Chapter 2
It has already been several weeks since I encountered the Respawn of the Labyrinth Guardian. Following the news of the Demon Lord’s emergence, the Adventurer’s Guild was bustling with even more activity than usual.
While the existence of a Demon Lord is a threat to the general populace, for adventurers, it is actually something to be welcomed. First and foremost, the work simply increases. As the Labyrinths become active, the number of monsters overflowing into the outskirts rises. Consequently, the Guild sees an increase in requests to subdue these monsters or cull them before they can overflow in the first place.
Then there is the revival of Labyrinth Guardians, the discovery of new areas due to Labyrinth mutations, or even the generation of entirely new Labyrinths.
Depending on the region, these phenomena can be extremely dangerous. However, this is Tandem. It is one of the world’s leading Labyrinth Cities, boasting the highest class of adventurers in both quality and quantity. Therefore, the idea that we couldn’t handle these situations is practically impossible.
As described, the emergence of a Demon Lord is, for the adventurers of Tandem, an event that is, above all else, profitable.
In the Guild cafeteria, wrapped in even more energy than usual, I was taking lunch with Linfa.
After my blunder at the training grounds, I had prepared myself for the worst—being handed over to the military police as a pervert, or at the very least, the dissolution of our party. Fortunately, however, we are still working together like this.
In fact, Linfa even apologized for Yuno getting angry and attacking me. Aside from the fact that Linfa wasn’t at fault, Yuno’s anger—as a little sister—was entirely justified. If anything, I didn’t dare dodge and simply let it hit me on purpose. I told her there was no need to apologize, and then I apologized about ten times harder in return. The fault lies entirely with me. Yes.
By the way, Linfa, who is currently eating right in front of me, is not wearing a hood. I don’t know what change of heart occurred after that incident, but she has started spending time without it.
Looking at Linfa’s face again in this state… I start to question my own judgment for believing she was a boy all this time. You could argue it’s androgynous, but her facial features are constructed quite cutely.
No, but come on… if you wear a hood pulled down low twenty-four seven, it affects the impression… plus the tone of voice and the boyish speech… I think there’s room for extenuating circumstances… don’t you think?
Realizing I was staring intently, Linfa stopped eating.
“Wh-What is it? Is there something on my face…?”
“No, just thinking you’re cute, and…”
“Wha-, c-cu-… !?”
Crap, I just voiced my thoughts reflexively… and I only blurted out a very fragmented part of them.
Linfa pulled the hood up and turned away. I might have made her uncomfortable. Yuno, who has been appearing more often lately, is making some sort of wild, agitated movements. What kind of emotion is that?
“Ah… sorry, I said something weird.”
“N-No, it’s fine…”
Linfa fidgeted, looking restless. The conversation cut off there.
“Do you mind if I share the table?”
While we continued our meal in that awkward atmosphere, someone suddenly called out to us. The voice belonged to the receptionist, Carine.
“I don’t mind. Is it okay with you, Linfa?”
Linfa gave a small nod.
“Thank you very much! Pardon the intrusion.”
Saying that, as soon as she sat down next to me, Carine stretched her arms out wide.
“Nnnngh~!”
“Looks like you’re having a rough time.”
“Yes, it’s truly terrible~! It’s so busy that my lunch break fly in the blink of an eye.”
It seems the Guild staff are being chased by work every day, dealing with the influx of guild users due to the Demon Lord’s emergence and processing the requests flying in one after another. Naturally, Carine, being a receptionist, was no exception and looked thoroughly exhausted.
“Honestly, it’s so hard… just the other day, a Saint was dispatched from the Divine Guidance Church…”
“From the Divine Guidance Church? And a Saint, at that? That actually happens?”
The Divine Guidance Church is the state religion of the Kingdom of Holkia, to which Tandem belongs, and is the largest religious power in the surrounding nations.
They possess their own military force, and while they technically have a cooperative relationship with the Adventurer’s Guild, this is the first time I’ve heard of them purposely coming to the Guild—and a Saint, no less.
“Yes, I was surprised too. She came alone, saying she absolutely wanted to cooperate during this crisis… The Guild Master handled it at first, but after talking for a bit, he just tossed the responsibility to us, saying, ‘Introduce her to some suitable party’!”
“Well… that sounds just like him.”
I could vividly picture Elanza’s irresponsible handling of the situation.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
Be that as it may.
A “Saint” is a special Job class that, like a “Hero,” can only be acquired through a divine oracle. Unlike a Hero, however, they are chosen only from those belonging to the Divine Guidance Church.
Possessing high aptitude for powerful healing magic and Holy attribute magic, it is an incredibly strong class excellent in both offense and defense. However, due to the nature of the role, they are usually kept as patrons of the Church, so they almost never operate as adventurers.
As an exception, it is customary for an excellent Saint to join a Hero’s party—I believe one was accompanying Tandem’s Hero as well—but basically, they attend to various sacred duties at the Church.
For one of those Saints to join an adventurer’s party and operate… it’s a bit surprising.
“Then… the party that was assigned such a member must have been overjoyed, right?”
“Umm… it seems that didn’t go very well. She’s already in the state of having moved through about three different parties…”
“Ehh? What’s that about?”
“Why did you look at me just now?”
“No, nothing…”
I instinctively glanced at Linfa, and she returned a flat, scornful stare.
“At first, we introduced her to an A-Rank party, but it seems their skills didn’t mesh well. So we thought, ‘Okay, a B-Rank then,’ but that also…”
“And following that flow, she’s now with a D-Rank equivalent party?”
Carine nodded with a bitter expression.
Well, just because she’s a Saint doesn’t mean she excels in combat, so I guess it’s possible.
“At this rate, we might see the birth of the first Saint in Guild history to be slapped with a Mediation restriction…!”
“Ah…”
“Oi, I said why are you looking at me?”
“No reason…”
I have no ulterior motive.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just gracefully have her return to the Church?”
“That is truuue, but… well, we are pros, aren’t we? Sure, part of it is because the other party is a Lady Saint. But even before that, thinking that this is a result of our inability to mediate properly leaves me with complex feelings…”
In short, she’s facing her Guild duties with a sense of responsibility. Come to think of it, we’ve known each other for a while, but as someone who knew her when she was a rookie, I feel deeply moved.
“Carine… you’ve grown into such a fine girl…”
“From whose perspective are you saying that?”
Keeping the small talk moderate, we finished our meal and left the Guild to head toward the labyrinth we had scheduled. Carine also returned to her reception duties.
Still, a Saint as an adventurer, huh? I imagine the party she joined must be walking on eggshells. Perhaps the reason they don’t “mesh” stems from things like that.
Well, it’s a story that has nothing to do with us.
After leaving the Guild, we visited a Danger Level C labyrinth located in the outskirts, a bit farther than usual, to help digest our food. If you move too vigorously right after eating, you get a stomachache. We need to walk a bit.
“Hah!”
With a sharp exhale, the blade swung through, slicing off the wing of a massive bat-like monster.
For a swordsman like me, these types of flying monsters are not very compatible opponents. After all, the enemy is in the sky, making it difficult to initiate an attack… However, there are strange guys in this world who, despite being in a swordsman-class Job, easily knock enemies out of the sky. They send flying slashes or start aerial battles—doing whatever they please.
Naturally, I can’t do that. No, strictly speaking, it’s not that I can’t, but if I did that, it’s obvious I’d just collapse from mana depletion.
Therefore, when I deal with that type, I often take a stance of guarding the rear guard while aiming for a counter.
Intercepting enemies that fly in one after another serves as decent training, but honestly, I haven’t been put under that much load today.
Why?
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