As we were relaxing by the lake, some adventurers approached us.

It was a recruitment attempt.

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“Hey, mind if we talk to you?”

Here they are again…

“What is it?”

“You know, you can make more money in the South District than in the West. Why not join us?”

“I’m not interested. I come from the same hometown as Clan Leader Layla, and I prefer a clan with lots of women.”

This is a refusal phrase we came up with together with AI-chan.

Having a clan with many women seems to be rare in this town, and saying this implies that clans with only men are undesirable.

Moreover, appealing to the connection with Layla puts pressure on the A-rank adventurer.

“I see. Well, let us know if you change your mind. You’re always welcome.”

“Mmm, got it.”

The adventurers who came to recruit us left with a sense of resignation.

They weren’t too pushy about it; it’s just how things go.

“I feel like I’m doing a good job of refusing thanks to AI-chan’s suggestion, but I wonder if I’m being seen as a pervert…”

“…I’m pretty sure you are.”

“Well, technically, they’re not wrong.”

Hey!

“That’s not what I meant.”

“…But, Annie’s here, and with AI-chan, that makes four women. It’s pretty obvious to anyone looking.”

“Is it because of miss pervert?”

“…That’s a big part of it.”

It would’ve been better if there were just three of us.

Natalia’s fine, but both AI-chan and Alice are small, and they could be mistaken for children.

“Don’t call me a pervert. And seriously, try catching some fish that aren’t poisonous.”

Annie complains.

“I can’t catch anything at all. Are there even normal fish here?”

“It’s true that the lake has a lot of poisonous fish, but there are.”

Are you sure…?

Since I can’t catch anything at all, I might as well settle for poisonous fish.

“Alice, wanna see who can catch edible fish first?”

“…Sure. Oh…”

Alice looked at me, nodded, then spoke towards the back.

Curious, I turned around to see that a group of four party members, all men, were emerging from the forest and heading towards the resting area by the lake.

“Tsk… You guys, leave.”

Annie clicked her tongue and began gathering antidote herbs that she had laid on the ground.

Natalia started doing the same, and Alice put away her fishing rod.

“What’s going on?”

I asked as I put away my fishing rod and handed one to Alice.

“…To put it simply, some unpleasant guys showed up.”

Unpleasant guys?

“Hey, what’s the meaning of this!?”

As we were tidying up, we heard someone shouting.

Of course, it was the unpleasant guy.

“What’s that about?”

“…Ignore them. Come on, Koma-chan, wake up.”

Alice shook the sleeping Koma-chan.

Koma-chan woke up with a big yawn.

Her appearance was unmistakably that of a dog, not that of a shikigami.

“What’s up, Cyrus?”

One adventurer called out to the unpleasant guy, Cyrus.

“Ted, why the hell are you Western District adventurers here?”

Cyrus, or rather the unpleasant guy, replied to Ted. Ted seemed to be another adventurer from the Western District like us.

“Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there’s a problem! Because of you guys, there’s no work to be had!”

“It can’t be helped. The Western Forest is off-limits.”

“Don’t mess with us! Thanks to you Western District adventurers, there was a stampede, and we couldn’t work for 10 days! Now you’re coming to our place on top of that!”

Looks like a fight’s about to break out…

“What do you mean it’s our fault?”

“Exactly what it sounds like! It’s unthinkable to overlook that many monsters! You guys were such small fry that you couldn’t even make it deep into the forest!”

“That’s irrelevant. Besides, I don’t want to be called small fry by someone who ran away during the stampede.”

So he ran away, huh? But indeed, I don’t think that guy called Cyrus was there during the stampede. I was on the defensive wall, and I went outside the town to fight, so most adventurers remember. Actually, I saw that Ted fighting outside the town. He seemed worried about AI-chan.

“You! I’ll kill you for real!”

“You? Don’t make me laugh.”

Oh! It’s a fight, a fight!

“Yuuma, let’s go.”

As I watch the two on the verge of fighting, Natalia grabs my sleeve and pulls me away. Looks like the cleanup is done.

“Is it okay to just leave it? Ted’s a Western District adventurer, right?”

“Leave it. We’re easily targeted in situations like this.”

“…Cyrus is a typical discriminator. Dealing with him just causes significant mental damage, so ignoring him is best.”

“Besides, getting involved in such a pointless fight among adventurers isn’t worth it. Let’s go home.”

The women seem to dislike fighting.

Also, they seem to dislike Cyrus.

Since I’ve been told not to cause trouble, I obediently listen to the women and decide to leave this place.

“Hey, where are you going, ladies!”

Once again, I heard shouting, so I looked and saw Cyrus looking in our direction.

“What should we do, Master? Crow-chan and Koma-chan are getting into combat mode…”

Said by AI-chan, I realized that Crow-chan was perched on a tree near Cyrus, aiming.

And then, spiritual power began to leak from Koma-chan at Natalia’s feet.

“Ignore him, let’s go… Come on, don’t release your scary magic either. I’ll play with you later, so let’s go home.”

Annie said so, urging Koma-chan, and started walking.

Then, Natalia and Alice followed suit.

“Let’s go home. Dealing with thugs is the job of the patrols.”

“Understood.”

AI-chan and I also followed the three and entered the forest.

“Don’t run away, you weak women!”

He’s still saying it…

Even though he doesn’t have half the magic power as Annie…