Chapter 12

"Hey, you. What have you been muttering about?"

In the adventurer's guild tavern, someone called out to Nod, who was sitting at one of the wooden tables, looking at a request letter.

Reacting to the voice, Nod turned around to see a girl standing there. She was a beautiful girl. Her scarlet hair, which reached her chest, flowed in waves, and her eyes, which gave an impression of being competitive, were distinctive.

She carried a spear with a cloth wrapped around its tip and wore a light leather armor with armor only at key points, and an additional curved metal breastplate overlaid on top.

It was around mid-morning, and most of the adventurers had already set out on their quests. The guild was quiet at this time, and in the tavern, apart from Nod, there was only one bearded adventurer who was drinking alone, taking small sips of his drink and silently getting drunk. Since he wasn't making a fuss, the sound of Nod's unconscious and endless muttering reached the girl's ears without being drowned out by the surroundings, and it seemed to have caught her attention.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something."

For about an hour, Nod had been sitting at the table, lost in thought. Yesterday, he had been asked by Alec to raise money for the family, and becoming a Stone Rank adventurer had become a necessary path. He had asked the guild if there were any new promotion requests today, but unfortunately, there were none.

Therefore, Nod had no choice but to take on the Rock Wolf extermination quest, and he was racking his brain to figure out how to complete it. However, he couldn't envision a way to defeat a pack of Rock Wolves alone. Each time he came up with a method that seemed to work, he would point out its flaws himself and mutter "Hmm" in frustration.

"What are you thinking about?"

The spear-wielding girl asked Nod and sat down in the empty seat next to him. Her scarlet bangs, which didn't obstruct her vision, revealed eyes filled with curiosity. Adventurers come in all sorts of personalities, but she seemed to be the type who was curious and eager to get involved. She sat down next to Nod without hesitation, clearly intent on hearing his story.

—Well, it might be a good distraction.

Nod, without revealing the "situation" of the Felis family, explained that he needed to prepare money by next month, and to do that, he wanted to become a Stone Rank adventurer. However, the only promotion request available was the Rock Wolf extermination, and he was the only one qualified to take it on. He had been trying to think of a way to defeat the Rock Wolves alone, but none of his ideas seemed to work.

Since it wasn't something he needed to hide, except for the "scandal" of the Felis family, and because she didn't seem like a bad person, Nod didn't feel the need to be cautious around her.

"Hmm. I see, that's quite a challenge... So, what kind of monster is this Rock Wolf? And what are the plans you've come up with?"

Despite the uninteresting nature of Nod's story, the girl seemed to become more interested and urged him to continue.

Nod had paid to get information about the Rock Wolves at the tavern, and he briefly considered whether it was right to share it for free. However, he decided to share it generously, thinking that perhaps she might come up with an idea he hadn't thought of. Although he didn't have high hopes for it.

Unfortunately, the scarlet-haired spear-wielding girl didn't come up with any groundbreaking strategies to defeat the Rock Wolves.

"...Hey, what's your name?"

She lightly pressed her clenched fist to her lips and chin, slightly frowning. It seemed to be her thinking pose.

(Ah, she's thinking. Right, I haven't introduced myself yet.)

Realizing this, Nod finally introduced himself.

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. My apologies. I'm Nod, Nod Felis. Nice to meet you."

When Nod introduced himself, the spear-wielding girl nodded vigorously and introduced herself in return.

"I'm Elsa. Elsa Chronicle."

They shook hands, extending their hands to each other without hesitation.

"So, Nod,"

Elsa continued while still holding his hand.

"Would you like to team up with me?"

Elsa's burning scarlet eyes stared straight at Nod. Their hands were still firmly clasped.

§

Elsa didn't come up with any groundbreaking strategies, but she did offer an alternative solution.

Elsa was also a Stone Rank adventurer, but she was close to accumulating enough contribution points to qualify for a promotion request. She had been interested in Nod's story because it provided information about the promotion request she would soon be taking on.

Given Nod's situation—there were no other promotion requests besides the Rock Wolf extermination, and no new ones were expected soon, and he was the only adventurer currently qualified to take it on—Elsa made the following proposal:

"I just need to complete one or two more quests to qualify for a promotion request. If we team up, we can complete those quests faster. Then, we can take on the Rock Wolves as a team."

Nod saw the "benefit" in Elsa's proposal.

The biggest challenge of fighting alone is the risk of being attacked from behind. Humans have eyes in the front, so their field of vision is limited to 180 degrees, even with conscious effort. While it's possible to detect the presence and movements of enemies outside the field of vision using other senses like hearing, this is only supplementary. A moment's delay in detection or a misjudgment can be fatal in combat, where visual information is crucial.

Nod, with his extensive combat experience and enhanced strength, could detect the slightest muscle movements to anticipate an attack. However, this precision drops when he's anxious about a potential ambush from behind. Therefore, when fighting alone, Nod always tried to protect his back with obstacles like thick tree trunks or large rocks, limiting the directions from which he could be attacked.

However, fighting alone is far inferior to the advantages of a team. Coordinated team combat not only provides protection from behind but also allows for blocking unavoidable attacks and increasing the speed of eliminating enemies by focusing on the same target. With two people, the number of attacks is doubled compared to fighting alone, making the battle much easier. Most importantly, if one member is incapacitated by paralysis, poison, sleep, or near-death, the other can still help.

While defeating Rock Wolves alone was difficult, it was certainly possible with a team.

Nod decided to accept Elsa's proposal.

§

After that, Nod and Elsa teamed up and completed Stone Rank adventurer quests to increase Elsa's contribution points. Elsa's combat style focused on mobility, which was not hindered by her light armor.

Nod's full-body armor, made of processed leather, was quite heavy, and with the added chainmail and shield, he provided a sturdy defense but was slower in movement. In contrast, Elsa's light armor allowed her to move swiftly, dodging enemy attacks with quick maneuvers and outmaneuvering the enemy. Her sharp spear strikes, delivered at the right moment, quickly dispatched the enemies one by one.

Nod and Elsa took on and completed two quests as a team. The first quest involved a giant frog, and the second was the extermination of forest wolves.

It was good practice. They took on the quest with this in mind and demonstrated seamless coordination, as if they had been a team for years, easily exterminating the pack of forest wolves.