After a simple breakfast, my girlfriends and I departed for Ravenwell. So far, there is no news related to the dungeons, but literally everyone there is talking about it.

   “When are they going to let us explore those dungeons? I’m dying to find out what’s in there!”

   “You could try and sneak in.”

   “Are ya crazy? If I was caught, I'd be thrown to jail! Or worse!”

   “That reminds me. The knights who’re in charge of guarding the entrance are given free rein on how to deal with intruders.”

   “Yup, definitely not worth it.”

   My girlfriends and I ignore the commotion and head straight to the reception counter where Karin-san is waiting.

   “Good morning to all of you.” The friendly receptionist greets us. “Are you here for some quests?”

   “We are. Do you have something for us?” I ask her.

   “Hmm, the average Level of your party is rather all over the place, so it’s hard to say. Please give me a moment.”

   Karin-san messed with the Menu she opened for a while. When she’s finally done, she presents us with four quests.

   “I recommend these three. All of them are rather beginner-friendly, so you could test the waters with them.” she informs me.

   I look at each one carefully. One of them needs someone to gather some rare herbs found only in snowy mountains. Another is about a farmer who’s tired of low-level Daemons thrashing his farm and wants those pests exterminated. Lastly, guard duty at the local port. This one requires the adventurers who accepted it to remain for at least one month.

   “So, what do you all think?” I ask the girls.

   “The guard duty’s out, that’s for sure.” Kaede says. “One month is way too long.”

   “True. We’re trying to get real battle experience, not a job.” I agree.

   “This is personal, but I don’t do well in cold places.” Maya states out.

   “Neither am I. I guess the gathering quest isn’t for us either.”

   “Which leaves the extermination quest.” Ichika says.

   “I guess we’re getting this one. Anyone have any objections?”

   None of them do.

   “We’ll be doing this one, please.” I tell Karin-san while pointing at the quest.

   “Certainly.”

   With this, the girls and I have officially accepted the quest. Now, the only thing left is to head to Grimmond Farm, where our client is waiting for us.

   “How far is this Grimmond Farm from here?” I ask Karin-san.

   “If you go by foot, it will take you half a day. Riding in a horse carriage, on the other hand, cuts down the time by half.” comes the reply.

   “I guess we have to hire a horse carriage, then. Where can we find one?”

   “There is a carriage stand near the South Gate.”

   “South Gate, huh? Thank you so much.”

   Just as we were about to leave the guild, Khriswell entered the building.

   “G-Good morning, everyone.” She greets us timidly and once again without looking at any of us.

   “Morning, Khriswell.” I greet back nonchalantly. “The four of us are going on a quest right now. Wanna join us?”

   “I would love to. However, I feel like I should tell you something about myself first.”

   “Yeah?”

   “I, well, I’m terrible at close combat, and I can’t use any attack type magic. The only thing I excel at is healing magic.”

   “It doesn’t matter at all. If anything, we’ll be relying on you to heal our wounds so that the rest of us can concentrate on our fight. Right, girls?”

   All my girlfriends nod their heads in agreement.

   “Besides, unlike a certain vampire, you’ve probably worked hard to master your healing magic.” I add.

   “I do too! I’ve spent hours on learning the spells!” the said vampire protests.

   “And who was the one who whined at me and said that she can’t wait for hours just to learn some spells?”

   Maya looks away guiltily while whistling softly.

   “Anyway, that’s how it is. We’re not bothered one bit that you can’t fight at the front line.” I tell Khriswell.

   “We will swear that we will do anything to protect you from harm.” Ichika assures.

   “In that case, I’m happy to join you.” Khriswell says to us while bowing.

   “Great. We’ll need to hire a horse carriage first near the South Gate, so let’s head there first.”

   We found the carriage station without any issue and got us a horse carriage with the capacity to transport six people. After I paid the coachman, we’re all set to Grimmond Farm.

   While we’re traveling, I brief Khriswell on the quest we took.

   “...And that’s the gist of our quest.” I said after I was done with the briefing.

   “I see, so it’s an extermination quest. I suppose taking down those Daemons that attack the farm itself won’t be much of an issue, considering the average Levels of this party. What I worry about is the next part.”

   “There’s a next part?”

   “Oh, yes. Most of the time, these Daemons were ordered by a stronger Daemon to head outside their nest and look for food or cause mayhem. The regular tactic used by the human parties in charge of exterminating them involves letting one escape on purpose so that it would lead them to its nest. There were several instances where this tactic was being used against the humans and a trap was laid in wait, hence my worry.”

   I beam at her. “See? You’re not as useless as you think yourself is. Your experience in joining lots of parties might end up saving us one day.”

   “Oh, I’m not so sure about that. My experience is next to nothing when compared to the veteran adventurers.” Khriswell says hesitantly.

   “And ours is zero without you around, so stop looking down on yourself.”

   “I, I’ll try…”

   After this, the conversation has died down completely. Since no one is saying anything, the atmosphere inside the carriage is getting more and more awkward. I suppose I should be the one who initiates a conversation, but there’s no way an introvert like me can do it without prior practice. Out of ideas, I locked eyes with Ichika, who happened to be sitting right opposite me. Thankfully, she understood exactly what I needed.

   “What do you usually do in order to pass the time, Khriswell?” she asks Khriswell.

   The timid priestess flinched. She probably wasn’t expecting someone to speak to her out of the blue.

   “I go out and do volunteer work.” she replied after a few seconds of hesitation. “Soup kitchens, hospitals, and adventurers’ guilds are some of the places that I frequent the most.”

   “I could never understand the point of doing free work.” Maya mumbles. “No offense.”

   Khriswell smiles. “None taken. After all, everyone has to earn their living. Still, I recommend doing it every once in a while. I can’t explain it properly using words, but helping out others without asking for something in return can be good for your soul.”

   “Perhaps all of us could gather and help out one of these days.” Ichika suggests.

   I look at her with a dreaded expression on my face. Maya is also staring at Ichika with a similar look.

   “Do we really have to?” we happened to ask at the same time.

   “Come now, you two! This is for the community!” Ichika chides.

   “I don’t mind doing it, but I’ll at least ask for a simple meal after I’m done helping.”

   “As for me, I’ll be doing whatever that needs to be done while avoiding talking to others as much as possible.”

   “Maya aside, you should learn from Khriswell, Kotaro. She is awkward around others as well, and yet she is doing her best.”

   Khriswell chuckled awkwardly. Something tells me that she’s doing her best in avoiding other volunteers when she’s helping out as well.

   “What about your hobby, Khriswell-san? Don’t you have anything that you love to do?” Maya asked all of a sudden.

   She probably asked the question to change the topic of volunteering. Either way, Khriswell answered it.

   “I love to tend to gardens. I especially like clearing weeds.” she replied.

   …Wow, just wow. This girl is too pure for this world.

   “What kind of food do you like?” Maya asks next.

   “Kotaro here is very good at cooking. He can whip up anything you want.” Kaede adds.

   I was about to give a “Why me?” I looked at Kaede before I realized that she’s just looking out for me, that she’s helping me to get as much information on Khriswell as possible directly from the source.

   “Hmm, I don’t have any likes or dislikes in particular when it comes to food. However, I do find vegetable stew with cream delicious.” Khriswell replied.

   “...Vegetable stew? Really? What about meat?” Maya asks.

   Khriswell shakes her head vigorously.

   “No. Um, I don’t eat meat.” she replied with a tiny hint of fear in her voice.

   My girlfriends and I looked at each other and nodded at the same time. This is a delicate subject for Khriswell, so we’re not going to bring it up ever again until she’s ready for it. It’s really easy for us to give each other eye signals since Khriswell has never looked us in the eye ever since we bumped into each other at the guild.

   And no, I have no idea about her history with meat. As I mentioned before, I had to begin this journey before I could unlock her. As a result, I don’t really know much about her.

   “What about desserts, then?” I ask instead.

   Thankfully, my question managed to distract her.

   “I like a good tiramisu.” Khriswell replied like nothing was wrong.

   “You heard her, senpai. Make sure to bake one after we get back.” Maya says to me as she pats my right shoulder.

   “For your information, you don’t bake a tiramisu. It’s meant to be cold from start to finish. But sure, I can make one.”

   “You don’t have to force yourself, Kotaro-san!” Khriswell says hurriedly.

   “It’s fine. We were planning to celebrate once we were done with this anyway. Might as well have a classy dessert or two.”

   “W-Well, if you insist…”

   Khriswell is trying her best to sound as reluctant as possible, but the drool that’s coming out from the corner of her mouth isn’t fooling anyone.

   By the time we reached Grimmond Farm, the sun was ready to set. All of us were welcomed by the owners of the farm, Richard Grimmond and his wife Carla. Both of them looked like they’re in their late fifties. The farm itself is around the same size as a small park. There’s a small barn, a corn field, a rice field, and a two-floored house that the couple are living at. I hear some faint clucking coming from the farm, indicating that there are chickens being kept inside.

   The barn and the fields are in terrible conditions. All the windows of the barn have been roughly boarded up with nails and planks. There are at least two holes on it which received the same treatment as the windows. As for the fields, more than half of the crops were destroyed, while the remaining ones are barely ready to be harvested.

   “Thank you all for coming. We really appreciate it.” Richard-san says to us after we’ve introduced ourselves to each other. “The critters usually arrive after the sky has gone dark, so I’m afraid that you don’t have much time to prepare.”

   “We’re ready to fight them at any moment.” I assure him. “By the way, are the two of you the only ones who live here?”

   “That’s right. We have three other kids, but all of them have started their own families and have moved to nearby cities and towns.” the farmer replies.

   “There isn't anyone living near us either.” his wife adds.

   “I guess we don’t have to worry about others while we're busy, then. It’s going to become very chaotic once the fighting begins, so please wait inside your house until all this is over. Kaede, please go with them and act as a guard just in case.”

   “Roger that.”

   “The rest of you, let’s go.”

   I take a quick look around and decide to wait for the Daemons in front of the barn. Most Daemons are known to be carnivores, so they’re probably looking forward to feasting on chicken meat once they arrive.

   “Let’s get into formation before they arrive. Khriswell, stand in the middle. Ichika-senpai, Maya and I will form a triangle around you and watch over three directions.” I instruct. “This way, we’ll be ready no matter which directions the Daemons come from. Once the fighting begins, Ichika-senpai, you and I will be the main fighting force.”

   “Understood.”

   “Khriswell, you’re in charge of healing and casting Bright. Make sure that you stay close to Ichika-senpai and/or me at all times.”

   “I-I understand.”

   “Maya, you’re in support. Fly around and distract the Daemons as best as you can. You can attack, but try not to go all out. Your main role is acting as a distraction and assisting the rest of us in case we get into a sticky situation.”

   “Roger that.”

   “Anyone have any suggestions or questions? No? Good. Now all we need to do is wait. I just hope we don’t have to wait for too long.”

   My wish was granted, and the Daemons appeared mere five minutes after we formed our formation. They arrived in a drove, all growling and screeching and weren’t even trying to be discreet. Khriswell has cast Bright, a spell meant to illuminate dark areas, so we could see them clearly. I did a quick head count and counted fifteen of them.

   In this game, the Daemons are classified into seven classes: Slaves, Soldiers, Captains, Generals, Knights, Marquis, and Demon Lords. I don’t have time to go through all the classes right now, nor is it relevant. The only thing you have to know for now is that high classes mean higher status and intelligence. Except Knights. They’re the category that’s the most difficult to classify in the game.

   From my past experiences in playing the game, I could tell that all of them are Soldiers. They generally look like goblins. Instead of green skin, theirs is purple. Their height is around four to five feet. They have black long unruly hair, red eyes, pointy nose and ears, and long curved teeth. Their equipment is pitiful, to say the least. They’re wearing helmets and armors made of tree branches. A few have a shield made from tree trunks strapped to their arm. As for weapons, a few are holding metallic clubs, some are wielding rusty short swords, and most of them are using short iron spears.

   I took a quick look at their status using a spell called Appraisal. Their average levels are somewhere between ten to twenty. They’re nowhere as threatening to us with Ichika around. Still, it’s stupid and suicidal to underestimate an enemy, especially with their numbers. Best to be careful.

   I brought out one of my four Gravitas from my storage and took up a stance. All in all, I still prefer to use the two-handed sword version, which was why I separated them. Ichika has Masamune in her hands, and Maya has her Crimson Slashers on her back.

   “Remember what I said just now, Khriswell. Stay close to one of us at all times.” I tell Khriswell without looking away from the Soldiers.

   “Yes!”

   One of the soldiers that’s wielding a sword charges at me while screeching like a wild beast. I intercepted his attack calmly and managed to bring him down with a single blow. The dead Soldier turned into a smoke, leaving his equipment and a tiny black orb the size of an eyeball.

   The orb is called an Essence Gem. All Daemons drop one of these when they die, and their size and color depends on their rank. Naturally, their selling price varies accordingly as well.

   I move on to the next Soldier, and another, and another. Their Levels are even lower than mine, and by a lot too, which is why I could make short work of them without barely breaking a sweat.

   I got hit by one on purpose. It hurts just like normal, sure, but more importantly, my HP barely dropped since the damage the Daemon dealt was so negligible.

   In less than two minutes, all but one Soldier remained, and everyone at our party was still safe and sound. The Soldier looks at us in turn, drops his spear on the ground, then turns around and flees. After waiting for a few seconds, we follow him in the hope that he’ll lead us back to his nest.

   A few minutes in, and it became extremely obvious that the Soldier wanted us to follow him. He would do a slow walk, or turns and make sure that we’re actually keeping up with him.

   “Well someone’s a bad actor…” Maya mumbles.

   “Most Soldiers are known to have low intelligence, so it can’t be helped.” I told her.

   Soon, we reach the entrance to a forest. The Soldier headed in with us in close pursuit. Since there are lots of trees around, we had to keep an extra close eye on the Soldier in case we lost track of him. Suddenly, I’m glad that he’s baiting us into a trap, since he’s kind enough to wait for us.

   The tailing finally comes to an end when we see a cave up ahead. Without looking to make sure that we’re still behind him, the Soldier enters the cave.

   “Are all of you ready?” I ask the girls right before we enters.

   “Yes.”

   “Obviously.”

   “I am ready.”

   “Great. Let’s go.”

   And we enter the cave.