His eyes grew hollow as painful memories flickered across his mind, casting shadows of the past.
"Those guys, they were really nice people… It would've been better if they'd never met me..." Arlo muttered, his head bowed in shame, eyes hollow and devoid of light. "If they hadn't, they might have still been alive…"
Lost in the painful memories that haunted him, Arlo remained motionless for a few moments before finally letting out a heavy sigh. As he raised his head, he found himself face to face with an unfamiliar presence, mere inches away from his own.
"Gah!" Arlo yelped, startled by the sudden intrusion. He stumbled backward, toppling from his chair and landing roughly on the ground.
Groaning in pain, Arlo rubbed his head and looked up at the person who had caught him off guard. To his surprise, the stranger was crouched beside him, studying him intently.
The young man before him had wild, dark blue hair and piercing black eyes. He appeared to be around Arlo's height and wore a tight-fitting black battlesuit that accentuated his muscular physique. Daggers hung from his hips, adding to his imposing presence.
"Hey, you. Do you want to join our party?" the stranger asked abruptly, his voice cutting through the silence.
"Huh?" Arlo blurted out, taken aback by the unexpected question.
"I said, do you want to join our party? You've been sitting here for a while now with a depressed look on your face. It's because you don't have a party, right? Or were you rejected after confessing your feelings to a girl or something? Don't worry, man, it happens to the best of us." the young man continued, extending his hand to help Arlo up.
"N-No, you were right with the first guess. I don't have a party," Arlo stammered nervously, grasping the offered hand and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.
"That's perfect! We're missing a person. Come join our party," the young man declared, his grip tightening around Arlo's hand as he began to drag him away.
"Huh? Wait, I never agreed to this—" Arlo protested weakly, his words falling on deaf ears.
"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it. It's just temporary," the young man reassured him, flashing a bright smile as he led Arlo away from his spot.
'How did I end up in this situation?' Arlo wondered, his mind reeling from the sudden turn of events. 'I need a party but… Is it really fine? Is it really fine if someone like me joins them?'
"Hey… I think, you should look for someone else… I'm not really someone you would want to have in your party." Arlo muttered as he lowered his gaze.
"Nah, you're exactly what I need." He responded.
'What he needs? What does he mean by that?' Arlo wondered, puzzled by his response.
-
Shortly after registering under the young man's party, Arlo followed him to the parking lot in front of the building, where a large van awaited them. As they climbed inside, Arlo found himself in the presence of the other party members.
The first was a towering, muscular man with an intimidating expression. His messy black hair and sharp features added to his imposing presence. In addition to his black battlesuit, he wore heavy plate armor that further emphasized his formidable stature.
Beside him sat a middle-aged man with short brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. Unlike his companion, he exuded a relaxed demeanor that put Arlo somewhat at ease. A sword rested on his hip, and he wore a black battlesuit with light steel armor protecting his vital areas.
The third and final member was a short, well endowed girl with long pink hair braided into pigtails that cascaded down both sides of her face. She, too, donned a black battlesuit, which was partially concealed by a cloak draped over her shoulders. Surprisingly, she appeared to be unarmed.
Arlo initially thought that her adorable features would make her approachable and easy to get along with. However, when their eyes met, her expression soured, and she looked away with a dismissive "Humph."
'...W-What?' Arlo thought, taken aback by her unexpected reaction.
"Yo~ I'm back, and I've got our fifth member right here," Argus announced cheerfully as the car pulled away from the parking lot. "Let's do introductions. I'm Argus, the leader." He flashed a friendly smile before gesturing to the others. "Feel free to introduce yourselves."
The tall, intimidating man was the first to address Arlo. He extended his hand for a handshake and introduced himself in a surprisingly gentle tone. "H-Hello, I'm Liam."
"H-Hey, I'm Arlo," Arlo responded, nervously shaking Liam's hand.
Despite his appearance, Liam seemed to be a little shy, just like Arlo. This realization brought a small measure of comfort to Arlo, who found it difficult to maintain eye contact with anyone in the group.
"I'm Alexander, but you can call me Alex," the middle-aged man chimed in, also offering his hand to Arlo. "I'm our swordsman."
"N-Nice to meet you," Arlo stammered, shaking Alex's hand.
Finally, Arlo's gaze settled on the third and last member of the party. She had her hands crossed and seemed to be staring at Arlo with a frown.
"I'm Arlene, our healer," she declared coldly, her gaze fixed on Arlo.
"Yeah... Nice to meet you," Arlo responded, forcing a twitching smile.
It was clear that, out of all the party members, Arlene seemed to harbor a particular dislike for Arlo, though the reason remained unclear.
"Now that we're all acquainted, we can finally get to work," Argus announced, clapping his hands together. "Today, we're going for a C-ranked gate—"
"Hold on a second." Arlo interjected, his tone filled with concern. "You never mentioned anything about C-ranked. That's basically suicide for an F-rank hunter without an ability like me—"
Arlene cut him off, her voice dripping with disdain. "An F-rank without an ability?! Seriously, Argus? This is who you decide to bring this time?! He'll obviously hold us back, not to mention you're planning on splitting the rewards evenly among the five of us? I refuse to accept that!"
Argus shrugged, unfazed by her outburst. "Well, we need someone to carry our resources, and there aren't any porters willing to join us."
Porters, they were hunters who took on the role of carrying the spoils from the Labyrinth for other parties.
The Labyrinths held a wealth of valuable materials and resources, making the services of porters highly sought after by many parties. Despite the lower pay, the risks faced by porters were no less significant than those encountered by the hunters themselves.
Arlo's thoughts raced, his arms trembling as he clutched his grimoire tightly.
'It's obvious that you couldn't find any porters. Porters are mainly F-rank hunters who need to make a hustle. No sane F-rank hunter would be crazy enough to enter a C-rank Labyrinth. I worked as a porter for a year and never even stepped foot in a D-rank one!'
"Even so—" Arlene began, but Argus interrupted her.
"What's the harm in it? Arlo here is an experienced porter. He's not going to get in our way, and he'll carry our stuff so we can focus on combat—"
"How did you know I was a porter?" Arlo flinched, his eyes narrowing. "I only told you that I was an F-rank hunter without an ability."