One Fool Makes Two
She couldn't even remember how the hearing that had been dressed up as a welcome party had ended.
The moment Mariel stepped into the small room of the rundown inn assigned to her, she locked the door behind her. Then she flung herself onto the bed and buried her face in the pillow.
“Aaaaaaagh!!”
The walls were thin enough to cast serious doubt on their soundproofing, but she was in no position to care. A muffled, pitiful scream leaked out through the pillow.
She wanted to travel back in time, grab her past self by the hair, and shake her hard.
Why did I do that?! Why did I have to open my big mouth at that exact moment!
The price of quietly looking down on him as the hero of the lowest-ranked party had been beyond imagination. Who would have thought that scruffy-looking guy was a monster who had single-handedly butchered a high-class magical beast—an Arachne Queen. And never in her wildest dreams had she imagined he would demand, as his reward, not money or equipment, but “the person of the receptionist who mocked him.” That razor-edged smile of his, promising he would keep her close and slowly torment her to death, refused to leave her mind.
But Mariel was a talent who had proudly taken first place in this year's Hero Management Bureau public recruitment exam. Though she was immature and arrogant enough to cause a major disaster, her mental fortitude was not so fragile that she would collapse here.
She tore her face away from the pillow, sat up on the bed with a thump, and slapped both cheeks hard.
“Get a grip, Mariel. They say that as long as you don't lose your head even in front of a dragon, you'll survive. You're the prettiest girl in Orsha Village, the first love of every guy in the neighborhood—the ‘Flower of the Cliff’! And on top of that, a perfect woman who has brains as well.”
She decided to change her thinking. Time to spin the positive circuits.
“Yeah, this might actually be a good thing! Normally, to become a dedicated supporter you'd have to grind for years at the bottom ranks, needing both achievements and luck, right? I got dragged here like a lifelong slave with no term limit, but looking at the result, it's basically a super-fast promotion!”
Mariel clenched her fists. The companions of Zick's party that she had confirmed at headquarters were all renowned experts and elites in their fields.
If capable me takes charge of the administration and leads this party properly, the achievements will skyrocket! I'll make a name for myself as the unprecedented receptionist who elevated the lowest party to the upper ranks, escape this exile-like place, and make a grand return!
The goal was set. Starting tomorrow, she would show her overwhelming value and earn recognition as a proper member.
“Mariel, you can do it. Fighting! Let's go!”
Dreaming of the success that would one day come, Mariel slowly closed her eyes.
And so, a week after she fell asleep dreaming of a hopeful future—
“This isn't the plan I had in mind.”
At the temporary work desk set up in the corner of the inn's first-floor dining hall, dark circles had settled heavily under Mariel's eyes. She stared with desperate eyes at the mountain of documents Reno had piled up.
“How on earth has this party even been holding together until now? No—what the heck is this ‘Monthly Leave’ system?!”
Mariel clutched her head. The word “Monthly Leave” was written boldly in the party welfare clause. The word itself was beautiful, but the problem was that there were no restrictions whatsoever on that leave!
“What good is it that the companions are outstanding veterans?! Every time we go on a mission, one of them disappears saying they used monthly leave! Last time the mage rested, this time the warrior rests! The empty spots make mission efficiency crawl on the ground!”
The cause of this absurd drop in efficiency was obviously the leader, Hero Zick. He was too soft-hearted, dragged around by his companions, and must have allowed this bizarre welfare because of that.
“We have to fix this ridiculous welfare system first for the party to run properly. And if achievements rise because of that, it'll all be my credit!”
Mariel set her pen down with a clack and stood up. She intended to find Hero Zick right away and demand he abolish this indiscriminate Monthly Leave system.
Fuming, she headed for the training ground behind the inn. But the moment she opened the door, the scene before her froze her in place.
Whoosh! Swish-swish!
“Guh?!”
The instant she entered, Zick's head snapped at a bizarre angle. Three practice daggers that Drake had mercilessly thrown skimmed past Zick's cheek and embedded themselves in the wall. Zick had no time to clutch his chest in relief.
Thud!
“Kyaaagh! Gerard! My bones are gonna break!!”
Gerard's wooden sword came down mercilessly on Zick's guard, and Zick's knees screamed with a crunch.
“Your stance has collapsed. Zick.”
“Wait, time out! Time ouuut!”
Boom! Booom!
Zick's desperate cries were buried under the barrage of large ice arrows that Ainz created in midair. To dodge the magical bombardment flying from all directions, Zick had to roll desperately across the training ground floor, covered in dust.
It was a miserable sight—him being thoroughly beaten and rolled around by his companions in every field: swordsmanship, magic, thief skills, even first aid and bookkeeping—until he was a complete wreck.
Mariel couldn't understand it at all. Normally a hero would dig deeply only into their specialty and leave the trivial things entirely to their companions. So why was that half-baked hero begging to learn every single one of his companions' skills and grinding himself to death like that?
“Even from Sister's perspective, he's quite the foolish one, isn't he?”
“Ah!”
Startled, she turned her head to see Noah, who had been standing by in one corner of the training ground in case of injuries, smiling gently. Noah gazed warmly at Zick rolling around and screaming, and quietly added an explanation.
“The reason Hero-nim grinds day and night like that is because he doesn't want to abolish the Monthly Leave system he created.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Instead of giving his companions rest, he's stubbornly insisting that he'll fill the gaps created by those empty spots with his own body. When the warrior rests, he'll swing a sword as well as the warrior; when the thief rests, he'll use those skills himself. Quite foolish, isn't it?”
Mariel's mouth wouldn't close. What hero would volunteer for this hellish training just to fill in for his party members? If the party involved in this matter weren't Hero Zick but some other heroes, they would have abolished the welfare immediately or browbeaten their companions.
“But Sister. It might be because of that foolish yet companions-first attitude that all of us remain by Hero-nim's side, drawn to him.”
Noah smiled softly. At that moment, from the far side of the training ground, the rag-like Zick waved a trembling hand.
“Noaaaaah! I'm dying! Medic! Heal!”
“Fufu, Hero-nim is calling for me. May light always be with Sister's path.”
Leaving the everyday blessing phrase of the Radiance Church, Noah walked lightly over to Zick and sprinkled healing light.
Left alone, Mariel blankly watched the scene in the training ground. Zick making a fuss in his completely wrecked state, and the companions who, while grumbling at him, still brought towels and water. No one was forcing themselves to stay on the outskirts. Deep trust toward Zick filled that space.
Have I been completely wrong about Hero-nim?
She felt ashamed of her past of dismissing him as an incompetent half-baked hero at the reception desk just because his achievements were rock bottom. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps that way of putting companions first over achievements might be the true path a hero should take.
Mariel quietly hid the welfare revision documents she was holding behind her back. She completely set aside her original purpose of discussing the Monthly Leave system. Instead, the work she should do—perfectly handling the Hero Management Bureau's paperwork and lightening that foolish hero's burden even a little—she quietly turned her steps toward it.
Far side of the training ground. While Zick was catching his breath under Noah's healing magic, Drake pointed with his chin in the direction Mariel had disappeared.
“Hero. It's a bit late to ask now, but why exactly did you bring that receptionist lady? If you really needed a dedicated supporter, you could have requested someone more experienced and capable through headquarters. What's the reason you insisted on the one who openly looked down on you?”
Gerard next to him also glared at Zick with a growling, rough gaze.
“Don't tell me you brought her just because she's a woman?”
“No, what the hell do you take me for?!”
When Zick shouted as if wronged, the surrounding party members started tossing comments one by one as if they had planned it.
“A hero crazy about women.”
“Pervert.”
“Hoho, a young man who can't control his vigor, I see.”
“Hey, I'm a hero, you know.”
When Zick hung his head dejectedly, Gerard snorted and sheathed his sword.
“So what's the real reason you brought that one. If you really brought her just for her looks, I'll return her to headquarters immediately. No matter if it's your decision, I have no intention of being colleagues with someone who looked down on the leader of my party.”
At Gerard's razor-sharp words, Zick fell into thought for a moment. Then, brushing off the dirt, he spoke casually.
“Well, more than because she's a woman, I brought her because she seemed like a better person than I thought.”
“Huh? What's good about a receptionist who looked down on you? Could it be that Hero is the type who enjoys being bullied?”
“What the heck is ‘that type’! No!”
Zick yelled and then continued after catching his breath.
“It's not that. When I first saw Mariel at the Orten branch—the girl who openly treated me like a half-wit and laughed—the moment I said I saw a queen specimen, her face changed in an instant. Then she shouted that we had to form a subjugation team right away, asking what would happen to the village people near the nest.”
Zick's eyes grew serious.
“Looking down on me—well, since it was a low-rank party, people can have prejudices by mistake. But in that situation, the way she worried about the villagers first over her own safety looked truly like a member of the Management Bureau. So I wanted to give her a chance at least once.”
Gerard, who had been quietly listening, kept silent for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.
“Haa. A truly stupid reason that's just like you. But I'll let it slide this time.”
Gerard gripped his sword again and glared fiercely at Zick.
“But just this once. If that one utters even one more word looking down on you as the party leader, know that I'll drive her out with my own hands no matter how much you oppose. If you understand, resume training!”
“Uwaaagh! Just a little more rest!”
Evening, when the sun had completely set. When Zick, his whole body covered in sweat and dust after finishing training, entered the inn dining hall, there stood Mariel, whose dark circles had grown twice as thick as during the day. Her face was on the verge of collapsing from extreme fatigue, but strangely, a very proud smile hung on her lips.
Mariel set the bundle of documents down on the table with a thump and approached Zick.
“Hero Zick. I've finished processing all the backlogged Hero Management Bureau official documents, reports, and even the reward claim papers.”
“What? You already did all that mountain of stuff? I thought it'd take at least another month?”
Zick was genuinely astonished as he flipped through the documents. His eyes widened at the neatly categorized items and perfect administrative processing.
Seeing Zick's reaction, Mariel's nose rose to the heavens. She lifted her chin and laughed in her characteristic know-it-all tone.
“Hohoho! Now do you understand my value a bit, Hero? Even if I don't look it, I was the top scorer in this receptionist public recruitment exam!”
Zick was truly happy that Mariel, who had been lingering around the party and only reading the room until now, finally seemed to have found her place and adapted. That was why he generously raised his thumb and praised her.
“As expected, my eye for people wasn't wrong! This public recruitment top scorer and the ultimate super beauty Mariel who has both looks and knowledge! The best! Really the best!”
“Hmph, stating the obvious! More! You can praise me more! Hohoho!”
Mariel humming happily after being buttered up, and Zick clapping and playing along beside her. Watching that foolish back-and-forth of the two from a distance, Gerard rubbed his brow and shook his head.
“Looks like another guy like Zick has been added to the party.”
Along with Gerard's deep sigh, it was the night when the peculiar yet perfect administrative supporter of Zick's party was officially born.