Chapter 011 – [Hero’s Party] Emmy: The People on Top are not Always the most Knowledgeable

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She’s a mysterious beautiful lady as dazzling as gold.

I feel my eyes getting blind looking at the lady as she smiled and went next to Vince upon his immediate reply.

Vince welcomed the beautiful lady and… Bathed her in his gaze in exactly the same way he did earlier with Jannet.

…They’re really huge huh. I wonder what she eats to have them grown that much.

Jannet moved behind and walked next to me as if switching places with the lady.

She looked at me and shrug her shoulders expressionlessly in response.

I wonder if she means, ‘Yareyare’? I don’t really get what your thinking with your usual expressionless face.

Or maybe she’s trying to say, ‘I don’t want to think at all’?

The lady in front took a look at us at the back as I was thinking about these things.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Excuse me but, uhm, here is the [Hero], and a [Mage] looking girl over here, so you must be the [Holy Knight], yes?]

[Eh? Oh… Um… Yes.]

[Fufufu~ I always thought that a woman holding a shield is a thing of beauty. It’s really splendid! I’ve always wanted to speak with you at least once.]

[Eh? Me? Oh… Thank you so much…]

[Ara~ Ara~. For the [Holy Knight] whose power won’t even bulge facing pressure from multitudes of people to be blushing innocently. This lady has come to like you more~]

[Uh…]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

The lady laughs pleasantly as she keeps praising me.

I feel guilty thinking that she was some sort of a flirtatious beauty hitting on Vince.

The lady suddenly clapped her hands as if she remembered something.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Oh. It’s a bit late but I am sorry for the sudden intrusion that made me forgot to introduce myself first. I am called Katie. Please take care of me.]

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Katie tilts her head and smiled after she introduced her self.

…Yep. As expected of a beautiful lady.

She has that brilliance that the boyish me or the bookworm Jannet will never have.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[I’m Vince. She’s Emmy and there’s Jannet. Hehe. Nice working with you, Katie.]

[Please take care of me as well, Katie-san.] (Emmy)

[…Hi. I’m a [Sage] and can use recovery magic.] (Jannet)

[Ara! I’m sorry for being rude earlier. So you have one of the highest class too.]

[It’s fine.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Vince comes closer to grab her waist as he speak without even using honorifics.

I don’t think there is anything more embarrassing than seeing a guy put on airs to hit on you, but he is the hero so she might have to tolerate it. As a girl who’s with this guy I can’t help but be the one to feel embarrassed.

Jannet just lightly responded to her. It must have bothered her a bit.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Anyway, let’s eat out or something first. I only have enough to buy for myself but let me treat you, Katie.]

[That’s so sweet of you!]

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… What the heck is wrong with you?
Or would I have wanted to say but we have Katie-san here so I’d rather not.

We’ve just had one of our childhood friends kicked out of the party and Vince is just like this. It seems he doesn’t really care about it…

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

We went to one of the most luxurious restaurants in the city that Vince selected.

I can feel the piercing gazes of men all over us… But Katie-san is really dazzling. She’s like the sun as she brightens her surroundings with just being there.

I can sense some curses coming as well from the men’s gazes. Well, from their standpoint, they must be thinking that we’re Vince’s harem. Well, we can’t be anything but his harem when you look at it right?

Huh? Don’t tell me… Did Vince do it for this?

No no noooo. That can’t be. We’ve known each other for so long already. To expel one of us just for that is…

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Uhm, excuse me. What would be your order?]

[Oh, uh. Sorry. A course, please.]

[Thank you.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

I spaced out and forgot my surroundings as I think about these things.

I saw Katie-san looking at me grinning as if she finds something interesting. Uhm. That’s a bit… embarrassing…

At the back of the restaurant away from the other tables, I watch the food we ordered being delivered to us and look at Katie-san as I wanted to ask her something.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Oh, Katie-san. What kind of stories would you like to hear about?] (Emmy)

[That! I would like to hear about the things the hero party have been doing until now and how far are you guys into it. Oh, it’s not that I am trying to gather information against you. I’m just a level 10 mage and that would be too much for me.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Katie shows her tag to us as she explains.

『Hammond』– Resident of this City, Katie.

Mage – Level 10

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[I apologize if it sounded like I was suspecting you.]

[Oh no, it’s alright. In fact, I am quite glad that you guys are not the type who trust people who they barely know.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Aww. Really, Katie-san. I can’t even compare myself to your beauty and it seems you’re a very kind person too.

For someone like me who’s worse enough to kick out her childhood friend just yesterday… That smile is just too bright.

Vince swiftly drinks his pottage soup and leans closer to Katie as he joins the conversation.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[We’ve been dungeoning for half a year here in Hammond and now we’re pushing on the eighth floor of the middle levels!]

[Oh oh, the eighth floor! Then it should be the Taurus’ floor, right?]

[Yeah! You know your stuff! And here’s Emmy who swats the attacks from that freakin’ Taurus!]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Katie looks at me with her brilliant eyes full of expectation as Vince shifted the conversation to me.

Yep, that Blood Taurus.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[To be able to deflect the Taurus’ attack even once is really amazing already!]

[I think I’ll be fine taking a few hits. I’m a level 23 [Holy Knight] but it still hurts a bit even when I block it with my two hands holding my shield.]

[You’re so cool, Emmy-san. I hope there would be more people like you soon. A girl who is as competent as men doing the vanguard. You’ll be their role model]

[Ahaha, it’s not like that.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

…Really. It’s not something like that…

I’d rather slap myself for not being strong enough not to get injured when we fought that Blood Taurus.

Strong enough not to let other people worry about me getting hurt.

I’m one of the top classes of the front runners in the deep levels of the dungeon.

It doesn’t matter whether I just received the class or not… I shouldn’t be having difficulties facing a monster in the middle levels in the first place.

I am… Weak.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Oh, by the way]

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Suddenly, Katie-san put her poisson¹ dish aside and look at each of us before tilting her head.

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[–Why is that there’s no priest in this party?]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

I felt like my heart was clenched for an instant when I heard her question.

Priest. Recovery mage.

I find it hard to breathe…

Jannet looks like she wanted to say something but it was Vince who replied in a loud voice.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Hahaha, listen well, Katie! All of us can use recovery magic! Hero, Holy Knight, even the Sage! That’s why we don’t need something like recovery mages!]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

He yells it so happily that I cannot help but turn my head from him and frown.

 Jannet remains expressionless.

I wonder how will Katie-san react…

I guess she’ll just probably say [Ma~ma~, Then there’s really no need for recovery mages, yes~].

If an outside party dares to tell that…. I wonder if I can hold myself back….

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Ma~ ma~]

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Katie san puts a fork on her fish.

As she tries to say her next words that might as well curse Russell… I can feel my tension getting higher—

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[That’s, well, it does feel a bit inconvenient, doesn’t it?]

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—-ah, eh?

What the heck is up with that reaction…

It’s far lighter than what I thought.

She looks like she lost all interest and kept on munching her fish. [N~ it really is a delicious place, isn’t it?]. It looked like she finds the fish much more interesting than the recovery magic of us three.

Compared to the joyous atmosphere of the hero’s party earlier, I think everyone would be surprise with this change in reaction.

The disinterested response of Katie-san must have triggered something in Vince as he had replied with a louder voice than before.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Oi, oi! The three of us are like recovery mages already, you know? We’re good even without that Sai—… Priests or something! Nope. Rather, people like that who can’t even attack is just wasting our food and resources!]

[Vince, the others are starting to look at us.]

[Tsk. My bad.]

.

I warned Vince who screamed so loud with a stiffer tone as he returns to his chair after standing up after he got agitated.

When Vince heard me, he sits on my side and I turned my head away from him.

…What was the just now?

What do you mean by ‘priest’?

What do you mean by ‘recovery mage’?

Are all those words meant for the [Saint], Russell?

Jannet expressionlessly picks up the fish from the edge of the table to the side of her plate. Was it dropped? Maybe her hand slipped?

Or maybe, deep inside, she isn’t as calm as I think she is?

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Uhm… Well… This might be rude but… [Sage]-san, ah, Jannet-san?]

[…N? ah, me?]

[Yes. Did you learn the magic [Cure]?]

[…Un. I learned that magic when I was a level 15 [Sage]. I’m level 26 now.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Katie-san nods her head upon hearing those numbers.

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[Then, how about [Fireball]?]

[That’s from level 1]

[As expected, isn’t it~ it’s a [Magi Class Sage].]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Eh? There’s something in their conversation that I never heard even once before.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Katie-san, what is a [Magi Class Sage]?]

[You aren’t familiar with it? Oh, it is true that [Sage] can use both magic from [Priest]s and [Mage]s. But, at the end, it can only do half of the best what a [Priest] and [Mage] can do.]

[…Half of… their best?]

[Yes. The [Saint] is the pinnacle of the priest class and [Magi] is the ultimate amongst the mage. And a [Sage] can do magic from both classes. Mages learn [Fireball] at level 2 but you learned it at level 1 which means you lean closer to the Magi class. Her recovery magic might be lower compared to priests but the [Sage] Jannet has almost the same abilities of the Magi with recovery magic in addition to that which makes her class a really splendid one.]

.

Even when I heard her say that it’s a splendid class, my head is already full of unimaginable things.

…Sages aren’t capable of replacing priests. In fact, they’re lower?

She must have the same doubts I have so Jannet asked Katie-san as well.

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

[Then, from what level do [Priest]s learn [Cure]?]

[From level 10. But the people being bestowed as priest classes are very rare and for a specialize priest in recovery magic to reach level 10 is pretty difficult but once they do, they are almost guaranteed to have blissful lives. Cure uses a lot of mana but the priests who can use it receives donations and offerings in various cities~.]

<Translated at Simplyrical.com>

Ofcourse, there are some who prefer to remain as adventurers too~, and with those words, Katie-san’s story is finally over.

As if trying to prove his point that it’s a bullish story for us was Vince repeatedly stressing out that all of us can use recovery magic.

On the other hand, Katie-san beside him, did not reject his idea but praise him instead saying ‘Isn’t that amazing that you can use recovery magic~’.

It sure sounded like a praise but… It seems that her view hasn’t budge the slightest and those words seemed… Empty.

As I look at Katie-san’s smiling face, I can somehow feel like there are dark clouds lingering over the heads of the party.

Something I can’t explain in words… An unknown feeling of anxiety creeps on me.

A [Magi] is an equal class with the [Saint].

And for healing magic, [Magi Class Sage] is inferior to a [Priest].

–Then, is the [Holy Maiden] an equivalent class of the [Saint]?

I can’t help but be afraid to know the answer of that question and forced myself to stop listening to the end.

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Translator’s Notes:

1. Poisson is a fish type of dish. Below is a sample in case it sounded unfamiliar:

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