmed the plan and pressed deeper into the dungeon.
-Groooaaar!
It wasn't long before we encountered a Wild Orc.
Despite the name, a Wild Orc isn't some evolved superior form of orc—it's actually a lower-tier variant.
Visually, imagine a typical bald orc with a wild mohawk sprouting from its head.
There's even a running joke online that Wild Orcs lose their hair in exchange for gaining strength on the path to becoming true orcs.
For the record, that's a pretty popular debate topic on the internet forums.
Wild Orcs wield the same weapons as regular orcs: clubs or axes.
"Kudan!"
"Leave it to me!"
Clang!
Kudan charged forward and blocked the Wild Orc's attack.
"Aika! Sihoon!"
"Haaah!"
At my signal, Aika and Sihoon darted out from either side of Kudan, swinging their greatsword and straight sword as they rushed in.
Slash!
-Groooaaargh!
The Wild Orc screamed as its flanks were slashed open.
Instead of collapsing, it switched targets from Kudan to the two who'd attacked it, swinging its club wildly.
Whoosh!
"Not on my watch!"
But Kudan deftly repositioned, shielding them from every blow with his shield.
"Kudan! You don't need to block everything—just the dangerous ones!"
"Got it! Hah!"
Thud!
Kudan acknowledged the order, parrying the club with his shield before countering with a swing of his mace.
The mace smashed straight into the Wild Orc's bleeding flank.
-Grooargh!
"Chance! Flame... Slash!"
Fwoosh!
A greatsword wreathed in flames came arcing down toward the Wild Orc.
The blade carved a massive diagonal gash from the creature's shoulder to its side, drawing an even louder scream.
-Grrroooaaar!
"Nice! Now to finish it...!"
Just as Aika, sensing victory, moved in for the kill...
"Ice Shot."
Bang!
Anastasia unleashed her skill, firing an ice-element mana bullet straight into the Wild Orc's gut.
Crack! Ice spread from the impact point across its belly, and the Wild Orc collapsed forward, lifeless.
"Phew. How was that, Lord Rubelt? My flashy finisher?"
Anastasia blew imaginary smoke from her gun barrel and flashed me a sly smile.
It was a mature, sultry grin—perfect for an idol with a cool-sexy concept.
"Hey! What was that? I was about to finish it off!"
Aika hefted her greatsword and protested to Anastasia.
"If you wanted the finisher, you should've taken it earlier. What if it countered while you were showing off?"
"That's a lame excuse! That monster didn't have the strength left to counter! Stealing the last hit is just sneaky!"
"Sneaky? I was just hitting an opening from the backline!"
"Ah, Aika, Anastasia—hey, the important thing is we took down the monster safely, right?"
Sihoon, sweating bullets, tried to wedge himself between them.
"That's not all there is to it! For an idol, showmanship matters!"
"So you think my showmanship was sneaky? Back off?"
"Uh, uh..."
Sihoon shrank under their sharp glares and shot me a desperate look.
Please do something about this, Rubelt! His eyes pleaded loud and clear.
Kudan kept watch, wary of more Wild Orcs approaching.
"Both of you, calm down."
"Lord Rubelt...!"
"Aika, like Sihoon said, this isn't a contest over whose performance was better. Right? What matters is that we smoothly took down the monster."
"Y-Yeah, you're right!"
"And Anastasia, even if it went smoothly, jumping in for the finisher on the first fight without any signal isn't ideal. What if something went wrong?"
"Ugh, sorry."
"No need to apologize. Still..."
I gave them a troubled smile and glanced between the two.
"Seeing you two fight doesn't sit right with me."
"F-Fight? Aika and Anastasia would never fight! Right~?"
"Exactly! This was just a little argument, not a fight!"
"Yeah, yeah! Aika and Anastasia get along so well!"
Aika threw an arm around Anastasia's shoulders.
Anastasia stiffened for a split second but forced an awkward smile and nodded.
"Right! We're... super close!"
Of course, I wasn't about to call them out on it.
"I see. Glad I was mistaken, then. Now that we're in the same party, let's keep getting along from here on out."
"Yeah! Aika wants to get along even better from now on~!"
"Me too—of course, I'll get along great with Aika! And even more with you, Lord Rubelt..."
"Aika wants to get even closer to Lord Rubelt too!"
"This is just..."
After promising a joint song practice session for Rubelt...
Anastasia Granov and Nakazawa Aika made time to hit up a karaoke joint together.
"Why karaoke, of all places?"
"No choice. Any nearby studio would recognize our faces right away."
"Still, practicing the song for Lord Rubelt in a place like this..."
"Aha~ So Anastasia can't perform without pro studio gear? Aika's confident even in a karaoke booth~."
"What!? Who said I wasn't confident? I can do it just fine! And confident? Who was it begging me for vocal training help~?"
"That was then—this is now! Aika's gotten good without your help!"
They bickered playfully as they sang a song from their old group days.
Of course, back then they weren't famous enough for it to be in the karaoke catalog, so they had to prepare separately.
Anastasia played the instrumental track from her phone.
And as for the results of their practice? Pretty much zilch.
Not because they needed practice—their chemistry synced up perfectly without any effort.
'Why no mistakes?'
Each figured they were flawless enough not to slip on an old song, but the other keeping pace grated on them a bit.
"You didn't miss a single lyric."
"And you nailed every note, Aika?"
They both knew a few more runs would make further practice unnecessary.
But pride wouldn't let them call it quits after just a couple tries.
They'd already steeled themselves to collaborate with someone they couldn't stand, all to win Rubelt's favor—splitting up too soon felt wrong.
So they settled on a contest only possible in a karaoke room.
"Hmph. Well, it's a song we belted out nonstop back in the day, so of course it went well. Any other track, and you wouldn't stand a chance against me?"
"Oh my my~ What are you saying? Aika could outsing you on any song. You only nailed this one 'cause it's old—bet you can't even hit the notes on something new?"
"Ha! Keep talking. Wanna put our skills to the test?"
"You read my mind!"
In the end, they dueled it out in the karaoke booth late into the night, battling over who sang better.
After three such sessions, they arrived at the same thought.
'At least it'll be good enough to show Lord Rubelt.'
Hearing each other nonstop convinced them their vocals were solid.
Though neither budged on who was truly superior.
And now...
Just as things were warming up in the D-rank dungeon party with Rubelt, trouble brewed again between the two.
'How am I supposed to sync up with her!?'
Too fixated on their singing showdowns at karaoke, they'd skipped any combat coordination practice.
It boiled over during that first Wild Orc fight.
Luckily, Rubelt intervened, calming them down enough to move on.
Afterward, following his lead, Aika and Anastasia managed some basic teamwork to drop more Wild Orcs.
A few more battles in, they got familiar with each other's moves—no directions from Rubelt needed, and they were hunting smoothly.
With some breathing room for everyone, that's when Aika and Anastasia faced a situation they never saw coming.
It started innocently enough, as they walked along, with a question from Kudan.
"By the way, Rubelt, I've got a question."
"What's up, Kudan?"
"Are you... dating multiple women?"
"Yeah."
"Rubelt?!"
"What!?"