Chapter 3

“Alright, so everything's all set! I wish you luck on all your endeavors! Here's the keys to the house, your IDs, and your party license.” The guard Cassidy handed me a key, a scroll, and some modern looking ID cards. What a weird contrast.

After being detained as soon as we set foot in town, it was nice to finally see the place. It really was straight out of a fantasy story. Old timey houses and roads, people walking around with swords and wizard hats. We managed to bypass the dying part of getting Isekai’d.

I didn’t expect things to go this easily, especially after how things started. I was expecting to at least struggle for a bit, to have to rent rooms at an old run-down lodge, to have to join a dingy low-level party to prove our skill. Go through mission after mission before we finally receive the recognition we deserve. But nope, after our interview, we are set from the start. Is this what it feels like to have the plot favor you?

“Good luck, we our looking forward to what you accomplish with that strength of your’s!” Her full attention was on Roku.

“......Good luck to you too, I guess. Try not to fail three missions, don’t wanna have to deal with kicking you out.” Cassidy sent me off with some slightly fewer encouraging words.

“This place really is ancient.” Roku remarked.

We stood amidst rows of old, wooden, medieval style houses. Cobblestone roads weaved through town and there wasn’t a car in sight. Adventurers could be seen walking around town and children played in the river that calmly flowed through the middle of town. It truly was the spitting image of a fantasy world, as if it was completely separate from the world we’d known until now.

“This place is perfect, no one knows us, no one knows the lives we’ve lived until now. We can live how we’d like to live, be who we want to be. We can restart from zero. Kiss that side character life goodbye my friend!” This is everything I wanted, a place to restart, to leave the useless life I’ve lived until now behind and start the first chapter of my life. To begin life anew in another world.

“Eh? I don’t care about all that restarting stuff; I just want to fight new people and take on some new challenges. Diran was taking all the good ones back home!” Roku said excitedly.

“Yeah, and here no one knows your villainous past.” I added. Roku used to be a bad guy who ended up getting the Vegeta treatment. I hope he’d have some remorse, starting things over here gives him the perfect chance to set those wrongs right. I guess he’s too dense to think about that.

Roku ignored my remarks and followed the road to where they said our house would be located. It was on the far side of town, located near a guild building. It’ll be nice to have the place of business close to our house. But the best part is that we get a free house! Going from living in my dingy apartment to a house big enough for a whole adventuring party is a major improvement. The only downside is I had to leave all my stuff behind. I’ll go back for it someday.

“Here it is, house B23...”

We stood in front of a big, wooden log cabin. It had five bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a giant living room. The river flowed right by the left side, giving us ample room away from the neighbors. A house like this would cost a small fortune back home. Hell, it probably costs that here! Yet here we are, unlocking the door to our very own mansion. All thanks to starting our own party. You’d think there would be a catch, or everyone would do this.

“Pinch me, I must be dreaming.” I said as my jaw hit the floor.

“I said pinch me not punch me!!” I yelled in response to Roku planting a firm one right in my shoulder, it seems he is just as surprised as me.

There was no way this was real; no way things could turn around this fast. I was expecting us to have to work our way up, to start at the beginning, the lowest part of the totem pole, and build our empire on our blood sweat and tears. It would be hard, but better than what we had before. But this, to start at THIS level? It truly is unthinkable.

We really are speed running this thing. No struggle arc, no long tedious mission where we inevitably lose because we’ve yet to learn our powers, and no having to live in a barn until we finally get enough money to live comfortably. We skipped all of that, and skyrocketed right into the middle of our story. What kind of economy does this fantasy land have to just be giving this place away!?

“Wow, just wow! Things are looking up Roku! Our own story is finally beginning! This time we’ll be in the spotlight!” I triumphantly shouted. Diran isn’t here to steal the glory anymore.

“You can thank me later for my amazing negotiating skills, I played it perfectly, getting us exactly where I wanted to be!” I smiled a triumphant grin.

“You know, you could've just said what we wanted from the start, you didn’t have to parade around it so much.” Roku didn’t seem to appreciate what I’d done.

“Eh, either way, we’ve got what we want, things are looking up from here!”

All we had to do is get some people to join our party, complete a few quests to show off our skills, and we’ll be at the top. This is it; this is everything I’ve wanted and worked towards, it's finally my time as the protagonist.

***

“It's been three hours…. And no one has shown up.” I exhaustedly remarked as I slammed my head on the table.

We were stationed outside of the guild building for tryouts for our party, it would have been naive to expect a massive turnout, but no one!? In three hours?

“Screw this. Let's go home, I’m tired” Roku was laying on the bench to my left with his hat over his eyes. He wanted to give up after fifteen minutes, but I wouldn’t let him. And since I’m the one holding the keys to the house, he resigned to pouting on the bench.

“No one's going to come, we don’t even need anyone else. We’re fine enough on our own, isn’t that why we came here? Everyone here's probably weak anyways.” Roku whined.

This must be why people aren’t running in droves to open their own teams. The deal seems sweet on paper, you get a really nice house after all, but there must not be many people looking to join beginning teams. I was a fool to not look at the state of the economy. For all I know, a few high-level parties could have an Oligopoly on the adventuring trade. It doesn’t matter though, we already committed, I am not going to admit failure that quickly.

“You know we need more people. It’s legally required for a party to at least have 5 members; they’ll take the house back if we can’t get three more people.” For an almost medieval town, they sure do have a pretty strong legal system, I doubt we could find a way around that.

“Plus, you and I both have been saying for years that we need a healer, and I’ll be damned if we go without one.” I added.

Roku and I were too caught up in our petty arguments to notice the stranger approaching.

“Excuse me, is this the auditions for the new adventurer's party?” A man's deep voice interrupted our squabble.

Before me stood a huge, massive, hulking, big, tall, really tall, massive, big, a few other adjectives to describe his height, dark skinned man. He was easily a whole head and a half taller than me. His arms couldn’t be called that. They were too big, too thick, and too heavy. Instead, they were like really big arms.

The man was draped in all white. White pants, white boots, and a white shirt. He looked as if he spent every waking moment in the gym honing his body to perfection. Off just appearance, this guy looked stronger than Roku.

Roku saw this and rose up from the bench, it seemed even he was intimidated.

“Can I help you?” Roku asked with a sour tone to his voice.

“I have already said my reason for being here, I’d rather not repeat myself. You should have lent me the courtesy of listening the first time.” The man's voice was exceptionally deep, and yet soft. I felt shivers go down my spine, fear coursed through me. This man wasn’t even an enemy, he wasn’t an opponent, but that was the kind of aura he gave off.

“I’ll ask again, can I help you?” Roku’s tone grew sourer as he repeated his question.

“If I must, I’ll ask again. Is this where I sign up for the adventuring party?” I almost felt the earthquake in response to his voice.

The tension between this stranger and Roku was rising. Nothing was done to warrant this. The guy had just walked up and asked a question. Yet the tension felt like a battle, no, a war was about to break out.

This pressure! It felt like being 10,000 feet below sea level. Just sitting here, just observing, I felt as if I would break!

Maybe this is just what happens when two overly built guys are in the same place. Like two gorillas vying for supremacy in the face of a mate, all it took was the others presence to spark the fires of conflict. The alarm bells sounded in my head like a menacing music track accompanying this stranger. If this guy is anywhere near Roku’s level and they face off, there won’t be a town remaining.

“It is, but I’m sorry; We already have someone in that role. You’re going to have to find somewhere else to make use of your talents...and muscles.” I tried to dispel the situation with logic. We already have Roku as the muscle man, a party needs to be balanced. Anyone can understand that.

“Oh? Is that so? Then it’s a good thing I’m a healer.”

“...”

“... A what?” I asked.

“I’m a healer, I heal people. You guys don’t already have a healer, do you?” He responded with a smile.

“...That's what I thought you said.”

This guy is a healer!? This giant, huge, really big, muscley guy is a healer? Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.

“So, um, what's your name, what can you do, why would you be useful to the team...” I was still too shocked at the situation to handle it properly, so I just read off the checklist.

“Like I just said, I am a healer. I can heal other people, and I can heal myself. A healer is central to any team, so I don’t think I need to explain why I would be useful, and my name is Ise.” The man explained, the softness in his deep voice was more present now that he wasn’t as intimidating.

“Say that again?”

“Like I just said, I am a healer, I can heal others-”

“No no, sorry, not the whole thing, say your name again.” I interrupted him.

“I am Ise.” He proudly stated his name once again.

“Huh. Got a last name?” I prodded.

“It's Kai. Ise Kai.” He answered my question instantly.

“Well, that’s certainly a name.” I mumbled to myself.

“Huh? Stop going on about useless crap, show us your abilities ‘Ise’” Roku grumpily said, seemingly mad that he’d gotten all riled up over a healer.

“Of course. But regretfully, I can’t as no one seems to be injured around here……” Ise’s polite expression turned to exasperation as he witnessed Roku break his own arm. That’s one way to solve a problem.

“Now you do.” Roku said unfazed by the bone sticking out of his arm.

“...I think I'm gonna be sick.” I stepped back as Ise went forward to heal Roku’s injuries.

As Ise began his healing process, Roku’s arm was bathed in a white, angelic light. I even thought I heard a harp play as the process began.

Roku really is an idiot, even the best healers usually have trouble realigning and repairing a broken bone without leaving some remaining damage, especially one where the bone was sticking out! If we wanted to see his healing skills, a simple cut would have been easier, not almost ripping your arm off.

Unless this guy is an amazing healer, there is going to be some lasting damage from that stunt.

“Done!” Ise stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow, even though there was none.

“What the...?” As I walked over to examine Roku’s injury, I noticed something, or more specifically, the lack of something.

Where there should have been a scar, or at least a faint remnant of a cut where the bone poked out, there was nothing. It was as if the injury had never happened.

“That should be as good as new, I hope you don’t have any lingering pain. You shouldn’t do things like that, even for a demonstration, it is never good to hurt yourself.” Any lingering intimidation in his deep voice was now gone. It almost seemed soothing, like a mother singing a lullaby. Or a nurse comforting a patient. That analogy is probably more fitting.

“You’re in! You’re on the team! You’re starting varsity!” I hopped up in triumph.

The three hours of waiting was totally worth it, to have such a powerful healer as our first member to try out, our luck couldn’t be better, things really are looking up!

“Thank you, it’s an honor.” Ise bowed in gratitude at being offered the position.

“The pleasure is all ours!” I happily shook his hand, while Roku offered a reluctant sigh.

“Now we just need two more members, and our new life can finally start!” I feel like I’ve said that a lot lately.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

***

The day had started rough. We waited three hours, and only one person had shown up. Three hours, for one person. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t close to an even trade. Sure, he is a very skilled healer, but we need five people, not three. At this point, we’d take what we could get.

“Where did all these people come from?” Roku asked as he peered out the window.

What we didn’t expect, however, was for our very bare and unsuccessful search to immediately turn around.

“I have no idea, but there's just one problem…” I responded as I searched the crowd.

After Ise joined us, we decided to call it a day and head back to our new home. We thought we’d look for more applicants tomorrow, instead of waiting another three hours per person. But what we didn’t expect was for the applicants to find us today.

Outside of our house was a massive crowd of people wanting to join our party. There were so many it would take days to screen each one. This was a major turn of events. Just hours ago, we had no one, but now we have hundreds? As soon as Ise joined our luck did a complete 180.

“What’s the problem, Lee?” Ise asked as he joined Roku and I at the window.

“Well, I guess it’s not really a problem. It's just… They’re all women....”

Outside our house, were hundreds of women, all lining up trying to join our party...... Hundreds of girls who want to join us.... This might be the greatest day of my life.

This really is an Isekai, and like all Isekai, there is always an exuberant number of women rushing to be in the protagonist's party. I always thought that was a very stupid trope, but now that I am the target of that cliché, it’s not half bad. After all, this is real life. They’re not going to be the flat one-dimensional fan service; they are real people.

“How in the hell are we supposed to narrow it down to two people? Let's just pick two and get on with it.” Roku dejectedly said.

Roku just wanted to eat then go to sleep, so when he saw the droves of people lining up outside, he was less than pleased. Isn’t happy when we have no one, and isn’t happy when people finally show up. He must not like to be happy.

“It would be rude not to let them all try. It’s the least we can do for making them wait.” Ise said in response to Roku’s complaint.

“We can’t just pick two, we’d have to narrow it down a bit.” But how to do that…

For our party, we already have me, a swordsman, Roku, a hand-to hand fighter, me the strategist, Ise as our healer, and me as the leader. So, we need people to make up for what those roles lack. We need a long-range fighter, someone to protect our healer, or a wildcard of some sort. The quality didn’t matter as much as the role did. We aren’t going to be one of those teams that is just thrown together. We need to be strong as a unit. No repeats of the one man show that was Diran’s team.

“Tell them that we don’t need a healer, brawler, or anyone who uses swords, or strategists...I guess we can screen the rest.” I told Ise.

It may be awesome, and intimidating, to see this many people lining up at my doorstep, but going through all of them will be exhausting. I would also need to be meticulous in the screening process, I’ve got to make sure to avoid any small red flags, anything that can lead to any undesirable tropes or clichés. Things may be looking good right now, but the plot has screwed me over many times before, and I won’t let it happen again. There’s not gonna be a main character to usurp our roles this time.

“Send em in!” Roku, Ise, and I were sitting at a table in the center of our living room. Each of us had a board with a red x and a green circle on it. The applicants will come in, do their audition, and we'll judge them accordingly. With a system like this, things should fly by relatively smoothly.

With this many applicants, it should be easy to find at least two good additions to our group. We aren’t limited to two, so there is no need to turn any good ones away. With this many people to choose from, I’ll make our team unstoppable.

The first girl walked in. She strolled right into the center of the room and turned to face us. From the way she carried herself, she was prim and proper, but the smirk on her face said she was cocky and full of herself. Most people would be nervous about being the first in line, but she seemed to revel in it.

“Haha, Greetings my future teammates! It may just seem like luck that I am the first you are seeing today. It may seem like luck that I am standing in front of you right now, and indeed it could be! But it is not! For it is fate that you are gazing into my eyes tonight! And it is fate that I gaze back into yours!” The woman had yet to blink since she walked in, instead, her eyes have been firmly locked on Ise.

“There is no need for you to take other applicants! For I alone am perfect, and wield the strongest power of all! I can control time! Manipulate the past to suit our every need! We will never lose, when I can simply go back and-”

“Let me stop you right there, we’ll pass” I interrupted her and held up the board with the red x.

“W-What!? Whyyy?” Her attitude instantly switched as she began whining.

“Sorry, we just aren’t looking for anyone with your skillset. Time travel is just too complicated, I don’t want to have to deal with it.” And the writer probably wouldn’t want to write it. Time travel is always a red flag. It always leads to everyone besides the traveller themselves dying painful, excruciating deaths multiple times. It's convoluted, complicated, and painful. The one to have it is always the main character; As much as I love Re:ZeRo, I don’t want to have to deal with a Subaru.

“B-But, That's not fair!” She whined once more and stomped her foot in protest.

“I’ll get it.” Roku said as he set down the board with the red x he was holding.

“W-What are you doing!?” The girl panickily said as Roku had walked over, grabbed her, and hoisted her above his head.

“I’m just speeding up the process.” Roku responded as he walked to the door and threw her out.

“Next!” Roku yelled to the crowd as the girl hit the floor.

“They’d have to be crazy to come in after that.” I mumbled to Ise.

And crazy they were.

“I have vanquished countless beasts, with nothing but these two axes!” One shouted as they burst through the door.

“Next!” We three instantly responded.

“I’m the perfect spy, no one can resist my hauntingly beautiful looks, and sexy, womanly charm~” The next one said while putting her hand on Ise’s part of the table.

“What good is a spy when we’re fighting monsters!” I bopped her on the head with the red X while Roku sent the next one in.

“Oh no, nope, nope, nope!” I said as the next applicant walked through the door.

“Already?” The girl looked at the ground in sadness.

“What’s the deal, Lee? She hasn’t even tried yet!” Ise said, angry at my immediate rejection.

“Nope, we are not letting a child join our party! No matter how skilled they may be! ”

Before us, standing at an astute 4’8”, was a child. That right there is a red flag, heck, it's a death flag! There is no way in hell I am going to be grouped together with a child. This is not going to be one of those shows.

Whatever kind of story this is, it isn’t one for kids. I mean, I use swords for crying out loud! There’s got to be some dismemberment along the way. Roku’s probably going to punch someone through a building at some point, and Ise is going to be reattaching severed limbs or something. The point is, this is no place for a child.

“But I am almost 15! I’m basically an adult!” The child protested my claims.

“Oh, but the court doesn’t deal in ‘basically-s’ when it comes to child endangerment, so out the door you go!” I gave Roku the signal which meant “Get this person out the door and send the next one in, now!”, and Roku responded accordingly.

But instead of shooing them out the door like I expected, Roku picked her up over his head, and threw her out the door just like he did to the first person.

“Kyaaaa!” The child screamed as she flew through the air.

“Dammit Roku! Why would you do that?” I facepalmed hard enough to transition to the last volume.

We’ve only been isekai’d for a day and have already had one of ‘those’ scene, I should’ve realized Roku would misinterpret the signal.

“Lee is right Roku, there's no need to show such aggression to these people. Especially a child!” Ise scolded Roku for his bruteness.

“You know Lee, I misjudged you, I thought you to be somewhat of an egotistical cynic, but after seeing you turn that young girl away so she would not have to experience the harrows that await us, I realized my impression to be wrong.” Ise said with an apologetic bow.

Oh poor, innocent, Ise. If only you knew.

***

“I know you already said no healers, but I can heal anything! Even a fish!”

“Next!” That one was rejected before they even got fully through the door.

“Ara~Ara~, I would’ve become an adventurer sooner in life if I’d known there were such cute young men here~” The woman said while biting her finger.

“Get out, you’re like 60!”

So far things have been going pretty bad, we’ve had one disaster after another. The screening process has been going on for more than an hour now. Roku and I have given just about everyone a red, while Ise has given almost everyone a green. But the end of the horde was still nowhere in sight.

I thought things would be easier with this many people, why are my predictions always so wrong?

“Next!” I yelled into the crowd of barely under a hundred women.

The next girl who walked through the door stood out. She didn’t barge through the door and begin shouting. She didn’t stutter out of shyness. And she didn’t have an air of cockiness around her. She seemed... normal.

“Thank you for having me, my name is Ivory.” She started with a simple greeting.

She was an average sized girl with average sized proportions. She had long hair that was as black as hair comes. Her hair was tied back in a bun and ponytail. She had emerald green eyes and wore a soft smile on her face. Like I said earlier, everything about her just seemed normal.

No eccentric personality, no tropes, no cliches, and no flags. Everything seems good so far. With so many applicants being turned away off first impressions alone, this was a welcome change.

“I am Ise Kai, and these are my colleagues, Roku, and Lee. Pleasure to meet you, Ivory.” Ise’s deep and yet soft voice returned her greeting.

“So, what can you do Ivory?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, I guess that is a pretty important detail…I am an Archer.” She completed her sentence with a forced smile.

“Oh, neat. Well, can you show us what you can do?” I responded.

An archer would be quite useful. Going from someone who uses a .50 caliber rifle to someone using a bow and arrow will be quite the downgrade on the other hand. Who knows, maybe her ‘magic’ will put her on Mack’s level.

She blinked a few times; it seems our reaction wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Oh, um, I’ll get my bow!” She quickly turned to the bag she set behind her.

She pulled out an old-fashioned wooden bow. By this place's standards, it was very nice. It had signs of use, but was in fairly good shape. It was long, and brown, as most wooden bows tend to be, but had a silver handle, and golden tips. So far, the fantasy aesthetic has been hit or miss. It hit with the town, missed with the legal system. Looks like it is hitting with the people though.

Inside the bag was also a modern-looking metal box, which she didn't even acknowledge.

“Cool bow.” Roku said with a yawn. He had stopped taking this seriously a while ago, and was now leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table.

“Roku, you should show our guest some respect, they put the time in to be here, so we should at least give them a proper tryout.” Ise reprimanded his behavior.

“Okay, fine then.” Roku angrily got up and walked to the kitchen.

So far Ise and I have been getting along fine, but Roku on the other hand… Him and Ise are like oil and water, like the sky and the sea, like fire and... water. The point is they don’t mix.

“So then archer girl,” Roku walked back into the room with an apple, sat down in his chair, and took a giant bite.

“Hit this.” He finished the sentence by tossing the apple directly behind him, at an angle that would be impossible to hit.

Ivory stood there with an expression that showed she didn’t fully understand what was happening, and frankly, I don’t blame her.

“Oh no, would you look at that, you missed. Time to send in the next loser!” Roku violently sat back in his chair. I forget how much of a child he can be sometimes. He’s like a completely different character at home compared to when he’s in action.

“Actually, I didn’t miss.” Ivory raised her voice in response to Roku trying to kick her out before she had her chance.

“Oh yeah? But you didn’t hit it either. That's a miss in my rook!” Roku spat back. Every sentence he says slowly chips away at his macho, strong, intimidating persona. He didn’t even say the saying right.

“Actually, I did hit it!” Ivory responded with a smile on her face.

“...Huh?” Roku seemed confused by her confident words.

“Yeah, go take a look.” Roku walked over and picked up the apple, which did not have an arrow in it.

“Stop wasting my time, get ou-”

“Wait wait wait wait wait!” Ivory interrupted him before he got too mad.

“Just bring it closer, I’ll show you!” She reassured him. Roku rolled his eyes as he marched toward her with the arrow-less apple in hand.

“Okay, where is it?” Roku asked as he held the apple out.

“It's right there!” She pointed at the apple.

“Huh? Where? I don’t see it.” Roku looked closer at the apple, rotating it to try and find the arrow. Did she shoot invisible arrows or something?

“It's right there! Right in front of you, can you seriously not see it?” Ivory began to snicker at Roku’s inability to find the seemingly non-existent arrow.

“If you’re so good at seeing the arrow, why don’t you take the apple!” Roku yelled as he thrusted the apple towards her.

“It's right here. See?” Ivory said, as she stabbed an arrow straight through the apple.

“.... wait.”

Ise and I burst into laughter, much to Roku’s dismay.

“Looks like she passed your test with flying colors, eh Roku?” I continued to laugh.

“W-Wait, it doesn't count! That’s cheating!” Roku’s face grew red as our laughter continued.

Ivory stood there with a triumphant look on her face. Compared to the blunders we’d seen so far, she stood out in a great way. We hadn’t really seen her powers, but we had seen something good. Her tryout was great because it demonstrated that she was quick thinking, not easily intimidated, and smart. But mostly because it made me laugh.

“Welcome to the team Ivory!” Ise said as he held his hand out.

“Wait, you can’t decide that!” Roku’s protests fell on deaf ears.

“Thank you for having me!” she gladly accepted the hand that Ise held out.

***

“Alright, go ahead and send the next one in!” Ivory had joined us at the table. We didn’t have any spare red or green signs to give her, but as part of the team now she was taking part in the decision-making process.

It wouldn’t really matter, after all this time screening applicants, we’ve only found one normal one. If we ever do find another suitable member, we’d all probably agree on them.

“I said send them in Roku!” I cheerfully repeated myself.

Roku reluctantly got up and slowly walked to the door while grumbling angrily. It couldn’t really be called a walk so much as a slow, sad, grumpy trot. He lightly kicked a chair out of his way and pushed the coat rack by the door for no good reason. He wasn’t taking the humiliation very well.

“Next!” He grumbled as he repeated the same trot back to his seat.

The next person to walk in was, believe it or not, yet another girl.

This girl was about the same height as Ivory, except a little bit shorter. She had hair so blonde it was white that was cut to shoulder length and adorned with a black witch’s hat. She wore a normal black top save for the cape, had black shorts, and her jet-black socks that went to mid-thigh contrasted with her pale skin. And since I know y’all want to know, she had pretty good proportions on the front and back. Y'all are insatiable.

She walked through the door, stopped, looked around the room, took a few steps before hesitating, and finally after a deep breath, she introduced herself.

“Hello everyone, my name is Ace.” she bowed and remained with her head down for a good seven seconds.

“Good to meet you, Ace, what can we do for you?” Ise asked.

“Umm...I guess a glass of water would be nice...maybe.” She seemed to misunderstand his words.

“We’ll get you that water, but first, can you tell us what you can do?” I asked.

“Oh, uh yeah, just let me...oh, um, wait. I um, I didn’t know that, um, I didn’t know this was today, so I’m not really prepared!” She quietly, nervously stuttered her way through that sentence. Is she another one of the ‘always-nervous-shy-girl’ tropes?

“Can you repeat that please Ace?” Ise politely asked her.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m really sorry...I didn’t know there was any recruiting today, so I didn’t come prepared…. I just saw the line on my way home! I’m really sorry, I, I’m not normally this nervous, I just don’t wanna-.” She seemed like she was about to either throw up, pass out, cry, or do some combination of the three.

As someone who’s struggled with communication before, being asked to repeat yourself is both the biggest shame and embarrassment. Seems Ise isn’t the best at reading the room.

“B-But I can, I can still tell you what I can do! I’m a very powerful mage and I can, um, uh...I can do-” She nervously raised her voice hoping she hadn’t wasted her chance.

“It’s fine, we don’t need to hear it, you’re in.” I cut her off as she began another nervous explanation.

“......H-Huh?” She seemed shocked at the sudden acceptance.

“I said you’re in. Truth is, it's been a long day, and you seem normal enough, you’re in. Any objections?” I asked the rest of the group.

Ise was already holding up the green sign, as he had for everyone else, and Roku grumbled something before shrugging.

“How about you Ivory?” I asked the last member.

“Oh me? She seems nice enough.” Ivory responded, apparently shocked to be included in the discussion.

“Then it’s settled, you’re in Ace!” I gave her a thumbs up and a smile.

“Oh…. Thank you.” She once again looked like she was about to throw up, cry, and pass out. But this time in that order.

Just like that, our party is made. The team has been assembled, and we are ready to take on the world. Now we just need a good night's sleep, and we can take on our first quest in the morning! My isekai adventure can finally begin!