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nVolume 3 Chapter 129: The Leader Saw 1 (1

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nSide Roche~

n“And so, the match will be held from 3PM. The place is the plains. The exact location is visible from here and there will be spectator seats built by Ryouma. So use that as your landmark. Attendance isn’t compulsory. I’m sure there are some of you who haven’t completed your job just yet, so you can go ahead and prioritize those. But if you’re done with your work, then do drop by and watch. The rest is your responsibility. Dismissed!” Roche

nWhen the morning assembly ended, the students could be seen going about their own business. Some immediately went off somewhere, while some talked with someone else for some time.

n“Roche, can I have a sec?” Lucas

n“What’s the matter, Lucas?” Roche

n“We’re done deciding the groups for the match. Here. See if there aren’t any problems.” Lucas

nAfter receiving the document from Lucas, the names of the participants of each group of two and their specialty were written.

n“As detailed and faithful as ever… We have 10 people, so that’s 5 matches in total. I don’t see any problems in particular. We can also just follow this for the order.” Roche

n“In that case, I’ll inform the participants.” Lucas

n“I’ll leave it to you. By the way, what do you think about the students this time around?” Roche

n“Their techniques are still sloppy, but there’s a lot with a good disposition. And Ryouma is around this time too, right? Having a kid their age or younger than them working as an instructor with the adults is bound to be a concern for them. I’m sure there are a lot of students conscious about it.” Lucas

n“Yeah. But if they’re adventurers, being that confident is better.” Roche

n“Is that why you revealed Ryouma’s matter on the first day in the carriage?” Lucas

n“Well, it would have been hard for him to do his job if they looked down on him. He also didn’t seem like the type to assert himself, though his skills are the real thing.” Roche

nJust one look at his base was enough to give one an idea of how much mana he had and how skilled he was at Earth Magic.

nI’m sure there are other adults who can do the same thing.

nBut if you’re talking about kids his age, well… Finding another one capable of the same thing might prove to be difficult.

nIt gets even harder when you add the condition that they need to be able to build the house while acting as if they hadn’t spent a drop of mana.

nJust based on that he’s far and away from the usual kids his age.

nYes, completely unlike your average kid…

n“Hey, Lucas. Did you hear? Although Ryouma is like that, his magic is still just that of a ‘mage in training’, and his real specialty lies in his close combat just like us.” Roche

n“What? But in today’s match, he’s…” Lucas

n“Yeah. That’s because I asked him to join as an archer. Still, it seems like he can use all sorts of weapons. I don’t know his actual skills, but he seemed confident, so his fighting skills are probably above his magic.” Roche

n“Considering how much room he has left to grow… What a terrifying child.” Lucas

n“That’s why I’m so troubled.” Roche

n“Troubled?” Lucas

n“You know that the guild master talked to me before, right? That he asked me to make Ryouma participate?” Roche

n“Yeah.” Lucas

n“But now that I think about it, I feel like there was a strange implication there.” Roche

nHe kept explaining this and that. Like how he had enough skill and camping experience and how he’s a calm guy and stuff.

n“At the time, I thought he was just watching over a new kid like he usually does, but when I saw Ryouma himself, I started to think differently… Ryouma still doesn’t have any party members. There are many times when you have to form parties for a job on the fly. But that’s all.” Roche

n“…Is he asking us to have Ryouma party with the students? It’s true that they’re all new adventurers. Their experience should be roughly the same. But there’s a large gap in their skills. There’s no way he doesn’t understand that.” Lucas

nI get where Lucas is coming from. While having differences in the abilities between members is given within a party – after all, it’s a gathering of humans – if the difference in abilities is too great, problems will occur. That is especially true with the younger adventurers.

n“I also can’t agree with making Ryouma form a party with the students. I’m sure that person thinks so too. In that case…” Roche

nIn that case, maybe we should look at it not as getting Ryouma to form a party with others but getting others to want to form a party with him?

n“Aren’t you thinking about it too much? It hasn’t been a year since that child registered. He’s done a lot of dangerous jobs, and he also has a background of living out in the forest alone. There shouldn’t be any reason to help him get a party so quickly using such an indirect method, is there? Or is there another reason?” Lucas

n“That’s what I don’t understand.” Roche

nI don’t think it’s just my imagination, though…

n“He saved our friends, so I want to help him if possible. But we haven’t received an actual job. We have to prioritize the job at hand. The guild master hasn’t made his intentions clear either, so we have a reason not to act too… Unless he just forget to say it, anyway.” Lucas

n“Right.” Roche

nFirst, let’s prioritize the job at hand.

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