After their success on the second wave of Melromarc, which ended with very few casualties on account of three deaths and twelve injuries, the heroes and their groups were taken back to the castle to commemorate with a party in their names. They were somewhat enjoying it except for Ren who wasn't big on social gatherings, but that all changed as they heard the voices of an approaching group, that being Naofumi Itawani the shield hero, and his teammates
The three heroes looked at the shield hero's group as they caught everyone's attention, as the Naofumi and one of his companions sat down while the other brought together two other tables and joined them to the one his teammates were sitting at, the reason for this was that they would need more space to accommodate for all the plates of food one of them was about to eat, which was about two-thirds of the entirety of the party's food
Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki stared at Naofumi as he sat together with his teammates, and it was those teammates that the three heroes were focusing on, as they were two oddities. On the day after their summoning, the four cardinal heroes were to receive individual parties of adventurers that would accompany them and help in their development, the king had gathered 14 people who had volunteered to join them, all four assumed that they would be choosing their teammates but it was the opposite as the king explained, and on that day their the parties were formed.
Ren got 4 party members that all specialized in different areas, one was a martial artist, one was a rogue, one was a mage that leaned more to support, and one was the sub DPS as he wielded a large axe and occasionally a Tank, and Ren was satisfied with that as they didn't get in the way of his solo grinding. They were also really nice to work with and pretty friendly which made him feel awkward around them since he wanted to keep on the persona of "a cold and serious lone wolf hero" and thus he often sent them away to grind alone or to run errands
Itsuki had 4 party members as well, a man in shiny and extravagant armor called Mald was the Tank of the team, a man named Rojeel, and a girl with a spear that Itsuki didn't quite remember the name of were both sub DPS of the party while he was the main one, and a wizard named Welst that was the magic caster of the group. Itsuki was more than contemptuous of his team, as they praised him as the hero he was always meant to be and shared his idolized vision of "justice", they truly made him feel like the heroic god of justice that he always dreamt of being
Motoyasu had gotten himself quite literally a harem, as his party was formed entirely out of girls that all seemed smitten by him from day one, Motoyasu didn't use his party as it was supposed to, instead of having them fight alongside him as teammates in battle, he had them be his cheerleader squad that sat back and sent him compliments and the very rare support spell, and that group dynamic wasn't something they decided, it was Motoyasu decision to be the only combatant in the group while the girl just laid back and relaxed as he tried to impress them with his heroism.
But while the three of them had gotten four party members each, Naofumi got only two, but those two were much more intriguing than all of the other party members they acquired that day, as they stood out differently than everyone there, as they seemed very uncanny or as the three heroes had collectively agreed, "Anime-esque" was the best they could describe them, as their appearance and mannerisms matched that of fictional characters from anime and manga
The man currently eating enough food for five other people was named Toriko, he was an extremely muscular and exceptionally tall 25-year-old man with somewhat messy blue neck-length hair. He had three scars running from his left ear to just under his left eye which according to a rumor, he was born with them. He had strong, angular facial features and somewhat catlike eyes that made a sharp contrast with the somewhat aloof smile he harbored on his face as he chowed down food.
He was wearing a tight muscle orange spandex jumpsuit consisting of tight spandex orange cargo pants with pockets on the legs, dark blue knee-high boots, a black belt, a thin skin-tight muscle black t-shirt with a tight muscle orange sleeveless vest both tucked in, and a red armband on his left arm that he has using in the day they got their parties.
He overflowed with rugged manliness that some would find admirable, he was also a heavy eater and show-off drinker as anyone there could see, although he did a prayer and thanked for the food before mercilessly eating it, he seemed very much like a Shonen protagonist as even his reason for joining the heroes in this quest was just to fight and cook the interdimensional monsters of the wave in search of filling up his "Full Course Menu" which was something extremely important for him, that was a main character motivation if they ever saw one
Motoyasu didn't care for Toriko but Ren and Itsuki did for the simple reason that Toriko had a reputation as something called "a Gourmet Hunter" which was an adventurer that specialized in obtaining rare ingredients for the sole reason of cooking or selling them, and from what the two heroes could gather from listening to the chatter in the adventurers guild, Toriko was called "The Charismatic Glutton of the Four Heavenly Kings" because he was part of a quartet with three other gourmet hunters that were considered the best in the world as they could kill and capture dragons, griffons, and gigantic sea beasts as if they were regular monsters, which explained Toriko's appearance as this mountain of muscles, and he was called a Glutton because the guy could eat a house and still ask for dessert.
Ren and Itsuki were worried because if the information about this guy was true, then he was already one of the strongest in the world being at level 84, and with years of monster fighting to his name, that would mean Naofumi had an end game party member with potentially Hero level power from day one, giving him a monstrous advantage over them that would be impossible to overcome.
Thankfully for them, the King of Melromarc had forced Toriko to get his level reset to 1 if he truly wanted to join the shield hero's group, which although was something that the two heroes were glad for, was a complete and utterly stupid idea in the part of the king in their eyes, because why would you want to do that if your main goal is to save the world by helping the legendary heroes grow stronger? Putting powerful warriors as teammates to the heroes is a great idea to help the heroes get stronger faster since grinding would become a cakewalk, and he was forced to get his level reset solely because he wanted to join Naofumi in particular, why was that the case? If Toriko had joined any of them he would have been allowed to keep his high level, but because he wanted to join Naofumi he had to start over at level 1? That was incredibly odd and fucking suspicious in a way that they couldn't comprehend, that was straight-up unwarranted sabotage to a random guy he had kidnapped and forced to fight in a war for him for no reason other than to fuck with him and it was something they would have to look up in more detail later because something was going on between the king and the shield hero, however Toriko was fine with, apparently because it would a nice challenge to start from the beginning but he was also convinced and encourage of this by another individual, someone that had also joined Naofumi that day and was currently sitting with them
The heroes of the bow and sword changed their glances to the companion of the shield hero that Motoyasu had been staring at ever since she arrived. A beautiful woman who appears to be in her early twenties. Her hair color is a light red, kept in a loose braid with bangs reaching just past her eyebrows and two longer side bangs that frame her face. Her eyes were yellow with several red rings inside them. She wore an outfit consisting of a white long-sleeved shirt, black tie, black pants, and brown shoes, which was very odd that she dressed like a modern office worker, and if they remembered correctly, she was wearing that on the day she joined Naofumi as well.
The woman named Makima was on the surface, appeared to be a pleasant, kind, social, and friendly woman, she is seen almost all the time with a smile on her face and acts relaxed and confident, and with a voice as smooth as silk as they heard she and Naofumi talk. But for some reason, they couldn't understand, Ren and Itsuki felt very uneasy whenever they saw her, as she paradoxically seemed like the nicest and most dangerous person in the room she was in, but perhaps that was because of the authority she seemed to exude
Makima felt like someone who should be respected when they got their parties, she asked for the king to give them additional money just this one time at the start of the journey since they had fewer people, and the king actually acquiesced with her even though it was clear he didn't want to, and he even used an honorific when he talked to her, heck, everyone including the heroes themselves used all sorts of honorifics when referring to her, Ren and Itsuki didn't understand why, but they simply couldn't say her name without adding a "mistress" or "lady" to it, not even when they tried their hardest to, it just felt... wrong to not refer to her as their superior in a way
This culminated in Makima feeling like a commander of some sort, which was solidified when they heard from Naofumi in their pre-wave chatter that he had appointed Makima as the party leader through his status magic, something that was shocking to them since Naofumi was going to let her do the decisions in and out of battle and that she would receive priority in exp gain and once any of their party members got to make a class upgrade she would decide the class they would become, when they asked him why he did that, he responded that Makima was already a kind of leader to the team and she always made the best decisions, it was incredibly how much Naofumi seemed to trust her
Additionally, she had this mysterious and supernatural feel to her that made them want to know more about her, which was a difficult task to do when that person seemingly didn't exist. No matter where they looked or who they asked about her, no sort of answer came about her past or origin, everyone in town knew of her as if they had interacted their whole lives with her but none could recall how and why they knew of her, they just responded saying she was familiar 'like I have know her from the day I was born' which was a sentiment the heroes shared, but while Motoyasu seemed to interpret that as true love and Naofumi as destiny, the other heroes didn't know how to feel about it
In truth, it felt like she was in control of every situation she was in no matter who or what she faced, and although Ren couldn't explain why, Itsuki had a theory that was a worrisome prospect if it was the case. His theory was that Makima was an Esper like him, a person born with a special ability, in his case he had a low-level Esper ability named Accuracy that was simply better eyesight and precision when aiming, but to consider her unique eyes, he assumed that Makima was a Special type Esper, as those usually have unusual appearances that related to their powers. He suspected that she had either "Deadly Precision" due to the sort of bullseye pattern in her iris, which was a stronger and superior version of his ability, an ability related to temperature like "Heat Control" due to her eye and hair color or the one he believed was the most probable for her to have was "Authoritarian Aura" an ability that made everyone around her see her as a leader. It wasn't impossible, a past hero could have been from the same world as him and introduced the Esper genes to this world and Makima was a descendant of his, but Itsuki wasn't even sure if his theory was right or not
"This isn't fair..." Motoyasu whispered as he strengthed his grip on his spear and slightly grind his teeth while looking ferocious at Naofumi
"Huh?" The other two heroes let out as they looked at Motoyasu, not understanding what he was referring to
"How could such a woman, a goddess among mortals with such unrivaled beauty and blessed features be with such a loser..." Motoyasu said as he looked at the pair, as he watched Naofumi become as he was as red as a tomate when Makima approached her fork with a bit of food in close to his face, with her expression practically teasing for him to eat it, which he did, causing her to call him a "good boy"
"For a pathetic shielder to have someone like that... it should have been me... I derseve her more than that punk!" Motoyasu said infuriated, thankfully it seemed that everyone else in the party didn't notice thanks to all the music and chatting, Ren and Itsuki could only face palm at what their fellow hero had said
"... you are disgusting, you know that? You are objectifying her as something you should own, you already have a harem for yourself, just stop you fucking pervert," Itsuki said as he was honestly outraged with Motoyasu's reaction, he might not understand this creature known as Makima but he at least knew that it was bad to dehumanize her into a object to be owned by someone, and it just showed how greedy and lustful Motoyasu was when he wasn't satisfied with the four attractive women he had already drowling over him constantly
The bow hero took his leave as he became tired from simply observing Naofumi's group, deciding to go and try to socialize with the nobles in the commemoration to estabilsh fruitful relationships with them that could be of some benefit for him, Ren left as well so he could just wait in a corner with his own thoughts until the party ended. Motoyasu stayed watching the pair for a bit before grunting and walking away angrily, he kept telling himself that he would make Makima be his and crush Naofumi for holding that woman from his lovely embrace, he didn't even notice the menacing glow the gem in his spead was emanating and the almost transparent dark aura spiraling around it, something that Makima noticed before she decided to return her attention to her group
"Naofumi-kun," Makima spoke to him, her voice more smooth than the finest of silk in the world, and Naofumi immediately perked up and stopped the chat he was having with Toriko as he turned his full attention to his beloved leader
"Y-yeah, yes miss Makima?" Naofumi said with a slight stutter as his heart raced any time he interacted with her, it was like she had his heart wrapped around her finger and that thought somehow enticed him
"I think we should get some additional companions to accompany us in the future, more allies could prove extremely valuable in the near future," Makima laid out her request with solid points, as more people to help fight against the armies of the wave would be needed since the other three heroes and the Royal knight guard had barely helped in the recent wave, as she, Naofumi, and Toriko both defended the village of Ryute and fought off the wave boss that was attracted to Toriko as it wanted to challenge him due to his intimidation having the opposite effect, as instead of becoming extremely terrified by his oppression that Toriko exeuded, the wave boss felt challenged by it, that fight was almost the end of Naofumi's life if it hadn't been for a quick 'BANG' from Makima, so more help was a must at the moment
"S-sure! What do you have in mind?" Naofumi asked as he was sure Makima would know what was best for the team, he had trusted many decisions on her and she always made the ones that benefitted them most
"I was thinking something we could use to move from place to place, a Filolial should be fine to move a carriage with equipment and supplies, perhaps also a beast to help in batlle... a dog or canine if possible," Makima laid out her two picks, a Filolial was good for travel but were also pretty versatile, as they could be trained to swin, climb, do extremely simple tasks, and most importantly fight! Makima understood the latent potential in those creature. The dog suggestion was... in all honesty, she just wanted a actual dog, she was certainly having tons of fun "playing" with the "dogs" around her, but she was craving for the real thing to take out for walkies and pamper to as much as her cold and dark heart could allow
"Oh! Like a battle wolf? That would add some punch into this group!" Toriko said, somehow completely understandable even with a mouthful of food in his cheeks that seemed like that of a squirrel with a ton of nuts in them
"Alright then, tomorrow after we receive payment, we got adopt a monster... do any of you know were to buy one?" Naofumi asked as he didn't have the slightest clue, he was new to this world and didn't even know how to read the signs, he thought about getting lessons with Makima but he wouldn't be able to concentrate with her teaching him
"I know a place with all sort of beasts up to sale in this town, however, you shouldn't come Toriko, I know your opinion of places that do not treat their living products as respectefully as they should," Makima said as she looked at the blue haired chef with her cold smile, Toriko was confused at first but soon remember that the only place in the city they were in the moment that selled monsters was that disgusting tent that he wished was burned to the ground for how it treated the many living creatures inside it
"Fine, I stay and work on the meal plans for the new group, a Filolial and a dog, right? I remember that Filolians could eat everything except for one thing...huh..." Toriko placed a hand to his chin as he tried to remember the one ingredient in the entire world that Filolians could absolutely not eat no matter what
"For now let's enjoy the party, a toast?" Makima suggested as she lifted her wine cup with Naofumi and Toriko following to her example until the cups were close to one another
"Y-yeah! For our partneship and victory against the wave of today!" Naofumi said as he and the other two bashed their cups and commemorated, with Toriko leaving the table to get more food, Makima was appreciating her wine while Naofumi stared at her with dreamy eyes