Chapter 3

As soon as we returned to the city, I was dragged to a small wooden tavern. The slightly aged building and the faint, appetizing aroma wafting from it created a cozy atmosphere. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of food they served here…

But I couldn’t afford to be so carefree. After all, I was flat broke. Since I had no money, I considered refusing, but Yui insisted, “It’s on me!” and practically forced me to come along. Besides, she mentioned we’d also discuss the quest’s strategy, so I couldn’t exactly say no.

“Sigh…” No choice, then. I’d just have to pay her back later when I had some money.

Inside, the tavern was divided into counter seats and partitioned tables for groups. I followed Yui and the others, weaving through the interior until we settled at a table. Yui ordered drinks and food, and a few minutes later, they were placed before me.

As soon as the order arrived, Yui raised her mug with her right hand and thrust it forward. “Alright, to celebrate Lloyd joining the party… Cheers!”

“C-Cheers,” I echoed.

Yui downed her beer in one go. “Phew… Beer really is the best! Hey, waiter, another round!” she called, holding up her empty mug to order more.

Meanwhile, I just stared at the beer in my mug. “Not a fan of beer, Lloyd?” Daggus asked, noticing I hadn’t touched it.

“Well… you could say it’s not my thing,” I replied vaguely, even to myself. It’s not that I couldn’t drink alcohol. I just had a bit of a trauma related to it, so I usually avoided it. The sight of alcohol inevitably brought back memories of my master, drunk and red-faced.

“If it’s not your thing, you don’t have to force yourself. Look, I can’t handle alcohol, so I’m drinking juice,” Silica said, holding a glass of juice in her right hand.

“You don’t drink either, Silica?” I asked.

“Nope, alcohol and beer are no-goes for me. Oh, want me to order the same for you, Lloyd-san?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just a bit of trauma—I can still drink,” I said.

“If you say so… Just don’t push yourself, okay?” Silica replied.

Easier said than done. When someone’s treating you, it’s not exactly polite to be picky. Besides, it’s not like I disliked the taste of alcohol or got drunk easily. If I focused on something else to avoid thinking of my master’s face, I’d be fine.

I steadied my breathing, picked up the mug, and chugged it down in one go. “Phew…”

“You okay?” Daggus asked.

“…I’m fine,” I assured him.

“Really? Maybe stick to juice next time,” he suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll do that…” No need to force myself to drink. Plus, when I’d glanced at the menu earlier, juice was cheaper than alcohol.

I picked up the menu and scanned it. “Alright, I’ll go with this orange juice—”

“Hey, hey, what’s this trauma about? Come on, tell me!” Yui interrupted, her face flushed from drinking, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. She’d had quite a bit of beer and looked drunk, though her mind seemed clear.

“Oi, Yui, maybe don’t pry into stuff like that,” Daggus said.

“Whaaat? Why not?” Yui whined.

“…Ugh, you reek of alcohol. Yui, you’ve had too much,” Daggus grumbled, clearly exasperated but still trying to rein her in. He was probably being considerate of me.

Trauma isn’t something anyone wants to revisit. I certainly didn’t. But with Yui bringing it up, the memories came flooding back whether I liked it or not.

It was two years ago, I think. My master had gathered her few friends for a party. I’d just turned fifteen, old enough to drink, and she forced me to join in. I drank until I vomited—and even then, she made me keep going. My master got drunk quickly but could handle an absurd amount of alcohol. And when she was drunk, she was a nightmare to deal with.

Normally, when she drank, I’d hide using concealment magic. But that time, she was dead-set on getting me to drink. My meager concealment magic stood no chance against her when she got serious. She found me, and I was forced to drink until dawn. The memory still gave me chills.

No doubt about it. “…That was hell,” I muttered, the words slipping out naturally.

The table fell silent, as if my words had frozen the air.

“Oh, right, Lloyd, you had a master, didn’t you? I’m kinda curious…” Yui said, blatantly changing the subject to shift the awkward mood.

“Lloyd’s master, huh? Yeah, I’m curious too,” Daggus added.

“Um… was that person a White Mage?” Silica asked.

“No, not a White Mage. More of an attack-oriented mage, I’d say,” I replied.

“What? And they were still better at support magic than you, Lloyd-san!?” Silica exclaimed.

“Yeah, way better,” I admitted.

“Wow… I’d love to learn from them sometime,” she said.

“Don’t,” I cut in sharply, reflexively interrupting her. As a fellow magic user, I understood Silica’s desire to learn. But learning from my master? That was a hard no. Absolutely not.

“Huh? Why not…?” Silica asked, confused.

“Just… trust me. There are tons of people on this continent better than my master. You’re better off finding someone else,” I insisted.

“Really?” she pressed.

“Yeah, whatever you do, don’t learn from my master,” I said firmly.

“Okay, got it,” Silica relented, finally backing down under my desperate insistence.

I sighed in relief. Good. I’d prevented another victim from falling into my master’s clutches.

After that, Yui and the others kept the conversation lively. We did brief introductions, and they shared stories about their adventures as a party. Before I knew it, over two hours had passed since we entered the tavern.

“Oh, it’s already this late… Guess we should start the strategy meeting. Ugh, I’m terrible at explaining stuff, though… Daggus, you handle it,” Yui said.

“Sigh… Get it together, Yui. You’re supposed to be the leader. Fine, your explanations wouldn’t have been clear anyway,” Daggus replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean!? Hey, are you listening!?” Yui protested, smacking Daggus’s shoulder repeatedly. But he ignored her, pulling a sheet of paper from his bag.

“Alright, I’ll explain. First, this is the quest document…” Daggus began.

“Sorry, can you hold on a sec?” I interrupted.

“Hm? Sure, what’s up?” he asked.

I activated my storage magic, pulling out a pen and notebook. “Okay, go ahead.”

“Man, you’re serious…” Daggus muttered, glancing at me.

“Uh, anyway, take a look at this quest document. The quest is…” I listened closely, jotting down key points as Daggus explained. His explanation was surprisingly concise yet clear, covering all the essentials.

“…That’s the quest. Got it?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got the gist,” I replied, closing my notebook and storing it.

The quest was to eliminate a pack of High Wolves that were ravaging a farm owned by someone named Markus. High Wolves were monsters that typically roamed forests in small packs of a few, hunting other monsters to survive. While formidable due to their pack behavior, a B-Rank adventurer party could handle them. However, this time, an unusually large number of High Wolves had appeared, raising the quest’s difficulty to Rank A.

A Rank A quest could only be accepted by a party of A-Rank or higher adventurers. Apparently, there weren’t any other A-Rank parties—or even A-Rank adventurers—in this city, so Yui’s party had taken it on.

“A pack of High Wolves, huh…” I mused. They usually lived in forests in groups of up to twenty at most. I’d heard of them occasionally wandering into farms, but a large group attacking one was unheard of. According to the details, the farm grew only vegetables, not livestock. High Wolves were carnivorous—they wouldn’t eat vegetables. So why were they targeting the farm?

That wasn’t the only issue. “I get that it’s about defeating High Wolves, but… there’s no specific number listed,” Yui said, holding the quest document.

Exactly. The document only mentioned an “abnormal number” of High Wolves, meaning we didn’t know the exact count.

“‘Abnormal number’ doesn’t tell us much…” I muttered.

“Yeah, that’s no help at all,” Cross added.

“Does it mean there are so many it’s impossible to count?” Silica wondered.

We all leaned over the table, peering at the document. “Well, if there are a lot, it’s gotta be Silica’s time to shine. We can’t take out a big group all at once,” Yui said.

Swords and bows weren’t suited for wiping out large groups of monsters, so Yui, a swordswoman, and Cross, an archer, weren’t ideal for this quest.

“Right… But wide-area attack spells are limited, and they consume a lot of mana. Depending on their numbers, it could be tough,” Silica said.

“Yeah, that’s the problem. Silica can’t handle it alone… Hey, Lloyd, can you use any wide-area attack spells?” Yui asked.

“Me, huh?” I thought for a moment. Wide-area attack spells… I could use them, but as a White Mage, my firepower was nowhere near that of an attack-oriented mage, even with buffs boosting my power. Honestly, it’d be more efficient to focus on supporting Silica with buffs than trying to attack myself.

“I can use them, but… I think it’s better to leave it to Silica, the mage,” I said.

“Yeah, true. Your support magic was impressive, but White Mages just don’t have the firepower,” Yui agreed.

“Right. I’d be better off focusing on support magic than trying to attack,” I said, sharing my thoughts.

“Lloyd’s support magic, huh… I’m kinda looking forward to it,” Silica said, looking at me.

But being told she was looking forward to it… Did I really have the skill to meet those expectations? Honestly, I’d probably be lucky just to avoid dragging them down.

“…Don’t expect too much,” I said. High expectations would only pressure me, and the last thing I wanted was to build up hopes just to let them down.

“Hmm… I think you should have more confidence in yourself, Lloyd,” Yui muttered.

“Yeah, he’s got a point. I’d take a humble guy like Lloyd over some arrogant jerk who thinks they’re hot stuff any day,” Cross said.

“True,” Yui nodded.

“Oi, Yui, Cross, cut it out and let’s get back to the point,” Daggus interjected.

“Right, we got sidetracked,” Yui admitted.

“Yeah, my bad,” Cross added. Both lowered their heads slightly.

“Alright, here’s the basic plan I came up with. Yui and I will draw the High Wolves’ attention and group them together. Then, Silica hits them hard. How’s that?” Daggus asked.

Cross raised his hand. “What about me?”

“Cross, you protect Silica and Lloyd. Lloyd, I’m counting on you for party-wide support and healing,” Daggus said.

“…Got it,” I replied.

It was a simple plan, and I had no objections. Plus, as Daggus pointed out, “We won’t know the details until we get there—things like the number of High Wolves or the terrain. There’s just too little info this time.”

He was right. The quest lacked critical details. Normally, for a difficult quest, you’d do reconnaissance, but the location was too far, and they hadn’t gathered much information.

“We’ll figure out the rest on-site,” Silica suggested.

“Yeah,” Daggus agreed.

“Alright, that settles it!” Yui said with a cheerful grin, picking up her mug. “So, let’s drink up and—”

Before she could finish, Daggus scooped her up with ease. “Wha—What are you doing!?” Yui protested.

“We’ve got an important quest starting tomorrow. I can’t have you hungover. We’re heading back,” Daggus said.

“N-No way! I’m not done yet!” Yui whined.

Ignoring her, Daggus stood, carrying her toward the counter to pay the bill.

“Nooo! I haven’t had enough!” Yui wailed.

“Sigh… So noisy. We’re going home,” Daggus said firmly.

“No way!” she cried, flailing as they left.

Daggus settled the bill with one hand while managing a squirming, protesting Yui, then left the tavern. Despite her tantrum, Yui was forcibly dragged by Daggus and the others toward their inn.

Currently, Yui was being hauled along by Daggus to the inn. Though they stayed in separate rooms, the four of them were lodging at the same place. Watching Daggus and the others chat and laugh behind me, I felt a twinge of envy.

If only I had comrades like that…

“Oh, right,” I said, suddenly remembering something. I almost forgot to ask. “Hey, Daggus, where are we meeting tomorrow?”

“Hm? You’re not staying at the same inn as us… Oh, right, you’re broke,” Daggus realized.

Exactly. I had no money, so I couldn’t afford to stay at their inn. Tonight, I planned to camp in a safe forest near Ishtar using the gear I had in my storage magic. Sure, I could track them with detection magic once I memorized their mana signatures, but I wanted to avoid wasting mana unnecessarily before the quest. Searching for specific people consumed a fair amount of mana.

“Yeah, so…” I started.

“Here, take this,” Daggus said, tossing me a small pouch.

I caught it and looked inside—it was filled with coins. He was telling me to use it for the inn. But after they’d already treated me at the tavern, I couldn’t possibly accept money for lodging too.

“I can’t take this—” I began.

“Relax. I’m not *giving* it to you. I’ll deduct it from your share of the reward. You wouldn’t take it if I said it was free, right?” Daggus said with a sly grin.

This party was full of genuinely kind people. “Alright… I’ll pay it back with my work,” I said, storing the coins in my storage magic.

With that, I followed Daggus and the others to their inn