After the hunt, we came to the Adventurer's Association.
　I've been doing a lot of things today since this morning, so it's already nearly evening after just returning from hunting kobolds.
　But still........I was surprised at Sisha's fighting power. If it's equipped for recovery, then what happens when you equip it for combat.......

　I reported the request accomplished, and Sisha's adventurer rank was successfully upgraded to F.
　And now that my business was done, I was heading towards the entrance to the inn for the day. A group of four people who looked familiar just entered the association.
　The young man in the front of the group comes up to us when he notices us.

''Isn't that Esther?''

　Dius. You're the first to call out to Esther as usual, aren't you?
　It's not a good idea to be suspicious of this guy maybe........no, it's not a good idea to be suspicious.

''Oh, it's been a while.''

Yeah. More importantly ... isn't he there?　And are those two of you new members?

　Contrary to my expectations, he asks if I'm not there. Then he sees me and Sisha in my armor and asks if I'm his new companion.
　Huh?　I thought he was going to recruit Esther as usual, but it looks like he's not.
　But still, you can't tell it's me. I'm sure you'll notice because of the raggedy cloth she's wearing.

Hey, Dius!

Okura?　What's the matter with you, dressed like that?

No, it's...

　When I raised my hand to call Dius, he looked like he wanted to say what the hell are you doing.......
　So I told him that I was going to try playing the role of a shield from now on........

'I see, it's certainly a good idea. But.........isn't it about time you started dressing like that?　Don't go out at night, okay?

Is it that bad?

　Dius looks at me with eyes like he's looking at someone slightly pitiful.
　What the hell, this makes me look like a freak. I've put away the crowbar and pot lid, and I'm currently dressed normally in rags, full-face armor and sneakers.

'Brother, when did we become friends?'

'Yeah, we met up for a little business the other day. Speaking of which, aren't you going to recruit Esther again?

　As I twisted my head around to think, Esther approached me.
　We'd talked about it when I was handing her the Stinger material and I was getting to know her, but then she and the girls had sent her shopping, I guess.
　That would seem to make them all of a sudden become friends, wouldn't it?

'I guess I was in a bit of a hurry, too. I'm really sorry about what happened then.

　After the game, he was even more provocative, but apparently he bowed his head to me to see if he was really sorry.
　At the time, I was definitely pissed off, but now that I think about it, this guy must have had something going on with him too.
　Well, I ended up backing down on whether or not to bet Esther and made it a money game, and maybe he had something in mind.

"Nole?

'I am not yet forgiven, sir. Phew, that's right.

　I watch with admiration, but Noll still can't seem to forgive me.
　She hasn't even tried to look at him at all since he arrived and has been looking elsewhere. It's really rare for her to act like this.
　I always thought she was a cheerful person and didn't care much about this kind of thing, but maybe she's the one who cares more than expected?

...Haha, you don't like me very much, do you?

'I think you had it coming.　You're always going off the rails.

Ugh, I'm sorry...

　He laughs dryly, feeling self-deprecating at Noor's blatant dislike of him.
　Then Dius' party member, a bowman girl, joins the conversation.
　She's wearing a black bow and black armor in places, but she appears to be quite lightly armed. Is that black stuff made from a stinger's shell?
　Nevertheless, her tone of voice gives a bright impression of her. Her orange, semi-long hair looks great on her.

''Okura-san.......wasn't it?　I'm Miggle. I'm sorry that Dius' idiot bothered you the other day. I didn't stop him either, so I'm just as guilty...

Yes, it's Okura. It's true that I was in trouble at the time, but it's already done, so please don't worry about it.

　The only time we saw each other was at the game, but I wonder if the party members cared?
　I mean, he always goes off the rails..........I'm a little curious what this guy has been up to now.

　And after conversing with Miggle-chan, I decided to greet the other members to introduce them each.

'Sumika here.......nice to meet you.......'

...it's Gauss.

　The priest's daughter is Sumika. She may be shy, but she is somewhat frightened and whispering. She has short brown hair and is dressed in a costume, which looks quite good on her.
　And the other one is a man in black armor who made a short speech. Is he a taciturn person?
　I couldn't see him before because he was wearing a helmet, but he has short brown hair. Looking at his face, he looks quite a bit older than Dius and the others. He is taller than me and has a tremendous sense of intimidation. This is a shield role that seems to be dependable.

It's a good thing that you've found another beautiful woman. I would love to learn more about your recruiting skills.

'Haha but more importantly, I haven't seen you lately, where have you been?'

Yeah, I'm just here to get an escort.

　After a quick hello, I decided to talk to Dius.
　He asked me where I found him again, but I laughed and falsely distracted him from the conversation. And I can't tell him it's from the gacha.

　I had been going to the association quite a bit before I summoned Sisha, but I hadn't seen her at all recently. Had she gone far away with her request for an escort?

''Hn~, Esther-chan is still so cute.

'It's nice to hear you say I'm pretty, but I wish you'd stop cuddling me.

Oh, no!

　Noll and the others had gathered to converse with the ladies over there.
　I heard a voice and suddenly looked over to see Esther being hugged by Miggle-chan.
　Hmm, I still like that kind of thing. Even Dius next to me is looking at it with a loose face.

It's a good time to ask Gauss-san for some tips on playing a shield or something.

I don't want to say no but I wouldn't recommend it, would you?

　It's something that we met here, and that's just fine.
　In the meantime, I check with Dius, the leader of the group, but he doesn't give me a very good answer.
　Is there something wrong with it?　You say you don't recommend it but I'm just going to ask and it's not a problem, right?

Excuse me.

Yeah.

If you'd like, I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how to play the shield...

　I call out to him as he sits alone at the table having a drink after he finishes his greeting and I get a short reply.
　I'm scared, I'm scared. I can hear the awesomeness in a low voice.

"...Fine. I'm going to teach you what being a shield is all about.

　I was scared of what kind of response I would get, but he accepted it surprisingly easily.
　Oh, he's not quite as nice as he looks?　Sisha was the same way, but you shouldn't judge someone by their appearance.

''First of all, do you have any idea what it takes to be a good shield player?''

'Well the first thing is to protect it?　And to endure the pain, etc.

　
　Also, as Noll said, you have to endure the pain. It would be bad enough if you're protecting him, but the pain would make you lose focus and let him pass behind you without holding him.

'If that's all you can get out, it means you're only getting a vague impression.

　He put the drink in his hand on the table, took a breath and looked straight at me.
　

'Figure out how well I can handle the shield role. The most dangerous thing for the party is to find out how much you can do as a shield and avoid holding on to it recklessly. The most dangerous thing for the party is for the shield player to drop out and free the enemy, which will cause the party to collapse. It will cause the party to fall apart.

　Hmmm, I see. If I had to catch all the enemies from one side to the other, there's a chance I wouldn't be able to recover in time and would be crushed.
　And if all the enemies that I was catching in the middle of the battle swarmed in at once, the party might be wiped out.

Then there's the priority. Which enemies to hold and which ones to flush around. Get this wrong and your friends will be harmed.

　Does that mean you leave enemies you don't have to hold to yourself to your allies?　That way, I don't have to hold on recklessly.
　But it's also hard to determine which one I should hold myself back from in case I make a mistake.
　In my case, there's a status app, so I'll just use that as a guide.

The other thing I need to do is to figure out where I am with my friends while I'm stranded. It's important not to get in the way and block your allies' attacks. This is something we can think about as we go through this ourselves.

　This isn't going to be done overnight........
　If I imagined it, I could picture me moving weirdly and getting shot from behind by Estelle.

'And........like you said in the beginning, endure the pain. Your armor will be shattered, and sometimes you'll get a direct attack on your flesh. Don't be proud of your armor because you have it on.

　You're telling me not to relax because of your defensive capabilities. It's true that when I fought Kobold, I thought for a second that my attacks couldn't get through anyway.
　If I'm going to play the role of a shield, I have to let go of this kind of thinking and be prepared for an attack to go through at any time, right?
　Ah....................Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.

''There will be unexpected attacks, sudden pain and so on. But it's important to endure it. The pain that makes you cry out madly, the burning sensation, the fuzzy consciousness is dispelled and endured. Ahhh.........that's when I know I'm most alive. If you also want to be a shield, you should be able to understand this feeling.

　Hmm?　I don't know, you look a little strange.
　He had been talking calmly earlier, but gradually his words started to become strained.
　Then, as if he should be able to understand the feelings, he puts his hand on my shoulder.

''Uh ... well ... just ...

"...you know what I mean.　Now, join me in walking with me to the unseen frontier.

　His eyes that stare at me seem to be very heated.
　Oh shit, he's a bad person. You know, the one who feels alive in pain, who has a screw loose somewhere!
　Oh no, I don't want to be like him.
　I tried to move backwards to escape, but Gauss-san's hand grabbed me and I couldn't move.

What is that, sir?

'Uh, so I told you...'

　Before I knew it, Noll was looking at me, and Dius was looking at me and saying something.
　What?　This is what I meant by not recommending it!


●

　For the next few minutes, I was told what a great experience the shield role would be.
　Well I guess it's a bit of a world I can't keep up with.
　What kind of pain the blows, the slashes, the stabbings, the stunting, the status quo, and all the rest of it is. I was mentally challenged by listening to it at length.

''Well, let's just go to bed today... I'm so tired.

　We've already returned to the inn and finished eating and other things, and now it's time to sleep.
　We ended up in the same room with four of us, and I was about to pull out my sleeping bag to sleep on the floor by myself.

'Yeah, right. Well then, brother, why don't you come sleep with me?

Yes, that's right. Now, come on, get over here. Hurry, hurry, hurry!

　Before they could do so, the two of them stopped it.
　Esther sits on the same bed as Sisha and Noor sits on the other bed and bang, bang, bang.
　She has Moffitt on her lap, staring at me like he's doing a good job. You're on that side too!

'No, I'll sleep on the floor. I've already got a sleeping bag for you.

　We can manage to stay in the same room, but as expected, sleeping in the same bed together is impossible.

"Okura-san sleeps on the floor and we sleep on the bed........no, that's not possible.

Yeah, I know. Come on, bro. Come here.

　Even Sisha starts to join in, and even Esther gets on board.
　I mean, you don't think you're going to sleep with the three of us over there, do you?

So, Okura-dono, you get to choose who you want to sleep with here.

　I looked at the remaining Nolls before I knew it, as if calling for help. Then he dropped a hell of a bomb on me.

'No, just ... seriously, please don't do this.'

　Stop it! Stop it!　I'm dying to choose someone here.
　Seriously, really, let's stop tormenting me any more, and if you ask me to choose one of the three of them I'm afraid of what's to come.

"Okura-dono you don't want to sleep with us, do you?

'No, it's not. It's not, but...

Then it's good, right?

'Right. Okura-san, you'd better hurry up and choose who you want, right?

　Noll asked in a fading voice if he didn't like it.
　I wish you wouldn't do that, it makes my heart hurt.
　The two remaining people also seem to be urging me to reply, as if they are somehow intimidating me.

　Seriously, what the hell is this.......I'm scared. I can't believe you're asking me to choose between these two........

''.........I'm sorry, please don't really give me a break.

　In the end, the action I took was to get down on my knees deeply and ask for forgiveness.
　So it managed to go away this time, but if this kind of thing continues in the future, I'll die.
　I'll move to another room tomorrow... but I'm lonely and I'm somewhat embarrassed to go to the room with my girlfriends if I'm alone in another room.
　What should I do.........