Volume 6 - CH 7

We have a new member today, Luka, but basically our fighting style will not change.

After confirming the formation against the goblins on the first layer, we went downstairs without any problems.

Luka's level is the same as ours, so there's no problem.

"Somehow, I don't get it."

But Luka seemed to sense something was wrong. Well, I'll listen to her. It's no good if you start talking about it in the middle of a fight.

"Well, it seemed like we were having a good fight. ...... What went wrong?"

Serina asks quietly. She and Luka were both vanguards, so they would need to coordinate their positioning and timing.

And if they were at the same level and their opponent was a famous B-rank, it would be even more difficult.

I wondered what kind of detailed tactics they would come up with.

"That's not it, that's him!"

Luka turned around and pointed at me. Oh, it's me?

"Yeah. Alec is the leader of the party, so he usually only gives orders, but this is a formation for a back attack. It's not like Alec is playing around."

Serina explained with a straight face, without making fun of me.

"I know that. because my party was like that, too. But I don't like the fact that he's such a perverted, erotic oldman, and yet his instructions are so decent."

"Shut up. What is it?　If I told you to take off your clothes in combat, would you be very happy with that? Luka. Aah?"

"Come on, Alec, you don't have to be so mad."

"I'm not mad."

"Alec is a man who takes his survival very seriously, so I think you can trust him in battle."

Serina said.

"That's only for himself. What about the lives of your friends?"

"Of course he's thinking about them. When it was with Nene-chan, We hunted goblins endlessly until she reached level 13 on the first layer, and then he power-levelled her."

"What? Thirteen? Just goblins? That's already the level of torment and torture, isn't it? I can't believe she made it that high."

"Haha. Well, as expected, that was a little hard. We've only been here for about two months, but so far no one has died."

"Except for Marth, who died."

"Lily, he was in a different party. We've discussed how to deal with the problem. Well, whatever it is, I'm making sure that everyone, including my Clan, doesn't die."

I said earnestly.

If you die, it's over, because you can't get it back.

"Yeah. Hannah was like that, though. Oh, Hannah was the leader of my previous party, not the one who betrayed me. That was before."

Luka's party.

"The Silver Scorpions, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Well, we're getting a name for ourselves, aren't we?"

"I've only heard about it from the innkeeper. But what happened to Hannah's party?"

Luka opened her mouth, but the words didn't come out right away.

After moving her lips a few times, her eyes blinked and she finally answered.

"……I screwed up on the seventh layer. I managed to heal myself while Hannah and Irving were holding off the dragon. But then that time, a strange flame demon sprang up separately. So I panicked and we all split up. Lloyd and I managed to escape to the meeting place, but Hannah and the others never came back."

"I see."

"W-well, Yeah! I'm sure Hanna and the others are safe."

"You know, Serina, don't force to say anything. They're probably dead by now. Well, maybe they're tired of you screwing up and they're reuniting the party for another adventure right now."

Thinking that encouragement would be too painful, so I said something bad.

"I hope so. Hannah and I had been partying for a good long time, and she wasn't the kind of person who just disappeared without a word."

The conversation trailed off into a heavy silence.

Who was the one who suggested the damp talk?

"Aah!　Stop! Stop!　I'm sorry, but I can't stand this kind of thing. This Hannah guy, she must have had some kind of problem, right? Maybe she's busy, right?"

Jouga broke the silence, but since it was a follow-up that could be misunderstood, it would be better to change the topic itself here.

"I guess so."

But Luka, too, seemed to have made up her mind to some extent, and readily agreed.

"So, Luka, what are you going to do with your equipment once you've got it?"

I changed the subject.　

"Of course I'm going to keep adventuring. I'm not going to retire without saving up."

"Well, then you're going to have to work with us until you have something to show for it. Well, if you like it, that is."

"Alec, you decided her to join us because of Luka's body, right?"

"No, I didn't. Don't be silly, Lily."

"Then it's the face?"

"Well, her face is one thing, but I decided on her because she's the kind of guy who tell you  that she's screwed up. I'll trust her a lot more than someone who cheats."

These were my sincere words.

"I see. Yeah, she's good, and I agree."

Serina immediately agreed, well, it's good if you admit you're good at it.

"Well, please take care of me! Alec."

Luka seemed to be on board as well, and with a smile she walked over to me and shook my hand. Tanned Amazoness and Bikini Armor, Get.

Then Meena glanced at me with a worried look on her face, as if she wanted to say something.

"What is it, Meena? I'm not going to leave you, so don't worry."

"Oh, no, I don't mean that. There are people coming from up ahead."

"Then say it normally."

"I'm sorry, it's just that you're in such a good mood, I didn't want to disturb you."

"You care too much. Then we'll wait there, talking as we see fit. But don't sit around."

As I waited, a party of four warriors and a priest appeared from the other side.

"Hello, brothers. How are you doing?"

"So-so."

With each other, the leader keeps his sword in place and raises one hand to show that he is not hostile.

"Kugh!"

The other party also hurriedly drew their swords as Luka suddenly took a stance and showed signs of slashing.

"Wait! Everyone stay where you are! This is the leader's authority!"

It was a good thing that Luka had stopped in the middle of the fight, but it had chilled my nerves.

"What's wrong, Luka?"

"Oh, sorry, my mistake. I must have misunderstood you. You look like the guy who betrayed me."

"Come on, man."

"Give me a break, brother."

"It's shortening my life span, man."

"That was close. I thought it was a PK. I was just about to take the lead."

"That's how accidents happen, isn't it?"

It didn't turn into a fight, but one wrong move and it could have turned into a slugfest.

When the party on the other side was out of sight, I asked.

"And he was wearing that white robe, wasn't he? That one?"

Luka nodded at my question.　　

"Yeah. It's the one with the embroidery around his chest. He was polite and didn't seem like a bad guy at all, but he really scared me. I was really scared when he attacked me from behind."

"What's his name?"

Hoshi-rina asks.

"Erwin."

"Hmm?"

"Huh!?"

...... It's a name I remember hearing somewhere.

The only ones who reacted were me and Serina.

"Do you know him?"

Lily asks, and Luka's face turns grim at that.

"It sounds familiar. ......"

Who was that?

"What are you saying, Alec? He's the one who was summoned with us by the king at the castle in the Kingdom of Vernia. He's not one of the heroes." [TN: I'm confused, he's summoned but not heroes?, I'll leave it like this for now]

"Oh, that's him."

The blond magician.

Was he a university student in England? I don't remember much about him except his face.

On the other hand, the one who left a lasting impression on me was the energetic junior high school hero, Keiji. He suddenly and flamboyantly got into a fight at the adventurer's guild and lost.

In contrast to Keiji, Erwin was a slightly calmer young man with a refreshing smile.

I think he was the kind of guy who would take a neutral position so as not to get into corners.

When I was summoned from the magic circle in the first castle, tsk, I remember that time I got an unreasonable goo-punch from Serina. I remembered that too.

"You were summoned together? are you his friend?"

Luka asks me, glaring at me with sharp eyes. I'm not.

Luka asks me with a sharp glare in her eyes. She looks like she's about to slash at me depending on my answer.

"I'm not. But this guy was forming a party with him."

I pointed my thumb at Serina.

"I was only there for a little while. We ended up breaking up when he said he was going to the Academy of Magic."

"The Academy of Magic! Yeah, that's him! He said he graduated from, I don't know, something called the Academy of Magic in Austin."

"The Austin's Royal Academy of Magic, by any chance?"

Letty says.

"That's it. Austin, I'm sure of it."

"Wait. Did you say you graduated?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Then it's someone else. We broke up with Erwin only two months ago."

"Oh, that's right. ......"

"Well, it doesn't really matter if it's the Erwin you know. If he comes out in front of me, I will cut him with this sword. That's all."

Luka put her hand on the hilt and said. I'm not going to stop you from doing that.

I don't think Luca would have lied to me.

Generally, there would be no benefit to her if she lied to me like that.