Arriving at the Adventurer's Guild as a group of four and one beast, we headed straight toward Reina-san's reception counter.
"You've brought some unfamiliar faces today. Are they new companions?"
"Yes. One of them is registering as an adventurer today, while the other is already registered, though he hasn't been active much."
Reina-san looked over our group, her gaze pausing when it reached Leticia-san.
Then, noting the size of our party, she led us into a private room.
"That young lady over there—does she have some special circumstances?"
"E-Eh? H-How could you tell?!"
"In this line of work, you see all sorts of people. I sensed something was off, which is why I brought you all in here."
Hearing that from Reina-san, I exchanged a glance with Leticia-san.
Leticia-san gave me a nod in response and removed her magic tool.
"...I see. The young lady of House Fortis has become Erik-kun's new party member, then?"
"You know who I am?"
"I think it would be stranger not to. You're known as the greatest prodigy at the Academy. I've heard you mastered everything required for graduation within a single year of enrolling."
"A year is an exaggeration. It was a year and a half."
Leticia-san corrected her with a wry smile.
After that, Reina-san brought over the paperwork, and Leticia-san completed her adventurer registration.
Once that was taken care of, Alan and Leticia-san were officially registered to our party.
"A four-person party all at once. Your roles are well-balanced, too—you really have a knack for gathering companions, Erik-kun."
"I think it was just good luck. Anyway, we'd like to take on a quest right away, if possible."
"Of course. I figured you would, so I've already set some aside. I have both subjugation requests and gathering requests ready."
At Reina-san's offer, the four of us looked through the requests and discussed what to do.
Now that we were four, we hadn't tested our team coordination yet.
Rather than overextending ourselves with a subjugation request right off the bat, it seemed wiser to take a gathering request and fight any monsters we happened to run into along the way.
With that agreed upon, we accepted a gathering request.
Our objective was a species of forest-grown medicinal herb infused with magical power.
"All right, we're heading out."
"Take care, and make sure you all come back in one piece."
Sending us off with Reina-san's well-wishes, the four of us stepped out of the room.
Once outside the city gates, we split into vanguard and rearguard formations as we walked.
Alan, Garm, and I took the front, while Philia and Leticia-san followed behind.
On top of commanding Garm through a [Tamed Beast Contract], Leticia-san could apparently cast magic as well.
"Ugh... My role keeps shrinking. I need to work harder and learn more spells..."
Since Philia could only use magic, she looked a little discouraged knowing that both Leticia-san and I could cast spells too.
Noticing her slump, Leticia-san spoke up with a warm smile.
"Fufu, studying might not be your strong suit, Philia-chan, but you enjoy hands-on training, don't you? How about I teach you some magic sometime?"
"Wait, really?! Please do!"
Philia's face instantly lit up with joy.
Before long, we reached the forest and decided to focus on gathering the quest items first.
"Regarding the medicinal herb for our quest, the reference book mentioned that it tends to grow in shaded spots, but never near water."
"You have the reference book memorized, Leticia-san?"
"I've always had a good memory, which is why academics came easily to me."
"That's a huge help. When working as a party, having someone knowledgeable around is such a relief."
Philia, Alan, and I were all commoners raised in rural villages.
While I had picked up some basic learning, I had never received a proper education at an academy.
With that in mind, having Leticia-san with us was immensely reassuring.
"Fufu, you can leave any matters of knowledge to me."
Following Leticia-san's words, we set off toward the areas where the herbs were most likely to grow.
Drawing on her expertise, she pointed out several promising spots.
Sure enough, searching according to her directions yielded herbs in four out of five locations.
In less than an hour, we had already gathered the required amount, leaving me thoroughly impressed.
"...To be honest, I knew you were smart, Leticia-san, but I never imagined you'd be this incredible."
"I didn't think my studies would prove so practical out in the field, either. I used to think gathering requests sounded tedious, but getting to apply my knowledge makes it surprisingly fun."
Leticia-san chuckled happily as she spoke.
With the gathering portion finished and only the final report left, we shifted our focus to monster hunting.
While searching for the herbs, we had stayed cautious to avoid drawing unwanted attention.
Because of that, even though we had ventured deep into the woods, we hadn't fought a single monster yet.
"Garm. Pick up their scent."
"Woof!"
Garm possessed the [Presence Detection] skill.
Its range was even wider than the magic tool I had received from Cain-san.
"Woof, woof!"
A moment later, Garm caught a presence and reported back to Leticia-san.
A master and their tamed beast could share a mutual understanding; though it sounded like plain barking to the rest of us, Garm was clearly relaying information.
"It seems there are three slimes over that way. What should we do?"
"Three slimes, huh... That sounds like the perfect warmup for our first battle. Let's take them down."
Hearing Leticia-san's report, I decided that our new party's first battle would be against the slimes.