Ch.201200. I’ll Get By Somehow

# 200. They’ll Find Something to Do

The party organized by Crown Princess Elizabeth Mikael.

The party members who had become a topic of conversation both online and in real life.

They must all be focused on their own responsibilities in their respective positions now.

“I wonder what everyone is doing?”

That must certainly be the case.

And even without me by their side, they’ll move forward on their own now.

But separate from that, I was curious.

Fundamental questions bubbled up in my mind—what they might be doing now, if they were eating well, if they were sleeping properly.

“I wonder if they’re clearing dungeons with the party members right now?”

***

Reina was resting while receiving treatment from priests after a major battle had ended.

She exhaled roughly, clearly exhausted.

But when she saw her phone suddenly ring, she smiled brightly, forgetting her fatigue.

The female priest in her party found this reaction interesting.

“Reina! What are you looking at!?”

After all, this had never happened even once before.

For Reina to make such an expression… this was definitely something that couldn’t be ignored.

“Ah… it’s nothing, really.”

Reina hurriedly put her phone away.

That behavior was enough to turn suspicion into certainty.

“Could it be! A crush? A boyfriend?”

“It’s… it’s not like that…”

“Yeah right!! It’s written all over your face.”

“It’s really not…”

Even as she denied it, Reina was secretly pleased.

Those who had only ever seen Reina as an ice-cold woman since she joined the party were now curious about who could make her blush like this for the first time.

“Who could it be? For Reina-chan to react like that…”

“Do you have to use that way of speaking? And why does it matter to you?”

“Of course it matters…!!”

“First of all, it’s definitely not you, so give up. Besides, a pretty girl like her would never date someone like you.”

“Ah… H-How could you say that…”

It was certainly a strange party.

But for Reina, it was her first party since entering society, so it held deep meaning.

And despite their foolish conversations, they were secretly quite capable as a party.

‘I wonder if Albert knows?’

He might.

That’s why she wanted to ask him.

If he knew about this party she belonged to, how one should behave in a party, what an assassin should do within a party, and… how he’s been doing lately.

She was curious about all of it.

But she didn’t ask.

“How could I have changed… I can’t do that.”

“Changed? What?”

“My heart, my heart.”

Reina looked utterly pitiful.

She resembled a dog that had lost its owner.

A dog that had lost its owner and accepted that fact—that’s exactly how she looked.

“I have to do this alone now. I’ve received so much already.”

Reina said this as she stood up.

Then, looking at the monsters appearing from the center of the dungeon, she activated [Stealth].

“I’ll take the lead.”

***

The White Knights and the Black Knights.

The two orders had always considered each other rivals.

That remains true now and will continue to be so in the future.

It’s a good thing.

There are few things more helpful for growth than having a rival of similar caliber.

And an event that maximized this sense of rivalry.

Today was the day that event was taking place.

“Seriously… I don’t know why they paired us with mere priests for training.”

“It’s no fun going against a premature ejaculator, right?”

“What did you just say? Premature?”

“It’s just a figure of speech, you know.”

Reicle bristled at the word “premature,” while Chris waved his hands dismissively as if it were just a joke.

Despite meeting after a very long time, they were dying to tear each other apart.

“But joint training? What kind of training could we possibly get with guys like you?”

“That’s my line, you know?”

“Why are you the squad leader? I can understand in my case since I have the skills, but you… you don’t seem qualified. Maybe the newly appointed commander has skills but lacks judgment.”

“Hey! Then on your side too…”

Reicle stopped speaking there.

Chris asked with a smirk at his speechlessness.

“Your side too? What? So what about our side?”

“Your commander is a great person… yeah… But isn’t he trusting his son too much?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

With those words, Chris’s squad assumed battle positions.

After confirming the formation was in place, Chris ordered his subordinates.

“Beat them to a pulp, just short of killing them.”

***

The southwestern border of the Kainis Empire.

That place, closest to the Babylon Empire, was never peaceful due to the monsters continuously sent by the enemy nation.

“Ah… really… Why do they keep sending monsters when they don’t even have the courage to invade? It’s so annoying.”

“It only costs them magic power, and they have more than enough of that, so that’s probably why.”

“I told you not to use formal speech?”

Luna, who disliked formal speech for some reason.

Rachel asked her:

“Why do you dislike it so much?”

“Well… it makes me sound like an old person.”

“But you are.”

“Hey…!! I’m not… old! I’m actually quite young in our country! Extremely!”

“In our country, you’d be at the age of passing away.”

Luna hung her head, seemingly hurt by those words.

Rachel looked at her with a satisfied smile.

“You’re really cute, not very grandmotherly at all.”

“Grandmother is… a bit much.”

“Well, that’s true. I’m just joking. More importantly, behind you.”

A massive orc targeting Luna’s back.

Rachel aimed her magic-filled staff at the orc.

-Whoosh!!-

Flames shot from the staff, skillfully avoiding Luna and striking the orc.

The orc melted spectacularly.

Rachel looked at the orc and said:

“Be more careful, you could die like that.”

“I knew it was there, you know?”

“Ah… I’m sure you did.”

-Ding!!-

At that moment, both of their phones rang simultaneously.

Startled by the sudden alert, they stared at each other.

“Now? At this timing?”

“And both of us?”

“Then…”

“It must be the party group chat.”

And as expected, the alert was indeed from the party group chat.

“It really is.”

“But so suddenly? This is really out of nowhere, that guy…”

“Yeah…”

The atmosphere suddenly turned serious with Albert’s message.

People will be people, so it couldn’t be helped.

“You liked him too.”

“So what?”

“How do you feel now?”

“I’ve given up now, since there’s no choice.”

They had “seduced” Albert multiple times in the two years since she left the academy.

Yet he never gave in, no matter what.

“But is that even possible? Is he impotent?”

“From what I heard from our Crown Princess, he’s definitely not.”

“What exactly did you hear…”

“Anyway! Have you really given up?”

“Yes, I don’t even think about it anymore. Really…”

Judging by her tone alone, it seemed genuine.

But that final “really” made it less convincing.

Rachel, who seemed to still have some lingering feelings, turned the question around.

“What about you, unni? Have you given up?”

“Well…”

“And you still haven’t given up… You’re not in your right mind.”

“I never said I haven’t given up!?”

Fortunately, Luna also seemed to have sorted out her feelings to some extent.

“That’s good. I was going to lecture you otherwise.”

“Really…?”

“Yes, that time has passed, hasn’t it?”

“That’s certainly true… But do we really have to participate too?”

“Of course it’s real. Would he lie about something like that?”

Rachel seemed relatively relaxed, perhaps due to her previous experiences, but Luna was not at all.

Rachel tried to ease Luna’s tension.

“Are you scared?”

“Of course I’m scared! This is serious…”

“Don’t be so tense. It’s not that different from what we’re doing now.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and he’ll tell us what we need to do anyway. Just do that well.”

War shouldn’t be taken lightly, but there was no need to be too frightened either.

That wouldn’t help anything.

By the way…

“Ellie unni came back, so they must be together now, right?”

“Ellie unni? Oh, well… I guess so.”

“Are you annoyed?”

Rachel asked with a rather irritated expression.

“Why would I be annoyed? He’s not my man anyway…”

“You should have realized that earlier.”

“You’re one to talk…”

***

“These guys are hopeless.”

There were some I hadn’t seen, but even those I had seen weren’t really responding.

Seeing them even leave me on read, they’d clearly grown up a lot.

“They didn’t need to grow up in that way…”

“What’s wrong?”

“These people, they’re hopeless.”

“Did you do something wrong?”

I shook my head.

But if not contacting them until now was considered wrong, I had nothing to say.

“Does not contacting them count as wrong?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“It’s ambiguous…”

“But people like them must be doing something with their lives.”

Doing something with their lives…

That was right.

After being trained by me, there’s no way they wouldn’t be doing anything.

They must be doing something.

‘Even if they have nothing else, they’d at least be working part-time jobs.’

Of course, that was just a figure of speech—I didn’t actually want that for them.

They weren’t just third-rate party members available for day jobs.

They must be working hard now, just as they always had been.

I told her with a confident voice:

“That’s right, they’ll find something to do.”