CH 197

Episode 197 – Party Formed

I glanced over to check on Aruna, but she was just disinterestedly picking at her fingernails and seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the woman who had just introduced herself to me. She didn’t even spare a glance when she started stuttering like crazy. I wondered if it was right to give no response like that… but in consideration of the person who was nervous, maybe it was the right call to act nonchalantly towards them.

“I-I’m looking f-forward to working with y-you! I’ll t-try my b-b-best!”

“Umm, I’m looking forward to it as well. Also, I didn’t manage to catch your name… Sorry, but could you repeat it?” (Lewin)

The woman continued to stammer endlessly, as if she was unaware she was doing so. Normally, I would have pretended not to notice and moved on to introducing myself, but I felt that knowing her name was pretty essential.

The woman’s face immediately flushed bright red when she heard my words, and I apologized inwardly, feeling a bit bad for her. I perked my ears up and listened closer, making sure not to miss it this time.

“I’m sorry….. My name is Rosalie Mattick. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Rosalie, is it? My name is Lewin Jade. You can feel free to call me by Lewin or Jade, either one is fine. I’m looking forward to working with you!”

After finishing with my brief self-introduction, I waited for Aruna to introduce herself, but she didn’t show any signs of doing so. I glanced over at Aruna to see if she was still cleaning her nails, but now she seemed to be filing and sharpening her nails as if her life depended on it.

…I guess this means she isn’t intentionally ignoring the conversation or anything, she probably just isn’t listening at all.

Before an awkward amount of time could elapse, I decided to introduce Aruna to her instead.

“―Umm, also! This woman over here is Aruna-san, and she’ll be in the same party.” (Lewin)

“Aruna-san…! I’m looking forward to working with you.” (Rosalie)

“….? Looking forward to it.” (Aruna)

When Rosalie greeted Aruna, she finally turned her attention from her nails to us. She didn’t seem to understand why she was being greeted, but Aruna tilted her head and gave a curt reply, somehow managing to make the bare semblance of a conversation.

“It seems everyone has managed to successfully greet one another. As Rosalie has explained in her self-introduction, the one who will be filling for Jade-sama’s party will be Rosalie. As long as you sign the contract and abide by the terms, we will not interfere in any way, so please be careful to not violate the contract,” Alex explained matter-of-factly. Unlike Rosalie, whose nervousness was nearly palpable, I couldn’t read any kind of emotion from Alex at all, which put me on guard a bit. He was smiling at me, so he wasn’t completely expressionless like Aruna though… Perhaps it would be more precise to say that he felt like an upgraded version of the receptionist ladies who always had a business-like smile plastered on their face.

“Jade-sama. Do you have any concerns or questions regarding what was on the paperwork?” (Alex)

“Well then, let’s change locations and talk for a bit, shall we? As a matter of fact, Aruna and I just formed our party the other day, so I was hoping to discuss our plan of action and such for the Dungeon. Rosalie-san, do you have time?” (Lewin)

“Y-yes! I have time!” (Rosalie)

“Okay, great. Then let’s go to a nearby cafe.” (Lewin)

…I was curious about her strength, but I was planning to ask about that in the cafe.

I could feel my heart beating quickly, since this was the first party I had put together under my own initiative. I had gone with the [Azure Alliance] and [Iron Gear] on quest commissions before, but those had both been fully established parties that I hadn’t officially been a part of.

These circumstances were unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and while I was definitely anxious, I felt more excited than ever. I wanted to hurry up and enter the Dungeon right this moment to quell my surging emotions.

In truth, I wanted to experience this feeling while alongside the [Azure Alliance], but… there was no point in thinking about that now.

In order to get into the Dungeon as soon as possible, we needed to properly share information and work on our awareness of one another to improve our skill as a party. While making my way to the cafe, I made up my mind and strengthened my resolve.