Chapter 195: A Job Unsuited for Longdagger, Part 1
“Can you actually handle an Escort Mission, Shin-san?”
That was Shara’s sudden remark in the diner we’d entered for lunch.
We needed to report to the Adventurers Guild about accepting the designated request from the Margrave-dono, so before that, we decided to grab lunch. No sooner had we sat down in the adventurer-oriented diner near the Guild than she suddenly asked.
It wasn’t so much asking if I could or couldn’t, but more like a tone confirming, “You can’t, right?”
“How rude. I haven’t done many, but I have handled them several times before.”
“That was back in Faltar, wasn’t it?”
Shara pressed further as I objected. I nodded in affirmation while accepting a glass of water from the waitress who came to take our order, and ordered the daily lunch special.
Shara ordered as well, muttering something like, “Just as I thought.”
“What is it that worries you?”
Erica thanked the waitress, accepting a wooden cup of water, also ordered the daily lunch special, and then posed her question to Shara.
Incidentally, the only thing on the lunch menu was the daily special.
“You don’t understand either, Erica?”
Shara wore a serious expression.
Surely not, I thought, but could I possibly have some weakness I wasn’t even aware of, one that made me seem incapable of handling an Escort Mission?
“Shin-san.”
Her earnest tone made me straighten my back involuntarily.
“Two Monsters attack—one goes for the client, the other for Erica. Who do you protect?”
“Erica… Ah, I see.”
The moment I answered the question, I understood.
The problem was far too serious, and there was no solution.
No matter who the client was, I would probably prioritize Erica. Heck, if it came down to the world versus Erica, I’d choose Erica.
“What are you talking about?”
Erica’s sigh-laden voice pulled my consciousness back from the depths of understanding it had sunk into.
Her voice held the confidence of someone who knew the answer, mixed with exasperation that we hadn’t realized the simple solution.
“You just need to defeat both Monsters simultaneously, don’t you?”
“Ah, I see.”
“It’s not an ‘Ah, I see’ situation, is it?”
Shara looked at us as if we were a pair of idiots.
“I get that you’re happy enough to smirk about it, Erica, but please think seriously.”
Hearing her say Erica was smirking, I shifted my gaze from Shara to Erica. She wasn’t smirking at all.
Her dignified profile was beautiful today, too.
“You say ‘think seriously,’ Shara, but can you truly imagine a client coming to harm while Shin is protecting them?”
Asked this, Shara made a strange face.
As Erica tilted her head, Shara replied in a reluctant tone:
“No, I can’t imagine that. For some reason, though, I can easily imagine the area around the client being turned into a wasteland.”
“Why would the client be unharmed amidst that scene?” Shara questioned her own imagination.
“Well, I appreciate the high evaluation from you two, but…”
I ignored that last part, accepting a plate piled with the daily special from the waitress as I spoke.
“It’s a fact that accepting the Escort Mission as things stand would be bad.”
At my words, Erica and Shara looked bewildered.
“We don’t have enough people.”
“Enemies?”
Hmm, Erica-san, you’re quite extreme.
And Shara, don’t just nod along.
“I mean party members.”
I stated the answer, slightly regretting having drawn it out dramatically.
Seeing they still looked like they didn’t understand what the problem was, I felt, for the first time in a while, that I was the senior adventurer among us.
What exactly is an Escort Mission?
Anyone who answers that question with “ensuring the client’s safety” has probably never actually undertaken one.
I would answer differently: It’s a battle against boredom.
What’s more, even though you’re bored, you can’t let your guard down. That’s what makes it tough. Really tough. Nighttime is especially problematic.
Keeping watch all night alone while maintaining tension is hard even for those accustomed to it. For the inexperienced, simply staying awake is difficult.
Now, if the client were someone capable of fighting on their own to some extent, it would be a different story. But usually, people hire escorts precisely because their combat ability is low.
So, here’s the problem.
Are Erica and Shara accustomed to such battles against boredom? The answer is, of course, no. Neither Erica, formerly the daughter of a great Marquis House, nor Shara, who belonged to the Healer Faction focused on healing people with Healing Magic at the church, would have such experience.
The option of me alone pushing myself to handle the night watch isn’t entirely impossible, but it’s hardly realistic.
I can picture myself becoming exhausted around the fourth day of the escort.
So, what’s the solution? It’s simple and clear.
We just need more people. If we increase the party size, the night watch doesn’t fall on one person, and we can rotate shifts more frequently to distribute the fatigue.
Naturally, daytime escorting also becomes easier and safer with more pairs of eyes.
Or rather, normally, an Escort Mission isn’t something requested of a party with only three members.
The Guardian of the Maiden of Light was just Master and Elza? That was an exception, a total exception.
“Which brings us to…”
I said to Lana, who was behind the counter.
“We’ve accepted the designated Escort Mission request from the Margrave-dono and will be heading to the Helcums Territory.”