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Chapter 56, The First Step

After about a five minutes’ walk from the Guild, Leon’s party of five arrived back at the Clan House; Leon, while rubbing his belly, headed straight to the Dining Hall. Tsutomu was invited as well, but he politely declined and immediately took out a pen and a piece of paper from his Magic Bag, put the latter on a desk, then started writing down the issues the team had faced today.

“Oh, Barbara. There are a few things I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

“...What is it?”

Barbara, having realized that her position as a Knight of the Golden Tune was at stake due to her shameful display in front of Leon, looked up from her downcast face and turned her gloomy eyes to Tsutomu. She had been selected, and endorsed by the others, to take part in this project with the main party due to her level being the highest among those with Knight-type Jobs here. The results so far had branded her as the bottleneck of progress in all respects, and she was quite discouraged because of that, so much so that her massive frame looked like it was shrinking.

Looking at Barbara be like that, Tsutomu discarded all initial expectations that had stemmed from her high level and asked,

“How have you been raising your level up to now?”

“...I asked Leon to let me go along with him into the Dungeon, and it just increased as my layer progress was updated.”

“...And during the times you went, what role did you have?”

“...Luggage carrier.”

[Figures.]

Heavy Knights tended to have low DEX, so their <<Fly>> control was unavoidably clumsy, but Barbara was even worse than that standard, having crashed to the ground without any attempt at a recovery upon being caught and subsequently dropped by a Wyvern. Normally, the Carrier Birds on the fifty-first layer would force one to get better at using <<Fly>> regardless of whether or not they liked it, so it was unlikely for anyone to plunge straight down like that.

[When Barbara went to update her progress, it was probably with four other attackers, so the Carrier Birds didn’t have any chance of carrying her away... It’s still quite a surprise that she managed to reach level sixty-five doing just that, though.]

Since they’d had the Archer Diniel with them, the Carrier Birds could be neutralized easily enough while they were traveling through the air. And even if Barbara were to be caught, it was easy for one to imagine Leon rescuing her and holding her like a princess... the thought of which prompted Tsutomu to lament the facts in his mind while proceeding to write the points that needed fixing down on the paper. Although Leon was technically the ‘prince’ of Golden Tune, he also possessed the abilities of a ‘knight’ to protect his ‘princesses;’ as such, Tsutomu was convinced that some sort of change must occur in the dynamics of their relationships before things could properly proceed.

“For the time being, I have plans for you to keep training in the Dungeon, so please go get some rest and take a look at this in the meantime.”

“Ah, all right...”

Handed the sheet of paper listing points that she needed to improve, the text of which was spaced just right to make it easy to read, Barbara held the piece of paper as she walked off to the Clan House’s Dining Hall.

Next, Tsutomu called out to Eunice, who was drinking some cheap Blue Potion to regain her mental strength after repeatedly casting out her vapor-like <<Heal>. Seeing what she was drinking, Tsutomu grimaced, since it was of the beginner-catering brand that was famous for their good prices and awful quality.

“As for Eunice, I suppose you’ll have to get the long-ranged <<Heal>> down first... But you really don’t have to practice so much that you need to drink Potions, just saying.”

“It’s all right. I’ll learn to do it quickly. So once I’m able to shoot <<Heals>> properly, hurry and teach me that other stuff you did,” Eunice voiced her demand to Tsutomu while putting up with the lingering bitter taste in her mouth.

In fact, the Blue Potion Eunice had been drinking had a taste so bad that one might think it was hazardous to the human body. Despite that, each time she was about to run out of mental energy, she drank it and went straight back to casting <<Heal>>. It seemed that, having seen Tsutomu’s display of skill just now, she had felt a strong, sudden spark of motivation.

If Eunice were to learn long-ranged healing skills and some degree of support skills, her Clan might have a chance at defeating the Fire Dragon... given that the party’s four other members were level-70 Attackers with prior experience fighting against the Fire Dragon.

Beyond that layer was the Volcano biome, and at that point of progress, a team starting by leveling up to eighty, then repeatedly trying to get through by trial-and-error until they get used to it, would be too time-consuming. Naturally, the higher one’s level, the more difficult for one to raise it further, the process longer and steeper. Moreover, unlike the game, experience-multiplying items were not a thing here.

Additionally, despite one being able to raise their level up to a hundred once they reached the ninetieth layer, that was as high as it would ever go. Up to that point, one could more or less grind until their status ratings were superior to the layer bosses in the way before challenging them. For the last stretch to the hundredth layer, however, that was not doable, so the four-Attacker team composition would absolutely not be viable.

If the Clan Leader were to say that he did not need a Tank, the most Tsutomu would have done before moving on was to teach the Clan’s Healers how to use healing and support skills long-ranged. However, since Leon had originally disliked how Knight-types Jobs and White Mages were being treated, he naturally had the intention to introduce Tanks into his Clan’s ranks. Therefore, Tsutomu wanted Eunice to start out as a Healer by thinking about her skills’ utilities in relation to Tanks.

“If Leon didn’t want Tanks, I would have gone straight to teaching you everything, but that’s how things are going now, so...”

“......”

When Tsutomu mentioned Leon, Eunice seemed to have taken it as him invoking a taboo name, glaring at him and biting the neck of her Potion bottle. She proceeded to turn her head up, letting the Blue Potion flow directly into her throat, then attempted to cast <<Heal>> without replying to Tsutomu’s statement.

“<<Hea– geh!”

“...Well, there’s no need to overdo things. I’ll have another look after you’ve fiddled around with the skill for a week or so.”

Having drunk too much of the Potion, Eunice burped slightly, prompting her to hurry and clutch her mouth shut. Tsutomu, showing no concern to that, stood up and left the Clan House, buying himself something to have for an early dinner and eating them outside.

After about an hour and a half, Tsutomu returned, and was joined by Barbara as she eagerly looked over at the paper he had given her. Tsutomu proceeded to call out to Eunice, who was still practicing her <<Heal>> spell, and proposed his idea,

“So for now, why don’t we go train in the Dungeon again by ourselves?.”

“...And why exactly are we leaving Leon out?”

Eunice looked up at Tsutomu with a great deal of suspicion in her eyes, to which Tsutomu replied with a good-natured smile and an explanation,

“We can invite him along, don’t get me wrong — but we’ll be going to the first layer, you see?”

“Right from the start!?”

“Yes. Not that we’ll always be there, mind you. We’ll move on to deeper and deeper layers once Barbara has gotten used to her role.”

“...Why is there even a need to start from there now? It’s a waste of effort.”

“I think it’s better if she started her training fresh from the first layer, and besides, she’s the one who will decide whether or not it’s a waste. So, what do you think, Barbara?” Tsutomu spoke calmly, with a perpetual smile.

Having been told all that, Barbara tensed up. Having not expected him to outright recommend that she started right from the first layer, her thought was brought to a momentary halt.

Still, as Barbara had experienced it for herself in the Canyon, she knew full well that her capabilities were lacking. Although still not quite sure whether or not starting over from the first layer would be a good idea, she was reminded of what Leon used to ask her — ‘Are you satisfied with how things are now?’ ‘Are you struggling with anything?’ ‘If you want to change, then why not give this Tank thing a try?’

At that time, Barbara had been moved to tears by Leon’s concern for her, knowing that she had yet to do anything majorly helpful. Leon was greatly talented and stood among the top of the Explorers, while she was a lowly Knight who could not even make herself useful in the Dungeon.

There was an exception in the form of Garm, who could defeat more monsters than an average Attacker despite having a Knight-type Job, but watching his blood-curdling rampages through the Monitors, Barbara had always wondered how much it would take for her to get on his level, or if it would even be possible for her.

And then, when Garm had quit being an Explorer to instead walk the path of a Guild Staff Member, Barbara had fallen into despair, thinking that Knight-type Jobs no longer had a future. Nevertheless, she had always wanted to repay Leon for staying by her side, and had started searching for something useful she could do besides being an Explorer.

However, as she was a woman, she had been refused by most manual labor jobs, and even if she were to try and work as a store assistant, her strikingly large build would not be very welcoming despite her nice-looking face. In the end, she had started earning money by selling drinks near the Monitors, making use of her height to stand out.

But then, while doing so, she had seen Leon and the other party members with him being shown on Monitor #1. The three Attackers and one Healer, all women, looked like they were having so much fun; Barbara had been quite envious of them.

“I’ll do it. I don’t mind starting over from the first layer.”

Eunice was right in that this could turn out to be a waste of effort. However, as long as she could find the slightest possibility, Barbara could not bring herself to shy away from the challenge. She could not bear to stay as one who only admired the glorious ones from the sidelines.

Acknowledging the energy in her eyes, a far cry from the gloominess she had shown him earlier, Tsutomu nodded once and heaved a short sigh.

“Looks like we’ve come to an agreement. I look forward to seeing how this goes.”

“Likewise — I want to be a proper Tank, and if that’s what I need to do, I’ll do it.”

“Yes, I understand. And Eunice, what about you?”

With Barbara fully motivated now, Tsutomu turned to Eunice and saw that her fluffy tail was wagging, signifying increased vigilance.

“...I can’t let anything happen to Barbara. I’m going.”

“Let’s hurry, then. <<Heal>>,” Tsutomu replied to Eunice and raised his index finger, generating a sphere of magical energy on its tip, prompting the latter to grind her teeth in annoyance, her fox ears standing upright.

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