A Sharp-Eyed Woman
Four of them were coming toward us.
At the front walked a middle-aged man in thick plate armor. Behind him came a lightly armed beastfolk, an elven woman, and a girl with pink hair.
These bastards are extremely suspicious.
They'd been camped out here waiting for us for half a day? What was this? Had Bren and Eden's people dug a trap?
I tightened my grip on the sword hilt.
"Huh…?"
The middle-aged man in the lead caught the look in my eyes and faltered. Startled, he dropped a hand to the one-handed axe at his waist. The rest of his party tensed behind him, each of them falling into a combat stance.
The air went taut as a drawn wire.
"What are you people doing here?"
At my question, the middle-aged man's gaze cooled.
"What's the meaning of this? You're not the support team?"
"The Quest Office said you left half a day ago. Why have you been sitting here waiting this whole time?"
The middle-aged man and his party members looked at one another.
And then—
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Ahahaha, that's adorable~"
"……?"
Aria, Kiki, and I stared at them, dumbfounded.
What the hell were these people playing at?
After laughing himself to tears, the middle-aged man wiped his eyes.
"Aigoo, I'm sorry. It's been a long time since I've felt this kind of fresh newbie energy. You folks are novice Participants, aren't you?"
"……"
"I think there's been a misunderstanding. Time here flows differently from the Gathering Hall."
"What do you mean?"
"It varies a little by mission area, but generally once you deploy, time flows more than five times slower. You said you accepted the mission half a day after we did — which means we haven't even been waiting an hour."
"Ah…"
So that was it.
That was why, when the tutorial ended — and again when we finished the goblin sweep — almost no time had passed by the time we got back.
"Ahem. I see. Sorry for being suspicious."
"Hahahaha. Well, if you didn't know, that's understandable! We were on edge too, just in case. Glad that's not what this was."
The middle-aged man clapped me on the shoulder with a hearty laugh. From what he told us, there were apparently people who'd start killing and looting other Participants the second they entered a mission area.
"Alright, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Garon, leader of this party."
Starting with Garon, his party members each introduced themselves.
Garon was a Guardian — a tank, the same skill as Kiki. The canine beastfolk was named Vargo, and his skill was Tracking, following a target by scent. The half-elf woman was Celine; with the Sleight of Hand skill, she specialized in dagger work, lockpicking, and all manner of manual techniques.
And last of all—
"Hi there~! I'm Lin! Nice to meet you, oppa, unnie — and you too, cute little kobold!"
The stunning beauty with pink hair waved with energetic cheer.
"I'm here as a mercenary for this mission! My skill is Sharpshooter~!"
Lin tapped the bow slung across her back and winked.
A pretty, sparkling smile. And the figure poured into that skintight leather outfit was downright lethal. Especially those long, endless legs, and the curve of her hips — they were really…
Ah, damn…
I forced myself calm and reined in my Primordial Power.
Anyway.
We introduced ourselves in turn.
"Oh! This little kobold's a Guardian like me? Well met! Hahahaha! As your senior, I ought to set a good example, shouldn't I?"
"Keruk! Keruk!"
Garon looked thoroughly delighted after hearing Kiki's introduction.
"Whoa, lightning magic? Mages are rare — that's really reassuring!"
"O-oh, no. I'm still not very good…"
Celine and Vargo's eyes lit up the moment they heard Aria's skill.
"Mine is Primordial Power. But you don't need to worry about me in a fight."
"Oppa, your body is incredible?! And you're handsome too!"
Pink-haired Lin didn't seem to give a damn about my skill.
"Wow! I've never seen anyone with this much muscle!"
Was it that impressive…?
Come to think of it, there had barely been anyone well-built at the Gathering Hall. Even Participants who ran combat missions would hit a wall trying to put on muscle without any concept of systematic weight training.
"Alright. I'll brief you on the mission."
Everyone focused as Garon spoke.
"There's a village about three hours' walk from here. A few days ago, a Demonkin swept through the place."
Demonkin?
The name itself reeked of extreme danger.
"We'll investigate the site, determine how strong the specimen was, and figure out which direction it went."
Vargo would handle the tracking. Garon and Celine would take the on-site investigation.
"So what do we do?"
"While we travel, and while we investigate, you handle the monsters in the area. Wherever a Demonkin has passed, monsters affected by it tend to show up."
"Understood."
The mission itself was clean. Aside from Garon, their party didn't have anyone specialized in combat. Celine used daggers, but fighting wasn't her specialty — which was presumably why they'd brought the pink-haired archer Lin on as a mercenary.
We were backup firepower, in case of emergency. That was about it.
"Good. Let's move out."
Garon took the lead, and we started walking toward the village. Formation was Garon at the front, Vargo and Celine behind him. Lin held the center, watching the path ahead. The three of us took the rear.
As we walked, I checked on Aria and Kiki.
"Aria, how are the clothes? Not uncomfortable?"
Aria was wearing the athletic shorts and tank top I'd given her, with a windbreaker layered on top.
"They're so comfortable. And this 'windbreaker' is amazing too. It's so thin, but it really does block the wind."
"Heh. That's the technical fabric for you. I'll bring some other clothes next time. Kiki, you?"
"Keruk!"
That was a yes, I figured.
We'd been walking for a while when Garon came up beside me.
"Minwoo, was it? You were on high alert at the start. Did something happen?"
"Ah… well…"
I told Garon about Bren and Eden, conveniently leaving out the part where I'd taken the Subspace Bag, and anything about Primordial Power.
"Those scumbags! I'd only heard the rumors — so there really are people who try to enslave novice Participants…"
"That was our first mission, so yeah, I've been pretty wary since. Still, I'm really sorry about earlier."
"Don't be. After going through that from the start, of course you'd react that way. So how did you manage to get away?"
"We didn't. We killed them all."
"…?!"
Garon's eyes went wide. Then he burst out laughing.
"Your party's something else, Minwoo! Taking down experienced Participants on your first mission!"
"You're too kind. And you can drop the formalities. It'll be more efficient during a mission."
"Ahaha, shall I? Minwoo, I like you. You're a real man. And those muscles!"
The look he was giving me was… intense.
He wasn't gay, was he?
Nah. No way.
We walked the forest path for a long time after that. My gaze drifted, naturally enough, to the pink-haired archer walking right in front of me.
The skintight leather leggings laid bare the sleek lines of her ass and thighs with every step.
If they're that tight, you could probably see the camel toe…
My Primordial Power stirred on its own, a surge of desire to grab that ass rising hard in my chest — and I crushed it down with superhuman willpower.
A few monsters popped out along the way, too. Red-eyed wolves. At one point a spider the size of a human torso dropped from the trees. Aria and Lin, already on watch, intercepted them with magic and arrows so quickly I never had to lift a finger.
Lin's skill in particular was genuinely impressive. Both her draw speed and her accuracy were beyond anything I'd imagined.
And so there I was, watching for monsters and sneaking glances at Lin's ass as we walked — when she suddenly slowed her pace and sidled up next to me.
"Oppa~"
"Yeah?"
As she came close, a sweet floral scent washed over me. Lin leaned in, her lips nearly at my ear, and whispered.
"Why do you keep staring at my ass? It's gonna wear out~"
"Hhk!"
I jumped, then scrambled to recover.
"N-no, I was just watching the front…"
Lin looked up at me with a wicked little smile. That giggling eye-smile was dangerously charming.
"Oppa, what do you think the Sharpshooter skill actually does~?"
Out of nowhere?
"Uh… boosts accuracy, or…?"
"Hehe. That's part of it…"
Lin slipped her arm through mine and whispered.
"It also expands your field of vision. Like having eyes in the back of your head. Heehee~!"
"……"
Shit!
She'd been watching the whole time?
I remembered concentrating my eyesight, trying to see if I could make out the camel toe.
I was so fucked. No way to talk my way out of this, no matter how I spun it.
"Oppa~"
"Y-yeah…?"
Lin grinned wickedly and hugged my arm tighter. The soft press against my elbow was enough to make my head spin.
"If you want to look, you can look~"
"N-no, that's…"
My Primordial Power was about to explode. No choice. Ignore strategy. Just ignore her.
"Ehh? You're not being very honest~"
I tried to walk looking straight ahead, playing it as cool as I could. But Lin didn't seem inclined to let me go.
"Oppa~ Then at least be honest about this one thing? Promise~!"
"W-what is it?"
Lin put her lips to my ear and whispered, very small, very private.
She wasn't smiling anymore.