After enjoying a delicious lunch, we all headed to the Adventurer's Guild.
"I’m thinking we’ll tackle some guild commissions today," I said.
"Got it!"
"We’ll get Nika-chan registered as well, uo."
"Yes, please do," Nika replied.
"Gin-chan is already registered, so we’ll just wait a bit, ssu," Penpen added.
"I registered ahead of the rest of you," Gin-chan confirmed.
The plan was to handle some requests after getting the Second Characters officially registered as adventurers. We finished the process quickly.
Since I had already heard the explanation once, I just skipped through the details.
When I asked the elven receptionist to pull up some recommended commissions, she presented us with a few intended for parties.
Perfect. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Now that I thought about it, with six of us here, we made for a proper party!
"We’ve got three vanguards, one long-range attacker, and two supports, uo. The balance is actually pretty good, isn't it, uo?"
"Miti-chan can handle a bit of close-quarters combat too," I noted.
"And I can use magic attacks and things like that, ssu, you know?" Penpen chimed in.
It really did look like we could pull off some solid party play.
"Though, to be honest, most of the ones Tria and I were clearing before were technically for parties too, uo?" Alto asked.
"Huh, was that right?"
"Technically, yeah, dao. Well, they were just subjugation quests, so we managed them without any real issues."
I see. That meant the receptionist's recommendations had been spot on all along. She really was impressive.
"Uo. If our numbers keep growing like this, it might be faster to just have them set up an Adventurer's Guild Branch at our place, uo."
"If that happens, I’d definitely want to scout this elf to be our dedicated receptionist. If possible, that is."
"Standard headhunting, ssu," Penpen remarked.
The receptionist immediately raised her hand as if she had something to say.
"...Ah, um. I am already essentially your dedicated handler, so please, spare me the scouting."
"Oh, right. I guess that makes sense."
"A dedicated one, uo—how nice, uo. I’d personally like to be on good terms with you, uo!"
"I wonder if she’d eat some cookies if I baked them, ssu?"
Well, setting the scouting idea aside for the moment, it was time to head out for the quest.
We chatted as we exterminated the giant ant monsters swarming the mine.
"Take that! Explosive Kick!!"
The ant’s head was blown clean off. Nearby, Gin-chan was targeting joints and lopping them off with a sharp, precise slice. Penpen was busy pelting them with medicine jars.
"Since I have the ranch now, I can't really afford to go too far away, ssu," Penpen said.
"Even though we have Fast Travel?" I asked.
"In-game time still passes during Fast Travel, ssu."
Oh, right. That was a thing. It hadn't really affected me yet, so I had completely forgotten.
Miti-chan latched onto an ant and began melting it. They seemed to be a good matchup; once she slipped into the gaps in its joints, the limb would drop off in a matter of seconds.
"If a monster raid happens while I’m away, I won't be there to respond, so it’ll just be one-sided damage to the ranch, ssu."
"Can't you store the ranch like you do the Home?"
"It’s impossible for now, ssu. Though it seems like there might be a feature for that if I progress through the Home Function Tree."
"A Function Tree. There’s something like that too, huh?"
"It unlocks as you clear Home Missions, and plenty of other things get added then too, ssu!"
There was already so much to do, and yet there were even more ability unlocks like that...
Alto was relentlessly picking off ants with her shots. She just fired from long range and—boom. I just had to hope she was being careful not to collapse the mine shaft.
She seemed to be paying attention, though; there weren't any stray shots, and her accuracy remained at a perfect hundred percent.
"...As I thought, this makes me really want my own Home too, uo," Alto sighed.
"I definitely want a way to earn more SP."
I hummed in thought. Even if I received SP from the Second Character... in the end, the total pool of points wouldn't change. After all, they were both just my own characters.
"A Third Character isn't available yet, either..."
"I wouldn't even mind if it was through in-game purchases; I just want more SP, uo!"
Since this was a buy-to-play game, there hadn't been any costs beyond the initial purchase so far.
In fact, given how incredible this VR function was, I wouldn't have minded paying more, but...
Then again, the fact that this VR function worked on a mobile device at all was still a complete mystery.
"Ah. These ants can probably be turned into materials, ssu. You can earn crafting experience points from them, so you should take some too, Tria, ssu."
"I'm not planning to make a career out of crafting, but I suppose it’s better to do a little bit."
"You get points for enhancing the Home that way, so it’s good to at least finish the beginner-level tasks, ssu."
"There really is a lot to do."
"That’s why it’s fun, ssu."
"True. It is a game, after all."
"...I really do want a Home! Just let me pay for it already—!!"
The commission ended without any major issues, and the Second Characters all successfully raised their ranks from beginners.
(It really is a relaxing slow life!)