Britus Village
"...You're right. I'll go with what Ha-yeon unni said. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want the gear, but... we're already moving fast enough as it is."
Na-yeon glanced, just for a moment, toward Na Seoyun, then gave her quiet assent to Joo Ha-yeon's opinion.
"I... I..."
Nam Eun-ju looked lost. Of everyone in the party, no one would covet that equipment more than she would.
She wrestled with it for a long time. Then she looked at me and asked:
"...Shin-hoo oppa—no. Party Leader. If we outfit ourselves properly... do you think we can finish this commission?"
She was asking for my judgment as party leader, and she had every right to. She wanted that gear more than anyone, and she hated unnecessary danger just as much. But she also knew the truth: she was growing precisely because she kept walking into danger.
Run from it, and she would fall behind. And in the Tower, falling behind was often just a slower way of dying.
If she wanted my opinion as party leader... then yes. I believed that if our party was properly equipped, this commission was well within our reach. This wasn't a subjugation request. It was reconnaissance. And we had two people in this party built for exactly that.
I looked at Na-yeon and Ha Yoo-jin.
Na-yeon seemed to think of her spirit; she gave a small nod. Ha Yoo-jin looked puzzled at first, then realized I was looking at him because he would be useful—and his whole face lit up with unfiltered delight.
As Na-yeon's Communion skill ranked up, her scouting had likely improved far beyond what it used to be. Before, she couldn't even converse with a lowest-grade spirit. She'd watch its reactions and guess at what it was sensing. Now she could share a sliver of its emotions, and as her proficiency rose further, she would start sharing its vision as well. Even that faint emotional link would be a genuine asset.
Ha Yoo-jin needed no explanation. If he committed to stealth, a gnoll wouldn't find him. A captain of a hundred wouldn't find him. Even a captain of a thousand would struggle—and captains of a thousand were chieftain-class, more often than not. They still wouldn't find him.
"We'll also have to stop by the castle to commission the equipment. Even though it's a different zone, we should be able to enter under special conditions. This is an official request, after all. I've heard the castle has a Goddess Temple and a Magic Tower. We might even be able to pick up additional skills."
That was true. Any class could purchase skills through the Goddess Temple. Mages could learn from both the Temple and the Magic Tower; if they wanted to convert a spell the Temple didn't offer into a skill, they simply brought the spellbook in. Each of those books was ruinously expensive, and the Temple's conversion fees scaled exponentially with the spell's rank. Mages were money pits, plain and simple.
At the words Magic Tower and skills, Na Seoyun's and Ha Yoo-jin's eyes lit up.
Na Seoyun was currently leaning on Basic Magical Theory, Introduction to the Four Elements, and Mana Circuit Operation to understand and master the fundamentals. Those skills alone couldn't cover everything, though. Reference material would help, and she was clearly hoping to find some.
Ha Yoo-jin, of course, wanted Dagger Mastery.
"...That's a place we can go just by leveling up, though. And the equipment will take time anyway..."
"How long do you think it would take to scrape together thousands of gold here?"
"At twenty gold a day, three or four months would be enough..."
"The contract will be over in less than a month. And when they come again, they'll just rehire us."
That was how it always worked. However wealthy this village was, it couldn't afford to keep a force of this size on permanent retainer.
They hired a handful of mercenaries to keep watch. The moment something looked off, they scrambled to hire more from the neighboring villages. If time ran short, the militia bought them a window. That window was the most dangerous stretch of all—and they used it to bring in additional mercenaries and call for support from other settlements.
Outside those crises, the village militia and the militia the castle had dispatched held the line through the stretches when the gnolls weren't attacking.
At my words, Joo Ha-yeon's expression darkened.
She could feel the party being persuaded. I understood her worry.
I needed to speak with her privately.
"Let's pick this up again tomorrow morning. I want all of you to think this through carefully. That's enough for today. Let's eat. Has everyone had dinner...?"
The party shook their heads.
"Come to think of it, we skipped dinner too. After a fight like that, no wonder we're starving."
"That's right, unni. I'm hungry. But it's nicer if we all eat together."
"Then let's go. They should still be serving."
We headed down to the first floor of the inn we'd been assigned and ordered a meal. Fortunately we weren't too late; they still had our portions waiting.
Unlike the meeting, dinner was warm and easy. We'd won the battle, and we'd played a major role in it. Feeling sour about that would have been the strange thing.
We were all alive, and we could enjoy this moment. A few people tried to approach our table, but the party had no interest in letting anyone interrupt our time together, and the would-be visitors had no choice but to back off.
A brief rest. Even Joo Ha-yeon, who had been so dark only minutes before, was laughing lightly.
As the meal wound down, I spoke quietly enough that only she could hear.
"I'll come by tonight."
"...What?"
"Don't go to sleep. Wait for me."
"...Th-this is a little sudden..."
She seemed to be leaping to an entirely wrong conclusion, so I cut in quickly.
"It's about the commission. I think you and I need to talk a little more, Ha-yeon."
"The commission... Yes. All right."
The word commission seemed to snap her back. She agreed.
After a meal that doubled as a light rest, we lingered over small talk, then returned to our rooms.
I rested in my room for a while. When night fell, I went to Joo Ha-yeon's room as promised.
Knock, knock.
I tapped lightly on the door, and her voice came at once, as if she'd been waiting: come in.
Click. Creeeak.
I opened the door carefully. Joo Ha-yeon received me in something comfortably casual.
"This is the first time you've come to my room, Shin-hoo."
"Is it? Well, everyone usually gathers in mine."
Barging into the women's rooms would have been ridiculous besides. We were already catching enough flak over harem rumors as it was; that kind of behavior would only pour fuel on them.
"So. You said you had something to say about the commission..."
"Yes. Personally, I think we should take it."
"...I see. I thought as much. But couldn't that wait until tomorrow?"
"I felt I needed to tell you specifically. You seem... more opposed to this than I expected."
"It's too dangerous. If you say it's fine, then it probably is. But..."
She hesitated for a long time, then spoke as if she'd made up her mind.
"Shin-hoo. I hope you won't take this the wrong way."
"I won't. If anything, I'm glad you're speaking up about party matters."
"...I don't have much choice. Your influence in this party is absolute. Honestly, even now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just keep my mouth shut and follow your lead. You've always been right. You've always protected us, and you've always led us higher."
I listened in silence.
Encouraged by that, she continued carefully.
"But I also think it's dangerous to keep depending on you forever. You're human too, Shin-hoo. You get tired. We can't just cling to you indefinitely. We have to start taking responsibility for ourselves, little by little. I'm not saying I want to leave the party. I have absolutely no intention of leaving."
"Neither do I. I have no intention of throwing anyone out. If you said you were leaving, I'd be the one arguing against it."
I felt I had to add that, just in case.
She smiled.
"I believe you. I do, now. That's why I'm saying this. Shin-hoo... we're a team, aren't we? Right?"
"Yes. We are."
"You've always chosen whatever would benefit the party. This will be the same. It might be a little dangerous, but in the end it'll help us. That expensive equipment, double the pay... you remember us sighing over the gear we saw in the Labyrinth, don't you. I regret that now. Because of that, you're pushing yourself again..."
"As I said, I think it's entirely doable..."
"Don't lie to me, Shin-hoo. You overdid it in that last fight."
"What are you talking about..."
"Sword Qi. You said it puts a strain on your body. You said it's hard to use."
"It's fine for a short time. I didn't even use it that long..."
"I'm a priest. Basic Holy Magic Theory covers more than just holy magic—there's a great deal of information about the human body in there too."
Of course there was. Holy magic acted on the body; you needed a foundation of anatomical knowledge to use it efficiently.
"So I can tell. Shin-hoo. You're exhausted right now, aren't you? Your body still needs tending. You forced yourself through a battle, then went straight to the village chief, took on a new job—a dangerous one—and now, when you should be resting, you've dragged that body of yours here to talk me around... And for this next job, you're going to push yourself again..."
I had nothing to say. It was true that my body needed a little recovery. It wasn't severe. Compared to my memories of the first cycle, this barely even counted as hardship. But apparently it looked different to Joo Ha-yeon.
"That technique puts a strain on your circuits, doesn't it... No matter how extraordinary you are, that's... that's incredibly hard..."
So she'd even picked up knowledge of mana circuits. Fast progress. She hadn't been idle. At our current level, she'd learned that Sword Qi was something you weren't supposed to be able to use easily.
What she didn't know was that my physical stats were far higher than she imagined, and that I'd consumed a Legendary-grade elixir. It wasn't as serious as she thought.
"I know you're more exceptional than I can even imagine. That's why you're still standing after all of that. But that last fight was only five hundred gnolls. And we had support from the people above us. And now you want to walk into a zone that's going to have far more than that? I'm against it."
"...If we just prepare a little more..."
"Equipment or no equipment, no. Shin-hoo. I will oppose this to the end."
Her voice was firm. Then her face darkened.
"Not that it'll matter. We'll take the commission anyway. Everyone else will agree. I have no intention of forming factions in a party this small. But I'm worried."
"...About what?"
I looked at her for a long time without speaking.
That was genuine. She was truly worried about me.
I said:
"That's good."
"...What?"
"I said that's good."
"What are you talking about..."
She was growing faster than I'd expected. To push back against my opinion at this stage... Not knowing I'd regressed, that kind of thinking was more than reasonable. She hadn't drowned in my leadership. She'd kept her own mind, and she was voicing it to me now. I wanted to give that a high score.
Asking for opinions on the party's course of action at this point felt like an excellent choice.
"I understand what you're worried about. Even so, I want to do this. I'll probably push it through as long as we have a majority."
This time, Joo Ha-yeon fell silent.
"But from now on, I want you to keep speaking up like this. Don't be afraid to."
"...You weren't offended? If you thought I was being arrogant..."
"As I said, I wasn't offended at all. The idea that it was arrogant is almost funny."
"...After hanging onto you all this time, to come out and say something like this..."
"I never thought of it that way. Hanging on? Please."
I knew perfectly well. I'd raised them with care.
"I'm not perfect, and I'm not a dictator. Opinions like yours are always welcome. If anything, I hope the others grow to your level as quickly as possible. I mean that. Seoyun is growing the fastest among us in terms of strength, but I think you're the most mature, Ha-yeon."
I meant it. To be drawn to strength and still think about the party's safety—that wasn't something just anyone could do. Especially not in the first cycle. Back then, the moment people got their gear and things got dangerous, they sold out their comrades to survive. You always had to watch your back.
I really did think I'd raised this cycle's party well. Properly.
"And I think your point is valid. I hadn't planned to use Sword Qi this time, and I ended up using it. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"...No, that's not..."
The sudden apology seemed to fluster her.
"Which is why I'll make a proposal tomorrow. As I said, I intend to take the commission."
"...All right."
"But I won't take it immediately."
"...What?"
"Custom equipment takes time to make. I'd planned to leave the moment it was ready, but... after hearing you, I've changed my mind."
I met her eyes.
"We won't leave right away. I'll negotiate with the village chief for more time. And during that time, I'll train the party."
Her eyes widened a little.
"At the very least, Seoyun, Eun-ju, and I will fully recover the muscle we've lost, and everyone will be completely accustomed to their new equipment. Only then do we leave. It still won't be enough for you, I imagine, but I think it'll put your mind a little more at ease."
And Ha Yoo-jin would be learning Dagger Mastery; he'd need time to get used to that as well. It wouldn't take too long.
Joo Ha-yeon seemed to think it over, then carefully nodded.
Once Na Seoyun and I recovered our strength and put on proper gear, we would become genuinely terrifying. And Nam Eun-ju, who would be protecting our backline—once she recovered her muscle and her equipment improved, she would change more than anyone in the party.
"Thank you."
She said it carefully, because I hadn't dismissed her opinion. Because I'd acknowledged it, even a little, and responded.
"Listening to a party member is the least I can do."
"...Even so."
"I'm glad you're a little more at ease. Let's go over the details tomorrow."
"...All right. You should... get some rest too, Shin-hoo. You must be exhausted."
"I will."
With that, I left her room.
At the meeting the next morning, I laid out what Joo Ha-yeon and I had discussed. When I finished, the party agreed unanimously to take the commission.