"Why'd you attack Aria?" Tink asked, his hands clutching sothing that looked suspicious... His eyes narrowed as he stared at the adventurers.
The rest of the group, likely terrified by the vague threat of what was in Tink's hands, imdiately recounted everything they'd told .
They explained the quest, the mysterious hooded figure, the robbery—everything. They even included the whole "duke's daughter" part.
"I see... a daughter, huh?" Nia, Tink's wife, spoke up, arms crossed and index finger tapping her skin in thought. "Now that I think about it, a party that fits that description passed by our village a while ago.
They were in a hurry and covered in blood, so we jusut let them be, assuming so strong beast had done the job. We didn't want to risk it coming near the village. But, there wasn't a woman with them. The mana around them felt... aggressive. All of them were male. If there really was a woman in the group, they probably ditched her as bait to escape."
The adventurers looked horrified, their expressions falling. It was clear that the "search for the duke's daughter" quest might have just beco their next headache.
I had a gut feeling we were about to get dragged into it.
"I guess we'll have to go after her then," Leah spoke up, her tone resigned. "If we don't, those humans will co knocking. If we do, at least we'll have a bargaining chip. I don't think they'll just let us walk away, even if they know we didn't do it."
That made sense. If we were bound to face those people sooner or later, might as well go for the best solution.
"Alright," Scarface said, turning around and addressing his group. "Starting now, every ti we go out hunting, we look for clues. Got it?"
With a series of nods, the monsters scattered back to their work, leaving and the other five behind with Titan and Leah.
I let out a deep sigh, followed by the others. That had been a bit too much for my heart. Imagine being scolded by a mixed group of monsters, each one angrier than the last. The thought alone made my spine shiver.
I was the one who felt like a disappointnt, and the others... well, they'd been close to kissing death with a scythe.
I stood up and glanced around, preparing to ask the most important question of the mont.
"Are we still going to the city?"
They looked at like I had just asked if the sky was green. I have a feeling they're bad mouthing inside their heads with how the way they looked at change.
I an, as Fen had said I was the leader, and that ant I had to step up and secure safety for my people.
Now, I just needed to figure out how.
Okay, let's think this through.
Option one: infiltrate the Adventurer's Guild. Climb the ranks, beco the strongest, and then ask for an audience with the king.
But that would take forever. I'd be gone most of the ti, and I wasn't really keen on leaving the group behind that long. So, yeah, that's a no-go.
Option two... was much easier, but also way more annoying.
Find the duke's daughter, save her, make her indebted to , and use her father's connections to secure an audience.
Easy enough in theory. The problem? We had no idea where she was. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sure, we could do it, but it would be a huge pain in the ass.
Our only lead was that she had been near Fen's village, a place I had no real attachnt to... that's definitely not because of the chickens!
But hey, if it worked, it worked.
There was also the small issue of leadership. If I was going to do this "kingdom" thingy, I needed people in positions of power who could handle things while I sat back and relaxed.
I also had to consider the economic issues. Food, clothing, weapons, public order... just thinking about it gives a headache. Most of that could be solved if I could form an alliance though.
...This is exactly why I hated responsibilities. All I wanted was to sleep, read, and relax.
Hehe, but wait! There's a way out!
Capable people!
Since the dawn of ti, leaders have been able to take naps once they found capable people to do the work for them.
For my future retirent, I needed to find people who could work without !
[System Translation:
If I have capable people leading them, then I can go and be lazy!]
[System Response:
You really don't learn, do you? So stubborn.]
---
A group playing "Old Maid" could be seen, all staring at a hologram displaying the ridiculous "perfect plan" for future laziness of the woman inside the screen.
They all thought in unison, 'Well, even if you say you're trying to be lazy, you could've just left them. You wouldn't have had any problems.'
They all sighed in exasperation.
---
"Oi~ Aria, you there?"
I hadn't even realized soone was calling . I'd gotten so caught up in my "perfect plan" for retirent that I zoned out completely. The next thing I felt was a sharp sting on my cheek as my head jerked to the side.
Slap!
"Ow!! What the heck was that for?!" I yelped, clutching my now-stinging right cheek.
"Oh, good. You're back," Leah said, casually retracting her hand like she hadn't just nearly given whiplash.
"Does she always do that?" I heard Jin's voice ask from the side.
"Most of the ti, yeah. She blanks out, and then we have to smack so sense into her," Leah replied, completely nonchalant.
I glared at them, still holding my cheek, my mind in a daze from the slap. "You couldn't have shaken my shoulders or sothing instead of, y'know, physically assaulting ?!"
"We did! We slapped you several tis already," Levy said, frowning in mock annoyance. "You didn't even notice."
Aria: "....."
I stared at them, utterly speechless.
What is up with them and assaulting ?!
"Anyway," Serena chid in with a mischievous grin, "what we wanted to say is... go ask your friends first. Once you get their permission, we'll go. Until then, we're staying here." Serena added with a giggle as she looked at with Titan besides her, Titan's laughing motion making a noticeable clanging of armor.
I groaned. I had always been used to doing whatever I wanted without anyone questioning . My real father let do whatever I wanted before he left at the gang hideout, and Scarface never stopped either. I guess I was spoiled, huh?
Leah and the others burst out laughing as they watched trudge over to Fen and the others. I knew asking Scarface would be pointless—if Fen said no, then Scarface would follow suit.
Facing them again, I started the conversation with a deep sigh.
Little Theater
Leah: "She's planning sothing stupid again, isn't she?"
Serena: "Yup. I bet it's sothing impossible."
Fen: "Just slap her back to reality, that works..."
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