Chapter 50: Party Formation (Finally! At long last!)
The request seemed like itâd take some time because the targets were monitor lizards, which disguised (I think?) themselves as rocks, and were quite resistant against magic, but we wrapped it up in no time, sold the materials for good money, and headed over to the next town.
âThe next town can maybe offer you the thrill you were lookinâ for.â Sword grinned broadly.
âHoh! Hoh hoh!! Iâm looking forward to that!â
His smile is kinda creepy, but itâs about time for me to experience something very adventurous! Since Sword is saying that itâs going to offer some thrill, Iâm sure Iâll get my fill!
Iâm so hyped!
ďź
What stood out when we entered Dayz, the next town, was a church. Of course it was a church dedicated to this worldâs gods of myths, and not the one god of the other world.
I donât plan to deny the existence of gods, but since Iâve never perceived them as being real, itâs limited to me not outright denying their existence.
One might be under the wrong impression that Iâd think otherwise, seeing how I got reincarnated into this world, but as long as I find no proof for their existence, itâd be silly of me to believe in the existence of gods, wouldnât it? If itâs a church thatâs been turned into a tourist attraction, Iâd love to take a look at it, but I wonder whether thatâs the case here.
Sword cheerfully called out to me without realizing what Iâve been thinking, âNow then, first comes the dungeon. If you wanna know what kind of dungeon it isâŚitâs one full of undead!â
âOoohhhh!â
Finally something exciting!
I shifted my attention from the church to the dungeon. I grabbed Swordâs arm and pulled him.
âLetâs go, hurry, hurry!â
Sword, who had been grinning, became disappointed after seeing my reaction.
âWhatâs wrong?â
ââŚItâs just, occasionally, and very rarely at that, you show reactions befittinâ girls of your age, so I was lookinâ forward to it occurrinâ this time as well, butâŚâ
Ah, kinda like the standard lines of âEeek, scaaary!â, âHa ha ha, donât fret. Iâm with you so youâre safe!â as they happen during haunted house dates?
âSorry about that. But Iâm the type whose excitement shoots up in haunted houses. Rather, it enters the category of attractions I actually like, Iâd say.â
I also enjoyed the super famous biohazard game so much that I cleared it in a breath! As Iâve unfortunately never experienced VR, I must get a good taste of it over here in reality!
Yahooo! My excitement is going through the roof!
âWhoa, your gettinâ so excited that it makes me wonder whether itâd have been better to leave it unmentioned. Unfortunately, itâs not that much of a big deal. I mean, you can easily defeat them if your willinâ to spend money.â
âTheyâre charging you for the weapons you need?â
Ehh? Sounds like quite the wicked thing to do. I mean, I wonât go as far as telling others to do it for free, but Iâm a fan of low costs. My otherworld self would buy starter packs, but while it may be true that she cleared the games, sheâd never get involved in things requiring you to pay additional cash.
âWhatâs that about charges? Itâs just the church sellinâ an item that works well âgainst undead. If you prepare that item by sinkinâ some cash into it, you can easily clear the dungeon. Thatâs the extent of it.â
âItem?â
Is it possibly holy water?
âHoly water.â
Ah, so it was that template after all. Still, I wonder how theyâre making that holy water of theirs. I hope itâs not going to be some pun like the holy water actually being salt water or some such.
âWell, even without somethinâ like that, itâs goinâ to be a walk in the park for you nâ me since we can use light magic.â
âHaah?â
Just a sec, what did he say just now?
âYou can use light magic, canât you?â
âŚâŚ
âIf you say they can be defeated with light. But you see, my light magic causes illumination by converting magic elements into ďźťFilamentsďź˝ and energy, okay? Itâs not like it can produce sunlight.â
Does that mean he wants me to test which light rays work?
Sword placed a hand on his forehead.
âYouâve started blatherinâ about some complicated stuff âgain. Then, wanna buy holy water?â
âPhysical attacks wonât work?â
âOn some undead they wonât work, yeah. Well, I sâpose I can handle those.â
For physical attacks to not work, thatâs quite amazing. Are there possibly mist-like enemies or holograms in that dungeon? Either way, itâs very unusual and interesting.
âIf itâs not too expensive, Iâd like to buy one as a souvenir.â
Sword laughed out loud, âHoly water as a souvenir! Your really disrespectful, arenât you?â
âIâve never experienced anything pointing towards the existence of gods. In the other world, the names and appearances of the deified gods differed depending on the race, and it even went so far that they started wars over differences in belief, but although they waged such wars, the gods never descended to assist their worshipers. âŚAre you a pious believer?â
I really hate religious fanatics since theyâd nonchalantly try to force their belief on you. Sword doesnât show a sliver of such inclination, but you never know what the future holds.
âSince Iâve never sensed the existence of gods, just like you, Iâm not honorinâ âem or anythinâ like that. Rather, if I had to choose, I loathe clergymen.â
Hmm. I guess clergymen are unpopular in any world.
ďź
We headed to the guild, postponing the church for now. On the way, Sword told me about dungeons.
âUsually dungeons are managed by the guild. Wild dungeons also exist, but under normal circumstances a town with a guild is built âround any decent dungeon. And the entry permissions are handled by the guild, except for wild dungeons, of course. So, you report your plans, enter the dungeon, and return the entry permission once your done. If you donât return accordinâ to your schedule, the guildâll put up a rescue request for you.â
âRescue requests sure are a pain.â
Most of it was just as I had imagined, but refusing rescue requests each and every single time would be a bother.
âAh⌠While weâre at it, your goinâ to be treated like me if you party up with me, but that okay with you?â
âDid you think it wouldnât be?â I responded to his question with a question of my own.
âNo, I didnât think so. Thatâs why weâll apply for a party on this occasion.â
Hmm? Heâd been talking about us being partners and a party, but now heâs saying we arenât a party?
Having read what I was thinking on my face, Sword scratched his cheek, âWell, we couldnât form a party because our ranks were too different. At least, thatâs one reason. In the first place, there ainât no folk whoâd form parties with S-Rank adventurers. But, since we get that much of a special treatment, we can instead form parties if we want to. Then again, thereâs hardly any A-Ranks âround either.â
I see, I see.
ââŚSo, what are we goinâ to do âbout the party name?â
âŚâŚ
âRyokus & Happy Friends.â
âHey! Not only doesnât it include our names, it doesnât even cover any human names!â
He ground my temples with his fists.
âOuch, it hurtsss. âŚIsnât it better than going with some embarrassing name?â
âNo, itâs worse than the name beinâ embarrassinâ.â
It was obviously a joke to begin with.
ââŚIn that case, wouldnât it be alright to go with ăAllroundersă ? Itâs easy to understand since itâd express our identity, right?â
Sword let go of me.
âAll-purpose Warrior Party? Not bad.â
Ah, itâs probably going to be super embarrassing when expressed in kanji.
âŚâŚOh well, whatever. We might as well go with our guild registration numbers then. Thatâd be even easier to understand!
Or so I thought, but it looks like Sword liked the name.
ďź
We immediately registered the party at the guild.
ââŚUmm, are you fine with this?â The receptionist confirmed while looking back and forth between Sword and me.
âHer abilities are S-Rank. Besides, itâs possible to treat her as special case , isnât it? As sheâs also said sheâs goinâ to join up with me, weâve come to an agreement. It ainât like Iâm tellinâ you to make her an S-Rank, so register the party, will you?â
Special case is what? Is that about the ăcanât put up a request and canât get rescuedă from the other day?
Thatâd be actually what I want. The receptionist seemed rather unwilling for some reason, but she still registered our party.
âŚHmm? Somehow my card has changed.
âItâs different from before.â
âItâs a ăLimited-to-Partyă S-Rank treatment.â
It became kinda like Swordâs card. Though itâs still got C-Rank written on it.
âAight, weâll head out at once then. Please take care of the dungeonâs entry permission, âkay?â
ďź
Along the way to the dungeon, I asked Sword about the ăSpecial Caseă .
Special case meansââ
ââan S-Rank can form a party with someone else, disregarding their rank, if the other party agrees to it. Limited to situations where they act as a party, the party members will be treated like S-Ranks, and the contract terms between the guild and the S-Rank in the party are applied to the entire party.
Also, in normal cases, itâs set that the guild will only accept people to party up if theyâre one rank apart above C-Rank and two ranks apart up until D-Rank. The party rank is set by what rank is represented the most within a party (if the numbers of represented ranks is the same, the party can decide which rank to choose).
Because exams and assessment are carried out for parties, individual ranks basically donât matter unless for solo-adventurers. Even if you join another party after your old one breaks up or you left it, itâll be a gathering of similar ranks most of the time.
Well, that makes sense.
And! S-Rank party members will have the same card as an S-Rank! A shiny, sparky plate! But, if I work by myself, Iâll be treated based on my former rankâŚin short, C-Rank. As long as I donât leave the party, the party breaks up, or the S-Rank adventurer (in other words, Sword) dies, Iâll apparently be treated like an S-Rank adventurer. Basically it means Iâm an S-Rank now.
ďź
âHmm. âŚStill, that receptionist lady was quite reluctant, wasnât she?â
ââŚSure was. As might be expected from callinâ it special case , itâs usually only used for temporary parties to get support from experts possessinâ special skills or knowledge durinâ special requests. ăBloody Witchă , ăPeerless Strengthă , or I wonât even form temporary parties unless itâs a fairly dire situation. Thatâs why the receptionist prolly suspected that I might be tryinâ to form a party with you for the sole reason of ăhavinâ taken a likinâă to a powerless kid. Ainât no way thatâs true though. Iâd never choose anyone like that as party member. That missy shouldnât look down of S-Rank adventurers.â