As a genius who had mastered the communication signals overnight, I headed to the adventurer's guild the next morning. I quickly found the person I was looking for. Leaning against a pillar was a man with a silhouette resembling a standing turtle, much larger than I had imagined.
"Good morning, are you Jack-san? I'm Haruki."
"Oh, so you're Haruki. Nice to meet you. I'm Jack, the leader of the Order of the Black Iron Warriors."
I approached Jack and shook his hand. Jack was in his late twenties, with a physique resembling a bald rugby player. His aura was incredibly imposing. A kid might cry just from looking at him.
It seemed that back when Bagas was still active, they had completed joint requests multiple times, and apparently Bagas had taken care of Jack when he was a rookie. Jack was strong, even among C-rank adventurers. He mainly focused on quests related to monster subjugation, just like me.
"Let's get down to business. As I mentioned yesterday, we're planning a monster subjugation in the central part of Slen Forest in 4 days. Have you been to Slen Forest?"
"No, I've only read about it in documents and it's apparently not a suitable field for solo exploration."
Slen Forest's terrain, size, and strength of each monster were not significantly different from Bigina Forest. However, its danger level was much higher. Monsters in Slen Forest were typically of the group-forming type, moving in packs of 10 or even close to 30.
It wasn't a field suitable for solo activity.
"I see. But if you know that, it makes things easier. The reason for the joint subjugation is to counter the number of monsters. The party I was negotiating with last night has agreed, and a total of 5 parties and 22 individuals are planning to participate. Except for you, the other parties have experienced subjugations in Slen Forest several times."
"May I ask why you invited me?"
"Ah, one of the mages in my party retired. Without him, the party's balance is off, and the efficiency of subjugations will decrease. So, I need someone to fill that gap."
"Am I a suitable replacement? I'm used to working alone, so I'm not sure if I can cooperate well."
"The guy who retired was of lower C-rank level. I believed that our strength could easily compensate for any lack of coordination. Bagas mentioned that you've been taking down monsters in the central part of Bigina Forest alone."
"Well, yeah..."
It seemed that my conversation with Bagas at the training ground was relayed to him. It was as if various discussions about me were going on behind my back, and it felt a bit uncomfortable.
"That's why I plan to sweeten the reward. What do you say? Will you join?"
After confirming my role within the party, the strategy for dealing with each type of monster, and the details of the division of rewards, I made up my mind to participate.
The reward would be 6% of the total reward + one million gold. The 6% was a higher percentage given considering my rarity as a mage, and the one million gold was a bonus Jack had added from his pocket money.
The reason for the mage's retirement was related to Jack. The mage was Jack's wife, and she had recently become pregnant. I was relieved it wasn't something tragic or dangerous, but it was still a bit anticlimactic.
While I couldn't predict the final reward amount, I decided not to worry about it this time.
There were several advantages to participating in this joint party: connecting with other adventurers, learning from their techniques up close, gaining experience in combat against unfamiliar monsters in a safe environment. It was worth it.
After finalizing the details, I parted ways with Jack and continued with my scheduled exploration. I didn't plan to drastically change my daily routine until the joint subjugation in 4 days. I would simply swap my scheduled exploration on the third day with my training on the fourth day.
However, I would significantly change my training routine. In preparation for my role, I would practice new spells. In this joint party, I would be guarded by the frontliners, giving me ample time to refine my magic power. I didn't need to push myself too hard.
I would learn new spells, research Slen Forest at the adventurer's guild library, and prepare for the day of the joint subjugation.
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"I'm Haruki. I look forward to working with you."
After exchanging light greetings just outside the castle gate, we all got into a large six-horse carriage. Most of the party members were heavily equipped, and there was even a carriage attached for collecting materials. The speed of the carriage increased quickly, even though it wasn't as fast as monsters, the animals in this world were sturdy. The horse pulling the carriage was as large as a supreme ruler's horse from a certain fin-de-siècle. Slen Forest was only 20 kilometers away from here, so it wouldn't take more than an hour at this pace.
After Jack introduced me to the other members inside the carriage, he conducted a briefing.
Jack was in charge of overall command. The front unit consisted of Jack's team, the "Order of the Black Iron Warriors," which had 8 members, Markus' team, the "Crimson Blades," with 6 members, and me. The remaining 8 members were responsible for skirmishing and escorting the carriage.
Generally, we would act as individual parties and coordinate loosely. However, I, being the only one acting alone, was incorporated into Jack's team and would always follow Jack's instructions.
The briefing concluded in about 30 minutes. We had some time until we reached the Suren Forest. Conversations began among those sitting nearby.
Among the participants, there were three of us aged twenty or below, including me, and most of the others were around thirty. Moreover, everyone except me knew each other. I was definitely the outsider here.
To avoid staying quiet for too long, I decided to strike up a conversation with a girl around my age sitting nearby. Even though we were around the same age, she was probably one or two years older than me. She was the only archer, and was quite cute. Her long black hair was tied up at the back of her head, and she had the appearance that would suit a Japanese school uniform really well.
"Um, I look forward to working with you today."
"Yes, same here."
"As Jack mentioned earlier, this will be my first time going to Slen Forest. I heard that Sophie-san has been there before. Could I ask you a few questions?"
"Sorry, I don't know much about it. Ask Markus, he's more experienced."
"...I understand."
She seemed quite uninterested in talking. Before I could even ask my questions, I was turned down. While she appeared friendly when talking to others, there was a clear aura of "don't talk to me" radiating from her when talking to me.
I had a vague idea of why, but I didn't want to think about it. The atmosphere became slightly awkward, and just then, Markus, who was sitting next to Sophie, joined the conversation.
"Did someone call me? Oh, Haruki. I haven't had a chance to properly greet you. Nice to meet you. I'm Markus, the leader of the Crimson Blades."
"I'm Haruki. I look forward to working with you."
Markus joined the conversation in a friendly manner, which helped lighten the mood. Markus appeared to be in his mid-twenties, a sporty type with short hair. While he wasn't as imposing as Jack, he was a muscular heavy warrior equipped with a robust metal armor and a two-handed sword. The armor was covered in marks and small scratches, giving him the aura of a seasoned warrior.
"Don't use honorifics with me. It's killing the mood."
"Alright... Markus, nice to meet you."
"Yep. I've been wanting to meet you for a while. I've heard a lot about you from Bagas-san."
"From Bagas-san?"
"Yeah. I'm Bagas' junior. You've got some interesting dreams. I like it. Especially people like you."
"Ugh!"
My bad feeling had come true. The reason behind Sophie's standoffishness was my "harem" dream. She seemed to be keeping her distance, wary of being roped into a member of my harem.
I scratched my head instinctively out of embarrassment. While it was fine for me to talk about my harem dream, it was quite uncomfortable for others to bring it up. Markus was watching with an amused expression.
"Don't worry so much. Bagas isn't spreading it around. He only told me about your dream to stop me from recruiting you. Our goals are different, you and I."
"Goals?"
"My party isn't aiming any higher. You're aiming for A-rank, right? That's why I can't scout you."
"Ah, I see..."
I couldn't fully accept his explanation, but I managed to swallow it. It might be possible to be recruited by a party whose goals didn't align, but when I return, I'll ask Bagas not to spread my dream to others.
Bagas was likely acting in good faith. Since I had discussed it openly with him, he probably thought I wouldn't mind if he shared it with others.
My true self is quite shy. I was only able to talk about my dream because I had overcome my reservations. But when it was unexpectedly pointed out, it felt uncomfortable.
"Anyway, what do you want to know about Slen Forest? Feel free to ask anything."
"Um, I wanted to ask about orcs and the differences between the ones in Bigina Forest and Slen Forest..."
Honestly, I asked about Slen Forest mostly to make conversation. The adventurer's guild library had quite comprehensive information, and I had already gathered sufficient information beforehand.
However, hearing about it firsthand was on a completely different level. Engrossed in the topic, I forgot about Sophie and her reserved attitude. I forgot about her icy demeanor and the embarrassment from my harem dream. Markus' enthusiastic explanation healed the wounds in my heart.
Right, Sophie's standoffishness was just that. I shouldn't care if one person dislikes me. There were as many women in the world as there were stars in the universe.
...No, I still cared. Since I hadn't interacted much with the opposite sex until now, being disliked was a first for me. Seeing her keeping her distance made my heart feel a pang of discomfort. It seemed best to keep my interactions with her minimal.
"Sophie, join the conversation too. As an archer, you're likely to coordinate with Haruki often. It's a good idea to confirm each other's range and attack methods now."
"...Understood. Haruki, could you tell me about your specialty magic?"
"Ah, sure. The magic I use is..."
Sophie joined the conversation. It felt like she was engaging in it out of duty, which was quite awkward. I'd rather have been disliked and kept at a distance. My mental state was gradually eroding.
...I really wanted to go home and see Lily. I wanted to hug her, be hugged by her, have her give me a lap pillow, and clean my ears.
My first ever joint subjugation was already facing rough waters.
