The cafe was crowded again today, but we managed to place our orders and find a table.
"I've been curious about this place, so I'm so glad we could come today~"
"The apple juice here is really delicious! And I highly recommend the fruit sandwiches too!"
"Oh? You come here pretty often, don't you, Philia-chan? I went with a regular sandwich this time, but maybe I'll try your recommendation next time."
Once our food arrived, Philia eagerly shared her recommendations with Leticia-san.
"So, about today," I began. "Yesterday we narrowed our targets down to just slimes, but I was thinking of including goblins and horn rabbits as well today. What does everyone think?"
"I think that's fine," Leticia said. "We saw plenty of how the four of us coordinate yesterday, so testing things out step by step starting today makes sense."
"I wanna see how well I hold up against things other than slimes too," Alan agreed.
"I don't mind either," Philia chimed in.
Hearing everyone's approval for my proposal, we decided to make today's objective hunting monsters including goblins and horn rabbits.
After finishing our meal, we headed over to the Adventurer's Guild.
"And so, we're hoping to take on a subjugation request today," I explained.
"It's only your second day as a party, but if you've decided that, Erik-kun, you must have gotten a good read on your companions' abilities yesterday," Reina-san said. "Since you only defeated slimes, was yesterday a test run?"
"Since we'd just formed the party, we spent yesterday confirming our coordination. Now that we have a decent grasp of our overall strength, I figured we could aim one step higher starting today."
"It's good to see that you haven't lost your cautious nature even with more companions."
Reina-san offered a warm smile, showing us the request forms she had laid out.
Horn rabbits, slimes, and goblins each had a Permanent Request where rewards were paid out according to the number defeated.
However, clients who needed materials from those monsters immediately would sometimes post specific requests with higher bounties.
We compared the available postings to find one suited to our current capabilities.
"We'll take this one."
After discussing it with the others, we settled on a subjugation request for goblins and horn rabbits.
The objective was to bring back three intact corpses of each monster type.
They were apparently needed as research materials, and the reward was quite generous at 50 copper coins.
Once Reina-san processed the paperwork, we left the Adventurer's Guild.
We exited the city and made our way into the forest.
"Erik-kun, we're targeting goblins and horn rabbits today, but what should we do about slimes?"
"I'm planning to fight them after we finish the request. I'd rather not take them on first and waste our stamina or mana before fighting goblins."
Leticia-san nodded at my explanation.
Next, I asked Garm to search for monster presences.
"Gau."
"Found them," Leticia reported. "Three goblins."
It seemed there were goblins within Garm's detection range.
Taking note of the direction, I led the way forward on high alert.
The three goblins were busy munching on tree nuts, their guards completely down.
The request form had specified bringing them back in as pristine a condition as possible.
Keeping that in mind, we initiated combat.
As usual, we opened with an attack from Philia's [Water Magic].
"Gugyaa?!"
Philia's magic, noticeably stronger than before, cleanly severed one goblin's head.
With their comrade down, the remaining goblins spotted us and charged in a fury.
"Alan. You're up!"
"Yeah! Leave it to me!"
Stepping forward, Alan planted his feet and raised his shield.
He absorbed the simultaneous charge of both goblins, blocking their attacks completely.
"Haaah!"
Darting out from behind Alan, I swung my sword at the neck of the goblin knocked sprawling by the shield's recoil.
Alan decapitated the second one, bringing our skirmish with the three goblins to an effortless victory.
"...I didn't really do anything, did I?" Leticia murmured.
"You handle our scouting every time," I assured her. "And you only sat out the attack this once; whenever Philia gets tired, the two of you will swap."
"I know, but it still feels like I'm just standing around~"
Leticia-san was also a capable spellcaster, and if she cast alongside Philia, they could easily eliminate two monsters in a single volley.
However, doing that would drain both rearguard mages of their mana simultaneously.
That was why we had agreed they would alternate casting whenever one grew fatigued.
"I understand how you feel, Leticia-san. It's frustrating being the only one not fighting, but this is how party operations work."
"You're right," she admitted with a soft sigh. "If I only act on my personal impulses, the party will fall apart. I'm sorry."
"Listening to how our companions feel is important, so please don't apologize. Besides, we're hunting in low-tier areas right now, so there's bound to be downtime. As we gradually take on tougher challenges, you won't have time to feel bored anyway."
With that settled, I collected the goblins' corpses.
Afterward, I asked Leticia-san to have Garm track our next target.
It didn't take long before Garm caught the scent of nearby horn rabbits, and we set off in pursuit.