Chapter 17
“H-Hey, who are you? Why'd you suddenly butt in...?”
The man who seemed to be the party leader... Klein looked at me as if I were some kind of unknown creature.
“U-Um... Could you... let go of my hand?”
Ruche said, her face slightly flushed and her expression bewildered.
“Oh, sorry.”
I was still gripping her hand tightly.
I was being way too obvious about how determined I was not to let her get away.
I hadn't expected such a huge opportunity to come along right when I'd been thinking it'd be hard to party up with adventurers who had powerful Classes or Skill Trees that were easy to understand.
“I'm Elymas. I heard she was leaving your party, so I thought I'd come recruit her.”
“Hey, are you out of your mind? She has so little combat ability she can't even level up properly.”
Klein scoffed at my words.
In fact, this was a common mistake beginners made in 〈Magic World〉.
Character builds had a lot of flexibility, and allocating your stat points was irreversible.
With support or tricky Classes, a mistake in stat-point allocation often left you only able to hunt monsters below your Level, making it impossible to Level up properly.
Fortunately, I knew how to get out of that sort of bind.
“It's no problem at all.”
“Ha-ha, don't come crying to me later. Well, if you're willing to take that deadweight off our hands, that'll save us the guilt. Fine, take her if you want.”
“Well, I wasn't asking for your permission in the first place...”
I was only negotiating with Ruche herself.
What Klein wanted had nothing to do with what Ruche decided.
I had no idea why Klein was talking as if he had the right to decide for her.
“First, you should know that I'm a 【Lv: 23】 Heavy Knight. I don't have any party members and I'm operating alone. I'm an E-Rank adventurer, so I'm allowed to enter the 〈Dungeon〉.”
I had to tell her my Level and Class before we could even talk.
To enter the 〈Dungeon〉, at least one party member had to be an E-Rank adventurer.
“Huh, about the same as me. Not bad, getting that far with a defensive Class. You're doing pretty well. But you'd think someone at your Level would know how useless someone who can't earn experience is.”
Klein laughed mockingly.
“Um... I only have 【Lv: 13】, though. Maybe I shouldn't...”
Ruche said hesitantly.
“It's no problem at all. A difference of about 【Lv: 10】 is negligible.”
“...Hey, Klein.”
The Thief-class girl, Rees, who'd been silent until now, spoke up after listening to our conversation.
“What is it, Rees?”
“Isn't it weird for an E-Rank adventurer to go out of his way to recruit Ruche so enthusiastically? Maybe the benefits of that thing really are significant after all? We only took her in because there were rumors about it in the first place...”
...Maybe I was trying too hard.
I was confident I could offer her much better terms, but the fact that they had been companions already was a major factor.
If the two of them suggested making up, Ruche might easily reconcile with them.
Well, if that happened, there wasn't much I could do.
“What are you talking about, Rees? Just let her go quietly. It's convenient for us if she leaves without a fuss right now.”
Klein glanced repeatedly at the red sword in his hand, as if signaling to Rees.
It seemed he was determined to share that sword between the two of them.
If they kept acting like that every time they got a rare drop, I figured those two would eventually fall out and disband anyway...
“First of all, think about it. There's no way a solo defensive Class could reach 【Lv: 23】. Elymas's bluffing, or Elymas was kicked out of a party after they realized Elymas would be useless at higher Levels. Or maybe the party was just a pretext, and this is nothing but a pickup attempt. Ruche is pretty, at least.”
Klein lowered his voice and muttered to Rees.
But perhaps because he was desperate to persuade her, I could hear bits and pieces.
Hey, I can hear you.
“Well, yeah, but...”
Rees seemed to be getting swept along by Klein's momentum.
“Isn't this perfect? If word got around that we kicked out someone who messed up their Skill allocation, it'd be hard to stay in Rondalm. But this way, we can openly say she left on her own.”
...Well, at least Klein wasn't particularly clever.
I thought it would be fine if they made up, but looking at Klein, I couldn't imagine Ruche doing well in this party.
Even if the problem got put off, the same kind of trouble would just happen again eventually.
“I-In that case... I'll accept your kind offer. I look forward to working with you, Elymas-san!”
Ruche seemed to have made up her mind. She clenched her fist tightly and said that to me.
“Yeah, I look forward to working with you, Ruche.”
That was the moment I got my first party member.
Klein clapped slowly.
He had an unmistakably fake smile on his face.
“Well, congratulations on forming a party. Ruche, you never bought decent weapons before, did you? This hundred thousand Gold is a parting gift from us. Put it to good use.”
Klein looked down at the gold coins scattered at his feet.
They were the coins Klein had scattered in a fit of temper during their argument.
Even Klein must have thought it would look bad to kick her out without giving her a single Gold coin after a high-value item drop.
If it came up later, handing her a hundred thousand Gold or so would make a huge difference in how people saw it.
“...Thank you, Klein-san.”
Ruche seemed to have mixed feelings, but probably thought she should take what she could get.
She bowed slightly on the spot.
“No, you shouldn't take it.”
But I stopped her.
“Huh? B-But a hundred thousand Gold is a lot of money...”
Ruche said to me anxiously.
“You, Klein. Pick up what you scattered yourself. Even a child could do that. Calling something you've thrown on the ground a parting gift is laughable.”
Klein's fake smile vanished. He furrowed his brow and kicked the coins scattered on the ground aside.
“Tch, don't look down on me, you loser with a dud Class! You useless losers can play friends with each other! Come on, Rees.”
Klein turned his back on us and hurried away.
Rees followed after him.
“Let's go, too. It's better not to owe people like that anything, not even a little.”
“Huh...? O-Okay...”
Ruche looked at the scattered coins, then turned back to me and nodded.
It wasn't as if I thought a hundred thousand Gold was insignificant.
With that amount, I could buy more 〈Heal Potions〉.
It would give me more options right now.
Besides, it didn't feel right to leave money someone had thrown away lying there.
But this wasn't the place to pick it up.
People like Klein quickly forget the harm they've done, but never forget the favors they've bestowed.
Ruche's and Klein's Levels and positions would be reversed before long.
When that happened, Klein might turn the 'hundred thousand Gold he'd given her just to avoid a bad reputation' into 'a favor he'd bestowed out of pity.'