Having decided to fight the slimes, we moved forward with caution.
Even with slimes, the weakest of monsters, vigilance was necessary.
Led by Garm to where the slimes were, three of them came into view.
Upon encountering them, Philia immediately unleashed her magic, defeating one right away.
"!"
Seeing their comrade fall, the remaining slimes charged vigorously the moment they spotted us.
Stepping forward to meet their charge, Alan raised his shield.
"Hmph!"
He deflected the blow perfectly. The other slime headed my way, so I aimed straight for its core and took it down.
The deflected slime had its core crushed by Alan as he moved in.
"Everyone is so strong. There was no role for me to play."
"In terms of numbers, we had the upper hand, after all. Besides, I wanted to see how much Alan could handle at first, so it worked out well."
"How was my shield work?"
"Well, you still need training, but I think it'll do fine in this forest. However, you deflected it easily just now because it was a slime; we don't know how it'll go against goblins, so don't let your guard down."
Alan was riding high after defeating the slime.
I made sure to caution him.
Realizing how carried away he was getting, he took a deep breath.
"Phew... My bad. I got a little ahead of myself."
"As long as you realize it and correct yourself. If you had argued back against my warning, I was considering that it might be difficult to keep you around as a companion."
"...Don't say such scary things so casually."
"I am the leader of this party, after all. Since I'm responsible for my companions' lives, I'll make sure to speak up clearly about these things. Of course, I value you too, Alan."
Though we were a party of four now, I had held the role of leader ever since forming the party with Philia.
After that, we harvested the slime materials and searched for the next monsters.
Focusing primarily on slimes, we checked our coordination step by step.
We tested various approaches, such as having just Alan and me fight in the vanguard, or having the two of us block attacks while leaving the finishing blows to the two in the rearguard.
"This is going pretty well."
"Yeah. With two in the vanguard and two in the rearguard, the balance has improved tremendously."
"Honestly, just having Erik next to me was super reassuring and made it way easier to fight."
"Since no one did anything reckless, there weren't any dangerous moments either."
As the evening bell rang and we headed back from the forest, we each shared our impressions of the day.
Going from two members to four had broadened our strategic options.
We had only tested it against slimes so far, but at this rate, operating in the forest shouldn't pose any problems.
"Thank you for your hard work. Here is the quest completion reward of 10 copper coins. And since you subjugated 60 slimes, that's another 30 copper coins. In total, it comes to 40 copper coins."
Our outing as a party of four had lasted roughly three hours.
Earning that much in such a short time was pretty good.
For the time being, we split the reward into five equal shares.
We each took eight copper coins, setting aside one share as savings for party funds.
"So this is the first money I've earned as an adventurer..."
The payout from her very first quest after registering as an adventurer.
Holding the coins, Leticia-san gazed happily at them.
Being a noble, she had held far greater sums of money before.
Even so, Leticia-san mentioned that this was the first time she had ever earned money through her own efforts.
With the quest wrapped up, we left the guild building.
"Regarding our schedule starting tomorrow, we usually begin our party activities in the afternoon. Is that fine with you and Alan, Leticia-san?"
"Works for me. In the mornings, Big Bro is going to train me."
"That suits me as well. So I just need to handle my own affairs in the morning before we gather, correct?"
Alan and Leticia-san both agreed to our usual routine.
When I asked about lunch, Leticia-san and Alan said they would eat together, so we decided to meet up before lunchtime.
After parting ways with everyone in front of the guild, I headed back to the inn.
Once back in my room, I maintained my equipment and ate dinner.
"Phew, today somehow felt like such a long day..."
Soaking in the bath, I let my mind wander.
It was probably because the discussions with Leticia-san and Alan had gone on for so long, making time feel more drawn out than usual.
"Still, jumping straight to four members... I get the feeling we really need to raise the difficulty of our quests."
Our earnings from today's three hours of work had been 40 copper coins.
I still had savings at the moment, but they would dry up quickly.
"If the money runs out, I'm the one who's going to suffer the most..."
Alan and the others were either staying with someone or had their own homes, so they didn't need to worry about a place to live.
I, on the other hand, was the only one living out of an inn.
If I ran out of money, I'd have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat.
"...Should we head to a dungeon soon?"
All sorts of monsters inhabited dungeons, and plenty of valuable materials lay hidden within them.
I had heard of adventurers earning several silver coins in a single exploration, and those who ventured deeper could supposedly rake in gold coins in a single day.
Turning those thoughts over in my head, I ended up staying in the tub longer than usual.
Getting out of the bath, I drank some cold water and returned to my room.
When I opened the window, a cool night breeze drifted in.
"Just because I have companions now doesn't mean I should rush. An adventurer who lets their guard down loses their life."
I reminded myself firmly.
After basking in the night breeze for a little while, drowsiness began to wash over me, so I closed the window, lay down on the bed, and drifted off to sleep.