Chapter 19: My First Party

In the end, I half-heartedly agreed to Shion and Kanade’s proposal.

Still, I felt it was wrong for me to appear in Luna Stars’ streams, so I refused the idea of any collaborations or broadcasts outright.

When I conveyed that, Shion, not one to give up easily, pleaded, “Then, could you at least join us for a dungeon raid?” Reluctantly, I agreed to that part.

“Heh… Oh, I see… Makoto, you look very happy about this, don’t you?”

Karen-tan narrowed her eyes, her tone dripping with mock suspicion.

We were at the Okutama Branch of the Dungeon Association.

I had come here to report yesterday’s events to Minase Karen, only to find Karen-tan waiting for me for some reason.

“N-no, that’s not true!”

“Oh really?”

“Y-yeah, totally!”

Even though I said that, the truth was I was absolutely thrilled. But admitting that to Karen-tan would definitely lead to unnecessary drama, so I lied.

“Oh, Satou-san. Good morning. What brings you here today?”

As soon as I entered the branch, Minase Karen, as usual, noticed me and pulled out an energy drink from her pocket, handing it to me.

The label read ‘Sugoman.’ These things seemed to be evolving every time I saw one. Where on earth does she even buy them?

“I have something to report.”

“A report?”

“Yes. Actually—”

The reason I came here was to inform Minase-san that I planned to dive into the Garden of the Gods with the Luna Stars duo.

There wasn’t any strict requirement for me to report this, but I thought it was the responsible thing to do in case anything happened. Besides, there were still the strange abnormalities in the dungeons to keep in mind.

“W-with the Luna Stars…?”

Karen-tan, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping beside me, muttered in a tone of utter despair.

“Is that a problem?”

“It’s not that it’s a problem, but… it’s complicated…”

“This will be Satou-san’s first party, won’t it?”

“Wait just a moment, Elena! I was Makoto’s first party partner! That’s non-negotiable!”

“Sister, that was just a chance encounter in a dungeon, wasn’t it?”

“Muh… That may be true, but still…”

As Minase-san said, this was going to be my first time tackling a dungeon as part of a party.

I’d always been a solo adventurer, so I couldn’t help but feel nervous. More than anything, I didn’t want anything dangerous to happen to Shion or Kanade.

“Minase-san, could you teach me the basics of working in a party?”

“Oh my… Satou-san, are you sure you want me to teach you?”

“Yes, of course. You’ve always supported me, Minase-san.”

“Ufufu… In that case, sister, we’ll be using the conference room. Shall we?”

“W-wait just a moment, please—!”

We headed to the same conference room as before.

Naturally, Karen-tan followed along.

“Now then… About parties, was it?”

“Yes, please guide me.”

“Although, there’s not much I can teach. First, let’s start with the basics. A party is composed of various roles—”

Minase-san started explaining from the fundamentals.

Each member of a party has a role to fulfill.

First is the Tank.

This role involves drawing enemy attacks and protecting the other party members. The tank acts as the party’s shield, and if the tank falters, the entire formation can collapse, making this a crucial role. Kanade is the tank in our group.

Next is the Attacker.

This role focuses on dealing damage to the enemies that the tank attracts. Shion fulfills this role. I suppose I’d be considered an attacker too, although as a solo adventurer, I never really divided tasks into roles.

Finally, there’s the Supporter.

This role handles auxiliary tasks, such as carrying supplies, creating dungeon maps, and gathering information.

While this position used to be essential, it’s now less common in parties. With so much dungeon information already cataloged, many groups opt to go without a dedicated supporter these days.

However, when exploring uncharted dungeons, a supporter becomes an indispensable role. Naturally, I handled this role too—because, well, I had no choice as a solo adventurer.

“And that’s about it. Since you’ve been solo until now, Satou-san, you’ve essentially taken on all these roles yourself.”

“Haha…”

Hearing that I’ve always been solo… it stung a little.

It’s not like I ever struggled in combat. It was just… unbearably lonely.

“So, with Kanade-san as the tank, Shion-san as the attacker, and you, Satou-san, as an all-rounder, this party has a very balanced composition.”

“I see.”

“Elena, aren’t you forgetting someone?”

Karen-tan interrupted from beside us.

“Sister, you’re only suited for the attacker role, so your skills overlap.”

“I can be a tank too if I really want to!”

“…Satou-san, I’m sorry, but would you mind letting my sister join us as well? If not, she’ll probably follow us uninvited anyway.”

“Of course, I don’t mind. I’ll let the others know just in case.”

“Thank you. I’ll handle the party registration paperwork.”

With that, Minase-san began organizing the documents.

With these four members, even the Garden of the Gods should be manageable. The only concern was that I’d be the only guy, making me feel a bit out of place…

“Fufu, I’m looking forward to working with you, Taichi!”

“Same here. Let’s do our best.”

◇

And so, my first-ever dungeon exploration as part of a party was about to begin.

We agreed to meet in front of the Garden of the Gods.

When I arrived at the designated spot, a tense atmosphere greeted me.

“So, you’re the Luna Stars, I take it? Let me be clear: Taichi is mine.”

“Ta-Taichi…? Why are you calling him by his first name?”

“That’s obvious—because we’re the best partners, of course!”