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Rino's first visit to the capital branch of Melromarc Adventurer's Guild was a rare case of a very good (or very bad) timing on her part. She just arrived at the city in search of either a party to join or a suitable solo job for a relative beginner like her.
Being a commoner from a remote town, there had been very few opportunities for someone like her to make it, except maybe as a concubine to some rich merchant. While officially, women held a lot of power in Melromarc, that was mostly true for noble women. When it came to increasing your social standing on your own merit, adventuring was likely the best possible way. Not to mention, it wasn't that uncommon for adventurers to marry their party member and retire together after a few years on the job. After all, battling monsters side by side and sleeping in the woods for weeks on end served as a sure test of your companion's character.
While Rino hadn't been born privileged, she still had a few advantages over her peers. Her father was a retired soldier who taught her how to read and write early on. Her mother, while not an adventurer, was a pretty experienced tracker (her family trade) and took Rino on many trips to the local forest where they gathered herbs, berries and yes, even killed weak monsters when they had the chance. The woods were mostly safe, with all the really dangerous creatures wiped out long ago, but Rino still learned a very important lesson: sometimes you had to take a chance and fight and sometimes it was better to run and hide.
However, her closeness with her parents had an unfortunate side effect. She hadn't managed to form any lasting friendships and even a few young adventurers from her neighborhood weren't very keen on letting her join their group. She also had to admit, at least to herself, that she wasn't very experienced in interacting with her peers, be they men or women. Not for the lack of trying, but somehow she never seemed to fit in.
And now that her parents were getting older, she decided to try her luck in the capital. She especially wanted to get her hands on a magic book or several, because ever since a passing witch taught her a couple of spells, Rino decided that magic was pretty amazing. It allowed one to defeat enemies from afar much more efficiently than any ranged weapon could, aside maybe from the Legendary Bow.
Due to her lower level, her spells were pretty weak for now, but it would change as soon as she found a good party with a well balanced attack and defense abilities. And well, if some of those new party members turned out to be nice, reliable young men, all the better.
But back to the present time. Rino just entered the Guild hall, trying to act confident despite her shabby gear and low level, and went to register with the clerk. That was when she heard the news. Two older men in heavy armor were discussing it loudly somewhere to the side from the line she was standing in.
"All four of them? For real?"
"Yeah! Can you believe it? All the four Heroes are here! They were just summoned by the royal mages!"
"Aren't the other countries going to complain?"
"Who cares! We need to fight the Waves, don't we. What if the next one hits the capital?"
"Oh, damn. That wouldn't be good. So what are the Heroes going to do now? I guess, level up?"
"That's right and I just heard they are looking for party members! That's why I came here right away. What d'you think?"
"Eh, man. I'm sure all the big shot nobles and knights have already lined up. Why would they pick someone like you or me?"
"You never know, friend, you never know. Most of those rich folks hate getting their hands dirty. But if you are not gonna try, I'm out too. There are better jobs for us here I bet."
After registering and browsing the quest board for a few minutes, Rino couldn't find anything suitable for herself. The conversation she overheard didn't want to leave her mind. The Legendary Heroes were in this city right now, so close and yet so far. Should she take the chance and go ask the palace guard to let her in? Most likely, she would be laughed at and sent on her merry way, but what if she's not?
Her day was technically free, she had a little bit of food left in her travel bag and even enough coins for a cheap inn for the night. It wouldn't hurt to try her luck. And at least she'd see the royal palace up close.
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To Rino's shock, she was let in with little more than a passing glance from the guard on duty. She wasn't sure why, but it turned out that very few people even showed up to become companions to the four Heroes. True to the yesterday man's words, most of them seemed to be of noble upbringing, at least going by the quality of clothing and general air of importance they carried. One was clearly a royal knight.
Rino tried to smile at a few people and got a couple of leering looks from the men, and raised eyebrows from the women. Some simply ignored her, although they could've just been nervous. There wasn't a lot of talking.
Soon it was time to meet the Heroes and (gasp!) the king. The young adventurer didn't even consider that she'd be meeting such an important person on her second day in the capital. What would her dad say?
The king seemed troubled by something. Three of the Heroes looked thoughtful as well, the fourth one was simply studying the new arrivals. He was a tall, blonde man. His eyes met Rino's and she blushed and smiled despite her current anxiety. Now that she looked more closely, he was carrying a spear, so he was the Spear Hero. She barely glanced at the other three after that, since she knew whose party she wanted to join.
Rino then had to start paying attention because the king began to talk. The news were shocking and alarming. Apparently, the First Princess Malty disappeared and was likely abducted. It happened some time ago, but now the king was offering a reward for any information. And the Heroes, while being here to fight the Waves of Calamity, were asked to look for her during their training. It wasn't unreasonable, since they had to travel around the country anyway to get experience and level up.
A few whispers from surrounding adventurers reached Rino's ears. It appeared some of them already knew about the princess' abduction and rumors of Siltvelt involvement were aplenty. It made sense. Rino's dad fought in the war against that country and had a lot of horrible stories to tell of their atrocities. She wasn't sure what to think of demi-humans in general, since one of her mother's old friends was a dog demi-human. But the ones from Siltvelt were definitely bad news. Attacking the royal family of Melromarc right after the Waves hit the country? It was plain evil.
The adventurers then were asked to choose a Hero to join, so Rino approached the dashing one. Now she knew his name was Motoyasu as the royal advisor introduced all four of them to the new crowd.
What followed was a rather awkward scene, because not a single person chose the Shield Hero, who was called Naofumi. He was an ordinary looking guy and seemed reasonably upset at being left on his own. Rino's family wasn't very religious, so she didn't have anything in particular against the Shield Hero, but he was clearly less suited for combat than the other three and apparently also knew nearly nothing about their world. She could see why no one wanted to be in his party.
The king didn't seem to have any patience for the man, although he did offer him a monetary compensation. It hardly seemed fair though. Rino was now looking at Sir Naofumi's desperate face so she didn't notice her new party members have a whispered conversation. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was one of the other girls.
"Hey, why don't you join the Shield Hero? Look at how many of us are here with Sir Motoyasu! I'm sure we'll manage without you somehow."
It was a barely concealed snub, and the Spear Hero tried to interfere to say that she should follow her heart, but when Rino actually looked at her new companions, she didn't see a single friendly face. This didn't seem like such a good situation for her.
Then she shook her head and actually considered the whole situation. Now that she chose to be a party member to one of the Legendary Heroes, it stopped being about simply leveling up or having fun. She would be fighting the Waves, the devastating events that threatened the whole world. Was she going to be selfish or would she follow in her father's footsteps and serve her country?
"Alright! I will join the Shield Hero!" Rino even surprised herself at how clear and assured her voice sounded.
Sir Naofumi, for his part, looked stunned for a moment, but then a huge smile split his face. Rino didn't miss the appreciative glance he threw at her body either. She knew she was good-looking, even in a cheap and practical adventurer's gear instead of a ball gown. Her blonde hair and blue eyes were rare enough that she often caught men looking at her. Okay, it's not like she herself wasn't guilty of judging the book by its cover when it came to Sir Motoyasu earlier. It was time to step up and act like an actual adult.
"Sir Naofumi. My name is Rino. I'd be happy to be in your party."
"It... it's nice to meet you, Miss Rino. Thanks, um, for giving me a chance." He was smiling now, looking way younger than his actual age. But then again, the same could be said about the other Heroes too. Maybe it had something to do with being from a different world, she wasn't sure.
The king then gave each of the Heroes a sum of money (enough to last a few months for a couple of people maybe, but what about equipment?) and sent them on their way.
As they left the gates of the royal castle, Naofumi appeared to be in good spirits, even to the point of playing with the bag of money in plain sight, which wasn't the best idea. Right away, Rino decided she had to take charge, eh, offer her experience to the clueless otherworlder.
"Sir Naofumi..."
"Yes, Miss Rino?"
"What are you planning to do next?"
"Oh, um, I guess we should go hunt some monsters? Or maybe try recruiting more party members? Wait, should we find a room first? Rooms? Ah no, I need a weapon first, definitely that."
It was clear the young man had little idea of what to do. Not that some of his suggestions weren't good.
"How about this. We'll go to the Guild first to store most of your money. No point in carrying it all around especially while hunting. I haven't been in this city for long, but I already know where the Guild is."
"The Adventurers' Guild? Sure, that sounds like a good idea. We can look for more party members there as well. But what about weapons and armor?"
"Well, you definitely need some armor, but I think Legendary Heroes are not supposed to use weapons other than their own?"
"Are you sure? Let me check."
They were already walking, but Sir Naofumi still managed to open his status screen at the same time, while skillfully evading the passerby. After a few minutes where she had to tug on his sleeve to stop the Hero from being ran over by a heavy carriage, he frowned and looked back at Rino.
"You are right, Miss Rino. The help menu says I can't use any weapons. But I wonder how does it work. Could I borrow your dagger for a second?"
Rino, despite her love of magic, carried a couple of daggers (larger and smaller), a simple slingshot and wore full set of leather armor with a few wooden slats to protect her vital organs. It was something her mom and dad had put together and it served her well so far. In any case, with her lack of proper magic training and low level, bladed weapons were a must have.
Rino didn't have any misgivings and offered her larger dagger to the Hero. He took it and tried to swing inexpertly. Immediately he swore and dropped the weapon, shaking his hand in pain. A few people around them stared, so Rino quickly picked up her dagger and pulled Naofumi into a side alley.
"What happened? Are you alright?"
"Fine, I guess. I just didn't expect the pain. It felt like an electric shock."
"A what?"
"Oh, right, you wouldn't know about electricity. It's like a small lightning strike. Something like that. Anyway, I'm fine now."
A lightning strike? And Sir Naofumi knew how it felt? Rino decided that now was not the time to ask more questions.
"Well, it seems like bladed weapons are out of question. I suggest we go to the Guild now and then find some armor for you, Sir Naofumi."
"Sure, let's do that. But how am I supposed to fight without a weapon?"
"I think... I think that's what you need party members for. If you can defend with your Shield, I think it should work out, even with just the two of us."
Rino wasn't actually that certain. The young adventurer wasn't eager to take on dangerous monsters with just one inexperienced support-oriented companion. But it seemed like she had little choice for now. She made a decision and had to stick with it. Suddenly, she remembered a pretty important thing.
"Um, Sir Naofumi?"
"Yes, Miss Rino?"
"Are you going to invite me into your party?"
"What do you mean? Oh, right, the party menu. It should exist here, shouldn't it? Or we wouldn't be able to share EXP points. I forgot. Let me see, aha, here it is. I think I'm supposed to take your hand?"
The young man offered his right hand to Rino, which had the Shield attached to it. He shrugged at her raised eyebrow so she took his hand and shook it a few times.
"So, did it work?"
"Oh, yes, definitely! I see your name and stats and everything. Level 9? Is that high or not? Sorry, I don't know the rules here."
"That's alright. I guess it's considered low. Though some people stay at 1 their whole lives if they never kill anyone. Wait a moment, let me check my own status. Oh, I can see you as well. That's cool. I heard the party system works differently for the Heroes, you know?"
"I didn't. That's interesting. So, are we going in the right direction, Miss Rino?"
"Oh. Um. I'm not sure I remember this street. Sorry, let's just go back and try another path. I've only arrived yesterday myself."
"Don't worry about it, it's okay. We can just walk around and see the sights for now."
"Okay. Really, I'm so embarrassed. I forgot to watch where we're going, and here you were relying on me."
They talked about random things while they searched for the Guild. Rino already felt better about her choice, even though she suspected the road ahead wouldn't be easy for them. If only she knew.
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A/N: So, I changed the other pairing, since Rino is going to play a larger role in this story and be one of the main characters. Raphtalia is still joining the party as soon as possible, so don't worry. The listed pairing stays the same, since Rino's character is not on this site. I'll list the pairings properly in the ao3 version whenever I actually manage to post it.
