Ossan Saikyō Chapter 8 Part 03
The next morning, we gathered in front of Miss Hofena’s house.
The three of us were dressed much as we always were when heading into a dungeon, traveling light with only the items we would need immediately packed into our backpacks.
Lady Hofena, on the other hand, carried a somewhat larger bag on her back and was dressed in practical clothing that looked suitable for gathering herbs.
She also carried a sturdy-looking staff, which was probably meant to double as a weapon for self-defense.
Miss Sphenia was dressed like a hunter, wearing light armor and carrying a short bow. Judging from the crystal-tipped wand hanging at her waist, she could likely use magic as well.
Like Miss Hofena, she carried a large mountaineering-style pack on her back.
Still, the green-themed outfit visible beneath her large cloak seemed rather revealing...
Then again, Rani dressed similarly. Maybe female adventurers just had some kind of unspoken dress code.
After looking over our relatively light equipment, Miss Sphenia frowned slightly.
“As I mentioned yesterday, it takes approximately three days to reach the village. Your equipment seems rather light. Will that truly be sufficient?”
“I possess the【Item Box】skill, so all of our travel supplies are stored there. We've prepared everything we need.”
“I see. It's unusual for a D-rank party to have someone with【Item Box】. I must admit I'm a little envious.”
Incidentally, Miss Sphenia was apparently an extremely capable adventurer who had reached C-rank primarily while working solo.
She looked like a young girl, but perhaps elves truly couldn't be judged by appearance.
“Soushi-san really is quite a versatile adventurer. That's reassuring.”
Miss Hofena said so, but in truth I was still a rookie who had only been an adventurer for a few months.
This would be my first long journey, and having Miss Sphenia along was secretly quite comforting.
(E/N: Not because she's a beauty but because she's a senior to our D-rank Ossan, in adventuring 😂)
“Then let us depart.”
At Miss Sphenia's signal, the five of us set off toward the Elven village.
As previously mentioned, it would take roughly three days on foot to reach the village.
If everyone had been adventurers, we could have run and cut down the travel time considerably. However, since Miss Hofena was accompanying us, such a forced march was impossible.
Actually, I'd prepared a carrying frame, so it wouldn't have been impossible for me to carry her and run, but apparently traveling by running everywhere wasn't considered particularly normal behavior.
The Elven village we were heading toward lay east along the main road and beyond a mountain pass.
For now, we only needed to follow the road, so although I kept my detection skills active, the journey was peaceful.
“Come to think of it, Soushi's the only guy here. Lucky you, right?”
Not long after we reached the road, Rani tossed that question at me.
“Isn't it a bit late to be bringing that up? Besides, traveling with a group of women means attracting all sorts of unwanted attention. If anything, it just means I have to stay more alert.”
“Ah, true enough. I mean, from a glance, it's nothing but beautiful women and cute girls. People might even get suspicious of you instead.”
“Soushi-sama is an admirable person no matter who looks at him, so there is no cause for concern.”
Beside Rani, who was grinning mischievously, Freynil immediately came to my defense with a completely serious expression.
Perhaps amused by the exchange, Miss Hofena smiled in our direction.
“I thought so the last time we met as well, but your party is quite an unusual combination. How did you all meet?”
When I glanced over, even Miss Sphenia seemed to be listening closely.
Well, an older man traveling with two beautiful girls did look suspicious.
Whether she realized that or not, Freynil was the first to answer.
“Soushi-sama helped me when I had only just become an adventurer and was struggling. If Soushi-sama hadn't been there, I don't think I would still be an adventurer today. That's why I've decided to follow Soushi-sama for the rest of my life.”
“How passionate~! It sounds like a fateful encounter. Helping someone in need like that... Soushi-san is very kind, isn't he?”
Miss Hofena's smile was completely sincere, so she seemed to be interpreting things positively.
Miss Sphenia, however, appeared to be frowning ever so slightly.
From a normal person's perspective, an older man helping a beautiful girl like Freynil naturally sounded suspiciously self-serving.
And Freynil's words themselves could easily be interpreted as an innocent girl being manipulated.
Rani must have sensed that, because she looked at me with an amused grin.
“Fray, you need to explain a little more. Otherwise people will get the wrong idea about Soushi.”
“The wrong idea? I merely said that Soushi-sama is a wonderful person.”
“You may mean it that way, but depending on who's listening, it can sound like Soushi's been cleverly deceiving you.”
“What...? Is that really how it sounds?”
When Freynil looked toward them, Miss Hofena reassured her.
“Don't worry. It's clear that Soushi-san is a good person.”
But Miss Sphenia shyly looked away.
Seeing that, Freynil seemed about to say something further, but Rani cut in first.
“If you spend a little time with us, you'll understand. As for me, I got curious about Soushi and Fray's party and asked to join myself.
…
In the end I became much stronger, so it was definitely the right decision. Soushi's reliable as a leader, and Fray's strong too.”
“So that's how you all met. The last time I saw you, your teamwork was excellent as well. It must be a very good party.”
As Miss Hofena nodded, Miss Sphenia cleared her throat and spoke.
“By the way, Rani-san mentioned becoming stronger. Are strength and growth your primary goals? You were also quite interested in whether there were dungeons near the Elven village.”
“Yes. Our goal is to become as strong as possible by doing everything we can. That's why we actively try to acquire as many skills as possible.”
“I think that's an excellent mindset. Once adventurers reach C-rank, the wall becomes much steeper, and many people give up there.
…
The party I traveled with for a time also gave up on advancing further after a particularly dangerous experience in a D-class dungeon. Everyone except me abandoned the idea.”
“I see. Yet you continued striving higher despite that. You must be quite strong.”
“Well... one of my fellow elves reached A-rank. Naturally, I feel I must aim for that level as well.”
The A-rank elf she mentioned was probably Crimson Anatolia.
I see.
For some races, there were expectations and standards they felt compelled to live up to.
“Hm. In that case, Sphenia-san, how about joining our party? I think you'd get stronger.”
Rani suddenly launched into an absurdly casual recruitment pitch, causing me to panic a little.
Ignoring the leader's approval was one thing.
Trying to recruit an incredibly beautiful C-rank elf was on an entirely different level.
Though, knowing Rani, she probably didn't care about such things.
As I was about to apologize with, “I'm sorry, Rani tends to say whatever comes to mind...”
Miss Sphenia simply asked, without sounding offended at all:
“And what makes you think I would become stronger?”
“Just doing the training Soushi came up with makes you stronger. Plus, we practically dive into dungeons every day. That's why we gain lots of skills, and on top of that... well, that's a secret, I guess. Though you'd understand right away if you joined.”
There she went again, making suggestive comments.
I thought it would only make us seem more suspicious, but Miss Sphenia narrowed her eyes and showed a faint hint of interest.
“Would it be acceptable if I observed your party during this journey before making a decision?”
“Eh? Yes, of course. That's only natural. No, really, I'm sorry about this. She suddenly said something rather strange.”
While I was apologizing, Rani poked me repeatedly.
When I looked over, she was giving me a smug thumbs-up.
“That makes four members confirmed. You'd never recruit someone yourself, Soushi, so this worked out perfectly, right?”
“If you're going to do something like that, you should at least discuss it with the party first.”
“Ah, sorry. But Miss Sphenia seemed like a perfect fit for our party, so I couldn't help myself...”
Since she seemed to understand after being scolded, I decided to let it go.
She was still only a 15-year-old girl, after all. A little impulsiveness was to be expected.
“You're not wrong, though. She does seem like she'd complement the areas where we're lacking.”
From what I could see, Miss Sphenia was an adventurer who specialized in medium to long-range combat with a bow and magic.
Our party consisted of two frontliners and one rear guard focused more on support.
An offensive rear guard specialist was exactly what we lacked.
“Right? And if she's aiming higher too, it's perfect. Fray thinks so as well, doesn't she?”
“Eh? Ah, yes, I suppose so. Miss Sphenia is also very beautiful.”
Caught off guard, Freynil blurted out something completely unrelated.
Though, now that I thought about it, if Miss Sphenia actually joined us, we'd become a party consisting of one middle-aged man and three unbelievably beautiful girls.
That would attract absurd amounts of attention...
Though perhaps it was already too late to worry about that.
“Hehe, this is shaping up to be a very enjoyable journey.”
Miss Hofena said that with a smile, and for the moment, the discussion about recruiting the elven girl came to an end.
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E/N:
Ossan catching strays left and right 😂! Freynil-chan is so innocent!
Stay tuned!
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