Chapter 41: Ryuu joins
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Stopping at the exit of the alley, Izzy smiled awkwardly as he looked at the figure in front of him.
"Miss Ryuu, you're making fun of me."
At the exit of the alley stood an elf girl holding a large paper bag in her hands.
Beneath her green hair were overly perfect facial features, and her eye-catching, slender ears had sharp, defined lines.
Her sky-blue, almond-shaped eyes were fixed on the alley, clearly having seen everything that had just transpired.
"No, Mr. Izzy, I just heard some noise in the alley and decided to check—purely by coincidence."
"An accidental check...?"
Izzy repeated the elf girl's words, though his gaze couldn't help drifting downward—to his chest, tightly covered by his clothes and obscured by the large paper bag.
The unsheathed sword still in the girl's hand seemed to silently explain the situation...
Noticing Izzy's strange look, Ryuu instinctively lowered her gaze. When she saw what she was holding, even the air seemed to freeze with silence.
"..."
"Well, it's a beautiful day today, isn't it?"
"Um..."
"Why is Miss Ryuu here? Are you out buying something?"
In the end, it was Izzy who spoke first, breaking the awkward atmosphere.
"I came out to buy supplies for the store, mainly ingredients and such. Since the store has a lot of customers, someone has to go out daily to restock," Ryuu explained. "I was walking by and happened to see Mr. Izzy being surrounded. I thought I should help, but I realized I was worrying too much. Mr. Izzy, you're getting stronger very quickly..."
It wasn't a particularly difficult topic, so Ryuu took the opportunity Izzy gave her to answer straightforwardly. She also explained why she had drawn the sword just now.
For the past half-month, Loki had frequently dragged Izzy to eat at the Hostess of Fertility. During those visits, Izzy had become friendly with several of the beautiful female employees and could now consider them friends.
Naturally, Ryuu and the other store staff had learned a bit about him as well.
A novice adventurer who had started just half a month ago.
Normally, adventurers grew stronger at a snail's pace, like a turtle crawling.
Unaware of Izzy's unique circumstances, Ryuu had stumbled upon him being surrounded in the alley and instinctively tried to intervene.
However, just as she drew her sword, she saw that Izzy had already effortlessly handled the depraved adventurers who had tried to rob him. That led to the scene they were in now.
"Quickly? Maybe..."
After hearing Ryuu's comment, Izzy couldn't deny it.
The speed at which his abilities were improving was indeed remarkable, but he was still playing catch-up.
After all, he had started his adventuring journey far too late.
Most adventurers received their Falna in childhood and began exploring dungeons to grow stronger early in life.
Izzy, however, had waited until adulthood.
Well, there's no changing that now.
Shaking his head slightly, Izzy reminded himself not to dwell on such trivial matters. The only thing that mattered was focusing on the present.
He looked at Ryuu, who now had a subtle expression on her face, and a sly smile—like a wolf eyeing a lamb—crept across the corner of his mouth.
"Come to think of it, Miss Ryuu, you must have been an adventurer, right? And a powerful one at a very high level?"
"Mr. Izzy, what are you trying to say?"
Hearing this, Ryuu's smile faded, and she suddenly frowned, fixing him with a sharp stare.
"Wait, wait, don't get upset. Loki told me a bit about you, and I don't mean anything by it. To be honest, I just wanted to ask for a favor..."
Izzy had expected the elf girl to be sensitive about such topics.
But he was already prepared. With a calm demeanor, he smoothly presented the excuse he had carefully crafted to invite her as his future teammate.
"Goddess Loki..."
Murmuring this name, the slight doubt that had just arisen in Ryuu's heart was quickly dispelled.
She personally had a good impression of Izzy, who had a unique kind of affinity and spoke in a way that sounded like someone who had received higher education.
If you ignored his occasional bad taste, Izzy was undoubtedly a good friend, and Ryuu was willing to trust him.
What's more, if it was a god, especially a god like Loki, it wouldn't be strange if he knew something about the situation in this store.
"Achoo!!!" Loki, who was still on the upper floor of the central tower of the Twilight Manor, suddenly sneezed.
Confused, she rubbed her nose and murmured, "Who is thinking about me?"
...
"If you want help... why would you ask me? In terms of relationships, if Mr. Izzy needs help, the first person he would think of should be Anya, or at least Chloe."
Ryuu put away her sharp eyes and asked in confusion.
After all, in terms of relationships, the one who is best with Izzy is definitely not her, but the two cat girls with eccentric personalities who are often teased by Izzy.
"Um... those two cats really hate dungeons. I don't think the chances of finding them will be very high..."
Izzy scratched his head and told his thoughts truthfully.
Hearing this, Ryuu's sky-blue eyes revealed doubts.
"Dungeon? What exactly does Mr. Izzy mean by help?"
"Um... about the dungeon exploration and some matters about my upgrade. Maybe reading these will help you understand better."
This happened to be an alley with few people, so there was no need to worry about being overheard. The robbers were knocked unconscious by Izzy, so there was no possibility of them hearing it accidentally.
Izzy took Ryuu a little further into the alley and explained everything to her in detail.
---
Ten minutes later...
"In other words, Mr. Izzy is planning to go to the middle-level area to hunt this pterosaur's 'Strengthen species' for the sake of the 'great achievement' experience for leveling up, and he needs to team up with someone for this, right?"
After listening to Izzy's narration, Ryuu, who had some understanding of the concept of helping, spoke with a calm expression.
The tone was like reading with a stick.
"Yeah, that's right..."
Because the elf girl remained calm throughout the whole story, Izzy couldn't help but feel approval in his heart and nodded.
"I see, Mr. Izzy, are you done with your jokes? If so, I'll excuse myself for now. The store is still waiting for me to deliver the ingredients."
The upgrade requirements are met in half a month. I want to form a team and go to the middle level. I want to defeat the "Strengthen species" of pterosaurs whose potential is conservatively estimated to be Lv.2 or above alone.
No matter which of these three is picked out and placed on a new adventurer, it would be extremely outrageous, let alone all three concentrated on one person?
It's understandable that Ryuu's first reaction was that Izzy was joking.
"..."
Good job.
Just now, Izzy was thinking in his heart that she was worthy of being Ryuu, as she could remain so calm when hearing such things.
It seems that she doesn't believe in Izzy at all.
"I have been deceived!"
"Wait! Ryuu. I'm serious!"
Seeing that the girl wanted to leave, Izzy quickly grabbed her wrist.
"I'm not kidding!!!"
Sensing the seriousness of his attitude, Ryuu tilted her head and met Izzy's eyes.
After a while, the girl moved her eyes away and opened her lips.
"I see... so what about the time? How long are you going to be there, Mr. Izzy?"
Whether it is true or not, you will find out once you enter the dungeon.
With this in mind, Ryuu chose to accept Izzy invitation to join a team.