Chapter 26

"Elis, it's finally time."

"Yes."

On the day of departure, I straightened up in response to my father's unusually serious call.

"Becoming a 'Sword Saint' at the age of fifteen. And... you are embodying the sword I aspired to."

"It's all thanks to Father's teachings."

"Of course! I'm a great teacher, after all!"

His serious expression didn't last long, and my father broke into a smile. I felt my lips curve up as I looked at his attitude and asked,

"So, what's the matter?"

"Ah. Even a great teacher can't do anything without something to teach. From now on, what you need to do is to further develop my teachings during your training journey."

I had learned swordsmanship from my father, who was a 'Sword Saint,' since I was a child. While my techniques are similar yet different from his, according to my father, they are a pursuit of his ideals.

At the coming-of-age ceremony, I obtained the 'Sword Saint' skill. Being granted the 'Sword Saint' skill as a divine skill, rather than awakening from a swordsman, was unprecedented, and it turned into a grand celebration involving not only my parents but also relatives and fellow swordsmen.

To further hone my skills, I decided to leave home and embark on a training journey.

"Yep, I understand."

"Good, then."

What I was taking with me was some money given as a farewell gift and a sword. And a bag with a few changes of clothes, that's all.

"If you continue your journey while earning money, it would be best to become an adventurer. Even in this peaceful era, there are still monsters and remnants of the Demon King's army, so there are plenty of situations where your sword can be useful."

"Yep. I was thinking of doing that."

In the world, it is said that my father defeated the Demon King ten years ago.

But the story I heard from my father is different. According to him, the Demon King was defeated by a female swordsman. She appeared suddenly from somewhere, defeated the Demon King, and then vanished.

At first, he tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but everyone thought he was being modest. So, only a few people, including me, my father, and my mother, believe in the mysterious female swordsman. Only those who know that my father is not the type to tell such lies.

My father calls her the 'Guardian Swordsman of the Messenger.' A swordsman sent by the gods to protect people.

Witnessing her swordsmanship in the battle against the Demon King, my father was deeply impressed. He repeatedly replayed her techniques in his mind and unraveled the principles of her swordsmanship. He then added his own improvements and taught them to me. He believed that his previous experiences and training would hinder him from mastering her techniques, so he taught them to me, who was still a blank slate before my training.

"Thank you. I will use my sword to help people and further hone my skills."

"Ah, you've inherited her sword. Your sword should be used to protect people."

"Yep, thank you. ... Well, I'm off."

I bowed and started walking to begin my journey. After a while, my father's final question came from behind.

"Elis! Is the sword fun?"

I turned around and looked at my father again. I could sense a rare hint of unease on his face.

Perhaps he felt responsible, thinking he had imposed his ideals on his son.

So, I shouted from the bottom of my heart.

"There's nothing more fun than this!"

My answer seemed to satisfy my father, and he nodded contentedly.

Thus, I set out on my journey. It was a clear, cloudless day, giving a sense that a wonderful journey was about to begin.

---

A year later, I was in the worst state.

"I have no money, really no money."

In the dining room of a familiar inn, I muttered to myself and looked around.

After setting out on my journey and becoming an adventurer, I formed a party.

The party's name is 'Dragon Fangs.'

Dragon fangs are numerous, but when they bite together, they align perfectly, symbolizing unity. It's a phrase I like.

Now, the members of 'Dragon Fangs' are around me. They are all good people, but... unlike the name, we don't quite mesh perfectly.

The first to react to my muttering was Falan, the spear user.

"Elis, did you get scammed again by some fishing story? Being a swordsman is good, but you should at least be able to do simple calculations, right?"

"It's only happened once! I don't make such mistakes all the time!"

Probably. My confidence... to be honest, I can't say it's definitely there.

"Anyway, I found another good quest!"

"Really? Let me see... Ah! The reward is food again! And a basket full of potatoes for slaying a dragon? It's completely unbalanced!"

"Well, they seem to be in trouble..."

"No, no, the reward was money until yesterday! Someone must have secretly switched the quest request, I'm sure of it!"

"Hmm, but it's a good quest, right? Because it helps people."

"By that standard, sure! But do you understand the current state of our party!?"

While looking at the quest request brought by Lena, Nick, the archer, shouted. Lena is the owner of the legendary skill 'Holy Maiden.' As befitting her skill, she is kind and caring, deeply empathizing with others. It's probably due to her parents' upbringing.

... But sometimes, she goes too far. When she sees someone in trouble, she takes on cases without a proper reward, or even without any reward at all.

"Really. I thought that with a Sword Saint and a Holy Maiden, we wouldn't have to worry about going hungry."

With a look of exasperation, Falan, who had been listening to our conversation, tapped his shoulder with the spear he was holding. I felt a slight sense of discomfort at his appearance.

"Hey, Falan, did you change your spear?"

"Hey! You're sharp, Elis! Look at this spear tip! I got it made at the blacksmith's with some rare minerals. This shine, isn't it amazing?"

"... What about the payment?"

"Of course, it's on 'credit'!"

"You, really!"

In the adventurer's guild, you can buy supplies on 'credit' based on your past quest completion rate, meaning you can pay later. Our party, 'Dragon Fangs,' has a high quest completion rate, especially for slaying quests, which are 100% so far. Therefore, we have a relatively large credit limit.

However, this borrowing is on a party basis. In other words, Falan has borrowed money from the party's future rewards without permission. This isn't the first time; it has happened a few times before, and we have been deducting it from the distribution.

"Pretty soon, the distribution will be negative. As a fellow warrior, I understand your attachment to your weapon, but it's just wasteful when it goes too far."

"No, no, no! Don't say that, Elis. Just look at this!"

Saying that, he pointed the spear tip at me without any sign of remorse. I sighed.

"It's really good, this shine... It's so good that I'm sighing."

"Right!?"

"It's not just 'really good,' Elis!"

Nick, the archer, gave me a reasonable warning.

"Right, sorry."

"That's how you spoil Falan! As a leader, you need to be strict!"

"Hey, Nick, you spend money on your weapons too!"

"Arrows are consumables! Don't lump them together! Besides, we all work together to recover as many as possible, but Falan slacks off, right?"

Indeed, I have been a burden to Nick. Ideally, the party should provide and supply the arrows, but we can't provide enough at the moment, so he has been buying some from his share of the distribution. Even then, it's not enough, and I know he spends his nights hammering bent iron arrows, trying to straighten them and make them usable.

... It's a bit noisy, since he's in the next room.

Naturally, such arrows reduce the power and accuracy. For now, it's manageable, but if this continues, Nick might not function as a combatant, and that's a real concern.

And my precious sleep time is being reduced. That's not good either.

So, in other words, we don't mesh well.

—Our income and expenses, that is.

That's why I've been thinking of solutions for the past few days. Today, I gathered the members to discuss it.

Stopping the two who were about to argue, I announced,

"Actually, I have a solution in mind."

"Ah, that's the leader for you! So, what's your idea?"

With Falan's words, the members' attention focused on me. I looked at each of their faces and then spoke about what I had been thinking recently.

"Employ someone with the 'Accounting' skill—what do you think?"

At my words, everyone's expressions changed.

Falan was angry.

Lena was sympathetic.

Nick, on the other hand, was smiling.

"No, hiring someone with the 'Accounting' skill... Elis, what are you talking about?"

"Elis... I don't think this is the time for jokes."

"Elis, you're suggesting something ridiculous just because we have no money... I understand, you're a bit tired, right?"

Feeling a bit intimidated by their words, I tried to respond.

"No, I'm serious."

When they realized I was serious, they all shouted in unison.

"There's no way someone with a skill like 'Accounting' would join a beginner party like ours!"

"Someone with a 'Accounting' skill, a top-tier skill, would never join a poor party like ours!"

"If I had the 'Accounting' skill, I would have left this party long ago!"

... Well, I expected some opposition. But isn't Nick being a bit harsh?

Back when the Demon King still existed, it was standard for adventurer parties to consist of members with combat skills, and it was rare for non-combat skills to join. However, after the Demon King was defeated and the danger for adventurers decreased, it became not only common but also welcomed for non-combat skill adventurers to join parties.

This is because, when considering the stability of a party as an organization, the difference is significant.

For example, a member with the 'Blacksmith' skill can appropriately handle the inevitable wear and tear of weapons and armor that adventurers often encounter. If we had a 'Blacksmith,' Nick's arrows could be prepared in-house as long as we have the materials.

The 'Appraisal' skill can help discover rare items that might be overlooked, and the 'Merchant' skill can stabilize the party's finances through trade during the journey.

Moreover, recently, there have been cases where non-combat skills awaken into powerful skills.

For example, the current famous prime minister, who is known as the right-hand man of the king, was said to have the 'Persuasion' skill a few years ago, which awakened into 'Word of Power' during his adventurer life, leading to his invitation to the royal court.

Perhaps because of this,

"It seems that the adventurer life promotes the awakening of non-combat skills."

This rumor is whispered with some credibility. As a result, the interests of combat skill adventurers, who seek stability in their organizations, and non-combat skill adventurers align, and the latter's joining is welcomed.

Among them, 'Accounting' is a super popular skill, classified as 'S-Class' in terms of contribution to the organization's stability.

Adventurers tend to be careless with money, often leading to a lack of funds and, consequently