Chapter 6: Issue


TL: Scaramochi


***


"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You're not responding to me, you b*stards!"


"Damn it,......."


Frey, you're in my way. I can't do my magic.


"You're acting up all by your lonesome...... again!"


We had added Frey of the dragon tribe to Stardust, and we were immediately attacking the labyrinth.


This time, we were not in the advanced level, but in the intermediate level labyrinth, which we had already conquered once, just to get used to it.


The attack was far from smooth, and we were already encountering some problems.


First, there was a new member, Frey.


Frey had a combination of power and speed that exceeded our expectations. She is no less than a gold rank without any overpricing.


As one might expect, she was the ace attacker of Dragon Head.


However, her selfish individual play often hindered her coordination.


She fights monsters as she pleases, without matching breaths with me or Athena. Because they lacked any sense of discretion, Athena and I could not even offer our support.


In fact, if we had tried to help her, we would have been damaged as well.


Because of her physical strength, she was in the lead without a break, and because there was no time to retreat, Mirialia was unable to release her magic.


Usually, when a magician is in the party, the attacker in the vanguard should move away from the monster at the right time. If not, he or she would be hit by a bullet.


However, Frey did not pay attention to Milliaria, but stuck to the monster and beat it to death.


This is in spite of the fact that I had told her in advance that the party would work together in this attack.


I have warned her even during the battle, but she does not listen to me at all.


She even retorted, "I don't care what you do as long as I beat the monsters!"


I was prepared for her to be a selfish brat, but it seems she was far more than I had expected.


That was the first problem.


The second problem was the lack of enchant magic.


My body is heavier than usual, my firepower is not increased, my defense is lower, and my hit rate is decrease.


It's as if my body has been replaced with the one I had yesterday.


I would feel as if my body was not my own, as if I were using a rusty knife instead of a sharp, famous sword.


This was especially true of Athena.


She was struggling against monsters in the intermediate labyrinth, and even in the upper levels of the labyrinth. Her movements seemed heavy and she lacked her usual sharpness.


Instead of fighting brilliantly, she was becoming slow and sluggish.


No one would believe that this is the Athena who was given the second name of 【Kinka】.


"Ora, what's wrong Athena! If you're going to be a sh*t, then stay out of it!"


"Damn it ...... who the hell are you!"


It was inevitable.


Athena had been fighting with Est's enchant magic ever since she became an adventurer.


This would be the first time she would be fighting without the enchant magic.


She must have been confused because her body did not work the same way it had in the past.


Older adventurers often say that their bodies don't catch up with their younger selves when they try to move in the same way they did when they were younger. That is exactly the kind of itch she must be experiencing.


I had no problem with that.


It's only recently that I've been partying with Est, and I feel only a little uncomfortable. Even without the enchant magic, I would get used to it in no time.


The accuracy of the magic was getting worse for Mirialia.


It is partly because of Frey, who moves around as she pleases, but even so, Mirialia is an excellent magician in my opinion. She has first-class skills in magic.


However, there were a few times when she missed a monster.


Well, she will get used to it soon.


And it was not only the combat aspect that was problematic.


"Hah...... hah......"


"Good job, drink this and take a break."


"Thanks...... Dale."


"Oh old man, give me some of that!"


"I told you I'm not an old man!"


I hand the water bag to Athena, who is breathing on my shoulder, and Frey asks for one for herself, so I toss it to her.


Until now, these roles had been done by Est.


He also carries the luggage, water bag, sweat towels, treats minor wounds, and collects dropped items from monsters. Thanks to Est's care and attention to detail, we were able to comfortably navigate the labyrinth.


Now that Est is gone, I have to do all those things by myself.


I would think that an adventurer should be able to do such things on his own, but once human beings learn how easy it is, they have a hard time getting out of it.


Since Est is not here, I, as the elder, have to take care of it. It's a bit clumsy, though.


"Hey, how's the strategy without Est? It's not going as well as I'd hoped, is it?"


I ask Athena, who is sitting down tiredly, and she replies with a self-deprecating smile.


"Oh,...... I guess so. I never thought it would be this different. It's as if it's not my body. No,...... this was my true ability. I had been relying on Est's enchant magic. No,...... it wasn't just the enchant magic, I was left to do other things as well."


Athena speaks in a weak voice with her head down.


She probably realized that Est was capable only after she lost him.


She also knew about the benefits of the enchant magic and the small support he had given her.


But by the time she realized this, it was too late.


Because Est is no longer in Stardust.


"Then you want to call Est back? He's that guy, I'm sure he'll come back if you bow down to him."


"I won't do that. Even if Est came back, it would just be more of the same. This is my own problem. I have to improve my own strength and not rely on Est's help."


"Well said, that's what makes you a leader."


Saying this, I put my hand on Athena's head.


If Athena had been dissatisfied with the current situation and immediately called Est back, I would have been left out of the party.


I don't want to be in a party with a leader who doesn't trust herself, and it would be extremely disrespectful to Est.


"Hey, don't treat me like a child!"


"Hey, hey, I'm sorry."


"Hey Athena, is this what you're capable of? If so, I'm out of my mind."


Frey looked at Athena like she was an insect and made fun of her.


The way she said it made me angry, but I didn't say anything.


She talks too much, but her words are straight and she doesn't lie.


Other people might be annoyed, but I didn't dislike her.


Don't get me wrong. Just because I don't dislike her doesn't mean she doesn't make me angry.


When asked, Athena tells the truth without concealment.


"Oh, this is what I'm capable of."


"Seriously,...... I thought you were having a bad day or something. I've seen you in a much better state of mind."


"That's because of Est's enchant magic. I'm just as good as you just saw me."


"The power of that p*ssycat? I can't believe it, but I guess it's true that you're just this level. I thought I was going to be able to work with someone who could match up with me. I was wrong."


Frey is annoyed, clucking her tongue.


She probably had high hopes for Athena.


She thought she would accept her for who she really is.


This is a selfish guess, but this woman is one of the best dragonheads in the world, and she probably felt alienated by the gap between her abilities and those of the others around her.


It's a kind of loneliness that no one can catch up with her real self.


Instead of Athena, who could not say anything back to her, Mirialia refuted her with a grim expression on her face.


"It's not Athena's fault. It's just that Athena has a hard time fighting because Frey is doing whatever she wants. Frey is interfering. And I can't do magic either because Frey is in the way."


"Ah! Are you saying it's my fault?"


"That's what I'm saying."


"You're just too slow to keep up with my moves!"


"Frey, the purpose of today was to check the coordination of the party. The first thing to do is to make sure that the party is working well together. I don't know how Dragonhead can be so selfish as to keep a party with such a brat. No wonder they couldn't take it anymore and kicked you out."


"Ah! Hey, you want fight with me?!"


Frey, who approached me with an ogre-like sword, grabbed me by the chest with all her might.


She was very aggressive, but I wasn't afraid of her at all.


"The leader said she wanted to make sure the party was working together. You agreed to it. But you didn't follow the party's policy, ignored repeated warnings, and continued to act selfishly. If you can't see that this is the behavior of a selfish child, then go jerk off on your own, you self-absorbed b*stard."


"Damn you......!!!!"


When I told her how I really felt, Frey didn't say anything back, just bared her teeth and kept quiet.


The reason she doesn't say anything back is because she knows what I'm saying is right.


That's why she won't touch me. If she did, she would admit that she is an egoistic kid.


"That's enough."


Athena stops me with a cold tone of voice as Frey and I glare at each other.


"Frey, you joined my party because you expected me to be powerful. But as you can see, I'm not going to live up to your expectations now. So it's a mistake on my part. You can leave anytime you want."


"......"


"But even I didn't think Frey was this uncooperative with the party. I'm not going to party with you as it is.


I can't imagine a vision where I could aim higher with Frey in the party. But if you are willing to compromise with us even a little, why don't we aim to be the best in the world together?"


"Tsk, wow. I'll stick with you a little longer."


Frey said and let go of the hand that was holding my chest.


(Ahhh, my clothes are saggy from being pulled so hard for so long. What are you going to do about this, it's pretty expensive. But still, this woman is awesome.)


Once again, I was impressed by Athena's charisma.


This woman had the power to attract people.


When she tried to recruit me, I refused many times, but she didn't give up and kept inviting me over and over again.


In the end, Athena pushed me into joining the party.


I felt like I wanted to follow her.


"My Athena, she's so cool. It's amazing that she can make even the lizards follow her."


"Ah! Hey, you elf, it's not like I obeyed you!"


Tsundere, huh.......?


As I watch the bickering started by Mirialia and Frey with dumbfounded eyes, Athena calls out to me.


"Thank you Dale. I should have been the first one to say it, but you were the first one to say it, and I'm glad you did."


"Well, I'm the oldest, for one thing. And I'm used to playing a damaging role. I know you've got your hands full with yourself right now. I'll support you until you can afford it. It's a pain in the ass, though."


"Pfft, that's a bit clumsy. I'm counting on you, Dale. Just know that I'll be strong soon."


Oh, that would be very helpful.


It's going to be a pain in the ass to deal with those kids.



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