In the office with the heavy smell of wood, Neil Urbahns, the head of the 7th District of the Explorers Guild, sat grinning. He had just remembered the words his daughter had said some time ago.
"I don't intend to be my father's doll for the rest of my life."
When the jailbreak incident happened, he realized that his daughter was rebelling. This was because she had no reason to talk to the branch manager. He couldn't help but conduct a serious investigation, and when he did, he found out that his daughter was secretly seeking a position in the Guild.
A woman has a woman's life.
For a one-time uprising, this was quite plausible. Despite the headache, he was a little happy at the thought that she was indeed his daughter.
I told you, be careful even with the way you breathe.
Even such ambitions can be considered cute, because she was his child.
The head of the branch seems to have chosen my daughter after all.
Bjorn Yandel was a barbarian that he intended to get rid of one day, but in a short period of time he had grown a lot. Today, the head of the branch tried to contact this person. Neal still did not know what his daughter intended to do with the barbarian. However, it became clear that the head of the branch took the side of his daughter. This fact was very unpleasant to him.
You dared to rebel against me.
It was not that he could not understand why the branch manager had made such a choice. The latter was no longer in Neil's favor, and he already had someone in mind who would take over as branch manager after he left. Since the supervisor was aware of this as well, he must have been trying to cling to at least the rotten rope. However, understanding and forgiveness were completely different things.
This time, I must use this opportunity to deal with both of them completely.
Neil sipped his tea with shining eyes. Initially, he intended to leave the barbarian alone. He shuddered at the humiliation of the time, but in just a few months the barbarian had won his own position. There was no reason to make another enemy, but now everything has changed. There must have been a reason why his clever daughter was trying to contact the barbarian.
... In addition, it continues to bother me strangely.
Neil Urbahns made a decision. If something bothered him, he just had to get rid of it before it became a big problem.
***
*Thunder!*
How long has it been since I left the Explorers Guild? As I returned to the inn, thunder roared in the once clear sky and rain poured down.
Bloody hell.
Dark clouds suddenly covered the sky. I thought about just walking in the rain, but deciding that it could just be passing rain, I went to a nearby tavern. It was time to eat anyway, so I decided to see what was there.
"Here's the food you ordered."
Grilled meat, stewed pumpkin, and rye bread warmed my insides, but somehow I felt like something was missing. It wasn't like a cheap tavern where lunch cost 300 stones like in the past.
... Misha is definitely better at cooking meat.
I ordered another rum drink, thinking about buying some meat tomorrow and asking her to grill it. Now that I was here, I decided to pass the time until the rain stopped. If I came back now, Misha wouldn't be there anyway.
Or maybe it's still there because of the rain?
As I drank alone to the sound of the rain, my thoughts ran wild. It seemed like a short time ago I was eating stone bread, looking for goblin traps, but it's been half a year.
Pizza and beer... They don't sell that here, right?
The idea that I wanted to go home was greatly extinguished. I was just used to everything: the creaky bed, the small one-room with one bathroom, the daily life of laughing and chatting with colleagues while drinking cheap beer.
I have also changed a lot.
I could go on listing the shitty things in this world all day. But if you were to ask me if I had never had a lot of fun... It's not true.
At first, my goal was survival. But as a gamer, I felt the joy of gradually becoming stronger. Chatting and laughing among the crew wasn't too bad either. It was a little strange.
If I hadn't been brought here, I'd probably still be playing games alone in the corner of the room.
Lee Han-so, a 29-year-old office worker, had a very small social circle. Of course, there were no complaints or inconveniences. I was steadily preparing for retirement and was able to live alone without relying on others, unlike in this world where you were forced to find companions.
If I think so... I must have grown attached to them.
I took a sip of rum that had an unnecessary sweet aftertaste. When I thought of Hikuroda, Rothmiller, and Dvalki, my taste buds felt bitter.
If I want to get to the upper floors, I will have no choice but to form a new team.
Starting from the 5th floor, the current members wouldn't be strong enough. I saw the limits of their growth. First of all, Dvalki wasn't from a magic tower, and he had an inherent problem with low mana.
He can learn new magic now, but it's safe to say that he won't be able to use rank 6 spells.
Not to mention Rothmiller. On the lower floors, he only needed to orient himself on the terrain, but on the upper floors, a high level of combat was also necessary for scouts. This was due to the fact that the maximum number of people in a team is 5.
Unless he had some sort of Scout Awakening, the 4th floor was his limit.
Of course, unlike the two, Hikurod could play an active role on the upper floors if he had the right gear. But there was no need to have two tanks in the team.
... As soon as Misha's stats improve a little, I will have to form a new team.
To be honest, I've been thinking about it for a long time, but I've finally made up my mind. The battle with the Troll, which happened this time, had a great effect on me. I wanted to keep climbing up, and with them, that goal was unattainable. It may sound cruel, but it was a decision for their sake as well. The upper floors were infested with monsters worse than Trolls. It was better not to count on a repeat of this successful survival.
"Yandel?"
What...?
When I turned to answer the call, there was a man I didn't expect to see at all: Mr. Bear.
"Urakbrak?"
— ... Urikfried. If it's hard to pronounce, you can just call me Abman.
"Then I'll do it."
Mr. Bear sat down across from me, without asking permission, which matched his macho appearance. Since I also often did this, I was not particularly offended.
"I didn't expect you to come as a client.
"A client?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you. This place is run by my wife.
He was the owner, wasn't he? It was information I didn't know, but it wasn't surprising. If you were a rank 5 researcher, you should have enough money to open a tavern. If we are to be surprised, then something else.
"You have a wife, but you still go to the maze alone?"
"The tavern is now at a loss. I have to earn at least a little money.
Well, then I had nothing to say. It wasn't something I had to fuss about.
"Anyway, it's a strange coincidence that you're the owner of the place where I came to escape the rain.
— Coincidence is an understatement. Björn Yandel, thanks to this I am now sure.
"In what?"
Mr. Bear replied as if nothing had happened.
"Will you take me on your team?"
And? A what?
Why does he suddenly ask to be accepted into the team?
It was an unexpected topic, but it made sense when I listened to him.
From Mr. Bear's point of view, I was a proven researcher.
"If you can save a complete stranger in such a situation, you won't stab me in the back.
Although I asked for 5 million stones, apparently saving him with one of the best potions inside the Chasm, which was blocked from the outside world, left a good impression.
. .. An interesting turn of events.
Tank support, summoned creature, and heavy physical damage from a distance. It was clear that Mr. Bear would have no trouble doing his job even on the 5th floor or above.
However, I resolutely refused his offer.
"You must have misunderstood something. This time I went in separately, but I have a permanent team.
Dvalki will be part of the team for a while, so I couldn't just leave someone aside to turn that person on.
Surprisingly, Mr. Bear nodded accommodatingly.
"As you say." What we talked about today can be discussed later, when there is a vacancy, or if you leave the team.
"A free seat?"
"You should know what I mean."
With Mr. Bear's meaningful look, the conversation about crew membership came to an end. After that, we had a short conversation about when to return the 5 million stones.
"Since I have put up unused equipment on the exchange, I should be able to give it to you within the promised time.
Seeing the empty interior of the tavern made my heart heavy, but it was decided to exchange 5 million stones for his pledge, meeting again here in 10 days.
"See you then."
"Take this." You'll need it.
It didn't look like the rain would stop even if I waited any longer, so I borrowed the cloak from Mr. Bear and headed to the inn.
*Whoosh!*
Heavy rain hit like a typhoon. Running through the strangely deserted streets, I immediately reached my inn.
What's going on here?
"Oh, are you here, Bjorn?" You have a guest.
"Waaaaa!" Uncle...!
Like a sudden rain on a sunny day, an unexpected encounter awaited me.
***
Since that incident 10 years ago, she has lived moderately in many things. She considered herself confident in her patience, at least until today.
"Wanting to possess something that belongs to someone else deserves punishment, doesn't it? Ervena froze at the thought that involuntarily escaped from her lips.
"Hm?" You... tougher than you seem, right?
Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to have noticed the true meaning of what she had just said.
God, what am I carrying...?
Strictly speaking, it wasn't even a theft. Bjorn was not an object. In addition, it was she who herself made the choice to leave her Uncle and be with her sister. But what was this feeling now?
*Crunch*
Strangely, hostility was growing inside her. Would she have been able to defeat this woman in a fight? She couldn't help but think as she watched her opponent.
"Come to think of it, we don't even know each other's names. I'm Misha Karlstein.
— ... Эрвена Форнасси ди Терсия.
— ... Wow, even your name is beautiful... Ervena, nice to meet you.
"Exactly...
Hiding her reluctance, Ervena accepted the handshake. Then they sat and talked. She had no desire to get close to a woman, but she wanted to ask a question.
"Miss Karlstein, do you happen to meet anyone?"
"Am I dating?" Don't be funny. Bjorn and I are just teammates, teammates!
"Hmm, is that so?"
For some reason, her anger seemed to subside, although it was strange that Bjorn's name came up when she first asked if Misha was dating someone. It seemed that there was still something to investigate.
"I'm sorry. You said you washed together, so I was wrong.
"Did you wash together?" What are you saying?! I just borrowed his bathroom.
"Have you borrowed a men's bathroom?" Your inn must be quite far away?
"Well, it's not that far...
— ... Not really?
At these words, Ervena's eyebrows arched.
Bjorn may not have thought about it, but it was clear that this woman had cunning thoughts, cunning enough to use such a dastardly trick.
"Ahem!" So how do you and Bjorn know each other?
Was she trying to divert attention away from herself?
This time Misha asked a question.
Ervena answered honestly.
"My Uncle and I were teammates.
"Hm?" Uncle? Bjorn is only 20 years old...
"Ah, it's just a nickname between us, so you don't have to worry about it.
"Nickname...?"
"Is something wrong?"
Casually tilting her head, the beastman smiled awkwardly.
— No, I don't. What is the problem? Of course not. No!
Her mouth was smiling, but her tail was beating against the bedspread as if she was in a bad mood.
Seeing this, Ervena felt a strange sense of victory until a surprise counterattack followed.
"My Uncle and I have a special relationship. He was my first teammate, and we also had our first return drink...
"Hehe, but doesn't it matter to you alone?"
— ... Forgive me?
"Anyway, I've been with Bjorn for a few months, and I've never heard of you.
The beastman smiled brightly and plunged the dagger into her heart. Ervena could not conceal her bewilderment at the sudden change in attitude. However, instinctively, she understood one thing.
Did you say your name was Ervena? You seem cute enough. But... Don't you think that openly showing such hostility to another person and treating him like an idiot will make him lose his temper?
It was only natural that she felt hostility at the sight of this woman.
"Hmm, but thanks for one thing. Thanks to you, I think I won't be confused anymore.
"What's troubling you?"
"I don't know. Don't you already understand what I mean?
This woman was an enemy who was trying to take away something dear from her.