Narcena's eyes widen in surprise as someone suddenly places his hand on my shoulder and declares his mate.

'...... your brother?'

And the next moment, with those words, he turns his gaze to me, not trying to hide his doubts.
As if to ask me to explain what happened.

...... but I was the one who wanted him to explain.

I don't know of any man who sounded like this in my memory, nor do I have any friends other than Narcena.
In other words, I have absolutely no idea what to expect.

Normally, this man would be lying, but I couldn't understand why he would lie in this situation, or even why he showed up here in the first place.

Considering the situation alone, this man who is trying to separate us from Nancy could be taken to be on our side.
But there's no way that the guild staff, including Nancy, would give up on us if we had an extra male party member.
In other words, if the men are trying to help us, it's useless to call out to them as our friends.

That's why I look back with doubts about why he suddenly called out to me.

''────!

...... And it was then that I realized how unusual the man who approached me was.

The man in front of me was a rather rugged body and a man with a well-defined face.
The body of an avant-garde adventurer is often strong, but his body, which is one size larger than that of the vanguard adventurer, would be very eye-catching.
But such things were only a trivial matter to me.

...... What stole my consciousness was a kind of intimidation I felt from men.

The intimidation reminded me of Mr. Ronaldo, a top-notch warrior who trained me.
And I understand that a man's sense of intimidation is the same quality as that of Mr. Ronald in my memory.

''Gee, Guild Direct Adventurer-sama: .........

......... Huh?

...... The fact that I stopped moving for a moment, dumbfounded by the fact, and what brought me back to consciousness was the words leaked by Nancy, whose face was strained.

The direct adventurer, it was the adventurer who was said to be the closest to a top-notch adventurer.
Unlike exclusive adventurers, guild-directed adventurers could be certified even if they didn't have a party, and their treatment was not comparable to that of exclusive adventurers.
The general perception of these adventurers is that they are a higher level of adventurers than the resident adventurers.

The fact that such an adventurer is in the guild of the labyrinth city is a surprise to me.
But at the same time, I'm convinced that it's because he's an exclusive adventurer that he's so skilled.

''As long as you're a direct adventurer, your movements will be hampered if you're made the exclusive adventurer.

Although he was surprised by the sudden turn of events, he was aware that the man was trying to help him.

It is said that if you are a direct adventurer, the authority you have is at the level of a branch leader.
Of course, in a labyrinth city with authority independent of the guild headquarters, he wouldn't have that much authority.
Even so, a mere guild employee like Nancy can't even talk back to them, that doesn't change.
The man is using his position to get Nancy and the other guild officials to give him a glare.

He wants me to stay out of his life any longer.

'So, sir, but I'm ......

But even with that warning, Nancy still opens her mouth to say so.
She still doesn't seem to be able to give up on my existence and opens her mouth to the man.

'Do you have something to complain about?'

' I, No. ......

But Nancy's words were to be silenced by that one word.
There's a hint of irritation in her voice, and Nancy's face pales as she takes it.
I realize that she can't talk back to a man any longer.

...... And there was no guild staffer to speak to me at the sight of Nancy.
I'm sure there are some people who look at me wistfully, but there is no one who tries to mess with me being protected by a man.

''Well, let's go.''

The man confirmed this and smiled at me and Narcena and told us so.

'Um, .......'

The man's words brought a question to Narsena's face.
It's not that Narsena doesn't realize that she was saved by the man.
Still, she probably can't hide many questions about the man who suddenly appeared.

''Narsena, let's just shut up and follow him for now.

Yes, sir.

But I restrain Narcena.
Now is not the time to listen to the story.
And as the man urged me to leave the guild, I left the guild: ......


◇ ◇ ◇.


'I think I confused you by not saying anything, and then all of a sudden I played along and confused you. I'm sorry.

The man who was the guild's direct adventurer bowed his head with an apology as he left the guild and came to a secluded place.

''No, no, no! Don't worry about it.

Yes!

The man's behavior was completely unexpected and caused me and Narsena to panic.
We desperately tried to tell the man that we didn't care as if we didn't care.
To be honest, I have some doubts about the fact that the adventurers directly under the guild were willing to help us.
But I don't want you to apologize to me, not in the slightest.

"I just want to say thank you to you!

I appreciate you saying that.

The man raised his head with an air of relief at my telling him this.

'I thought that was for the best, but it was a forceful approach. ......

Apparently, the man was more concerned about faking his companionship than he had imagined.
Indeed, I was quite surprised when I was first told that they were my companions, as I had become very sensitive after being aggressively recruited by other adventurers in the past.
However, I had no feelings for the man.
On the contrary, I was grateful to them.

No, I'm really grateful to you for taking me out that time.

'Thank you so much! I don't think we could have successfully escaped the guild staff alone at that time, so ......

So, me and Narsena tell the man our thanks for allaying his concerns.

'That's good to hear. But there's no need to thank me.

And the man laughed shyly at that.
But the man did not accept our thanks.

'Isn't it normal for a brother and son to help their brother and disciple?

...... Huh?

What about ......?

...... And the next thing I knew, the words of the man were going to leave my narcena stunned.

I'm sure you're aware that there is a reason why the man is so attentive to your needs.
But there is no way I could have imagined that a brother and sister would suddenly appear.

But on the other hand, I was convinced that there was a reason in my mind.
After all, the reason why I felt the same quality of intimidation from a man as Mr. Ronaldo, was as clear as day.
And when I thought about it, a name popped into my head.
It's the name of the disciple that Ronaldo said was the best among his many disciples.

"Zeke, Mr.?

The next time I told him my name, Zeke, both male and female, smiled and nodded at me.

"Yeah, nice to meet you,

That was the first time me and my sibling, Zeke, met.



◇◆◇



We then moved our conversation to a coffee shop in town.
During the move, Zeke-san explained various things to us, including how he knew we were his brother's apprentice.

It seems that Zeke was visiting the labyrinth city with his master this time, and he had heard our names and characteristics along the way.
And with me and Narsena becoming famous shortly after that, we were in a situation where Zeke-san knew about us one way or another.

...... Incidentally, as for the question of why I came with my mentor, Zeke-san only smiled a troubled smile and never answered.

Apparently, it's the kind of thing you shouldn't ask about.
I had noticed that Master had done something against the Guild of the Maze City in the matter of the Wolf of Calamity, but it might be more important than I imagined.
This might just make things even more complicated if we offered our cooperation.

If you're at ......, you don't want to help with that.

I decided that, I muttered quietly inside the coffee shop.

In fact, before we arrived at the coffee shop, Narsena and I had discussed it and came to the conclusion that we had to do something to thank Zeke for his kindness.
That's why I'm currently sitting in the coffee shop drinking tea and thinking about how to thank Zeke.

...... but I had no other ideas in my head except for Zeke's work, which I just found out I can't help with.
Today is the first time Zeke and I have met, so there was not much to think about.

Mr. Zeke, I'd like to thank you for something: ......

A little later, he gave up thinking about cooperating on his own and spoke to Zeke so.

'Yes! Whatever you want to do, please visit ...... Well, I may not have time for the next few days.

And as if to take advantage of me, Narsena also talks to Zeke.
Apparently, Narsena hadn't thought of that either.

No, don't worry about it. I wanted to say ......, but I'm sorry. May I ask you for a favor? As a formal request.

Zeke's words are repeated with a somewhat awkward expression on his face in response to our words.

"I'd like to set up a temporary temporary party with you guys.

......... Huh?

Is this a temporary party?

In the next moment, me and Narsena couldn't hide our agitation at Sieg-san's words.
A temporary party, or in other words, Siege-san must be saying that he wants to capture the same quest temporarily.
But a quest that a person like Siege-san is willing to take on with a temporary party.
I'm momentarily confused as to what that is.

''Huh!''

However, when I remembered a certain request, I was convinced of Zeke's reason for suggesting a temporary party.

If we're going to take on that monster, it's no wonder that Sieg-san is trying to prepare for it, just in case.
It was the super high difficulty demonic beast that appeared in the lower level of the labyrinth that Narcena and I were going to defeat soon.

''I need you to help me defeat the Phoenix.

Narsena and I gasped as we understood that the target of our defeat overlapped with Zeke's words.