Chapter 79

Now that we have figured out how to obtain the magic stone, we returned home.

I tried to give the gacha-produced equipment we used in the experiment to Grin and the others, but only Grin refused to take it.

Even though the reward was generous, he said he couldn’t accept such expensive items. Magic tools must be expensive...

I gave the weapons to Almira and the others, and I hope they will continue to work hard as adventurers.

“Welcome back.”

“Whoa!?”

“...You’re overreacting. What a rude person.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.”

As soon as I opened the front door to go inside, Luna was waiting by the door with Mofu in her arms.

It’s not surprising that she was awake since it was almost sunset, but I didn’t expect her to greet me, so I was surprised.

“Were you playing with Mofu!?”

“Yeah, I was bored.”

“Muhuhu, Mofu has really gotten attached to Luna.”

Mofu, held in Luna’s arms, was purring.

When Noelle entered, Luna handed Mofu over to her.

Noelle often visits Noelle’s room to play with Mofu, so they seem to have become quite close.

Playing with Mofu is one of the few reasons she leaves her room.

“Here, is this okay?”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Thank you. It’s rare for Luna to bring us drinks.”

“Thanks, I was thirsty! This is great!”

When we sat down, Luna brought us drinks in wooden cups and placed them in front of me, Noelle, and Estelle.

Wow, Luna is being so considerate. I wonder what’s up with her...

“Here...”

Finally, a bit later, Luna placed a cup in front of Cissha with a slightly frowning and displeased expression. She hesitated as if making a difficult decision...

“L-Luna! You’re giving me one... I’m so touched!”

“Ugh, stop... hugging me...”

Cissha, who received the drink, hugged Luna in gratitude.

Luna, being hugged, had a resigned expression, as if she expected this to happen.

She must have known this would happen, which is why she hesitated about placing the cup...

While watching this, I thought it was about time. Then, Luna bit Cissha’s arm.

“Ahhhh!? ...Ah, ah... H-hehe...”

Cissha, bitten by Luna, collapsed to her knees while still hugging Luna, eventually falling onto her. She was rolling her eyes and convulsing, but still had a creepy smile on her face.

This is scary...

“Pfft, pfft... As expected, it’s no good. Since she’s in this state, I’ll carry her to her room.”

“A, ah...”

Luna carried Cissha on her shoulder and left our presence.

I thought Cissha was relatively calm today... but it ended up like this.

“Well... let’s summarize what we learned today.”

“Wow, you’re really brushing it off.”

“It’s normal for Cissha to end up like this. I’ve seen her rolling in the hallway multiple times during the holidays.”

If I reacted every time, I’d be exhausted... I’ve gotten used to it.

Luna, who bit Cissha multiple times during the holidays, seems to have learned how to keep Cissha from moving around.

Cissha probably won’t be able to move for a few hours today.

“First, the conditions are: defeat a rare species, form a party, and use gacha-produced equipment. Is that right?”

“That should be correct.”

“But from today’s experiment, it’s unclear whether forming a party is necessary.”

“Yeah, that’s true... But how do we confirm that?”

We should have learned these three conditions today. However, it’s unclear if forming a party is a requirement...

It’s possible that just having gacha-produced equipment could be enough to obtain the magic stone. If so, the conditions would be much easier... but I don’t think it’s that simple.

“Should we try to leave the party again?”

“Sure. Noelle, can you help?”

“Sure, I can.”

We’ve tried this before, but let’s see if we can leave the party again, knowing it might not work.

“Then... I am not in the party... I am not in the party with Oogura... Nnoo!”

Noelle clenched her fist and muttered, forcefully denying that she was in the party.

Even though I know it’s an experiment, it’s a bit sad to see her deny being in the party with me...

“Grr... How is it?”

“It’s not working.”

“Muuu, it’s not working even after all this...”

Checking with the beacon, Noelle’s name was still there.

Hmm... it seems we can’t leave the party no matter what.

“What about Estelle?”

“Well, even if it’s just a temporary party, I can’t leave my brother, can I?”

“O-oh...”

Estelle smiled, as if it was obvious.

It’s a happy thing, but I feel a bit uneasy... I get the same chill I felt when she received the necklace.

“Let’s assume, for now, that all three conditions must be met.”

If we can bypass the party requirement, it would be a simple task to hand over the equipment.

So, let’s discuss the scenario where all three conditions are difficult to meet.

“Among these, the most difficult to achieve is... forming a party, right?”

“Hmm... that’s true.”

It’s hard to form a party when we’re not together.

The fact that we can’t leave Noelle’s party has been helpful for hunting separately, but it would be great if we could put other adventurers in the same state as Noelle... but that’s impossible.

“Watching today’s hunt, I think hunting rare species is also a problem.”

“...Yeah.”

After watching Grin and the others today, I realized that hunting rare species is tough for ordinary adventurers.

Ordinary adventurers don’t even enter that forest to hunt. They might rarely encounter a Black Oak, and when we first brought the black pork, the shopkeeper was surprised, so it’s likely that encounters are rare.

If that’s the case... even if we meet all the conditions, the chances of obtaining the magic stone are very low.

“Ah, so even though we figured it out, it’s practically impossible?”

I thought we would have a comfortable gacha life, but it seems we’re back to the magic stone grind.

It would be nice if we could get at least one or two every day, like a login reward.

“No, there is a way, actually.”

“Really!? You’re amazing, Estelle! So, how do you plan to do it?”

“Estelle is reliable, isn’t she?”

When I was feeling pessimistic, Estelle said there was a way.

“First, it’s important to understand how far the party judgment applies.”

Estelle started explaining, and Noelle and I listened quietly.

Judgment application...? Is there some kind of specification for parties?

“I think the reason we can’t leave the party is because we subconsciously recognize each other as companions. So, if other adventurers also recognize us as companions to some extent, they should be judged as part of the party even if they are far away.”

“Hmm...? If that’s the case, since I’m registered with the Adventurer’s Guild, shouldn’t I already be recognized as part of many parties?”

It makes sense when I think about it.

Noelle can’t leave the party because she subconsciously recognizes us as companions.

However, this raises a question. Since I’m already a member of the Adventurer’s Guild, it’s not strange for other adventurers to recognize me as part of their party.

“That’s because being a member of the Adventurer’s Guild doesn’t mean you’re recognized as a companion. A stronger connection with you is needed.”

Well, most of them don’t even know me... it would be strange if they recognized me as part of their party.

To be recognized as part of a party, the members themselves must recognize each other as companions.

Dius and Grin recognized us as companions when we hunted together, so they were temporarily recognized as part of the party.

To maintain this permanently, they need to recognize us as companions more strongly... is that possible?

“Regarding the rare species... there are two possible solutions. One is to recruit B-rank or higher adventurers. The other is to strengthen low-rank adventurers so they can hunt rare species.”

Estelle continued, raising her index finger.

Recruiting B-rank or higher adventurers makes sense. Someone as strong as Dius can easily hunt rare species.

They should have more opportunities to encounter them compared to low-rank adventurers.

However, what does it mean to strengthen them? It’s not that easy...

“Does that mean... giving them gacha-produced equipment to strengthen them?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It seems I was correct, as Estelle nodded in satisfaction.

“A Black Oak can be hunted with a certain number of SR weapons and accessories. This way, we can also meet the condition of using gacha-produced equipment.”

That’s true, it’s efficient to meet two conditions at once.

However, giving gacha-produced equipment carries some risk. If we do, we should give R-level weapons or guardian rings that are not too overpowered.

We don’t want to inconvenience shops like Gantz’s, so we should avoid giving weapons and armor if possible.

If we give good equipment, they might not buy weapons or armor for a while.

Considering this, giving weapons to Almira and the others today might have been a mistake... but since they were unenhanced, it should be fine.

We need to be very careful about the balance of the equipment we give.

“Of course, we shouldn’t give it to untrustworthy people, but this can quickly solve the party issue.”

“...What do you mean?”

Even if we can obtain magic stones, I don’t intend to give them to just anyone. If we do, we’ll limit it to a level that doesn’t threaten us.

SSR and some SRs are dangerous, especially penetration-type equipment.

More importantly... how does this solve the party issue?

“We can form a group of adventurers, and if they join, we can give them gacha-produced equipment as proof of membership. Just having proof of membership should strengthen their sense of belonging.”

“I remember Grin was surprised by the magic tools... so it’s about luring them with items?”

“It sounds bad when you put it that way, but it’s more reliable than forming a group based on verbal agreements.”

I see... forming a slightly larger group than a party to make them feel like companions.

This way, they should feel much closer to us than just being fellow members of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Using items to make them feel like part of the group is a good idea. Giving them guardian rings as proof of membership should be effective.

Magic tools are rare, so they will likely be very conscious of it once they receive it.

“Recruiting B-rank or higher adventurers... seems difficult for now.”

“Dius and the others might join.”

There aren’t many B-rank or higher adventurers, but we already know Dius.

If we tell them about the group and give them rings, they might be interested...

However, Dius and the others seem to have some fame, so it might be difficult for them to join a group.

“Dius and the others have some fame, so it might be hard for them to join a group. If we want to recruit strong adventurers, we need to raise our rank first.”

That’s true. It wouldn’t look good for B-rank Dius to join a C-rank group we created.

If we form a group, we can’t just hand over equipment and be done with it. We need to plan some activities, so we want to form the group openly.

This means... we need to aim for B-rank soon. As B-rank, we can invite other adventurers to our group, and they are