The next morning.
I got dressed in my armor, which I had neatly maintained all evening, and headed towards the Request Office with Friede.
“I-it’s, um, exciting….”
Friede was fully equipped, looking totally different than usual.
A hooded, snow-white fur cloak adorned her with metal pauldrons decorated with black feathers.
Her top, unlike her usual attire, was a leather armor with scales, and she wore gauntlets that reached her elbows.
Gauntlets.
Yes, gauntlets!
The very gauntlets that that bald martial artist wouldn’t even think of wearing…!
A wave of emotion washed over me.
Yes, this is what a proper adventurer should look like. It was armor beyond comparison with anything lesser.
Most adventurers walk around in shabby clothes with a tattered leather over them or just a single quilted armor.
It’s clear that a wrong hit with a sword or claw will send them straight to the grave.
Do they think they’re some kind of Prometheus, living with their guts hanging out? They’re lunatics!
They’re the ones who have drastically lowered the average lifespan of adventurers.
If steel armor is too expensive and heavy to move in, at the very least, they should wear some good-quality leather armor.
Why do adventurers of the same rank always wear good metal or leather gear? Because that’s experience-based wisdom!
Having seen too many comrades get taken out before earning their medals, when they finally get money, they have no choice but to get armor first!
Remember this: Steel is always right.
Encounter someone with whom you can’t communicate at all?
Pick up steel, and the conversation will flow smoothly.
Got scammed by a bad merchant?
The steel at your waist will show you how to get your money back.
A thief demands everything you have with inhuman threats?
Using your steel wisely will turn the tables. I’ve made some good cash from that.
Similarly, if you’re a sword-wielding type, you must wrap your entire body in steel and secure some extra lives—just like me.
◆◆
“Ah, Hilde! Over here!”
As I opened the door to the Request Office, Gerda waved her right hand lightly from a corner table, welcoming me.
She seemed to have arrived early.
We had come quite early ourselves… so maybe she was just extra diligent as a patroller.
“Good morning, Gerda. You’re here early?”
“Hunters need to sleep less in the morning; patrollers are no different.”
I waved back in greeting and pulled out a chair across from her.
Creeeak.
Friede, who had followed silently behind me, sat down in the chair next to mine.
“Hilde, who is this…?”
Gerda tilted her head slightly, eyeing Friede cautiously. She seemed to wonder if this girl was the warrior class I mentioned.
“Oh, let me introduce you. This is Friede, an esteemed warrior from Levant—”
Before I could finish, the socially awkward Friede herself shook her head lightly and introduced herself.
“Siegfried. Twenty years old.”
Gerda, taken aback, asked again, “Siegfried? What a classic name. Nice to meet you. I’m Gerda, a patroller.”
“…Yes.”
Friede nodded slightly, her golden eyes wide as though she had lost her glasses, looking like a near-sighted patient.
She was radiating major social awkwardness vibes. It’s not like she’s a shy cat or anything. She was practically oozing discomfort!
“Hmm.”
Gerda shrugged her shoulders, giving a smirk that was like, “I’ve seen this reaction too many times before.”
Well, Gerda was a bit taller and more robust than me, so she probably often witnessed others shrink in front of her.
Just like a small, turtle-necked, skinny bespectacled guy unable to breathe or speak in front of a tattooed muscle bear.
“Hilde, you mentioned someone else is a magician? It seems they haven’t arrived yet.”
“Right. It looks like she’s still not here…”
Amy had yet to arrive at the Request Office. Just like last time.
“Well, she’ll be here soon enough.”
Of course, this time she wouldn’t be late to that extent.
Last time, she was free to be late because she was a client, but now she was one of the party members.
If she didn’t want to be scolded, she’d better show up on time.
Thus, I waited calmly, chatting as I anticipated Amy’s arrival.
“Hilde, have you just been promoted? I heard you registered as an adventurer less than a hundred days ago… Your skills seem remarkable! It gives me peace of mind as a party member.”
“That’s too much praise. I was just lucky. But Gerda, you seem quite experienced yourself. I feel like I’ll have to ask you for advice a lot.”
We were trying to bridge the gap of an impromptu party member by buttering each other up a little.
“…I haven’t even had a hundred days either.”
“What? What did you say?”
“Ah, nothing….”
Of course, that connection was only between me and Gerda.
Friede tried to join in with a whisper, but the moment Gerda looked her way, she tucked her head down, quietly crumpling.
Her reaction was almost pitifully dorky it was kind of cute.
Anyway, as we were chatting, not long after, a familiar red-haired figure burst through the door of the Request Office.
“Well, look who’s here early. I’m not late, am I?”
Amy, spotting us, gave an awkward grin as she walked over.
“Not yet.”
She was the last to arrive, but it wasn’t late. The other three had just come a bit earlier.
“Good to hear. So this lady and this… little one? Who is she? Is she the new party member?”
As Amy nodded satisfactorily at Gerda, she made a strange face and chortled at Friede’s sight.
Yeah, Friede does look a bit lacking in the “trustworthy” department. Considering Amy’s personality, it was an expected reaction.
Though a bit rude.
“This little girl is not….”
Friede grimaced as she defended herself while Amy chuckled in disbelief.
“No way she’s not. She looks barely twelve—”
“No, I’m not.”
Friede’s voice had lowered even further, now sounding almost hostile.
“She’s twenty. She’s my age.”
I quickly revealed Friede’s age to prevent the emotional showdown spiraling out of control.
As incredible as it sounded to me, she was claiming to be twenty.
“…Twenty?”
Amy’s expression twisted into one that looked like she had just tasted something off.
“Twenty? With that face? That height?”
“That’s what she claims.”
“So, you’re saying she’s two years older than me…?”
Amy’s face was filled with disbelief. Given her reaction, I simply shrugged, adopting an attitude of “If you don’t believe it, fine by me.”
“Really? Is she truly twenty?”
“…I’m twenty, okay.”
Friede nodded firmly, answering in a resolute tone.
“So, stop talking down to me.”
Every single syllable had a distinct emphasis, punctuating her words intentionally.
“…Okay.”
It seemed she was quite irked about being treated like a little child by someone younger.
“Hahaha, funny. If it’s uncomfortable, just speak casually back. I don’t even know polite speech, you know? Never learned it,” Amy replied, shaking her head.
She then sat down with a thud in the chair to my left, like she had run out of things to say.
…The mood had completely soured.
I sighed deeply and patted Friede’s shoulder to cheer her up.
It seemed her and Amy’s personalities were the worst combo.
Amy, not inherently bad, had a bit of an arrogant, “I’m a magician” vibe, while Friede stuttered and was shy but wasn’t weak either.
Honestly, they had no chance of connecting. It was pretty much like a kind-hearted bully and a prickly nerd—cat and crow dynamics at its worst.
◆◆
“Okay, let’s get going.”
Despite the minor awkward ending, all party members had gathered, so there was no reason to delay further.
“I’ve reserved a carriage, so follow me. Friede, Amy, let’s go!”
I headed towards the city gates with them, greeting the coachman I’d left waiting there before climbing aboard the carriage.
As we all settled in, unloading our burdens in the center, the sound of rattling clatter began, and the background slowly started to drift away.
Thus, we left the city, heading for the crude catacombs.
Along the way, there were many other carriages rented by adventurers, not just ours.
Those who couldn’t afford the carriage were walking or riding horses.
Given how this was a major request from the guild, it seemed there were quite a few participants beyond our party.
“Ah.”
As we continued, I spotted some familiar faces. Adventurers who had applied to my party but turned back after being rejected.
‘They gathered all together…’
A trio of a swordsman, an archer, and a pseudo-priest. Their names were Leo, Rick, and Bobby, if I remembered correctly.
They too were boarding a freight carriage, and it seemed they’d recruited some new members, bringing their number to seven.
Among them was a swordsman who looked barely out of his boyhood alongside three girls.
Seeing them chatting cheerily, I thought to myself that perhaps I had misjudged those three guys.
Well, since it didn’t look like we’d meet again, it didn’t really matter.
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