I Wanted a Cute Girl to Cast Healing Magic on Me, So I Kept Protecting My Allies—and Ended Up with an Overprotective Party - 21

Chapter 21: It Happens to Everyone

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We were all captivated—to be precise, our stomach, no less—by a beautiful girl who was somehow hard to get a read on. By the night of her interview, it had already been decided that this beautiful girl would join our party.

What sealed the deal wasn’t her experience or her skills. It was because “her steak was delicious.” That kind of reason might seem incredulous. You might be wondering, “Is this party going to be okay?” but food was essential to life. Eating delicious meals every day nourished not only your body but also your soul.

Of course, it was not like we were trying to turn that beautiful girl into a maid or anything. Since we’d be living together, it just made sense to share the housework. Besides, she was an adventurer. Naturally, we intended to dive into dungeons together.

The next day. I had asked that beautiful girl to come to our house at noon. This world had things like telephones and letters, but nothing like smartphones. If the people here saw a smartphone, they’d probably think it was some kind of magic tool or something.

As we waited in the living room, the chime of the front bell rang. Karinka-san headed to the door and soon returned with the beautiful girl, our new member. Just like during the interview, we all sat down, and Karinka-san began to speak.

“Thank you for coming again today.”

“Um, did I pass!?”

The beautiful girl stood up with a loud scrape of her chair again.

“Uh, for now, please calm down.”

Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but let those words slip out.

“Ah…! Y-Yes. I guess I tend to overthink things. Even now, I’ve been so caught up wondering whether I passed or not. My friends always say that’s both one of my good points and my bad points.”

“I see.”

I gave a safe response, swallowing the urge to say, “Sounds like your friends have a tough time with you.”

Then Karinka-san cleared her throat lightly and began.

“Now then, let’s give you the results. You passed! We look forward to working with you, Miya-san.”

“Y-Yes! Thank you so much!”

The new member’s name was Miya. A girl with light blue medium-length hair and matching eyes. Her facial features were well-defined, a beauty on par with Emil and Karinka-san. She was sixteen years old, the same age as Emil.

For reference, I was seventeen, and Karinka-san was twenty. In terms of adventurer rank, Karinka-san was A-rank, while Emil and I were E-rank. Miya was F-rank. Our ages were close, but our ranks were all over the place. Thinking about it again, it was kind of amazing that Karinka-san agreed to join the same party as us.

“So, I hate to rush things, but I was thinking we’d go to the guild to register Miya-san as an official member. Could you get ready?”

“Yes! Understood!”

After a round of introductions, we all headed to the guild together. A silver-haired beauty with long hair, a blonde beauty with a ponytail, and a blue-haired beauty with medium-length hair. It was the kind of lineup that only seemed possible in another world.

If this were Japan, they’d steal the spotlight just from their hair colors alone. But this was another world. Red hair, green hair, pink hair, blue hair—you name it. You could probably form a power ranger with random people on the street. Coloured hair was a perfectly normal sight here.

When we arrived at the guild, it was extremely crowded—probably because it was around lunchtime. The noise was like a family restaurant at peak hours, and the body heat created a stifling atmosphere. Since it was summer, honestly, I didn’t want to stay long.

Every table in the entrance lounge—of which there were as many as in a chain restaurant—was full, and people were even standing on tiptoe in front of the request board to read the postings.

According to Karinka-san, today was a weekday, or the equivalent of one in Japan, so the crowd was to be expected. Apparently, it wasn’t nearly as bad on days off, like Sundays. Naturally, there were lines forming at multiple reception counters. I asked Karinka-san and Emil to wait in the entrance area while Miya and I joined one of the lines.

After waiting for fifteen minutes, it was finally our turn. As a side note, Miya kept chatting with me the whole time, which helped pass the time. …But what happened to her being shy during the interview?

“Thank you for waiting. How can I help you today? Oh? Isn’t that Rikuto?”

“Hey there. I’m here to apply to add a new party member today.”

Behind the counter was Kasumi-san, the receptionist. She had semi-long black hair and black eyes—she looked like a beautiful Japanese woman and was a former adventurer. In this world, black hair actually stood out, so it felt oddly novel.

“Then please fill out this form.”

Prompted by her, Miya wrote down her name and handed over her adventurer card.

“All right, your application is accepted. Still, your party is made up of nothing but cute girls. Could it be that Rikuto-san is quite the popular guy?”

“No, no, it’s just a coincidence, really. I would’ve welcomed any applicant, even a guy. I’m just grateful someone applied at all.”

That was my official stance. Of course, it was true in a way. I honestly didn’t mind if it had been a guy—then we could’ve just become friends.

It was like you were being told in a class full of random students to find someone you click with! The ones with good social skills would stand victorious, but in an adventurer party like this, you were pretty much forced to bond. 

For me, that was more convenient. Of course, someone with a clashing personality might join, but with other members around, we could work something out.  On the way back to the entrance after finishing the application, Miya spoke up.

“That lady from earlier had really big boobs!”

What was the point of telling me that? And how was I supposed to respond? After thinking it over for a moment, I said to her.

“Did she?”

It was my way of subtly saying I hadn’t noticed. After leaving the guild, we followed Karinka-san’s suggestion to check Miya’s combat ability. It was also part training, so we didn’t take on a guild request. Instead, we went to a forest where F-rank monsters appeared and looked for a suitable monster.

To enter a dungeon, you needed a request form stamped with the guild seal, so we couldn’t go in yet.

“Miya, can you use your presence detection skill to guide us to some monsters?”

“Yes!”

Following Karinka-san’s instructions, Miya began to concentrate.

“There’s a presence about twenty meters to the right from here. Two of them.”

“All right, let’s go.”

If I remembered correctly, Karinka-san also had presence detection. She was probably using it in secret to confirm there were no other monsters around. When we reached the spot Miya had pointed out, we found two monsters that looked like wild boars.

Presence detection might seem low-key, but the difference in safety between having it and not having it was huge. It seemed essential for adventurers.

“Rikuto and Miya, take one each! Don’t worry—I’ll protect you no matter what. And we’ve got Emil too.”

Karinka-san wasn’t the type to say reckless things. So if she said that, it meant the monsters were easy enough that even Miya could handle one. These boar-like monsters only had one move—charging straight at you. Totally predictable. Classic boar behavior.

As I fought my monster, I watched how Miya handled hers. She held a dagger in her right hand and would strike after dodging its charges. It looked like her style focused on quick successive hits.

She moved quickly, dodging at first, but gradually she couldn’t keep up, and eventually got hit head-on. She was blown back two or three meters and skidded across the ground.

Even so, she quickly got back up and resumed attacking. Apparently, the blow hadn’t been all that powerful. Karinka-san had probably factored that in as well. Eventually, the monster turned into a magic stone, confirming Miya’s victory.

“I-I did it! I beat it all by myself! Did you see that!?”

“Yeah, I saw it. Good work out there.”

A beaming Miya and a smiling Karinka-san. Watching them, I suddenly noticed something and spoke to Miya.

“Miya, you’ve got a cut on your face.”

“Huh!? Ah, I thought so… It’s been stinging a little.”

This was serious. She had a scratch on her face! It must’ve happened when she got knocked back earlier. In that case, there was only one thing to suggest—Emil’s healing.

“Emil is a healer. Why not have her take care of it?”

“Emil, is that okay with you!?”

“Of course! I’d be happy to heal you!”

“Then I’ll stay still, so please do.”

“Okay!”

Miya stood still and waited. Emil stepped in front of her and placed both hands gently on Miya’s cheeks. It almost looked like she was holding her face. They were about the same height, so their faces were level, and for some reason, the atmosphere felt… Oddly nice.

“Eh…? Wha—eh!? So close!”

Miya seemed startled and embarrassed.

“Um, Emil, what are you doing? I mean, I’ve never thought about girls that way before…”

I chose not to think too hard about what Miya was thinking, and just watched the scenery with a warm heart. Karinka-san, meanwhile, was fidgeting nervously.

“Heal…”

As Emil whispered, her hands began to glow a faint green. That light wrapped around the scratch on Miya’s cheek. Slowly, gently, the wound began to fade.

“Ahh…Fuah…”

Then Miya let out a soft moan and melted into a dazed expression—Wait, what!?

Her eyebrows drooped slightly like a 八, her eyes relaxed and half-lidded. Her mouth was slightly open, as if she’d forgotten to close it. No drool, thankfully. But she clearly looked like it felt really good.

Eventually, the green light faded, and Emil quietly stepped back from Miya.

“Miya-san’s wound is all healed!”

A cheerful Emil. Miya stood there frozen, not moving at all. Just like that, she became the third person—after me and Karinka-san—to experience Emil’s Heal.

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