Ray and Sett were in front of the main gate of the city of Gillum in the dark, as the six o'clock bell had already rung.
　No matter how winter it is, it's probably because of the thick clouds that are still dim at this time of day. Temperatures are lower than in the past few days, and the breaths around Ray are white.
　In the midst of all this, Ray, who had no coat on, was very conspicuous. The people around me keep out the cold by wearing layers of robes and coats. Nevertheless, Ray, who didn't seem to feel cold at all even though he didn't wear anything other than robes, probably couldn't help but stand out. Moreover, with a set of glyphons of more than two meters perched on his side, it was no wonder that he would attract the attention of the people around him.
　Still, there is not much hatred or awe in the eyes of the merchants around us. Because they know they were saved when they were attacked by a herd of icebirds a few days ago. and it was no better than an adventurer."

"You're Ray, aren't you? I'm glad you came to rescue me the other day. Thank you."

　A female adventurer with a halberd approaches Ray and calls out.
　He had a halberd in his hand, and the familiarity with it gave him a rather veteran feel.

"Grull?"

　Seto nods his head to familiar female adventurers. A woman adventurer with a bow behind a woman holding a halberd walks up to her in an unimaginably lovely manner.

"Oh, that's cute,"

　a woman who murmurs but gently reaches out her hand without a bow.

"Hey, Louide! I know you like cute things, but at least say hello properly!"
"But Taenier,"
"Don't stretch the end of the word! My name is Taenia, not Taenia." Oh, my God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
"A little bit," Taenia, it's really good, it's really good."

　Taenia yells at party member Louid as usual. Then the female swordsman, who was carrying a sword and shield to Taenia, mutters dumbfounded. And Taenia must have finally realized this. cough hastily as if to gloss over

"Oh, Kohon. My party members seem to have made a fuss. I beg your pardon. So I'd like to have a quick consultation about self-introduction and bodyguards. ... Do you mind?"
"Oh, that would help me." As you already know, I'm Ray. As you may have seen in the last game against Icebird, he is a wizard. Here's the Gryphon."

　Ray introduces himself to Seto, who is caressed by Louid.
　Taenia receives it, nods softly, and then opens her mouth.

"I'm Taenia, the leader of the Rank D party, Ryo no Shizuku." As you can see, he is a warrior who uses the Harbard, essentially the main bodyguard. Or I'm the avant‐garde. And over here...

　Taenia turns to the woman with the sword and shield beside her.

"I'm Fabel," As you can see, the orthodox has swords and shields for basic weapons, but as you can see from the equipment, basically it's a wall role, and the sword is just an aid."

　look to one's half‐plate armour The shield is carried on his back so that he can take it out at any time, with a sheath hanging from his waist.
　It's a rare heavy gear for an adventurer who values mobility. That said, it's still an adventurous place to wear something like a full plate armour that requires a certain amount of force to move around.

"And finally..."

　Taenia finally turned to Louid, who was playing with Seto, but he didn't seem to notice it at all, stroking Seto with a blissful expression.
　Thaenia's cheek moves uncomfortably when she sees such a party member. Fabelle unwittingly covered her face when she saw it, but Louide was stroking Sett, unaware of it. and, as might have been expected, Taenia took a deep breath...

"Louide! Don't play with the Gryphon, but introduce yourself to yourself!"
"What!"

　The outcry would have surprised me.

"Taenia, don't shout like that all of a sudden!"

　Despite Louid's prolonged voice, Taenia's eyes sharpened and her eyes turned to Louid.
　Taenia, herself, seemed to build up the dignity of a party leader, but from the outset she looked nothing but an angry mother and an unreasonable daughter. ...the two of them are of the same age in themselves, but what makes them look like that is because of each other's personalities...or perhaps the years they've walked together will make themselves.

"Then introduce yourself properly. Look, Gryphon -- let go of Set!"
"Ah, I want to play with Seto more."

　Reaching for Seto, Louid forces her to pull up and stand in front of Ray.

(... he seems to be a good match for the Mire Dog.)

　Ray muttered that in spite of his affection for Seto.

(No, they might not be the type to get along with each other because they are like each other, or they might never get along with each other.)

　I'm afraid so.
　Louid, who doesn't think he's being treated like that in Ray, bows at Taenia's urging.

"My name is Louid." As you can see, my weapon is a bow, and I'm an archer. Thank you for your help the other day. Let's do our best this time as a bodyguard."
"Oh, oh. Nice to meet you."

　When Ray introduced himself in a distinctive tone that extends the end of the sentence, and looked confused by the tone, he probably decided that he was done with it. walk up to Seto again

"I'm sorry," Even if you look like that, your bow's arm stands in its own way. --though I don't think so at all."

　You must have felt embarrassed by the way the party members looked. Taenia explains to follow with red cheeks.

"I suppose you shot an arrow quite accurately in those battles. Don't worry, and I think I fully understand that personality and adventurous skill are not equal."

　Tell Taenia so reassuringly, Elk, the leader of Thunder God's axe, passes by in his mind.
　He has the character of a naughty boy as if he had just grown up, and to put it bluntly, he is very lively. a man who is rough to speak ill of Ray never thought the adventurer's skill and character were equal because such a person could be a Rank A adventurer.
　However, even if Ray is involved in any disturbance, he is at the center of the disturbance, or if he is involved in another adventurer in the guild, he will crush it with force. I didn't realize that it would be a question mark if I was told that I was the right person to be a Rank C adventurer, like I didn't know how to speak to my elders.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. It will be helpful if you say so. --but I was using a big sickle at that time, and you don't have it today? I don't think it's big enough to fit under the robe."Taenia laughs as if to mislead and asks questions she was curious about. Towards such Taenia, Ray nods his head and nods immediately. It is a habit in lay to first store a fallen monster like an ice bird in a mistling. But at that time, even after Baslello stopped crying, he held his dragon robe tightly, and when he finally calmed down on his way to town, he put it in the mistling. So I'm convinced that most of the people I was with at the time probably didn't know about Mistilling.

"Oh, I have an item box," Here you go."

　mutter, take the death size out of the mistling.

"Yes, yes, yes!?"
"Hey, Fabel," What a loud voice!"

　Listening to their conversation innocently, Fabel exclaims at the sight of Death Size, which suddenly emerges from nowhere.
　and Taenia, who had heard the voice in her ear, naturally struck Fabel's head over her helmet, holding her ear.

"It hurts! Hey, Taenia. Even if you wear a helmet, the shock will go through, so you should be a little more careful... It's an item box, an item box! But how can you stay so calm?"

　Fabelle swears to Taenia, but Taenia gasps and opens her mouth.

"It calmed me down, but you surprised me so much that I had no chance to be surprised. And look at it. Louid isn't surprised, either."

　Beyond Taenia's gaze, Louide was caressing Seto, as if this mess had nothing to do with her. Seth doesn't hate being caressed either...or rather, she's letting Louide have her own way with her throat ringing.

"Louide hasn't been like that since he was a child. I'm used to it now."
"Well, indeed," But it's my first time seeing an item box, so I was surprised enough to ask if I was surprised."

　Listening to these two men, Ray opens his mouth to Taenia.
　If you don't ask Fabel here, you can say that you understand the difference in personality, even though the time you have met him is short.

"I've been talking about it since I was a child. Are they all from the same family?"
"What? Yes, yes. I wonder if they were childhood friends who lived in the same village."
"It's unusual to have a party as a childhood friend."
"Is that so? It's not unusual for people from the same hometown to have parties?"

　Taenia said so in Rey's words, but this was because of the difference between Rey, the remote town of Guilm, and Taenia, the guild of a non-remote town. The average level of adventurers on the frontier is so high that not many people form parties like that of their own countrymen... The meritocracy, in both good and bad ways, has gone through. Of course, it's not like there's no such thing at all, and there are actually quite a few parties in the town of Gillum composed of people from the same hometown, but basically Ray, who doesn't have much to do with other adventurers, was unfamiliar with such information.

"Well, that's enough for me to introduce myself. As for the bodyguards... has Ray ever been a bodyguard?"
"There is no official bodyguard,"

　The words that crossed my mind were a request to the dungeons with Elena. But that request is not something that can be said carelessly, for there are many political reasons, and moreover, the Baron Sails family is in exile.

"I'm in trouble. ... I'm sorry, but can I take command of this bodyguard? Ray, who is supposed to be Rank C, should have no formal experience of bodyguard..."

　Taenia spins her words and turns an apologetic glance at Ray.
　For Taenia, it was a suggestion that they could take command of Ray, who was ranked higher than themselves, and that they would be better commanders if they had been asked to guard themselves.
　What if Ray, who is ranked higher than himself, insists on leading the escort? There was such anxiety in Taenia, but...

"I see. Then I've left it to you."

　Ray nods without hesitation and agrees that Taenia will lead the escort.

"...what?"

　Taenia screamed at the fact that her suggestion was so easily accepted that Ray thought it was a cross-border proposition in many ways. After all, Ray himself is not good at conducting, as he usually acts solo. Then leave the command to the people you are accustomed to, and you can follow the command. That was the way he acted, but it was no wonder that Taenia suspected something was wrong for a moment.

"Ray, it's really nice..."

　OK? Just as I was about to ask that, I was suddenly approached from behind.

"Good morning, Mr. Ray and Mr. Taenia," I look forward to your escort starting today."

　The rattle of the cart and the sound of it moving were Alexander's. The two people who had been spoken to and the people who had been listening to him turned around, and there was, as expected, a stout figure of Alexander, and a cart being carried by several men.

『……』

　As soon as they see the cart, the people in the merchant corps and the two beautiful drops of water fall silent.
　By the way, the last third of the beautiful drops was still concentrating on stroking Seto, and he didn't even notice the appearance of Alexander.
　And the reason why people around me were surprised. It was because there were nearly a hundred spears on the loading platform. and a large number of spears, which were obviously rusty, and which could not be sufficiently used without being groomed by blacksmiths and arms dealers.