Book 2: Chapter 4: (4)

「Swords made of mithril are so expensive that mithril is usually used for only part of the sword, but this is made entirely out of mithril. It’s a treasured weapon. No matter what dire financial straits they were in, the Kache family would not sell it, and yet…」

From that day on, there were no longer any knights serving the Kache family.

In their place there sprang up adventurers who gave financial support to the many orphans in the Kache family’s old fief.

「Just because the Kache family had been disbanded, that did not mean I threw away my loyalty to them. And so I thought about what I could do, and I reasoned that I had more brawn than brains……」

She certainly had a good body. No, no, that’s not what she meant. She was saying that she was better-suited to using her physical strength to earn money as an adventurer than she was to using her intellect to become a merchant.

Ria certainly tended to charge in without thinking; she was quite a straightforward person.

「Adventurers are almost all ruffians and has-been soldiers. There are plenty of former criminals, too, but a beautiful female ex-knight turning up to register at the Adventurer’s Guild became quite the story in the tavern there. That was the situation.」

It seemed as if Deet already knew that Ria was a former knight, but that she had not known the precise details of how Ria came to be an adventurer.

「You were well-known too, Deet. It’s written in the ‘Principles of the Adventurer’s Guild’ that govern the dungeon that, for safety’s sake, adventurers should form a party and explore together, but I heard about the elf sorceress who always explored by herself.」

「It’s okay for me! I’m competent and experienced enough to go it alone!」

I get it. Is that why she was called the Lone Sorceress?

I was getting a little worried about Deet. The fact is, when I came across her, she had been poisoned and was close to death.

「Deet. How about you come exploring together with me and Ria?」

「No way!」

「Aren’t you aiming to become the Dungeon Master?」

「H-humph……Well, I’ll think about it.」

Ria looked blank.

「Sir Thor, what does that mean? ‘Dungeon Master’?」

「U-um, no, it’s nothing. Carry on with the story, please, carry on.」

「……」

She stopped herself from continuing.

Thinking about it a little, when I met Ria, she wasn’t carrying a mithril sword.

And although she had encouraged Deet to form a party, she had been lying alone in the dungeon.

Ria was probably about to talk about the real issue at hand, the thing she found it so difficult to speak of.

Slowly, Ria began to tell us the story.

* * *

「We’re very grateful to you for everything you’ve done, Ria.」

「Oh, not at all. Take care of yourselves, everyone.」

The party of beginner adventurers that I had been leading almost the whole time broke up. They were so-called ‘part-time farmer adventurers’ who made a little extra money from adventuring in the season when they weren’t working on their farms.

They were good people, but they weren’t competent enough to explore any deeper into the dungeon than the second level.

For my next party, I wanted to join together with stronger people. If possible, adventurers who could explore the fourth or fifth level.

「Why not band together with me, Deet?」

「Back again, are you, Lady Busybody Knight? Sorry, but I’m sick of listening to the ‘Principles of the Adventurer’s Guild’.」

「No, it’s not about that.」

Deet seemed to think that I was inviting her to join me because I was encouraging her to follow the ‘Principles of the Adventurer’s Guild’ – in other words, to form a party for safety’s sake.

That’s not it.It’s because I want to earn money. I’d been leading the part-time farmer-adventurers for the past three weeks, and I’d earned almost nothing.

Without a doubt, the meals for the children at the orphanage would be getting scanty.

「Please, form a party with me instead of drinking in broad daylight.」

「Don’t wanna. I’ve decided I’m not gonna to join anyone’s party!」

At that point, a pair of young male adventurers came into the tavern.

「Our limit is the third level, yeah?」

「Yeah, the fourth level and below is really tough. You can earn completely different amounts if you make it down to the fourth level, but…」

I heard the conversation between the two men. By this point, I was able to guess an adventurer’s ability by looking at them. I thought those two were pretty skilled.

But why were there only two of them? It’s said that a party starts to function with three people or more.

That’s because you can coordinate attack, defence, and support.

Having three people in your party instead of two makes a world of difference.

「Who are those two, Deet? I haven’t seen them around here much.」

「Oh, them? That’s Klein and Barney. They escaped from a neighbouring country. They’re ‘deserters’.」

A deserter is someone who runs away from conscription or from the battlefield and becomes a criminal for it. They turn up among adventurers sometimes. But there are also criminals who are wanted in their home country, so people rarely form a party with them.

「I’m going to go and talk to them.」

「Whaaaat? Knock it off, c’mon.」

I joined them at the small round table where the two of them were sitting.

「Please allow me to join you.」

「Hey, you’re that busybody knight. Lady Aria.」

I didn’t know them, but they seemed to know all about me.

「H-hey! Klein!」

I see. So the warrior-like man who had called me ‘busybody knight’ was Klein, and the one who was rebuking him, who looked like he was a wizard, was Barney.

「It’s okay, Barney.」

「You……know my name? You know it, and you want to speak to me?」

「Yes. Just to know why you became an adventurer.」

「H-hey, Barney. This noble lady is speaking to you. Don’t use that tone with her.」

Klein seemed to be very straightforward, whereas Barney was a more cautious person.

「Klein, shut up. And how can I help a noble such as yourself?」

「Will you do me the favour of forming a party with me?」

「Huh?」

Klein and Barney looked at one another.

「H-hang on, Lady Aria. Do you understand? If we returned to our hometown, we’d probably be treated as criminals.」

Klein said ‘criminals’ in such a voice that it carried throughout the tavern.

Seeing the sour expression on Barney’s face, Klein’s own expression changed as if to say ‘oops’, and he looked down.

「So we can’t form a party with you, Lady Aria.」

「Klein. Where is the cowardice or crime in running away from war?」

「Desertion is a crime.」

「You had the courage not to kill anyone.」

Klein and I went back and forth like this for a while, but we couldn’t reach a conclusion as to whether they were guilty or not.

Watching us, Barney laughed and clapped his hands.

「Ha ha ha! Does that stuff really matter, Klein? We’re short-handed, and in a pinch. What reason do we have for turning down a lady knight who has made a name for herself through her skill with a sword?」

「Well, that’s true, but…」

「Besides, turning down an offer from a beautiful woman like this really would be a crime.」

「H-hey……Don’t say stuff like that, you……W-well, I guess…」

And so I banded together with Klein and Barney to form a party.

Once I’d joined Klein and Barney, exploring the dungeon was fun.

「Your shield really is like a wall of iron, isn’t it, Ria? Until you joined, I was our tank, but I don’t have any defensive skills, and I can’t help it that I find it easier to attack.」

In his own way, Klein was a skilled warrior.

If I blocked an enemy’s attack, he would unfailingly slay the enemy with his sword.

「What are you on about? That time we were attacked by a giant rat, you put Ria in a tight spot by not attacking quickly enough, remember? It’s a good thing I mowed it down with magic.」

Barney’s magic was also pretty skilful. He said his focus was on being a support caster, but he had some powerful offensive magic, too.

「Wh- what?! That’s rich coming from you, Barney!」

「Now, now. We found an artifact and managed to sell it for a good price, so it was all right, wasn’t it?」

「Yeah. Let’s go to the guild tavern tonight and have a drink together.」

All adventurers like drinking, but I had never really drunk much.

「I don’t really like alcohol…」

「What are you saying? You have to come with us tonight, Ria!」

「Wait! Klein!」

And with that, Klein went off to the inn ahead of us. Left behind, Barney laughed.

「That really is the best he can do, huh.」

「What?」

「In any case, come with us tonight, yeah?」

「Okay. I will.」