"Hey, dude, you wanna join our party?


　It was about a month (a month) after he started as an adventurer in the city of Ishka when he was approached by such a solicitor.

　A boy of the same age called himself Lars. He was fed up with the bad life in the countryside, so he decided to become an adventurer in search of fame and fortune.

　The boy had a broad-minded, good-natured smile on his face, saying that it was a common reason.


Hey!　It's rude to call someone you've never met "you"!'


　The girl who chided Lars for saying that was named Ilia. She was a childhood friend of Lars, and was skilled at fighting and recovery magic, which she had learned from her mother, a priest warrior.

　As for Iria, wealth and fame were secondary to her wealth and fame, and she seemed to be accompanying Lars as his chaperone after he ran away from the village.

　With his strong-looking hanging eyes and long black hair tied up in a ponytail, he looked a bit like his former ex-wife.


''If you're going to call me rude, isn't it much more rude to start a fight instead of soliciting?


　A pointy hat and a staff. A girl dressed as a sorcerer in every way possible lets out a disgusted sigh.

　The name of the girl with flaming red hair and freckles is Miroslav.

　She seems to come from a pretty good family, the robe she wears is made of silk, and her staff is a large magic stone. She also wore other expensive looking earrings and bracelets.


''Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down. This person is in trouble too, right?''


　The long-eared girl who looked at the three of them with a troubled look on her face and chastised them for their quarrelsome argument was Lunamaria.

　She was an elf.

　She was a gifted hunter and spirit user, and even had the qualification of a sage.

　As of five years ago, Lars and Ilia were thirteen years old and Miroslav was fourteen. In such a too young party, the elven girl was a pillar in many ways - yet the age of the person in question was a "secret, phew".

　They called themselves the 'Sword of Hayabusa'.

　They were G-ranked, that is to say, a new party that had just formed, and they were apparently looking for members who could serve as the vanguard.



　To tell the truth, I refused the offer at first.

　I was happy to be invited, but the memory of my dry separation from my ex-wife (Ayaka) and the others was still fresh in my mind, and I was feeling something close to fear of working with others.

　But Lars was eagerly inviting him to join them.


'There, somehow!　I saw you, not you, pretending to be something you're not at the guild's training camp the other day!　For hours on end, he wielded his sword without a break, and I thought it was so beautiful!


　In the end, we were defeated by Lars, who was pushing us hard like that.

　No, we made it look like we were defeated, but in truth, we were happy to have them say that much.

　The adventure with them was honestly fun.

　But that fun only lasted for six months, though.



　As I mentioned above, I was kicked out of the party.

　Miroslav called me a fraud to my face, and Ilaria lashed out with a sharp rebuke.

　Lars was miffed and silent, but there was an unconcealed disappointment in his eyes as he looked at us.

　Only Lunamaria did not try to condemn us, but the sympathy and pity she directed at us touched us far more deeply than the words and actions of the other three.

　After that, as if to relieve the resentment that had been stagnant until then, the Sword of Hayabusa quickly rose through the ranks of the party, and now, five years later, it has reached the C rank.

　My former friends are now the best adventurers in the world.

　When you are based in the same city, you may run into them.


◆ ◆ ◆


What are you doing here?


　Three days after being banished from the Adventurer's Guild, I was in the forest of Titis, gathering herbs as usual when I was unexpectedly approached by a voice behind me.

　As he was gathering herbs in the forest of Titis as usual, he was suddenly approached by a voice from behind.

　The voice full of disgust and contempt was familiar.

　When I turned around, I saw the person I had expected to see standing there.

　When I furrowed my eyebrows, the other person put his hands on his hips and averted his chest.


''--Hmm, what's with that face? If you have something to say, why don't you say it back?　We've already reached the limit of our talents, but let's listen to this con artist who has been hiding it and parasitizing us for six months.


　A girl holding a staff and wearing a pointy hat, she looks like a magician.

　Her hair is flaming red from the hat, and she is glaring at you with glaring topaz eyes.

　Miroslav, the sorcerer from The Falcon Blade.

　The girl who once worried about her freckles has grown into a fragrant beauty over the past five years.

　However, no matter how beautiful she became, she would never be attractive if she was so blatantly belittled.

　Thinking about this, Miroslav snorted and laughed.


''You can't say anything?　I'm sure you are. It's not slander that I'm talking about, it's the truth.


　Miroslav tried to continue with more words.

　And then a voice stopped her from doing so.


'Milo, let's leave it at that.


　It was Lars who interrupted to say that.

　He was the leader of the C-ranked party Hayabusa's Sword of Hayabusa, and as an individual he had reached the 6th level at the age of 18.

　Both of them were in the realm of veterans with more than ten years of adventuring experience, and Lars, who had accomplished this only five years ago, before the age of twenty, was renowned as an up-and-coming adventurer.

　........We became adventurers at the same age and at the same time, and yet I noticed that the gap between us had widened considerably.

　Lars glanced at me. There was no trace of the smile he once had on his face, which had a faintly curved lip.


"I heard you were fired from the guild, Sola.

Yeah.

You're still on the same level, right?　The fact that you're here means you're still planning to continue your adventurer's business, but you should quit now. It's too late for that, if something happens.

Thank you for the advice.


　He replied unenthusiastically to the frowning advice.

　Then the dark-haired beauty standing next to Lars opened her mouth, her brows wrinkled.


'Hey!　What's your attitude when Lars has been advising you for so long!　


　It was Ilia in a white bodysuit. She had always been a girl with a good nose, but like Miroslav, she had become surprisingly beautiful over the course of five years.

　It seems to be the same as five years ago, though, where only Lars is in her eyes.


''I'm ... sorry.''

''........You're still so uncharacteristically unchallenged. I thought you were a little better when I met you.

Okay, Ilaria. It's none of our business anymore. He's going to get what he deserves if he dies without listening to us.

'Lars is right. Let's leave these people alone and get into the forest quickly. I don't know if it's my imagination, but I smell like a vagrant who hasn't had a bath in three days around here.

'Hey Milo, you weren't the one who approached me in the first place!


　Saying whatever they wanted, Lars and the others disappeared into the forest.

　One person who remained here was the elven Lunamaria.


''It's good to see you looking well, Sora-san.


　Then she bowed her head with a smile. The gentle smile she gave me seemed to be the same as in the past.

　The fact that the elves are exceptionally good-natured, Lunamaria is an exceptionally good-natured member of the elven tribe, and she served as a lubricant for the party, sometimes chastising and sometimes soothing Ilaria and Miroslav, who were repeatedly fighting with each other over Lars.

　During their time in the Falcon Blade, they had been close to each other in the detailed preparations and transactions, and to be honest, he was attracted to her as a member of the opposite s*x.

　Although, after realizing that her gaze was following Lars as well as the other two, he carefully kept those feelings to himself.

　She was someone who didn't change her attitude even when she hadn't leveled up and was on the verge of becoming a liability in the party, which I was very grateful for at the time.

　-- though that appreciation has been blown away now.

　After being kicked out of the party, I overheard a conversation I overheard at a bar I frequented, which led to a member's conversation.

　It was this elf who gave people the malicious nickname "Parasite".



　He responded briefly to the other's greeting with a 'thank you' and then turned his back to Lunamaria as if refusing to have any further dialogue.

　I can feel a hint of confusion from behind me, but I don't care.

　I don't want to have a conversation out of pity and a sense of duty. Never mind the parasite, just go to your favorite Lars. That's what I thought with all my heart.

　However, our intentions didn't seem to be conveyed, and a bell-waving voice came from behind me.


''I heard that a number of people have gone missing in the forest of Titis for the past few days. Sola-san, please be careful.

...missing?


　I couldn't help but look back over my shoulder at the unexpected content.

　Then Lunamaria nodded with a slightly relieved face.



　The forest of Titis is so vast that it could swallow an entire country, and there are even rumors that the deepest part of the forest is inhabited by an illusory species.

　Because it's such a place, there are not a few cases of adventurers who stepped into the forest and never returned.

　However, even taking this into account, the number of missing people in the last few days seems to be extraordinary.

　Moreover, among those who have gone missing is a C-ranked party, just like the one in "Falcon's Sword," and the guild has decided to dispatch a high-ranked party to investigate the cause of the disappearance.

　The Sword of Falcon is said to be one of them.


　The forest right now is dangerous, so be careful.

　Lunamaria advises me to do so.

　........To be honest, I wanted to say that it was none of my business, but I was aware that this was indeed a narrow-minded thing to do.

　So, I briefly thanked him.


'....I understand. Thank you for your advice.

You're welcome. Well, I'll leave you to it.


　As Lunamaria said this, she disappeared into the depths of the forest after her friends.

　Relieved that the unwanted meeting with my former companions was over, I resumed gathering herbs.

　The matter of the missing person informed by Lunamaria was worrisome, but there would be no need to be so vigilant in the outer perimeter, let alone if we were to step deep into the forest.

　Rather, if the number of adventurers approaching the forest due to this matter decreased, the price of the medicinal herbs would increase. This is the kind of hope that crosses my mind. That's how much this matter was a stranger to me.



　--The fact that Lars and his friends who were attacked by the Lord of the Flies would return with a demon in tow was not to be expected.

　Moreover, there was no way to predict that Miroslav would launch a magical attack towards us to distract the demons from the injured Lars.