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Chapter 11 Part 1

【Hero Party Side】 Emmy: Being Someone With The Highest-ranking Job Doesn’t Make You The Most Knowledgeable

 

A mysterious beautiful woman who seems to emit a golden aura around her.

Vince accepted her request without a second thought, and the woman went next to Vince with a smile so dazzling that even I, as a woman, felt as if my eyes would be blinded by it.

As she stood next to him, Vince ogled her with his gaze just like what he had done to Jannet earlier.

……Still, those things are huge, aren’t they? I wonder what she eats to make it grow that big.

 

As the woman took her place, Jannet moved behind to stand next to me.

She then looked at me and shrugged her shoulders in an exasperated manner with her expressionless face.

“I can’t with this guy”, is what she wanted to express, I think. But it feels like she’s even more expressionless than usual, so it’s even more difficult to tell what she’s thinking.

Or maybe this is her 『I don’t want to think about it』 face.

 

As I was thinking about this, the woman in the front turned around and looked at me.

 

「Ah, again, I’m very sorry to trouble all of you. Umm, let’s see, the person here is the【Hero】 and the girl there is the 【Mage】 from the looks of it, so you must be the 【Holy Knight】, right?」

 

「Eh? Ah, yes, I am.」

 

「Actually, I’ve always thought that a girl holding a shield to protect everyone is very lovely, you see. I’ve always wanted to talk to you since you are very cool!」

 

「Eh? M-Me? Oh, umm, well… thank you very much.」

 

「Oh my, how adorable. There are many 【Holy Knight】 who are just too overbearing because of their authority, but this is the first time I’ve seen one blushing. How cute, I’m starting to like you more.」

 

「Hauu….」

 

She laughed happily as she showered me with praises.

Is this some kind of reverse pick-up attempt? …..Is what I thought at first, but now I feel bad for having such a bad preconception for someone I knew for the first time.

 

She then clapped her hands looking as if she had suddenly remembered something.

 

「Oh right, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I? It’s a bit late, but I’m Katie. Pleased to make your acquaintance.」

 

The mysterious beauty, Katie, introduced herself and tilted her head with a smile.

Hmmm….. what a graceful gesture, as expected of a real beauty.

She has that bright aura that a tomboy like me or a bookworm like Jannet doesn’t have.

 

「I’m Vince. And these two are Emmy and Jannet. Hehe, pleased to make your acquaintance too, Katie.」

 

「Please take care of me, Katie-san.」

 

「…Hello, I’m Jannet the 【Sage】, and I can use healing magic as well.」

 

「Oh my! So you have a high-ranking job as well. Please forgive my rudeness earlier~!」

 

「I don’t mind.」

 

Vince suddenly talked to her without honorifics as he got close to her, trying to wrap his arm around her.

Unfortunately, it’s because he’s the hero that he can get away with this kind of behavior. As a girl in the same party, I wish he’d stop acting like this since I’m the one who ended up getting embarrassed seeing him doing this kind of thing.

 

On the other hand, Jannet just introduced herself with a slight correction. Looks like being mistaken as a mage bothered her a little.

 

「Anyway, let’s go get something to eat first. We should be able to afford for one more person, so it’ll be our treat, Katie.」

 

「My~ How delightful!」

 

…Just what do you mean by that?

——Is what I wanted to say to him, but this isn’t something we should talk about in front of Katie-san.

 

We just kicked out a friend who has been together with us since we were kids, and who also has a high-ranking job on top of that, which can make us look like a problematic party.

But it seems like Vince doesn’t really care about it.

 

We then go to one of the most expensive restaurants in town that Vince chooses.

I can feel the piercing gazes of the men around us…… As expected of a dazzling beauty like Katie-san. She’s like the sun that blinds everyone with her dazzling light by just being there.

 

I can also sense the jealousy and hatred from the men’s gazes around us.

Well, we do look like Vince’s harem if you look at it from the outsider’s perspective.

 

Wait, don’t tell me… Vince kicked Russell out for this reason?

No, no, no, that can’t be…… I mean, we’ve practically been together since our childhood. There’s no way he would kick him out just for such a stupid reason.

 

「Excuse me, what would you like to order?」

 

「…Eh? Ah, I’m sorry. Then, I would like the A course, please.」

 

「I understand.」

 

This won’t do, I ended up spacing out a lot because I kept thinking about these weird things.

Katie-san was looking at me while grinning as if she found something interesting. Ugh, this is so embarrassing.

 

As I watched the course meals being brought to our table in one corner of the restaurant, separated from the other seats, I decided to question the mysterious woman, Katie-san.

 

「By the way, what kind of story would you like to hear, Katie-san?」

 

「Ah, that’s right! I was wondering what kind of activities the Hero Party has been doing up until now and how much have you progressed. Ah, just so you know, I’m not some suspicious person going around collecting information or something like that, okay? I’m just a level 10 mage.」

 

She then shows her tag with her information written on it as she tells us about herself.

“Katie”, the resident of 『Hammond』——the name of this city. 【Mage】 Level 10. 

 

「I am very sorry if my question sounded like I was suspecting you.」

 

「No, no, it’s fine~ Rather, I’m glad that you are a reliable girl who doesn’t trust strangers so easily.」

 

Uuu… Katie-san doesn’t just have the beauty that could even make a woman like me jealous, but she also seems like a very nice person.

Her smile is too dazzling for someone terrible like me who got her childhood friend kicked out of the party yesterday.

 

Vince seems eager to join the conversation as he quickly drinks the pottage soup he ordered and leans closely to Katie-san.

 

「We have started exploring dungeons for half a year now, I think, and we’ve just reached the eighth floor of the dungeon in Hammond, you know?」

 

「Oh my, you reached the eighth floor already!? Then, you must be facing monsters like Taurus there, no?」

 

「That’s right! You sure know your stuff, Katie. And Emmy here even managed to deflect the attacks from that very Taurus!」

 

Katie-san looked at me with sparkling eyes as Vince shifted the conversation to me.

He’s right, it was a Blood Taurus.

 

「That’s amazing! To think you can deflect the attack from that Taurus!」

 

「Well, my 【Holy Knight】 is at level 23 right now, so I can withstand an attack or two, and since I used both of my hands to hold my shield, it only hurts a little bit.」

 

「Emmy-san is really cool, huh? I hope more women like you who can stand as a vanguard as good as the men will appear in the future. They will surely look up to you.」

 

「Ahaha… You praise me too much. I’m not fit to be someone like that.」

 

Really… I’m not fit to be someone to look up to.

I wanted to slap my face for getting injured in that fight against the Blood Taurus.

If only I, whose only job was to protect everyone, hadn’t been injured in that fight to the point I made everyone worried.

 

I was bestowed one of the highest-ranking jobs, which should be able to bring me closer to the dungeon’s deepest floor.

It’s true that it was only a short while since I was bestowed with this job, but still, I shouldn’t be having a hard time with the monsters on the middle floor of the dungeon.

 

I’m… weak

 

「By the way…」

 

Katie-san suddenly said as she put the fork on the Poisson, a fish dish, on the plate, and looked at each of us, then tilted her head.

 

「——Why is there no one with a 【Priest】 job in your party?」

 

The sudden question that came out of her mouth made me feel as if my heart had been clutched in an instant.