The next day.
8 adventurers were gathered at the guild's meeting room.
"Wereanna, so your party is here too." [Jeff]
"You're here too, Jeff? …Hey, why do you think we were called today?" [Wereanna]
"Who knows? The other guys haven't a clue either. Rank, age, race… There's nothing in common about us at all. Just what criteria did they refer to to pick us, I wonder. Any clues on your side? You're the only party, after all." [Jeff]
"Dunno. The only common trait my party shares is that we're all beastmen. I doubt that has anything to do with it, though." [Wereanna]
"Well, yeah. I'm a guy and I'm human too. There's a dwarf and a dragonewt, but everyone else is human too, so race and gender probably doesn't have anything to do with it." [Jeff]
Another female beastman entered the room.
"Good morning, nyaa? Wereanyaa, Mizenyaa, and Syrnyaa are here too, nyaa?" [Miya]
"You too, Miya?" [Wereanna]
"That's right, nyaa. When I came back from work last night, the receptionist told me to be here today, nyaa. I sure didn't expect to see you three here, nyaa." [Miya]
"Neither did— Huh? You don't stink so much anymore. Did you finally leave that trashy house of yours?" [Wereanna]
"I told you so many times to move but you just wouldn't listen." [Mizelia]
"Did you finally get sick of it?" [Syria]
"That's not it, nyaa. I'm still living there, nyaa. I know it's not the best place, but I still paid a lot of money for it, nyaa. There's no way I could just abandon it like that, nyaa." [Miya]
"Then why don't you stink so much anymore?" [Wereanna]
"Well, you see, there was a kid who took my cleaning request the other day, nyaa. He cleaned everything, nyaa." [Miya]
"That endless hell of stench? He cleaned it up?" [Wereanna]
"I couldn't believe it either, nyaa. But he actually cleaned the basement in less than 2 hours and even closed up the wall, nyaa. Supposedly, he used magic to clean the place and now it's sparkling clean, nyaa." [Miya]
"That's amazing. Who was it?" [Miya]
"A newcomer, nyaa. I think he's still under 13, but he carries a big basket woven from wood and vines on his back, nyaa." [Miya]
Jeff reacted when she said that.
"Hah? A kid under 13 with a giant basket? You talking about Ryouma?" [Jeff]
"That's him, nyaa! I'm pretty sure that's what he called himself, nyaa." [Miya]
"You know him?" [Wereanna]
"The old man called him in the other day after finishing his work. He looked like he had no idea why he was being called, so I told him there wasn't anything to worry about, and that's it's just the old man being a busybody as usual. He was a really well-spoken kid, that guy." [Jeff]
"He definitely knows his manners, nyaa." [Miya]
Around this time, another person entered the room. It was none other than Ryouma. Miya screamed when she saw him.
"Excuse me. Is—" [Ryouma]
"Ah! It's that kid, nyaa!" [Miya]
"Miya-san? Ah, Miya-san and Jeff-san." [Ryouma]
"Sup, we met the other day. Looks like you were called too. We were just talking about you, actually." [Jeff]
"About me?" [Ryouma]
Wereanna approached Ryouma and introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you. So you're Ryouma? I'm Wereanna, a member of the dogman tribe. I've known Miya for a long time now and we also used to be in the same party. I was really surprised when I heard you cleaned her house. That's pretty amazing, you know." [Wereanna]
"Buying a house is good and all, but when the wall broke down, it was a disaster. Of course, you know all about that. Anyway, it was really tough for beastmen tribe members like us whose noses are really sensitive, so I told her to move several times, but she was just too stubborn… Ah, I'm Mizelia by the way, from the tigerman tribe. Nice meeting you." [Mizelia]
"I'm Syria, from the rabbitman tribe. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." [Syria]
"I'm Ryouma Takebayashi. It's a pleasure to meet everyone." [Ryouma]
"I used to be in the same party as these three, but when the stench of the house started to stick to me, it became difficult for me to work with them because of their sensitive noses, so I had to leave, nyaa. I just couldn't abandon that house, nyaa. Well, there were other reasons too, nyaa." [Miya]
"Miya can be really stubborn sometimes." [Mizelia]
"So many people told her not to, but she still insisted on buying that house." [Wereanna]
"Seriously, I can't believe you actually lived at a place like that for 5 years." [Mizelia]
"You've been living there for 5 years? That… must have been difficult." [Ryouma]
Ryouma's face went blank at that, then Jeff asked him a question.
"By the way, you have that same basket with you today, yeah? What's in it?" [Jeff]
"My familiar. I am a monster tamer, after all." [Ryouma]
"Heh~ So you're a monster tamer. What familiar do you have?" [Jeff]
"Different types of slimes. I'm still just an apprentice. Slimes are kinda slow, so I put them in the basket, so we can get around faster when I'm in a hurry. Besides, it wouldn't do to scare the townspeople." [Ryouma]
Around this time, the guild master finally entered the room.
"Good, everyone's gathered. Sit where you like." [Wogan]
Everyone found themselves a seat and listened to what the guild master had to say.
"Before I can explain why you were called here today, I need you first to promise not to leak any information. If you can't do that, then leave. For the record, you don't have to take the job after hearing the details. You can refuse it so long as you don't leak the details. There won't be any penalties either." [Wogan]
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
"Good, then let's get to it… But first thing's first, let me tell you by what criteria you were chosen. First is trust, we needed someone tight-lipped. Second, the skill Disease Resist. Everyone has it, right?" [Wogan]
"Disease Resist? Yeah, I have it. I'm sure you know already, old man, but I used to be from the slums. Living there, you're bound to get 1 or 2 levels in it. Mine's 5, though." [Jeff]
"We also have it due to a town we had to go to for work that was plagued." [Wereanna]
"Fortunately, the plague wasn't that bad, and we were able to get back alive. We even got a skill out of it." [Syria]
"If I recall correctly, you all have it at level 3." [Wogan]
"Mine's 4 now though, nyaa. I'm not saying this because I'm proud about it or anything, but living at a house full of trash like that… It's only natural it would go up, nyaa." [Miya]
From the flow of the conversation, the experienced male dwarf adventurer was able to guess the contents of the job. When he gave his conjecture out loud, the young adventurers panicked.
"Disease Resist… I take it we're dealing with an epidemic here?" [Dwarf Adventurer]
"Has it already spread!?" [Adventurer]
"Calm down, Cher. Gordon's right about it being an epidemic, but it hasn't spread yet." [Wogan]
"Not yet… I suppose that means one or two have already fallen ill?" [Wereanna]
"No, we coincidentally found the source of the disease. The person who found it is Ryouma over there. So far no reports of people falling sick have come yet." [Wogan]
Everyone turned to Ryouma at that, then the guild master, Wogan, explained how Ryouma was able to find the disease.
"…And so, with the scavenger slimes' Disease Skill jumping from a 5 to a 7, it should be safe to assume that a terrible disease the likes of which not even a level 6 Disease Resist could defend against is brewing in the latrine pits of this town's common toilets.
The objective of this job is to stop the epidemic before it spreads. Also, considering how the people will react should word of this were to spread, you'll have to work in secret." [Wogan]
"Are all of us responsible for dealing with the plague— erm, cleaning the latrine pits?" [Cher]
"No, only Ryouma will be dealing with the latrine pits." [Wogan]
"Wait a moment! Are you seriously planning to let a kid do all that by himself!? Don't you think that's too much? Kids tend to get sick quickly too, it's too dangerous!" [Wereanna]
"Besides, it's ridiculous to ask a single person to clean all of the latrine pits alone." [Jeff]
"I share your sentiments, but this is for the best. Ryouma has already managed to clean a latrine pit yesterday in just one day.
And the highest level of Disease Resist among you is 5, which belongs to Jeff. Unfortunately, the disease were dealing with here isn't something that can be dealt with even with a level 6 Disease Resist. The odds of spreading it is simply too high.
On that point, Ryouma possesses level 7 health, making him the person least likely to get sick. Moreover, he also has Vitality UP Lv3, Super Regeneration Lv3, and Stamina UP Lv6. Even if he falls sick, Ryouma still has the highest chance of surviving among everyone here." [Wogan]
Everyone looked at Ryouma in shock.
Syria asked Wogan a question.
"…I understand he's suitable, but if that's the case, then what are we supposed to do?" [Syria]
"You are to keep watch while he's working and ensure that no one else enters. We can't lock the entrance while the latrine pits are being worked on, so we'll have to rely on you.
Also, those among you with the neutral magic, Identify, will have to use that to ensure that Ryouma isn't infected when he goes out." [Wogan]
"Do we really need 9 people to keep watch?" [Jeff]
"…Ryouma can work for a few days without sleeping. His 'Health' skill is a mixture of the Disease Resist, Sleep Resist, and Poison Resist skills. This was confirmed with his status board." [Wogan]
"I see, so there's 9 of us, so we can keep watch in shifts. Ryouma, are you really going to be ok?" [Jeff]
"No problem. Working a few days without sleep is pretty much the norm for me. I'm also working on my own volition, so this much won't be a problem." [Ryouma]
"I see." [Jeff]
"Keep an eye out on him too, to see if he's really not pushing himself… You have 10 minutes. In some ways, this is more dangerous than a monster subjugation job. You won't be penalized even if you refuse, so make sure you think hard on this." [Wogan]
After Wogan said that, he left the room. Ryouma left too since it was already decided that he would be participating.
After the adventurers thought on it for a while, Jeff spoke.
"Sigh… What to do?" [Jeff]
The dwarf adventurer named Gordon answered.
"I'll do it. I was born and raised in this town. I know a lot of people here. I can't just run away now." [Gordon]
Following him, the dragonewt adventurer also express his intent to join, and then another, and another…
"This one shall also accept. It is wisest to nip an epidemic in the bud before it can bloom." [Dragonewt Adventurer]
"I can't believe something like that is brewing in this town… I know it's dangerous, but I can't just leave a kid like that to fix it all by himself. I have to do it." [Wereanna]
"You said it. In the first place, all we're doing is keeping watch. The one doing the actually dangerous part is that kid. Given conditions like that, I can't possibly turn tail and run now, can I?" [Jeff]
Apparently, it didn't even take 10 minutes for the adventurers to decide, and after Wogan and Ryouma returned, everyone agreed to participate.
After that Wogan passed on the knowledge that Ryouma claims he received from his grandmother, and then quickly decided on the groups of the lookouts.