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Chapter 19 Part 2

「By the way…」

 

「Yes?」

 

Katie stares into my eyes.

……Her eyes have such a really beautiful golden color. It’s like they are shining.

 

「Emmy-san, your eyes are as beautiful as the blue sky, aren’t they!」

 

「What a coincidence, I was also just thinking how beautiful Katie-san’s eyes are.」

 

「Oh my!」

 

Katie-san giggles happily and stares into my eyes again.

U-ugh… I-I wonder why is she staring at me like that?

 

「Emmy-san, have you learned “Protection” yet?」

 

「”Protection”, is it? No, I‘ve never even heard of that.」

 

「I see. Protection is Defensive Magic, so you should learn Protection and Magic Coating as soon as possible. They are both very, very powerful Defensive Magic, you know?」

 

「Katie-san sure knows much about Jobs, huh.」

 

「Yes! I’m especially interested in the story about the Hero’s Party, you see. I have a huge collection of them.」

 

I… still don’t know much about my Job.

I see, I can learn such good defensive magic later on huh.

I’ll have to work much harder… to the point that even when I’m working together with Russell who’s still at level 1, I can protect both him and myself so that we would be completely unharmed.

 

I can get so much information by talking with Katie-san…

 

「There is also something called 『Skills』.」

 

「Eh?」

 

「The Holy Knight and Sage of this generation are women while Vince-san is a man, and you’ll understand soon enough if you’re staying with Vince-san.」

 

Katie-san walks away with a smile on her face.

I don’t know what she meant by that, but since it’s coming from her, I’m sure it must be something incredible.

Alright~ I’ll work harder from now on and get much stronger!

 

After that, we kept going, and now, we arrived in front of the Floor Boss room on the 8th floor.

 

「We have a new comrade with us today! And one that will definitely be more helpful!」

 

「Yes, of course. I will make sure to be helpful to everyone!」

 

「Oops, that’s right!」

 

Vince put his hands on the huge door while laughing.

 

Wait… what’s with that?

What’s with that way of saying it?

He’s putting it as if Russell has never been helpful to us.

 

……No, I guess it’s time to stop asking myself these questions over and over again.

 

Russell himself already expected that he would eventually be kicked out of the party one day.

If that was the case, I should’ve been able to at least sense what he was feeling based on the way things had been going.

 

I recall my conversation with Jannet.

That information, what happened yesterday, and our current situation.

 

I wish I could be a little more intuitive.

 

In other words.

Vince must have thought Russell was more of a hindrance than I thought.

 

……and then the door opens.

Let’s stop thinking about this kind of thing for now.

The Floor Boss here is strong. We can lose our lives if we’re not careful.

 

That’s right, it’s true that Russell was weak and needed to be protected.

I can see why Jannet agreed to kick him out to keep him away. I also worry about him. I don’t want him to die.

 

That’s why I decided to do my best for him.

And I will become the strongest, and defeat the Demon Lord or whatever.

Then I will return home and properly apologize to him.

 

——Our struggle against the Floor Boss with our life on the line lasted for a long time.

 

Blood Taurus is one size larger than the other monsters on this floor, and not only it’s sturdy and strong, but it moves fast despite its big frame.

The speed of its movement is especially troublesome, and if I’m not careful, it can knock me out in one swing.

I need to parry its attack with my shield as much as possible, take as little damage as possible, and dodge when it’s trying to make a big swing.

 

「——Emmy san!?」

 

「Oh no——Kugh!」

 

I thought I was being careful enough, but I couldn’t react in time and took a direct hit from the Taurus with one hand.

It hurtsss! I grit my teeth while enduring the pain, but even so, my body feels like it’s being torn apart!

This is no time to be distracted by the pain, if I don’t catch the next attack, the two mages behind me will get hit!

 

「《Heal》」

 

I quietly cast the magic and put up my… shield… wait, what is happening?

 

My shield… is heavy.

I can’t lift it up.

 

「What are you doing!? 《Heal》!」

 

Vince’s voice came flying at me, and I managed to lift my shield up with both hands in time as the opponent hit me.

 

「Heal yourself up! It’s dangerous!」

 

「I did you know!」

 

「But it doesn’t seem like you’ve healed up!」

 

I was arguing with Vince, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the Floor Boss.

I need to focus!

 

As I endure the attack from the boss, Jannet keeps fiercely firing her offensive magic at it, and the next magic manages to hit the Blood Taurus’ weakened arm, and it finally stops moving.

I’m tired… but we’ve come this far, though it was a little bit too close.

 

I recalled the dangerous situation I had just been in.

I certainly cast Heal back then.

 

While Vince and Janet are examining the treasure chest we got from defeating the Floor Boss Katie-san comes up to me again.

 

「Are you alright?」

 

「I certainly cast healing magic back then but… it seems I failed to cast it somehow.」

 

「No, the Healing Magic cast by both of you certainly worked as normal. However, since your level is high, unless it’s a Healing Magic cast by a Priest, as expected just casting it once won’t be enough. This is the reason I recommended you to hire a 【Priest】.」

 

「Eh?」

 

「But well, in the end, what Vince-san said was right, I’m glad we managed to defeat the Floor Boss properly. Oh, it looks like they opened the treasure chest. But, hmmm— it’s surely strange, isn’t it?」

 

Katie-san began mumbling about something to herself in a small voice as she walked over to Vince and Jannet while tilting her head which caused her brilliant blonde hair to fall to the side.

 

「…..Removing the White Magician and relying on the Paladin’s Healing Magic, or removing the Monk and just relying on the Hero’s Healing Magic, huh… that would be too rough… no, rather, forming a Demon Lord subjugation party without a Healer is impossible no matter how you think about it, isn’t it? Even the three mighty bare-handed 【Fighters】 that defeated the Demon Lord without a 【Hero】, 【Sorcerer】, or 【Sword Saint】, wouldn’t it be impossible if they had not brought along a 【Priest】?」

 

At that moment… the beautiful person in front of me seemed to look like a completely different person.

 

Mumblings that I don’t understand.

The words I’ve never heard before.

 

…Still, there is one thing I understand.

Katie-san thinks that a Healer is the most crucial part in a party.

More so than the Hero, the Sage, and perhaps… even more than the Holy Knight.

 

Even though we had defeated the Floor Boss and overcome the crisis, I somehow still felt so anxious I couldn’t move… it was as if my feet were stuck in a bottomless swamp.