Chapter 110 - The Girl of Misfortune

Anyways, Rishia has become our comrade for now but…

When I was walking back to my room, I was stopped by Rafatalia.

Rafatalia: “Um, earlier I heard Naofumi-sama shouting, but what happened?”

Naofumi: “Ah, don’t worry about it. Itsuki just did something unbelievably infuriating.”

Rafatalia: “Hm? Who is the person behind you?”

Rishia: “U…um”

Rafatalia: “I believe she was… anyways, let’s return to the room. We can talk then.”

It seems that Rafatalia could read the situation to some extent.

We return to the room and I explain the circumstances to Rafatalia. I also conduct introductions and say that she will be a comrade from now on.

For obvious reasons, Rafatalia listened with a face composed half of amazement ant half of anger.

Rafatalia: “That person is…”

Rishia: “U-um please don’t say bad things about Itsuki.”

Rafatalia: “Even after going through that, you will still defend him…”

Rafatalia seems quite surprised.

I feel the same…

Naofumi: “If Firo hadn’t been there, she would have been dead.”

Firo: “Praise Firo more.”

Naofumi: “Yes, yes. But I just praised you earlier.”

Firo: “Eh?”

Looking for more praise, Firo turns into her human form and forcibly puts my hand on top of her head.

This sensation is… The Ahoge is annoying.

Rishia: “Itsuki isn’t at fault. It’s all because I am weak.”

Rafatalia grabs Rishia’s hand. Rishia looks like she is going to cry again.

Rafatalia: “I understand. He is important to you, right.”

Rishia: “Yes…”

Rafatalia: “I think I can understand. Let’s work hard together.”

Rishia: “…Is Rafatalia like that too? Ok, I will do my best.”

is it just my imagination or is there a strange aura directed at me?

Well, as long as they get along.

It’s a hundred times better than forming an antagonistic relationship.

Naofumi: “Rishia, you will be travelling with us as a comrade. Please think of a way to make yourself stronger as you do that.”

Rafatalia: “Do your best.”

Naofumi: “Oh yes, and stalking Itsuki is henceforth banned.”

Rishia: “I… I understand.”

Naofumi: “We’ll only be on the ship for a few more hours, so you should be able to handle it.”

It will be bad if she develops a stalking habit.

It’s probably better for her to keep her distance for now.

Rishia: “I’ll make an effort.”

Naofumi: “Also… Itsuki probably won’t do anything, but for your sake I think you should avoid meeting him face to face.”

Time will probably heal these wounds.

I also try to avoid him. Dealing with him is a pain.

If I need to ask him anything, I’ll use Shadow.

Naofumi: “Shadow”

I call Shadow. And he/she/it appears immediately.

Where is this person watching us from usually?

But besides me, Shadow seems to observe the actions of the other heroes as well.

Shadow: “What is it-gojaru?”

“What are the other Heroes planning to do? Oh and is there anything my party has to do?”

Shadow: “The Sword and Bow will start on missions when we reach the main land-gojaru. I have been told to take the Shield and Spear to the Castle when the boat docks-gojaru.”

Naofumi: “Fumu…”

So Ren and Itsuki already have jobs to do… and Me and Motoyasu have to go to the castle.

That’s fine by me. I have to ask the queen something anyways. Does Motoyasu have anything to do at the castle?

Ah, Bitch’s punishment.

Well as long as we head off after Itsuki departs there shouldn’t be a problem.

Naofumi: “Now then, what should we have Rishia do?”

Rishia: “Hiii-!”

Naofumi: “What’s with that voice? I won’t give you an impossible job.”

She did all the odd jobs at Itsuki’s place.

Does she think I will do the same?

I just wanted to confirm party roles.

I hunted with Itsuki’s party for two days. I know her specialties.

Rishia’s specialty is being a Jack-of-all-trades.

CQC, Attack Magic, Healing, Support.

Having someone who can perform all of these will truly benefit my party.

The front line has Rafatalia and Firo, so that aspect is probably fine.

Should I assign her to the currently-vacant Magician position?

She can use all types of Magic and is quite resourceful, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

Level and Status aren’t everything.

If you use your head, you can achieve results past your stats.

This is perfect.

I give out the party roles.

I assign myself to defense, healing. The Support Role

There’s no point if I switch now.

Rafatalia is the Vanguard.

In battle, she is weaker than Firo, but against skilled opponents she can use illusion magic to gain the upper hand.

Firo is on offense.

She has high basic attack and speed. She can also use ranged magic. Her specialty is crowd clearing.

And I have to make a new position for Rishia considering her strengths.

I begin the explanation to Rishia, who seems to be afraid.

Rafatalia: “Don’t worry Rishia, Naofumi may be sharp tongued, but he’s not as bad as you would think”

Naofumi: “… I’d like to ask this once, but why are you two suddenly so close?”

What do you mean ‘not as bad as you would think’?

Well, I am used to dealing with dangerous people like the Slave Dealer and the Accessory Merchant

Rishia: “T-that is…”

Rishia looks in my direction but stays silent.

What is she looking at?

Naofumi: “Are you wondering what my position in battle is?”

Rishia: “No…”

Naofumi: “Don’t say no. I’ll gladly tell you.”

Rafatalia: “He’s this sort of person.”

Rishia: “… I see…”

For some reason, Rishia is no longer afraid. I don’t understand women.

Why are women so complicated? In Galge, it was so simple…

Naofumi: “Now that I think about it…”

I stare at Rishia from head to toe.

Her equipment is quite sub-par.

It must be because of the Hierarchy. The higher members get all of the good equipment.

To be useful, she must first have good equipment. To have good equipment, she must prove to be useful. This vicious spiral made it so that only her level rose and her equipment stayed the same.

Naofumi: “Rishia, what is your level?”

Rishia: “? I’m level 68.”

She answered quite simply.

I can’t check her status, but she will probably be a helpful asset.

Rishia’s base specialty is Magical Attack and Healing. If I leave these to her, our party should become more diverse.

But I am worried about my own defensive capability.

Rafatalia and Firo are quite tough. I don’t need to worry about protecting them to that great of an extent.

At 68, her defense will probably be behind the other two.

I also have to worry about the abilities she has that Itsuki never bothered to train.

Naofumi: “I feel bad about it, but for now, to make up for the difference in stats, you will have to wear this.”

I hand the Penguin Plushy to Rishia.

It’s really durable and out-ranks Rafatalia’s and my armor in stats.

Rafatalia: “Naofumi… That is…”

Naofumi: “There’s no choice. This is currently the best armor in our possession.”

All of the other excess equipment I have right now is around the same level as Rishia’s current gear.

By the way, I currently have 3 of the penguin suits in my possession. We hunted way too many of those things.

But we didn’t get any other plushies from the rest of the Karma series.

Rishia: “Ah, this is…”

Naofumi: “What’s wrong?”

Rishia: “Itsuki also had something like this… It was a Squirrel Plushy.”

Naofumi: “He-… So did he wear it too?”

Rishia: “He said it was powerful equipment and asked if anyone wanted to wear it. But everyone rejected it.”

Naofumi: “So you ended up wearing it?”

Rishia: “Of course”

What do you mean of course? Don’t accept it so easily.

She really is too positive.

That was definitely a form of bullying, and yet she can simply laugh about it.

Rishia: “It was wonderful Equipment. But when I took it off, my comrades took it.”

Naofumi: “What sort of Equipment was it?”

Rishia: “When I wore it, I got a lot of bonuses, and fighting became easy.”

Naofumi: “Well the enchantment on it is quite powerful…”

The Squirrel suit probably also had Magic Amplify as an ability. It has a good compatibility with Rishia

But is also stands out in another way…

Itsuki is skilled at hiding so I think he can wear it just fine.

Naofumi: “Once we get off the boat, you can take it off.”

Rishia: “You want me to take it off?”

For some reason, Rishia stares at me with a troubled face.

What is with this reaction?

Naofumi: “Are you bothered?”

Rishia: “It’s good equipment, and if I wear it, no one will be able to notice if I am sad.”

That is the logic of a loser.

She is acting like a bullied child.

Naofumi: “Are you really okay with that?”

Rishia: “Yes!”

Yes!… really?

This will be difficult. It will probably work out fine, but if her heart doesn’t get stronger then getting stronger will be difficult.

Saying no one will notice her crying if she wears the suit…

Naofumi: “You can wear that at the beginning, but you eventually have to graduate from it.”

Rafatalia: “*Sigh*”

Rafatalia has a complicated expression.

Does she have a problem with Rishia’s behavior?

I don’t think their compatibility is bad… but I can’t judge yet.

Rafatalia: “Anyways, let’s get stronger one step at a time.”

Rishia: “Yes!”

Only her response is high-spirited.

I feel she will get along well with Ren’s people.

And so Rishia puts on the Penguin Plushy.

“How do I look? Dood”

Naofumi: “ah… It’s…. fitting.”

It makes her stand out quite a bit..

I remember the me that was there before I came to this world

It seems that there are now two people who will happily wear this costume including Firo.

As a Hero, I was supposed to gather human companions, but now it feels like I’ve gathered nothing but monsters.

Rishia: “I will be under your care from now on.”

Naofumi: “Likewise.”

Firo: “Welcome. Your clothes match Firo’s”

Rafatalia: “Welcome to the party”

And so we welcomed Rishia as a new member.