NOVEL NEXT Alex received party invitations from several places but declined them all.
Yet, his eyes couldn’t leave the guild office door.
They should’ve arrived by now; it seems unusually late today.
“Mary.”
Taking advantage of a brief moment when the receptionist Mary was free, Alex approached her with a cup of water.
After waiting for so long, it seems she finally managed to catch her breath.
“Aren’t you busy?”
As Alex handed over the cool wooden cup filled with water he fetched from the sink, Mary accepted it with a bright smile.
Honestly, yeah—Alex isn’t a bad guy at all.
Except for being bald.
“It’s getting bearable now. After we exterminated the catacombs, so many people are flocking there. But why didn’t you go, Alex?”
It’s true that healers are rare, so they don’t get much attention, but lacking guards up front is just as bad.
The guards who block enemies first so attackers can strike freely are quickly noticed if even slightly short, and they take a lot of heat for it, plus the death rates are quite high.
Moreover, Alex is exceptionally stable, so during times when new dungeons open up, he’s usually the first guard they want to take along.
“Uh, it’s Yona…”
Just mentioning her alone makes it clear from Alex’s grinning face why he isn’t going anywhere.
He didn’t go to any party because Yona isn’t around. Is there a more loyal guy than this?
Except for being bald.
“Yona hasn’t come to the office yet. At this rate, she’ll miss out on all the good spots.”
Mary also quite liked Yona.
Honestly, is there anyone in this city, Evian, who dislikes Yona?
“Alex, go get her. She’s probably still sleeping.”
“Should I? Would it be rude?”
“No way, that’s not rude at all.”
Mary gave him a wink.
I hope this works out.
Alex and Yona suit each other pretty well, after all.
Mary genuinely cheered for the two of them.
“Well, I’ll go look for her.”
“Good luck, Alex!”
After awkwardly waving back at Mary, Alex left the guild office.
*
“…Why me?”
Yona had a bewildered expression.
It was so sudden and absurd.
A party requires mutual consent to form.
Rude, as the hero, wouldn’t not know that; yet he’s casually talking about forming a party without consulting Yona at all, which she found outrageous.
“Well, this party is the hero’s party, you see. It’s different from your regular adventurer’s party. The best party composition is essential.”
Yona shook her head, trying to make sense of the nonsense being spouted.
“Then we could just take Sister Aege, right? That would be the best combo!”
Feeling a bit restless, she plopped into her seat and continued, “If we’re talking about the best party, shouldn’t it include the Saint, Priest Vigrind, and Sister Aege, instead of me?”
Typically, priests have next to no battle experience. Once they become priests, they head straight to the Cathedral, and while some occasionally become the personal priest of a noble family, you’ll rarely find a priest on the battlefield. In this Evian, Sister Aege is the only priest familiar with combat.
Casting a stare at Vigrind, she silently asked for agreement. However, she was met with Vigrind’s disapproving glare as he quickly turned away.
‘Honestly…’
This must mean she was right.
“Anyway, I don’t want to! I don’t get why I would have to join the hero party, and I really don’t want to. I have my own plans, you know!”
There was an important schedule she had to get to. Way more important than any hero party nonsense.
“A plan? Can’t I just handle that for you? Yona, your amazing healing skills and quick thinking in battle are absolutely essential for us. Honestly, who else in this Evian has healing skills as good as yours?”
“Uh… well, that’s true.”
Yona felt her shoulders lift slightly without even realizing it. But wait, wasn’t it true? If you thought of a healer in this Evian, it was Yona for sure. Finding a better healer than her? Not a chance!
The best healer.
The top healer.
Right now, among the active healers, there was no one better than Yona!
“So this is why we came to get you. Isn’t that right? I mean, we’re talking about heroes here, and Rude! Coming all the way here to personally invite you shows we’re being quite respectful, doesn’t it?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
“This is all because I think Yona is the best. The best recognizes the best. Just like I recognized Yona, I thought you would realize the same about me. Am I wrong?”
“Uh, ahem.”
Yona forced herself to suppress the rising smile, trying to maintain her composure. No one disliked compliments, and she was definitely one of those people.
She craved praise yet struggled under its weight.
“So you see, the best recognize the best, not like that pathetic guard, but rather me—”
And just like that, the mood crashed.
“What are you talking about?”
In an instant, Yona’s expression turned fierce as she spoke in a low growl. Who was Alex, anyway?
Who is it?
Despite being bald, both are the best guards Yona crafted herself, rolling around at the bottom of the adventurer barrel.
But to say they’re weak?
That was an insult, not a compliment.
“Alex is tougher than you think. I raised him, so what are you saying—”
Just then, someone slapped Yona on the back of her head.
She nearly smashed her forehead into the table.
As Yona jerked her head up in pain, she turned around to see Alex looking down at her with a baffled expression.
“Who raised who?”
“Are you crazy? I’ve been the one taking care of you this whole time!”
“Seriously? I’ve been the one watching over you and raising you, and you don’t even know gratitude.”
Now, Rude and Priest Vigrind were completely sidelined.
Yona didn’t care about the hero, so it didn’t bother her at all.
“Yona, remember when you wet your pants because you were scared during your first goblin hunt…”
“Shut your mouth!?”
“…Ahem.”
Yona, who looked like she could hit him any second after covering Alex’s mouth, turned around at a cough.
Rude was looking at her awkwardly while clearing his throat repeatedly.
“…So, what will you do? Will you join us?”
“Nope, I still don’t want to.”
Yona’s blunt refusal was quite unexpected.
Joining a hero party might have low success rates, but if they did succeed, it was an honorable place to be.
Refusing to join that, especially as a starter member, was something Rude never imagined.
“What’s the reason?”
“Well, I realized I have things to do too. So I have to take him with me.”
At that, Yona hooked her arm over Alex’s shoulder.
Feeling the heavy, warm sensation from her shoulder, Alex instinctively shifted away, but Yona didn’t notice at all.
Rude furrowed his brows, lost in thought.
Honestly, he hadn’t expected this.
Judging from what Yona said, he thought Alex would agree if he joined the party, but did they really need to go that far?
Alex had low attack power and even lower defense.
The balance between offense and defense was just pathetically low.
What would be the point of such a weak guard joining the party? None at all.
Even if it was just to bring Yona in, they couldn’t include Alex in the party.
“I see. Well, alright. If that’s how you feel, what can I do?”
“Yeah, good thinking.”
“Understood. Then, see you later.”
“Alright then, see you later.”
Rude got up from his seat.
Vigrind, who had been sitting silently beside him, also stood up and turned to Yona, leaving her with a suspicious glance.
“So you refused that offer?”
“Yeah.”
Yona packed up her belongings and headed toward the Adventurer’s Guild.
Alex was tidying up his inn room and shouldering his backpack, though he didn’t have much stuff.
“Are you an idiot?”
“I’m not an idiot, that’s why I refused. That hero’s gaze just didn’t sit well with me.”
“What was wrong with his gaze?”
“He looked at me like I’m a woman.”
Alex was momentarily speechless, unable to respond. He had never expected such a ridiculous answer; it left him without words.
“And Vigrind, that red-haired guy is there too. If I went along, I’d end up playing maid for that red-haired creep, right? No way, ugh.”
“…Well, if that’s the reason, I can understand.”
And indeed, he did understand.
“I think it’s better for us to find another attacker for the trip.”
“Where are we going to find another attacker for the community? It’ll be better if it’s just the two of us. We can just beat them up ourselves.”
While chewing on some jerky and chuckling, Yona’s smile made it hard for Alex to determine if this was a good situation or not. At least it wasn’t overly optimistic, but it was still okay. Yona’s smile was really pretty after all.
“I’ll go with you.”
“…Kaiyak?”
Yona said it was fine, but Alex felt uneasy. It was quite a distance from Evian to Lake Kantasia, where the community was located. He didn’t know what could happen along the way, especially with a calamity looming, potentially summoned by a celestial being.
As a guard, Alex had low attack power, and since Yona couldn’t wield a weapon with the Sacred Barrier on her hand, she could only slightly increase their survival rate with the shield on her left arm.
Traveling that long distance with just the two of them made him feel uneasy, so he asked Mary if there was any attacker headed that way, with no real expectations.
Surprisingly, Kaiyak announced that he had business in that direction, which was shocking for both Alex and Yona.
“Why are you two so surprised, little meat bags?”
“Y-you’re joking, right, lizard?”
At the term “meat bag,” Yona seemed irritated, and Kaiyak ruffled her hair roughly while grinning. His large lizardman lips curled back to reveal sharp teeth.
“The community is at Lake Kantasia, you know. The upstream north of Kantasia River is my hometown.”
Ah, got it.
Yona wanted to return to her hometown too.
That was a good thing.
Yona smiled brightly.