CH 199

Episode 199 – Rosalie’s Resolve

Author’s Note: This chapter is written from the Guild employee, Rosalie Mattick’s POV.

Just as the Vice Guild Chief had told me to do, I got ready as quickly as possible and waited quietly for the party that I would be filling in for. I was apparently exempt from Guild employee work until the meeting with that party, so each day I was allowed to go home after coming to show my face in the morning.

Of course, even though I didn’t have to work, I wasn’t lazing around. I was independently training and gathering intel of my own accord in order to get my body back into shape and regain my combat instincts.

I had no choice but to fill in for this party because the Vice Guild Chief told me to… But being able to get ready on my own this way without stressing out about others’ gazes, I started to gradually remember the old days, and I began to feel excited. I was already beginning to understand what the Vice Guild Chief might have meant by ‘It’s not a bad deal for you, actually’.

My party had fallen apart somewhere along the way, and I didn’t feel like forming another party… In a way, this could have been fate speaking to me, giving me a chance to dive into the Dungeon once more.

I still feel guilty about Alfred and Lyza though. As long as the people in the party I’m filling in for aren’t bad people, then things will go nicely. But adventurers are generally pretty uncouth, so I can’t get my hopes up.

In the first place, I wasn’t even the one who asked to fill in for this adventurer party. I just needed to think about keeping my expectations in check and doing my job without making any mistakes.

Clapping myself on the cheeks lightly to fire myself up, I put my all into my self-training.

★　　　★　　　★

A few days later, after showing my face at the Adventurer’s Guild in the morning as usual, I finally received a call from the Vice Guild Chief. It was much earlier than I had imagined it to be, but I guess they had decided to arrange a face-to-face meeting. Per the team leader’s instructions, I made my way to the Vice Guild Chief’s office.

“Excuse me, it’s Rosalie.”

“Please enter.” (Alex)

The Vice Guild Chief gave me permission to enter, and I walked into the room awkwardly. He was sitting in his lavishly decorated chair, which made me feel intimidated. He was smiling, but his smile was a bit scary…

“….? Do I have something on my face?” (Alex)

“N-Not at all!! It’s nothing!” (Rosalie)

“That’s good then… Anyway, let’s get back on track and get right to the point. As you might have guessed, the reason I called you here today is to have you meet with the party I asked you to fill in for, Mattick-san.” (Alex)

As I thought. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be today, but the sooner we meet, the better. The more time I have, the more prepared I become, and the more pointlessly nervous I get.

“T-Today, is it? I u-understand.” (Rosalie)

“I apologize for the short notice, but it was only decided yesterday. As such, please wait on standby at the Adventurer’s Guild and be ready for the face-to-face meeting today.” (Alex)

“On s-standby. R-Roger that.” (Rosalie)

“By the way, I’ll fill you in on the details of the party, so you don’t have to worry. To put it briefly, it’s a beginner party of two. The party leader used to work for the Healer’s Guild, so―” (Alex)

“That’s right. They originally asked me for two people to fill in for the party, but due to our staff’s numbers, I can’t allocate that many people. There is a possibility that he has found another party member… So it’s safe to assume it’ll be a party of 3.” (Alex)

I felt the excitement that had been building up inside of me fizzle away all at once. No choice but to do a 3-person Dungeon attempt, huh…?

I was beginning to grasp the reason I was picked to fill in for this party.

“There’s no need to be that pessimistic. You can’t do anything reckless under the contract, and if they try to force you to do something reckless, the contract will be considered ‘forcibly terminated’. If that happens, it would be fine for you to step down, and we would consider you to have completed your assignment, so please give a detailed report then.” (Alex)

“……I-In that case, I understand.” (Rosalie)

“I’m glad you understand. That’s all I have to say on this matter, so I’ll call you when that party comes to visit. Until then, please remain on standby in the Guild.” (Alex)

“Y-Yes. E-Excuse me.” (Rosalie)

After paying my respects to the Vice Guild Chief, who was always smiling, I left the office. From what I’d heard so far, it wasn’t that I had been abandoned or anything, but this was definitely still a dangerous role to fill.

If I had to guess, the Vice Guild Chief’s aim was probably to forcibly terminate the contract. I didn’t know the specifics, but I got the feeling the Vice Guild Chief wanted to get me to forcibly terminate the contract somehow.

…Well, this was just my hunch. Thinking to myself that I could just forcibly terminate the contract myself if it came down to it, I decided to proceed with my safety as my first priority. After sorting through everything in my head, I felt that I had regained some peace of mind. All that was left was the face-to-face meeting.

But before I could even have time to get myself fired up… I was once again summoned by the Vice Guild Chief, even though it hadn’t been long after we finished talking. Apparently, it seemed that the party had come looking for me the first thing in the morning, and I had to meet them before my heart was fully prepared.

At first glance, the boy didn’t seem like a fighter since he was still a kid and possessed a kind demeanor, but his body was well-built and he had many scars from battle. Despite the cute appearance of the rabbit woman, I could tell with just one look that she exuded the bearing of a powerhouse. With these two, a party of three just might be stable.

“Thank you very much for your patience. My name is Alex, and I am the Vice Guild Chief of the Landaust Adventurer’s Guild. And this is…”

“I-I am! T-The one f-f-filling in f-for y-your p-p-party, sir! R-Ro-ze…!?”

Uguuu… Various thoughts were running through my head as I observed the two of them, so I ended up stumbling over my words hard, right off the bat.

Even though first impressions are so important, too… If I could at least introduce myself at my own pace― No no, I need to hurry up and resume my greeting before the boy makes up his mind about me.

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

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

I forgot my embarrassment and forced myself to continue my self-introduction, but the boy’s reply made my face feel so hot that it felt like fire was going to erupt from my skin.

If you trip over your own name, of course they would ask you to repeat it… My mind was a jumbled mess because of my social anxiety, but I managed to somehow regain my composure and repeat my name.

“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!”

The boy returned my introduction nonchalantly, as if he was looking out for my needs. The rabbit woman was fiddling with her nails the whole time, as if she had no interest in me whatsoever.

“―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)

Hmmm… Party fill. Plus, this was for a party of three, so my initial impression of them was pretty much the worst it could be, but they seem like pretty good people.

The boy seemed to be as considerate and kind as he looked, and the rabbit woman was the type of person who didn’t really take an interest in other people. As someone with social anxiety, I felt pretty grateful for both of them. Even though they were a beginner party, I felt that I could expect a lot from them in terms of combat.

“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)

While I was observing the two of them and arriving at a good impression of them, the Vice Guild Chief seemed to have finished his formal conversation and stood up hurriedly. As he turned around and walked away towards the backyard, he patted me once on the shoulder and said in a small voice, “I’ll leave it to you.”

“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)

As soon as the Vice Guild Chief left, Jade suggested that we move, so I quickly took him up on it. We would discuss today, and then start the real Dungeon clearing tomorrow.

As long as I was in the Dungeon, my social anxiety would be fine, and based on my impressions from this face-to-face meeting, we shouldn’t have any problem with clearing the shallow layers. I could feel the excitement that had dropped to rock bottom earlier gradually begin to rise within me once more.

I will do my best to clear the Dungeon with them, for my own sake as well. As I looked at the two people who would be in my party from now on, I made up my mind.