--Travis of Black Sword Mountain.
　His adventurer rank is practically the highest adventurer rank, A.

　As he had explained to his party members, he was an adventurer who joined the guild at about the same time as me.

　He is brave and enthusiastic.
　He's the kind of guy who looks like a good guy in a novel book.

　He and I met when we were both just starting out in the F ranks when we registered.

　We worked together on a few simple requests until we were promoted to E rank, and after we were promoted, we joined a certain adventurer's party at the same time as an apprentice.

　While I was sluggish early on, Travis quickly rose to prominence.

　He rose through the ranks remarkably quickly and steadily, and in less than a year he became the leader of an independent party.

I got sucked into that party, but I left after about two years. So Travis and I spent the first three years of our adventure together.
'Why did you leave the party?　From what I've heard, you sound like a pretty good leader.
''It's because he was too good. That guy tried to take on tough dungeon after tough dungeon, but I could only use [Repair], so it was like I couldn't keep up with him.

　--The only thing that could make a difference is that unlike me, Travis was loved by the gods who protect adventurers.

　Nevertheless, that guy couldn't bear to see me struggling with the difficulty of the dungeon attack, so he started thinking about lowering the ranks of the dungeons he was challenging.

　There was no way I could overlook such a thing.

　Dragging down a guy who could definitely make it big as an adventurer?
　It's not a joke. This is out of the question. It's not very good, but I can't stand it.

　You became an adventurer because you longed for a glorious tale of adventure, but to destroy the potential of someone who can make it happen in a new one, it's bound to make you want to die of self-loathing.

''That's why I left the party. It's pride as much as I can muster in my no-nonsense way.
...... You are such a bad influence on me.
Travis said the same thing to me.

　I hear the sound of bashing and kicking hot water from the next room.

　It's probably Garnett's way of distracting herself by holding back what she wants to say.

It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on some of the most popular products and services, but also a lot of other things. That was also when I first met Dustin.
'Yes!　That guy, Dustin or something like that, I've heard his name somewhere!　I'm almost ready to remember: ......
You'll remember it as soon as you hear it. Let's keep going.

　--Dustin, the two spear user.
　His current adventurer rank is A-rank, just like Travis.

　At the time of our first meeting, he was still E rank like me, and Travis had already reached B rank.

　Ten years ago, the Adventurer's Guild had multiple parties run simultaneous searches to investigate a then-newly discovered and unexplored dungeon.

　Me, Dustin and Travis were in different parties, but due to problems during the search, several of our parties collapsed and were absorbed into Travis' party.

　Thus, Dustin and I happened to be under Travis' command.

'Back then, Dustin was somewhat of a cynic, but he was a reasonably cheerful and sociable guy in his own right.
Bright and sociable?　That bastard who looks like he just came out of the grave?
For now. I had every reason to be different.

　--At that time, Dustin was not yet a two spear user.

　I heard that he and his partner acted in pairs, each carrying a single magic spear and mainly taking on requests to defeat them.

　Even before they became adventurers, the two of them seemed to have been earning money from their mercenary-like work, and they were the type of adventurers with high fighting ability for their rank.

''Their partner was killed by a demon tribe that was lurking in the dungeon.
............
I was the one who saw him through to the end. By the time I rushed over, it was too late. I don't think I've ever felt as helpless as I did then.

　When I healed Sakura and Garnett, who had been seriously injured by the dragon, that moment came to mind almost to the point of being disgusting.

　It's always disgusting, no matter how many times you experience it, the way your body heat quickly disappears from the people in front of you.

''Dustin was so furious that he struck down the Demon King, who was the master of the demon race ...... dungeon, with two demon spears. After that, that guy only went after the demon race that called themselves the Demon King.
...... reminds me. That's another one of your other nicknames, isn't it?

　I heard Garnett leaning out the window and a sign.

'Dustin the Demon King hunter. An adventurer who has killed three demon kings in ten years. He is the man with the largest number of defeats except for the brave men certified by the Royal Court. Isn't he?
Personally, I don't really like that alias: ......

　--I had the opportunity to work with Dustin on various occasions after that.

　The three of us were never together again, but I heard that Travis also added Dustin to the party several times with Travis.

　Naturally, all of them had to do with 'dungeons where we know or might have a demon king'.

　In the beginning, Dustin was driven by anger and sorrow, but as the years went by, his enthusiasm and emotions became less and less.

　It was as if he had become a device to kill the Demon King.

''That's all I can tell you. Do you have any questions?
No, ...... is fine. That's enough. I appreciate the effort you put into this.

　Garnett's demeanor had blatantly softened after he told Dustin about his past.

　Although I don't know the details of the situation, it seems that Garnett harbors a hatred for those who handle Mithril illegally.

　Because of this, I guess I still had some thoughts on Dustin's way of life, which is revenge against the 'existence that calls itself the Demon King'.

Then, we'd better go home now. I've warmed up enough.
Yeah, take care of yourself. I'm gonna take it a little slower.
What are you talking about?　You're the only one who has the key. If you want me to go home first, then give me the keys.
What?
Hmm?

　I feel like there's an obvious discrepancy in perception.

　With a bad feeling in my gut, I decided to ask a fundamental confirmation question, just to be sure.

"...... Hey, Garnett. You know, where did you plan to sleep over and stay in Green Hollow?
Of course it's your house, of course. A house that big, you must have a spare bedroom or two, right?

　My hunch was right.

　When Felix had asked me to 'leave' Garnett with him, he hadn't meant for the town, but for my house.

　The cause was a complete misunderstanding on my part.
　I should have checked properly beforehand.

I'm not going to be able to get a good look at ...... that's a bad idea. Don't say anything stupid!
You're the one who's being stupid.

　I thought I said something sensible, but Garnett gave me a stunned response.

'Whether it's an assassination or a kidnapping, if I'm going to go after you, I'm going to choose the only time in the middle of the night when the customers are gone, okay?　Living alone in a house on the outskirts of town, it's harder to get caught in the act. What are you going to do if you don't have to protect them right there?
Guh. ......

　The trouble is that there is absolutely no room for refutation.
　If you meditate on the fact that Garnett's gender is female, the best move is to do what Garnett said he would do.

　In fact, it's so bad that any other method would seem to be out of the question.

'So. It's nice to meet you, White Wolf.

　I don't think I was mistaken when Garnett's voice sounded somewhat bouncy.