Chapter 5:
Excitement
ONE MONTH PASSED AND I HAD BECOME A temporary member of Nachtlibelle. Surprisingly, Camilla saw a lot of potential in me. She explained this with a hefty serving of her own special type of jokes, which must have been some sort of persuasion tactic. Since they were so nice, I decided to take them up on the offer and join as a provisional associate.
The “provisional” part of my status came from a rule instated by the Abenteurers’ Guild. Those who had left a party couldn’t join a new one for three months, a period colloquially referred to as the “unaffiliation period.”
As of now, I had succeeded at creating a place for me to belong—at least, that’s what I wanted to think. My position changed between the rearguard and vanguard, and I would move freely to cast buffs where necessary. I would also carry out enemy detection alongside the others and alert them of what I found, making sure I wasn’t messaging them too much and being annoying.
Anyway, that’s how it was in the labyrinth, but I continued with my daily morning training with Camilla as well. And my salary was crazy, easily over ten times what I made with Drachenflügel. Maybe this was to be expected from the greatest party in all of Filburn, but I was just thankful that everyone was nice enough to find a way to utilize my skills.
Their trust in me was revealed in other ways as well, and surprisingly, they decided to no longer conceal their teleportation circles from me. They forgot to hand over the blindfold during one of our labyrinth dives, but when I pointed it out to them, they simply told me there was no need to keep hiding them anymore. Afterwards, I was privy to all information, and they even let me attend their strategy meetings.
Of course, I would be able to make some cash by selling their intel, but the fact they still kept me in the loop must’ve been because I had proven my loyalty by shouldering that risk. At the same time, I couldn’t help but think I wasn’t as abandoned as I thought. Though, I couldn’t let myself get carried away just because the people around me in Nachtlibelle were so talented.
We were on our way back from one of our many labyrinth dives, and just a short distance away from a teleportation circle, when Camilla suddenly addressed me.
“I want to see you in battle, boy.”
“I see. But, um, haven’t you seen me in battle plenty of times?”
“I want to see you fighting alone. Support casters can cast buffs on themselves and fight, no?”
“Well, um, I did hunt weeds with Drachenflügel, so I can fight a little, but…”
“You can?”
“Yes, but I’m weak.”
I’d die immediately, okay? That would only cause trouble for you.
“I’ll step in if I need to, so you won’t die. We’re almost home, and your work is almost over. The next monster we encounter will be our last big one for this dive.”
“I see. But, um… I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure what that’s supposed to mean.”
“I’ve got a plan.”
“Um, what sort of plan?”
“You’re reliable, but we need to be careful and plan around using you. If you can fight on your own, then we’ll know we can treat you a bit rougher.”
“I see.”
“Our next labyrinth dive—the one I mentioned earlier—will be a big one. If we want to be prepared, then I need to know how well you can fight.”
It was hard to deny that they were being careful with me; I could tell they were being gentle with me, too. As of now, I was half a combatant, so it was hard for them to know what to do with me.
‹I’ve confirmed a giant golem a hundred and forty paces ahead!›
Simon had sent the message to everyone. Giant golems were ferocious, but a group of forefront abenteurers could easily handle one.
“It’s perfect! Just like I was thinking. What do you say, boy? You won’t be able to let your guard down, but we’ll easily be able to swoop in and save you from a golem. You’ll have a hard time on your own, so I’ll send in Hans and the others once I’ve gotten a good look at what you can handle.”
“…I’ll do my best.”
“That’s just what I wanted to hear!”
Wait. Camilla might know exactly how to handle me.
‹Attention, everyone! Wim will be going in alone so I can judge his skills in combat. We’ll be his backup!›
A jagged, human-shaped lump of clay roughly twice the size of a man stood in front of me.
A golem was basically a giant doll made of mud. They were featureless and seemed to lack sensory organs. The one before me lacked both eyes and ears on what was its face, and there weren’t even any signs that someone had ever attempted to make any. The prevailing theory was that it gathered information via vibrations.
‹Wim.› I received a personal transmission from Heidemarie. ‹I’m here for you, but don’t let your guard down.›
I guess I couldn’t tell her to relax. It was so her to take this so seriously.
I glanced behind me. Everyone was watching. I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.
“Still…” To be honest, I had next to zero hopes of winning this. The reason was simple, and it was also why there were so few support casters and why no one saw us as combatants—we were just too damn weak.