"Please, Luno-san! Lend me your strength!"
Thresha bowed her head deeply, but Luno, watching her, simply set his mug of ale on the table and spoke.
"Listen, I only helped you back there on a whim. So what makes you think I'd cooperate with you? If you wanted help, you'd be better off asking another party — one with more members."
This was one of the taverns in Gilm.
Being nighttime, there were plenty of customers.
Luno had been drinking ale and eating dinner to shake off the day's fatigue, but such a pleasant mood was quickly ruined when someone bowed their head right in front of him like this.
"That's... well... I don't have much room in terms of reward..."
Originally, Thresha's party had been D-Rank.
They were recognized as full-fledged adventurers, but that didn't mean they had any financial leeway.
Moreover, the money obtained from selling her comrades' belongings wasn't much at all for items owned by D-Rank Adventurers.
Using that money to hire a party — and to explore the Treant Forest, a place with no monsters or animals that could hardly be called profitable — was an unreasonable ask.
Of course, parties that could be hired with that amount of money did exist.
But such parties would have a reason they could accept low pay... in other words, there was a high probability they had some kind of problem.
That was exactly why Thresha had set her sights on Luno, who had a connection to her and was active solo — right here in Gilm.
In truth, Thresha's aim was by no means wrong.
No, rather, the fact that she had targeted Luno could be said to show she had a good eye for people.
...However, hiring a high-rank adventurer naturally required a commensurate reward.
"Right? Then this conversation is over. I'm enjoying my evening, so don't do anything that'll ruin the taste of my ale."
He brought to his mouth a piece of stir-fry from his plate — seasoned sweet and savory, with strong flavors to match the ale.
Then he lifted the mug to his lips, savoring the dish together with the ale.
"Pwah! ...Yeah, delicious. Look, you should go do what you need to do soon. Staying here won't make your wish come true."
"...Um, is it really no good?"
"Yeah. I do feel sorry for you, I really do... but I'm an adventurer too. You can't expect me to manage on a cheap commission, right?"
"That's... well..."
At Luno's words, Thresha, seated across from him, faltered. After a small, deep breath, she spoke.
"If it would help... you can do as you like with me instead of a reward. So please. Lend me your strength."
Perhaps not expecting such words to come from Thresha's mouth, Luno stopped the hand that had been bringing the ale to his lips.
Then he turned his gaze to Thresha once more.
Her features could be called well-proportioned, by and large.
He acknowledged that.
But to Luno, who was in his mid-twenties, Thresha was still immature.
Thresha had only just entered her late teens, but under normal circumstances, she could certainly be seen as a woman.
In fact, she had received countless invitations before.
Considering that, Thresha didn't think she lacked charm... or rather, she didn't want to think so.
In this case, the misfortune was simply that Luno only viewed women as women — or more precisely, as objects of romance and desire — when they were in their twenties or above.
Also, while Thresha's features were refined, in terms of physique she was, to put it kindly, slender... or to be blunt, flat-chested.
Because of that, Luno couldn't see Thresha in that kind of light.
"Value yourself more. If you keep doing that, you'll regret it when you find someone you actually love."
So Luno told her, but if Thresha had been a beautiful woman in her twenties, he would have responded differently.
Not understanding this, Thresha directed a gaze of admiration at Luno, who appeared to be worrying about her.
But that admiring gaze soon vanished.
In the first place, Thresha wanted to resolve the Treant Forest matter herself.
With Luno as her only hope of doing something about it, no matter how grateful she felt, she couldn't back down here.
"I'll do anything I can. So please..."
"Even if you say that..."
Watching Thresha, Luno brought the ale to his lips once more, partly to change his mood.
As he pondered what to do, he suddenly recalled a rumor he'd heard at the Guild that evening.
(They said they'd be recruiting adventurers as guards for a large-scale tree-felling operation in the Treant Forest. If I joined that... ah, right, there's a rank restriction.)
The Treant Forest situation involved many dangers.
Indeed, to his knowledge, two parties — including Thresha's — had already been wiped out.
This was only what was known. Thresha's party went without saying, but the other party — Third Eye — was only discovered because Rei had been flying overhead on Set.
Even that discovery was sheer coincidence: light had reflected off their baggage through a gap in the trees. If belongings were in a densely forested area, they would be hidden in the truest sense, so even Set would struggle to find them.
(Still, tree-felling, huh... Well, the Treant Forest is expanding every day, so doing some logging makes sense to keep it in check. Plus, the pay relative to the labor is good.)
If there was one hard part about being a woodcutter, it was, naturally, transporting the felled trees.
But tomorrow's request supposedly had Rei — who possessed an Item Box — handling the transport, so there was no need to worry about the most grueling part of the job.
Not only that, but the guard adventurers would receive additional pay for every tree they felled.
...Though, of course, the major precondition was that they not neglect their guard duties.
That was precisely why this request had a rank restriction... and Thresha hadn't reached that rank.
(But what are they gathering all that wood for, I wonder? Are they going to sell it as lumber? The Treant Forest is special in a lot of ways, so maybe the wood is special too.)
He probably never imagined that an expansion of Gilm was being considered.
Then again, Luno's lack of carpentry knowledge worked in his favor here.
Normally, felled trees needed to be dried for a certain period of time.
Depending on the type of wood, that could mean half a year.
...However, though only a few knew this yet, the trees of the Treant Forest were a different story.
Since they originally contained trace amounts of a special magical power, using a specific liquid employed in Alchemy meant there was no need for natural drying at all.
"Um, Luno-san?"
"...Ah, right..."
Faced with Thresha watching him, Luno wavered on what to do. But when he thought about the fact that she had lost her entire party, abandoning her didn't sit right with him either.
A logging guard request would guarantee a certain level of reward.
Of course, there were plenty of other well-paying requests out there.
In particular, Luno — who possessed a Magic Eye that could see magical power — was often asked to assist other parties, and operating solo made such requests far from rare.
The pay on those occasions would clearly be higher than a logging guard job.
Even so, he genuinely couldn't bring himself to cast Thresha aside entirely.
(I'm too soft.)
If he truly only thought about himself, he wouldn't have helped Thresha when they first encountered each other — he would have just left her on the road and walked away.
But the fact that he hadn't been able to do that meant Luno already understood that he was soft-hearted.
He brought the mug of ale to his lips once more... drained what remained, and set the empty mug on the table.
"Fine."
A single, short word.
But hearing it, Thresha's face lit up.
"But let me make this clear. The most I can concede is forming a temporary party with you and standing guard for the woodcutters felling trees in the Treant Forest. From what I've heard, that's the request starting tomorrow."
At Luno's words, Thresha's face brightened.
But to such a Thresha, Luno spoke again in a calming manner.
"But this request has a rank restriction. ...Well, it's only natural since we'll be operating in a creepy place like the Treant Forest. So I'll temporarily form a party with you. ...However, since I'm taking this request at your behest, my share will be larger."
This was Luno's maximum concession as an adventurer.
And Thresha, naturally, nodded in response to Luno's words.
"Understood! That's fine. I'm okay with the minimum reward, so please, I'm begging you."
"...No, I don't intend to strip you that bare."
To Thresha, who considered it sufficient as long as she could afford the cheapest inn and eat meals that wouldn't wreck her health, Luno replied in exasperation.
Purely in terms of standing as an adventurer, even the allocation Thresha was suggesting wouldn't draw complaints from anyone.
But if it became known that Luno was doing such a thing to a woman like Thresha — or rather, to someone Luno considered more appropriately called a girl — it would be a significant blow to him as a solo adventurer.
The reason Luno operated solo and was frequently called as a helper by other parties was not only his skill, but also his reputation for character.
Whether it was a subjugation request, a guard request, or a gathering request... when hiring someone outside their own party or close acquaintances as a helper for dangerous commissions, personality was a major concern.
Naturally so. If someone acted selfishly in a critical moment, or worse, betrayed them, that would truly be the worst-case scenario.
Because of that, Luno was careful about his reputation as much as possible.
That was why, if rumors spread that he was one-sidedly exploiting Thresha, it would be bad in many ways.
"This request will be accepted as a party. Otherwise, Thresha, you'd run afoul of the rank restriction. You're fine with that, right?"
"...Yes, I understand."
For Thresha, the word "party" carried the weight of the party she had previously belonged to.
Because of that, being told to form a party with Luno caught her slightly off guard. But considering her current situation, investigating the Treant Forest through this route was her only real option.
After a moment's hesitation, she eventually agreed to the party arrangement.
Of course, it went without saying that this party arrangement was not something Luno had wanted for himself either.
Operating solo was one of Luno's selling points.
Especially in this frontier city of Gilm, being solo was a considerable selling point.
If Thresha had refused the party here, he would have abandoned her on the spot.
"As for the reward, let's see. I'll take seventy percent, and you take thirty. Sound good?"
"Eh? I can really have that much?"
"Yeah. I can't exactly give you a reward so low you can't even live on. If you understand, then hurry home and get ready for tomorrow. And let me tell you — don't slack off on your guard duties just because you want to investigate the Treant Forest."
"I know! I'll get my preparations in order right away, so please excuse me."
"No, wait. Were you even listening to me? The request is tomorrow. Coming here all fired up now — and here of all places — is meaningless."
To Luno, who spoke in exasperation, Thresha gave a small bow.
"Ah, um... I'm sorry."
"As long as you understand. Anyway, we'll meet at the Guild tomorrow morning, around when the six o'clock bell rings. Good?"
"Yes, of course."
"Alright, then go home and sleep. It's bedtime for a child."
"...Yes."
Being treated as a child at the end gave Thresha a lot to think about.
She had believed herself to already be a full-grown woman.
But she understood that she couldn't do anything to offend Luno here, so she left without saying another word.
Luno watched her go, and finally able to relax, he called out to a server to order another ale.