Alan looked overjoyed, and Vorgus-san seemed just as delighted.
"You look pleased, Father."
"Fufu, you've never had a child look up to you like that before, so you must be thrilled, aren't you?"
"Urgh, well..."
At Leticia-san and Belinda-san's teasing, Vorgus-san was at a loss for words.
"At any rate, I am glad we found him a master. We truly owe Olivia-san our gratitude."
"Honestly. Barging in out of nowhere and demanding the impossible—telling me to either become his master or find someone who could—it was quite an ordeal, you know?"
Alan had safely found a master.
Roan-san offered his thanks to Olivia-san, the key figure behind it all, to which she replied with a weary sigh.
With our discussions concluded, we prepared to leave the Fortis estate.
The Fortis couple remained behind, while Olivia-san and Roan-san each headed home.
"...Wait, Alan, why are you following us?"
"What do you mean, 'why'? I just gave that cool line about fulfilling our promise! Aren't we forming a party together?"
Alan asked me in a fluster after Philia called him out.
"Hmm, well, I don't mind taking on a quest together on a provisional basis, but letting you join the official party without testing you first is a bit... Besides, can you even work as an adventurer right now, Alan? You've been slacking off on your training this whole time, haven't you?"
"Well, maybe it's because I formed a contract with Lord Vorgus, but I can feel power welling up inside me. It might take some time to get used to, but I think I can probably manage."
"I'd rather not head outside the city based on a 'probably'..."
As I agonized over Alan's vague answer, Leticia-san raised her hand.
"In that case, how about we test Alan-kun's abilities? Fortunately, my family has a training ground, so I believe we can gauge most of his strength there."
"Huh, is that all right?"
"Yes. After all, even if it's provisional, we're a party, aren't we? Helping one another is only natural."
Thanking Leticia-san for her offer, we headed to the training ground.
The training ground at House Fortis was built on an expansive scale.
Borrowing a section of it, we decided to assess Alan's capabilities.
"By the way, Alan, do you use a sword?"
"Yeah. For the most part, I was granted Swordsmanship during the ritual."
Saying that, Alan picked up a wooden sword and a shield.
Rather than a small shield like the one I used, he chose a slightly larger one.
Instead of parrying or deflecting minor attacks the way I did, it was designed to stop incoming blows in their tracks.
"Erik, you're going to be my opponent?"
"Yeah. If you can hold your own against me, you should be able to handle the forest we usually hunt in."
With that, we asked Leticia-san and Philia to act as referees and began our mock battle.
Right from the start, I expected Alan to charge in, but he moved with surprising caution.
Perhaps because the shield was heavy, his movements were slow, but he left no openings.
"If there aren't any, I'll just have to make one."
"Ngh!"
Light on my feet, I launched an attack at Alan.
When I aimed for his unshielded side, he adjusted his guard smoothly to meet the blow.
At the same time, he swung his wooden sword, and I deflected the strike with my shield.
Then, I deliberately made my stance look unbalanced to bait him.
"Heh, you're not taking the bait, huh?"
"I had a bad feeling about it."
Alan didn't fall into my trap, keeping his sword and shield raised as he remained squarely focused on me.
We continued exchanging blows as the match turned into a battle of endurance.
As things dragged on, the advantage naturally shifted toward me thanks to my daily training, and the duel ultimately ended in my victory.
"Phew... It's been so long since I moved this much; I'm beat... Erik, you look like you could keep going."
"Well, I train properly every day, after all. Still, your movements were good, Alan. Your Stamina is a bit of a concern, but other than that, you passed."
"Which means—!"
"Yeah, I think it's fine to welcome you as a provisional party member. What do you two think, Philia, Leticia-san?"
I called out to the two girls who had been watching the fight.
"I think it's fine too. Alan's defense was quite solid, so he should be able to serve as the party's wall from now on."
"I'm also just a provisional member myself, but I think Alan-kun's movements were wonderful."
With praise from both of them, we officially added two new members to our group today.
After tidying up the training ground, we left the Fortis estate and set off for the Adventurer's Guild.
Before departing, Leticia-san put on the magic tool she had received from Belinda-san.
The effect of the magic tool was an ability that impaired others' perception of her.
It made her presence fade, making her difficult to notice or remember.
It was that kind of effect.
"That's an amazing magic tool. Though it seems like something strictly for use within the city."
"That's true. It seems it makes it hard even for you to recognize me, Erik-kun, so I'll only use it inside the city."
So Leticia-san said as she walked along with the magic tool active.
Garm padded along behind her, but wolf tamed beasts were surprisingly common.
Therefore, we simply swapped out a few of its accessories, disguising the fact that it was Leticia-san's tamed beast before taking it along with us.