Chapter 11: Unspoken Bonds and Party Dynamics

“Wait, wait, really a hero candidate? So, are you heading to the Academy right now? Are your companions part of the hero party?”

“First of all, I’m not a hero yet, I’m just a hero candidate.’ And yeah, I’m heading to the Academy, but the party hasn’t been formed yet. It just so happens that I’m traveling with a saintess candidate.”

I said this in a slightly tired voice to the person next to me, who kept matching my pace and asking questions.

The one asking all these questions is a cat beastkin named Sasha.

She passed the Academy entrance exam and apparently doesn’t come from a noble family.

The Empire is home to many different species, with humans being the most populous, followed by beastkin.

Naturally, there are noble beastkin families as well.

Based on how she couldn’t say anything while being discriminated against at the inn, I guessed that Sasha comes from a commoner family.

She’s from a small village far from the lord’s castle, and apparently, that village is home to many cat beastkin.

“There are quite a few bear beastkin like you, Narya!”

“Ku-uhng!”

That seems to be the case.

I didn’t ask specifically about it, though. Sasha, having possibly warmed up to me after I helped her, started talking freely as she followed me.

Since I didn’t want to ignore her, I answered appropriately, which only made her even more excited to keep talking.

…Had people not paid attention to her before?

“Well then.”

Since I wasn’t responding, Chloe kept chiming in, so it wasn’t much of an issue.

“If beastkin with different ear shapes marry, what happens?”

“They inherit one of the parent’s ears! Even if both parents are cat beastkin, if the grandparents are bear beastkin, the grandkids can have bear ears too!”

I see.

My knowledge keeps expanding, even though it doesn’t seem like something that will come up on an exam.

“By the way, then, who’s this saintess candidate? Could she be a nun or something?”

“Oh, ah, yes, well, that’s actually what happened.”

Chloe replied somewhat bashfully to Sasha, who asked with wide eyes.

She seemed a bit embarrassed but also somewhat proud, as she fiddled with her hair with one hand.

“Oooh.”

Sasha’s eyes sparkled.

She suddenly turned toward me again.

“Is there a spot left in your party? I’d work for a lower reward than a human thief, and I’d do a better job than them!”

“Ku-uhng!”

Why does she sound so pitiful over something so small?

It’s making me feel sorry for her.

“I told you, it’s not a party yet…”

In the end, I couldn’t outright reject her, and I let out a big sigh as I answered her like that.

***

So, I ended up bringing two beastkin with me all the way to the Academy.

Actually, there are plenty of adventurer parties with various types of people.

And at the Academy, there are probably even more.

One swordsman, a man with a dagger and a bow.

A slender, agile-looking rogue beastkin, and… a bear-like beastkin in armor.

And a woman in a nun’s habit.

It wasn’t exactly an ideal party, but somehow, a stereotypical adventurer party was formed.

Of course, it wasn’t a party formed by my will at all.

“The opening ceremony is two days from now, so let’s book rooms here at the Academy.”

I said this to my party.

To be honest, it felt a bit awkward to just say, “Okay, let’s each find our own rooms.”

How could I leave Chloe, who’s lived her whole life as a nun and doesn’t really know much about the world, to figure this out on her own?

She had trusted us and followed us all the way here. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure how much money she had on her.

As for Sasha and Narya… if I left them to their own devices, it seemed like they’d get scammed somewhere again.

Though it wasn’t to the extent of being a scam like the 30 silver coins earlier, if I remembered their previous behavior, I could easily imagine them ending up giving me four or five silver coins without realizing it.

“Thank you! Thank you! I’ll never forget this!”

“Ku-uhng!”

We bypassed the line entering the Academy, thanks to me being a hero candidate, and although it wasn’t as luxurious as where we stayed in Cloren, we managed to book rooms at a pretty nice place for a reasonable price.

Sasha and Narya were jumping around happily, thanking me.

…We didn’t even pay for the rooms; they paid with their own money.

Though, if I hadn’t been a hero candidate, they probably wouldn’t have been able to stay, but that’s not because of anything I did—it’s just the world being strange.

“I’m really grateful. Honestly, a part of me always wanted to see the world outside. If it weren’t for you, Hero Candidate, I wouldn’t have had the chance to experience this. I’ll never forget this.”

“…I’m still just a hero candidate, though.”

When I heard Chloe speaking in a prayer-like voice, I couldn’t help but respond in a somewhat subdued tone.

Anyway, we decided to discuss what to do next tomorrow.

For now, we’d go to our separate rooms and rest.

…Sigh.

After closing the door and letting out a big sigh, I turned around and was met with Siwoo’s face.

For a moment, my brain just stopped.

I quickly put my hand on my forehead.

“Ah, it’s happening again.”

“Happening again? What do you mean?”

“I mean, without thinking, we got a room where the two of us are staying together.”

How come they only assigned us two to the same room out of the entire party?

Is the hotel staff clueless?

“Well, whatever. We do have things to talk about.”

Siwoo, who looked a bit awkward, said this with a smile, and I sat down on the bed and took off my shoes.

Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I pointed to the other bed across from me.

“Come sit here.”

“Uh? Yeah.”

For some reason, Siwoo stared at me blankly as I sat on the bed, but he quickly moved to sit on the opposite bed and faced me.

“First… I’m sorry things turned out like this.”

“Huh!?”

When I lowered my head and apologized, Siwoo looked really surprised.

“Why are you apologizing? There’s nothing for you to apologize for…”

“Well, for one, during the goblin hunt. I decided the reward all on my own. Even if it was just that kind of task, one silver coin was too much.”

I let out a long sigh and continued.

“That was just something I impulsively decided. I should’ve at least consulted with you.”

“No, it’s fine. You did a good thing with it.”

“Still, spending my money and using someone else’s money are two different things. At least, for now, I gave one silver coin each since Chloe was there, but I’ll give you your share later with my own money. As for Chloe… well, she’ll probably be able to compensate the village, and at that time, we didn’t have a proper party, so we can just let it go for now.”

“You really don’t have to do all that.”

“Money needs to be managed carefully. The first few times you can let it slide, but if you keep doing it, the hole just gets bigger. It’s important to fill it when you still can, right?”

“We haven’t even created a hole…”

“Anyway, you’re just too kind. This kind of guy is the type to get scammed and end up in big trouble later. As expected of the main character of a ‘Hoppy House’ novel.”

“And the second thing…”

I kept talking.

“I just want to clarify something. You and I, we’re a party, right? At least, I think we are.”

“Of course. It’s been years already.”

Siwoo answered as if asking me to just ask what I needed to, and I smiled a little.

“But you see, right now we’re in danger of having more people join the party.”

“I’m fine with it though.”

“You might think you’re fine with it, but this situation also happened because of my unilateral decision as a party member. If I hadn’t interfered and just kept to my own path, our party wouldn’t have grown like this.”

Only then did Siwoo’s expression turn slightly serious.

“I told you to fill it up with 3-star members, made a list, spent time talking about it, and in the end, it all went wrong because of me. So, it’s my fault. I’m really sorry.”

This was sincere.

“Because of me, the story has already started going off track before even getting to the Academy.”

“No, there’s no need to apologize for something like that.”

Siwoo said this, but I didn’t lift my head.

“People are mistaking me for the party leader because I’m a ‘hero candidate,’ but you know, I know myself pretty well. I’m not that smart, and I’m the weakest among the hero candidates. Sure, I can kill a few goblins with your help, but that’s about it. You’d know better, right? You cut down the ogre with one strike, or created golems as big as dump trucks. I can’t do that.”

The hero characters Siwoo had mentioned were all monsters.

They were so much stronger than me, who appeared as the first hero in the story.

With their 3-star origins, special costumes like swimsuits, Halloween, and Christmas outfits always included, and all those limited versions with absurdly powerful abilities—some even surpassed the 6-star limit before characters like Rira.

In the game, for balance, monsters don’t just fall with one strike.

And if you clear the game with a party composed of characters who don’t follow the story, that’s still considered a win.

But ‘in terms of setting,’ their abilities are extraordinary.

“So, if we formed a party, you’d naturally be the core. You’re the one who can give buffs to those kinds of people and make them much stronger.”

“….You, too, will definitely be able to do things if you learn.”

“Yeah, I think so too. If I keep learning and honing my skills while receiving your buffs, I’ll definitely become more useful. But, like, you know… starting with those who can do things from the beginning might be better than trying to train someone who can only do things after learning.”

“So, if that’s the case…”

I looked around nervously and finally managed to speak up.

This was a sentiment I had been thinking about but hadn’t voiced until now.

“If, by any chance, there’s someone better than me, you can remove me from the party and put them in instead. Well, since you have the ability to do that, the choice is yours anyway.”

In the game, the protagonist isn’t part of the party.

They play a role like a totem, raising the abilities of the party members off-screen.

They’re also like a commander, giving instructions.

It’s not implemented through buffs in the system, but the reason the characters can perform at their level is because of the protagonist, or rather, because of the protagonist’s ‘setting.’

In other words, I’m essentially a behind-the-scenes figure.

And the players are the ones who form the party in the game. I’m not a player; I’m just one of the characters.

I’m not a rare character that comes from a gacha system, either.

When the game starts, I’m a basic 1-star character that’s handed out during the tutorial.

I’m so common that no one even bothers to borrow me as a friend character.

That’s my ‘place.’

“Still, don’t worry.”

I smiled, seeing Siwoo’s face begin to cloud.

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to betray you. Remember this: I’ll never betray you. If there’s something you want to use me for, just use me. No matter what situation you’re in, or what you ask me to do, I’ll put my life on the line and trust you. You can trust that.”

After hearing my words, Siwoo stared at my face for a while.

Then, with a serious expression, he nodded and replied.

“Alright. As much as you trust me, I’ll trust you too.”

Seriously, he’s hopelessly good.