Chapter 17

The next day.

I was introduced to the adventurers by the mayor himself, so I came to Karen's office for the second day in a row.

I had told Aina that the shop would be closed for a while.

Since she had been busy lately, she was probably spending some quiet time with her mother.

"Good morning! It's Shiro here."

After knocking, I opened the door.

In the office, besides Karen, there were four people who looked like adventurers.

They must be the adventurers in question.

"Shiro, you're here. Let's introduce them right away. They are the adventurer party 'Azure Flash.' The leader is—"

"It's me."

The young man who stepped forward had short, neatly cut hair... Wait, haven't I seen this young man somewhere before?

"I'm the leader of 'Azure Flash,' Ria. The mayor told me that someone wanted to join us, and it turned out to be you, Match."

Seeing the young man grin, I remembered who he was.

"Ah! You're the adventurer who bought the first match from me!"

"It seems you remember me. Not forgetting a customer's face, that's what I call a true merchant."

"Well, Ria, you were the first person to buy a match from me. I wouldn't forget that."

"Is that so? It's an honor to be remembered by such a skilled merchant."

"You won't get anything out of flattering me. Besides, I'm still a novice merchant."

"Even though you sell something as amazing as matches? Well, that's fine. Let's introduce the team first."

Ria introduced his companions one by one.

"This is Rolf, the priest."

"Nice to meet you, Shiro. I hope we have a good journey together."

"Likewise, Rolf."

"Kid, don't underestimate Rolf just because he's a priest. He's a combat priest who swings a mace with all his might. He looks gentle, but he can be scary when he's angry."

Ria laughed heartily.

Indeed, a mace.

Rolf seemed to be about 190 cm tall and was very muscular.

His priest's robe (if you could call it that) was almost bursting at the seams.

I had to resist the urge to comment on the lack of larger sizes.

Being scary when angry is probably true.

"Next, this sleepy-looking one is the mage, Neska."

Ria patted the shoulder of a girl wearing a pointed hat.

"..."

"Hey, Neska, say hello to Shiro."

"......Hello."

"Nice to meet you, Neska."

"As you can see, Neska is very quiet. But her magic skills are reliable, so you can rest assured. The only thing that makes us nervous is that her incantations are a bit slow."

"......Mind your own business."

"If you think so, try to speed up your incantations."

"......I'll think about it."

"Hmm...... You always just think about it."

Ria sighed deeply and then raised his face as if to regain his composure.

"And this small one is—"

"Kiki, nya."

When the girl named Kiki removed her hood, triangular ears twitched.

"Y-You're a beastkin!?"

"Yeah. I'm a cat beastkin, nya."

"Kitsune!!"

As I panted heavily,

"Hey? Could it be that you don't like beastkin?"

Ria asked.

I shook my head vigorously in denial.

"Not at all! I could never dislike such a cute race!"

"R-Really?"

"Yes!"

"Being called 'cute' by someone I just met... I'm blushing, nya."

Kiki placed her hands on her cheeks and wriggled.

"Kiki, he didn't say you were cute, nya."

Ria's comment didn't reach Kiki, who was still wriggling.

Ria looked at me with a troubled expression.

"No, I'm sorry for doubting you. Some clients dislike beastkin just because they are beastkin. I thought you might be one of them. Sorry."

"Dislike beastkin? There are such cruel people in the world."

"You're right. That's why we don't take requests from such scumbags."

Ria proudly puffed out his chest.

"We came to this town on the frontier because we were fed up with such scumbags."

"Hehe!? Hey, Ria, by the way, my introduction isn't finished, nya."

Kiki, who had regained her composure, pointed out to Ria.

"Oh, right. Sorry, sorry. ...Where did I leave off?"

"It's fine. I'll do it myself."

Kiki cleared her throat.

"I'm a scout, nya. My job is to scout and find traps, nya."

"Of course, Kiki also fights. She uses daggers and a bow."

"Wow. That's impressive."

"Hehehe. Not really, nya."

Kiki proudly puffed out her thin chest.

"But, Kiki's best skill is running away, nya."

"You shouldn't say that, nya."

The almost everyone in the room laughed at the banter between Ria and Kiki (Neska looked sleepy).

"Alright, let's head to the forest right away. Are you ready, kid?"

"Yes!"

"Good answer. Then let's go."

The muscular combat priest, Rolf.

The quiet mage, Neska.

The scout, Kiki.

The leader and warrior, Ria.

The adventurer party 'Azure Flash' consisted of these four.

I was going to join these four and start my adventurer experience.

I prayed that nothing dangerous would happen on the journey.