I Was the Scout for the Hero’s Party

My father was a hunter.
My strong and proud father, who was responsible for providing meat in an ordinary, common rural village that could be found anywhere.

Very occasionally, when he allowed me to accompany him on hunts, my heart would race whenever I saw my father shooting his bow magnificently as we excitedly entered the forest.

‘I want to try shooting too!’

Whenever he saw me like that, my father would hand over his bow willingly with a pleased smile.

Being still young, how difficult it was to pull the bowstring with arms that hadn’t yet developed proper muscles.

When I’d return home with trembling arms, my mother would show a warm smile and prepare a delicious dinner.

Always, when it was time to sleep after dinner, my father would reminisce about his adventurer days before becoming a hunter, and tell me stories about exploration and adventure as I lay unable to sleep due to muscle pain from trying to pull his bow, which was difficult even to draw.

Saving companions and going on adventures together.
Exploring dungeons, avoiding traps, and sometimes facing moments that required difficult choices.

But always, it ended with drinking with old companions, celebrating the achievements of the day—that kind of life.

As a child, I nurtured dreams of becoming an adventurer while listening to such stories, and at the age of 15, I told my father and mother that I wanted to become an adventurer.

My mother was very worried about me, but after hearing my words, my father pondered silently for a while, then calmly gave me permission to become an adventurer.

Wearing the leather armor my father had used during his adventurer days and a short bow custom-made to suit me, I set off for Quiln, the major city nearby.

With boiling exploration desire and uncontrollable adventurous spirit, I couldn’t calm my racing heart as I stepped into the Adventurer’s Guild.

However, reality was very different from the adventure stories my father had told me.

No one wanted to form a party with me.
It was only natural. Who would want to form a party with a young kid with no achievements?

I tried to seek guidance from other hunter uncles or scouts, but as luck would have it, the lord of this city had taken them all away, so I could only kill time endlessly in the guild where flies buzzed.

“Hey, do you have a moment?”

It was when I was blankly staring at the request board in the guild as usual.

At the presence of someone addressing me, I turned my head to look at the owner of the voice.

A pretty older girl with shiny black hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a brilliantly shining beautiful sword at her waist, approached me.

“Y-Yes…?!”

“Sorry to ask suddenly, but what’s your position?”

“Um… I’m… a hunter….”

Hearing my answer, the girl looked around, stared at the few people remaining in the guild for a while, then sighed.

“Haah… honestly, you look too young… Do you have a party you belong to?”

“N-No! I don’t really belong to any party…”

“Hmm… If you’re a hunter, you must have some scouting skills, right?”

The moment I heard her question, my instinct started shouting that this was an opportunity.

This is a chance. If I don’t grab it now, I’ll never grow.

“Y-Yes! Since my father is a hunter… I know sc-scouting very well!”

In the end, I told a lie.

Hearing my answer, the pretty older girl alternately looked at my face and the bow on my shoulder for a while, then raised her head and extended her hand to me.

“I’m Hero Yoo-jung. Would you like to join our party?”

“….Uh… what..?”

“You just said yes, right? No taking it back?”

“Ah… Yes! Please take care of me!”

When I answered in a daze, the girl who introduced herself as the hero showed a slight smile and began guiding me to their lodgings.

…This seems bigger than I expected.
This isn’t what I meant…?

“Ah, I’m so bored. Damn it….”

Having chosen to lock myself in my room for two weeks to avoid encountering the hero and her minions, becoming essentially a canned good, I was floundering in extreme boredom after just one day.

The hero’s party would probably return to the forest soon to confront the Puppet Argyle, the Demon King’s 7th Legion Commander in Merden Forest, but I, having left the hero’s party, had become no different from an unemployed idler without a particular life goal.

In the end, just one day after deciding to become a canned good, I was preparing to go out, putting on my equipment.

“…How can you not even last a day. So impatient.”

Self-deprecating my impatient, hasty temperament, I finished putting on all my equipment and walked straight to Lady Alexis’s door.

-Knock Knock

After knocking on the door with my fist, I eventually sensed movement from inside.

Perhaps because it was a rather expensive inn, the well-oiled hinges made no noise as the door slid open smoothly.

“Sir Austin… no, Austin..? What’s the matter?”

“Being locked up in my room makes me feel restless. I’m thinking of going out for a while, and if you’d like to join me…”

Hearing my words, Lady Alexis looked into my eyes for a moment, then nodded and asked me to wait a moment before going back into her room.

After about 5 minutes, Lady Alexis came out, equipped like me, with a sword at her waist.

“Shall we go, then.”

“Yes! Do you have any particular place you’d like to visit?”

At Lady Alexis’s question, I fell into deep thought.

Visiting the magic tower again would be a choice that wasted steps and time.

As for going to the Mercenary Guild, it was somewhat awkward for me since I didn’t have many connections in the mercenary world, and the Bounty Hunter Guild wasn’t a place suitable for Lady Alexis.

…Where should we go?

Has my range of activity always been this narrow?

After pondering for a moment while stroking my chin, I finally raised my head and opened my mouth.

“How about visiting the Adventurer’s Guild?”

There should be something to kill time with at the Adventurer’s Guild.

Lady Alexis nodded at my suggestion, and we immediately began moving toward the Adventurer’s Guild.

After walking for about 10 minutes, Lady Alexis and I stood in front of the Adventurer’s Guild door.

I didn’t have many connections at the Adventurer’s Guild either… but it was less awkward than the Mercenary Guild or Bounty Hunter Guild.

-Creeeeak

Lost in these thoughts, I pushed the door, and unlike the upscale inn where we were staying, the old hinges, not properly oiled, opened slowly with a sound that carried traces of time.

“…..”

As I had expected, the Adventurer’s Guild was also nearly empty, with only flies buzzing around, as the lord of Quiln had scraped up all the adventurers.

Watching the receptionist at the counter yawning wide enough to split her lips while resting her chin on her hand, we walked toward the request board.

In a situation where the lord of Quiln had taken almost all the adventurers, wouldn’t it be good for everyone if we solved requests that were just sitting there unprocessed, killed time, and earned money?

Having reached the board, I narrowed my eyes and began looking for decent work.

-Looking for someone to collect Red Spotted Mushrooms in Merden Forest! Will buy at 150 silver per piece! (No haggling)

-A Nökkr appeared in our village well! Will pay 1300 silver to whoever exterminates it! (Underwater breathing potion required, no exchange to gold coins)

-Looking for someone to eliminate two Living Armors occupying the path at the edge of Merden Forest. It is estimated that at least two vanguards with shields will be needed….

“Tsk.”

What a predicament. Most of the remaining quests are fairly difficult ones.

Red Spotted Mushrooms are poisonous mushrooms that induce vomiting just by touching them. They’re also as big as a person, and if you inhale the spores they constantly emit, your body will be paralyzed, making you helpless prey for monsters.

However, they’re used in making poison resistance potions and throwable paralysis potions, so there’s considerable demand. As a result, every year, not a few novice adventurers die young while trying to collect Red Spotted Mushrooms.

Nökkr is… no, damn it, who’s the idiot who posted a quest to exterminate a draconic creature like Nökkr for just 1300 silver?

Since opponents in heavy armor are too difficult for me, I’ll also skip the Living Armor quest… and what, they didn’t even write the reward? This is completely a thief’s mentality.

“….pnior…”

Hmm… what to do. Looking at other requests, there don’t seem to be any particularly good ones.

“…enpior…!”

Lady Alexis seems to have been trained as a knight at the Academy, but even so, Living Armor might be a bit much… maybe we should exterminate the Nökkr instead…?

“SENIOR!!!”

“Ack, shit. You scared me.”

At the sudden high-pitched scream that struck my ears, I reflexively shrank my body and turned sharply toward the source of the sound.

“I knew it was Senior Austin. It’s been a long time!”

A crazy woman with neatly tied medium-length orange hair, looking at me with sparkling eyes, approached me with a bright smile, acting as if she knew me.

“Um… Do you know this person..?”

“…..One moment please.”

Hearing Lady Alexis’s confused voice, I also looked closely at the face of the crazy woman who appeared before me to clarify her identity.

Medium-length orange hair and a prominent nose bridge.
The faint small scar engraved on her cheek wriggled following the movement of her cheeks, and her eyes, which shone like peridot, were directed at me.

“…..Setter… no, Robin?”

“Yes! It’s been a long time! You still remember my face?”

“…Of course I remember. You were the first troublemaker of your kind I ever met.”

“Th-That’s… so mean….”

The woman standing dejectedly in front of me was Robin, who had been my junior during my time serving in the Rangers.

Robin briefly put on a sulky expression, then brightened up again and continued speaking.

“Senior! This is sudden but… would you like to form a party with me?”

“….What?”

What is she talking about?