Chapter 5: A Very Easy Task

A week.

In just a week, Rainia realized why the guild master had entrusted Evan to her.

‘Does this guy… have no common sense?’

Evan was a being that could not be called common sense.

To be precise, he was completely unaware of the ways of the world.

He was a country bumpkin who had lived his entire life in the mountains or a rural area.

He was overwhelmingly lacking in social knowledge and common sense compared to his strength.

That was the only thing she could teach Evan, having lived as a demi-human who had to survive being discriminated against by others.

“Didn’t I tell you not to take on tasks like this?”

“Yeah.”

“Why not? It seems like a good way to make a lot of money.”

“The difficulty of the task doesn’t match the reward.

For a job like this, you’d normally get this much pay.”

“Really? Is there someone who would pay this much for a task?”

As Evan gasped at the amount Rainia suggested, she nodded as if it were obvious.

“Only those who really need it. Nobles or those who need the item itself.”

“Wow… there are so many rich people in the world…”

“You’ll soon become one of them.”

“Really? I guess so.”

Evan, who didn’t understand what she meant, soon realized that he could perform tasks like this without any concern.

If he took on a job every day based on the amount Rainia mentioned earlier, he could become wealthy in no time.

Imagining himself swimming in gold coins, Evan chuckled, but then his expression changed.

‘But, what would I do with all that money?’

He could buy a huge mansion.

He could hire maids or butlers and live a life without lifting a finger,

or he could sprinkle money on people and be praised.

He would never go hungry for the rest of his life, and if he wanted, he could easily buy countless beautiful women and be buried in their presence.

However, none of that excited him.

‘Not really… I don’t want to live like that.’

What he wanted most right now was a girlfriend, but that was something he couldn’t buy with money.

What he could buy with money was not a girlfriend, but a prostitute.

Evan did not want to waste his life on a prostitute.

What he desired was a fateful and miraculous encounter like the protagonists in stories.

And love.

“Oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just realized something I want to do.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

He couldn’t even tell Rainia about his desire to have a girlfriend.

It would be mortifying to admit that to the guild master.

But at this moment, Evan realized the path he needed to take.

It was still a secret he couldn’t tell others, but a faint desire was rising in his heart.

It had been ten days since he met Rainia.

That meant her comrades, who had taken a break for the Sabbath, had returned.

The party members who returned gasped at the sight of me with Rainia.

“Rainia, who’s this? Why is she so cute!?”

“Not, not cute.”

“Ahh—! Look at her responding! She’s so cute!”

The white wolf member, an elf archer, said this while tightly hugging me, rubbing her chest against mine.

Although it was far less ample than Rainia’s or the guild master’s, she had something that could be called a chest.

I buried my face in it and mumbled.

“P-Please don’t do this…”

“Don’t say that! What should I do, what should I do!”

“Please stop…”

At that moment, it was crucial that I didn’t show any signs of liking it or revealing any of my feelings.

I had to act shy, like a clumsy guy who didn’t know anything about women.

Whenever I showed that kind of demeanor, the girls would get even more excited and initiate skinship.

That was the most important lesson I learned from Rainia.

“Stop it, Aness.”

“Eh— but…”

“That guy is just acting.”

“Huh? Really?”

Upon hearing Rainia’s words, the elf archer carefully set me down and examined my face.

I slightly rolled my eyes to avoid her gaze.

Seeing that, the elf archer seemed to realize that Rainia was telling the truth and stepped back, losing interest in me.

I shot a resentful glance at Rainia.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really.”

Receiving that resentful gaze, Rainia sighed once before speaking.

“I think I’ve taught you everything I can. From now on, you’ll have to figure it out on your own.”

“Can’t we go together?”

“Together? Sorry, but there’s a level difference between us.”

The statement that there was a level difference was something I couldn’t easily accept.

However, since I had never seen Rainia wield a sword, I nodded along, somewhat reluctantly.

Yeah, maybe I could be worse than her.

She might have thought I was too low in level to even show her how I fought.

‘How do I get stronger from here?’

That fundamental question crossed my mind, but even Rainia, who had taught me so much, didn’t provide an answer to it.

In the end, I had to send off the female adventurer I had just met.

“Ahh… What should I do now?”

“Do you have nothing to do?”

“Huh? Who…”

Turning my head at the sound of a woman’s voice, I recognized the face of the guild staff member who had brought me to the guild master’s office earlier, and I began to rummage through my memories.

I couldn’t recall her name.

As I stammered and couldn’t say her name, she let out a light laugh and introduced herself.

“My name is Rebecca. Evan.”

“Evan…?”

“Yes. Our adventurer guild is a place for supporting adventurers, so it’s natural to address adventurers with honorifics.”

“The person I saw when I first came was unfriendly, though.”

“That person… was probably someone who was contracted and not a member of our guild!”

Rebecca chuckled lightly and casually took my hand.

Her soft hands, typical of a city girl, enveloped my hand.

“You said you didn’t know what to do, right? I’ll manage it for you. Shall we go together?”

“W-Where are we going?”

“Our adventurer guild has a counseling room prepared for consultations with adventurers.”

“A private room…?”

“Yes. It’s a private room just for me and you, Evan.”

“Just the two of us?”

A man and a woman entering the same room together.

Could this be considered like a girlfriend?

I thought that as I followed Rebecca with a flushed face.

Thoughts of the senior I had just met vanished in an instant.

***

The high-level adventurer party, ‘Haan Wolves,’ was made up of four members: a warrior, a magician, an archer, and a priest.

However, as they entered more dangerous territories, the party’s issues began to surface.

The problem was that if a monster got past Rainia, everyone in the back line was in danger.

They felt the need to find a new party member, and the elf archer, Aness, suspected that Evan could be that new party member.

It was the first time she had seen Rainia being so friendly with a man.

“That kid, Evan, was it? What do you think?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“I’m asking about his abilities.”

“I can’t dare to evaluate him.”

Hearing Rainia’s ambiguous answer, Aness let out a sigh full of disappointment.

The fact that she had answered that way likely meant he wasn’t very good.

No matter how much Rainia liked him, they couldn’t have someone lacking in ability as a party member.

They were high-level adventurers who had to focus on skill rather than sentiment.

“That’s too bad. If his skills were good, he could have joined our party.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Huh? Didn’t you say earlier that he couldn’t join us because of the level difference?

And just now you said you couldn’t evaluate him. That means that kid lacks skill, right?”

“On the contrary, Aness.”

“On the contrary?”

As if to say, “What do you mean?” Aness perked up her ears, and Rainia carefully recalled Evan’s swordsmanship to evaluate him.

“Having a level difference means that our party couldn’t even compare to his skills.”

“What does that mean… a fifteen-year-old kid?”

“I can’t believe it.”

Naou, who had been quietly listening to the two of them from behind, stepped forward upon hearing that Evan’s skills were far superior to the entire party.

That was an incredibly prideful statement for a magician in a high-level adventurer party.

To say that some mere swordsman had superior skills compared to a high-level adventurer party that included a magician?

Moreover, this party was one of the few high-level adventurer parties in the guild.

There was no reason for a mere beginner, who had just become an adventurer, to be superior.

“Are we really worse than that beginner?”

“Hmmm…

“It’s possible.”

I’ll explain simply.

“Nau, can you hit a flying bird with magic?”

“What if I don’t use magic?”

“Then you can shoot it with a bow.”

“What if you can’t shoot arrows or use magic?”

“Is that related to what we’re talking about right now?”

“That guy can cut down flying birds with a sword.”

Nau, hearing what Lainia said, stared blankly, as if he couldn’t understand her words.

Seeing his reaction, Lainia nodded, as if it made sense.

Even she, who witnessed the scene firsthand, couldn’t quite grasp what had happened.

After a long silence, Nau finally asked Lainia, looking incredulous,

“You mean a bird that fell to the ground?”

“No, it was a bird that was flying in the sky.”

“That’s nonsense. There’s no way that’s possible, right? He’s not a magician.”

“I’d rather believe it was magic. But it wasn’t.”

“No, what the hell was that?”

“That kid was that good?”

“If there’s such a person, I’d be interested too.”

While the three party members were shocked by Lainia’s words, Anes, recalling Lainia’s preferences, wore a smile full of mischief and playfully asked Lainia,

“Lainia, didn’t you say before that you prefer guys stronger than you?”

“Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”

“I heard that kid’s name is Evan, and he seems stronger than you and younger too.

…He’s exactly the type you mentioned, isn’t he?”

“Huh?!”

Anes, who had been teasing Lainia with her arms crossed, was taken aback when she saw Lainia biting her lip and turning away.

Lainia’s face turned bright red.

“You, you… No way.”

“…Let’s stop this conversation here.”

“Really!? No way!? Wow, that’s amazing!”

With a justification to tease Lainia during their long adventure, Anes grinned and approached Lainia.

Until the adventure ended, Lainia continued to be teased by her companions.

Managing adventurers.

When I first heard that, I didn’t understand what it meant, but as I entered the counseling room and listened to Rebecca’s explanation, I began to grasp it.

“This task involves subduing a monster that fled after getting injured. It’s urgent, so the reward is like this…”

A blatantly easy mission.

And an outstanding reward compared to its difficulty.

If I didn’t realize that the adventurer guild was pushing easy tasks on me, I would be somewhat lacking in intelligence.

And I didn’t consider myself that lacking in intelligence.

Though I may not have been educated, I never thought of myself as naturally dumb.

The guild was clearly pushing me straightforwardly easy and lucrative tasks.

These weren’t appealing to me at all.

“Rebecca.”

“Yes, Evan. Are you going to take this mission?”

“I’ll pass on this kind of task.”

“What? You don’t like the task?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

The guild’s kindness is nice.

If I only accepted the tasks they offered, I could easily earn money and quickly become a top-tier adventurer.

But that wasn’t what I wanted.

“When have heroes ever chosen tasks based on rewards?”

The protagonists in fairy tales didn’t do that.

They were people who helped the commoners in need rather than going for gold laid out in front of them.

They eliminated threats facing commoners over the slight discomfort experienced by the nobility.

I wanted to be like that too.

“I want difficult tasks.”

“Difficult…?”

“Difficult, not rewarding, and tasks that others wouldn’t take.”

Tasks that could lead me to become a hero.

“Then I might also get a girlfriend…?”