I Wanted a Cute Girl to Cast Healing Magic on Me, So I Kept Protecting My Allies—and Ended Up with an Overprotective Party - 18

Chapter 18: A Proposal from the Onee-san Type

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

I was reincarnated into this world and the goddess granted me a cheat skill called 【Damage Adjustment】. So I felt like the protagonist of an isekai reincarnation story.

But now, an unexpected dark horse had appeared. Her name was Emil.

She was kicked out of an A-rank party for being “useless.” But in reality, her growth mechanism was just different, and she might actually be the strongest. It was just like those “banished” type protagonists.

Speaking of banishment stories, you can’t forget the whole “serves them right” payoff. It’s practically a package deal. Maybe that’s why they’re so popular? I’ll just look forward to the day I get to see those scammer blond-blue-armor’ jerk’s party get their comeuppance.

10 AM As usual, we visited the guild again today. I took one of the monster subjugation requests from the bulletin board and went alone to hand it to Kasumi-san at the reception desk.

“Rikuto-san, you’ve been taking requests every day. Are you feeling okay? An adventurer’s body is their greatest asset, so you really need to consider taking a break once in a while, okay?”

“Well, I know you’re right. But I just really want to rank up quickly, you know? I feel like now’s the time to push myself.”

“I get how you feel. But if the time comes and you can’t bring out your full strength in battle, it could be dangerous. I’ve been there myself.”

“Wait, what? Kasumi-san, you were an adventurer?”

“Ah, I let it slip. But it’s not like it’s some big secret. It was over two years ago.”

“Why did you retire?”

Could it have been because she got married? Come to think of it, I don’t know Kasumi-san’s age. She seems like she’s in her early twenties, though.

“I guess I just realized I wasn’t cut out for being an adventurer. But I did understand how tough it is, so I wanted to support others somehow. That’s why I applied to work at the guild reception.”

“I see…”

I felt strangely relieved that it wasn’t because she got married.

“Alright, your request has been accepted. Do your best out there.”

As we were about to leave the guild, another bulletin board—different from the one with the requests—caught my eye. This board posted guild announcements, dungeon updates, information on monsters, their characteristics and weaknesses—basically, anything that might help keep adventurers safe. It showed how much care the guild put into things.

Among those notices, I spotted a sheet with what looked like mugshots. Looking closer, it turned out to be a wanted poster—featuring none other than those blond-haired, blue-armored guys.

They’ve actually been put on a wanted list?

Leaving con artists like them running around would be a blow to the guild’s reputation. They must be putting everything into tracking them down. I hoped they could get caught soon.

After that, the three of us dove into an F-rank dungeon. To rank up to E-rank, we just had to complete a set number of F-rank monster subjugation requests within a given period. If we moved fast, we could probably rank up in less than a month.

I needed to level up as quickly as possible and catch up to Karinka-san. If things stayed the way they were, she wouldn’t gain any valuable experience from this party.

While getting guidance from Karinka-san, I steadily took down F-rank monsters. In the process, I got more comfortable using a one-handed sword. Since Karinka-san also used one, she’d occasionally show me some demonstrations.

We could worry about the fact that we were using the same weapon type later. Since it wouldn’t do any good for only me to get stronger, I made sure to help Emil level up as well.

“I’ll handle this one, so Rikuto, Emil—you two take a break!”

Karinka-san said this as we faced off against an F-rank monster that looked like a boar.

“No, I’ll take care of this one too!”

“I admire the spirit, but you’ve been doing all the fighting. You don’t have to push yourself so hard.”

“I just want to get strong as fast as I can. I’m a guy too, and I want to be able to protect everyone.”

That was how I truly felt. I wasn’t lying.

“Wait, are you trying to protect… Even me?”

“I do want you to stay safe too, Karinka-san, but it’s not like I’m trying to protect you or anything. It’s not that noble, really.”

That was also the truth. It wasn’t anything noble. I was just using 【Damage Adjustment】 to fake injuries so Emil could heal me. If they found out, I think it would just make them worry more. Especially Emil—if she ever figured out my immoral schemes, she’d definitely try to stop me.

If she realized that one of her party members was purposely getting hurt for her sake, she might even break down crying.

That was why I usually set 【Damage Adjustment】 to 『Unharmed』 and acted as the perfect tank. But occasionally I’d switch it to 『Minor Injury』 to give Emil chances to use healing and gain experience.

It probably looked like I was doing something weird, but it actually required a lot of thought and care. Sure, you could say I didn’t have to go that far from the start, but this was also for Emil’s sake—she wanted to make her healing useful to everyone. Helping her level up was important too.

And in the end, I ended up fighting all the monsters by myself again today. Emil healed me, and Karinka-san watched nervously the whole time. That was starting to feel like our new normal.

9 PM We returned to the guild to report our completed request. I had the other two rest in the entrance area while I went to the reception alone. To my surprise, Kasumi-san was still at the counter. The guild operated 24/7, so they were probably on shifts. Still, was the Galiano branch of the guild a black company or something? Why was Kasumi-san still working?

“We completed the request. Here are the magic stones as proof.”

Magic stones, which remain after defeating monsters, couldn’t be sold. So you couldn’t cheat by buying them. Not that cheating would help you grow as an adventurer anyway. In the end, it would do you no good.

“You’re really fast. These requests come with a pretty lenient deadline, so there’s no need to rush so much, you know?”

“Thanks for your concern. But aren’t you overworking yourself, Kasumi-san? I didn’t expect you to still be here this late.”

“You’re worried about me? Thank you. But today was just an exception. One of the girls suddenly fell ill, so I had to fill in for her.”

“I see. Please take care of yourself too, Kasumi-san.”

“Hehe, thank you. Here’s your reward for completing the request.”

Work really is tough, huh.

Thinking that, I went back to where the other two were waiting in the entrance. That kind of routine continued for about a month, and both Emil and I ranked up to E-rank. That meant we could now accept D-rank requests, and we steadily got stronger. Of course, that included Emil too.

One night, after reporting our completed request like usual, I walked over to Emil and Karinka-san. Karinka-san, who was waiting in the guild entrance, said she had something to discuss, so the three of us sat around a table.

“It’s been about three months since we formed our party. I think it’s time we set up a base for our party. What do you two think?”

“You mean, like a place for party members to gather?”

“Exactly.”

A party base usually meant a building—basically, a house. Adventurers traveled all over the place, so it wasn’t uncommon for a party to have a base in each city. Kind of like having a vacation home. This country was one of the world’s major powers, with plenty of land, so something like that was possible here.

“So what would we do with a base? Use it as a meeting spot or something?”

“Well, that’s obvious—we’d live there.”

“Live there? You mean you, Karinka-san?”

“No, I mean the three of us would live together.”

What? Me, Emil, and Karinka-san living in the same house…?

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー