The Fourth Member
“Hello. You must be Veronica. I’ve come regarding the party matter.”
“Ah, may I have your name?”
“It’s Aren. Leader of the adventurer Aren party. Ahem. It feels a bit embarrassing to have written my own name in the party name field for now.”
“It matches the notice I saw yesterday. Please have a seat first. I’ve already ordered food, so let’s eat.”
I answered that I understood and was about to sit when the ignored man raised his voice.
“You didn’t even listen when I was talking, and now you’re ignoring me in pairs with some stranger?”
“To think someone like you is an adventurer. This is exactly why low-floor adventurers get criticized for letting just anyone become one.”
“You…!”
Thud. Thud.
Grab!
“Hey. If you don’t want to be dragged out, stop. Choose one: get beaten and thrown out, or quietly finish your meal and walk out on your own two feet.”
“…Damn it.”
The man spat out a curse and tried to turn away to flee, but he couldn’t escape the innkeeper’s grip on his burly muscles and could only flail his legs.
“Pfft. That idiot. I knew he’d end up like that.”
“Pathetic mutt.”
“Let go! Let go of me! Erland, you said you’d go do the work! Why are you just watching!!”
Bang!
Once the innkeeper released him, the man bolted without looking back.
‘He was going on about our party leader earlier, but the moment he got embarrassed he just ran off.’
[Chaos clicked its tongue, saying such humans exist no matter where you go.]
After bowing his head in apology to the innkeeper, the man’s party leader quickly led the other two away and disappeared.
Four men in one party—probably lost their minds at the sight of a lone beauty. If they were that desperate for women, they should’ve gone to a brothel. Pathetic bastards.
“Since you’re here, I might as well take your order. Will the recommended set meal for one be fine? And drinks?”
“I have to head back soon, so please bring a regular beverage instead of alcohol.”
“Got it. I’ll bring it right out!”
After the boisterous innkeeper left, I took my seat.
“Does this kind of thing happen often?”
Veronica stared at me for a moment before speaking.
“Yes. It’s a regular occurrence.”
Her tone was far too calm.
“You applied yesterday, yet you came quite quickly.”
“Well. As you saw in the notice, I haven’t been able to recruit members easily due to circumstances. When I heard someone applied, I was so happy that I…”
She stirred her spoon in the nearly empty soup bowl.
“By circumstances, you mean the curse of the beastman dark mage, correct? I looked into it and found that she’s a peculiar beastman called an Arar. …Let’s make one thing clear.”
When she asked whether I could guarantee that neither the curse nor any negative traits would cause trouble for the party, I answered confidently.
“Of course. If it were a lie, there’d be no reason to hide a problem that would be exposed soon after joining anyway.”
‘If she applied even after knowing Lumia is an Arar, she probably won’t show disgust or avoidance once she joins. She has that halo, too.’
“A clear answer is good. Now it’s your turn to ask.”
My turn? So we’re taking turns asking and answering.
After thinking about what to ask, I went with the most fundamental question.
“Looking at the quality of your equipment and the atmosphere you give off, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for you to apply to our party. Is there some other reason?”
“An important question. The explanation for that will be a bit long, so please listen carefully.”
Since I had no other plans anyway, I nodded, and Veronica began her long story.
Veronica, who came from a distant foreign land.
Even within the Armis Royal Guard that protected the royal family, she had been assigned to the Fourth Princess, who was low in the line of succession.
One day, after being overwhelmed by an assassin sent by the crown prince, she had no choice but to helplessly watch the person she was supposed to protect die right in front of her.
‘…I see.’
Disillusioned with the ruthless royal family and her own powerlessness, she wandered aimlessly until she settled in Labyrinth City.
Through some twists and turns, she honed her outstanding talent and the foundation from her kingdom days, rising through the ranks in a fixed party until she reached the early middle floors.
Then, in a random event space she encountered, she succeeded in passing the six trials given by the God of the Open Sky… but two of the five others died as a result.
Of the remaining two besides herself, one suffered a permanent disability that couldn’t be fully healed even with healing or potions, and the last one quit being an adventurer and took a civil service position.
Her own stats were barely enough to scrape by on the middle floors if you excluded magic power, and on top of that, the A-rank trait she obtained as a reward for the trials was nothing but a liability, leaving her future looking bleak.
“Even if you’re an A-rank trait holder, who would put an adventurer who drains their allies’ magic power in the vanguard? No matter how hard you look, you won’t find a deformed party where one person stands in front while everyone else is a ranged class.”
In the end, she had already been taking only personal commissions for two months while resting from adventurer work.
Then she heard the rumors spreading this time, thought it over, and checked the recruitment notice.
“What exactly were the rumors?”
“What caught my attention in the rumors about you was that you didn’t lose in a one-on-one fight against a powerful spirit mage, surpassing other adventurers.”
That was only possible because my trait happened to synergize with sixth-circle magic.
“And most importantly, the fact that you used magic power like water and displayed a variety of attacks using lightning and cold.”
“…Ah.”
Who on earth, in that urgent situation while just trying to protect themselves, managed to watch my fight with Shurika without missing a thing and then spread the rumor?
It wasn’t Georg, so was it Bertolf? The twin-dagger thief? Or someone else?
“In conclusion, I judged that the party leader would possess a high-rank trait related to magic power and applied.”
“You made the right choice. I can tell you the details after you join the party, but I can guarantee there was no better option for your current situation than me.”
Veronica pointed at her halo.
“That’s a relief, then. Others might have been scared off just by the existence of the Arar mentioned in old texts, but I’m different. Because I have this.”
“I see.”
“…You’re not asking what this exactly is. As if you already know everything.”
Damn.
Right. It wasn’t even confirmed yet that she would join the party, and even though she was a hard-to-come-by applicant, I still needed to hear Yeriel and Lumia’s opinions.
‘So I still have to hide the fact that I can see status windows and information.’
I awkwardly rubbed my arm and let out a sheepish laugh.
“Ah, haha. It looks extraordinary just from hearing about it, so of course it would. You said it was created because of an A-rank trait, right?”
I added that, seeing how it glowed faintly, I guessed it probably had the effect of blocking curses or status ailments.
“That’s right. Thanks to this, I could feel at ease. I’ll tell you the detailed information about the trait after I join the party.”
Even though I already knew everything.
“By the way, doesn’t it bother you to look at? Like how it makes her seem like something other than human, so you feel reluctant.”
Elves, beastmen, dwarves, halflings, and so on. From my perspective as someone from Earth, they all seemed pretty much the same.
And if you included races that weren’t commonly known, you probably couldn’t count them on ten fingers.
Just like Lumia said, there were adventurers who turned into kobolds after going into the labyrinth, so why wouldn’t there be someone with a halo shining above their head?
“Not just me, but the other two will like it if anything—they won’t be reluctant. You don’t have to worry about that.”
She nodded with a gaze that held a hint of relief, then asked a question, saying she hadn’t asked the most important matter yet.
“What are the genders of the remaining two? Don’t tell me they’re both women.”
“Yes. They are, but… does that matter?”
Veronica lowered her head at those words and seemed to be deep in thought, which made me a bit anxious about what the problem could be.
‘Why? Wouldn’t having more women than men be better for her?’
After staying silent for a while, Veronica eventually raised her head and asked.
“You’re not hiding some lustful desire to fill the party entirely with women, are you?”
The moment I heard that, I felt indignant, as if the time the three of us had spent together was being demeaned as including base desires.
‘Calm down. She doesn’t seem to have any intention of interrogating or mocking me.’
Her tone sounded like she was simply trying to confirm something, so I calmed myself and answered.
“Of course not. It would’ve been fine even if you were a man, Veronica. Not to mention your specs, but even though we’ve only talked for a short time, I could tell you’re a decent person.”
Meeting her glass-like delicate eyes directly, I continued politely.
“So I’d appreciate it if you refrained from such rude questions. Both of them have their own stories, and we’ve spent time together in the labyrinth… It feels like those things are being trampled on with a single remark, and I don’t feel very good about it.”
“I’m sorry. After living as an adventurer for several years, I’ve seen too many unsightly things. For example, shameless men who target my body.”
Along with the apology came a firm declaration.
“Just as you judged me to be decent after only a few hours of conversation, I also felt that you’re a good person. However.”
However?
“That doesn’t mean you should think I’ll easily fall for your outstanding appearance and excellent character.”
‘What the hell.’
No, did I ask her to come? She applied first, and now what.
This new party member also has a screw loose somewhere. This is dizzying.
“I understand now, so let’s stop here. I’ll visit again tomorrow morning with the other party members, so shall we wrap up our conversation for today?”
“Good. Please return safely.”
***
The next day, as I had told them when I returned to the inn yesterday, I postponed all schedules and headed to where she was.
When I opened the door and entered, I saw Veronica, neatly equipped and in the middle of drinking a beverage.
Veronica glanced this way at the sound of footsteps and spoke.
“You’re here. So, are those the party members you said would come with you yesterday?”
“Yes. You seem even more flawless than yesterday?”
“Once my party membership is confirmed, I’ll have to head out on personal commissions right away.”
She had said she’d been living off personal commissions for two months. Diligent.
While Veronica and I were having a light conversation, Yeriel’s exclamation and Lumia’s quiet voice could be heard from behind.
“Wow! She looks just like an angel from the books.”
“I don’t care who joins the party as long as Aren says it’s fine.”
“Then, everyone agrees as we discussed last night? No objections?”
Both nodded in agreement, and though it felt a bit anticlimactic, Veronica’s joining was decided just like that.
“Good. Today won’t work, so before we enter the labyrinth, let’s match our coordination once and fine-tune the rest in detail. Then.”
Perhaps because of the trait that made her emotional expressions faint, Veronica immediately turned her back and left.
“W-what… Did she get upset because I made a fuss?”
“It’s not that, so don’t worry about it. She’s just a bit clumsy with expressing emotions.”
After soothing the sulky Yeriel, we left the inn.
Phew. Party member problem solved.
***
One week later.
Day 28.
Now only a few days remained until the entrance portal reopened.
And most importantly, the day to finally go pick up the new armor was approaching.
Please, let it be completed without any problems.