“Party, you say...... wait, don’t tell me!”
“Yes, people who are to be your comrades in arms. You will need to approach them of your own accord.”
“Y-You’ve gotta be kidding me! Me? Approach complete strangers?!”
“That is correct.”
“Goddammit......” Shouzou’s slightly cold reply prompted Sharlo to direct yet another hateful glare in his direction. However, to disobey Shouzou could possibly lead to his banishment from the royal palace becoming extended. Reluctantly, Sharlo looked over all the adventurers in the lobby, then approached a certain three-person group.
After he was a sufficient distance away, Yuna whispered to Shouzou, “Dad, are you sure he’ll be all right?”
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we. Incidentally, regarding the quest that Sharlo-kun will be accepting—” Shouzou told Yuna the details of the quest that he had previously planned on making Sharlo accept. “—is there a quest like that?”
“Wait, Dad, are you serious?”
“Of course I am. Well? Is there?”
“There should be, but......” With an uneasy look on her face, Yuna left her seat to look for the person in charge of handling the quests. During that time, Shouzou looked over to see how Sharlo was doing.
Sharlo called out to the person who seemed like the leader of the three-person group. “Ah, may I have a bit of your time? I would like to join your party.” The smile on his face was twitching so badly that it was actually quite painful to watch.
The man responded in a slightly creeped out tone. “Hah? Who’re you, old man?” The man looked to be in his mid 20s. That made him way older than Sharlo, but he went and called Sharlo an ‘old man.’
“I am only 16 years old!”
“Eh, for real? Then the hell you talking down at me for if you’re younger than me.”
“Oh, pay that no mind. Anyways, I’ve just become an adventurer, and have no comrades. That’s why...... please.” Those words were the very limit of what Sharlo could manage in the way of earnesty. In addition, he even managed a smirk, which for him was the equivalent of a full-face beam.
“Uwah, so creepy......” muttered the girl in the group, who made no effort to hide her revulsion.
The last person, a priest, calmly asked, “Are you an Iron then?”
Sharlo’s nod prompted the group leader to shrug his shoulders. “Sorry bud, our party is for Copper and above only. Go try somebody else.”
However, the leader’s shooing hand motion proved to be the last straw, prompting Sharlo to murmur, “Hah, acting so self-important when you’re also a mere Iron yourself......”
“Wha-?! How did you—!”
“Oh, did I guess right? Looking around, the only people I see openly wearing their plates are Silver. I figured that Iron and Copper are too ashamed to be identified as such.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Gold and Platinum are all quite well-known in their own right, with most people knowing them by face. In other words, it’d be embarrassing in a different way to wear their plates, as it could be construed as them showing it off. Or at the very least, that’s what Sharlo figured. Based on that logic, Sharlo had guessed that this group that was not wearing plates and was standing in the corner whispering to themselves was most likely even lower ranked than Copper, which meant Iron.
Shouzou was following along with the conversation the entire time with his incredibly sharp ears.
(That is quite the observant eye he has. However—)
“The hell is with this guy......”
“Let’s just go.”
“Getting involved is just going to be a waste of time.”
The group of three hastily walked away, leaving Sharlo by himself.
After that, Sharlo continued calling out to adventurers that he thought were Iron rank.
“We’re looking for someone in a higher rank than us.”
“How can you fight magic beasts with that inflated body of yours?”
“If only you could use healing magic......”
“Your appearance is just... I can’t on a physiological level......”
He was rejected by one and by all.
“Goddammit, what the hell is with all these people. I’m even lowering my head to them! Why the hell are mere Iron rankers talking about fighting magic beasts? You don’t need a healer. As for the physiological level asshole, I’m the one who physiologically can’t handle you.” His torrent of swearing was soft and under his breath, but Shouzou had heard it all loud and clear.
(It seems that his social skills really do need a lot of work.) In spite of the issue of his build and lack of ability, if he would strike up talks with the self-awareness of being a complete beginner, then probability suggests that he should already have gotten at least one “yes.” Though well, even if someone said yes, that party would have fallen apart before they even completed their first quest. Shouzou had foreseen this outcome. Or it might be more accurate to say—
“It’s not going so well, is it.” Shouzou approached Sharlo from the back and placed one hand on his shoulder. Sharlo turned around with a despondent face. “But don’t feel so down. The reason why I suggested you do this was to let you comprehend the reality that in your current state, nobody would want to group with you.”
“So you’ve been just messing with me?!”
“No, that’s not it. Above all else, I wanted to gauge your strength and ability. Your eye for spotting adventurers of the same rank as yourself was spot on. The fact that you still kept on going after experiencing rejection was very praiseworthy.”
“Eh? Ah, I mean, I... guess......?” Despite his demeanor, Sharlo’s embarrassed face showed that he actually liked being praised.
At this point, Yuna came back with a piece of paper in hand. It was the quest that Shouzou had asked for.
“With all that in mind, here is the perfect job for a solo quester, since you failed to make even a single comrade.” Shouzou accepted the quest detail poster from Yuna, then passed it to Sharlo with a gentle smile on his face.
“Did you just insult me offhandedly? But never mind. Rather than that, let me see........................” Sharlo’s eyes had become reduced to being mere dots. “Oi...... are you saying that I have to do this quest......?” Sharlo was visibly quivering. Without even waiting for Shouzou’s answer, he shouted, “ARE YOU ASKING ME OF ALL PEOPLE TO CLEAN DITCHES?!”
Making the prince clean ditches. Normally, if news of this reached the king’s ear, heads would be flying.
“That’s correct. You can do it alone, and it is a very meaningful job,” said Shouzou with an entirely straight face—