Ch.6Party Formation

By the time I finished all my scheduled activities, from shopping to gun maintenance, and arrived at the lodging Jessica had recommended, the sun was already setting. I had been walking around for about four hours since meeting Jessica, but I didn’t feel particularly tired. Was this thanks to the vitality of a 20-year-old body, or had my physical abilities improved since crossing over to Grantis?

‘Knock knock’

“Will, it’s Jessica. Can I come in for a moment?”

“Ah, come in.”

The door opened, and Jessica entered the room carrying a small tray with two steaming cups.

“It’s herbal tea that comes as a daily complimentary service from the inn.”

“Thanks. I was just getting a bit thirsty.”

I sat down at the table across from Jessica and took a sip of the herbal tea. It wasn’t too hot, just the right temperature, and neither the aroma nor the flavor was too strong, making it easy to drink like barley tea or chamomile.

“I wanted to chat a bit before we go down for dinner.”

“About what?”

“Well… you’re officially starting your adventurer life tomorrow, right? Do you have any goals in mind?”

“Goals, huh…”

Becoming the world’s strongest gunman with cheat abilities, defeating countless monsters, and living a harem life with beautiful women? Hahaha.

Jokes aside, what I need first is knowledge and experience to survive as an adventurer. The protagonists in isekai stories usually start with simple money-making tasks like gathering herbs or hunting low-level monsters like horned rabbits, but I don’t even know how to find such work right now.

“First, I need to learn how to earn money and gain experience as an adventurer. I’ll also need to assess my own capabilities.”

“And after you get used to that?”

“Well? I’m not sure about long-term goals yet. For now, as I mentioned earlier, I’ll travel around and learn about the world of Grantis. I’m sure I’ll find something interesting or a greater purpose along the way.”

“I see. Um… if you don’t mind, how about forming a party with me and traveling together?”

“Huh? Me with Jessica?”

“Oh… is that not possible?”

Caught off guard by this unexpected proposal, I wasn’t sure how to respond.

It’s obvious that traveling with an experienced and trustworthy companion would be much safer and more advantageous than diving headfirst into a world I know nothing about. If Jessica were a novice adventurer like me, I would have accepted her offer without hesitation.

“You mean you’ll continue looking after me as a senior adventurer even after tomorrow? I appreciate your kindness, but I don’t want to impose that much…”

The issue lies in the difference between Jessica’s and my capabilities as adventurers. It would be suicidal for a complete novice like me to try keeping up with Jessica’s adventures, and having her pause her own journey to become my protector and personal tutor would be nothing but a waste of her time.

I’m reluctant to waste the life of someone who saved mine and helped me prepare to stand on my own as an adventurer. However, Jessica seems to have misinterpreted my refusal.

“I-I’m sorry! That’s not what I meant! I didn’t mean to look down on you or make you angry!”

“Huh? Why would I be angry about that?”

“Um… I thought your pride was hurt because I treated you like a charity case?”

“Not at all. How could a complete novice who just got his ID card have any pride to maintain in front of a D-rank adventurer? It’s just that…”

“Just that?”

“Jessica must have her own adventure, right? Before meeting me, you were probably traveling in a way that matched your D-rank skills.”

When I was in mortal danger from the carnivorous deer at the logging camp, Jessica, who happened to be passing by, saved my life and then unhesitatingly chose to escort me to Mothertown and help me with registration and travel preparations. She spent a full day and considerable effort on me, someone she had never met before.

“You’ve already helped me more than enough with just today. I don’t want to burden you further by making you unable to continue your own journey because you’re busy cleaning up after me.”

“…Hehe, you’re a kind person. But I didn’t suggest it with the intention of protecting you.”

“What do you mean?”

“As an adventurer and mage, I want to welcome William J. Kim, Grantis’s finest gunman, as my teammate.”

“…What?”

Who’s the finest gunman in Grantis?

No, no, no, that’s an exaggeration, Miss Jessica Walter. All I’ve shot in this world is the target behind the gun shop! Have I somehow skipped all the intermediate steps and arrived at the result of being Grantis’s finest gunman?

“To be honest, until we went to the Pioneer Bureau to register your identity and buy travel supplies, I did think of you as just a foreigner I happened to protect, a rookie adventurer I hoped would do well. But the moment I saw your gun skills at the firearms shop, those thoughts completely vanished.”

“You mean the quick draw…”

“I was shocked as if struck by lightning. In my two years of traveling, I’ve never seen or heard of a gunman capable of such a feat. So before you team up with other adventurers, I want you as my partner.”

That’s quite an overestimation. While I do have some confidence in my shooting skills, are they really impressive enough to earn such high praise from a D-rank adventurer? Unless I met some divine being when reincarnating who bestowed cheat abilities on me, I don’t have any particular reason to be confident in my capabilities right now.

“Besides, being a D-rank adventurer isn’t that big of a difference when you think about it. Mages who graduate from the academy are automatically issued E-rank licenses, so I’ve only climbed one step from the starting point. More importantly, Frontier License ranks aren’t indicators of skill as an adventurer.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“You heard the explanation at the Pioneer Bureau, right? As you contribute to the western pioneering effort, your evaluation as a pioneer accumulates, and when it reaches certain thresholds, your license rank increases. This applies whether you’re a gunman, mage, miner, businessman, scholar, or whatever else.”

That was a blind spot for me. In the isekai novels and comics I used to read, adventurer skills were classified by alphabets or colors, and top-ranked adventurers were heroes powerful enough to defeat demon lords and save the world from crisis.

But Grantis’s Frontier License is merely a token of merit, and the ways to accumulate merit aren’t limited to combat or exploration. Just as ‘pioneer’ and ‘adventurer’ aren’t synonymous, the Frontier License rank doesn’t grade combat ability or adventurer skill.

“Hmm… well, that aside, if you’re inviting me to be your teammate, shouldn’t you tell me the most important thing?”

“The most important thing?”

“What’s the purpose of Jessica’s adventure? What are you traveling for?”

That’s right. Even if, for argument’s sake, my current skills are sufficient to trust each other’s backs, and even if our teamwork and synergy could lead us to continuous victories and great success as adventurers, the most important thing is whether we can empathize with each other’s values as teammates.

I don’t think this would be the case, but if, for example, Jessica’s ideal form of adventure was to drive out the natives of Grantis and claim their vast lands and resources exclusively for the pioneers to achieve complete western conquest, I wouldn’t want to join that journey.

“The purpose of my journey is to search for ancient magical documents. The foundation of magic currently used by humans is based on the accumulated research of scholars studying materials left behind by a great sage from long ago called ‘Deidric Asmad.’ I want to follow his footsteps and interpret the sage’s theories that form the basis of modern magic.”

“Ooh… that sounds like a proper mage’s quest.”

“However, the places where the sage’s legacy might be found—ruins and dungeons across the land—are often too challenging for a mage to tackle alone… so embarrassingly, I haven’t achieved any significant results yet.”

“Couldn’t you recruit companions or hire guards?”

“I tried that approach a few times at first, but since many of my explorations don’t yield much profit, eventually…”

I see, so that’s the story.

Jessica’s interest lies in the magical legacy left by the ancient sage, particularly in its academic value rather than practical benefits.

Of course, chasing ancient mysteries and traveling to various places as an adventurer would sometimes lead to finding treasures or magical items. The issue is that Jessica Walter as an employer tends to engage in ‘unprofitable activities.’

Between an employer focused on opportunities for striking it rich and one who also pursues unprofitable ventures, it’s obvious which choice would be more rational if the risks are the same. But that’s only if we’re talking purely about rationality.

“Alright. Let me join you on that journey to unravel ancient mysteries.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“You’re the one who invited me to be your teammate first, right?”

“That’s true, but… I thought after hearing everything, you wouldn’t want to travel with me…”

“No, I actually like it. I’ve been reassured that the difference in our abilities isn’t more than I can handle, and most importantly, I think what Jessica is doing is true ‘adventure.'”

If the dream of adventurers participating in the western pioneering effort is to ‘strike it rich,’ then Jessica’s journey is clearly taking the long way around.

While others rush to acquire treasures and magical items, gaining enormous wealth, fame, and the visible glory of Frontier License ranks, we might not even be present at those moments, possibly struggling to find academically valuable but unprofitable mysterious documents.

But an adventure aimed at ‘striking it rich’ is, strictly speaking, ‘treasure hunting’—focusing on what results can be obtained at the end of the adventure process. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, considering the historical background of the western pioneering era, the tangible glory beckoning from the unknown is the essence of the American—no, the Grantis Dream.

However, Jessica’s journey doesn’t necessarily turn away from wealth and fame either. Rather, it’s an adventure that pays attention to things beyond wealth and fame as well. As someone who knows nothing about Grantis, I feel that such a ’roundabout journey’ might suit me better.

“Will…”

“Well, now that that’s decided, shall we go down for dinner? With all the rushing around today, I completely forgot that I haven’t even had lunch.”

“Oh, really? If I had known, I would have shared some jerky before we left the logging camp.”

“Well, we’ll have plenty of that starting tomorrow, right? Today, let’s fully enjoy a delicious meal that we can only get in a big city.”

“Alright. I know all the recommended dishes at this inn, so leave it to me!”

And so, my isekai western adventure began its first steps with Jessica Walter as a reliable companion.