About an hour’s walk from Darion, the four of us — me, Novem, Zelphy, Aria — were facing monsters.
The spot was near a forest; settled monsters appeared here.
Going into the forest was dangerous, but outside, on open ground, four of us — practically three — could manage.
“Lord Lyle, I’m ready.”
Novem set. I cut into an oncoming goblin with my sabre.
The arm holding its club went flying; I jumped back.
“Now, Novem!”
She cast.
“Earth Spear!”
Spears erupted from the ground in rapid succession, ripping into the goblins.
The play was: dip into the forest, make noise to provoke, then draw the forest’s monsters out.
A coordinated group fight with the lured monsters. Which meant we needed a decoy.
Naturally, Zelphy didn’t pitch in.
As instructor, she’d step in only if we tried something beyond our means.
Or if it became life-threatening — that was her job.
The decoy was me.
Go in, make noise, draw them out — that was the role. But I had the ancestors’ Skills.
The Fourth’s was, quietly, premium.
The Fourth explained it himself.
For some reason the image of him pushing up his glasses came with it.
“Just a movement speed boost. But it’s broadly useful. Lower mana cost than the others, less of a load on current-Lyle.”
The Second, advising during combat.
“Pinpoint Full-Over use plus the Fourth’s 【Speed】 temporarily. Stacking other Skills simultaneously isn’t doable. Painful.”
If I tried to run the Fourth’s and the Fifth’s Skills together, my mana ran out fast.
Resting between bouts, I scouted around to find easy goblins to draw.
The forest was rough on me, but the Fourth’s Skill let me escape if needed. Even in unfamiliar ground, I could outrun pursuit.
Help, on the forest’s bad footing.
Going into the forest, I could pick off solo monsters.
For now, more than collecting materials, I wanted to kill monsters and trigger Growth.
The skirmish wrapped. I looked around.
“Novem, take a rest. Aria, watch. …I’ll handle materials.”
What you could recover from goblins were their gear and the mana-stone.
I’d heard about processing the skin, but disassembling a humanoid hit you mentally.
Evidence we weren’t used to this kind of work yet.
Zelphy clapped, watching.
“You’ve gotten good. And a mage who doubles as healer is huge. So’s having a front-liner protecting Novem.”
She’d praised Aria. Aria’s eyes ducked a beat.
She knew which of us had the easiest role.
“Movement’s better than before. Let’s keep this routine a while. Originally the plan was for you to save funds this period and then I’d lay out the next step… but you’ve got money. We can push that next phase further out.”
“Money” — the support funds from the lord that had funded the bandit subjugation.
We’d converted the bandits’ loot, secured a cushion. We could live without working a while, but that wasn’t sustainable.
I was already being called deadbeat-noble Lyle in Darion.
(That was the design — but it gets in my head anyway.)
I’d put up with the reputation; living like the deadbeat I was rumored to be — no thanks.
I approached the goblin-ground-zero of Earth Spear to recover gear and mana-stones.
Aria touched my shoulder.
“I’ll do it. Lyle, you watch.”
“Eh? But—”
She wanted to do something. Disliked doing nothing.
Zelphy scratched her head — leave it to you. Novem just watched.
Do as you like, meaning.
Normally the First would’ve said something like “Don’t make Aria-chan do this!” — but the Jewel was quiet.
Instead—
“Lyle, the lookout is also a vital role. The one with energy left when something goes wrong is Aria; let her stay on watch. You recover stones, you take the rest break.”
The Second.
I hesitated, watching Aria’s serious face. The Second.
”…If she can’t even handle the watch properly, don’t give her other work. She’s been given an important job, complaining and asking for a swap. The party leader isn’t Novem or Zelphy. It’s you. If you don’t hold the line, the party falls apart fast.”
I accepted that and asked Aria to watch.
”…Recovery is mine. Aria, watch.”
She looked frustrated.
The Third weighed in.
“I get the feeling. Wanting to contribute, but spinning your wheels. She’s not slighting the watch role, I don’t think.”
The Second’s stance didn’t change.
The Second favored Novem; he had no equivalent feeling toward Aria.
Not dislike — just, fulfill the role.
“Aria.”
I called. Mm, she said quietly, and went back on watch.
I exhaled, then resumed the still-uncomfortable recovery work.
◇
As decoy, I’d headed into the forest. I checked the surroundings.
Skill on — several monster signals pinged.
“Lots of goblins. And — horned rabbits? They’re thick close in.”
The ancestors’ tones changed.
“Horned rabbits?! KILL THEM. Cull every one.”
The Second the same.
I was cutting through dense undergrowth with my knife, and his voice came at me.
“Those vermin — purge them, no mercy!”
The Third, normally breezy, was different too.
The occasional black-hearted edge was right on the surface.
“Ha ha… Lyle, save the fields — cull every one you can. Lyle gets Growth experience, the farmers’ fields stay un-savaged. Win-win.”
I was alone — could talk out loud.
“You all are kind of scary right now. Really hate horned rabbits?”
The First, on behalf:
“Those bastards — do you understand how much of our fields they wrecked! Find one, chase to the ends of the earth, finish—”
But one voice differed.
Unexpectedly — the Fifth.
”…Let them off. Forgive. They don’t attack unless attacked.”
That surprised me, but the others were having none of it.
The First, Second, Third — who’d had fields — were furious.
“Cute MY ASS!! That fluffy fur, makes you want to skin them on sight!!”
“Agreed! Do you know how much they put us through!”
“SEARCH AND DESTROY!”
The Fifth pushed back.
“Stop! They have nothing to do with Lyle’s Growth! Lyle — find a different monster, immediately!”
The Jewel was loud. I’d rested between bouts, so my mana had recovered some.
Not infinite.
“Could you give it a rest already? I drop here and I die.”
Complaining, I shut them up, and re-scouted.
The dominant signal was still horned rabbits.
“All that fuss cost me mana.”
I spotted one — white, fluffy fur, the horned rabbit.
Knife out, I approached. It noticed, threatened with sharp incisors.
About the size of a slightly large baby. Sharp eyes. Hardly cute.
It launched.
“Step right. Cut on the pass. It can’t change direction in the air.”
The First. I executed.
Sharp horn forward, mid-leap; I sidestepped, knife cleared a horizontal arc. White fur turned crimson.
“NOOOOOOO!”
The Fifth’s anguished scream.
(First impression of him was cool, but he likes — animals? Cute things?)
Any more screaming and I’d run out of energy mid-forest.
This was enough for today’s harvest. I confirmed the rabbit was dead, put it in my pouch, and left.
Out of the forest, heading toward the three’s spot. Novem stood and waved.
But something looked off.
I approached carrying the pouch. Aria was tearing up.
“What happened?”
I asked Novem; Zelphy answered.
“Ah — Aria said she could be more useful. So I, well — a bit.”
Apparently Zelphy had given her a talking-to as instructor.
Something had happened in my absence; Zelphy looked uncomfortable.
“Reprimanding your former boss’s daughter is rough.”
The Second. Even so, Zelphy had taken Aria into the party.
(Couldn’t leave her hanging, maybe. Zelphy lobbied for the Rockwards’ stay in Darion, Bentler mentioned.)
Zelphy was Bentler’s lord-connected adventurer.
Day to day she adventured; she reported on the town and the Guild.
Not necessarily a bad thing — it spoke to her capability.
When we’d first arrived, the Guild had recommended an instructor for two conspicuous newcomers.
At that point, we’d been two suspicious noble kids.
That was all Zelphy had known then.
“Fifteen or sixteen? That age can be hard to handle. Her background was clear; only Lyle and Zelphy were people she could rely on. If she becomes professional, she’s a valuable asset.”
The Second. The First didn’t put in his usual two cents.
Lately the First had been less noisy.
(He’s accepting me a little, maybe?)
“That said — bad signs. Her own feelings are spinning her out. Let Novem cover.”
The Second’s suggestion came off offhand, but woman-to-woman she might be able to say things I couldn’t.
“All right, Lyle — what now?”
Zelphy, changing the air. Aria pushed to continue.
“I’ll do the decoy next round. So let’s keep going. I haven’t done anything today—”
The Second to me.
Not as an adventurer’s view — as a man who’d led people.
“Head back. Lyle and Novem are both showing fatigue. Zelphy is instructor, not combat asset. Aria, prone to running ahead, is out. Plus you’ve hit the day’s quota.”
Total picture, head home.
Same read on my end.
Mostly because I was beat.
(If they’d stayed quiet, I had another round in me.)
Frustrated, but —
”…Let’s head back. We made enough today.”
Zelphy looked relieved.
She’d thought I might insist on continuing, maybe.
Novem didn’t object.
She showed no fatigue, but the tension of combat had stiffened her a little.
Aria was the holdout.
“Wait! I can still go. I’ll take the decoy!”
Zelphy heaved a deep sigh. The Second to me:
“Lyle, you called the return. You make her accept it.”
(First time doing this kind of thing…)
Didn’t matter if I didn’t want to.
Fatigue mistakes had downstream costs.
And returning fully spent meant a real problem if we hit monsters on the way.
“Novem and I are at our limit. By the time we’re home, we’ll be wrecked. We need to be ready for tomorrow.”
Aria went quiet.
Continuing alone wasn’t realistic. She knew it.
Knew it, but didn’t accept it — her face showed it.
“Right, moving. Quick on the inventory!”
Zelphy got us moving. We started prepping for Darion.
The First, low.
“Lyle, drop by tonight. We need to talk.”
Aria, probably. I touched the Jewel at my neck — acknowledged.
Looking around, Novem was glancing at Aria.
Not glaring. Just a look, then her eyes back to her own hands.
She was checking the load.
(What does Novem think about Aria?)
Simply — I wondered about Novem’s feeling on it.