‹No, but it would hurt. It’d give your opponent a chance to attack.›
Camilla suddenly burst out laughing. ‹Aha! Aha ha ha!›
Somehow, we escaped the labyrinth unscathed, and the whole of Nachtlibelle threw a party in the main hall of their house.
Strangely enough, someone must have prepared the food when we weren’t looking. As soon as we put away our weapons and armor, a lavish meal had appeared in the grand hall, a space large enough to hold a whole army.
Nachtlibelle apparently had an extensive junior brigade. Those who had failed to join would take care of the manor with the small hope that it could one day be their turn to enter the limelight.
Even though Nachtlibelle had so many members, seats were somewhat assigned. I was currently sitting in the guest seat they led me to.
Hans, Nachtlibelle’s vice-commander, suddenly stood up and called a toast. “Cheers!”
Everyone raised their mugs into the air and gulped down their liquor.
Our labyrinth dive had been a huge success. Even a stranger would have been able to tell as much given the state of the banquet. Apparently, we had managed to map 70 percent more than what we had planned, and even managed to discover a gold vein.
Labyrinth dives largely had two main purposes. One was to recover resources like magic stones; the other was to recover gold. Gold meant wealth, and the more you recover, the more money circulated throughout the country.
Our nation boasted the most gold in the entire world. In the eyes of our leaders, the labyrinth’s purpose was to be nothing more than an endless goldmine.
“Wim, you were amazing! I was totally in awe!” A girl named Monica was sitting next to me. She was a sorceress from Heidemarie’s unit, and while she was older than the two of us, she was one of the younger members of Nachtlibelle. “You must need to know a ton to cast buffs like those!”
“Well, um… Maybe?”
“You must study hard!”
“No, well… I wanted to be a mage at first, so that’s where most of my knowledge lies. I’ve just expanded my wisdom to other Occupational Magic from there.”
“Wow! You seem complicated.”
“No, well… Aha ha! I’d rather not touch on that.”
Not only was Monica beautiful, she seemed gentle. How exactly do I describe her? She seemed like the complete opposite of Drachenflügel. The popular type, maybe? Not quite, though that was definitely true.
And it wasn’t just her. The entirety of Nachtlibelle had a similar air about them.
I looked around the room. For one, their table manners were excellent. At a glance, they seemed to be influenced by the usual rowdiness liquor tended to induce, but no one was talking with their mouth full, and they clearly put thought into how they were holding their knives and forks.
That was it—they were refined.
At some point, Heidemarie had come to stand next to me, still stuffing her mouth with food. “Hey, Wim! You look like you’re having fun.”
“Yeah… Good work out there.”
“You too, Wim.”
“Where are you sitting, Heidemarie?”
“I’m not sitting anywhere. I just came for some meat.”
“I see…”
I was impressed at how she did whatever she wanted. Maybe that was the privilege that came with being an elder. It was the sort of behavior I would expect from someone who wasn’t like the others.
“This is even more than I was expecting! After seeing what you managed out there, even those who didn’t know about you before must have their eyes on you now.”
“C’mon, stop it.”
“Camilla really looked at you with passion in her eyes, you lady-killer.”
“Like I said, cut it out. That reminds me. Camilla’s in her office, right?”
“Right. She’s probably finishing up paperwork and—”
“Wim!”
Mark and the rest of the shield unit appeared from behind Heidemarie, beer mugs in hand. I stood up and offered them a deep bow in greeting.
“Your buffs were amazing! I can’t believe we managed Reflection. That was your work, huh?”
“N-no, not at all. I just offered a helping hand. The Reflection is proof of your skills, um… Yeah, all five of you.”
Mark laughed while patting my back. “Bwah, hah, hah! You’re good with your words, boy! It’ll take you places!” He seemed like a jolly old man. “So? Ya thinking of joining?”
“No, I’m still not sure if I measure up to you all…heh, heh.” Wait, is that what we were talking about? Didn’t this take a weird turn?
“Um…” Abel stammered as he rose from his seat. His lips were curved into a frown, and he seemed slightly nervous. “You were incredibly talented. I’m embarrassed I didn’t recognize you at first. I really do apologize.”
“N-no, not at all! I really do look suspicious. I think doubting me is, well, natural.” Somehow, I was being showered with praise. I knew they were just trying to be polite, but it still felt good.
Maybe I got swept up in the atmosphere of the party, or maybe I was just drunk, but I was enjoying myself. After getting my bearings, I realized I had made my way into the center of the circle. I had a hard time keeping my cool.
Parties are amazing, huh?
What if I had joined Nachtlibelle instead of Drachenflügel? Not that things would have really gone so well, I was only receiving this treatment because I happened to be Heidemarie’s guest. If I had joined as a member, they wouldn’t consider me any help in battles, and I would only bring the mood down. I would be bowing my head over and over, doing the random jobs they let me have, and eventually, I would be kicked out and—
“Fweh heh heh.”
Suddenly, I noticed Abel had taken a step backwards.
Oh. “I’m sorry! I’ll go lay down and die now.”
“No, don’t! It’s perfectly fine! I heard plenty about you from Heidemarie, and I see you really do live in your own world.”
“Thanks.”