While Tsutomu and Ollie were checking the team’s equipment, the four others changed into gear appropriate for the Snow Field layer and chatted among themselves in the living room.
“I-I look forward to working with you, Sir Garm!”
“Mm-hm, likewise. I’ve seen you on the Pedestals sometimes — it’s good to have someone so reliable as a comrade.”
“W-whoa, this is big! You know, Sir Garm, I was actually inspired to be a Tank after seeing you in action!! Getting this much praise from you makes me so happy, I’m almost in tears!!”
Seeing that Hannah in fact was already moved to tears, Garm looked on at her, feeling awkward. The height difference between them was so tremendous that Hannah had to tilt her head up almost to a right angle to speak with him.
“Ah, I recognize that little guy — it’s the Salamander, right?”
“Yes.”
“Here, have an Inferno Magic Stone!”
“Byah!”
Amy seemed fairly familiar with Spiritualists, so she was not particularly surprised to see Salamander here. She proceeded to give a small Magic Stone fragment to the creature, establishing a connection between them. The Salamander immediately accepted the Magic Stone from Amy’s hand and swallowed it, then it belched out a small flame.
“All right, it’s about time we got ourselves to the Guild,” Tsutomu said after he was done checking the team’s equipment.
“Yeah!”
“Aye-aye, sir!”
Amy and Hannah raised their hands enthusiastically. Garm readjusted his tower shield, and Leleia’s expression turned serious.
And then, Tsutomu walked up to Amy and Garm holding two sheets of paper he had received from Ollie.
“By the way, Amy, Garm — fill this form in once you’re at the Guild.”
“Huh? What’s it for?”
“For joining the Clan. Might as well turn it in sooner than later, right?”
“…Ahh. Right. Got it.”
Amy stared intently at the form, grasping it firmly with her hands to savor her joy. Garm, while seemingly unconcerned as he looked at the form, on which Absolute Helix’s various employment terms were written, wagged his tail vigorously.
“Welcome again to Absolute Helix, you two.”
“…But I haven’t decided whether I’ll join yet, y’know?”
“Okay, Amy’s out… We’ll have to find ourselves another Attacker,” Tsutomu shot back at Amy, acting wholly unconcerned by her attempt at a joke.
“WHOA–!! Stop! I was just kidding! Really!!”
To her side, Garm groaned with blatant dissatisfaction.
“Hmph. I wouldn’t have minded if you actually quit.”
“Shut up! How about YOU quit? Better that than becoming a liability, you know~~?”
“I should be saying that to you. You’re the one who–“
“Okay, stop right there.”
As the two started arguing, Tsutomu stepped in between them and let out a sigh of relief, feeling the return of their usual routine. He proceeded to lead his team to the Guild.
“So… you two will be resigning from your positions and going back to being full-time Explorers, yes?”
On the way, Hannah asked Amy and Garm, the former quite openly in a good mood, and the latter seemingly unconcerned but with his ears raised. Amy, her ears perked up, turned right around and replied,
“I sure am! Well, I’ll still help out if the Guild Master’s in trouble, though.”
“Same for me. My successors are good, so I reckon there won’t be any problem.”
“Whoa… You know, it’s pretty amazing, being able to bring yourself to quit your lucrative jobs like that!”
“Hey, Tsutomu made us do it — so he should take responsibility! Am I right or am I right?”
“Well, I’ll make sure you earn enough to maintain your lifestyle. So stop hitting me already.”
As Amy smacked him with her white-furred tail, Tsutomu pulled a stern look to try and stop her. Amy seemed satisfied with this response, as she proceeded to wag her tail and start humming cheerfully.
Garm, not at all interested in Amy’s shenanigans, closed his eyes and gave his part of the answer,
“I just joined because I wanted to. Nothing else to it.”
“Whoa, that’s awesome, Sir Garm!”
“Ayy, cool! That means I don’t have to pay you, right?”
“Teach!? You shouldn’t do that!”
“I wouldn’t mind that, actually. As long as I have food and a place to sleep.”
“T-that’s… awesome, Sir Garm?”
“Please don’t take this so seriously.”
Tsutomu, knowing that Garm actually meant what he had said, gave Hannah a blank stare as the latter kept agreeing to everything.
When they arrived at the Guild, Garm and Amy submitted their Clan admission forms, after which some of the Guild staff members came over and congratulated them on their return as full-time Explorers. Amy smiled happily, while Garm went to talk to the new gatekeeper about various things.
“All right, then… today, I think Hannah should work with Amy, and Leleia with Garm.”
“Roger! I’m counting on you, Hannie!”
“Aye-aye! Same here!”
“So you’re an… evasion-based Tank, right? Will, I’ve never teamed up with one before, so sorry in advance if I make things harder for you!”
“It’s totally okay! I think!”
“All right, I’ll trust you on that! Let’s do our best!”
“Aww yeah!”
And with that, the two of them excitedly high-fived each other. Perhaps due to their bright personalities bouncing off each other, Tsutomu felt that the team today was twice as cheerful as the one he had been with until yesterday.
“I’ll be counting on you,” Garm said to Leleia.
“Likewise,” she answered.
Garm and Leleia proceeded to bow to each other, giving off a serious air in stark contrast to Hannah and Amy. Tsutomu shook his head, ridding himself of the thought of equating the two pairs to casual and hardcore players, and then he proceeded to finalize the party contract at the Guild’s reception desk.
“All right-y, time to roll out! Tsutomu! Let’s hold hands!”
“Uh, are we really STILL going to do that?”
“Of course! We might get separated, you know~~?”
“Despite my initial fear of that, I’ve never seen it happen to anyone so far.”
Tsutomu, getting his right hand forcibly pulled over by Amy, looked back at her with a fed-up expression. Hannah, seeing that, tilted her head for a moment… then she turned bright as if she had just sparked an idea, and proceeded to pull his left hand.
“Ooh! Are we forming a circle!? Nice idea! C’mon, Leleia! And you too, Sir Garm!”
“Uh… uh-huh…”
Garm, called over by the lively Hannah, also headed towards the three of them. Since she was going to participate as an official party member for the first time in a while, he figured it would not hurt to hold hands as they teleported just like when they had started out. Although somewhat disappointed that both Tsutomu’s hands were already taken, he proceeded to hold Hannah’s other hand.
Tsutomu shook his head, accepting his fate, before squatting down and whispering something to Hannah. She then panicked and let go of Tsutomu’s hand, switching places with Garm.
“I’m sorry for being so thoughtless! Please, go ahead!”
“Uh… well, thanks,” Garm awkwardly replied to Hannah as the latter bowed repeatedly in apology.
Then, noticing that Amy and Tsutomu were looking at him with weirded-out eyes, he looked away, putting up a cold front.
“We’re not children anymore. There’s no need to hold hands.”
“Oh c’mon, don’t say that.”
“Eww, NOW you’re embarrassed? Gross~~”
“I’ll kill you.”
“Try me.”
“Okay, okay, time to get going now, guys.”
“Yessir! Formin’ that circle now!”
“…All right.”
Hannah and Leleia also held hands, and in the end, the five of them formed a circle. As they stood on the Magic Circle, Tsutomu issued his command,
“Teleport to the seventy-first layer.”
With that, all five of them were sent down to the Snow Field.
