Chapter 140

The lone Dark Elf Arisa sensed the bustling atmosphere of the Adventurer Guild.

Although she lived the life of a solo adventurer without forming a party and had no one to share stories with, even she could feel the recent commotion in the Adventurer Guild.

Being a loner, she often sat quietly at a corner table, eating her meal, and occasionally overheard conversations from other tables. For her, who had no friends, this was a precious way to gather information.

Sometimes, pretending to read a request form while deep in thought, she would stealthily listen to the amusing jokes from the neighboring table, covering her mouth with the request form. This was one of Arisa’s small hobbies.

Even if she accidentally burst out laughing at a joke from the next table, she had learned from experience to keep the request form close to her mouth to cover her reaction.

Through these moments of pretending to eat, ponder over requests, or take a quick nap, she timidly eavesdropped on the conversations of adventurers at other tables. As a result, she discovered that the reason for the guild’s commotion was a certain adventurer party.

It was about a party that had recently returned to Astram.

This party, which had been absent for several months, was said to be quite famous within the Adventurer Guild.

For starters, it included two Silver Rank adventurers.

The party, which had left Astram for personal reasons, caused a huge stir upon their return because they had captured notorious human hunters with a high bounty across the continent.

The bounty on them was equivalent to completing about ten Silver Rank requests.

Moreover, the party had subdued the human hunters without sustaining any significant injuries, making it a story worthy of attention.

However, if that were all, Arisa, who had been collecting various rumors while eating alone at the tavern, judged that it would only cause a stir for a day or so, not several days.

Rumor had it that the least experienced member of the party, a rookie Iron Rank adventurer who had only been registered for less than half a year, had returned after mastering Aura in just a few months.

Aura wasn’t something just anyone could use, and to master it in just a few months… It seemed like an absurd rumor, but considering that the adventurer had been promoted to the same rank based on their newfound strength, it didn’t seem entirely baseless.

In fact, if one could use Aura, they could potentially rise to Silver Rank immediately. However, from Silver Rank onward, it wasn’t just about strength but also experience, character, and achievements. So, for an adventurer with little to no achievements, it would take time to reach Silver Rank.

Of course, it was only a matter of time.

And lastly, there was one more rumor about the party: every evening, they prepared such a lavish feast at the Adventurer Guild that other adventurers found it hard to eat there.

It was said that not only the smell but even the sound of their cooking made others hungry, significantly increasing the guild’s food sales.

But no matter how much one ate at the guild, compared to the sumptuous feast the party enjoyed, it seemed meager. So, whether one ate or not, it was painful—either from not eating or from comparing one’s meal to theirs.

With two Silver Rank adventurers and another who was practically guaranteed to become one, it was hard to casually ask to join them, making them the talk of the guild.

These were the rumors Arisa had recently collected.

However, these rumors had little to do with Arisa.

Because she was a lone adventurer.

Just like other adventurers who formed parties, her shy personality made it difficult for her to interact with the party at the center of these rumors.

Thus, Arisa continued to sift through the guild’s bulletin board alone, maintaining her loner appearance.

To prevent competing with others over requests, she would sit at a table, pretending to drink coffee, glancing at the bulletin board. Only when everyone had left would she quietly get up and head to the board.

“Let’s see… Is there a request I can handle alone…?”

But recently, perhaps inspired by the return of the adventurer party, the guild’s bulletin board rarely had requests suitable for a solo Iron Rank adventurer.

“This one recommends at least two people…”

If this continued, she might end up without a request for the day.

Should she waste the day, or take the risk and accept a two-person recommended request alone?

Arisa nervously fiddled with the request form, deep in thought.

If there was a guarantee that a solo Iron Rank request would appear tomorrow, she could afford to take a day off. But if no solo requests appeared the next day or the day after, she might end up idling indefinitely.

However, taking on a request beyond her capabilities was equally dangerous.

“Hmm… What should I do…?”

“Um, are you taking that request?”

“Y-yes!? Oh, no! You go ahead!”

At that moment, hearing a woman’s voice from behind the bulletin board, Arisa reflexively shouted and handed over the request form.

Normally, she would return to her seat if someone approached, but today, preoccupied with whether to take the request or not, she didn’t notice the other person’s arrival.

“Ah, no, I was wondering if you’d like to do the request together if you don’t have anyone else.”

Hearing this, Arisa, thinking she might have misheard, cautiously looked up and asked again.

“M-me?”

“Yes. Or do you have someone else to do the request with?”

The woman who spoke to Arisa was a blonde elf with braided hair, like freshly fried French fries, the recent talk of the Adventurer Guild.

…

“Wow~. Thanks to you, Lisa, I’m saved. I was about to take a request alone, but there weren’t any suitable ones on the board.”

“Y-yes…”

“Actually, I used to have a party to do requests with. But the two higher-ranked members didn’t contribute much to my achievements, and the other one recently made a fortune and has been splurging at the guild, so I didn’t have anyone to do requests with.”

“Ah, I see…”

The two elf adventurers walked towards the destination written on the request.

It was Mari and Arisa.

Mari, who already called her by a nickname as if she were a capybara beastkin, chattered away about this and that.

In contrast, Arisa, unable to respond properly, mumbled with unclear pronunciation.

No, not just her speech, but her attempt at a social smile, the unnatural twitching of her lips, her eyes trying to meet Mari’s or avoid them, all showed her lack of proper communication skills.

But this was the only reaction she could muster.

Apart from her lack of social skills due to rarely interacting with others, her race as a Dark Elf played a part.

Unlike other races, ordinary elves would never approach a Dark Elf like her.

“…But Mari, are you okay with me? I’m a Dark Elf…”

“Huh? Why wouldn’t I be? And just call me Mari.”

“M-Mari… You’re an elf. Elves usually hate cursed elves like me…”

“Lisa, being a Dark Elf isn’t something you chose, right?”

“Yes… Both my parents are Dark Elves.”

“Then it’s fine. If it’s not something you chose, who can blame you? Honestly, even becoming a Dark Elf later in life is similar. Who would want to become a Dark Elf?”

Hearing this, Arisa, with her abnormally developed ability to catch negative emotions about herself due to her long life as a loner, could tell.

That Mari genuinely meant what she said.

Moreover, Mari carefully referred to her as a Dark Elf, not a cursed or fallen elf, to avoid hurting her feelings.

“Mari…”

“Just call me Mari.”

Thus, Arisa was genuinely moved.

And so, the two who had met by chance at the Adventurer Guild formed a temporary party to take on a request together.

A Half-Elf and a Dark Elf.

A quasi-capybara and a natural-born loner.