In a small tavern.
The members of the hero’s party were holding a strategy meeting.
“I’ve come across some interesting information. Not far from here, there’s an abandoned dungeon, and they say there might be treasure hidden inside.”
Claria had spent half a day scouting the area around the village.
Now, she was sharing her findings with her companions, who had been making other preparations.
The main topics of discussion were dungeons worth exploring and the monsters in the region.
Beyond that, they also talked about stores selling essential goods at a discount and places worth visiting next, with Claria leading the conversation.
“Wow, that’s amazing! You must have been short on time, and yet you’ve already gathered so much information!”
Farne looked at her with admiration.
Gathering intelligence was usually the thief’s role, but since Theo had left, Claria had taken over the task.
It was a tedious job that required listening to various people and, at times, conducting discreet investigations.
Even though she wasn’t used to it, she handled it exceptionally well.
“I didn’t realize it before, but it turns out I’m suited for this kind of work.”
“Claria, you’re incredibly talented in so many areas!”
“Stop praising me so much; it’s embarrassing~.”
At one point, the party had been on the verge of disbanding, but now they had regained stability.
They were steadily building up achievements and proving their worth.
“We’re managing somehow, but how about bringing in a new member? With just the three of us, it’s going to be tough to defeat the Demon King.”
Louis shared his opinion.
With fewer members, their overall fighting power weakened, but an even bigger problem was the lack of versatility.
That was why balanced party composition across different professions was crucial.
For now, they were managing, but there were many tasks they simply couldn’t handle with only three people.
“A new member, huh…”
Claria didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about the idea.
“Personally, I think an archer or a tamer would be a good fit.”
“We already have two magic users, so I agree!”
“Then should we start recruiting?”
Encouraged by Farne’s agreement, Louis spoke up with enthusiasm.
“In this village?”
“This place is quite large. We might just find someone promising.”
Claria glanced around the tavern.
The tavern near the guild was a place where adventurers exchanged information.
People sat in clusters around worn-out tables, raising their glasses as they drank together.
In one corner, a group was engrossed in a game of cards.
“There’s no one particularly noteworthy here.”
“Adventurers aren’t only found in this place. If nothing else, we could call in an acquaintance of ours.”
“Hmm… That doesn’t seem like it would be easy either.”
“Why not?”
Claria gave a troubled smile.
“The Hero’s Party is appointed by His Majesty the King. If we arbitrarily add new members, he might not be pleased.”
“But that bastard Theo left. There’s nothing we can do about it. I’m sure he’ll understand at least this much.”
“Still, we can’t be certain. It’s probably best to follow the proper procedures.”
“That’ll take forever, though…”
Louis didn’t look pleased at the idea.
As opinions clashed, Claria suddenly clapped her hands together.
“There’s no need to rush, right? I’ll work even harder, so let’s just keep going like this for now.”
With that, she lightened the heavy mood and wrapped up the discussion.
***
After the meeting at the tavern, Claria returned to their lodgings alone.
Her two companions had gone out, saying they wanted to explore the village.
Using exhaustion as an excuse, she stayed behind in her room to rest.
“Damn it!!!”
She slammed her fist onto the innocent table and unleashed her frustration.
“Why… Why can’t I win?!”
She had died five times.
And she had lost five times.
She thought she had made full use of the advantages of regression.
Yet, far from defeating the Demon King, she had achieved even less than Theo.
The title of Hero felt meaningless.
“I thought he was just a worthless thief…”
Looking back, most of what Theo had said had been right.
Even the parts that had seemed unreasonable at the time had all turned out exactly as he had pointed out.
A thief was not a particularly dazzling role.
It was a job closer to a supporter. Someone working from the shadows and gathering information.
Because of that, the gap left in his absence had been larger than expected.
“I have to get him back into the party somehow.”
Their relationship had fallen apart before the start of her regression, but it wasn’t too late now.
He probably held nothing but resentment for her.
Even so, there was still a chance to make things right.
She had to bring Theo back.
Only then could she change the future.
“No one else will do.”
Louis seemed to think they could simply replace him with anyone, but that was a dangerous misconception.
Considering the crises that lay ahead, every choice had to be made with extreme care.
Even if they recruited the best in the kingdom….no, even the best on the entire continent still wouldn’t be enough.
Hiring mercenaries or bringing in temporary members was an option.
It might offer some help, however slight, but she had no intention of doing so.
She couldn’t risk provoking Theo’s resentment.
If it looked as though they had tried and failed to replace him before turning to him as a last resort, it would be the worst possible outcome.
If her regression reset with the stigma of being a pathetic failure,
Then there would be no coming back. He would be lost to her forever.
She needed to find a way, but no clear solution came to mind.
“Theo…”
Standing at the center of the room, she quietly called his name.
The frustration of something just out of reach weighed on her.
She wanted desperately to resolve it, but her worries only piled up with each passing day.
Claria pulled on her coat.
Her mind was a mess. After all, she had just died and come back to life.
She thought a walk might help clear her head.
She hoped to run into Theo sometime soon.
“When that day comes, I’ll set everything right.”
With a firm resolution, Claria stepped out of the room.
***
Alto was a city at the heart of the kingdom.
No matter where I traveled, the round trip was always reasonable.
In that sense, Fran’s house was the perfect place for me to use as a hideout.
“Why are you here again?”
As soon as I stepped into the shop, Fran glared at me with sharp eyes.
“It’s been nearly a month. Can’t you at least pretend to be happy to see me?”
“Aren’t you expecting a bit too much for an uninvited guest?”
“You told me to come back when you were done appraising the ring.”
“I did say that.”
Fran feigned innocence.
Haah… And yet, she’s still my childhood friend.
But… wait.
“I thought you would’ve sold it. Why are you wearing it on a necklace?”
I pointed at the ring resting against Fran’s large chest.
“It’s fashion. I didn’t have anything else to put on the necklace.”
“You could’ve just worn the necklace on its own.”
“That felt too plain. Besides, to activate its magical properties, I need to keep it on me.”
“So you decided to use it for yourself.”
Well, at least the trip to the Fog Village wasn’t in vain.
I had thought the ring would suit Fran, someone so used to magic.
“What’s that in your hand?”
Fran’s gaze shifted to the bundle in my hand.
“A gift. I figured it’d be rude to come empty-handed.”
“You’ve finally grown a conscience.”
“I’ve always brought something, you know?”
I placed the bundle on the counter and untied the ribbon.
“I went to the City of Knights, but I didn’t think you’d be interested in knight gear, so I got this instead.”
Inside were various treats, like honey and biscuits.
There had been plenty of worthwhile things to buy besides weapons, so I had picked out a few items from among them.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise.”
Fran seemed pleased as well. She held up the glass jar of honey and examined it under the light.
“Levasthan is unusually quiet today.”
“I shut him up for a while because he was being too noisy.”
I followed her gaze and saw that a cloth had been wrapped around her wooden staff.
“Is that okay? Won’t he get upset?”
“He brought it on himself. He ran his mouth at a customer.”
Even without hearing the details, I knew Levasthan must have been at fault.
I didn’t need an explanation to get the gist of what had happened.
“Oh, right. This arrived two days ago.”
As if something had just come to mind, Fran pulled an envelope out of a drawer.
“It’s addressed to you.”
I took it and saw the sender’s name written on the front.
It was a letter from Claria.
“Why would she send me a letter?”
“How should I know? More importantly, did you tell her you’ve been staying at my place?”
“No, I never mentioned it…”
She must have figured it out during the regression process.
Even though I didn’t know exactly when it would arrive, I had believed it would reach me eventually.
“She probably sent it knowing about our relationship.”
Back when we were all hero candidates, we had once gathered at the royal castle after being invited.
On top of that, Fran and Claria were graduates from the same class, so while it was unexpected, it wasn’t entirely strange that she had sent the letter here.
“Well, let’s see what it says.”
I tore open the envelope sealed with wax.
What was she thinking when she sent this?
As I pulled out the letter, I was met with densely packed writing.
“She sure put a lot of effort into this. It’s not a love letter, is it?”
“Say something that makes sense.”
The mere thought of it was disgusting.
Of course, that wasn’t possible, but I was still curious about the contents, so I decided to read it.
“………….”
As I silently read through the letter, I could feel Fran’s curious gaze on me the entire time.
“What does it say?”
“Complete nonsense.”
I tore the letter in half.
Then, I folded the pieces and tore them again.
Clutching the shredded paper in my hand, I crumpled it tightly.
“Burn this for me with your magic.”
“Leave it to me.”
When I handed her the bundle of what had once been a letter, Fran retrieved Levasthan from where she had set him aside.
She unwrapped the cloth, muttered a brief incantation, and—
“You damn master!”
Levasthan immediately started chattering, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“You shouldn’t call your master that.”
“Oh, so you think you deserve praise after keeping my mouth shut for a whole week?!”
“If you hadn’t been rude to our customer, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“That damn mage was spouting nonsense like a little chick chirping. I had no choice!”
“In times like that, you should just ignore it.”
“I can’t do that!”
Had it really been a whole week?
I thought it had only been a few hours at most.
This woman sure was strict when it came to punishment.
I’d better be careful.
“How did you even shut a staff’s mouth when it doesn’t have one?”
I asked something that had been on my mind for a while.
“A silencing spell. For the record, it doesn’t work on humans.”
It seemed to be a spell that only affected intelligent magical tools.
Good to know.
But then—
“Huh? What are you doing?”
As Fran held up Levasthan and cast a spell, the letter I had torn apart rose into the air.
The shredded pieces of paper unfolded on their own and pieced themselves back together like a puzzle, fully restored.
“What the hell? Let me see it too!”
The two of them began reading the letter together.
“Do you two not understand the concept of privacy?”
Even if Claria was a miserable woman, this was still my personal business.
“Hah! And what right does a petty thief who steals other people’s belongings have to talk about privacy?”
“I’m a thief adventurer, thank you very much.”
“Same thing!”
Not even close.
After finishing the letter, Fran lightly tapped the paper with Levasthan’s head.
At that moment, it caught fire with a whoosh and burned to ash.
“A long-winded apology letter. Somehow, it just made me feel even worse.”
Using magic, Fran controlled the ashes with telekinesis and dropped them into the trash can.
Just as she had said, Claria had sent an apology letter.
Strictly speaking, it only seemed like an apology. Its true message was more along the lines of “let’s try again”.
“Don’t ever accept it.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Fran gave a small nod.
It was a rare moment of solidarity between us childhood friends.
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