Chapter 17: Awareness and Exposure
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: Awareness and Exposure
The day Alto woke up in the same bed as Airune was none other than Monday.
It meant the end of one week and the beginning of a new one.
“Has anyone found Alto yet?”
Mirei asked her party members, but everyone shook their heads dejectedly.
The Hero-rank adventurer swept her hair back in frustration.
“Where on earth did he go, Alto!”
“Even if he was kidnapped, it’s impossible for there to be this few clues…”
Resin, the mage, spoke in a tone that suggested she had half-given up.
Instead, she looked toward Diane, the ranger, with a sliver of hope, wondering if she had any information.
“Diane, you’re a ranger. Isn’t there any kind of trail?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I even tried tracking his scent from his room, but I can’t find a trace of him anywhere in Lukart.”
“This is driving me crazy. It’s Monday, so we need to start taking quests soon.”
With even Diane, their best hope, coming up empty, Mirei’s party was at a total loss.
Krima, the priestess, decided it was time to face reality.
“If even Diane can’t find him, then one thing is certain. Alto has left Lukart.”
“Krima! There’s no way Alto would just abandon our party!”
Where did this sudden confidence come from?
Mirei snapped at her, but Krima didn’t back down.
“Whether he was kidnapped or not, the fact remains that he isn’t in Lukart, right? If he’s been this thorough, we need to accept the situation and take the next step.”
“And what’s the next step? Go ahead, let’s hear it.”
“What else is there? We either keep looking for Alto, or we take quests and search for him on the side.”
“That doesn’t change anything!”
“Then what do you want us to do? In a few weeks, it’ll be time for Alto’s national subsidy to be deposited. Only Alto can verify the deposit, so we have to find him before then! Besides, we’re short on cash right now. To cover our operating expenses, we have to run quests!”
“Cover expenses? And then what? Are you going to run to Gerend again? With our money?”
“And you, Mirei? You and Resin were planning to take that money and go to Lord Claude!”
“Why you…!”
“Stop it, both of you!”
As the argument between Mirei and Krima escalated, Resin, unable to watch any longer, stepped in to stop them.
“What’s the point of fighting among ourselves? It’s not like it’ll bring Alto back.”
“The same party? When we’re all in love with different men? Once the party funds and everything else are settled, we’re all just going to join the parties of the men we actually want, aren’t we?”
“Mirei, that’s going too far. And until those things are settled, we are a party. Until then, we need Alto!”
When even Resin raised her voice at her, Mirei felt a surge of irritation.
If Alto were here, he would have mediated this himself.
No, in the first place, this entire conflict was happening because Alto wasn’t here.
Mirei was starting to feel a growing resentment toward him.
Amidst the three bickering women, Diane timidly raised her hand.
“Um, excuse me… If it’s true that Alto isn’t in Lukart… I think we should at least check if he left on his own or if he was forced.”
It was a point that cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Resin felt strangely defeated that Diane had pointed out something she hadn’t even considered rationally.
She asked Diane bluntly.
“And how are we supposed to check that?”
“Well… if he was taken by force, his room would still look like he was living in it. But if… if he decided to leave on his own, I thought maybe it would be cleaned up perfectly…”
Though she hesitated, she said what needed to be said.
Neither Resin nor Krima could find a way to refute Diane’s logic.
“Let’s do this, then.”
Resin made a decision.
“Today, Mirei and Diane will check Alto’s room and use any clues found there to track him. Krima and I will go to the Adventurer Guild to pick up a quest.”
“Why you and not me, the party leader?”
Resin felt a headache coming on at Mirei’s stubbornness and obsession with her status.
The mage barely suppressed a sigh and snapped at the Hero-rank adventurer.
“You’ve all heard the rumors that our party has been blacklisted by the Branch Manager since we went to the guild last week, right? It started because you, Mirei, shouted and picked a fight with her. If you go, you’ll probably just end up in another fight.”
“I know when to swallow my pride! I can just go, apologize, and get a quest!”
“Mirei, don’t you get it yet? The Branch Manager’s attitude toward us that day was incredibly hostile. That woman definitely knows something. For all we know, she might have sold Alto off to scouts from other regions for a profit. Why else would she be so lukewarm about searching for a man in Lukart?”
“Is that true?”
Resin was frustrated, but she decided to be patient one more time.
“I don’t know if it’s true; it’s just a hypothesis. Regardless, the Branch Manager is going to keep baiting us. She’s likely looking for an excuse to say you were the one who got angry first.”
“Damn that Branch Manager bitch. She used to kiss our asses for being the city’s first Hero-rank party!”
“Mirei, please watch your language!”
Krima warned her, horrified by the crude metaphor.
Every little thing was driving Mirei crazy.
Whenever she felt this angry, she used to find Alto, vent to him, and take it out on him.
Mirei was realizing Alto’s usefulness once again, and it wasn’t just for administrative work.
“If Krima goes with me, the Branch Manager won’t be able to act too aggressively because of the Church’s backing. Alto donated generously to the Church’s orphanage, so they won’t just sit idly by either.”
“Does that mean… you intend to inform the Church of Alto’s disappearance?”
“We’ll have to use it as a last resort if nothing else works. We need to keep the rumor that we lost our party’s man from spreading in Lukart as long as possible—ideally, forever. Neither of us wants that, so let’s just move, Krima.”
Among the mages at the Magic Tower, Resin was known for having quite a temper.
Rather than researching theories, she preferred wiping things out with a single, flashy, powerful spell. She liked direct action, and it was that temperament that led her to become an adventurer despite being a mage.
And because of that same temperament, Resin had always been the perennial runner-up, constantly losing out to Narupa from the same class.
“Fine, we’ll go with Resin’s plan. Diane and I will start the search from Alto’s room, and Resin and Krima will go get a quest. Make sure it’s a big one if possible. We need the money right now.”
Had Mirei forgotten?
When the Branch Manager first learned of Alto’s absence and flew into a rage, she had barked that she would never give them a major quest until they brought him back.
Resin and Krima remembered it clearly, but they harbored a doubt—would she actually follow through?
After all, they were a Hero-rank adventurer party.
* * *
“So what?”
And that doubt became a reality.
Resin and Krima froze under the sharp gaze of the Branch Manager, whose dark circles had grown so deep she looked like a panda.
“You haven’t even found your party’s man, and yet you’re here to take a quest?”
“Branch Manager, that was our oversight. We apologize for our rudeness last time.”
Krima quickly bowed her head along with Resin, but the Branch Manager’s sarcasm continued.
“I don’t need an apology; I need you to find that man. Only then will I give you a quest.”
“Branch Manager, we have no problem performing dungeon quests even without Alto.”
Resin protested, but the Branch Manager just found it laughable.
No problem?
Do they even know what kind of man he is?
She wanted to kill her past self for just glossing over him, thinking Mirei’s party kept him around because he was useful despite his face, never realizing that his performance in the teamwork category during every rank promotion exam was anything but ordinary. He was a true Bloodhound.
So, she decided to vent that frustration on the two women in front of her.
“Even without Alto? As far as adventurers go, Alto’s capabilities are on a different level from other men.”
“He’s just a supporter. The main damage, tanking, scouting, and buffs are all handled by the four of us.”
“Resin, are you really a mage? What kind of mage only looks at what’s right in front of them?”
“What…!”
Resin was so stunned by the insult to her identity that she couldn’t even speak.
How dare she question my qualifications as a mage?
The salutatorian of the Magic Tower?
“Alto isn’t just a supporter. He’s a guy who knows exactly when to step in and when to back off. He clears the path perfectly when it’s time to deal damage, helps the front line maintain aggro, or adjusts so that it’s diverted to him if necessary. It’s an art. I’ve kept an eye on him during every promotion exam. He handles all the communication during battle, and even his timing for passing potions is on a completely different level compared to other male supporters.”
“Branch Manager, we acknowledge that Alto is good at what he does, but Resin and I are also adventurers who pull our weight in the party. One person’s absence won’t be completely unnoticed, but he’s still just a supporter. A supporter’s role is relatively small compared to other roles.”
“You mean a male supporter.”
“Yes, a male supporter.”
“You two have no idea how male supporters in other parties behave, do you?”
This time, they truly didn’t know, so they couldn’t answer.
From the moment they graduated from the Magic Tower and left the Church with the mission of purifying dungeons, they had been with Alto.
In other words, their entire concept of a supporter was based on Alto.
“In other parties, men are just baggage. They either stay in the very back and just scream for the women to finish things quickly, or they force a formation where the women have to surround and protect them in layers.”
“T-that’s…”
In a dungeon where traps and monsters were everywhere, such a formation had a very high probability of leading to disaster.
In fact, whenever something lunged at Resin or Krima in the rear, or when a trap was triggered, Alto and Diane were always there to protect them.
“Pass you a potion? Don’t even dream of it. The women have to take them out of their own bags and drink them themselves. And that’s not all. If the man gets even a tiny scratch, he’ll demand a potion immediately and often drink a whole bottle by himself.”
“…”
“But not Alto, right? I’m pretty sure he handles his own first aid and gives almost everything else to you girls.”
Was the gap really that large?
The Branch Manager’s description of Alto’s role was so accurate that even if they had doubts, they couldn’t argue back immediately.
“You bunch of big fish in a small pond.”
The Branch Manager reached for a cigarette, but seeing the pack was empty, she tossed it aside.
She had no choice but to lean back in her chair and close her eyes.
“If you are a Hero-rank adventurer party, then naturally, Alto is a Hero-rank supporter.”
The lecture, delivered in a surprisingly calm tone, struck their ears.
“Surely you didn’t just bully him for being ugly without ever recognizing his value as a party member? Even if Alto isn’t ‘superior’ to you, he seemed to me like someone with enough ability to keep up with you.”
The Branch Manager herself hadn’t fully grasped Alto’s worth before and had joined in on badmouthing him, yet here she was acting superior.
They were completely defeated in the argument.
Painful as it was, Resin had to admit it.
“I understand. We will find Alto no matter what, so please, just give us a quest for now. We will fulfill our quota as a Hero-rank party.”
“Go down to the reception desk and take what’s there. And make sure you find Alto. Make sure.”
“Yes, we will find him.”
Once again, they had gained nothing.
They had been torn apart from start to finish, and it dealt a massive blow to Resin’s pride.
“That bastard Alto…! Even if he’s all that, he’s still just a damn supporter…!”
“Resin, people will hear you. Stop.”
Resin, barely managing to fix her expression, went down to the first floor and stood at the reception desk.
The receptionist, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, looked so pale she was practically gray. It was a wonder if she ever slept.
“Mirei’s Hero-rank party, here to pick up a quest.”
“Yes, one moment.”
Without even a business smile, the receptionist rummaged through some papers and immediately handed over a single quest request form.
“What is this?”
“A quest.”
“I know that!”
Resin, slamming the request form onto the desk, was reaching the limit of her patience.
“Signaling carriages and cleaning stables at the carriage station? How is this a quest!”
“It is a quest. It has the requester’s official seal and the guild’s registration seal right here.”
“We are a Hero-rank party!”
“A Hero-rank party that lost its man.”
The receptionist didn’t even blink.
“These are the Branch Manager’s orders. Until you have a properly formed party, you cannot accept dungeon quests.”
“What did you say? You…! How dare a mere receptionist speak to the salutatorian of the Magic Tower!”
“Resin, calm down!”
Just as Krima tried to restrain Resin, Diane and Mirei rushed into the Adventurer Guild and shouted.
“Resin! It’s terrible!”
“Resin… Alto’s room was perfectly organized! Alto left on his own! What do we do now? What do we do, Resin?”
Following Mirei, Diane blurted out everything.
Every eye inside the guild turned toward them.
“You… you…!”
Her face turning beet red, Resin finally exploded, venting all her pent-up rage on the easiest target.
“Diane, you stupid bitch!! Why would you say that here of all places!!!!!!!!”
What followed was a barrage of rapid-fire insults and growls.
Startled by her comrade’s murderous criticism, Diane turned deathly pale.
“I-I’m sorry… I made a mistake… I’m sorry…”
“You absolute piece of shit!”
“I’m sorry…”
As she hung her head, conscious of the eyes around her, she looked exactly like Alto used to.