Aramsass has a managed dungeon.
It's a managed dungeon designed to prevent monster spawns from getting out of control and to keep adventurers from entering the innermost chambers.
The hallmark of such dungeons is primarily the management of the adventurers who take them on.
Not everyone is allowed to tackle a dungeon, and sometimes people are forced to go whether they want to or not.
For the Aramsass Guild, which oversees dungeon management, these were invaluable sources of income—monster materials, magic stones, and treasure.
To keep a managed dungeon running, you needed to send a steady number of adventurers in to cull the monster population.
Which meant that—.
"The right to challenge the dungeon?"
I, Novem, and Aria had come to the Guild and found the request among the many postings on the bulletin board.
The request was—more accurately, a party wanted to sell their dungeon-clearing rights and was looking for another party to take their place going forward.
It was a Guild-issued request.
Aria tilted her head when she saw it.
"You need some kind of right just to enter a dungeon? Back in Darion, there was nothing like that."
Darion lacked both the know-how and the manpower to manage dungeons, so they took a brute-force approach, flooding them with knights and adventurers to wipe everything out.
Dungeons have a tendency to grow deeper over time, and at a certain stage they vomit out a massive number of monsters before vanishing.
However, when the monster count is low, the dungeon instead grows deeper and expands further.
Novem looked over the details more carefully.
"So this is how Aramsass handles it. Party requirements are…three frontliners, two backliners, and at least one support member? That rules us out."
Currently, we operate as a three-person team.
We mainly head outside, take down monsters, and sell their materials for income.
A voice came from the Jewel.
It was the Fourth Generation.
*"If you have the right, you also have the obligation. You don't have to push yourself, but the need to gather people remains the same…Lyle, start working toward assembling around six people."*
I squeezed the Jewel in response.
That was the signal for *"Understood."* In crowded places, I couldn't exactly hold a conversation out loud.
I could hear the voices of my ancestors, but my inner thoughts couldn't reach them.
"…Let's round up six people here. They'll have to be young adventurers who aren't too tied to this area, though."
The conditions felt strict.
There were plenty of adventurers who didn't mind leaving their hometown, but young, promising ones were in demand from parties other than ours too.
Aria looked at me and muttered.
"Come on, you're just looking for cute girls again, aren't you?"
She's been pestering me about this lately, so I shot back.
"Gender doesn't matter as long as they're skilled!"
But then Novem—.
"No. I'd prefer we stick to women, if possible. It would be troublesome if all sorts of problems came up, and I've heard that arguments between men and women are common."
I was shut down flatly.
No matter how many times I said I wasn't trying to build a harem, Novem would gently steer the conversation elsewhere.
I had no idea what she was thinking.
*(Even if I did build a harem, would Novem even get upset about it…? That feels weirdly lonely.)*
Getting too jealous would be a problem, but not getting jealousy from someone you care about was its own kind of lonely.
Aria seemed to remember something.
"I've heard about this too! When there are few men, the women fight each other, and when there're lots of men, the men fight each other!"
Convinced by her own logic, Aria kept nodding vigorously.
That was when one adventurer, who had apparently been listening, let out a chuckle and corrected her.
A hooded adventurer with a mage-like appearance explained to Aria in detail.
"Young lady, that's not quite right."
Hearing from his voice that he was a middle-aged man, Aria shifted to a more polite register since he was her senior.
"What do you mean?"
His explanation was—.
"Basically, adventurers rarely end up dating each other. They tend to get together with civilians instead. It's a dangerous job, after all. When you get back, the last thing you want is to look at your companions' faces again. On top of that, teammates often butt heads over work-related disagreements."
"R-Really?"
"That's right. And sometimes the job means overnight stays. When you're traveling, you see the worst sides of each other regardless of gender. For men, the allure of a fantasy tends to draw them toward civilian women or prostitutes. For women, men who treat them as equals—rather than fellow female adventurers—probably seem more attractive. Oh, but this is just the general trend. It's not an absolute rule. Still, a lot of adventurers are like that."
His words reminded me of Zelphy-san.
*(If I recall, she married a civilian. She had plenty of adventurer acquaintances, but maybe working with the same profession was a dealbreaker after all?)*
It was true that Rondo-san and his girlfriend Rachel were in the same party, so it didn't always hold.
But I could understand the broader point.
"Is it really that bad to not treat someone as a woman…"
Aria started to object, but he cut in.
"We risk our lives all the same. In that kind of place, would you really be happy being protected—or worse, looked down on—just because you're a woman? Treating each other equally as adventurers is the proper etiquette."
That shut Aria right up.
She'd been through the same experiences, so she couldn't really argue.
Novem thanked the adventurer who'd offered the explanation. Aria followed suit—
"Thank you for the information."
"Oh, yes, thank you very much."
I added my thanks as well, and the hooded adventurer took a request form and headed toward the reception desk.
I'd assumed most of the residents here were cold and detached, but clearly some were kind enough.
"…So, setting romance between party members aside for now, let's get serious about recruiting. How about we put up a poster looking for members?"
I suggested the standard approach—write down the requirements and recruit party members the usual way.
But both of them reacted poorly.
Aria spoke up.
"That means interviews and stuff, right? Plus, we'd have to form a provisional party and go out on a field test? Wouldn't it be better to just approach people directly?"
Novem agreed.
But her judgment couldn't be trusted.
"We could ask the Guild for introductions, but they'd still need to meet the House Walt family creed, wouldn't they? Interviews are fine in principle, but I'd rather judge for myself with my own eyes."
This was exactly the kind of situation where I should disregard Novem's opinion.
"All right, then—no poster. We'll approach people ourselves. (We've still got time; no need to rush. Better than rushing and making a mistake.)"
If we spent more time in Aramsass, we'd naturally get to know more adventurers.
Alternatively, we could approach newcomers, train them up, and then poach them.
I'd hired Zelphy-san back in Darion to mentor me, so I knew the basics.
Using that knowledge to teach newcomers the fundamentals of adventuring could go a long way toward earning their loyalty.
"Well then, shall we head out and earn our keep for today?"
As I said that and headed for the reception desk, Aria chimed in.
"The one who looks the least motivated is Lyle, if you ask me."
Once outside, I used my Skills to locate the monsters' positions.
The Fifth and Sixth Generation's Skills were incredibly handy.
Where were the monsters?
Where should I fight?
How long should the fight last?
It made planning everything so much easier.
For getting to a cluster of monsters, the Fourth Generation's Skill let me move at high speed.
To make sure I didn't leave the other two behind, I used the Second Generation's Skill to boost their movement speed as well.
In combat, a slight disadvantage didn't matter.
When we were surrounded by Goblins—
"Lyle! Two of them are heading your way!"
At the sound of Novem's voice from behind, I used the Second Generation's Skill to sense the two Goblins closing in on my back.
Twisting around, I deflected one's weapon with my saber, then drew my spare saber with my left hand and finished it off.
Using the downed Goblin as a shield to pin down the other, I hurled the saber at its head and took it out.
Finally, I cast a spell—
"Lightning!"
Purple lightning lanced through the surrounding Goblins, charring them black.
Aria saw the whole thing and yelled at me.
"That— that's terrifying! At least warn me before you use something like that!"
I was already tracking enemy and ally positions with my Skills at all times, but she still complained that a sudden spell coming from behind was frightening.
*(I already explained that to her…)*
Maybe our combat coordination was still too green.
Watching me fight, my ancestors offered their assessments.
The Second Generation, coolly—
*"Lock down your opponents' movements before you get surrounded. Don't fight like that just because you know you can win."*
The Third Generation, at his usual relaxed pace—
*"Well, well, experience is experience. Getting surrounded makes a fight harder. You need to learn that firsthand. Though whether Lyle actually grasps that is debatable."*
The Fourth Generation said—
*"For now, fight opponents you can handle and hone your coordination."*
The Fifth Generation agreed—
*"If you used Lyle's Experience Skill on the whole party at once to rack up experience quickly, wouldn't coordination improve faster? That Skill was originally designed to gain more experience than standard growth, after all."*
The Sixth Generation thought my actions were reckless—
*"Don't let your guard down even against enemies you can beat. One day you'll pay the price with your own life, Lyle."*
The Seventh Generation was the most lenient—
*"Still, with Lyle's strength, this level of challenge is well within reach. That goes without saying, but the lack of manpower really hurts."*
Right.
Right now, we were shorthanded and couldn't operate the way we wanted.
Without anyone to carry luggage, we had to turn back once we'd collected a certain amount of materials and magic stones.
Even when we knew we could keep fighting, we couldn't afford to just throw monster materials and magic stones away.
Minimizing actions that didn't turn a profit was an important principle of adventuring. We weren't adventuring to fight—we were adventuring to live.
*(I want the experience, but dragging the two of them along just to grind fights feels wrong.)*
There was also the matter of Novem and Aria.
I couldn't just focus on my own needs when it came to combat.
The Second Generation began his assessment of the day's work.
*"With just three people, this is roughly the ceiling. If we added a support member, or another fighter for the front or back line, it'd make a big difference… But that's a problem for another day. Even if a newcomer joined, it's not like we'd immediately start earning more than before."*
*(…We wouldn't earn more?)*
It was true. Just because a new member joined didn't mean the party would suddenly start making more money.
Training a newcomer, building coordination as a party.
These things took time and refinement.
*(I wish there was someone promising out there…)*
I knew it was a luxury, but I couldn't help wanting it.
When we got back from work, we washed off the blood and sweat at a bathhouse near the Guild and returned to the mansion.
We'd been able to move into the mansion that House Cerclie owned in Aramsass, so our living expenses were essentially covered.
When we arrived, Miranda-san was there to greet us.
"Welcome home~"
I stepped inside, thinking it wasn't bad having someone welcome you back—.
*"Fffgh!!"*
"L-Lyle!"
"Aha, ahahahaha!!"
My foot slipped without warning and I collapsed right in the entryway.
Novem rushed over, and I used her hand to get back up.
Aria was looking at me and laughing.
"What— what happened? Was there something slippery…?"
I touched the floor and found liquid spilled across it.
"Are you okay? Wait, what's this…?"
Miranda-san hurried over too, looked at the floor, and touched it with her hand.
"Now that you mention it, I dropped an egg in the entryway earlier. That's strange, though—I'm sure I wiped it up completely… Oh, sorry about that, Lyle. Did it hurt?"
Honestly, it did hurt, but if I told that to a woman who was apologizing, the Fourth Generation would lose it, so I held my tongue.
"No, I wasn't paying attention either. I'm fine. Besides, Aria! You're laughing way too hard!"
I looked back at Aria, who was clutching her stomach laughing, and she was in tears.
A weary voice came from the Jewel.
It was the Second and Third Generations.
*"Lyle, you really are lacking in attentiveness. You might want to take this one seriously."*
*"Yeah…"*
Novem was exasperated too, but at Aria.
As expected, Novem was on my side.
"That was too much, Aria."
"Sorry, sorry. But it was such a dramatic fall… Every time I think about it, I crack up again."
She seemed to have hit her funny bone, and was struggling desperately to hold back laughter.
I got up and went inside the mansion.
Novem supported me, and Aria followed behind her.
Miranda-san was busy cleaning the floor.
"I really thought I cleaned it up…"
She looked thoroughly confused, but we had our bags and wanted to drop our gear off in our rooms.
So I headed to my room to set down my luggage.
The rooms were separate—I went to the one I was borrowing. Novem's room was next to mine, and Aria's was next to hers.
But then—.
*"GYAAAAH!!"*
Aria's scream rang out and we rushed to her room.
"What's wrong, Aria—*Pffft!!*"
I peeked through the door and burst out laughing.
There was Aria, passed out on the floor with her head stuck in a vase.
For a split second I wondered what had happened, but she seemed to be alive, so I started laughing.
"That's incredible, Aria! You opened the door and a vase that was sitting on a shelf just happened to fall on you? That's practically a miracle! And that scream just now didn't exactly sound like a girl's!"
I pressed my forehead with my left hand, pointed at Aria, and roared with laughter.
Hearing that, Aria pulled her face out of the vase and glared daggers at me.
"You— you are just—"
Novem this time turned her attention to me.
"Lyle, you're laughing too much."
"Sorry about that. But it was genuinely funny."
"Lyle!!"
Aria hurled the vase at me, so I caught it and shot back, "Are you trying to kill me?!"
When Miranda-san came to see what the commotion was, she looked at the shelf in Aria's room. Once again, she was baffled.
"That's odd. This vase is normally kept on the middle shelf. Am I remembering wrong?"
I assumed Aria had moved it, but she denied it.
*(We suddenly started living in someone else's house, so maybe these kinds of things happen more often? Even so, this place really does have a lot of little incidents like this.)*
I'd already experienced this sort of thing multiple times since moving into Miranda-san's mansion, and it struck me as a little strange.
I briefly considered whether Miranda-san was doing it on purpose, but her reaction showed nothing but innocent confusion.
*(Could it be Shannon, who can't see? That doesn't make sense either…)*
As I seriously wondered whether the mansion was haunted, the Fifth Generation spoke up.
*"Well now, I think some punishment is in order."*
Punishment for whom?
*(Not for me, surely…?)*
With a vague sense of dread, I touched the Jewel.
But there was no response.
The Fifth Generation didn't elaborate further.