Chapter 43: Burgundy Part 1

A month had passed since the attempted human trafficking incident.

The city, which had chewed over the incident to the point of exhaustion, discarded it like a piece of gum drained of flavor, casting it aside to seek out new things to gossip about.

This, in turn, meant that the time for Amon to act had finally come.

“Shall we go to the dungeon to catch some skeletons~?”

Amon hummed to himself as he made his way toward the Explorer’s Guild, after a long time.

Cassie, walking by his side, swayed her black hair rhythmically.

Originally, Amon had been supposed to experience the dungeon first, with her joining later, but after a series of unfortunate events, two months had already passed.

At this rate, it seemed like she would never even get a chance to see a dungeon, so she had decided to join him.

The two opened the doors of the Explorer’s Guild.

The explorers inside were used to Amon by now, so they paid him no mind.

Instead, they turned their attention to Cassie, who had followed him.

However, their gaze was a bit different from the one they’d given Amon.

Amon wore a helmet while exploring, so during his activities, it was his equipment that drew more attention than his looks.

But Cassie was not wearing a helmet, so it was her appearance that immediately caught their eyes.

The men’s gaze first landed on her firm chest.

Following her steps, their eyes moved down her slender waist, then to her healthy, wide hips.

After appreciating her well-built thighs that matched her wide hips, they finally turned their attention to her face.

The beautiful woman with black hair and red eyes caught their gaze.

“Whoa.”

Someone exhaled in awe.

There was no need to ask why.

Cassie was well aware of the attention she was receiving.

But she didn’t particularly care.

After all, she often felt similar stares back at the mercenary broker office.

There was no reason to feel intimidated.

She walked confidently toward the reception desk, following Amon.

Upon reaching the desk, Amon immediately began looking for a party, including one for Cassie.

“Could you match us with a party…?”

Amon, who was about to request a party match as usual, had to stop mid-sentence.

The receptionist’s face looked familiar.

Wondering if he was mistaken, Amon tilted his head and checked her name tag.

Reina.

She was the elf mage who had played the role of the queen bee in that useless party from before.

‘Why was she working as a receptionist here?’

It seemed as if the elf had read his thoughts, as she gave him a wry smile and spoke.

“You’re still alive.”

“So are you.”

“You’re wondering why I’m here, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I quit being a mercenary.”

“…Why?”

“Because of Paul.”

“Ah…”

With that short response, Amon understood most of the situation.

While the Paul incident was merely part of the entertainment district’s scandals to the city, it wasn’t the same for those directly involved in that party.

The fact that someone in their party had been involved in human trafficking was enough to leave them with PTSD.

Moreover, when news broke that both Hump and his brother had already been thoroughly stripped of everything, the shock only grew.

Someone like Amon, with clear goals, wouldn’t be shaken by such trauma, but those who were just working as mercenaries to make ends meet couldn’t have borne it.

“I thought about it, and no matter how I look at it, I don’t think being a mercenary suits me.”

So, she had quit.

Fortunately, she had a knack for working as a receptionist.

She was good-looking and had the charm to captivate men, so becoming a receptionist wasn’t difficult for her.

As a result, she had been sitting at the reception desk every day since Amon returned to the Explorer’s Guild about two weeks ago.

Having heard about her situation, Amon naturally became curious about the other party members.

“Keital? Keital? What happened to him?”

“Keital.”

“Ah, right. Him.”

He was the orc who had been the tank in the useless party.

A tank who didn’t even guard the rear and charged headfirst into the enemy lines.

Instead of answering, the elf pointed to a corner of the bar.

There, the orc was busy assisting the chef in the kitchen.

“Well, that’s unexpected.”

Amon had thought he would be completely unaffected by the incident, but to his surprise, Keital had retired cleanly.

“He was more sensitive than I thought.”

The elf mage nodded in agreement.

Then, she subtly showed Amon her left ring finger.

The orc in the kitchen was wearing the same ring.

“Ah, congratulations.”

Amon quickly brushed away a fleeting thought of a fanfic and genuinely congratulated her.

At the same time, he let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the news about the elf mage and the orc tank.

‘Well, they weren’t at risk of dying.’

It was true that they had been in a useless party, and Amon had often been frustrated enough to want to strangle them, but that didn’t mean they deserved to die.

It was unfortunate about Hump and his brother, but he was still glad that at least these two were safe.

Amon sincerely congratulated the elf mage on her new life and finally got to the main point.

“Others are waiting, so let’s wrap this up.”

“Ah, sure. You need a party, right? With the woman behind you?”

“Exactly.”

“Of course. You’d be the frontline attacker, and… how about her position?”

The elf mage—no, now the elf receptionist—Reina tilted her head and made eye contact with Cassie.

Cassie, who had been carrying a spear on her back, took it out and spoke.

“Frontline attacker. A spear master.”

“Uh…”

The elf receptionist made a hesitant face after hearing Cassie’s words.

“It seems like it might be difficult to match you up.”

Hearing the receptionist’s words, Amon asked back.

“Why?”

“There are two frontline attackers. I’m not sure if any party will accept you.”

“Is there a problem? Is there a reason why two frontline attackers aren’t allowed?”

“It’s not that it’s absolutely impossible. It’s just a matter of efficiency.”

The ideal formation for the dungeon Amon was heading to consisted of a tank, warrior, rifleman, machine gunner, and wizard.

Five positions in total.

As long as you bring these five positions, it didn’t matter how many people there were.

The problem was the distribution.

If six people had to divide what was meant for five, everyone’s share would be smaller.

So usually, it was standard to only bring one person per position.

“Parties going into the deepest parts of the dungeon might bring multiple of the same positions depending on need, but you’re probably going to be in the entry-level dungeon.”

“That’s true.”

“The entry-level dungeon is very sensitive about distribution. I’m guessing not many people will accept you.”

Amon fell into thought, caught in an unexpected dilemma.

“What should I do…”

Several ideas came to mind.

He and Cassie could take only one share between the two of them, but that wasn’t a long-term solution, so he dismissed it.

The most realistic method was for Amon to take the tank position and for her to be the attacker.

But this method also had its problems.

‘It’s too unstable.’

Reality wasn’t a game.

If a warrior took the tank position, they would become too offensive, practically a glass cannon, and would have to play a dangerous balancing act.

Because of that, Amon was hesitant about this approach.

In that situation, the elf receptionist presented him with a new alternative.

“Why don’t we form a party with people who are having trouble getting into a party like you? Most of them are people who have been rejected, so even if it’s six people, they’ll probably accept you.”

Amon’s face scrunched up upon hearing those words.

It was exactly the same suggestion as the receptionist Amon had met last time.

Back then, he had rejected the idea, thinking that those who had been rejected must have been problematic people.

But his face soon relaxed.

‘Now that I think about it, the last time I went in with that group, it turned out to be a trash-tier party.’

Upon reflection, there was no guarantee that even if he found a party through normal methods, it wouldn’t turn out to be another trash-tier one.

‘Plus, just because someone was rejected doesn’t mean they’re problematic.’

Amon was living proof of that.

It was possible that people who had been rejected might actually be fine.

Amon made his decision.

“Then, do it.”

Having already experienced the worst trash-tier party, he didn’t think things could get worse.

The elf receptionist nodded and started forming the party.

Soon, a six-person party was formed.

There was one tank, one rifleman, one machine gunner, and one wizard.

Then, Amon and Cassie were the two frontliners, making it a very aggressive party.

Each member introduced themselves.

“I’m Torso. As you can see, I’m a buffalo beastman.”

[It feels like we should mention our species? I’m an ordinary human, Bens. I’ve got these skills.]

“Vox! I’m an ogre! My speech might be weird, but please bear with me! I’m good with the machine gun!”

“Henn. Just like Bens, I’m human. I can do both attack and support magic.”

The introductions ended smoothly.

***

Afterwards, Amon and Cassie introduced themselves, and it was time to choose a party leader.

“Alright, let’s pick a party leader…”

Before Amon could finish his sentence, the group’s gazes were already on him.

It was unanimous, with no need for a vote.

He was automatically chosen as the party leader.

Once the introductions were done, it was time to head to the dungeon.

‘It’s too smooth.’

Amon’s numerous experiences told him this.

Usually, the world seemed to flow smoothly like this, only for something to suddenly hit him hard from behind.

Whether it was problems within the party, external issues, or something else.

Something felt like it was going to go wrong.

And…

‘There’s no way this could be worse than a trash-tier party.’

He had already set off many red flags.

Thinking this, Amon’s vigilance reached its peak.

From the moment he headed to the dungeon entrance with the party, his tension grew.

He started considering all the possible scenarios that could happen during this expedition.

‘Would it be like last time, where someone would stab him in the back, or would a scavenger appear?’

Maybe he would fall into a trap in the dungeon entrance, or they could encounter a super-rare roaming mid-boss that had never been discovered.

Perhaps a ninja would show up and wipe them all out.

The possibilities were endless.

Amon continued to prepare for every possible situation as they explored the dungeon.

When they first encountered a group of monsters, when they defeated the monsters with excellent coordination even though it was their first time meeting them, and when they easily repelled the monsters they encountered afterward, Amon remained constantly suspicious.

His doubts persisted until the exploration ended.

During that time, Cassie made a suggestion.

“We’ve been syncing so well today. How about we make this a permanent party?”

Everyone agreed with her suggestion.

Amon agreed with Cassie, but his suspicions continued.

The doubts remained even when the party split the rewards for the day, even when he was heading home, and even when he opened the door to his house.

His suspicions continued until the next day.

***

But after waking up, nothing had happened.

After sending Sonia to school, nothing happened.

Only then did Amon murmur to himself, alone in his house.

“Is this it? Why is it the jackpot!?”

Surprisingly, his party this time was a jackpot.