Party Recruitment Notice

Right after returning to the inn by carriage, I got an earful. “You two said you’d be gone for a few days playing around, so I even took care of El, and this is what happens after just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one day?! Seriously… I’m so upset I could die!”

Both the internal injuries and the visible external wounds had been neatly healed, but the state of my armor and hair was another story. When I opened the door and stepped inside, Yeriel, who had been waiting anxiously on the first floor, took one look at me and pulled a long face.

“Cheep! Cheeeep!” Peck. Peck-peck. Even El seemed shocked by how much I’d changed in a single day, furiously pecking at the chest of my tattered armor with her beak. She was so small that it was just cute, nothing more.

‘Speaking of which, El? Did she already give her a nickname?’

“Yeriel. Is El what you’re calling Aira? If you’ve given her a nickname, you two must’ve gotten pretty close in just one day.”

“Yeah. It’s only one syllable, so it’s easy to say, and the sound is cute, right? She seems to like it too—wait, that’s not the important part right now!”

“I know. I know, okay. But Yeriel, we got treated and our wounds are all healed. We’re both fine. How about calming down a little? Start with a deep breath. Hoo—ha.”

Hoo-ha. Hoo-ha.

“…Hng. Do you have any idea how shocked I was when I heard from my sister that an Apostle of an Evil God had appeared in the 5th District and that you and Lumia were there?”

Of course it must ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have been a bolt from the blue for Yeriel. Not even a few days later, but less than a day after we left, we were already in a huge fight somewhere. If our positions were reversed, I would’ve run straight there too.

“Whew. We were pretty surprised ourselves. Don’t worry, we won’t be setting foot near the Colosseum for a while. Nothing happened here, right?”

“Mm-hmm. There were soldiers in armor running around everywhere, but nothing else really happened.”

It seemed the plan of one Apostle drawing all the attention by taking hundreds hostage while others carried out diversionary operations in different districts hadn’t come to pass.

‘Good thing we handled it on our end. More importantly, where’s Lumia?’

“Yeriel, you definitely said Lumia was coming back to the inn, but I don’t see her. Is she resting in her room?”

“Well, the moment she got back, she passed out cold. Grandpa Rotten was startled and carried her straight to her room, but he said she doesn’t have a fever or anything seriously wrong. I used Heal on her, so she should be fine.”

I almost bolted up to the second floor at the word “passed out,” but stopped when I heard the rest.

“He said it’s probably because she suffered severe mental shock in a short period of time. Do you know what happened, Aren?”

Yeah. I knew. I knew far too well, and that was the problem. At the time, she’d seemed to pull herself together after I killed those people and comforted her, but once everything was over and the tension faded, the backlash had hit her.

I explained that when the Apostle of the Evil God appeared and the circus was destroyed, injuring people, some had tried to blame everything on Lumia, the Arar.

“Wh-what? Even if the situation was hopeless, how could they try to pin everything on one person just because they had no one else to blame?!”

When I told her I hadn’t just stood by, she looked delighted and said I’d done well for killing a few of them. Yeriel’s emotional expressions had become much richer and her own opinions more assertive than when we first met. The shift was a bit extreme, but it was still a good thing.

“Anyway, since the incident is over, I should get some sleep too.”

My day and night had somehow flipped, but there was nothing I could do about it. After getting treated, both my body and mind had felt light enough to fly, but the moment I arrived at the inn, my eyelids kept drooping.

“You must’ve stayed up all night worrying too. Are you sure you don’t need to sleep?”

“Don’t worry about me and go up and sleep already. No, wait! Before that, you should stop by Lumia’s room first and show your face to Grandpa. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. I will. Aira—wait, should I call her El? Anyway, what about El?”

“Cheep!”

With a gesture that seemed to say “Why are you even asking now?”, El hopped onto my shoulder without the slightest hesitation. Yeriel gave her an exasperated look, but El paid no attention.

“Cheep? Cheep-cheep.”

With a “See you later,” she climbed the stairs toward the room where Lumia was sleeping.

Click.

“Hm? Hah, you look like hell. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No. I stopped by the Holy District on the way back. How’s Lumia?”

“She’s sleeping soundly with no problems. I’m really grateful to you for bringing both of you back safe. You must be tired, so go unpack and rest.”

Relieved to see Lumia sleeping deeply and Rotten less shaken than expected, I entered my own room.

“Whew. Is this armor or a rag? Yeah. Time to take it off. Better to just wear regular clothes than wander around looking like this.”

It was made from Savage Boar hide, wasn’t it? Anyway, I finally said goodbye to the armor I’d grown attached to over the past few months. In a way, it was a memento, so I carefully stored it in my backpack and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Flop.

‘Let’s sleep quickly. Starting tomorrow, let’s get busy again.’

Rest to avoid burnout? After seeing Irmela, Shurika, and the many other allied adventurers this time, I realized something. I was still far from being able to live comfortably in the city.

Oh, come to think of it, I definitely used sword aura back then… but when I try to use it again, I can’t get the feel for it… I need to find a clue…

“Cheep. Cheep!”

Before I could even resist, my eyes closed on their own and I fell into a deep sleep.

***

The bright sunlight slipped between my closed eyelids.

“Mmm. Wh-what time is it?”

Looking at the clock, it was noon. Huh. My condition was ridiculously good for having slept only a little over five hours.

“Chaos! Did you finish your punishment?”

“Haha! How could I forget that? By the way, you’re saying I slept for a whole day? Twenty-four hours?”

I’d apparently slept for nearly thirty hours straight. Damn it. What a waste of time. First, I needed to get ready to go out. Ah. I didn’t have any armor to wear. After a quick wash, I left the room in casual outdoor clothes.

‘Where did El go? She must’ve gone to Yeriel since I was just sleeping.’

“Hoho. You’re finally up? I was worried something was wrong.”

“I must’ve been tired from fighting so intensely. I didn’t think I’d sleep this long either… Is it okay if I have a meal now?”

“Of course! Just wait a moment. I’ll bring it right out.”

After sitting at the table and waiting a bit, the food came out.

‘My stomach was about to stick to my back. Now I feel alive again.’

A satisfying lunch of soup topped with fluffy potatoes, rye bread, a well-cooked piece of meat, boiled eggs, and a drink.

“Mr. Rotten. They’re both out right now, correct? Was Lumia’s condition okay?”

“Don’t worry. She wasn’t as bad as you, but after a good sleep, she came back perfectly fine. Oh, right—she said to pass on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a message if you woke up.”

…From what he said, Lumia had made up her mind because of this incident. She thought she needed to become stronger in many ways, so she’d headed to the Explorer Training Center near the Martial Arts Union. Even if she couldn’t become a professional explorer, she wanted to use ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her sensory traits to be more helpful to the party.

‘Yeriel probably went to the Knight Order or the Cathedral like usual. Now I just need to do what I have to do.’

“I’m glad you seem to have recovered your energy. Well then, I’ll be on my way. I can’t just sit around playing while my party members are working so hard.”

“Right. The city’s atmosphere is strange, so please be careful.”

I nodded in response and left the inn.

***

As soon as I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild building, I headed to the corpse disposal counter. Several days had passed since I turned in the Grillops and Golem corpses, so the settlement should be done by now, right?

“Let’s see… Oh, Aren-nim! I heard you were one of the people who made a great contribution to subjugating the Apostle of the Evil God that appeared this time?”

“Yes?”

“Come on, the whole city’s been buzzing since yesterday. Whenever something related to an Evil God appears—whether it’s an object, a person, or some phenomenon—the city always suffers major damage.”

The receptionist was excitedly gossiping instead of handling the settlement. It had always been like this, big or small, but this time the early suppression had been particularly fast, resulting in less damage. That’s why rumors about the adventurers who were active among the survivors had spread.

‘Last time, just having a private meeting with the Guild Master caused a small rumor to spread, and now it’s even worse?’

What should I do? Having my fame and reputation gradually rise wasn’t entirely a good thing. If I had the corresponding power, maybe, but right now, while I had a solid backer, I was still just a low-floor adventurer whose highest record was only the 4th floor… Excessive attention would only be poison. It would draw unwanted eyes and invite others’ jealousy and envy.

‘I suppose so. Thinking about it the other way, this is an opportunity to recruit party members by overcoming the avoidance caused by Lumia’s curse.’

A tank. Our party needed a reliable frontliner who could protect the two in the back from monsters and draw the enemies’ aggro. Just like Jacob said, three people were too few. We’d already been underestimated because of our small numbers, so we absolutely had to recruit someone this time.

“Both the mutant species’ corpse and the Golem’s fragmented body were purchased by the Magic Tower, and the settlement has been completed smoothly. Here, a total of 3 gold coins and 15 silver coins. Please check.”

The settlement amount was a whopping 3 gold coins! I’d secretly hoped they’d pay extra because it was a mutant species, and sure enough, I was able to recover most of what had gone toward the armor-making costs.

“Thank you. The amount is correct. Well then, take care.”

“Yes. Adventurer-nim. Goodbye!”

With an excited heart, I checked my pocket and left the counter. Now what remained was… party matching. Unlike the corpse settlement counter, most lines were long here. After standing at the end of a relatively short line and waiting about thirty minutes, my turn finally came.

“Hello. How can I help you?”

“I’d like to recruit party members. I just need to show my adventurer’s badge, right?”

“Yes. Please give it here… Identity confirmed. Please write down your preferred class or detailed recruitment conditions here!”

…The finalized recruitment notice details were as follows.

I’d written down everything necessary without missing a thing. I’d also honestly included information about Lumia’s curse.

“Application complete! You can check the status by visiting the guild later. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No. Thank you for your kind service. I’ll be on my way.”

“Goodbye!”

Leaving the brightly greeting receptionist behind, I exited the guild.

Clank. Clank.

‘The aftermath is pretty big.’

I could see soldiers diligently patrolling even in the afternoon because of the Evil God-related incident. By the way, I really hoped at least one or two proper people would apply. Maybe because I’d already failed at recruiting once before, I felt a bit worried.

I’d done everything I could. All that was left was to wait quietly.

***

“Haa.”

Two weeks passed without any news. After all, this was a world where gods, magic, curses, spirits, and all kinds of mysteries lived and breathed. No matter how much the rumors spread or how I wrote that my trait nullified Lumia’s curse, it had been useless—probably because of anxiety and superstition.

“There’s one person who wishes to join your party!”

Finally, finally!

“…”

“…?”

But the adventurer who applied was a bit—actually, very—unusual.