Early the next morning, Hachiman contacted Asuna and visited her at the inn.

The guidebook is complete.

"Yeah. I'm planning on going north tomorrow. Want to come with me?"

"Okay, I get it."

"Also, please excuse me, but could you give me some milk?"

"Oh, yeah, just wait a minute."

Asuna went to get the milk, she heard Hachiman muttering behind her.

"With this, I finally... have... soul... ku..."

Asuna handed Hachiman the milk, wondering what soul was.

"Yes, thanks. Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah, let's check out the church first, then explore the town."

"Be careful."

"Yeah, you too, Hachiman."

Watching Hachiman leave, Asuna felt that he seemed in a good mood.

(Maybe something good happened.)

Feeling somewhat happy about this, Asuna headed towards the church.

Looking in through the window, she saw elderly people and children who looked to be a little younger than Asuna.

And there were a few calm-looking adults there who seemed to be doing just fine.

(Great. It seems to be working so far.)

Asuna heard voices coming from the entrance of the church and turned her head in that direction.

There was a very tall, well-built young black man there.

The young man appears to be talking to someone inside the entrance.

"Egil-san, I'm always sorry."

"No no, this is the only thing I can be of help to you..."

(That man is called Egil. He's big. From what I've heard, he must be a kind person.)

Asuna took Agil's name to heart, thinking that he was kind-hearted and strong.

Then I wandered around looking at various stores, wherever my feet took me.

I look around for some casual clothes and buy some food at a street stall.

(Of the necessities of life - food, clothing and shelter - food is the only thing that is hard to describe...

If I improve my cooking skills, I wonder if I can make more delicious food?

Asuna decided to take up cooking skills and returned to the inn.

(I bought a lot of clothes and feel refreshed.)

Asuna was able to enjoy a peaceful day for the first time in a while, and was determined to do her best again tomorrow.

I went to sleep early that day.

Meanwhile, Hachiman has been trying things all day...

"It's finally done..."

After completing the drink he had been longing for, he was intoxicated by the taste after a long time.

The next day, the two of them headed north as planned.

Leaving the guidebook in several villages along the way, the two arrived at the valley town of Tolbana.

"This place is pretty spacious, so let's split up."

"Yeah, then I guess I'll go that way."

"I'm going over there. When we're done... let's meet at the fountain over there."

"Yeah! See you later!"

Asuna smoothly handed out the guidebooks.

And just as I finished distributing the guidebooks to the last tool shop owner, the player suddenly called out to me.

"Um, what is that?"

"Oh, yes, it's a guidebook with all sorts of information. Please feel free to take one if you like."

The player was surprised when he saw Asuna's smiling face through her hood.

"girl……"

The player also opened the front of his hood slightly and happily introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lisbeth. If you like, you can call me Liz!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Asuna. Nice to meet you Liz!"

"Thank goodness! I was feeling a bit lonely because there were no girls around."

"Yeah, me too, me too!"

The two seemed to hit it off immediately and had a lively girl talk for the first time in a while.

The content was all about the game,

However, there was the question of whether it could really be called girl talk.

When I woke up, it seemed like quite a bit of time had passed.

Asuna notices Hachiman walking towards her from a distance.

"Wait a moment, Liz," she said, running over to Hachiman.

"Sorry Hachiman, I kept you waiting."

"Yeah, I thought something had happened so I came to check on you."

Asuna explained how she met Lisbeth and took Hachiman to see her.

"Ah, it's Hachiman. Nice to meet you, Lisbeth."

"Oh, Liz is fine, nice to meet you, Hachiman!"

"Okay, Liz."

Lisbeth somehow thought Hachiman was suspicious.

I suddenly asked the two of them a question.

"So, are you two dating?"

"Stop teasing me, Liz."

Glancing at the confused Asuna, Hachiman began his usual explanation.

"Oh, well, we're just friends.

In the first place, it would be bad for Asuna if she thought someone like me was her boyfriend."

"Hachiman-kun"

Feeling anger from Asuna, Hachiman wonders if she's mistaken for someone like him.

As always, I thought that was only natural, so I decided to apologize sincerely.

"Well, I'm sorry Asuna, that must have been unpleasant."

"Hachiman, you still don't understand. I'm angry because of your misunderstanding."

Asuna continued speaking.

"Hachiman, it's true that we're not dating, but

I don't like the idea of Hachiman saying bad things about himself to correct that.

At the very least, I consider Hachiman to be a dear friend.

So, let's stop doing that now, okay?"

"That's right, Asuna, it was my fault.

So let me correct that. Asuna and I are friends, Liz."

Seeing this, Lisbeth realized she had been mistaken and laughed happily.

"Okay, we're friends! Asuna, I'm sorry for teasing you. So, what are you two going to do now?"

"The plan is to explore and hunt around here?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Um, well then, if it's not a bother, can I come with you?

I've gone hunting with parties a few times, but there were a lot of strange men there..."

"Ah, it's true that Liz doesn't seem to have much luck."

"Hachiman is terrible!"

"Hachiman, sit up straight."

Asuna hurriedly stops Hachiman from actually sitting upright.

Lisbeth burst out laughing when she saw this.

For Lisbeth, it was the first time she had laughed so genuinely in a long time.

"So, what do you think?"

"I don't have any problems. How about Asuna?"

"I have no problem. Nice to meet you, Liz."

Thus, the three of us decided to act that day.

"Liz, do you know the switches and POT rotations? Do you have enough recovery items?"

"Yeah, I learned it before so it's fine. There's no problem with the items either."

"Well then, let's go. First of all, what is Liz's weapon?"

"Right now I think it's Mace. It just feels right."

"That sounds like a good fit. Maybe I'm suited to blacksmithing or something."

It was the first time Lisbeth had ever been told something like that, so she was taken by surprise.

Up until now, people have given me advice here and there, but it was mostly about combat.

It was the first time I had received advice from such a different perspective.

Until now, Lisbeth had thought that all she had to do was fight.

For the first time, I had the opportunity to look at things other than combat.

"Blacksmithing, huh... I think I'll give it a try."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. It's true that things are difficult now that we've reached this point, but

To clear the game, you don't just need people who can fight.

People who gather information. People who make weapons and armor. People who support daily life with sewing and cooking.

Everyone is important and indispensable to the strategy."

"That's right! I'll try my best!"

「Yeah, that's the spirit! Then let's go worm hunting, which will also drop ingots.

Ah, are you two okay with a slightly scary looking earthworm?"

"Hahahaha, Hachiman is so scary. I'm fine with it. What about Asuna?"

"I'm fine too."

"Well, it's kind of like whack-a-mole, so let's just take it easy. Here it is."

After that, the three of them completed quests in the area and leveled up using worms.

All of the dropped ingots went to Lisbeth.

From Hachiman and Asuna's perspective, it was meant to be a celebration for their start as blacksmiths.

Lisbeth was hesitant at first, but was happy about their feelings and ended up accepting it all.

Although she is still at an amateur level, Lisbeth has thus taken her first step.

As the sun was setting, the three decided to return to Tolbana and find lodging.

Hachiman is alone. Asuna and Lisbeth end up sharing a room.

"Ah, it's been a while since I had fun! I want to praise myself for calling out to Asuna there!"

"Liz looked like she was having fun, so I had fun too!"

Perhaps craving some girl-on-girl company, the two talked about a variety of topics.

While concealing her personal information, Asuna's first encounter with Hachiman...

She told me the story of how she was mistaken for a man and taken to an inn, and how they became friends.

Lisbeth laughed out loud, saying it was like a TV drama.

And when the conversation turned to the topic of baths, Lisbeth immediately jumped on the topic.

"I want to take a bath too!"

"Yeah, come over anytime, Liz."

Asuna told the story, thinking that it had turned out just as Hachiman had told her before.

And when the conversation came to a close, Lisbeth spoke to Asuna with a serious look on her face.

"I'm sorry Asuna. When I first saw Hachiman from afar,

For a moment I wondered if Asuna was being deceived by some strange man.

But after talking to them, working together, and now hearing their story,

I really think my eyes were clouded. I'm sorry."

Asuna was dumbfounded, then burst out laughing.

"Hachiman is a kind and good guy."

"Yeah, he's a bit twisted, but he's a dear friend of mine!"

Lisbeth saw Asuna smiling happily,

I was so happy to meet these two today.