Chapter 9

### Elaine's Joining

I repeatedly confirmed the text written in red.

From past experiences, I had concluded that red text indicated a "mandatory item" for the demon king's defeat. However, my confidence wavered a bit.

The skill "Accounting."

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't see how it was essential for defeating the demon king.

"But, maybe..."

One thing that came to mind was, of course, finances.

With her joining, the efficiency of our funds would significantly increase, allowing for more donations to the church, which would further enhance Lena's skills. And this couldn't be done without Elaine. Even if I tried to learn financial management from her, it would be difficult. If my prediction was correct, she would indeed be a crucial person.

However, if Elaine's joining was mandatory, the text should have been in black, stating "Reject Elaine's joining."

Well, if that were the case, "Not forming a party" would also be in black. So, it seems that "not doing" something is hard to reflect.

It's a skill that doesn't help when it matters most.

Because of this, it took about two hundred years...

Well, complaining about it won't change anything...

Anyway, there's no point in thinking about it now.

I thought I would see how things go after she joins.

### Elaine, Whose Joining Was Deemed Mandatory for the Demon King's Defeat, Troubled Me for Several Cycles

She would die in the first quest, no matter what I did.

I tried changing the difficulty of the quests we took and giving her better equipment, but it didn't work.

If we went on a quest, Elaine would die.

I found a solution in the tenth cycle after learning that her joining was mandatory.

I decided to make the first month a period for "training and evaluating Elaine's accounting skills."

In the previous nine cycles, she died so quickly that her accounting skills were hardly used, so I wanted to see them in action.

This turned out to be a big hit.

Elaine managed to survive for about two years.

After that, I confirmed various things over several cycles and realized that the timing of the first quest seemed to be the cause of her death.

It became clear that the period right after joining and the one-year cycle were particularly dangerous.

I had already completed the necessary precautions for these periods.

As for the five-year mark, I would die along with her, so there was nothing I could do about it.

Even at other times, she could die easily during battles, so I couldn't take my eyes off her, but that didn't change much.

After Elaine joined and managed to survive a bit longer, there was a significant change in the "Guidance."

The blue text for "causality" started to increase.

Until then, blue text had only appeared with the joining of Flan and Nick.

After Elaine joined, more blue text began to appear in our daily activities.

Things like what quests we accepted and what experiences we had started to be recorded one after another.

I interpreted this as the party being fully formed.

It seemed that the members to defeat the demon king would be chosen from me, Lena, Elaine, and one other person whose name was written in blue.

There might be other people whose names were written in blue that I didn't know, but Flan and Nick, who were compatible with my combat style and easy to communicate with, seemed to be the best choices.

Another significant change occurred.

The party's financial management became dramatically stable.

While Elaine's "Accounting" skill certainly contributed, her role as a specialist was even more important.

Since I had to balance my activities as an adventurer with the search for blue causality, I aimed for efficiency in the party's actions.

Elaine complemented the actions that would otherwise be neglected.

She handled negotiations with the guild, clients, and shops without cutting corners, which led to higher quest rewards and better prices for necessary supplies.

I tried to mimic her negotiations once, but I couldn't get the same results.

It was clear that her skills were essential for successful negotiations.

As a result, we rarely lacked funds, and my mental burden was greatly reduced.

### After Elaine Joined My Party, It Was Natural That We Spoke More Often

In one of our conversations, I realized there was something I hadn't confirmed and asked her.

Why did she, who had a skill like "Accounting" that was unsuitable for an adventurer, want to join my party?

Her reason was unexpected.

"I wanted to repay a debt... whether I could be of any use or not."

When I asked her about the details of this debt, she revealed that she was from the village where my father had met his end.

"I was a child back then, but I still remember. There was a large tree at the entrance of the village... have you heard of it?"

"Yeah."

Of course, I knew.

It was a famous story.

My master had told me about it several times.

The large tree stood tall and proud, even when dark clouds obscured the sunlight.

People called it the "World Tree" or the "Tree of Hope" and revered it as a symbol of resistance against the demon king's army.

The demon king must have found this annoying.

He appeared in the village to break the tree himself.

The demon king's plan succeeded.

Humans lost two sources of hope at once: the large tree and the Sword Saint.

"The Sword Saint is still revered as a savior in the village."

"That's good. I'm glad."

"I was helping out at my family's inn when a customer told me that the son of the Sword Saint was on a quest to defeat the demon king. I couldn't sit still. Maybe it's because of my accounting skill, but I can't stand to owe someone something. I can't repay what I owe to your father, but I wanted to try."

"..."

"If you had rejected my joining, I would have joined another party and shown them what I could do as an adventurer. I thought that might change your mind... I was surprised when you accepted me so easily."

...It was a strange connection.

The life my father saved led to her supporting my quest to defeat the demon king.

My father didn't die in vain; he had passed the torch to me.

I was glad to confirm this.

I once visited her hometown village.

There didn't seem to be any blue causality in the area, so it was a one-time visit.

There, I met people who were grateful to my father.

They praised him.

At the entrance of the village, the broken trunk of the large tree remained, like a jagged stump.

"Hey, look, Elise."

Elaine pointed to the broken tree.

At the tip of her finger, a small but sure sprout was growing from the tree.

It was weak but was reaching towards the sky, striving to grow.

"I found this when I was leaving the village. When I saw it, I thought..."

"..."

When I responded, she didn't explain what she meant.

She probably sensed that I had thought the same thing.

Yes.

Even if hope is broken, a small sprout can always grow.

If the hope is small, we can nurture it.

This was the only time I visited my father's grave in the long cycle.

It was enough to make me reaffirm my resolve to "accomplish it."