A week later, the materials were made and distributed to the students of the academy. When I was feeling glad about it, the principal gave me quite a lot of gold coins as manuscript fees. Furthermore, I was told I would be paid royalties every time the book is printed.

“Hmm, money is accumulating unexpectedly…”

As I received the gold coins in the principal’s office and was returning to the classroom, I muttered so in the hallway and was called out from behind, “What a luxurious worry~”

When I turned around at the voice, it was Rene-senpai.

“Good morning, Lark-kun.”

“Good morning, Rene-senpai.”

“Yep, good morning. Hey Lark-kun, do you happen to have any rusks left?”

“…I do have some in at this point.

※※※※※※

Leticia was smiling happily as she praised Rin. Following that, she continued to mention various strengths of Rin. From her scouting ability, her broad knowledge in recognizing plant types at a glance, her excellent sense of direction and memory that ensured she never got lost in the forest, and so on… After hearing all these, I also started to feel the urge to join them on their adventures.

“Ah, you look like you want to go on an adventure, Lark-kun. If so, let’s go on the next day off.”

“You noticed, huh? I’d love to, thank you.”

I made a pinky promise with Leticia-san and then returned to my work.

When closing time arrived, I returned home to find that Father and Rin had already come back. While preparing dinner together with Rin, I informed her that I intended to accompany them on their next day off.

“On your next day off? Sure, of course, that’s fine~”

“Thank you. By the way, I heard a lot about you from Leticia-san. Rin, you’ve been working hard.”

“Eh!? Um…yeah…because you can do so many things, Lark-kun. So I thought I should try harder too…” Rin, perhaps embarrassed by the sudden praise, blushed and replied.

“As a member of our party, you are truly reliable. I’m counting on you in the future too.”

“Uh, uh…yeah…” Rin’s ears turned bright red, and she didn’t say a word as we cooked together.

◇

Time flew by and the promised day arrived. I was outside the royal capital with Leticia-san and Rin. Our current task was “collecting magical recovery herbs”. This is considered a relatively difficult task among all the gathering requests, mainly because there’s a poisonous plant that resembles the herb. Even seasoned adventurers can barely tell them apart by looks alone.

However, if one studies properly, there is a method to distinguish between them. The common approach to this task is to gather indiscriminately, inspect whether the plants are the medicinal herbs in a safe place, and if the amount is insufficient, return to gather more.

Well, if we had appraisal-type skills, we could identify it at a glance, making the task considerably easier. For our party, it was a simple request.

While we were walking through the forest, Rin, who was leading the way, stopped. “Lark-kun, Leticia-san. There’s a group of goblins up ahead. What should we do?”

“I wouldn’t mind fighting them as it’s been a while since I fought any monsters… What about you, Leticia-san?”

“My level hasn’t risen much recently, so I’d agree to fight them.”

“Understood. I’ll go and confirm the number of enemies then.”

Rin quickly disappeared after saying that. Before I knew it, Rin had mastered ninja-like movements…! As I marveled, she quietly returned.

“There were five in total. One goblin with a staff and four with clubs.”

“The one with the staff might be a magic user… Then, I’ll take down the one with the staff, and the rest can be handled by you and Leticia-san, okay?”

“Got it.”

We decided on a plan and carefully approached the place where the goblins were without being detected. As Rin had informed, there were five goblins. I sent a blade of wind and beheaded the magic-using goblin.

“Gugyah!?”

“Huh!?”

The other goblins noticed the anomaly and tensed up, but Leticia and Rin had already split into two groups and were approaching from the left and right. Within a few seconds, all the goblins were slain.

“Leticia-san and I each defeated two. Hmm, I was slower in landing the first strike than Rin-chan~”

“But, Leticia-san, you defeated them faster, didn’t you?”

While watching Leticia and Rin exchange thoughts on the fight, I dismantled the goblins and put their materials into the “Useful Box”.

In the middle of the work, I asked Rin about something that had been bothering me. “By the way, Rin, your movements have changed since the last time. Did you take inspiration from something?”

“Eh? Hmm, it’s not really about inspiration, but Doldos-san advised me to “think about a way to move without making a noise,” so I tried various things and ended up with this way of moving.”

“I see… It’s really impressive.”

When I complimented her, Rin happily responded with a “yes”.

After that, we searched for herbs in the forest. With the “Appraising Eye,” it was easy to identify them, so we were able to collect the required amount quickly.

We left the forest and returned to the guild to report to Father at the reception.

“Oh, you’ve already finished collecting?”

“Yes, there weren’t many monsters, so it wasn’t too much trouble.”

As I handed over the herbs and answered, I also submitted the materials from the goblins we had defeated along the way and received the reward. Afterwards, we moved to the dining hall to share the rewards and eat lunch, when a familiar face I hadn’t seen for a while approached us.

“It’s been a while, Lark-kun.”

The person who called out was Asura.

“Ah, long time no see, Asura. Have you already returned to Recommetys from your parents’ home?”

“Just a few days ago. Thanks to you, I’m in perfect health, so I’m going to start taking on more tasks from now on.”

Asura said this, took a seat next to me, and introduced himself to Rin, who he was meeting for the first time, “Nice to meet you, I’m Asura, a friend of Lark-kun’s.” Rin responded with a smile, “I’ve heard about you from Lark-kun.”

I received the party member registration form, wrote down Asura’s name, and submitted it.

“Once again, nice to work with you, Asura.”

“So, have you been handling requests left and right?”

When I asked, Asura shook his head sideways. “No, actually I was forbidden from going on adventures by my mother and others because I was recently ill. But, I was finally able to persuade them yesterday, and from today I can accept requests. Well, I understand that they’re just worried about me.”

After laughing and saying that, Asura suddenly became serious and bowed his head. “Sorry for the late thanks, Lark-kun. Thank you for helping me. Now, I can go on adventures again.”

“Because we are friends, I would be happy to help you if I can. Let’s go on an adventure together again.”

With that, Asura returned to his bright smile.

Then, Leticia suggested something, “Hey, what if Asura-kun joined our party?”

“What!?”

“Yeah, I also wanted Asura to join our party. It would be a great help if we could increase our rear guard.”

“Is it okay? I’m not particularly good at magic, you know?”

Asura hesitated, but I shook my head, “No, I think Asura’s magic sense is amazing, and he should continue to improve… but if you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”

As I was about to say that, Asura said with a strong tone, “I’ll join! Please let me.”

“Alright, let’s process the addition of a new party member!”

In a hurry, I took Asura to Father ‘s reception and got a new party member registration form, wrote Asura’s name and submitted it.

“Again, I’m counting on you from now on, Asura-kun.”

“I’m still inexperienced, but now that I’ve been welcomed as a team member, I’ll do my best to become a strong asset.”

After that, we held a welcome party for Asura, who became a new party member, at my house. At that time, I served some prototype dishes that were not yet served in the shop, and Asura said, “It’s worth joining just for this…” and ate it deliciously.

◇

After Asura joined, our party’s way of fighting changed a little.

First, Leticia remained in the vanguard as before, but Rin started to focus on reconnaissance. It may seem the same as before, but even when we encounter monsters, Rin basically doesn’t participate in combat and instead watches out for other monsters. I also have reconnaissance skills, but they are inferior to Rin’s skill level, so it would be safer to leave the role of finding enemies to Rin.

Next is Asura, who joined us. I’m thinking of asking him to mainly support me. For example, when I’m dealing with monsters, he’ll watch my back and hold off other monsters that attack… When I asked Asura for support, he said, “I’ll do my best.”

Now, the week after Asura joined the party, we were in the forest taking on a request on our day off. The request was to subjugate a mushroom-like monster that had recently increased. This monster is also a food ingredient often used in cooking.

“Alright, let’s start heading back.”

Without any problems, I finished the subjugation and gave the order to everyone.

“Okay, oh, Asura-kun. There’s a medicinal herb over there, you should take it.”

Miss Leticia pointed to a medicinal herb hidden in the bush next to Asura.

“Eh? Ah, you’re right. Leticia-san, you’re amazing. You found the medicinal herb in an instant.”

“It’s not like that. I’m the most insensitive person in this party,” said Leticia.

When she said this, Asura turned to look at me and Rin, asking, “Could it be that both of you noticed this herb?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Me too.”

When Rin and I nodded, Asura started to burn with fighting spirit. “…I need to work harder.”

Leticia placed her hand lightly on Asura’s shoulder and spoke, “You don’t have to push yourself too hard. Just take it one step at a time, okay?”

“Thank you. But since I’ve been given the chance to join the party, I want to be useful as soon as possible.”

“I see…but don’t push yourself too hard. It’s pointless if you collapse.”

At Leticia’s words, Asura flinched. Considering that he overexerted himself and got sick not too long ago, he probably had something to think about.

I decided to drive the point home too.

“Leticia-san is right. I can heal minor injuries with my holy magic, but if the damage is severe or if you get sick, treatment will be difficult. So be careful.”

Asura obediently replied with “Understood.”

After that, we returnrf to the guild and reported of our quest completion. Then we went to the dining hall for lunch.

“Speaking of which, Lark-kun, you mentioned you were going to release a new product soon. Have you discussed it with Mr. Luck yet?” Leticia asked as we eat the grilled meat we ordered at the dining hall.

“Yes, I’ve had a few meetings to prepare for the launch. Most of the plans are settled, but we’re having a little problem with the ingredients.”

When I replied, Asura asked me next, “Are you using rice in your cooking again?”

“No, this time we’re basically using sugar. I can make the sugar myself, but there’s a limit to how much I can make. Right now, Mr. Luck is pulling some strings to secure the raw materials.”

“…Lark-kun, you really can do anything, huh. Making your own sugar…”

Asura said this in astonishment, and Leticia and Rin nodded in agreement.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve been wondering for a while, but is Lark-kun’s silver hair natural?”

Asura changed the subject. I felt a little uncomfortable, but I went along with the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s natural. I’ve had silver hair since I can remember… Oh, by the way, I’m actually related to the Shafalbach family.”

“What!?”

I thought it would be best to mention that since Asura is from the royal family of Leblanc, and the Shafalbach family is a noble family of Leblanc. He seems taken aback.

For a while, Asura was dumbfounded, but then he suddenly looked surprised and asked, “Wait a minute…does that mean you’re the boy who made a contract with the silver dragon that was rumored in social circles a while ago…?”

“That’s me.”

“Really…!? Can you…can you call out Shafal-sama too!?”

“No…Shafal’s always asleep and doesn’t come out.”

When I answered this, Asura’s shoulders slumped down in disappointment.