“You… you have interesting eyes.”

The elf girl suddenly stopped in front of me and then declared that. I hoped that she would say nonsense like she did with the others so that I could dismiss her in the same way, but she didn’t do that. Even when I stayed silent, she kept staring at me in the eyes. She was way too close too. The kind of closeness that would make teenage boys wonder if she liked them. I knew better than to fall for that kind of trap, nor was I a teenager boy. I had the mental age of a middle aged man. Not like I was proud of it.

“... If you would mind moving away, I am waiting for someone.”

“Oh, of course! You look like an adventurer. Are you waiting for your party? If your party isn’t full, I would say that it is in your best interest to let me join.”

I wanted to say that I had a full party, but I wasn’t certain if she would confirm that sooner than later. I didn’t want to become famous for being a liar… knowing my luck, those guys should be around the corner. Just when I thought about that, those three showed up in the distance. Just my luck…

“Those guys, huh? They seem a bit too green while you look a bit more experienced. You definitely need my assistance.”

There were a lot of people between us, but she was still able to pinpoint those three one-hundred meters away. I wanted to sigh… it felt like I was born destined to meet a lot of troublesome kids along the way on my journey.

“... A friend of yours, Clive?”

Jalal asked, while showing a serious expression. Elves seen beyond the dungeon were quite hard to see… while both the Aeloria Dominion and the Bastion Empire weren’t at war, they didn’t have an amicable relationship either. Elves were impossibly smug in this world, too.

“No, she is just looking for a party. Anyway, let’s go. Or we will be late.”

Those three nodded and then we proceeded to head to the dungeon and ignore the elf… she still followed us, though. I felt like sighing so much. I needed to focus on the dungeon exploration, but now there was this nuisance keeping the mood of the group in an annoying situation.

“So, how many times have you guys entered the dungeon already? By the way, my name is Clarice. What are yours?”

“... Jalal.”

“... Gao.”

“......... Rebecca.”

“That was a long pause, Rebecca. Are you bothered because if I were to join your party, it would make me get in the way of your reverse harem? As if, right? Hahaha!”

Rebecca eyebrows began to twitch… that was impressive. I have never seen her showing much emotion to anything, but those words clearly ticked her off.

“What about you?”

“Clive.”

“Really? Huh…”

“Couldn’t you just tell by using identification?”

“Using that on people is impolite, you know. You shouldn’t bother people like that. We shouldn’t do things that might put people in difficult situations or get in their way.”

The irony was clearly lost on her… in any case, we tried to ignore most of her questions, but if anything, she had the mental strength to keep going despite that.

“... It is pretty unusual to see someone from the Aeloria Dominion in these parts and looking for a party at that. Shouldn’t you work with others on that side of the border to avoid problems?”

Rebecca tried to sound not so annoyed, but her choice of words was still pretty rough. Still, Clarice didn’t take offense at that.

“That would be pretty boring. This is a good chance for humans and Elves to do something together and learn more about each other. We live so close to each other, but we keep ignoring each other as well. There is some bad blood between our people, but let that be solved between only the direct parts involved.”

That was easier said than done… I could tell that the expansionist nature of humans rubbed a lot of nations in the wrong way for obvious reasons. Still, how Elves act even though they didn’t pick many fights made them have even more enemies.

“In any case, Miss Clarice. We are a temporary party that needs to avoid problems if we want to achieve our goals. I am terribly sorry for that, but we can’t let you join.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“No need to be a stranger. Just Clarice is fine. I guarantee you that I am pretty skilled and I am not a troublemaker at all.”

All of a sudden, Clarice grabbed her bow and then fired several arrows upward before she moved forward. Before long, the arrows began to fall and pierce the ground in a line right in front of her… collected them and cleaned the tips before storing them in her quiver.

“See?” Clarice asked. “I am skilled or what?”

That was indeed impressive. Clarice remained in her boastful stance with her legs spread apart and her hands on her waist and with her chin high. Everyone was shocked… Rebecca, and I soon began to think again, but the other two paid attention a bit longer. Clarice was beautiful, after all. Still, she drew even more attention since she was wearing short pants, and while her boots reached above her knees, a lot of skin was still being shown.

I could tell why the other two were mesmerized. Elves were truly ridiculously beautiful. Still, I was kind of the guy who wasn’t either a boobs, legs, ass, or abs type of the guy. I was all into that sexy brain.

Truth be told, the last thing I needed in my second life was to think about romance. Maybe it was because I got used to seeing people looking at me with utter disgust. In any case, while I was thinking along those lines, Rebecca was studying me with suspicion. She wasn’t surprised that the other two were showing their colors, but I was too composed for a guy of my age.

“You can say something if you want to.”

“... It is nothing. Anyway, do you think that we should let her join? We would definitely reach the first boss with her.”

“I am just a temporary member of your party, right? That is up to you all.”

Rebecca feared that the other two wouldn’t think logically about this, so she tried to ask my opinion. In the end, her fears were confirmed.

“It is fine, right? We need as much help as we can to defeat the boss. It is almost unfair that we don’t have a full party.”

“Right? We need someone like that in our group… that much skilled!”

As expected, working with kids wouldn’t do it. They didn’t have experience handling romance, so it was very easy for a troublesome situation like that to take place. I couldn’t even count how many problems would arise if the members of a party were to elope or fall in love with each other.

These potential issues could create tension within the group or even compromise their ability to work effectively together. Party members in love may prioritize each other’s safety above the mission or group goals, leading them to make risky decisions to protect their partner. Emotional investment could cause them to lose focus during combat or tense situations, where split-second decisions are crucial.

When decisions arise that put the couple’s goals in opposition to the broader goals of the party, their loyalty might be tested, resulting in disagreements or poor choices for the group. Lovers might have personal arguments that spill over into the group’s dynamic, creating a negative atmosphere.

If two people in the group become overly close, it may cause a divide within the party, with the couple isolating themselves from the rest. Should the couple be split up during an adventure, it could lead to one or both being overly concerned about their partner, causing them to act irrationally or less effectively. If the relationship ends badly, the emotional fallout could make it impossible for the two to continue working together, forcing the party to either disband or lose key members… and many, many other types of issues.

For someone like me, who was on the run and needed to obtain power, that was the same as looking for trouble. Also, I didn’t know if that was an act or not. Clarice didn’t seem older than fifteen, so it was hard to say. Still, it was clear that she was more trouble than she was worthy, even if she was just that oblivious. If she was acting… that made her much more scary.

“I don’t think that is fine. You are overly friendly, even if you are skilled. I am certain that will only get in the way.”

Clarice froze on the spot. It looked like no one had been that honest with her before. Still, if anything, she was stubborn.

“... Maybe I was trying too hard. It was the first time that I had interacted with humans, so I assumed that you all were a lot less serious than we were. Sorry… I will do better.”

The awkward silence lasted for a while, making Jalal and Gao look at Rebecca and wait for her final decision. It looked like despite being teenage boys, they still were willing to respect her shots. She looked at me once more, but I shrugged. That wasn’t my problem. I was already there, so I would continue with the exploration, but I might get alone the next time, no matter what.

“All right, fine… I won’t say anything for now, but if any of your thoughtless actions cause problems directly or indirectly, then we will take you to the entrance of the dungeon and force you to leave the dungeon.”

“Thank you, Rebecca! I knew that I could count on you! I heard that human girls truly help each other out in times of need, but I didn’t think that you would be this nice, too!”

I massaged my eyebrows… a person couldn’t be that oblivious… saying that while holding Rebecca’s hands and moving them up and down. I heard that Elves could live for hundreds of years, perhaps even more based on how pure their blood was and connected to their first ancestors, but maybe this one here was truly no older than fifteen.

Regardless, we were almost in the dungeon, and we had a job to do. I had actually, so I stepped forward and stopped them from wasting any more time.

“Did you guys buy your stuff?”

Everyone aside from Clarice realized what I was talking about and soon they pointed to their gear. They bought boots, gloves, and some protectors for the joints of their bodies and some knives, all of them of uncommon rank. Buying new main weapons now seemed like a waste, but buying secondary weapons was always an investment, so it was fine. In any case, I started working on enchanting their boots to make them endure the heat with more ease. I also used mana cores to improve the quality of the enchantments and to decrease the cost of mana.

“Heh… are you an enchanter, Clive?”

“Possibly. This should be fine for now, right? Since the first few floors will be easy for us… even more so with the unexpected help of Miss Clarice.”

“I told you to drop the Miss. Still, it has a nice ring to it, like you respect me a lot.”

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Still, saying that out loud wouldn’t help in any way. I knew that eventually I would meet oddballs in this world, but I hoped that it would take a while longer.