Chapter 8

Little by little, but surely, we are making progress.

The addition of "Saint Lena" gave us hope... but things didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped.

Lena's skill, "Saint," is indeed a rare and irreplaceable skill.

However, Lena herself didn't immediately shine after joining the party.

"Can't you heal this much faster...?"

After our first battle with her, Faran, who had been hit by a monster's attack, said this while receiving Lena's healing magic.

"S-Sorry. I can only use basic healing spells for now..."

"Faran, cut her some slack. This is Lena's first real combat. Her 'skill' hasn't been honed yet."

"I know, I was just saying..."

Despite his words, Faran clearly looked disappointed.

And though I didn't show it, I felt the same way inside.

We had placed high hopes on her being a "Saint"... but her abilities were not yet up to par with her skill.

My "Swordmaster," Faran's "Great Spear," and Nick's "Dragon Eye" are all practical, combat-ready skills.

In comparison, it seemed that "Saint" was a late bloomer.

Lena would start to function as a party member around the third year.

The full extent of her power as a Saint would only become apparent around the fourth and a half years, just before I die.

After four years, she would be able to use "Intermediate Healing Magic," "Basic Holy Attack Magic," and "Basic Holy Protection Magic."

But even then... it wouldn't be enough to defeat the Demon King.

According to the original history that Crow told us, the Demon King would be defeated ten years after I come of age.

With that much time, she would have been able to fully develop her power as a Saint.

But... with only five years, she wouldn't be able to reach her full potential.

Was there a way to enhance her skill?

Or was there someone else with a "Saint" class skill, hidden in the world?

But all of these were just wild guesses, with no leads to follow.

And since Lena joined, I've been troubled by one thing...

"Finally managed to pay..."

At the inn's counter, I paid the money and sighed in relief.

"Again, you don't seem like an S-class adventurer! Such a miserly comment!"

"Huh? Ha, yeah..."

I gave a vague answer to the innkeeper and headed to the dining hall.

Our party rents as many rooms as there are members in the inn.

Paying a month's rent in advance saves us on accommodation costs.

This month, I managed to pay without any issues.

In reality, we do make a decent amount of money.

Thanks to the cycles, there are several dungeons that I can clear with Faran and Nick, or even on my own.

Clearing dungeons, depending on their scale, yields much higher rewards than other quests.

And once you clear a dungeon and liberate the surrounding area from the Demon King's army, you are immediately registered as an S-class adventurer.

Now, it takes less than a month to reach S-class after starting as an adventurer.

But not all quests are created equal.

The difficulty and reward of a quest are determined by the client's report.

The difference between the reward and the guild's commission is our share.

However, clients tend to underreport the difficulty to get a better deal.

It's common for them to understate a quest that requires the extermination of a large number of monsters.

Of course, if there's a discrepancy between the report and the actual situation, additional fees apply, but if an adventurer dies, there's no one to dispute it.

But I have a good grasp of the "actual difficulty" of quests due to the cycles.

So, we shouldn't be short on money...

While eating alone in the dining hall, Faran returned from outside.

"Hey, Elyus. I took Lena to the church."

"Ah, thanks."

"No problem. Though, Lena seemed to want you to take her."

Faran teased me a bit.

Lena returns to the church once a month to stay overnight.

She brings offerings with her.

I usually take her, but today I asked Faran to do it.

"I have to handle the conversion of materials to money, or I'll get taken advantage of."

"Ah, I understand. Lena understands too. ...We need to save as much money as possible to enhance Lena's skill."

Faran said the last part in a hushed voice.

We're keeping Lena's "Saint" skill a secret for now.

Externally, her skill is listed as "Healer."

Healers are also relatively rare.

We keep it a secret because if Lena were known to be a "Saint" at this stage, she would be put under semi-custody by the kingdom and attached to the royal army.

In that case, she wouldn't be able to use her full potential.

This is due to the nature of her skill.

However, if we continue to gain a reputation over the next two years, it will become known that she is a Saint.

She will stop hiding it herself.

And once we gain a reputation, the kingdom won't be able to take her away.

"But I was skeptical... but as you said, increasing the offerings to the church has improved Lena's magic. How did you know that?"

"Read it in a book. It said that certain actions can enhance skills. I tried it, and it worked."

"Hmm?"

Faran looked at me with a doubtful expression, but I knew she wouldn't press further.

Of course, no book mentioned such a thing.

I just noticed it through the cycles.

Lena has joined twelve times, and we are now in the fortieth loop.

What I've learned is that the more "good deeds" she performs, the more her skill is honed.

This includes offerings to the church, slaying monsters that threaten people's lives, and small acts of kindness.

These need to be accumulated gradually.

Among them, offerings to the church are particularly effective.

By repeating the loops, I've been trying to stack as many good deeds as possible to help her abilities bloom earlier.

I've been donating most of the money we earn to the church and actively helping those in need.

As a result, her abilities have indeed improved faster.

But...

"Is what I'm doing really right?"

This question came to mind.

The reason is the "Guidance."

No matter how many good deeds I have Lena perform to enhance her skill, no new text appears in the Guidance.

(Maybe there's a better way to do this...)

Faran looked at me with a bemused expression as I started to think.

"Well, don't take on too much by yourself. If something's wrong, just let me know."

"Thanks."

With that, Faran headed to her room.

She may be a bit of a smart mouth, but she's a good person.

If I could consult her about the Guidance, it would take some weight off my shoulders...

But there's no point in wishing for what I can't have.

After finishing my meal, I was about to return to my room when...

"Excuse me... are you Elyus of Dragon Fang?"

"Huh? Ah..."

Right, it's this time of year.

This is an event that happens every year after the party has been formed for one year.

A black-haired girl, fidgeting with her hands, looked up at me with a shy expression.

"Sorry to bother you, but my name is Eileen. My skill is... 'Accounting.'"

This conversation has happened how many times now?

Of course, I know about her skill.

I also know that she will die a week from now.

I've tried to change her fate several times, but to no avail.

Well, there is one thing I haven't tried yet.

– Letting her join my party.

There's a precedent with "Fruit of the Great Tree."

They only survive five years if I join their party.

Similarly, there's a possibility that if Eileen joins my party, she will survive.

But my goal is to defeat the Demon King.

I don't have the luxury of adding someone who can't fight.

– Normally.

However, I had an idea.

(Should I let this cycle go to waste...?)

I have the "Guidance" skill.

While I don't want to rely on it too much, the ability to "redo" is a strength.

I've rarely acted with the assumption of failure.

The only time I did was when I tried to add Faran and Nick to the party at the same time, which didn't work out.

So, this is the first time I've thought of "letting go" as a clear option.

If her death can be avoided by letting her join my party, it would benefit me as well.

(Should I treat this cycle as a write-off and learn how to use money with the "Accounting" skill...?)

That's the idea.

I've been running the party for years.

But I've been self-taught.

I'm curious about how someone with a specialized skill handles money.

If there's a way to make our funds even more abundant, I want to know.

I'm sure there's a lot to learn.

Even if her fate is to die, it would only be for a week.

I should have enough time to recruit new members, and it's unlikely to put us in the red.

So, if I can't avoid her death, I'll look for other members.

But if her death can be avoided and her addition turns out to be profitable, I can learn the basics of accounting and use that knowledge to stabilize our finances and enhance Lena's skills in future cycles.

It's starting to seem like a good idea.

Alright, let's do it.

If it doesn't work out, I can always try again.

As I was thinking this, she said the familiar line.

"Elyus! Please... let me join your party!"

Without taking her outstretched hand, I simply replied.

"Sure, that's fine."

She kept her hand out for a while... but then she looked disappointed, as if she hadn't heard me.

"No, it's not possible, right? Showing up out of the blue and asking to join, and with a skill like accounting that doesn't help in combat... huh?"

At that moment, I took her hand, and Eileen looked back and forth between her hand and my face, confused.

I repeated my words to emphasize them.

"Sure, it's fine."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah."

"Are you joking...?"

"No, I am."

"Whaaat!? That's cruel!"

"Just kidding, do you want to join? It's fine."

After a moment of hesitation, Eileen's expression softened into a smile...

"Yay! Thank you, Elyus! Dad, Mom, I did it!"

She grabbed my hand with both of hers, shook it up and down, and shouted with joy, her voice echoing through the inn.

I was a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm, but I managed to respond.

"Just Elyus is fine. We're not that far apart in age, and you don't need to use formal language."

"O-Okay, Elyus, thank you!"

Looking at her smile, I felt a bit guilty.

I've seen her disappointed face many times after being turned down.

I was used to it.

That's why seeing her smile for the first time was so bright and refreshing.

But this is probably the first and last time I'll see her smile.

This time, her addition is a special case to learn accounting.

With a strange feeling, I sat her down next to me, had a brief discussion about the future, and returned to my room.

I decided to tell the other members tomorrow.

When I returned to my room and checked the "Guidance" as usual, I saw something unexpected.

The final piece of the puzzle, the last piece of the Dragon Fang's bite, was clearly written in red in the "Guidance."

"Accounting, Eileen joins"