Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Member Ryu has joined the party channel~

Stopping at the alley exit, Izay chuckled awkwardly as he looked at the figure before him.

“Guess I’ve made a fool of myself in front of Miss Ryu.”

In front of him, at the alley’s exit, stood a young elven girl holding a large paper bag.

Underneath her green tresses lay features that were almost too perfect, and her slender, pointed ears caught the eye.

Her sky-blue almond-shaped eyes gazed into the alley, clearly having witnessed everything that had just occurred.

“Not at all, Mr. Izay. I merely heard some commotion from the alley and decided to check it out unintentionally.”

“Unintentional… check…”

Izay repeated the elf girl’s words but couldn’t help but glance downward, towards the chest area hidden under her clothes and the large paper bag.

The small sheathed knife still held in the girl’s hand seemed to silently narrate something…

Noticing Izay’s peculiar gaze, Ryu couldn’t help but lower her own eyes as well. Upon seeing what she was holding, even the air seemed to grow silent.

“…”

“So, uh, the weather is really nice today~”

“Hmm…”

“Why is Miss Ryu here? Did you come to buy something?”

Eventually, Izay broke the awkward atmosphere.

“I came out to purchase items for the shop, mainly ingredients. There are many customers, so someone needs to prepare daily.”

“While walking earlier, I happened to see Mr. Izay surrounded by people. I wanted to help, but then I realized my worry was unnecessary—Mr. Izay has grown stronger very quickly…”

Since it wasn’t anything embarrassing, Ryu took the step Izay provided and answered frankly, also explaining why she had a knife in her hand earlier.

During these past half-months, frequently dragged by Loki to visit restaurants, Izay had more or less befriended several beautiful teenage waitresses at the Abundance Goddess’ inn.

Conversely, these waitresses also knew about Izay.

A newcomer adventurer who became an adventurer only half a month ago.

Typically, adventurers grow strong at a snail’s pace, not much different from a turtle crawling.

Unaware of Izay’s uniqueness, upon accidentally discovering him surrounded in the alley, Ryu personally wanted to help him out.

However, just as she grabbed the knife, she saw Izay swiftly dealing with those fallen adventurers who came to rob. Thus, the previous scene unfolded.

“Very fast? Maybe…”

Hearing Ryu’s comment, Izay responded nonchalantly.

It’s true that his ability values increased rapidly, but now, he was still chasing after others.

After all, he became an adventurer quite late.

Others began receiving divine blessings and started hunting monsters in dungeons since childhood.

And Izay waited until he became an adult.

Well, there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Shaking his head slightly, Izay stopped himself from thinking about such things. Regardless, focusing on the present is important.

He glanced at Ryu beside him, whose expression was somewhat complicated, and a wolf-like smile appeared on his lips as he looked at the lamb.

“Speaking of which, Miss Ryu, weren’t you once an adventurer? And a powerful one at that?”

“What are you implying, Mr. Izay?”

Upon hearing this, Ryu, who was initially pleasant, immediately furrowed her eyebrows and stared at Izay.

“Just hold on! Don’t get angry yet! I got some information from Loki, and I didn’t mean anything by it. To be precise, I wanted to ask for your help…”

As expected by Izay, the elf girl was sensitive about such topics.

But he had already prepared how to persuade—not deceive—his potential teammate, so he immediately used the excuse he thought of just now.

“The Goddess Loki, huh…”

Muttering this name, Ryu’s slight suspicion quickly disappeared.

She personally had a good impression of Izay. He possessed a unique charm, and his eloquent speech was like someone highly educated.

Ignoring his occasional mischievous thoughts, Izay was undoubtedly a great friend, and Ryu trusted him.

Besides, if it was a deity, especially Loki, knowing the situation of the inn wouldn’t seem strange.

“Achoo!!!” Loki, who was still on the upper floor of the Central Tower of Twilight Manor, suddenly sneezed.

Confused, she rubbed her nose and muttered, “Who’s thinking about me?”

……

“Help? Why would you ask me? Judging by our relationship, shouldn’t the first person Mr. Izay thinks of for help be Aniya? Or at least Kuroi?”

Ryu retracted her sharp gaze and asked curiously.

After all, in terms of their relationship, the two catgirls who often played around with Izay were definitely closer than her.

“Uh… those two cats hate dungeons. I don’t think they’d agree to help…”

Izay scratched his head and honestly expressed his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, confusion flashed in Ryu’s sky-blue eyes.

“Dungeons? What exactly does Mr. Izay mean by ‘help’?”

“Uh… regarding dungeon exploration and my level-up matters. Perhaps looking at these will make it easier for you to understand.”

Since they were in the alley and there were few people around, there was no need to worry about being overheard. Those robbers had already been knocked unconscious by Izay, so there was no chance of accidental eavesdropping.

Izay led Ryu further into the alley and explained everything to her in detail.

Ten minutes later…

“So, Mr. Izay is considering the ‘great achievement’ experience for leveling up and plans to hunt the enhanced variant of the winged dragon in the middle layer, thus needing a team, correct?”

After listening to Izay’s explanation, Ryu, now understanding the concept of ‘help,’ maintained a calm expression as she spoke.

Her tone sounded like she was reading a script.

“Yeah, that’s right…”

Because the elf girl remained calm throughout the entire story, Izay couldn’t help but admire her in his heart and nodded.

“Ah, I see. Is your joke finished, Mr. Izay? If so, I’ll take my leave for now; the shop is waiting for me to deliver the ingredients.”

Meeting the criteria for level-up within half a month, planning to form a team to go to the middle layer, intending to solo a winged dragon ‘enhanced variant’ conservatively estimated to be Level 2 Upper Class.

Any one of these things would be absurd when placed on a novice adventurer, let alone all three concentrated on one person?

It was understandable that Ryu’s first reaction was that Izay was joking.

“…”

What a guy.

Earlier, Izay thought that Ryu was truly impressive for remaining so calm after hearing such a thing.

Turns out she simply didn’t believe him at all.

Tricked!

“Wait! Ryu, I’m serious!”

Seeing the girl’s intention to leave, Izay quickly grabbed her wrist.

“I’m not joking!!!”

Sensing his genuine seriousness, Ryu tilted her face and met Izay’s gaze.

After a while, the girl averted her eyes and softly spoke.

“I understand… So when? When does Mr. Izay plan to go?”

True or false, once they enter the dungeon, everything will become clear.

With this mindset, Ryu accepted Izay’s invitation to form a team.