Volume 2 Chapter 4 A Suitable Match
The day after the promotion exam.
Now that I'm officially a Rank 4 adventurer, I didn't head out on an adventure but stayed home instead.
And, as usual, I was waiting for customers as a Nurturer.
"...No one's coming."
As expected, I couldn't feel the divine blessing of my promotion the very next day, and the Nurturer was still quiet as ever.
I guess just moving up to Rank 4 isn't much of a selling point.
Even though I got the top score on the exam, it doesn't really mean anything special.
Well, there was something, but it was just a bit of recruitment chatter after the exam.
What should I do, I wondered, resting my chin on my hand at the desk when suddenly a voice came from beside me.
"'No one's coming,' but I'm right here, aren't I?"
"Well, that's not what I meant..."
Rose, who was sitting down and modestly sipping her tea, tilted her head in confusion.
Sure, Rose had come over around midday, but what I was hoping for was visitors as a Nurturer.
I mean, I'm happy that Rose is here, and it's nice to pass the time chatting, but lately, this place has just turned into a spot for tea with Rose or Cosmos.
The time spent with the two of them is peaceful, and I personally really like it, but I still can't earn anything if customers don't come.
When I expressed this, Rose made a thoughtful face.
"I've been promoting Mr. Nurturer in various places, but it seems my voice alone can't move a crowd."
"What kind of promotion are you doing, exactly?"
"After finishing requests in Pailight town, I often get asked to join parties, so while I'm declining, I promote Mr. Nurturer. Like the other day with Mr. Roezé, I said something like, 'I'm currently helping Mr. Nurturer in Hyamars town, so I can't join the party'."
"Wow, really..."
It seems she's been promoting me in a way that's not too obvious but still leaves an impression.
Before, I mentioned that I didn't want to promote things too loudly, so I guess that's why we settled on this kind of advertising.
This way, we won't attract weird attention, and it naturally lets people who are struggling with their adventurer activities know about Nurturer.
As I came to that conclusion, a question popped into my mind.
"By the way, I've been wondering for a while..."
"Yes?"
"Why doesn't Rose try to team up with anyone?"
"Huh...? Um, that's..."
Rose no longer has the weak image from her 'Apprentice Warrior' days.
She has solid skills that come with her extraordinary potential.
So, even though adventurers must be inviting her to join parties because of her abilities, why hasn't Rose joined any party yet?.
"Compared to when you were an 'Apprentice Warrior,' you're now super active as a 'Valkyrie,' and you must be getting offers from all sorts of parties, right? If you teamed up, you'd have a wider range of requests you could take on, and with how popular you are now, you should be able to find someone you click with pretty easily."
"..."
At that question, Rose looked away with a complicated expression.
I wondered if I had asked something I shouldn't have, but she answered hesitantly.
"Um, well, if I form a party now, it would make it harder to pay back the curse-breaking fee that Mr. Roezé covered for me, so I thought I'd stay solo at least until I finish repaying that..."
"Oh, I see."
That definitely is a huge obstacle to forming a party.
To put it bluntly, it's like having a "massive debt," and teaming up with someone while carrying that burden would lead to all sorts of inconveniences.
Activities in a party require a certain amount of money, and sometimes the expenses can even increase compared to being solo.
For Rose, who wants to pay me back as soon as possible, that must be something she doesn't want at all.
I don't really need a quick response, so I want her to enjoy her adventurer activities as she pleases.
"Plus, if we form a party, it'll inevitably limit where we can go and tie us down to a certain amount of time. I feel like I won't be able to do what I want to do..."
"Speaking of which, Rose said she wants to be active in the town of Hyamars for a while. If she joins some party, we'll have to change our base of operations. And it'll be harder to meet the people we got to know in this town..."
"Exactly! That's so true!"
Rose nodded enthusiastically, almost in shock.
She seemed to react strongly to the part about it being hard to meet the people we know.
It really would be a problem if it became difficult to return to the town of Hyamars.
It's super lonely to think that, after meeting so many people in this town, I might not be able to see them anymore.
"Well, in your case, your skills are way above those of other adventurers, so that could be a problem when forming a party."
"Huh, is that so?"
"If you're the only one who's super strong, it'll put a lot of pressure on you, and I'm worried that the other party members will end up relying too much on you. If there comes a time when they get separated from you, Rose, and they've been relying on you to take down monsters..."
"The party could fall apart because I'm not there..."
"To put it bluntly, that could happen."
If they rely too much on Rose, they might lose track of their own abilities.
To put it simply, I'm worried that they might think they've gotten stronger when they really haven't.
If they don't have a clear understanding of their own skills, they could end up in trouble when it really counts.
Plus, I'm just worried that if Rose keeps taking down monsters by herself, the other members won't "grow." Honestly, that's probably the most likely scenario.
"That's why I think it's better for Rose to team up with someone whose skill level is as close as possible. For both of your sakes, you know? ...But then again, I probably don't think there are many people like that, and especially not among adventurers of the same rank."
"Someone with a similar skill level, huh..."
If she happens to find such a person, I think it would be best to form a party with them at that time.
There's no need to force herself to look for someone right now.
Well, I did bring this up, so it's a bit awkward to end up with this conclusion.
"Oh, um, I also had something I wanted to ask Mr. Roezé..."
"Hm?"
Just when I thought the party talk was over, Rose started asking me something.
"Recently, you seem to be getting along quite well, don't you?"
"Huh, getting along? Who's with who?"
"...Mr. Roezé and Ms. Cosmos."
I was wondering what she was going to ask, and unexpectedly, it was about Cosmos.
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