It had all started a few years earlier, around the time Juno’s party disbanded. Backed by Souma and other high-ranking figures in Friedonia, they’d ventured into the northern lands before other adventurers, carved out their share of exploits, and after a few years, had grown accustomed to life up there.
“Dece and I are thinking it’s about time we retire, settle down, and start a family,” Julia the mage said one day.
They were in a corner of the Adventurers’ Guild dining hall, sharing a meal with the whole party, when she dropped the news.
Dece, the party’s fighter and leader, was sitting beside her. Julia’s words made the others—Juno the thief, Febral the priest, and Augus the brawler—exchange glances.
Oh, it’s already that time, huh?
They were surprisingly calm about it.
The life of an adventurer had its thrills, with dungeon dives and treasure hunts. But most of the time, especially in peaceful eras, they were little more than jacks-of-all-trades, picking up odd jobs to help townsfolk. Exploring the northern frontier was a new addition, sure, but at its core, the work was still hard manual labor.
The average retirement age for male adventurers was before forty, while for women it was just under thirty. The difference came from many women choosing to leave the dangerous profession in order to marry, have children, and start families. This mindset was mostly limited to short-lived races like humans and beastmen. Long-lived races, such as elves, often continued adventuring well past one hundred. Even so, among shorter-lived races there were always some women who chose to keep adventuring rather than settle down.
Julia, however, was not one of them. She and Dece were well-known to be deeply in love, and marriage had long been on the horizon. So Juno and the others had assumed Julia’s thirtieth birthday would mark the point of their retirement.
Augus turned to Dece.
“You’re retiring too? I get Julia hanging it up. She’s turning thirt— Gwagh!!!”
Before he could finish, Augus toppled out of his chair, clutching his shin and writhing. Someone had kicked him under the table. It was obvious who.
Febral cleared his throat and tried to shift the mood. “We understand you’ll both be retiring after the wedding. But couldn’t you keep adventuring even after that, Dece? I imagine you’ll want to return to Landia, where it’s easier to raise children, but surely there’s work there too.”
“Y-Yeah. That’s what I was trying to say,” Augus added hastily, still rubbing his leg.
“Yeah.” Dece nodded. “We thought about it, but...well, you know how it is.”
“How what is?” Augus asked.
“We’ve made plenty of money since coming north, haven’t we?”
““...””
Juno and Febral understood exactly what Dece meant. By facing the unknown monsters of the northern continent, they had gathered rare materials. Since these resources were unheard of in the world of the south, they fetched incredibly high prices. In the past, adventurers had had to accept they wouldn’t make much unless they were truly exceptional. But with the northern frontier opened, adventuring had become a strike-it-rich occupation, full of frontier spirit. And Dece’s party had gotten there first (thanks to Juno’s connections with Souma), which meant they had earned a fortune.
“Well, we do have a lot of money put away.”
“Enough to start a new life and still have some left over.”
Though Juno and Febral said this, Augus only blinked in confusion.
“Huh? You people have been saving money?”
“Well, yeah. If we’d gone out partying every time we got paid and swapped out our equipment as often as you do, we wouldn’t have managed it,” Juno replied, her exasperation slipping through.
Because adventuring was full of daily danger, some, like Augus, chose to live entirely for the moment, never putting anything aside.
“Well, anyway,” Dece said, “once Julia and I are married, we’re planning to return to the Kingdom of Friedonia and live a peaceful life there. I haven’t lost the spirit of adventure, but I want to protect Julia and our future children.”
“Dece...”
“So, with that said, what do the three of you plan to do once we’re gone? Will you keep adventuring?”
When Dece finished, Juno, Febral, and Augus exchanged glances.
Febral was the first to answer.
“In that case, I think I’ll return to Friedonia as well. After learning about the monsters of the north, I’ve been thinking I’d like to contribute to the field of monsterology at the Royal Academy.”
Next came Augus.
“I’m gonna keep adventuring. I want to see how far I can go in this world. Maybe I’ll join another party, or even start one myself. That could be fun.”
Febral had academic aspirations, while Augus intended to keep chasing the adventurer’s path. That all but confirmed the party would disband. And with that realization, the other four turned their eyes to Juno.
“What about you, Juno?” Dece asked. “What do you want to do?”
“M-Me?” Juno blinked rapidly.
She was in her late twenties, soon to be thirty. Old enough to keep adventuring a while longer, yet perhaps the breakup of the party was the perfect time to reconsider her future. Did she want to go on adventuring? Get married? Have children? Or do something else entirely?
“Urgh... It’s a lot to think about all at once...”
So many possibilities ran through Juno’s mind that she felt overwhelmed.
“Hee hee,” Julia giggled. “If you’re that torn over it, why not ask someone for advice?”
“Advice? From someone other than you three?”
“Isn’t there someone else you trust just as much?”
At Julia’s words, a roly-poly silhouette came to Juno’s mind, along with the warm, reassuring face of the man it belonged to. He, and those around him, would surely listen to her worries and take them seriously.
Maybe I’ll go to them. It’s been a while since our last “tea party.”
With that, Juno made up her mind.