Vol. 7 - Ch. 376 - Changes in line-up and introduction of new members!

Tuesday, the day after the discussion with Hannah.Yesterday, I requested Ester to carry Sierra, Lulu, Shizu and Pamela in the <Thunder Javelin> to clear around the requirement of three Int-low dungeon marks. Now, they were all strong enough to challenge Int-mid. Sᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Including them, since few of us had already clear requirements, we could finally start our journey of Int-mid from today in earnest. I had already passed the news to other members, and right now we were having our usual morning meeting around that topic.

"We are going to challenge the Intermediate-mid dungeon with ten members today. I will now announce who these members are."

As of now, there were just four members --- Celestine, Rina, Misato and Mert --- who have yet to clear the requirement, but aside from them, the other 11 members were all but ready to go. And since I had already discussed with Hannah, this left us with precisely 10 members for my plan to carry out.

"Huh, what about Hannah?"

Lana asked in a puzzled tone once I finished announcing the name of the members. It sounds like she reflexively called out. Well, Hannah had always been with us during main exploration, taking her position on the frontline, so hearing I didn't call out Hannah's name must have confused her.

"Hannah will be focusing on her production skills to support us in our exploration."

"I see."

Lana and other founding members looked at Hannah in astonishment, though she just nodded in response. They didn' ask anything further.

I continued my speech and explained about our objective this time.

"This time our objective is to clear three Intermediate-mid dungeons in this dungeon week. Basically, we have the time limit of clearing 1 dungeon in 2 days."

My announcement stirred a buzz. Well, it was mainly caused by Mert and Misato. They gave me a sceptical gaze, probably wondering 'is it even possible?'. Though other members were calm.

They probably trust me enough because they were the part of the journey we have completed to reach at this point. I have already said it to Sierra, but I was going to run my mouth only about the thing I was dead sure. I use my database as the cornerstone to run the simulation and only when I was sure would I propose my plan.

I used to chase after efficiency in the game <Dungeon Activity>. Like, what would be the level I need to clear, and how else could I shorten the time? These were the questions I focused on.

The crystallisation of all that hard work and pursuit was now stored in me. And my opinion says we would have more than enough time to clear the 3 Intermediate-mid dungeons in 6 days. Besides, even if there was some kind of error, we still have our trump card, Ester, to overcome the obstacle.

Ah, I almost forgot.

"Also, I want you guys to introduce with someone"

"Introducing someone?"

The moment Lana parroted my words, I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.

W-What is it? Was it just my imagination or the glint in the eyes of a few girls have suddenly sharpened? I hope it was just my imagination.

"Well, err. Ahem. They are the sub-guild members I had previously talked about."

Trying to hide my nervousness behind a cough, I managed to say that. Hearing that, the imaginary oppressive feeling suddenly clears like the fresh snow meeting the warm sunlight.

"Geez. Just say you want to introduce 'members' if it is about sub-guild. You almost caused us to misunderstand."

"R-Right. My apologies."

It seemed like I didn't choose my words wisely. Maybe, it did sound like I was going to introduce someone important. Be more careful with your phrasing, me.

Anyway, with the misunderstanding cleared, I signalled Celestine who left the guild room with a curt bow. A few minutes later, we heard a knock on the door, along with Celestine’s remark ‘I have brought them’.

"Come in."

"Please, this way."

"W-Well, excuse me!"

"Good~morning."

Celestine opened the door and welcomed the two girls in.

Both were in contrast to each other. One was stiff, looking like a bundle of nervousness, while another one's voice stretched thin, without any hint of nervousness or anything.

The one with the stuttering voice was Lacritta of <Raccoon-kin> category, the holder of a high ranking job <Racc-Shell>. Sporting brown hair and grey eyes, both a shade closer to black, she was no taller than Karua, and her slightly round face gave her a more childlike impression. But bizarrely outmatching her petite frame, she holds a massive two-handed shield.

She was one of the top-tier tanks.

The second person was Noel of <Baron> category, holder of a high-ranking job <Songstress Princess>. Perhaps because there was nervous Lacritta next to her she appeared more calm. I think that was the same situation during the moment of the interview.

Noel had long brown hair that flowed behind her back with a headband on her head adorned with ribbon left and right. Her eyes, of the same colour as her hair, were beautifully expressive with a sparkling gleam on them. She wore a white and blue idol-themed costume and held a microphone in one hand. She was an all-around versatile member capable of offence, defence, reinforcement, and healing.

"Let me introduce you to them, there two are Lacritta and Noel, who will be joining the sub-guild. Both of them are quite talented."

"N-No, I am not that amazing, really!"

"You're making me feel shy."

Lacritta, already on edge, appeared to grow even tenser, while Noel's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red.

"I am Lacritta! Nice to meet you!"

"It might be sub-guild, but I, Noel, am honoured to join <Eden> foot of the table. Please look after me."

Once both of them introduced themselves, members applauded for them. After that, I introduced <Eden> members this time.

"So, Zephyr, why have you called them at this timing?"

Once I had finished introducing them to each other, Lana fired a sharp question my way.

"Ah, do you remember I told you that the establishment of sub-guild would have to wait for the dungeon week to end?"

"Hmm, because there are other applicants who have yet to leave their present guild, it will have to happen after that, is it?"

I nodded at Rika's response.

"That's right. I mean, even other guilds would find themselves at loss if members were to suddenly leave. So it was something like buffer time to sort all that. Lacritta and Noel have already completed that process."

"We both belonged to the same guild, and even if there wasn't the invitation of <Eden>, we were already planning to leave the guild."

"I see."

A colour of understanding dyed the face of all members, including Lana. Hmm, it seemed like they both had their circumstances.

"So, as I was saying, there is still time before we can create a sub-guild, but there isn't any problem to have them participate in the party. Since we have time, we might as well make use of it."

"Hmm? What do you mean by participating, Zephyr?"

Lana tilted her head in confusion once again hearing my follow-up.

<Eden> currently has 15 members, and of which, 10 would be tackling Int-mid from today onwards. If the remaining five members wanted to challenge the dungeon, they obviously had no more slots to welcome anyone else in their party. So Lana's question was more about if someone was going to be replaced.

"Among the remaining five, Noel and Lacritta will be replacing Celestine and Hannah. From today till the end of Dungeon Week, I want Rina to be the party leader with Mert, Misato, Noel and Lacritta."

"What!"

Many of the members let out a befuddled yelp hearing my announcement and shifted their gaze to Celestine and Hannah. Their confusion was apparent from their gazes.

Following my words, Celestine stood from his seat and bowed curtly.

"I apologise for the sudden news. I had been considering the time is nigh for me to focus solely on support. So instead of Dungeon, I will instead be providing my assistance in other matters from today onward."

"Are you really fine with that, Celestine?"

"Yes. It might reduce my time to dive into the dungeon, but I want to support <Eden> with best of my capabilities."

"I see. Very well. We will be counting on you from now on."

"Of course, this is my intention as well. Please continue to rely on me."

Other members looked at their conversation with curiosity.

It wasn't a convoluted story. Celestine was basically retiring from the front-line to support us in a hitch-free dungeon exploration.

Well, it was Celestine himself who wished to become a supporter. He already was lacking time to dive into the dungeon, and his growth had been a bit slow compared to others.

I kind of saw it coming. He had multitude of others works to handle, while the time was just finite. Furthermore, <Butler> was mainly a support job. It could participate in the dungeon exploration, but it didn't have any noteworthy points compared to other jobs.

<Dungeon Activity> was always clear about such setting---<Fighter> category jobs would always be the mainstream in dungeon exploration. So I received consultant from Celestine saying it's just the time for him to move to support. This was the perfect chance to make that change.

"Wait a minute! Is it the same for you, too, Hannah!?"

"W, Well......"

Lana asked Hannah, looking flustered. I decided on her behalf seeing the helping glance she was giving me.

"Ah, the path is too steep for Hannah to follow us in exploration anymore. That's why she has been assigned to support------"

"Hold on! She had been working all this time! So why is there a need to remove her from the party!!"

Before listening to the end, Lana cut my words short. Her eyes were simmering with rage.

I didn't falter away and calmly replied.

"Clam down, can you? And at least listen to the end. I am not saying she is permanently out from the party after becoming support member."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Flames shimmering in her eyes slightly died out. Phew, now I could finally clear it out. I did tell Hannah to focus on the production part, but it wasn't like she needed a specific room or place to carry it out.

"She is going to join us wearing <(Guest) Bracelet> and will stay inside the carriage most of the time. Carriage space would be where she will carry out her alchemist. So she will be with us in the dungeon too."

"......Huh?"

"W-Well.... ehehe."

Once I was done explaining, Lana looked at Hannah with a perplexed expression. Though the person herself had her cheeks dyed in red for some reason.

Despite not being able to participate in boss battles, she could still explore dungeons. We just couldn't bring her to boss fights. So, in short, Hannah would be the mobile alchemist & gathering in-charge.

The final layout for the Int-mid was 10 members in the dungeon exploration team + one support member.