A Temporary Party Is Formed!

"I suppose I'll start with detection. Magic Echo."

I began by probing the mana around me. I had heard that there were players nearby, but I had not been told their exact locations. To meet up with them, I needed to determine where they were.

"...Hmm. There are about twenty reactions. Some of them could be Mob monsters, so I'll approach carefully for now."

I concealed my presence with 【Assassination Arts】 as I approached the nearest reaction. I would stay prepared in case combat broke out at any moment.

"Hmm? It's fighting, isn't it? Two against one?"

After advancing for about a minute, I heard an animal's roar and the dull clang of metal. Judging that these were the sounds of combat, I picked up my pace a little. As expected, a battle was taking place ahead.

"One's a mantis, and the other is a gray-skinned woman... No, she has fangs. Is the last one an orc, perhaps?"

The combatants were a giant mantis the size of a human, an armed humanoid of some kind, and a large monster with a piglike head. The humanoid wielded two swords with dramatically curved blades, while the latter carried a rectangular shield large enough to hide its body and a massive axe.

The mantis slashed at them with its sickle-shaped forelegs at considerable speed, but the orc on the front line firmly blocked each attack. When that created an opening, the humanoid struck at the joints. It was an unremarkable but reliable fighting style.

The two armed ones were almost certainly players. Their metal weapons were one reason, but the fact that they were cooperating despite having different Races was the strongest proof that they were players. I wasn't sure about the mantis, though. I could find out with 【Appraisal】.

――――――――――

Name: Eiji

Race: Orc Lv18

Job: Heavy Warrior Lv8

Name: Toji

Race: Gula Lv17

Job: Dual Swordsman Lv7

Race: Large Murder Mantis Lv22

Job: Assassin Lv2

Skill: 【Scythe Arts】

【Strength Enhancement】

【Defense Enhancement】

【Agility Enhancement】

【Dexterity Enhancement】

【Stealth】

【Silent Step】

【Surprise Attack】

【Assassination Arts】

【Flight】

【Slash Resistance】

――――――――――

Oh! That confirms it, doesn't it? I had heard on the forums that a player's Skills could not be Appraised. The fact that they had names, and that their Skills could not be seen, confirmed that those two were players.

Speaking of Gula... The Orc as well. Judging from the word demon in their names, they must both have evolved from Goblins. I wanted to hear what sort of adventures they had experienced to reach those Races.

The mantis, on the other hand—the Large Murder Mantis—was an ordinary monster. It had no individual name, and all of its Skills were clearly visible. It was just like the monsters I fought regularly.

"Gigi!"

The two players defended steadily while dealing consistent damage. At this rate, the Large Murder Mantis would inevitably lose. Perhaps realizing that, it raised both forelegs and unleashed a powerful slash, as though attempting a desperate comeback strike.

"Bugaah!"

Eiji, the Orc, seemed to have been waiting for the moment when the Large Murder Mantis left itself open. He struck the mantis with the enormous shield he had been using to defend himself.

"Bwoooooooooo!"

Maintaining a defense is taxing. As though venting all his pent-up frustration, Eiji let out a roar that shook the air and brought his axe down on the Large Murder Mantis, which had lost its balance from the shield blow. The axe, nearly as large as the shield, split the mantis's head apart.

The Large Murder Mantis collapsed without even being allowed to cry out in its death throes. You could call it a complete victory for the pair. Their fight lacked the flashiness of Jigoro's or Genjuro's, but their adherence to the fundamentals gave them a reassuring stability.

"Magnificent. That was an excellent battle."

It was time to stop hiding and watching them, so I clapped my hands and stepped out from behind the cover. The two had been catching their breath after the battle, but they were startled and quickly raised their weapons. Apparently, they were on guard, just as they had been when I appeared.

"Who are you?"

"Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Izaam. My Race is High Lich."

I casually lied. You might think 【Appraisal】 would expose me immediately, right? But it wouldn't. The mask I wore had the effect 【Disguise】. Seeing through it required a specialized Skill, so they wouldn't be able to identify me so easily.

"High Lich... I've never heard of one."

"Wait, that name and the silver skull mask... Are you the Silver Mask who ran wild during the 'Nightmare of the Northern Mountain' incident, Izaam-san!?"

"Hmm? How do you know me?"

"So it's really you...!"

Unlike Toji, who looked at me suspiciously, Eiji apparently knew who I was. He even knew that I was the Silver Mask from the incident where Jigoro and I had gone on a rampage.

Where had the information leaked from? I had barely interacted with any players outside my clan members...

"It was a hot topic on the Monster Thread!"

"Masen...? Could that be the monster-only thread?"

That's right! Now that I thought about it, the first time I had contacted Iris had been on that monster-only thread. The logs of Iris's and my exchanges should still be there. Judging from their content and timing, it would be as clear as day that I was the Silver Mask.

"Yes! That's it!"

"I don't really get it, but is that person famous?"

"Among monster players, famous doesn't even begin to describe it!"

Eiji explained what Jigoro and I had done to Toji. It was embarrassing to have someone talk about me to another person like that. Besides, some parts of the story had been embellished. Still, it was reassuring that the information circulating wasn't completely accurate...

"Oh, Izaam-san, are you alone? Where are Iris-san and Nightmare-san?"

"Hmm? Ah, the two of them aren't participating in the event. They had plans for a different quest."

I told them the truth as far as it went. However, I did not tell them that the two of them had gone to our third continent—or rather, our third archipelago, since it was a region? In any case, they had gone to a new area. It had nothing to do with the event, and information was only useful if you kept it secret!

"Hmm. Then do you want to team up with us? You look like a mage, and I've heard things are easier when you have someone in the back line."

"That would be more than welcome. Then, I'm counting on you."

I had been waiting for the right moment to bring it up, but I never expected them to suggest it first. Well, it seemed the first step had gone smoothly.

"I-I can't believe I get to party with Izaam-san...! I'll brag about it on the forums after the event!"

"I've thought this for a while, but... You really do have a childish side, don't you?"

"What did you just say!?"

Ha ha ha. They were quite a unique pair. I didn't know yet, but if their personalities were acceptable, I might invite them to the clan after the event ended.

While they bickered, I used Magic Echo again. Some time had passed since I had first used it, so I assumed the players' positions had changed.

"Hmm? It's close."

I noticed that Magic Echo had detected a reaction extremely nearby. It was behind me to the left. I reflexively turned around and looked toward the source of the reaction.

"Hey, skeleton bro! Did you happen to notice me?"

"!"

Hearing a woman's voice behind them, Eiji and the others stopped arguing and raised their weapons. It was the same reaction they had shown when I appeared. Then something small emerged from behind a tree—small, that is, yet enormous compared with the mushrooms I knew.

"Looks like those two didn't notice me? Oops, did I jump the gun?"

"No, I had already detected you, so I would have told them sooner or later anyway."

"Yep, you did notice me after all. Guess it was right to come out quickly, meow."

The one who appeared in such a carefree manner was a mushroom about as tall as my knee. Its cap was reddish purple with prominent white spots, and short arms and legs grew from its stem. Watching it move them desperately was comical. I immediately used 【Appraisal】 on her.

――――――――――

Name: Shiitake

Race: Poison Walk Mushroom Lv10

Job: Alchemist Lv0

――――――――――

"I'm Shiitake, a Poison Walk Mushroom. I came over because things sounded noisy."

"Shiitake... despite being poisonous..."

Eiji muttered that under his breath, but I would ignore it for now. There was no discrepancy between her self-introduction and the results of 【Appraisal】. So, what exactly did she want?

"Anyway, this is sudden, but would you mind letting me join the party? I've been playing solo the whole time, but it's a special event, right? I figured things would go more smoothly if I joined a party, you know?"

She had unexpectedly asked to join our party. Ifa-sama had asked me to form a party with the players in this area, so I had no objection. However, I couldn't make the decision by myself.

"I have no objections, but what do you two think?"

"Oh, sure. I've played in pickup parties in other games plenty of times."

"I'm fine with it too. Besides, I'm happy to have another girl. I'm not into being surrounded by men and reveling in it."

"Yaaay! Awesome!"

Eiji and Toji seemed happy to accept her. That meant we could form a temporary party...

"Wait just a minute!"

"Could you let us join that party too?"

Whoa! Another player? The voices had come from above, so I looked up and saw a crow and a bat perched on a conifer branch. They must have been the ones who had spoken.

"I'm Nanako, a Magic Crow, and this here is Motsu Aru yo, a Blood Bat. We heard you talking, so we thought we'd drop in."

"We usually form a duo, but we can only die once in this event, right? So we decided to form a pickup party to improve our chances of surviving. There seem to be exactly four of you, so we'd like to fill the remaining two slots."

Ah, no, I had no objection to them joining. As the bat had said, there were slots available, and they would increase our strength. That was all well and good, but there was something else that concerned me more.

"Um, could you tell me the bat's name one more time?"

Eiji asked cautiously. Unless I had misheard, it had been a very amusing name.

"My name? Motsu Aru yo."

"He says he made it by punning on the name of a composer he respects. Funny, right? I call him Motsu-san."

Ah, yes. I hadn't misheard. His manner of speaking was extremely polite, yet he had the strangest name of anyone there by far. The fact that he could introduce himself so casually suggested that he had a unique sensibility.

In the end, Eiji and the others accepted the two newcomers. A pickup party had formed less than ten minutes after the event began, and what an eclectic group it was. Incidentally, these were the statuses of Nanako and Motsu Aru yo.

――――――――――

Name: Nanako

Race: Magic Crow Lv14

Job: Summoner Lv4

Name: Motsu Aru yo

Race: Blood Bat Lv11

Job: Martial Artist Lv1

――――――――――

An orc, a ghoul, a mushroom, a crow, and a bat, along with me, a skeleton. Our Races and Jobs were all over the place, but a fairly stable party with three frontliners and three backliners had been born. What would this event be like with them? I had some misgivings, but I was even more excited than worried.