No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

Unlike the Octopus Chimpanzee Wolfgang, the other party member was an ordinary-looking person.

“I’m Laute. Nice to meet you.”

A tall woman with dark gray hair cut short like a man’s. Her somewhat blunt appearance was marked by a small earring dangling from her right ear.

She wore a brown quilted armor over a tanned leather breastplate.

Her gloves and boots were made of hardened leather as well, and at her waist, there hung a Northern-style one-handed sword and a mace.

In her left hand, she held a wooden round shield.

Judging by her armed state, she seemed like a typical northern-style sword and shield warrior…

This is tricky.

A close-range tank equipped with both a shield and a one-handed weapon. In short, a perfect downgrade of Kikel.

Even if a plate-armored warrior has decent strength, can she match even a Lizardman?

If she had excellent technique, it would be different, but seeing her with a shield, she seemed to prefer straightforward blocking and thrusting tactics, so I didn’t expect much in terms of skill either.

“Nice to meet you. Mr. Wolfgang, Ms. Laute. I’m Hilde. This here is Kikel.”

Of course, even if I felt uncertain about my party, I had to maintain courtesy as fellow adventurers. I nodded to them, introducing myself and Kikel.

“I’m Kikel Greg! Nice to meet you!”

“…Huh?”

The two—no, Laute and the Octopus Chimpanzee—looked visibly bewildered by Kikel’s manner of speaking.

Well, when I first heard him, it was incredibly hard to understand what he was saying, so why would they be any different?

“He’s saying that he’s happy to meet you. Kikel struggles a bit with our language.”

“Oh, is that what he meant?”

When I stepped in as the Lizardman interpreter and explained Kikel’s words, Wolfgang and Laute finally seemed to understand, nodding and smiling.

◆◆

After a brief introduction, we immediately rented a cart to head toward the mining village mentioned in our request form. It was just a bit too far to walk.

To our surprise, while rattling around in the cart and discussing our tactics, Wolfgang turned out to be a fighting trash, and Laute was a sword and shield warrior.

This was truly heart-wrenching, as I had hoped for a different party composition.

Seriously, is this a real party combo?

Three warriors and an Octopus Chimpanzee.

Four adventurers gathered, yet there wasn’t a single ranged attacker among them.

At least Kikel could serve as a sort of radar, and since we were only dealing with spiders, it was manageable. If that weren’t the case, I would have no choice but to suffer the consequences and cancel the request.

Ideally, adventurer parties should enhance their adaptability through diverse compositions, complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Filling the party with a single job—especially just warriors—should be avoided at all costs.

If we happened upon a situation where we couldn’t swing our swords up close or encountered undead like specters that ordinary swords couldn’t defeat, we’d probably be wiped out in an instant.

After finishing our tactical discussion, casual conversation followed.

Despite devolving into an Octopus, Wolfgang still seemed capable of speaking and shared various jokes with Kikel, laughing away.

“—The moment I faced the sun! An endless courage began to swell in my heart…! With a firm roar, I charged at them! They seemed so crushed by my enthusiasm that they couldn’t even open their eyes and started stumbling back! So, I….”

“Kakak! Kakak!”

Rather than feeling crushed by enthusiasm, it seemed more like the reflected sunlight had dazzled him, causing him to flinch. Thinking about it, being bald may have its advantages.

Not only could they blind their opponents when fighting with their backs turned to the sun, but they could also affect their sight by facing the sun directly.

But hey, if you’re going to stop being human, you might as well have some perks.

Unlike vampires who turn to ashes when exposed to sunlight after gaining immense power, these Octopus people made the sun their ally, turning their roots to ashes instead…!

Anyway, he was quite a talkative guy.

I wondered if the goddess took away his intelligence and devolved him to an Octopus Chimpanzee in exchange for his sociable personality and eloquence.

On the other hand, Laute seemed a bit reserved, never making the first move in conversation.

“Do you know Mr. Wolfgang well, Ms. Laute?”

“No. This is my first time meeting him.”

She was definitely not mute; she managed to answer my question, at least.

◆◆

An hour later, we finally arrived at the small mining village.

Although it was called a mine, it didn’t seem to yield anything particularly valuable, and the village was barely larger than a makeshift settlement.

“Welcome! You are the adventurers who came to help with the mining, right?”

The village chief was surprisingly young for the position.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties and seemed like he’d prefer to wield a pen rather than a pickaxe.

“Yes. We are the plate-armored adventurers who received the guild’s request. Please check this request form.”

After showing the request form to verify our identity, the chief led us to his home, treated us to a meal, and explained the details of the request.

What we were served for the meal was boiled chicken, potato stew, and baked bread.

Wolfgang and Laute expressed their gratitude to the chief and soaked their bread in the stew, while Kikel gaped and devoured a whole chicken.

As for me? I declined, saying I wasn’t hungry.

While the chief might just be hospitable, it was also possible he had some ulterior motives regarding the food.

The other three party members had carelessly dug in, so I had to keep my guard up for their sake.

Let’s face it, even in my former world, it was often said you could get your nose bitten off if you closed your eyes; how much worse could it be in this chaotic world?

Ethics and morality were nothing more than crude jokes in this realm.

From my experiences, this world was a purgatory where one could get their throat slit or end up pregnant if they let their guard down.

So instead of touching any food, I spent my time conversing with the chief.

It turned out the young man in front of me had only taken on the role of chief about a month ago.

He was just a regular bureaucrat, but due to being the only child of the previous chief, he was inexplicably burdened with the chief’s position.

I found it a bit amusing that the chief’s position could be hereditary.

If you’re going to appoint someone just because they’re the previous chief’s child rather than a miner, why not pick the most capable old miner left instead?

It wasn’t like it was a title of nobility; it was merely the representative of the village.

“So, did the previous chief pass away?”

“Yes. He went deep into the mine and encountered a giant spider….”

He became spider food.

“Ah… I’m sorry to hear that. It must be distressing.”

I expressed my condolences quietly. It was common courtesy to honor the deceased and their family.

Considering my biological father had been slain by a spider not long ago, it was only natural that he would be profoundly affected.

“Oh, it’s okay. The villagers don’t know, but honestly, he wasn’t that great of a father.”

The chief chuckled awkwardly.

“When I said I would rather be a bureaucrat than a miner, he almost bashed my head in with a pickaxe. I’ve always hated spiders, but now I find myself warming up to them.”

Oh, really…?

His comments left me momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond.

“Then, why the request for extermination…?”

Laute, who had been looking at the chief with similarly bewildered eyes as I had, lifted an eyebrow and asked.

Why would a man thankful for the spider that consumed his father request to wipe them all out?

“Haha. Even if I find them somewhat endearing, they’re still a nuisance, impacting my harvest! They’ve taken over the mine, and we can’t extract any ore, so our income has dried up.”

So, it boiled down to money problems.

While inheriting the mine because the previous chief died was good, it became problematic since it was packed with spiders, making it impossible to profit.

That’s why this chief had put in a request to the guild.

◆◆

Thus, we wrapped up our lunch meeting with the client.

It was a beneficial conversation that clarified the reasons for the spider extermination request and the circumstances surrounding the young chief’s appointment.

Yes, it was undoubtedly a valuable discussion, but having heard it all, new questions arose in my mind.

Questions that I couldn’t even dare to ask the chief.

Was it really true that his father, the previous chief, had died at the hands of the giant spider?

As a non-detective, I had no way of knowing.

“What do you think?”

So I laid my hypothesis out before Kikel, asking for his thoughts.

“I don’t know. Not our business.”

Kikel’s answer was as succinct as ever. Yet it hit the nail right on the head.

Indeed, our job was to wipe out all the spiders in the mine and return.

Whether the previous chief died from a spider bite or was murdered by his son seeking the mine, it wasn’t our concern.

Unless, of course, a request came down to investigate the truth of the incident.

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