**Episode 037: Forced Level Up**

“All right, looks like everyone’s here!!”

“Hai!”

Six men in bodysuits lined up in front of us.

“It suits you well. Is everyone here, Masayoshi?”

“No, there are about fifteen more in the hideout.”

“I see. Tomorrow, bring them all here. Make sure to explain everything.”

“U-understood.”

From now on, people will gather to their place. It’s better if all the core members of the organization are strong. So, I’ll do my best to train everyone.

“So, what’s the plan from here?”

Come to think of it, I didn’t mention what we’re going to do.

“What do we do? Well, it’s leveling up.”

“What? Are we going to fight those monsters?”

The leader makes a displeased face at the presented content. Even though they must have defeated some monsters to level up, there’s no need to make such a face.

“That’s right. If we don’t do that, our levels won’t go up. You’re already leveling up, right? You know that, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but… Wait, how do you know my level?”

The leader, who was starting to understand my question, realized that his level was known.

“I have an appraisal skill, so I already know your status.”

“Ah. We were trying to intimidate someone with that kind of ability. That doesn’t make much sense.”

“Don’t worry about it. It seems like you were thinking about us, so it’s fine.”

“Mind your own business.”

“I’m saying it’s fine. Anyway, let’s go level up.”

Masayoshi regrets getting involved with us without understanding our power. However, it’s not like it was a waste since we were able to meet like this. Let’s move the conversation forward.

“Where to?”

“That’s something you can leave to Enjyu here.”

“Nii!”

Introducing Enjyu to Masayoshi, who tilts his head while crossing his arms. Enjyu had been observing the situation while perched on my shoulder, but now, for the first time, she chirped energetically, saying, “Nice to meet you.”

“Whoa. I thought that thing was a doll or something.”

Masayoshi is surprised that Enjyu, who had been motionless until now, moved.

“Why do I have to put on a doll?”

“I thought maybe you had that kind of hobby…”

What do these guys really think of me?

“I’d like to thoroughly question them later about what they think of me, but oh well. If you leave it to Enjyu, she’ll take you to a place with a lot of monsters.”

“Wow! That thing is amazing!”

“Yeah, right? She’s my familiar.”

“Familiar?”

“It’s like a pet that can fight.”

“Nii! Nii!”

Masayoshi seems to not understand about familiars, so I gave a rough explanation while Enjyu protested.

“What? Are Enjyu and I a family? Of course, that’s how it is.”

“Nii.”

I stroked Enjyu’s head on my shoulder, and when I assured them that I understood, she rubbed her head against my face.

Ah, she’s too cute; I feel like I’m going to die.

“What’s that? It’s so cute.”

“That’s right. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone with the Tamer class among you guys, so it might not be possible, but if there are other members, you can have such a cute family too.”

Masayoshi is probably in his early twenties. He has a sturdy build and a tough-looking face, and although there’s a bit of discomfort, there’s no helping that Enjyu is cute.

I’ll tell him about the Tamer class.

“Really? Not a single person had that class.”

“Well, don’t get too down. There might be someone among the new members in the future.”

However, since no one had the Tamer class, Masayoshi seemed depressed, so I patted him on the shoulder to encourage him.

“Hahaha… That’s true.”

“Okay, it got a bit late, but let’s move.”

“Understood.”

With renewed spirits, we followed Enjyu and began to move.

“Come on! Attack already!”

“Hiiiiii!”

“You’ll die quickly like that!”

“Help meeeee!”

“Just fight!”

“Fine, let’s do this!”

Immediately after moving, we encountered a group of Shadows. We threw Masayoshi and his group into the midst of them.

The Shadows recognized Masayoshi’s group and swarmed towards us.

Some tried to escape, but we stopped them and directed them towards the attacking Shadows.

Shuji and I only defended against attacks that seemed fatal, allowing Masayoshi and his group to defeat the Shadows that kept coming.

Occasionally, following Enjyu’s senses, we brought in additional Shadows, and we continued the Spartan power-leveling for hours.

As a result, everyone leveled up. Some even went up by two levels.