God’s Guide for Teasing Heroes

Narrator POV 

 
 

 
 

 
 

After arriving in the city of Altus. 

Kazue separated from her merchant companion who will be selling their goods in the town square. 

  

  

As the three girls were preparing the goods in their stall. 

Kazue went toward the Altus' Adventurers Guild which was not far from the town square. 

Compared to the Capital City's Adventurer's guild the building was smaller and less fancy. 

  

  

It was a building mostly made of wood and was 2 stories high. 

The first floor was smaller than that of the capital. 

The only similarity of this adventurer building to the one in the capital was that they are making use of the first floor like some sort of an eatery or a bar. 

  

  

Before entering the guild, Kazue decided to look for some F-rank requests in the request board outside. 

Oddly enough there was no F-rank request posted there. 

Most of the request posted in there was mostly E-rank request. 

What caught Kazue's attention was the lack of the low-ranking quest. 

  

  

"Are there no low-ranking quest here in this town?" <Kazue> 

Kazue mumbles. 

She asked herself about this fact. 

She looked for some low-ranking quest and she was not able to find something that she would like to do. 

  

  

Kazue casually entered the bar and looked for the receptionist. 

A woman with the same clothes that Daniella wears was standing in there. 

The formal-looking clothes were good enough to tell that she was the receptionist of the guild. 

"Hee~~ I guess that formal suit is the adventurer's guild official uniform?" 

Kazue gave a simple thought after seeing this girl's clothes. 

The clothes that the guild receptionist in this city was exactly the same with the one that Daniella wore.   

  

 
 

Without thinking much, she went toward the receptionist to ask the question lingering in her mind. 

Kazue kindly asked about what was on her mind. 

"Uhmn... Why are there no F-rank missions available right now?" <Kazue> 

"Oh... Yes, that is because of the sudden increase of herb collection within the area in the past week. We have an oversupply of herbs as of the moment. There are a lot of slime in the forest right now but no one needs herbs so it is not necessary to ask for slime subjugation at the moment. As for the reason why there is a sudden increase in herb collection last week... It is because of the caravan who had arrived today. Local traders in the city will be trading it as raw materials for potion makers." <Receptionist> 

The receptionist explained the situation to Kazue in detail without delay. 

"Oh... is that so?" <Kazue> 

[I was hoping to do some quest...] <Kazue> 

"Yes. Sorry about that." <Receptionist> 

Despite the sudden question from Kazue 

The receptionist answered right away without asking any unnecessary questions out of Kazue. 

After a short pause, the Receptionist asked Kazue some of her questions after confirming that Kazue had no other query to ask. 

  

  

"Forgive me if I am wrong but you're new here am I right? Let me introduce myself, I am Olive one of the Adventurer Guild receptionist of Altus city." <Receptionist/Olive> 

"Yes, I am ... Oh... forgive me... I am Kazue an Adventurer. I just came today with the caravan from the imperial capital. Nice to meet you too miss Olive." <Kazue> 

Olive smiled sweetly at Kazue before answering back. 

"It's alright, Miss Kazue. As you can see that there is no F rank request at the moment." <Olive> 

"yeah... well I think it cannot help then." <Kazue> 

  

  

Kazue was down and dejected after hearing this. 

Olive noticed this and tried cheering her up by saying some information that she might like to hear. 

"Actually, All of the F-rank adventurers in this city had formed parties to take on E-rank quests as for the moment." <Olive> 

"I see... But I don't have anyone I know in this city. Also, I never really worked with a party before." <Kazue> 

"Oh, ~ don't worry there is a party F-rank adventurer who is looking for party members right now! How about trying to work with a party? It's the perfect opportunity for you to try and to work with other adventurers for a change? How about it? Would you like to join them?" <Olive> 

Olive tried to talk as lively as she could to Kazue as she said this. 

  

  

Kazue paused for a bit to think about the suggestion. 

She never worked with a party before. 

Ever since she became an adventurer, she only worked with her pet wolves to explore the Northern Artesia Forest. 

Because of this she never needed to form a party with anyone since her wolves work with her well. 

Right now, she regrets that she left those trusty wolves at the Imperial Capital with Shaina. 

 

 

"Hmnn~ party huh..." <Kazue> 

"Since you never tried working with one before it's a good opportunity to be in one, right? There is a first for everything after all." <Olive> 

"Hhmnn..." <Kazue> 

Kazue contemplated it for a while but she could not find any reason why she would not want to work with other adventurers like herself. 

"Hmnnn... Ahh... I guess it’s fine …. Okay then..." <Kazue> 

"Really! great! I assume that you are a warrior-type Adventurer since you are carrying swords with you." <Olive> 

"Ah yes, I am a Swordsman." <Kazue> 

"Alright, I will find you a good party member!" <Olive> 

"Ah if possible, I would like to work with members who are easy to be with... people who do not like trouble." <Kazue> 

"If that is the case, I have an idea who are the people you would like but..." <Olive> 

"But?" <Kazue> 

"Let's say... they are not the most skilled of the bunch that is why other adventurers do not want to party with them..." <Olive> 

"But they are easy to work with, right?" <Kazue> 

"Yes they are, I assure you that." <Olive> 

“I guess, it’s fine then...” <Kazue> 

"Perfect! Follow me. I'll introduce you to them!" <Kazue> 

  

  

  

Kazue followed Olive and walked toward 4 people who were eating at the table nearby. 

She started talking to a brown-haired lady who was there wearing a cheap-looking robe while she eats her food with 3 other people at the table. 

"Charlotte, I have found a swordsman who would like to work with you guys!" <Olive> 

"Really?! Thank you, Miss Olive!” 

The female adventurer’s gaze moved to where Kazue was standing. 

“I assume that is her?" <Charlotte> 

The girl named Charlotte looked in Kazue's direction as she asked this. 

"Yes. This is Miss Kazue... she's also a F-rank adventurer." <Olive> 

Kazue slightly bowed her head as she saw her potential party members. 

  

  

Olive looked at Kazue and started Introducing her to party members. 

"Nice to meet you I am Charlotte. I am looking forward to working with you miss Kazue" <Charlotte> 

"Ah... me too nice to meet you miss Charlotte." <Kazue> 

"Alright! Let me introduce you to our party!" <Charlotte> 

 

 

"First would be me! I am Charlotte, and I am a Mage. I can use the magic (Water ball) well. I am level 3. Nice to meet you!" <Charlotte> 

Charlotte was a happy-looking lady who was in her late teens. 

She wears a cheap-looking robe that does not have much decoration on it. 

Despite wearing a cheap robe, it still gave her the image of being a mage. 

Her brown hair tied into a ponytail give the impression of a lively young lady. 

 

 

Charlotte then faced one of the people eating at the table with an eye signal. 

She looked at the only male in the group. 

He forcefully swallowed the food in his mouth as Charlotte looked at him to introduce himself to Kazue. 

"Oh!! I am Lukas. I am a ranger and I am quite confident with my skill with the bow and arrow! I am level 4." <Lukas> 

He followed the pattern of how Charlotte introduced herself to Kazue. 

Lukas was a male who is in his late teens too. He has short brown hair. He wears a simple leather chest piece and lightweight clothes that would be easy to move around. 

His thin frame and clothes give the impression of him being light on his feet. 

The male then looked at the girl eating beside him. 

 

 

A cute girl stood up and proudly introduced herself to Kazue 

"My turn! I am Amy an acolyte. My healing magic right now is just the (Heal I) but I can fight in front since I am confident with my STR! I am level 3." <Amy> 

The cute girl Amy looked the youngest out of the 4 about 14-15. 

Her leaf-green-colored hair and eyes look soothing to look at.  

Her short hair was tied into a twin tail. 

She wears simple clothes with a simple leather breast protector. 

Even with that, her large breast can be noticed despite looking so young. 

Amy finished introducing herself with her breast help up high with confidence. 

 
 

 
 

Then a sleepy-looking girl stood up and introduced herself. 

"I am Grace. A thief. I can survey the surrounding quite well and I am good with surprise attacks but I can’t fight heads-on very well. I am level 3" <Grace> 

  

  

At last, the three looked in Kazue’s direction in anticipating her self-introduction. 

Kazue returned their anticipation with her introduction and follow the pattern of how they introduced themselves. 

She was a bit shy. 

It was the kind of feeling when you are to introduce yourself to a bunch of new people. 

Kazue made a deep breath out of her mouth while placing her closed palm on her chest to relieve a bit of embarrassment. 

"I am Kazue, I'm a swordsman. I am quite confident with my sword skills. I am currently level 5. This is my first time being at a party but I hope I can work with you well with my skill set. I came from the capital as an escort with the caravan that had just arrived. I will be here for a week but during that time I am looking forward to working with you." <Kazue> 

 

 

The four left their food on the table and went close to Kazue to shake her hands. 

"Hey Miss Kazue, Can I just call you Kazue?" <Charlotte> 

"Yes, please do." <Kazue> 

"Alright! then just call me Char." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte said with a smile. 

 

 

"I would like to ask for that as well. Just call me Lukas! We'll be working as a party from today onward so I don’t need formalities." <Lukas> 

The male teen said while being bashful toward Kazue. 

"Well since everyone wanted to be called so casually... You can just call me Amy too~ Kazue" <Amy> 

The proud young girl said in high-head with a huge smile on her face. 

There was also a hint of blush on her face when she shyly says Kazue's name. 

 

 

"... nice meeting you Kazue. just call me Grace." <Grace> 

Grace said with a lazy tone. 

Despite looking unenergetic she still gave Kazue a simple soft smile.  

Kazue returned them a smile while shaking their hands one by one. 

  

  

Kazue had a positive impression on her new allies. 

She thought that she might be able to get along with them in time just fine. 

Although she knew that she was not that good at socializing she feels that she could at least get along with these people. 

It was her first time working in a group of people after coming to this world. 

Kazue was excited to with new people. 

 

 

After seeing that they had finished their greetings to their new member, Charlotte looked at Kazue with a happy face and then speaks. 

"Kazue, did you already have your meal?" <Charlotte> 

"Ah not yet, the caravan just arrived not too long ago and I went straight here in the guild." <Kazue> 

"Great then! Come and join us to eat and then we can also talk about what mission and strategies we can do in our Adventures!" <Charlotte> 

"Then... I will take your offer. What can you suggest for me to eat?"<Kazue> 

Kazue said with a genuine smile on her face. 

It was her effort to get along with her new allies. 

Seeing the accommodating atmosphere that her new party members showed her. 

She thought... 

[I might as well try to get along with them as much as I can.] 

 

 

Then they went on and spoke with each other about their next adventure and what their strategies in a certain situation would be. 

While talking with them Kazue discovered that the four were newbie adventurer just like herself. 

The four of formed a party 2 days ago and were not able to get good jobs because of the lack of a front-line fighter in their party. 

They had been waiting for another party member who would want to join them but their party was not particularly appealing to the older and veteran adventurers in the area. 

It seemed that they are the only F-ranks adventurer in the city who is not in a party. 

Most of the F-rank adventurers in the city had already joined other parties or have left the city. 

Because of the lack of F-rank quest available in the city, they needed to find a party to take an E-rank quest. 

Since the remaining jobs left was mostly E-rank request they were forced to look for a party to find a job at the current time. 

After all they are not stupid enough to take up E-rank quest alone. 

 

 

They departed the guild when the sun was about to go down. 

They have decided to take up an E-rank monster subjugation request for the next day. 

The party would be meeting up again by tomorrow morning ready to go and hunt. 

The 5 of them said their temporary goodbyes and went toward their respective inns or homes for the day. 

  

  

Kazue returned to the caravan stalls and saw that Reno, Akemi, and Emika are done placing all of their goods and were ready to sell them. 

"Hey! how’re things going?" <Kazue> 

Kazue said to announce her presence toward the busy girls. 

"Ah~ Kazue! we are done stacking up our goods and doing all the preparation necessary in the stall a few moments ago. We'll just wait for the protection magic to be cast on our stall and we're free to go to our Inn." <Reno> 

Reno replied to Kazue who had suddenly appeared. 

  

  

Akemi went out of the stall. It seems that she was just inside the makeshift stall and got out after hearing Kazue's voice. 

At the same time, Emika got out of the carriage which was just parked beside the stall. 

"Kazue! Where did you go!" <Emika> 

  

  

The three merchant girls gathered toward Kazue who they had not seen the whole afternoon. 

"Ah I went to the guild and looked for a quest to work on while I’m here." <Kazue> 

"Wow Kazue you sound like a real adventurer! I'm impressed!" <Akemi> 

"… Uh... I am a real adventurer! Well, I had some trouble and I have to look for a party to be able to go to quest for tomorrow." <Kazue> 

"Aww~ I envy you this is the times that I wish that I have useful skill for battles so I could also do such exciting stuff myself." <Reno> 

  

  

Kazue look at Reno and laughed at her and spoke. 

"Ahahaha~ You can still do it you know?" <Kazue> 

"No no no! I'll just get myself killed! I am OKAY with what I am doing right now." <Reno> 

She furiously waved her hands in front of her face and shook her head left to right repeatedly. 

Reno denied Kazue's proposal. 

 

  

"These are the times when our phones would be useful. You can take some photos and videos of your adventures so we can see them too" <Akemi> 

"... but my phone's batteries had died out a long time ago. I wish there is a way for us to charge our phone somehow." <Emika> 

"Well, it's not as if there is a power outlet for us to use and charge our phone. Crap! they don't even use electricity to power stuff in this world anyway. No wonder there is no means of charging." <Reno> 

"But there is electric-type magic in this world... maybe we could use it." <Akemi> 

"If we encounter a mage with that kind of magic, I would love to ask for her help even if I pay her some money." <Reno> 

"Me too." <Akemi> 

"same here" <Emika> 

"I would love that myself." <Kazue> 

  

  

A few minutes later. 

A magician went by their place and cast protection magic on their stall to avoid getting raided and having their goods stolen for the night. 

This was a countermeasure for thieves to take their stuff while they went back to the Inn to rest. 

There will be soldiers and adventurers who would be guarding the place so the possibility of someone trying to steal their things is very low. 

This was just insurance for the protection of their goods and leaving the place at ease. 

  

  

After the magician had cast magic into the stall the four girls went toward their Inn. 

They spent the night talking with each other. 

It has been a while since Kazue had someone to talk to during the nights. 

Now, she was able to hear stories from others this late into the night. 

  

  

"oh, ~ Emika you look tired." <Akemi> 

"huh? ah! yes about the dogs!" <Emika> 

Akemi calls out for Emika who with fighting with her sleepiness. 

She replied while half asleep and replied to a completely different topic that the four were talking about. 

This just prove that she was not in the shape to talk anymore. 

Who can blame her, they were really busy all day today. 

Kazue, Akemi, and Reno laughed at Emika who was completely out of it. 

With that, the four decided to get to bed and sleep for the day. 

  

  

* 

  

Next day 

  

  

A bell rang which signifies that the day was about to start. 

As the four had been in this world for about a month, they knew exactly what that bell means. 

It was the bell that signifies sunrise. 

The bell will ring every hour that passes until the sun would go down. 

  

  

The three got up off their bed when the sun had just shown itself and prepared for their plans for the day. 

They took turns getting to shower to clean their body. 

When the second bell has rung all of them are prepared to do their work. 

  

  

It took them about 5 minutes to get from the Inn to the town square by walking 

They had separated ways in the town square. 

Reno, Emika, and Akemi went to their stall to sell their stuff while Kazue went toward the guild to meet with her new party members. 

  

  

It took another 5 minutes to walk for Kazue to arrive at the adventurer’s guild. 

She saw the four members of their party. 

Charlotte, Amy, Grace, and Lucas waved at Kazue who was the last one who got to their meeting place. 

"Sorry did you guys wait long?" <Kazue> 

"No, I just arrived a few moments ago as well." <Charlotte> 

"Nope" <Lucas> 

"Not really" <Amy> 

"No" <Grace> 

"I see, Anyways good morning." <Kazue> 

"Good morning" <Party> 

  

  

They have checked all of their things and they are prepared to go to the forest. 

They are planning on going to the forest and staying there for 2 to 3 days. 

Kazue had already said this to her merchant friends. 

The caravan would not leave Altus for a week so four to five days of being away is fine. 

"Ok is everyone ready?" <Charlotte> 

“Yeah!” <Party> 

 

 

And so, the party went on their adventure. 

They walked toward the forest that was not so far from the city. 

They walked for a while until they arrived in the forest. 

After arriving they still walked deeper into the forest. 

"uwah... there's a lot of slime around" <Kazue> 

Kazue said disgustingly as she saw the monster she hated most. 

"Haha~ There is no point in doing slime subjugation right now after all." <Charlotte> 

"To think that there would come a time that the guild would have an oversupply of herbs." <Amy> 

"Now we are forced to do an E-rank mission... Well since we have a proper party right now, I have no worries." <Lukas> 

"Oh, come to think of it. It is much easier to increase your adventurer rank when you work in groups, I wonder why you guys have not partied with others before?" <Kazue> 

Kazue voiced out her question to her party members while they traverse the forest. 

  

  

"As for me~ there are a lot of them who wanted me at their party but I don’t like the way they look at my breast." <Amy> 

Amy replied at Kazue while voicing her resentment toward the people who wanted her at their party. 

"I wanted to join a party of mostly girls but it's hard to look for a female swordsman like you" <Amy> 

"Really? So, it was really rare for a female to become a swordsman..." <Kazue> 

"Yep" <Amy> 

  

  

Kazue have heard from Reno that most females in this world have a significantly lower chance to get Warrior-type classes such as Swordsman, Knight or Warrior jobs class. 

Reno had read in some research in the Imperial Capital Castle Library that those classes were a rare class for a female. 

This was the reason why being a swordsman who is a girl is quite rare. 

Also written in those research that females get most of the support classes such as merchants, Scholar, and non-fighting job classes. 

In the same way, males seldom get support job class. 

Only magician class jobs do not discriminate in such distribution of job classes. 

  

  

After Amy had voiced her reason. 

Grace followed with her reason. 

"I am not very social and most of the people I tried to party with were creeped out by my presence. I wonder why." <Grace> 

"I wonder why indeed..." <Amy> 

Amy thought, she just decided to reply with a vague answer to Grace's reasons 

"Maybe because you look like someone who would stab their teammates in the back without reason." <Amy>  

Amy continued to say what was on her mind. 

"Maybe, it is because of that... I just decided to work alone. I had no problem with working alone since it's just collecting herbs and killing slimes. when I encounter a strong monster that I could not fight heads on I would turn my tail and run away." <Grace> 

"I see..." <Kazue> 

Kazue could not push herself to give Grace her honest feeling so she just agreed. 

  

  

I look toward Charlotte next and asked her why she never partied with others. 

It was not as if Charlotte was the type that would attract perverse thoughts to men nor did she have a personality that is hard to get along with like Amy and Grace. 

"Well for me I did join some party before but they kicked me out because other stronger magicians came and joined them." <Charlotte> 

"Uwah, that's mean." <Kazue> 

"Hahaha, right?! But it was also on me for not wanting to be compared with other promising magicians. It is a fact that my water ball magic lacks enough firepower to defeat a strong monster." <Charlotte> 

"Still..." <Kazue> 

"Hahaha it's lame, isn't it?" <Charlotte> 

"No, Sorry..." <Kazue> 

"No~ well ... I did not mean to make you feel that way but I am alright now so do not worry. If I was still affected by that I could have not partied up with you guys after all." <Charlotte> 

"Hmnn if you say so." <Kazue> 

  

  

"So, everyone had reasons huh." <Amy>  

"Hey! are you not going to ask me?" <Lukas> 

Lukas suddenly joined the conversation. 

"Oh, right sorry I forgot about you." <Charlotte> 

"Huh oh yeah we had such a person at our party huh" <Amy> 

Amy looked at Lucas who had spoken. 

Her eyes were completely bored. 

It was like telling Lucas I have no interest in your story so don’t bother saying it, it was that kind of stare. 

  

  

"Come on guys~ that makes me sad." <Lucas> 

Lucas became dejected. 

Kazue lightly laughed at Lucas. 

His eyes were glued to Kazue, his face turned red as he looked at the black-haired girl who was giggling at him. 

The other three looked at Lucas with a judging eye, they seemed to have realized something from his reaction. 

Lucas saw the 3 girls look at him and coughed to try and shake off something that was on his mind. 

 

 

"A-A-Anyway! my reason for not joining a party was because... they rejected me out front." <Lucas> 

"Ahuh... That’s it?" <Kazue> 

Kazue made a blank reaction, seemingly uninterested to jab back at Lucas' reasons. 

  

  

"As expected," <Grace> 

Grace said in a monotone voice. 

"I knew it." <Amy> 

Amy confidently said with emphasis that she knew it from the start and did not expect any other reason. 

"you look weak after all; I don’t blame them." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte gave her honest opinion. 

"Hey, ~ isn’t that too harsh?!" <Lucas> 

 

 

"And? how about you Kazue?" <Amy> 

Amy tilted her head and looked at the black-haired swordsman. 

"Oh me? Hmnn~" <Kazue> 

"Kazue seems to be a capable swordsman so I also wonder why no one asked to invite you into their party." <Amy> 

"huh...true, nobody asked me before to join their party... well maybe because I look like this?" <Kazue> 

"Huh? Look like … that?" <Amy> 

Kazue's party members were confused about what she meant. 

  

  

"Well, you know. I look like a person who would deny them even if they asked. It seemed that I have this aura that people naturally had a hard time talking to me." <Kazue> 

"Ah... that." <Lucas> 

Lucas said in realization while Grace nodded silently to Kazue. 

"Oh, so you are aware of that." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte said. 

 "Ahahaha~ that... That is so true" <Amy> 

Amy let out a laughter. 

  

  

"Haha~" <Kazue> 

Kazue just sarcastically laughed it off. 

"Oh also, I did not feel that I needed party members anyway. Also, Kaoru, Hayate, and Isamu are already enough as my companion." <Kazue> 

"oh~ so you do have party members after all" <Lucas> 

"I would not call them party members." <Kazue> 

"Why is that?" <Lucas> 

"Hmmm. Do you consider wolves as party members?" <Kazue> 

"WOLF? are you a tamer? but I thought you were a swordsman?!" <Amy> 

"NO! I am a swordsman. Those wolves just became my friends when I saved them from a ..." <Kazue> 

  

  

"Shhhhhh!!" <Grace> 

Before Kazue had finished her sentence, Grace interrupted them. 

A signal silences them.  

Grace pointed at a location ahead, she lowered her body and moved slowly and as silently as possible. 

The whole party moved and followed Grace's lead and did the same. 

They hid behind a bush while carefully looking in the direction Grace pointed out. 

  

  

From a far, there was a bug-like monster that is about the size of a human. 

It was a giant Praying mantis. 

"It's a Giant Mantis." <Grace> 

Grace pointed at the monster. 

  

  

Kazue looked over and saw the monster. 

"It’s one of our targets, right?" <Kazue> 

Kazue asked to confirm if she was correct. 

"Yeah, we need its blades." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte confirmed it. 

 

 

"Honestly this is the first time I have ever had to fight this monster." <Kazue> 

Kazue said her honest thought to them since she was a bit frightened by the appearance of the monster. 

"Actually, Me too." <Amy> 

"So am I." <Lucas> 

Amy and Lucas did the same. 

"I did fight with this monster back in my old party. As we discussed in the guild this monster's weakness is to attack it on 4 sides. It would be easier to fight this monster with two front liners to draw its attention from both its right and left side. Then attack it safely with a ranged attack at its open front and backside." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte reviews the tactic that we should use to fight this monster. 

They discussed this but for a moment they forgot what we had discussed back in the guild. 

  

  

"I and Kazue would take those both sides, right?" <Amy> 

Amy said with a trembling voice. 

"Honestly I'm kind of scared." <Kazue> 

Kazue said what she felt at the moment. 

  

  

It was a different kind of fear than the time she faced a forest bear. 

The feeling of fighting insects that is normally smaller than your palm now walking as tall as you. 

The combination of unease and natural fear made Kazue feel hesitation fighting such a monster. 

She looked at Amy to find comfort but it seemed that she was feeling fear as well. 

  

  

Kazue breathes in more air than usual and holds it in for a moment before letting it out to calm herself down. 

By doing this some of her fear left her body. 

"Okay, I'm ready. I will attack it and take its attention. Use that time to get into position.” <Kazue> 

Her party member nodded to confirm that they had her back. 

  

  

Knowing this monster was weaker than a forest bear gave her confidence. 

Kazue had personally killed a forest bear on her own before and now she had party members to cover for her. 

There was still doubt in her heart since it was the first time, they would be working with each other. 

By closing her eyes, she cleared them of some unnecessary thoughts and focused on the task at hand. 

  

  

Amy’s attention has gravitated toward Kazue. 

The atmosphere around Kazue changed at the moment she opened her eyes. 

It was sharp and serious. 

It felt as if it was a completely different person. 

Amy could even feel fear from just looking at the black-haired girl. 

When she took one of the swords on her waist Amy could not help but hold her breath. 

She saw a more dangerous beast than that what their target was. 

Lucas, Charlotte, and Grace also felt the same and nodded with each other as they stood behind Kazue who would be taking up the vanguard. 

  

  

"Here I go." <Kazue> 

"Leave your back to us." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte replied to assure Kazue. 

   

  

Kazue burst toward the Giant Mantis at full speed. 

She wanted to go all out right away to bring out the best result from her first attack. 

She also did this to quickly gauge the monster's strength compared to hers. 

The mantis which was about 30 meters away was caught off guard by Kazue who rushed into it. 

  

  

It let out a gurgling screech as it faces Kazue. 

In less than 3 seconds Kazue reached the Mantis slipping through the trees and bushes like she was floating in the air. 

In that same instant, she slashed her sword vertically aiming at one of its one-bladed appendages. 

  

  

Amy and the three other party members were in a daze after seeing Kazue's burst of speed. 

At first, they were confused but saw her quickly closing the gap between them and the mantis. 

As they watched Kazue, they saw one of the mantis' bladed appendages flying into the air. 

  

  

After that quick attack. 

Kazue quickly stepped back with one big leap back in full force. 

And with that, she was 5 meters away from the target and waited for its reaction. 

It just squirmed in pain with its gurgling screech. 

  

  

"The mantis seemed hurt! I think we should attack it quickly!" <Kazue> 

Kazue called out to her party members without looking back. 

"Ah yes!" <Lucas> 

"Wait up! you move too fast I can’t keep up." <Amy> 

Amy tried to run as fast as she could to help Kazue. 

"Water ball!" <Charlotte> 

  

  

Amy ran toward Kazue's side. 

Kazue waited for Amy before she acted on her own. 

While waiting, Kazue held her katana horizontally in front of her face. 

An Arrow flew past from behind Kazue and pierced the Mantis's abdomen. 

It flinched from the pain that stuck to its abdomen. 

A water ball followed and hits the mantis and making it stumble back and lose its balance. 

  

  

"Amy, cover my back" <Kazue> 

"Alright! leave it to me." <Amy> 

  

  

Kazue realized that Amy could not match her speed and just asked her to cover her back. 

Kazue could not let the opportunity slip while the Mantis was still out of its balance. 

She dashed toward the mantis and aimed for its head to finish it once and for all. 

  

  

She swung her sword into the mantis's head. 

The Mantis' head was separated from its body. 

Yellowish-white fluid gushes out from where its head once was. 

It randomly moved around for about 5 seconds before falling to the floor. 

Then it stopped moving. 

 
 

  

Kazue swayed her sword downward with her right hand before pulling it back like a whip. 

She took a cloth from within her pocket and wiped the blade before putting it back in its scabbard. 

  

  

"KAZUEEEEE!!!!" <Amy> 

Amy ran toward Kazue and grabbed her hands with hers. 

"Eh? what?" <Kazue> 

Amy looked amazed and happy and was jumping up and down while holding Kazue's hands with hers. 

"Kazue you're amazing!" <Amy> 

"Eh... r-re-really?" <Kazue> 

"Yeah! You look so cool out there!" <Amy> 

  

  

Then the three other members rushed toward Kazue who was standing beside the lifeless Giant Mantis. 

"DAMN KAZUE! You were so amazing! I think you could even solo that monster!" <Lucas> 

Lucas said as he approaches the two girls. 

"Kazue... you're amazing... you looked like a veteran D rank Adventurer. Are you sure you’re only level 5? you're not lying, are you?" <Charlotte> 

"No, I'm only F-rank why would I lie? As proof, here take a look." <Kazue> 

  

  

Kazue took out her status card and showed her status to her party members. 

 
 

 

  

The four peaked at her status card 

"It is true she is level 5" <Amy> 

"But what the hell is that stat" <Lucas> 

"Yeah, It's like the stats of a level 15 adventurer." <Amy> 

"Wow..." <Charlotte> 

  

  

The four looked at Kazue.

 

Their eyes seemed to be sparkling. 

"Guys... Stop Looking at me like that." <Kazue> 

She looked away from the four who were looking at her intensely in the face. 

She felt that her face became hot and knew that she was blushing. 

She then puts her arms over her face using her coat's loose sleeves to cover her face. 

  

  

  

"I was seriously afraid but now that I know how strong Kazue is, I feel confident!" <Amy> 

"Well now you don’t have to go in front and fight monsters right." <Kazue> 

"But we can’t make Kazue do all the work are we?" <Charlotte> 

"Amy, so you were afraid after all." <Kazue> 

Amy noticed that her true feeling was exposed. 

  

  

"N-N-No I'm not! It's not like that!" <Amy> 

Amy denied but she was eating her words as she speaks.  

"Yes, yes, I understand you don’t want to fight monsters’ heads on right." <Kazue> 

Kazue said while patting her head with her hands like a child. 

  

  

"W-w-what! What's wrong with that? In the first place I’m an acolyte! I'm not supposed to fight upfront! but if you want me to fight then I could fight too. Hmff." <Amy> 

Amy burst out. 

She was pouting and was having a tantrum outburst toward the four. 

"You don’t have to act tough you know… you can stay at the rear and wait for an opportunity to heal us." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte seconds Kazue's words 

 

 

The others had caught up on what Kazue was up to and ride with her to tease Amy. 

Charlotte winked her eyes at Kazue and Kazue replied with a wink as well. 

Lucas grinned knowing what was going on. 

Grace on the other hand just stayed silent to watch things happen while being amused. 

  

  

"W-well! it's not because I thought that I would become a burden if I don't fight up front!" <Amy> 

"Okay, for the next Giant Mantis we encounter, you'll take the vanguard and I'll back you up." <Kazue> 

Kazue said to Amy who does not expect this suggestion from Kazue. 

"W-w-Wait a minute! Kazue!" <Kazue> 

Amy's face turned pale as she heard that from Kazue and looked around to try to find someone to say NO to her. 

  

  

"Is there a problem?" <Kazue> 

"Uh, Uhhhn? No! y-ye... No, I mean..." <Amy> 

Amy's reluctantly replied. 

Her voice audibly became high-pitched compared to before. 

  

  

"you said you could fight it heads on, right? Then I will stand down for the next one." <Kazue> 

Kazue walked past Amy toward the three with her face crumpled into an uncontrolled smile. 

She walked past Amy to hide her face's reaction from her. 

  

  

"Yeah, we should do that." <Lucas> 

Lucas made a move of his own by agreeing with Kazue.  

"I want to see that as well. Okay then, Amy we are counting on you!" <Charlotte> 

Charlotte agreed as well slapped Amy on the shoulder and walked past her. 

Grace followed and walked forward. 

  

  

Amy mumbles in a soft voice. 

"Kazue... come on... ugh..." <Amy> 

Kazue ignored the begging voice from behind her and started walking forward. 

She was also trying to stop herself from laughing. 

  

  

Amy stayed there without making a step forward. 

She closed her fist and gathered some courage to speak. 

"Alright, you guys win! I could not do the vanguard role I was just acting tough!" <Amy> 

Charlotte turned around. 

"fufufu, stupid we already knew that. We are just teasing you. Next just be honest and tell us what you feel you might end up doing things you don’t want to do.” <Charlotte> 

The four laughed in Amy’s direction. 

"YOU GUYS ARE THE WORST!" <Amy> 

  

  

The party are done on their adventure for the day and were able to finish just before the sun had gone down. 

With Kazue taking the vanguard role they were able to hunt down the monsters and collect the material they needed quicker than they expected. 

They just camped out the night while talking about the things they have done for the day. 

 
 

  

During the night they planned on taking turns to watch out for monsters. 

They decided that Lucas and Grace would first take the watch duty and be followed by Charlotte, Amy, and Kazue. 

While Lucas and Grace started their watch Amy, Charlotte and Kazue went to sleep. 

  

  

During the night when it was about the time when Lucas and Grace would have to end their shift, they decide to only wake up Charlotte and Amy and not Kazue. 

Lucas and Grace decided on this since they felt bad for making Kazue do most of the work during the day. 

They wanted to give Kazue a long and nice sleep as they keep on the watch for the night. 

Charlotte and Amy agreed with this to show their thanks to Kazue. 

Throughout the night Kazue slept peacefully until the light of the day awakened her. 

Kazue was upset at them at first but soon she accepted their thanks and forgave them. 

Lucas who was the only boy in the group was tasked to carry their baggage. 

  

  

They were able to come back to Altus city by noon. 

They went straight to the guild and gave the 10 pairs of bladed appendages of the Giant mantis at the guild. 

They notified Olive right away. 

She was shocked that the party was back earlier than she expected them to be so she tried to ask for the reason. 

"Wow, I expected you to finish this by tomorrow or the day after that." <Olive> 

"Well..." <Charlotte> 

When Olive asked this to the party. 

Amy, Charlotte, Lucas, and Grace glanced in Kazue's direction. 

"We got ourselves a talented companion." <Charlotte> 

"Hoho~ So that’s why~" <Olive> 

Olive scanned Kazue from head to toe with her eyes and remembered what she looked like. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" <Kazue> 

Kazue asked the Guild receptionist. 

"No, don’t mind me I am just engraving in my mind how you looked like." <Olive> 

"Why?" <Kazue> 

"No particular reason"<Olive> 

"Ahuh." <Kazue> 

  

  

Then Olive registered the request that they just finished to the guild records that they had completed 2 E-rank quests. 

Giant mantis Subjugation and Giant Mantis Scythe Collection. 

She looked at Kazue's guild records carefully and noticed something. 

She then checked all of their records one by one as well then nodded. 

Olive nodded as she checked the records one by one. 

  

  

"It seems that all of you are now eligible to be promoted to E-rank. Would you like me to process your application for that now?" <Olive> 

"Really?!" <Amy> 

Amy said in high spirits! 

"Yes! at last after almost 4 months of hard work I am now an E-rank" <Amy> 

"If felt like it took me forever to get to E-rank." <Charlotte> 

Kazue made a grim look as she did not want to reveal that she was only started doing adventurer's work for about a month. 

"Yeah." <Kazue> 

 

 

“Here are your rewards.” <Olive> 

Olive gave Kazue and the party their reward of 150,000 Dal. 

"Ok, please come back after 2 days. By then you are to be considered as E-ranks. You will receive "Wood rings" by that time as proof of becoming a full pledge Adventurer" <Olive> 

 

 

Being an F-rank adventurer was considered as being a trainee adventurer. This is where people who are worthy to become an adventurer and those who just wanted to be one on a whim are separated. 

Most of the time people who are not made to be an adventurer often quits after realizing the dangers and hardship of being an adventurer at F-rank. 

Once an adventurer reaches E-rank they will be given a wooden ring that they can wear to show that they have advanced from a newbie to a full pledge Adventurer. 

A new and better ring would be given to an adventurer every time they would rank up. 

  

  

This was the third day since Kazue arrived in Altus City. 

If she was to count in two days, it mean that by that time it would be her fifth day in Altus. 

By that time they would not have enough time to finish another quest since Kazue has leave Altus in the seventh day. 

And so, the party had concluded their adventures that day and decided to meet up again in 2 days to claim their rings and to do a ranking-up celebration together. 

Kazue was looking forward to two days and with that, she decided to take it easy and rest from doing adventurers' work until she returns to the Imperial Capital. 

  

  

Kazue went back to where Reno and the others who were in the town square selling their stuff. 

She wanted to watch Reno, Akemi and Emika do their work. 

After arriving at the girls' stall Kazue went inside and joined the busy girls. 

  

  

A lot of adventurers who pass by browsed their stuff. 

Some Strong looking adventurer was there and was impressed with the weapons and armor that they sell. 

"OH! so these are the famous works of that genius blacksmith, Shaina Stirling!" <Customer A>  

"Hey miss, what are the enchantments in these greaves?" <Customer B> 

"Uhm… that greaves have the enchantment of recovering 0.5% Health per second" <Reno> 

"Miss, I want to buy this Magic sword how much is it?" <Customer C> 

"Ah that would be 4,520,000 Dal" <Reno> 

  

 

Reno was constantly answering the question of the adventurers and soldiers looking through their goods. 

She consistently and accurately explained the detail of what the adventurer and soldiers asked her. 

  

  

Emika on the other hand was the one who hands over the sold goods to the customers. 

Akemi can do simple math and managed the payment of their customers. 

The Stall was full the whole day. 

This went on the following days too. 

Kazue did not want to bother the girls who are busy dealing with their customers. 

Kazue went around the town the past two days. 

  

  

Kazue was exploring Altus city.  

She was visiting shops, restaurants, and some other places that interest her. 

She accidentally bumped into a cute little girl with lustrous long black hair. 

The girl was about the height of her chest area. 

She was looking around and was not able to notice a person who bumped into her. 

  

  

"Oh, sorry I did not see you." <Kazue> 

Kazue apologized to the little girl. 

Her eye widens as she saw the beautiful little girl wearing some familiar outfit that stands out from the crowd. 

She had seen these clothes somewhere before. 

It was the clothes that a Shrine Maiden Wears back in their world. 

  

  

"Eh? A Shrine Maiden?" <Kazue> 

Kazue muttered seeing the familiar clothes. 

"... you..." <Little Girl> 

The little girl wearing shrine maiden clothes spoke with a cute voice. 

Kazue met eyes with the girl. 

Kazue had goosebumps all over her body. 

The little girl glared at Kazue and seemed to have seen through Kazue’s entire being. 

  

  

"w-w-what?" <Kazue> 

She uncharacteristically became disturbed and lost her composure. 

"Hmnn interesting..." <Little Girl> 

The little girl muttered to herself. 

"What?" <Kazue> 

Kazue was confused and could not understand why she was in such disarray after just seeing the girl in the eye. 

"No nothing..." <Little Girl> 

  

  

The girl walked past Kazue while muttering 

“To think that someone had the favor of that God… fufufu interesting.” <Little Girl> 

  

  

Kazue could not help but gaze at the little girl until she disappeared into the crowd of people in the town square. 

After which Kazue came at ease and went to the guild to celebrate her getting a rank up together with the party member that she met in this city. 

They had fun and partied throughout the noon. 

The party ended with their stomach full of food and drinks that they could barely move without throwing out the things they ate. 

  

  

They have parted ways. 

  

  

Kazue walked out of the guild and went toward the town square to meet up with Reno, Emika, and Akemi. 

At around this time, they would be starting to close the stall for the day. 

As she walks back to the town square, she held up her right hand and stared at the simple wooden ring on her index finger. 

Then she stopped for a moment after remembering something. 

  

  

"Right... this ring has a function similar to a status card, I wonder what this displays? Status" 

 
 

  

A magic circle emerges from the ring. 

A hologram-like screen emerged. 

Kazue’s eyes opened wide after she sees the information written in that hologram coming from the ring. 

  

   

 

  

"What the... God of Judgement's Favor?" 

  

  

 
 

 
 

 
 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

******************************** 

  

Author Note: 

  

This has been a long chapter to write! 

Yep, I will try to follow my weekly updates from now on. 

I will be releasing updates every Saturday (+8:00 GMT) 

Had been busy this week and all but I still managed to finish at least 1 chapter I’m so proud of myself! 

I have made a new cover picture and I am planning to include it in chapter 10’s release!!! 

I will be updating the Cover next chapter 

  

 

I was thinking of making all the 28 heroes the focus of this story but it seems that Kazue is my MC huh? I did not think about this when I first conceptualize this story but well … I kinda’ of fell in love with her character in a way that I enjoy writing about her adventures more than the other heroes.  

Honestly. My initial plan was to write 1 chapter where the MC would be the other hero but I kinda feel that it would take me forever to progress story-wise. So, after chapter 18 The story will ride with Kazue’s story from there onward. 

I have done writing about all of the weak characters in this story and now we’ll start looking over the more OP characters. It will be hard to insert Kazue to directly interact with their story. Kazue will return in chapter 18. 

  

Oh I edited this chapter A bit thank you for pointing it out Thanks to 

Mestreangel-san and RandomStranger-san~