Friend

Upon his sign of approval, Misha approached without hesitation and inspected the wound thoroughly. It was a shallow wound, but at the same time, it lengthened so much it could damage a large part of his body with a single blow. It could have hit the lungs or the heart, but more closely, she could see it had not reached so deep.

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Misha tried to drive her finger with all the delicacy she could use. She expected Haru to feel great pain from the latter, since this had happened only a few hours ago, and yet at the time when her finger leaned on the wound, Haru's response was different from what she thought.

"...It tickles."

Out of curiosity, she asked him if the wound hurt, but once again, his answer was different from what she expected.

"It still hurts a little, but when you pass your fingers I don't feel any difference. It tickles..."

Misha thought the wound was still open somehow. Making sure the wounds were open was an advisor's first job of determining how many days an adventurer should stay away from the Dungeon. But if the wounds are all light, and the greatest wound has almost healed in a day, It meant that Haru could heal in less than a day.

Although Misha's behaviour had now been somewhat inappropriate towards Haru, the latter had acted because she was concerned that something might not be alright.

"...I see. If that's the case, according to Guild rules half a day's rest is more than enough considering the various factors that characterize your injuries. But, I would like you to take some time studying the Dungeon properly. The Guild didn't ask anything about this. However, you should form a party..."

She was not associating in any way to the fact he was weak or that he could not survive in the Dungeon alone. But at the same time, if it could make Monster Party appear against adventurers alone, It meant that until now, adventurers had been more than lucky not to meet one all this time.

'Is the Dungeon changing...after all these years...?'

The matter was much more pressing than it seemed at first glance even for Misha. But for her, Haru's well-being was enough of a reason to stop. Making sure he was alright before she went to report the information calmed her heart a little.

"... I understand. However, I won't form any party."

His answer was the result of his thoughts. If in the beginning, his reason for being alone was the absence of people of his level who could help him, now this was a choice, but not because he wanted to be reckless, keep the loot for himself or reasons of the kind, even if they were convenient. The reason was the Dungeon itself. It was too dangerous to bring people he couldn't protect with him, as it would lead to their deaths.

To his words, Misha wanted to say something, but she knew she had already ignored her role too much. She had already gone too far, contextualizing even this choice would be crossing the line they built themselves.

"... I see. My desire is for you to prioritize your life in the Dungeon. Be even more careful from now on, it may happen that danger of which we do not even know the existence can stand in front of you, choose what you value the most, and if your choice is combat, I can only wish you the best from this building, I suppose."

Her words made Haru sigh. It was true that he wanted to be alone in the party, but that did not mean he intended to focus only on slaying monsters from that moment.

"... If I had not known you, my Goddess, and all the people who have offered me their kindness even though they have known me so recently, your reasoning would probably have been correct. But no, Misha-san. My goal is to become strong enough to fulfil my wish. If I died in the Dungeon at the beginning of my journey, everything I've done so far would have been in vain."

It was a bit embarrassing proclaiming these words, but he still said every word with honour. He was grateful to all the people who were helping him, and their names would be written in his heart, even those who played a more insignificant role, as they had still played one.

At his words, Misha, who was still relatively close, as they were still in the middle of finishing their speech, had her cheeks red. She was not used to hearing Haru say these things, and most importantly, he had spoken of her as one of the reasons why he was now not trying with all his might to venture down in the Dungeon, which made her quite happy. But now, knowing what condition he was in both mentally and physically, Misha moved away.

"I-I see. If that's the case, then I can let you go without worrying. As for your drops, I suggest you not to sell all the ones you got at once. Otherwise, you will attract the attention of several people. The magic stones instead are no problem. I also recommend you to talk properly with your Goddess, and think carefully before entering the Dungeon..."

If before the conversation had passed through different emotions at the same time, now Haru could only smile as Misha was finally 'showing' her true colours, as much as he had done before. She was worried about him, and he didn't mind it at all, but he still found it a bit funny, because after saying these words, Haru could see her go away, probably to report the situation back to her superiors.

"..I will take your advice to heart, Misha-san."

Deciding to do as she had said about the drops, Haru got up from the couch where he was sitting, heading to the exchange after putting his shirt back on. However, before he could leave the room, Misha pulled him by the sleeve of the latter.

Before he could ask if there was anything else she wanted to say, Haru found himself speechless, as Misha was looking at him with an embarrassed expression.

"...F-From now on...Call me by my first name without honorifics when we're alone. Even though we have a formal relationship as advisor-adventurer, you're still a friend of mine, and I feel uncomfortable using honorifics all the time..."

Her words surprised him. Her desire to leave the honorifics wasn't a problem to him, because he too was accustomed to using names alone with friends. She had defined their relationship with the word 'friends'. Although it was trivial, until then, Haru did not know what name to give to this relationship with Misha, the main reason for his insecurity. However, if Misha herself said they were friends, then Haru had nothing against calling themselves as such.

"...I see. In this case, you can call me Haru as well, Misha."

Smiling at his use of his name without honorifics, he could see how Misha let him go by answering with a slightly more embarrassed smile. They were bound by a friendship standing aside their formal relationship. However, Misha had never had a male friend, so it was a bit difficult to let go of formalities, even if this was something she wanted to tear down.

Knowing Misha would need some time, Haru let the latter let go of his sleeve, and once she understood what he wanted, he promised her to be back from the Dungeon, whatever it might throw at him. Even if an average person could develop a trauma by the vision of all those monsters who slowly take one's life, and the result of this, Haru was not afraid of the monsters in the slightest. He hadn't understood that in reality, it was they who feared him.

---

Making his way from the Guild to Hephaestus' chambers, Haru knocked on the door expecting Hestia, as usual, to 'greet' him. But to his surprise, a woman with brown complexion, black and long hair, and eyes of a dark red colour, opened the door with a slightly surprised expression on her face.

"... Oh! Since you're here without a permit, you must be the adventurer Hephaestus-sama recently welcomed into the familia, am I wrong?"

The woman had a smile as she said these words, but not knowing who she was, Haru felt a bit strange to start a conversation so quickly, but what struck him most was the presence of an eyepatch to the opposite of the one where Hephaestus wore it.

"...You are not wrong. I am here to report something important Hephaestus-sama needs to know."

In her words, the woman seemed to understand his motives. Welcoming him inside, she offered to make him some tea. As he did not know exactly how to answer, Haru accepted the offer.

Once sitting on the chair waiting for Hephaestus who, as informed by the woman was finishing another item for a customer, The woman introduced herself as Tsubaki Collbrande. She was the Captain of the familia.

Having never heard that name before, Haru was surprised. Indeed, all the familias had various roles, especially those of higher rank as the one in which he was. But he wouldn't have thought to speak directly with the Captain of his familia so informally. Haru was about to apologize for his lack of respect as she held the highest position in the familia. But at his gesture of formality, Tsubaki shook her hands.

"I don't need your formalities, but if there's something you want to talk about while Hephaestus is busy, I could help you. She told me so much about you. I ended up curious after all."

At her words, Haru considered whether to tell her what he planned to tell Hephaestus. He didn't know how close Tsubaki could be to her, but being the Captain of the familia, it didn't hurt to start informing her. At first impression, Tsubaki seemed pretty understanding and Haru hoped the appearance would confirm her personality was as he could have imagined from the few exchanges they had had.

---

(Uwaaa...I'm so awfully late, as I said, I will update whenever I have time to write to, so sorry about this lmao. Join my server discord:y8VBZAp)