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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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There was a dream he sometimes recalled as he drifted off to sleep.
It wasn’t a nightmare.
But it was just as painful, a stinging memory of a past hurt.
In the dream, he saw a party of four young adventurers.
It was a stable party, each member’s role balanced with the others.
They completed requests one after another, earned a lot of money, and their names gradually became known.
Delighted with what they had achieved, the four maintained a good relationship.
As their fame steadily grew, the level of requests they received began to rise proportionally.
It was also around that time that cracks started to appear in the four’s teamwork.
Not long after that…
‘I’m sorry, but I think I need to leave the party.’
His close friend left the party.
Reaching out towards his friend’s receding back… he woke up.
“…….”
The pre-dawn hours were still dark.
Wagner, sitting up in bed, looked down at his own hands.
They were the same hands that had reached out towards his departing friend’s back.
Staring at his hands, Wagner slowly buried his face in them.
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Deep within a lush forest of towering trees.
As Wagner advanced slowly, maintaining formation, he heard the sound of someone whistling from afar.
Whee! Whew! Whee!
Long.
Short.
Long again.
Upon hearing the familiar whistle signal he’d known for so long, Wagner tightened his grip on the shield he held.
Then, he firmly commanded his party members who were following behind.
“Formation check! Less than five enemies ahead! Don’t let your guard down just because they’re wild dogs!”
“Shut up…”
He heard Guinness grumbling from behind, but Wagner kept his attention focused on the signal, his eyes fixed ahead.
Of course, he didn’t think anything would happen to these party members against mere wild dogs, but this party needed to learn how to function better as a unit.
For that, a certain level of vigilance was necessary.
Not long after the whistle signal, he heard the sound of several animals running from ahead.
As the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching the party grew closer, Wagner raised his shield and tensed his body.
“Woof woof!”
Four wild dogs darted out from behind the trees.
Wagner extended his right leg, bracing himself, and thrust his shield forward, timing it with the charging dogs.
Thud!
With a heavy impact, the dog in the lead was knocked back.
It wouldn’t be surprising if it was knocked unconscious, having taken the full force of the shield with its body.
But in the meantime, another two, more agile dogs were charging towards the shield.
He couldn’t strike them at such close range.
Instead, Wagner slammed the pointed bottom of his shield into the ground.
The shield, now anchored in the earth, allowed him to withstand the force of the dogs rushing towards him much more easily.
And while Wagner held his ground…
Thud! Thud!
“Yelp! Yelp!”
Kundt, who was behind Wagner, swung the massive hammer he held in both hands, sending the dogs flying.
With a yelp, the airborne dogs crashed into tree trunks and collapsed on the ground, motionless.
Three out of four dogs were down, leaving only one.
Turning his head to where the last one had been, he saw Wolf holding the wild dog in his burly hand.
‘They’re steadily improving.’
The most crucial coordination, between Kundt and Wagner, was getting better and better.
If the two of them held the front line of the formation, they could easily recover even if the formation crumbled a little elsewhere.
Wolf Who Chases the Wind, who initially targeted more enemies than necessary, also seemed to have grasped how much he should handle as an interceptor.
Whee! Whee! Whee!
Long.
Long.
Long.
The signal indicated six to ten enemies ahead.
“Ten ahead!”
Once again, they reorganized their formation and coordinated their actions in a now somewhat familiar sequence.
Wagner blocked the enemy’s charge and drew their aggro, Kundt emerged from behind Wagner and took down a few, Wagner regained his position, and Kundt, who had retreated to the rear, came forward again to eliminate a few more.
In the meantime, if any enemies tried to flank them, Wolf Who Chases the Wind intercepted them.
This relatively decent party pattern was repeating itself when…
“Move!”
“!”
Following his instincts, Wagner shifted his position slightly.
With a shout, Guinness, who was in the rear, suddenly charged forward.
With a glint in her eyes, Guinness, having broken away from the rear, charged towards the three wild dogs confronting Wagner…
Thud! Thud! Thud!
…and instantly crushed all three of their heads.
Seeing the headless dogs twitching and collapsing, Guinness let out a satisfied breath and turned her gaze towards two other wild dogs.
The problem was the gap in the formation created by her sudden charge.
Two other dogs, not the ones Guinness was targeting, were rushing towards that opening.
However, the dogs’ attempt was unsuccessful.
Two arrows flew in like lightning, accompanied by the sound of wind being sliced from afar.
The result was a direct hit.
One arrow in each dog’s head.
The dogs, struck in the head, rolled on the ground and crashed.
‘Iyer.’
Looking towards where the arrows had come from, he saw Iyer perched on a tree, holding a bow.
As if sensing Wagner’s gaze, Iyer smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
His archery skills were still as marvelous as ever.
Wagner couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend’s skill, which hadn’t dulled at all despite it being over a year since he’d stopped taking subjugation requests.
Two dogs remained.
Guinness, with a ferocious grin, leaped towards the two in a single bound.
It was only natural that the remaining two wild dogs would follow their companions to their demise.
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During a short break to catch their breath.
Wagner approached Guinness, who was leaning against a tree trunk, resting.
“Guinness.”
“What.”
“You can’t act like you did earlier.”
Guinness’s brow furrowed at Wagner’s words.
She looked like a teenage girl annoyed by her mother’s nagging.
But it was a familiar sight.
Wagner calmly explained, step by step.
Why maintaining formation was important.
Why Guinness needed to stay in the rear.
But Guinness simply shoved Wagner’s chest roughly, pushing him away.
“You’re so noisy, chattering away. I only stepped in because you guys were moving like snails.”
“We weren’t moving like snails. Any one of us here can handle wild dogs. This is practice for when we face stronger opponents.”
“If there’s something so strong that the lot of you gathered here can’t defeat it, then that shitty formation won’t matter a damn. It’s every man for himself then.”
“…Guinness. We’re here as comrades.”
“Comrades?”
Guinness asked incredulously at Wagner’s words, raising her right hand.
More precisely, her slender middle finger.
Guinness flipped Wagner off and said,
“Screw you, Wagner. I came along because you begged me, but I never said I’d be your comrade.”
“Guinness…”
“I owe you a debt, and since I’m here, I’ll help. But don’t expect anything more from me. Got it?”
Saying that, Guinness slapped Wagner’s shoulder and walked away.
Wagner, his shoulder pushed aside, watched Guinness’s receding back and sighed, rubbing his temples.
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“Iyer.”
As Wagner approached Iyer, who was sharpening his arrowheads, Iyer greeted him with a friendly wave.
Wagner sat down next to him to check on Iyer’s condition after being active again for the first time in a while.
“How’s your form?”
“Hmm. Not bad? What do you think?”
“You still seem perfect, Iyer.”
At those words, Iyer chuckled and lightly punched Wagner’s chest.
Wagner smiled back at the friendly gesture.
Whenever Wagner said this, Iyer always brushed it off as a joke.
But Wagner’s assessment of Iyer was always sincere, then and now.
It had probably been that way since they first met.
“Have you set a date?”
“Ah, yes. Probably in a few days.”
“I see. Then I should prepare accordingly.”
Iyer’s demeanor as he sharpened his arrowheads was incredibly reassuring.
In truth, it was Iyer who was covering the gaps in this party.
It was Iyer who dispersed the enemies and herded them so that too many wouldn’t come at once.
It was Iyer who guided the enemies towards Wagner’s front.
And it was Iyer who filled the gap created by Guinness’s earlier outburst.
Wagner, who had been in a party with him for several years, knew very well how important Iyer’s inconspicuous actions were.
They might have not noticed it now, while they were dealing with wild dogs, but if they faced a proper opponent, they would realize his contribution.
The Unsung Hero of the party.
Wagner thought it was the perfect title for Iyer, who worked discreetly behind the scenes.
“I’m sorry. For relying on you like this again.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Iyer replied casually.
Seeing his friend like this, Wagner hesitated slightly.
He remembered the dream he had last night, the one about his past.
A story of the past he kept hidden from others.
A topic that even those involved tacitly avoided.
It wasn’t easy to bring it up himself.
But before Wagner could speak, Iyer beat him to it.
“I should be the one making sure I’m not a hindrance. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a subjugation request.”
“A hindrance…?”
Come to think of it, Guinness had said something similar when the five of them first gathered.
‘How can we trust a has-been who suddenly quit subjugation a year ago for some unknown reason, Wagner?’
Kundt and Wolf hadn’t said anything, but they were probably thinking along the same lines as Guinness.
There were various rumors about why Iyer had quit monster subjugation.
But none of those rumors touched on the truth.
Only the party members at the time… Ronchevich, Pichoni, Wagner, and Iyer… knew the truth.
A wry smile appeared on Wagner’s face.
“The others at the guild might not have trusted you, but it’s different now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Now I can tell, to some extent. That the party members acknowledge you.”
It was true.
Kundt, Wolf, and even Guinness, who had been the most vocal in her criticism, now acknowledged Iyer’s abilities as a scout.
How could he tell?
Because the other party members didn’t interfere with the role Iyer was responsible for.
Even though Guinness went off on her own and rampaged, she didn’t go ahead of Iyer.
Her impulsive actions were still based on Iyer’s signals.
Therefore, Wagner could judge that the others trusted Iyer’s skills to a certain degree.
But Iyer still replied casually.
“Well, it’s thanks to you.”
“…Yes.”
“It’s thanks to you that this party is functioning. I trust you, as a leader.”
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[A dream, or perhaps, a prophecy…?]
