Ch.4343. Is This Bug

A month had passed since the attempted human trafficking incident.

The city, having chewed on the incident thoroughly, discarded it in a corner like a piece of gum that had lost its flavor and went looking for something new to chew on.

In other words, this meant that the time had finally come for Amon to resume his activities.

“Shall we go to the dungeon to hunt some skeletons~”

Amon hummed as he headed to the Adventurer’s Guild after a long time.

Beside him, Kathy swayed her black hair, moving to the rhythm.

Originally, Amon was supposed to gain enough dungeon experience before she joined, but due to a series of misfortunes, two months had already passed.

At this rate, she felt like she might never get to see a dungeon in her lifetime, so she decided to join him.

The two pushed open the door to the Adventurer’s Guild.

The adventurers inside were already familiar with Amon, so they paid him no attention.

Instead, they showed interest in Kathy who followed him.

However, the interest directed at her was somewhat different from what Amon had received.

While Amon wore a helmet during his adventuring activities, drawing more attention to his equipment than his appearance, Kathy did not.

The men’s gazes first went to her firm breasts.

Following her steps, their eyes moved from her swaying chest down to her slender waist, revealing her healthy, wide hips.

After finishing their appreciation of her sturdy thighs that matched her large pelvis, they finally took interest in her face.

Their gazes fixed on the black-haired, red-eyed beauty.

“Oh.”

Someone let out an exclamation.

There was no need to ask why.

She was aware of the gazes directed at her.

But she didn’t mind much.

It was a familiar feeling from the mercenary agency anyway.

There was no reason to feel intimidated.

She followed behind Amon, confidently heading to the reception desk.

Upon reaching the reception, Amon immediately began looking for a party that could include Kathy.

“I’d like to request party matching… huh?”

Amon had to stop mid-sentence as he was about to request matching as usual.

The receptionist’s face was familiar.

Wondering if he was mistaken, Amon tilted his head to check her nameplate.

Reina.

She was the elven mage who had acted as the queen bee in the F-rank party before.

Why was she working as a receptionist here?

As if reading his thoughts from his expression, the elf smiled bitterly and said,

“So you’re still alive.”

“You too.”

“Wondering why I’m here?”

“Yeah.”

“I quit being a mercenary.”

“…Why?”

“Because of Paul.”

“Ah…”

With that short word, Amon understood most of the situation.

In this city, the Paul incident was merely entertainment gossip, but not for those who were directly involved in that party.

The fact that such a human trafficker was in her party could easily cause PTSD.

Moreover, the shock was doubled when news came that party leader Humps and his younger brother had already been completely ruined.

Someone with a clear dream like Amon might not be shaken by such a shock, but those who worked as mercenaries just to make a living couldn’t endure it.

“I thought about it, and no matter how I looked at it, I just didn’t seem suited for mercenary work.”

So she quit being a mercenary.

Fortunately, she had an aptitude for being a receptionist.

With her decent looks and the ability to charm men in parties, becoming a receptionist wasn’t difficult.

As a result, she had been sitting at the reception desk every day since two weeks before Amon returned to the Adventurer’s Guild.

After hearing her circumstances, Amon naturally became curious about the other party members.

“What about Ktal? Kter? That guy?”

“Kaythal.”

“Ah, right, him.”

He was the orc who served as the tank in the F-rank party.

A useless tank who jumped into enemy lines without protecting the rear.

Instead of answering, the elven mage pointed to a corner of the tavern.

The orc was busy assisting the chef.

“That’s unexpected.”

Amon thought he wouldn’t even be affected by the incident and would continue talking about men, but surprisingly, he had retired cleanly.

“Despite what he said, he was actually quite sensitive.”

The elven mage nodded in agreement.

As she did so, she subtly showed Amon the ring finger on her left hand.

The orc tank in the kitchen was wearing the same ring.

“Oh, right. Congratulations.”

Erasing a doujinshi scene that naturally came to mind, Amon sincerely congratulated her.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief at the news of the elven mage and orc tank.

‘At least they didn’t die.’

It was true that they were F-rank, and it was true that they were frustratingly incompetent to the point of wanting to kill them, but that didn’t mean they deserved to die.

Humps and his brother were unfortunate, but it was good that at least these two were safe.

After sincerely congratulating the elven mage on her new life, Amon finally got to the main point.

“Others are probably waiting, so let’s end the conversation here.”

“Oh, right. You need party matching? Together with the lady behind you?”

“You caught on quick.”

“I can tell at a glance. You’re obviously a frontline attacker… what about the position of the lady behind you?”

The elven mage… no, now the elven receptionist Reina tilted her head and made eye contact with Kathy.

Kathy took out the spear she was carrying on her back and said,

“Frontline attacker. Spear user.”

“Ah…”

The elven receptionist made a sour face after hearing Kathy’s words.

“I think matching might be more difficult than expected.”

Amon, who overheard the elven receptionist’s words, asked,

“Why?”

“Because there are two frontline attackers. I wonder if there’s a party that would accept that.”

“Is there a problem? Is there a reason why we can’t have two frontline positions?”

“It’s not absolutely forbidden. It’s just a matter of efficiency.”

The ideal formation for the dungeons Amon was heading to was: tank, warrior, rifle shooter, machine gunner, and mage.

These five positions.

As long as they had these five positions, the number of people didn’t matter much.

The problem was distribution.

If what should be distributed among 5 people becomes 6, each person’s share would inevitably decrease.

So typically, it was common to bring only one person for each position.

“Parties that go to the deepest parts of dungeons sometimes bring multiple people for the same position as needed, but you’re just going to the entrance anyway, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Entrance parties are sensitive about distribution. Probably not many will accept you.”

Amon fell into contemplation at this unexpected predicament.

“What should we do…”

A few options came to mind.

He and Kathy could share one person’s share.

But they couldn’t keep doing that forever, so that was rejected.

The most realistic method was to pretend Amon was the tank and she was the attacker.

But this method also had problems.

‘It’s too unstable.’

Reality is not a game.

Filling a tank position with a warrior makes it too aggressive, almost like a glass cannon.

It would be like walking a tightrope with your life at stake.

Therefore, Amon was a bit reluctant to use this method.

In this situation, the elven receptionist suggested a new alternative.

“Then how about forming a party with others who can’t find parties like you? Most of them are people who’ve been rejected, so they’ll accept even if there are 6 people.”

Amon’s expression wrinkled upon hearing those words.

It was the same suggestion the receptionist he met last time had made.

At that time, he had refused because he thought they would all be problematic people who had been rejected by parties.

But his expression soon relaxed.

‘Come to think of it, that’s how I ended up in the F-rank party anyway.’

Thinking about it, there was no guarantee that finding a party through normal means wouldn’t lead to another F-rank situation.

‘Besides, assuming everyone who gets rejected has problems is just conjecture.’

He himself was a specimen who had been rejected despite being normal.

Perhaps the people who couldn’t find parties were actually decent people.

Amon made his decision immediately.

“Then let’s do that.”

After all, Amon had already experienced the worst F-rank party.

It didn’t seem like he would face an even worse situation than that.

The elven receptionist nodded and began forming a party.

Eventually, a 6-person party was completed.

One tank, one rifle shooter, one machine gunner, one mage.

And two warriors, Amon and Kathy, making it a very aggressive party.

The members introduced themselves.

“I’m Torso. As you can see, I’m a buffalo beastkin.”

[Seems like we’re supposed to mention our race too? I’m a regular human, Vans. These are the enhancements I’ve received.]

“Vox! Ogre! Sorry for strange speech! Good with machine gun!”

“Hen. Human like Vans. I can do both attack and support magic.”

The introductions ended smoothly.

After Amon and Kathy introduced themselves, it was time to select a party leader.

“Now, let’s decide on a party leader…”

Before Amon could finish speaking, everyone’s gazes fixed on him.

It was unanimous except for Amon himself.

There was no need for a vote; he became the party leader.

With introductions complete, it was time to head to the dungeon.

‘This is too smooth.’

Amon’s extensive experience told him.

Usually, this world seems to flow smoothly like this, then suddenly hits you hard from behind.

Whether there’s a problem with the party itself, or problems arise later, or external issues occur.

It felt like something was bound to happen.

Moreover…

– ‘Surely it can’t be worse than the F-rank party.’

He had raised quite a flag with that thought.

Realizing this, Amon’s vigilance rose to its maximum.

From the moment he headed to the dungeon entrance with the party, he heightened his tension.

He anticipated every possible situation that could occur during this exploration.

Would someone backstab him like Paul this time, or would Scavengers appear?

Maybe they’d be teleported by a trap at the dungeon entrance, or encounter an ultra-rare roaming mid-boss that had never been discovered before.

Ninjas could appear and wipe them out.

The possibilities were endless.

Amon explored the dungeon while preparing for all these situations.

Even when they encountered the first group of monsters,

Even when they defeated monsters with excellent coordination despite meeting for the first time,

Even when they continued to repel subsequent monsters without issue, Amon kept doubting.

His suspicion continued until the end of the exploration.

During that time, Kathy made a suggestion.

“We worked well together today, so why don’t we just form a permanent party?”

Everyone agreed with her suggestion.

While Amon agreed with Kathy’s words, he continued to doubt.

He remained suspicious even as the party distributed the day’s earnings, on the way home, and until he opened his front door.

His suspicion continued until he woke up the next day.

But even after waking up, nothing happened.

Nothing happened even after sending Sonia to school.

Only then did Amon mutter alone in the empty house,

“What the heck. Why did I get lucky!?”

Surprisingly, his party this time was a winner.