The First Designated Mission
The moment Zick and Reno returned to the lodgings, they called the rest of the party together.
One by one, the goods purchased at the black market took their places on the table.
Armor dense with etched spell formulae. A dagger whose blackened blade was grooved to channel poison. Even a staff component designed to stabilize mana. Not a single item among them looked ordinary at a glance.
"These are what we picked up at the black market today."
Drake snatched up the dagger before Zick had even finished speaking. He turned the blade this way and that under the light, then spun it once in his palm.
Whick!
The dagger rolled across the back of his hand and settled neatly into his grip again.
"Center of balance is pretty solid."
Drake immediately flicked the blade through the air a few times. The arcs were sharp enough that they barely made a sound. At the last stroke he twisted his wrist and vanished the blade up his sleeve as if it had never been there.
"Even got a groove for feeding poison. Looks like the hero finally understands what a real thief's path looks like."
"Don't talk about me like I'm some aspiring burglar."
"Was I wrong?"
"Yes, you were."
"By the way, what's that scrap of scrap metal on the hero's wrist?"
Zick's gaze drifted, unbidden, to the old bracelet. No amount of tugging or twisting had ever gotten it off. It hadn't so much as twitched on the way back from the market, but that was no reason to let his guard down. He hastily tugged his sleeve down over it.
"I'll explain later. Just drop it for now."
"Suspicious."
"Want me to take that dagger back?"
"Magnificent piece of work. I'll treasure it for life."
Drake stuffed the dagger into his coat in a flash.
Beside him, Gerard lifted the armor, tested its weight, worked the joints a few times, and scanned the spellwork engraved along the inside.
"Shock dispersion and joint assistance both built in."
"Is it usable?"
"Lighter than what I'm wearing now. Doesn't hinder movement, and the protection looks more than adequate."
Gerard set the armor back down. His face was as blunt as ever—though the way his hand lingered over the plates was a touch slower than usual. He liked it.
"I'll put it to good use."
That short line was enough.
Ainz, for his part, held the staff component up to his eyes. The old man drew a small monocle from his robes, settled it in place, and carefully inspected the metal ring and its spell circuits.
"Hoh. Worked in a method you don't see much these days."
"Is it a good piece?"
"Hard to call it top-tier, but the component itself has decent mana affinity with my staff. A little fine-tuning and I should be able to cut the mana loss quite a bit."
Ainz stroked his beard with open satisfaction.
"My thanks. I'll make excellent use of it."
The party's reactions exceeded every expectation. Even Reno, who had paid for the lot, stood with his arms crossed and a pleased smile on his face. The trip to the black market had been worth it after all.
Zick checked the table, then looked over at Noah.
"I'm sorry, Noah, but we couldn't find any gear for a priest."
"It's quite all right, Hero."
Noah answered with a warm smile, not a trace of disappointment on his face.
"Equipment used by holy knights and priests is often crafted from materials consecrated by the church itself. Unless it was issued by the relevant order, proper gear is genuinely hard to come by."
"I figured as much."
"That you thought of me at all is more than enough."
Even as Noah said so, Zick reached into his coat.
"I wouldn't call it a substitute, but please take this at least."
What he produced was a silver necklace—a simple piece, a round silver ornament set with a single blue mana stone. Zick held it out to Noah.
"It's a magic tool inscribed with a protection formula. Supposedly, if the wearer takes a hit, it automatically throws up a barrier."
"You're giving this to me?"
"You're the one supporting us from the rear, Noah. The less combat power someone has, the more they need something like this."
Noah accepted the necklace with careful hands. A faint light seeped from the mana stone resting in his palm.
"I will use it with care."
"And Reno. There's one for you too."
When Zick pulled out a second necklace of the same design, Reno's eyes went wide.
"One for me as well?"
"You're not a frontline fighter either."
Reno took the necklace and turned it over, front and back. The surprise still hadn't left his face.
"When did you even prepare these? I don't remember seeing anything similar at the black market."
"I had them before we ever went there."
"Don't tell me you bought them separately?"
Reno's eyes narrowed as he rapidly tallied the necklace's value in his head.
"You didn't get fleeced, did you?"
"What do you take me for?"
"The kind of person who steps up to negotiate a price, ends up apologizing to the merchant, and then pays more than list."
"That never happened."
"Something close enough did."
There was just enough of a sore spot there that he couldn't deny it outright. Zick coughed once to move past it and pointed at the necklace.
"Remember the Arachne nest recon mission? One of the adventurers we pulled out of there came looking for me afterward."
"Ah—those two, the couple?"
"Yeah. Said they were done with the dangerous life and were retiring together. They left these with me."
The pair had planned to hang up their adventuring careers for good after that job. With no more high-risk commissions ahead of them, they had pressed the necklaces into his hands, saying someone who needed them more should have them.
"They said it was nothing compared to having their lives saved. One was his, the other belonged to his partner."
"So both of them left the trade?"
"Mm. They're settling in a small village with the money they saved."
Noah's expression softened further. He closed his eyes, the necklace cupped in both hands.
"The good you sowed has returned to you, Hero. I will pray that the Radiance lights the road those two walk, and that peace and blessing go with them in the life ahead."
It was a brief prayer, but every word of it was sincere. Zick quietly hoped the same for the two adventurers—that this time, they would live somewhere far from danger.
"Thank you, Zick."
Reno slipped the necklace over his head as he spoke.
"I'll look after my life as carefully as the ledgers."
"Look after your life first, before the ledgers."
Reno's gaze slid toward Zick's sleeve—toward the place where the old bracelet sat.
"Please practice that line yourself first, Zick."
"I know."
Even as he answered, Zick absently rubbed his wrist. The bracelet's cold touch was still vivid under the fabric.
In any case, the equipment distribution had been a success. At this rate, the party's combat strength had been reinforced by a fair margin.
Zick was surveying his companions with quiet satisfaction when he felt a gaze at his side bright enough to be almost oppressive. He turned his head and found Mariel standing there, staring at him with shining eyes. A little smile sat on her lips, and both hands were politely held out in front of her, as if waiting to receive something.
Zick asked, baffled.
"What are you doing?"
"Waiting, obviously."
"For what?"
"My turn."
Mariel gave her hands a little expectant jiggle, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Zick looked from those hands to her face and back again.
"Your turn for what?"
"Oh, come on, Hero Zick. You really are a tease."
Mariel's smile only grew brighter.
"You handed something out to every other member of the party, so now it's my turn. Your taste might be a little questionable, but I'm considerate enough to overlook that and put whatever it is to good use."
"No—what exactly are you asking for?"
Mariel was still smiling. A thin vein, however, had started to stand out at her temple.
"You're equipping me too, aren't you?"
"Equipping you?"
Zick echoed her, incredulous.
"I said this gear upgrade was for combat readiness ahead of the designated mission. Reno and Noah at least come into the field with us—but you're a pure non-combatant who's going to be doing paperwork here while we're out on assignment. What equipment would I even give you?"
"Excuse me?"
Mariel's smile crumbled. A second later she stamped her foot and blew up.
"What, so I'm not a party member? You take care of everyone else and leave me out because I'm a non-combatant—that's discrimination!"
"Were you planning to wear armor while filing documents?"
"It doesn't have to be armor! Anything!"
"A dagger, then?"
"Who am I supposed to stab?"
"A staff?"
"I can't use magic!"
"Then I've got nothing for you."
"Hero Zick!"
Mariel's face went scarlet. She looked ready to seize him by the collar and shake him. Reno, who had been watching the whole show, finally burst out laughing.
"Zick. Stop teasing her and give Mariel what you prepared."
"Huh? What I prepared?"
Mariel's head snapped from Reno back to Zick. Faced with that utterly blank reaction, Zick finally lost the fight against his own laughter.
"Here. Take it."
What he produced was a small box, a little longer than a palm. It was neatly wrapped in deep navy paper and tied with a white ribbon. Mariel took it on pure reflex.
"Huh? What is this?"
Every last shred of her earlier fury had vanished. She stared down at the box in her hands, dazed.
"You said it yourself. You're one of us."
Zick grinned and tipped his chin at the box.
"So of course you get support too. Go on—open it."
Mariel looked at his face for a moment, then carefully untied the ribbon. She peeled the wrapping paper off slowly so it wouldn't crease, then lifted the lid.
Inside lay a single fountain pen.
A deep navy body, polished smooth. A silver nib and clip that gave it a clean, tidy presence. Even without flashy gems or goldwork, the moment you held it you could tell it was no cheap piece.
Mariel was silent for a long while. Her fingertips traced the surface of the pen with almost reverent care before she slowly raised her head.
"Hero Zick."
Her voice was a little thick. She cradled the open box in both hands and drew it against her chest, looking for all the world like a child who had just been given treasure. Zick scratched the back of his head, suddenly awkward.
"Looking forward to working with you. Our dedicated supporter."
The emotion at the corners of Mariel's eyes shifted into something mischievous. She straightened her back, pen still in hand, and snapped a salute.
"Yes! I'll keep working hard!"
"Starting with the backlog of paperwork, if you would."
"You give me a gift and immediately put me to work?"
"You said you were the dedicated supporter."
"Shall I return it?"
"I'm kidding."
Laughter filled the lodgings.
Weapons and armor alone were not what made a party strong. You needed the companions who cut down enemies with daggers—and you needed the ones who kept the ledgers and paperwork in order so the party could keep moving forward.
And with that, the Zick party's equipment upgrade was complete. All that remained was the designated mission itself.
From that day on, Zick and his companions began preparing for the mission in earnest.
Gerard broke in the new armor and refined his swordwork. Drake mixed a fresh batch of poisons for the dagger, and Ainz locked himself in the workshop for days fitting the new component to his staff. Noah and Reno practiced the activation of their protective necklaces.
Zick lengthened his training hours beyond what they had been before. Recalling what had happened at the black market left a weight in one corner of his mind, but there was no way to dig up answers right now. A record whose authority he still hadn't even managed to open. Forcing it would only wreck his body the way it had last time. There was only one thing he could do at present.
Grow—exactly as the Log had advised.
And so several days passed.
The news they had been waiting for arrived in Mariel's hands.
"Hero Zick!"
The lodging door flew open hard. Mariel burst into the room clutching a document envelope. On any other day he would have scolded her for not knocking first, but this was not that kind of atmosphere. The seal of the Hero Administration Headquarters was stamped across the front of the envelope.
"Don't tell me."
"Yes."
Mariel caught her breath and held the envelope out.
"The designated mission commission has arrived."
Zick shot up from his seat.
"Finally!"
The designated mission they had been waiting for. Mariel immediately gathered the rest of the party into the meeting room. A short while later, every member of the party was seated along the long table.
Mariel dragged a portable blackboard up to the head of the table and pinned up sheets summarizing the contents of the commission. The handwriting, carefully written with the fountain pen Zick had given her, sat neat and orderly on the board.
"I will now begin the briefing on the designated mission."
Mariel pointed at the board with the tip of her pen.
"The mission area is the city of Orten."
A city that was hardly unfamiliar to Zick. It was the very place where he and Mariel had first met. And now that same city was about to become the stage for a new mission.
"Recently, several suspicious movements have been detected inside Orten."
Mariel indicated the next item.
"Disappearances, the circulation of banned goods, and the coming and going of individuals whose identities cannot be verified. At first it was assessed as ordinary criminal activity—but in the course of the investigation, traces of the Demon King's army were discovered."
The air in the room turned heavy in an instant. Drake rubbed his chin.
"Meaning the Demon King's forces have slipped into the city?"
"Nothing is confirmed yet."
Mariel shook her head.
"However, ciphers and mana of the kind used by the Demon King's army were detected on-site. The Administration judged that this can no longer be treated as a simple crime case."
"And the objective of the mission?"
Gerard asked.
"To proceed to Orten, investigate the nature of these suspicious movements, and—should they prove connected to the Demon King's army—resolve the matter."
Investigation through suppression. Depending on how things unfolded, the scale of the mission could grow without limit. Even so, the corner of Zick's mouth lifted on its own.
Investigate traces of the Demon King's army. Protect a city. Wasn't that, by anyone's measure, a mission worthy of a hero's party?
Zick clenched a fist.
"Finally—we're getting a mission that actually feels like a hero's job!"
Gerard quietly closed his hand around his sword hilt. Ainz and Noah both nodded with serious faces. Drake snickered and leaned back in his chair.
"Hide-and-seek with the Demon King's army inside a city this time. A fair bit more impressive than the jobs we've had so far."
A formal designated mission connected to the Demon King's army. The weight of it was different from anything the Zick party had taken on before.
Ainz stroked his beard as he studied the board.
"If it's an investigation inside a city, we won't be able to move carelessly. We'll need to start by coordinating with the local branch."
"Yes. The Orten branch is scheduled to provide the necessary materials and a base of operations."
Mariel turned to the final page of the commission.
"Departure is in three days. All preparations must be completed by then."
"Three days is plenty."
Zick answered with confidence. The gear had been upgraded. The training had been thorough. This time, from the very start, they would show what a real hero's party looked like.
Mariel was about to tidy the commission when she suddenly spotted a final line.
"Ah—there's a postscript."
"A postscript?"
"Given the importance of the case, this mission will be conducted as a joint operation in cooperation with another hero's party."
"A joint mission?"
Zick's eyes lit up. Working a mission alongside another hero was a first for him.
"Which hero are we pairing with?"
"One moment. The cooperating party is..."
Mariel read down the end of the commission. Then her eyes went suddenly huge. She nearly dropped the fountain pen in her hand.
"What is it?"
Mariel's mouth opened and closed several times. Zick only grew more confused.
"Who on earth are we working with that you're reacting like that?"
Mariel gripped the commission with trembling hands.
"Th-this mission is..."
She swallowed once. And from her lips came a name almost too hard to believe.
"It's a joint mission with the Typhoon Hero!"