I Wanted a Cute Girl to Cast Healing Magic on Me, So I Kept Protecting My Allies—and Ended Up with an Overprotective Party - 15

Chapter 15: The Beautiful Girl and Older Sister Type Who Watch Over Me

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Although the three of us had officially formed a party, there was a vast difference in our individual adventurer ranks. Emil and I were both at the lowest rank, F, while Karinka-san was at A rank, the second highest.

According to the guild’s rules, you could only accept requests that matched your own rank. So as F-ranks, we could only take F-rank requests—though there was one exception. That was if your party included a higher-ranked member. In that case, you were allowed to take requests one rank above your own.

In other words, since Karinka-san was an A-rank adventurer, we were allowed to accept up to E-rank requests.

What kind of requests are at E-rank?

I looked over the request sheets posted on the bulletin board and quickly noticed that monster subjugation requests were far more common compared to the F-rank ones.

“Karinka-san, which request do you think we should take?”

“Let’s see. First, let’s get used to combat by doing a bunch of monster subjugations.”

“Got it.”

I pulled one of the request sheets off the board and brought it with the other two to one of the many reception counters. The receptionist at this counter was Kasumi-san—the same person who had kindly explained things to Emil and me when we first requested an escort and had no clue what we were doing.

With her semi-long black hair and dark eyes, she gave off a Japanese vibe that somehow felt comforting.

“We’d like to accept this request.”

“You just formed your party, and you’re already taking a request?”

“Well, we did go through the trouble of becoming adventurers, so we want to aim for S-rank as quickly as possible.”

“Mm-hmm. Setting your sights high is a good thing. Still, Rikuto-san, you sure seem to be popular with girls. You were with a girl the first time you came here, and now you’ve brought along another beautiful woman. Don’t tell me you’re planning to make your whole party all girls~?”

“Haha, who knows? I’m not really thinking about it like that myself.”

Of course, I said that just for show.  

We entered the dungeon, and with Karinka-san giving us advice, we steadily took down monsters. Among the F-rank monsters, there were also Lizardmen. Karinka-san had said that the Lizardman I defeated on the grassy plains while traveling to Emil’s village was one of the weakest types of E-rank monsters, so even F-rank adventurers could handle them.

Karinka-san taught us that monsters generally followed basic behavior patterns. Since I had already fought a Lizardman once, I relied on that knowledge and my bodily instincts as I faced it. It was my second time, so I had gotten a little used to it. I could now read the monster’s movements better than before. I managed to defeat it in a relatively short time.

“Rikuto, keep it up. You might have a knack for this.”

“You’re amazing, Rikuto-san!”

Karinka-san didn’t interfere in the fight but kept a close watch on my movements. She said she would step in if anything went wrong, which gave me a huge sense of security. Emil didn’t get involved in the combat either—she just cheered me on from the sidelines.

When I turned around to thank them both, Emil suddenly shouted.

“Rikuto-san, behind you!”

I turned back quickly and saw a monster, wolf-like in appearance, charging toward us at full speed. And it was headed straight for Emil.

“Don’t go near Emil!”

I jumped between the monster and Emil. The monster skidded to a stop, then growled at me. Its body size was average, but the sharp fangs poking out of its mouth posed a serious threat.

I glanced at Karinka-san. She wasn’t moving. Which meant this opponent was one I could defeat on my own. I raised my one-handed sword in my right hand, and perhaps taking that as a sign of hostility, the monster opened its mouth wide and bit into my left arm.

“Ggh…!”

I couldn’t stop a groan from escaping due to the impact—but this was my chance. I gripped my sword tightly and stabbed the monster at point-blank range, still with its teeth sunk into my arm. The monster then transformed into a magic stone.

In truth, I had deliberately let it bite my left arm. Because I had the 【Damage Adjustment】skill, I could exploit the monster’s opening after injuring me. Without that skill, the pain might have been excruciating. But despite those sharp fangs, my left arm didn’t hurt—well, only a little.

Yes, I had set my condition to 『Minor Injury』 using the skill. And there was only one reason for doing that.

“Sorry, Emil. Looks like I got injured.”

“That won’t do! Please, let me see!”

Saying that, Emil rushed to my side. While we both remained standing, she began to examine my left arm.

“It’s around your bicep. The fabric is torn, but the fangs didn’t sink in as deeply as I feared. Still, there’s blood, and it looks painful…”

Emil gently lifted my left arm with both hands, then wrapped her arms around it. It felt like my whole left arm was being embraced by her.

“Heal…”

The moment Emil said that, a warm, pleasant sensation coursed through my entire body.

Emil’s eyes were closed in concentration. Her warm body heat spread through my arm. Our bodies were naturally close because of the nature of her healing magic. Her breathing was calm and gentle. Everything in that moment was directed at me. What a luxurious experience.

“—Are you okay?”

“Wha-…!?”

“Um, are you alright? You were spacing out again… Did I mess up the healing spell…?”

“No, not at all! Thank you, Emil!”

“You’re welcome! Oh, but we’ll need to buy you a new shirt.”

“Yeah, maybe we should set up a regular day off for the party.”

As Emil and I chatted, even though I didn’t have any detection skills, I felt someone staring daggers at us.

“Karinka-san, is something wrong?”

“Huh!? N-no, nothing at all. I was just observing Emil using heal, that’s all. More importantly! The way you protected Emil without hesitation really shows how much you care for your comrades, Rikuto.”

“I appreciate the kind words, but you’re giving me too much credit. I’m not that impressive.”

Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t overdo it. I should probably limit how often I set it to 『Minor Injury』.

After that, we continued battling monsters, and at one point, I suddenly found I could see their movements much more clearly.

“Karinka-san, the monsters suddenly seem slower. Is it just me?”

“Congratulations! That means your level just went up. It’s proof that you’ve gotten stronger through battle.”

So that was what it was. I see. If I keep repeating this process, I would be able to fight stronger monsters too. Yeah. this was definitely not something you could measure just with numbers.

From that day forward, for about two weeks, we took on monster subjugation requests every day, and my “level” steadily increased. I tried to hold back on getting Heals from Emil—only asking occasionally. Karinka-san continued to watch over us warmly every time, even to the point that she became unresponsive when I talked to her afterward.

“Hmmm, Rikuto’s progressing nicely, but Emil hasn’t leveled up even once.”

Now that I thought about it, those scammers with blond hair and blue armor had said something similar to Emil.  Maybe it depended on one’s personal talent or something…?

“I’m just happy to be with the two of you!”

Emil said that brightly, but whether she was truly okay or not—only she knew.

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