Shaura, an Indian man who had begun staying in Rundel around the same time as Ian.
After spending a week in a frenzy, he was at last strolling leisurely through the village for the first time in a while.
His party, too, had been unable to endure Rundel’s food and had left for Staria to procure supplies.
“Hmm… There really is nothing to do.”
Even so, the reason he kept moving from place to place was because it had become something like a habit ingrained in him over the past month.
Ever since being trapped in the death game called Arcadia Online, he had not had a single proper day of rest.
As a result, rest felt awkward to Shaura, and, feeling uneasy for no reason, he was wandering around the village to pass the time.
Just then, Shaura spotted a familiar face.
His feet naturally carried him over.
“Hey, Adrian. What are you doing here?”
“Shaura?”
Adrian.
A Latin American man with sharp features and bronze skin.
With an enormous axe that did not quite suit him slung over his back, he lifted the corners of his mouth at Shaura.
“What brings you here? You’re actually in the village.”
“My party members went down today, you see. What about you?”
“Mine went down yesterday, so I’ve been forced to rest. Thanks to that, I’m bored to death.”
Adrian spoke lightly, but his face looked thoroughly sick of it.
If there had at least been some entertainment, that would have been one thing, but Rundel had nothing of the sort.
He, too, had been wandering the village aimlessly, just like Shaura.
Shaura did not want to become like Adrian.
And perhaps because that desperate wish was answered,
a good idea came to Shaura’s mind.
“Then why don’t you go out with me today?”
“Just the two of us?”
“Isn’t it a waste of time? Though it would probably be better to find one more person.”
“Sounds good.”
And so Shaura and Adrian, having decided to form a party for the day, began circling the village in search of someone in the same situation as themselves.
Before long, the two of them saw them.
“Oh! Don’t you think those friends would do?”
“At that level, it’s practically winning the lottery. Let’s go.”
Ian, wrapped from head to toe in a cloak,
and Emily, clinging to her side like a leech.
***
Ian was not particularly fond of party play.
There were many reasons, but the biggest was that she did not want to take responsibility.
She absolutely wanted to avoid any situation where someone was put in danger because of her judgment.
However.
‘How on earth did it end up like this?’
Looking at the people in front of her, she let out what must have been her umpteenth sigh.
Emily, Shaura, and even Adrian.
She had seen their faces before, since they had participated in the Area 1 raid, but even as of that morning, she had never dreamed she would end up forming a party with them.
Ian glared at the root cause of this entire situation.
“Oh, come on, why are you like that? More people is better.”
“Then you can just go with those people.”
“There you go again. Just accept it. Once you accept it, it’s easier.”
“You’re the last person who should be saying that!”
Emily’s voice was still ringing in Ian’s ears.
If Ian would not let her into the party, she would go out alone.
Then she might die.
And if she died, she would die resenting Ian for not letting her into the party.
How could an adult be so persistent with such childish threats?
Ian felt that if she listened any longer, she would develop neurosis, so she had no choice but to decide to party with Emily for the day.
“Do you happen to have room in your party?”
“No… Mmph!”
“What, you two are together too? Perfect. We can all go together.”
Then, out of nowhere, Shaura and Adrian had appeared.
“Do not worry. I have never told anyone about the clothes you are wearing underneath, Ian—”
“Ahhh! S-stop!”
At present, the only players who knew what Ian was hiding beneath her cloak were Shaura’s group.
‘Do you know how hard I’ve worked not to get caught?’
Fortunately, she had not been discovered so far, but with Shaura holding such a fatal weakness over her, Ian had no choice.
Especially with Emily’s gaze on her.
‘I absolutely can’t let her find out.’
Unable to even imagine how much she would be teased, Ian had no choice but to accept Shaura’s group.
“Well, we’ve somehow gathered together, but the party composition is rather lacking.”
At Shaura’s words, Emily and Adrian nodded.
Ian?
Her mentality had gone out the window, and she was staring blankly into space.
In any case.
“One shield, two swords, and one axe. It’s not great.”
In particular, the beasts of Area 2, the Valtor Mountains, were all flying creatures without exception.
Going hunting in a place like this without any ranged support was the same as voluntarily playing on the highest difficulty.
“But where are we supposed to find an archer or a mage now? They all probably have parties already.”
The problem was that most of those who used bows or magic already belonged to parties.
If they searched hard enough, there might be someone left behind alone to guard their lodging, like them, but that would be no different from finding a needle in a desert.
Just then, Ian raised her hand.
“I’ll take the rear.”
“You, Ian?”
“I know how to use a staff.”
Ian took a staff from her waist and showed it to them.
Unlike the ones used by other staff users, it was small enough to grip in one hand.
The three of them looked at Ian with suspicious eyes.
At their reaction, Ian clicked her tongue.
“Then forget I said anything.”
“N-no, no. Let us do as you say.”
“Yeah. If things get dicey, we can switch. Haha…”
It was not as if Ian did not understand their reaction.
She herself was more comfortable with a sword than a staff.
But if she swung a sword, her movements would inevitably become intense.
No matter how careful she was, the clothes beneath would inevitably be revealed.
Unlike a sword, with a staff, all she had to do was aim at the enemy and use magic, so the chances of her clothes being exposed were relatively lower.
That was why Ian had decided to take the rear of her own accord.
As a bonus, she could raise her magic proficiency too, so it was good.
Then why did she let Hakon see everything when she was with him?
Because he was an NPC.
He was someone she would only see in this area and never again, so she was more or less ignoring it.
In any case.
Thus, after somehow settling on a formation, Ian’s party was ready.
Adrian asked,
“So, do we have a destination?”
“I’ve roughly decided on one, but I’m going to ask first.”
“Ask who?”
“That unlucky guy I’m always with.”
The party headed deeper into the village, toward the place where Rundel’s warriors gathered.
There, they approached Great Warrior Hakon, who was swinging his spear.
“Good morning, Hakon.”
“Ah, Savior. Please wait a moment. I will prepare shortly… But who are the people beside you?”
“Uh… f-friends. I’m going around with these people today. So you don’t have to follow me today.”
“If that is the reason, then it cannot be helped. Please return safely.”
Contrary to expectations, Hakon accepted Ian’s words obediently.
‘Well, he is an NPC. Maybe he’s set to leave if a player joins up.’
Remembering when they had first met, she had thought he would insist on following her again.
Ian, who had been worrying over how to persuade him, was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“But Hakon. There’s something I want to ask.”
“Please speak.”
“Is there perhaps a cave near the valley?”
“A cave, you say?”
Hakon nodded.
“There is a small cave nearby.”
“No, why didn’t you tell me that?”
“You did not ask, did you?”
“Th-this man, seriously…”
To think he had not told her about something so important simply because she had not asked.
Hakon was annoying as usual, but today, Ian wanted to drive her fist into his head.
Her fist was itching. Seriously.
Whether he knew Ian’s state or not, Hakon continued calmly.
“However, personally, I recommend that you do not go.”
“Why this time?”
Hakon pointed to his eyes.
“It is rather dark there.”
***
Ian’s group arrived at the cave Hakon had told them about.
“That’s it.”
“That must be it.”
“It reeks.”
“There’s definitely something here.”
Ian, Emily, Shaura, and Adrian.
The moment they all saw the dark cave, they had similar impressions.
Because from the entrance alone, it practically stank of something being there.
“Are we going in?”
“We came all the way here, so we should at least take a look. Emily, you have a torch, right?”
“Yeah, I got one. We just need to light it.”
Ian brought her staff to the torch Emily had brought.
“Fireball.”
A basic fire spell, fired while aiming slightly above it so the torch would not break.
The sphere of flame flew swiftly and struck the cave wall before disappearing, but it succeeded in lighting the torch.
“It’s not as bright as I expected.”
“It’s still better than nothing. Emily, hurry up and lead the way.”
“Geez, our Ian really does work me too hard.”
“Just get moving before I hit you.”
Ian’s group began entering the cave in earnest.
Inside the cave, a chilly wind blew, and the sound of dripping water echoed.
Relying on a single torch as they explored, the party’s steps were extremely cautious.
“By the way, I don’t see a single bat. Honestly, I thought there’d be swarms of them.”
“They probably went out hunting. If there’s nothing here, isn’t that good for us?”
“What are you going to do if they come back when we’re leaving?”
“Hmm… I’m sure our leader will handle it somehow.”
“I might abandon you first.”
Even as they exchanged trivial chatter, Ian and everyone else maintained a taut sense of tension.
Because they could not predict when, where, or what might happen, the party advanced carefully.
Quite a long time passed like that.
“Ian, about where are we now?”
“Who knows? Looking at the map, I think we’re roughly around the middle… but I’m not sure.”
“Still only the middle? It’s way longer than I thought.”
“Our pace is slow. It cannot be helped.”
Ian’s group had just passed the midpoint of the cave.
It was then.
“Wait.”
Emily, who had been walking at the front, lifted the torch high and signaled for the party to stop.
“What is it?”
“I think I hear something…”
She gently closed her eyes and focused all her attention on her hearing.
—Kik. Kikikik.
“Is that… a cry?”
Emily’s brow furrowed slightly.
The moment she took one step forward to listen more closely—
—Flap flap flap!
From ahead, a noisy sound of wingbeats rang out loudly enough for every party member to hear.
“Ian!”
Before Adrian could even call Ian’s name, she was already aiming her staff forward.
“Fireball!”
A sphere of flame shot forward at high speed.
—Boom!
But it did not make it to the end before exploding.
An obstacle in the darkness had blocked the flames.
However, the moment the flames exploded, Ian’s group was able to see what lay beyond the light.
“Th-this is…! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
What was there was the master of the cave, which had lived here for a long time.
A swarm of bats rushing toward them, their blood-red eyes gleaming.