F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I’ll be Queen, and I’m not a narcissist!!!!!

Ylya leads me to the counter as she explains everything about the dungeon with the person behind the guild desk. According to Ylya, this dungeon we're heading to doesn't operate through floors like normal ones.

Instead, it works through "walls." Unlike a common dungeon where you descend downward, in this dungeon you proceed in a straight line. They don't know the exact size of the dungeon, but after walking a certain amount of time, you reach new areas divided as if by an invisible wall.

For example, if the first "wall" is sand, when you reach the second "wall," there might be an obvious partition where the other side is snow, generating a strange phenomenon where even though they are adjacent, one doesn't interact with the other.

So, you just take one step and might be in a hot place, while stepping back puts you in a cold area, as if the two being side-by-side didn't matter in the slightest.

And that's why it's considered a "fortress"-type dungeon—because after a certain number of "walls," giant structures are found, ranging from nonsensical things to enormous castles or simple houses, all inhabited by irrational monsters.

Exiting this dungeon is the same as others. In fact, the only difference is that it doesn't go down, only forward, so it's almost a normal dungeon; only the contents are different.

And since the proposal was good, Eve, Syl'Vyr, and I decided to accept the partnership. Normally I would never accept, as these things are usually scams, but these two seem different somehow.

So I decided to accept and help, mainly because all the nearby dungeons are terrible, so this dungeon is a good opportunity. There's just one problem: the way we'll share the rewards.

Since I'll be using almost everything I need to fortify Eve and Syl'Vyr, but Ylya and her companion are Rank B, so we can go pretty far with their help, and they'll cover some of our weaknesses.

And since we've made the agreement and formalized it at the guild, we started heading in a carriage to the location where the dungeon begins.

"..." We sit in a strange silence, staring at each other, but it's obvious we can't stay like this forever, so I decide to start a conversation so we can discuss how we'll fight together.

"Can I call you Ylya? Also, you can just call me Evelyn," I say, staring at the girl and waiting anxiously for her response.

"...Call me whatever you want. It really doesn't matter."

"...Ylya, we need to align our classes... Well, Syl'Vyr over there is an elemental mage. Eve here is a swordswoman focused on quick attacks and general counters, and I'm a strategist," I state our classes.

"...I am a paladin, and Yter is of the assassin class. Normally, I attack from the front, and Yter finishes off the enemies I pressure," she says in a somewhat snobbish tone.

'So they probably aren't good against large hordes of enemies... For a duo, I get it, but isn't it dangerous to enter dungeons that obviously have lots of monsters?' It doesn't seem like the best idea.

"..." The silence returns, becoming awkward. We have no group synergy. Furthermore, this group has ended up even more unbalanced than before, since we now have two focused on direct attack and one more focused on stealthy attack.

'What a shitty team are we forming? No healer! No buffer! And not a single Tank to hold the attacks!' I genuinely hope this team doesn't sink on the first floors.

Having more people to attack isn't necessarily good, because this isn't a game. With multiple people attacking, they could accidentally hurt each other or get in the way of the person next to them.

"Well, since I'm the only one here from the strategist class, I'll obviously take the lead and..." I begin to assume leadership, since we'll obviously need good coordination for two strong attackers and two attack/support types, but Ylya interrupts me.

"Why do you think you can give me orders?! I won't be led by anyone!" she rebelliously crosses her arms, glaring at me.

"...Then how about... we settle the leadership with a bet?" I propose, which catches her attention, since it's a more "fair" way to decide who will lead our provisional team.

"If you beat me in a game, I'll accept you as the leader. But if you lose, you'll have to accept my orders as the only strategist in this group," I say with unshakable confidence.

I have a plan! I'll use that strange ability that always lets me win children's games, and with it, I'm guaranteed to win by making her play only "childish" games. I really am so clever and genius!

Tragedy's Toybox (Description = Nothing like the most beautiful stage of disaster accompanied by children's games. When using this ability, the user can manipulate children's games to always win. After all, isn't it funny to see the other side trying to win when the script itself says they lose?)

"What game will the bet be?" she asks with confidence equal to my own. She must think it's an easy victory.

"How about different games? [Rock, Paper, Scissors], [Odds or Evens], and then a final round of [I Spy], where we'll have to guess what the other is seeing," I'm not even interested in the competition, knowing I'll win.

"Fine! You're going to get a beating," she extends her hand for the agreement, and I agree, extending my hand to hers.

...

...

"...T-This... is impossible..." Ylya speaks after 50 minutes of us playing these childish games. As expected, she lost everything, but she didn't accept it, argued, asked to go again, and did it again, and again.

"Well, with that, I think I've won... 30 times at [Rock, Paper, Scissors], 15 times at [Odds or Evens], and 4 times at [I Spy]," I say with a huge grin at her, as she looks at me with tears threatening to form.

"Y-Yter, she's cheating!! Say she's cheating! There's no way this is fair! Is there even a sufficient probability for this to happen? Like, what are the odds of her winning so many times in a row?" she says irritably, standing up and pointing at me. Yter sighs as if he doesn't want to get involved.

"Yes, she is cheating," Yter says, looking directly into her eyes, stating that I'm cheating, but I know they have no proof. After all, I used my strange ability, which normally isn't very useful.

"I knew it! So then—"

"But we have no proof. She might just be very 'lucky.' Without proof, we can't just accuse her of cheating. So accept that you lost. You made a deal, and you already asked to repeat the game several times. Just accept that she will lead."

"Don't be a sore loser, Ylya. At least we see that she's good enough to cheat without us noticing. That alone shows she should at least be able to lead well," he says while she puffs out her cheeks.

"...Dammit! You cheating bitch! Lead, then! But if I die, I swear I'll come back to drag you down to hell! And if Yter gets hurt, it'll be your fault," she says, sitting back down angrily and glares at me.

"H-Hahaha, saying it like that makes me nervous..." I murmur, looking outside the carriage, which is made of wood and completely ordinary, so it's kind of slow. The view outside is a dirt road following a path through the forest.

"Don't say that!! How can our strategist get nervous about having lives depending on her decisions? Are you crazy? Don't you care about your companions?" she says with noticeable irritation in her voice.

'...'

"Eve and Syl'Vyr... won't die even if I lead the wrong way." I know that the two of them dying is absurdly difficult. There are very few things that can cause the permanent destruction of a marionette I create.

But of course, saying that wasn't a good idea, since I didn't explain, and I'm not going to explain, what the two of them are.

"That's it? That's your argument? What the hell!! Yter, look at this! Are we going to trust our lives to this girl's orders? She hasn't even shown she can lead well! And now this! This isn't the reaction of a leader!"

"..."

"Evelyn, that is genuinely concerning... You said you are the strategist. Your decisions are what separate life from death for your companions," Yter now speaks in a somewhat severe tone.

"..."

"I-I know... I'll lead well as long as we only have to face monsters, a-after all, they aren't very smart compared to thinking beings like us..." I'm slowly adjusting to this.

I still don't handle death perfectly, but I can already look at the corpses of dead monsters without getting sick. However, I undoubtedly can't handle seeing dead people; it's a completely new level of weight.

Monsters are beings closer to animals, so I can just think I'm being responsible for the death of dangerous animals. But with people, I know they think, have clear feelings, and there are people who felt the impact of their deaths.

"...Hmmm... let's leave it at that for now. We can see how this group performs on the first floors. As long as you show you can lead, I won't have any complaints," Yter ultimately chooses a neutral response that doesn't favor either side.

"...Tsk... fine. But if she can't even lead properly on the first floors, then she'll just be dead weight. See how weak she is?" When Ylya says this, Eve looks at her as if she's about to hit her.

"Pssh, Eve, let it go," I tell her, calming her down, as an uncomfortable silence falls after all that chaos. At least it seems we've settled things... more or less.