“Ahh, nothing like going home on time…!!”
Spreading her arms wide, Alina Clover looked up at the sky, dyed red with the setting sun.
She was on Iffole’s main drag. It was bustling with people going home on time, and they all had refreshed expressions on their faces from being finished with work. On days when she had overtime, Alina would only ever glare resentfully at this sight, but for the past few days, she had been able to see them off with a calm smile.
“I’m gonna go hooome and clean my plaaace, and maybe I’ll take a bit of time to cook some soup. I’ll take a nice, hour-long soak in the tub, and after my bath, I’ll do some exercises, and before I go to bed, while drinking some warm milk, I’ve got to read that book I borrowed from Laila…” Looking up at the bright evening sky, Alina cheerily counted on her fingers. She had finished work on time that day, so she could do lots of things once she got home. Her heart was way calmer now than when she was busy.
Things had been low-key like this for the past few days.
“Ahhhhh, everything’s in order! My lifestyle is in peaceful order!”
Alina was moved to tears, her whole body trembling as the utter tranquility of her life made her twist around.
“This is the peace I was looking for… Viva going home on time!”
As Alina was skipping along while humming, a voice came to her from the side. “Isn’t that nice, Alina? You haven’t had any overtime lately.”
It was that stalker guy, walking alongside her as if there was no issue with him being there: Jade Scrade.
Glancing at him, Alina snorted imperiously. “If only you were gone, it would be perfect—or at least I’d like to say that. I’ll let it go this time.”
He was still annoying, lying in wait for Alina as always when she left work, but she did him the favor of not using her typical insults or violence. Which was because—
“It’s Jade from Silver Sword!” an adventurer who was walking down the street suddenly cried out.
A group of adventurers instantly discovered Jade and swarmed around him. They surrounded him in a heartbeat, and Alina was tossed out of the crowd of people.
“Hey, what’s a composite skill?!”
“I heard that you got through the super-large dungeon, the Civi Cathedral, without a frontline attacker…!”
“Is it true that you surpassed Sigurth skills?!”
The adventurers mobbing Jade hit him with a barrage of questions, one after another.
“Huh? Uhh…” Put on the spot, Jade scratched his cheek and gave a nonanswer.
One month ago, a new dungeon had been discovered: the Civi Cathedral. It was a super-large dungeon with seven floors. Everyone had assumed that the completion of the Civi Cathedral would drag on, Alina included.
After all, more layers meant more floor bosses. Alina had been prepared for it to take at least a month before all floor bosses were defeated and the full dungeon was cleared.
However, Silver Sword had gone to clear it this time, defeating all floor bosses in under a week to completely finish the dungeon. And that was despite them using a frontline attacker having unhealed wounds from their recent excursion through the hidden layer under the guild headquarters.
It was a brilliant achievement, the likes of which had rarely been seen in the past few years. Out of nowhere, it gave rise to a new rumor whispered among the adventurers.
The story went that the leader of Silver Sword, Jade Scrade, had used a never-before-seen skill called a composite skill when clearing the Civi Cathedral. Apparently, the adventurers who had coincidentally seen Silver Sword fighting all claimed that its power surpassed that of Sigurth skills.
As the adventurers cornered him excitedly, eager to uncover the truth behind the rumor, Jade dodged their questions with a smile. “It’s still a secret. I can’t show my cards when the fighting tournament is coming up, right?”
With so many people pressing him, Jade desperately chose his words to avoid answering. Then, as though suddenly acknowledging his point one after the other, the adventurers backed off.
“More importantly, will you guys be all right? Silver Sword is gonna be participating in the fighting tournament, too. This isn’t the time for you to be dawdling around.”
“Th-that’s right!”
“I don’t really get how, but they’re saying that a composite skill knocked out a floor boss in one strike…! We’ve gotta train if we’re gonna go up against that!”
No sooner had Jade said this than the adventurers raced off out of town.
“Good grief… Huh, Alina?”
Finally taking a breath, Jade found Alina waiting with her arms crossed, and he approached her with confusion on his face. He must have assumed that she would leave him behind and go straight home.
Meanwhile, Alina’s head was tilted downward, her shoulders shaking as she let out a low chuckle. “…Heh-heh, heh-heh-heh, heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.”
“A-Alina…?” At this disturbing sight, Jade broke into a cold sweat. Heedless, Alina laughed out loud again and immediately clenched her first.
“This means that if we use your composite skills from now on, we won’t have any trouble clearing most dungeons, right? Does this mean that maybe, just maybe, I’ll never get overtime again…?!”
Alina jerked up her head and took both of Jade’s hands in hers. She stared deep into his dark gray eyes, her own sparkling. “Thank you, Jade!”
“Huh? Huh?”
Jade froze in shock; he had never been thanked face-to-face by Alina before. As he kept looking back and forth between Alina’s eyes, sparkling with gratitude that he rarely saw, and with his hands resting in her small, soft palms, he immediately went red to his ears.
“And that means you’ve saved me from having to be the Executioner…!”
“Huh? A-ah…”
Normally, Jade had the mysterious confidence of a defiant stalking bastard, but now it was nowhere to be found. Jade looked away from Alina as if he couldn’t take it anymore, his face red, opening and closing his mouth.
“Well, I’ve still got a long way to go when it comes to fighting dark gods, though… But well, if it makes you happy, then I guess my practice was worth it… Oh, I know!” Jade continued to be embarrassed until his face suddenly lit up, as if something had struck him, and he turned to Alina.
“Why don’t you join us in the upcoming fighting tournament, then, Alina?! We just so happen to be missing a frontline atta—”
“Not happening. Don’t get carried away.” She coldly rejected him with a bright and cheery smile.
“…” Jade also froze, with a smile on his face.
Leaving behind Jade, who’d wound up like a statue, Alina hummed cheerfully as she skipped down the road home.