Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Cause of the Slothful Party (4)
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Kalt observed Nellis's party movements while dealing with the kobold.
"God! Please grant them strength!"
Aria prayed, casting Blessing over the entire party.
Thanks to the divine power of the Blessing, the whole party's muscle strength and vitality rose.
'Using divine power itself seems fine. And the Blessing effect isn't bad either.'
With the buff active, Nellis charged at the kobold first, boasting she'd show an impressive display. Kalt followed right beside her.
Nellis swung her sword straight at the kobold.
Slash!
As Nellis's sword left a red trail across the kobold's body, another kobold nearby swung its arm at her.
Sharp claws were about to rake across Nellis.
While handling the remaining kobold, Kalt watched closely to see how Nellis would counter the attack.
By the book, she should retreat or swiftly slash to sever the kobold's arm.
But Nellis neither retreated nor immediately severed the arm. Instead, she raised her own arm, offering it to the kobold.
If an ordinary adventurer had done that, their arm would have been shredded by the kobold's claws in the next instant.
But.
Clang!
The kobold's claws didn't so much as tear Nellis's skin—they were outright blocked.
"Haaah!"
From low to high, her sword arced in a diagonal slash, severing the neck of the kobold that had swung its claws.
'That's the power they're calling the Indomitable Hero. Definitely a great Blessing for a vanguard role.'
Nellis's Blessing was Barrier.
It wrapped her body and gear in a protective veil, shielding her from enemy attacks.
Having confirmed Nellis's power, Kalt lightly swung his sword to finish off the remaining kobold.
"You blocked with your arm— is that the Blessing you have, Nellis?"
Feeling like she was being tested, Nellis answered with a hint of tension in her voice.
"Yes! It's called Barrier. With this, monster attacks don't faze me at all!"
"Your arm didn't budge when you blocked. You're stronger than you look, Nellis."
"No, Barrier reduces the impact too, that's why."
"I see."
The more he heard, the more Nellis's Blessing seemed like the perfect ability for a vanguard.
Yet despite having such a Blessing, Nellis's party was labeled the Slothful Party.
There had to be some issue with properly utilizing it.
"Next, can I see Scarlet's magic? Nellis and I will hold the kobolds."
"Got it."
"Oh, gotta collect the magic stones."
Monsters carried magic stones inside their bodies.
Magic stones were ores infused with mana—an energy source that could also be used to craft gear.
After harvesting the magic stones, Kalt and Nellis's party moved on, encountering four kobolds less than five minutes later.
'She wasn't exaggerating.'
The quick encounter reminded Kalt of Nadia's words.
It's a good thing Nellis's party is here.
For some reason, monster spawns were frequent.
In this situation, with so few adventurers around, without Nellis's party, kobolds would surely have raided the village by now.
"Nellis, this time don't kill them—just hold."
"Got it."
Without slaying the kobolds, Kalt and Nellis checked and blocked attacks, each taking two to buy time for Scarlet's spell.
'No fear of fighting monsters. Handles multiples without panic. Actually proactive. So what's the problem?'
"Done!"
At Scarlet's signal, Kalt and Nellis fell back.
Mana rippled around Scarlet as multiple fireballs materialized in the air.
Fire Bolt.
A spell normally cast one at a time swiftly—Scarlet summoned several at once, even if it took a bit longer.
Scarlet aimed her staff, embedded with a red gem, at the kobold pack. The floating fireballs shot toward them.
Boom boom boom! On impact, the flames erupted in small explosions, engulfing the kobolds.
The charred kobolds collapsed lifeless, none surviving.
'Magic power's solid. Takes time to cast, but firing multiples like that makes sense.'
He'd seen Aria's divine power, Nellis's skill and boldness, and Scarlet's magic prowess.
Everything seemed fine so far.
Even against kobolds, Kalt thought they had respectable skills.
So what was the issue?
Better observe more.
Couldn't judge everything from just two kobold fights.
As Kalt observed their skills and flaws, Nellis's party was watching him too.
Not to test him.
Pure curiosity: what skills did Kalt, from the Fastest Hero Mabel's party, really have?
From the rear, Scarlet and Aria thought he was relentless.
Dodging kobold attacks without hesitation, then slashing immediately.
Reading foes without faltering, full confidence in his abilities.
In truth, Kalt felled kobolds effortlessly, like harvesting herbs.
Beside him, Nellis felt reliability and ease.
Until now, she'd been the sole vanguard.
No matter how unscathed she was by kobold attacks.
Facing multiples meant watching so they didn't slip past.
But with Kalt beside her handling others, her worries lessened.
More than that, Kalt kept ideal distance for her strikes.
Covering her blind spots perfectly.
With Kalt, fighting monsters was far easier and smoother.
'This is Kalt from Mabel's party.'
Despite parting ways for being "not up to par," Nellis figured his skills from that star party were exceptional.
Watching Kalt effortlessly behead kobolds, her instincts told her:
Even without Hero status, Kalt was stronger than her.
If they fought, she'd lose.
If he joined, she could face stronger monsters worry-free.
Hoping he'd join, Nellis swung her sword harder to impress him.
And after dispatching the seventh kobold pack.
"Hup... haa, haa, haa."
Aria stopped, breathing raggedly.
"Aria, you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine."
"What's wrong?"
Kalt, pulling out a magic stone, hurried back to check on Aria.
"N-nothing. Don't worry."
Kalt studied her.
Pale face, labored breaths.
No one would call that "fine."
"Yeah, Aria gets like this sometimes after using a lot of divine power. Rest'll fix it."
"Really?"
'Is this Aria's issue?'
Kalt instantly knew her reaction wasn't normal.
Priests and nuns handling blessings and heals—or holy knights buffing themselves—used divine power, not mana like mages or seasoned warriors.
Divine power had personal limits, like mana.
Kalt knew well what they looked like at their limit.
So Aria's state was off.
At divine power's limit, they showed fatigue.
Using mental-like divine power drained them.
But not pallor or gasping like Aria.
If anything, it resembled a mage exhausting mana.
'Using mana and divine power together? No, that doesn't make sense...'
Priests and nuns could use mana.
But no Blessing combined both, as far as Kalt knew.
"Um, Kalt!"
Nellis rushed over.
"How about calling it for today? We've got plenty of kobolds already, right?"
Her awkward smile seemed like she was hiding something.
Frequent encounters meant over 25 kobolds hunted.
By numbers, quitting now was reasonable—for average adventurers.
Mabel's party could've done 100+ easily.
But even so, Kalt felt Nellis's party had margin left.
Nellis was slightly winded but recoverable with a break; Scarlet had only cast three spells.
Aside from Aria's sudden decline despite regular blessings, they seemed fine.
Scarlet said rest would help, but Kalt doubted full recovery.
'No need to push here.'
No rush.
"Got it. Let's wrap up. Oh, by the way—what do you all think about me joining the party?"
The request was to test party fit, so Kalt asked politely.
"I'm for it! Totally!"
"I'm good too."
"Haa, haa, p-please take care of us, Kalt."
"Yeah. I was thinking we'd mesh well anyway. Glad to hear it."
"Really?"
"Yes. Looking forward to it, everyone."
Now officially including Kalt, Nellis's party finished the request and returned to the village.
On the way, Kalt didn't miss Aria's faint mutterings.
"God... God... I am... God..."