After having encouraged a collaboration with the D-rank Cyne with all her might, the clerk girl was now urging Iris to choose some other party.

"... That came out of the blue. Why bring this up now?"

"Just to clarify, I have great respect for Cyne. He's a seasoned adventurer and also a dear friend. My concern is that you're a novice, and working with him may present unpredictable risks."

"Why...? He was so overcautious that I cannot even tell you how many times he suggested going back to the guild promptly."

"The risks I'm talking about don't necessarily lie in his actions per se... Do you recall when I mentioned he was somewhat kicked out from his former party as the others progressed to C-rank?"

"I do," Iris nodded.

"The common narrative is that their financial situation didn't allow them to skip the graduation exam and patiently wait for Cyne to collect the necessary stars. Supposedly, they'll reintegrate him as soon as he finally becomes a C-rank. Rumors however say that they used this opportunity to get rid of him."

"... Why? Even I can tell his swordsmanship is good."

"Well... How do I put it? Statistically speaking, the missions he's involved in tend to go... south? You know, like the fact that all of a sudden you two had to battle several adult ordots so close to a human village. Let's say that it's not something that is supposed to happen."

(What is she implying now...?)

"Are you trying to say that he is a bringer of misfortune or something?"

"... That's one way to put it. Though I prefer to think of him as a bad luck charm."

"It would feel wrong to ditch him over a mere superstition," Iris said hesitantly.

Aware of the exact thought pattern this socially-lacking girl was currently following, the clerk smiled at her and played her trump card.

"I already discussed your potential integration with a party mostly composed of girls, by the way."

"... If Cyne does bring bad luck, I suppose I am worried for my well-being. It might be best to partake in missions with that other party for the time being."

"You two are so quick to change your mind," the clerk sighed. "That party usually wakes up early, so they should be here soon. Breakfast is on the house, what would you like?"

"... Do you have any nuts?"

"Eh? We do, but that's more of an appetizer thing..."

"Do not mind it, that is exactly what I want," Iris insisted.

***

A while later, as the Guild's inn section began to fill up and Iris continued munching on her calcium-rich snack, she noticed a trio - two women and a man - engaged in a discussion at the reception desk.

(A majority of girls... Is that them? Crap, they do look like grown-ups. I'd look like an intern alongside them...)

When they started approaching her, she pulled herself up, ignoring the dull ache in her back. Fortunately, she managed to swallow what she had in her mouth in time just before the man started to talk to her.

"So you're the Iris that has been the talk of the Guild since yesterday. I imagined you a bit... bigger?" the man said with a smile.

"P-pleased to make your acquaintance! I'm Iris."

"Likewise. I'm George, and these two are Vivy and Kiara. The three of us form a D-rank party called the 'Mist Slicers'. If you want to join us for the rest of the week, we'll happily welcome you. If you show potential, we might even consider recruiting you for real!"

(The Mist Slicers? I can't say I'm a fan of their naming sense...)

"Thank you, I'll do my best."

"I'm a dagger-wielder and Kiara is a swordswoman, while Vivy is a water mage who can use a bow as well. What about you?"

"... I fight with magic. I'm a strengthening mage."

"Strengthening magic? I've never had the chance to see that in action before!" George said enthusiastically.

The trio of adventurers elaborated on the details of the mission they were planning to take, ensuring that Iris could handle it.

As soon as the leader left to confirm to the clerk that they would take Iris under their wing, however, the two women immediately dropped their smiles. The one with brown hair, Vivy, looked for a few seconds at the half-eaten nuts left on the table and decided to address the doubts she had about Iris' skills.

"Strengthening, huh? I doubt you could have overpowered an ordot, even with such a magic type. You're clearly stealing credit from that Cyne guy."

"E-eh? I'm not..."

"Then again, I can't picture that wimp taking down something like that either," Kiara retorted as she tied her bluish-black hair into a ponytail.

"Don't act like you're any better than him," Vivy spat.

"Ha? Don't give me that attitude. I don't think I've ever seen you kill anything with that bow of yours."

(Wha... What is happening here? The mood suddenly became deleterious...)

Not only did those two women trash-talked both Cyne and her, but they were also at each other's throats. Their rant about each other's flaws lasted for what felt like minutes to Iris. Just as she was considering taking a seat to finish her nuts, the brown-haired swordswoman glared at her.

"Anyway, if you're a strengthening mage, how about you carry our baggage?"

(Is she asking me to be a pack mule...?)

"I'd rather n-"

"I'm back, girls! Everything's ready, and I've gotten a shield for everyone."

"You're so thoughtful, George!" Kiara cooed.

"Indeed, we can tell you want to do everything to protect us."

"Well, it's standard procedure when fighting those monsters," George said, not realizing the sudden change of mood that had just occurred.

(... It's night and day. Why are they acting like this only when that guy is here? ... Ah. Am I interfering with a love triangle or something...? Is that what this is?)

Now that she looked at Kiara's and Vivy's expressions, they did look smitten with him. Chances were that they were competing against each other for his affection.

(Do they see me as a rival, then? I'm not interested though...)

This might have been based on conjectures, but it had the merit to explain why those women were antagonizing her for no real reason. It didn't feel good, but she was confident she could deal with it if she saw this as some form of hazing. It was a strange flex, but her former self had experienced it a few times when she was a freshman in college or during some of her internships. As long as it wasn't straight-up bullying, Iris felt she could endure it.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

(Yeah. Causing bloodshed right here wouldn't be a good idea.)

"While you were away, George, our little Iris volunteered to carry our bags with her magic."

"Oh, did you, Iris? I like your determination!"

(... C-calm down, Alice. Think about your reputation!)

***

"We're entering the bholphans' territory. Take hold of your shields and stay vigilant. Iris, you can put down that bag."

"O-okay..."

(Gah... Forget my soreness, my bones were about to crack... This shows that emulation will always be inferior to the real thing. And I used up quite a bit of mana too...)

Iris readied her shield like the others, and they positioned themselves in a circular formation. From the sounds in the nearby bushes, monsters were already keeping watch.

(I want to see their magic in action...!)

Most of the bholphans had supposedly the same element, although the documentation wasn't always consistent in its description. Some people referred to wind magic or sound magic, while others preferred calling it pressure magic. At least, all agreed to say this species used a spell to keep enemies at bay and intimidate them.

(That has to be shock wave magic! I wonder if I could take measures against that.)

Her magic, which let her target the energy of all sorts of things, should work in some way against those waves. They did carry kinetic energy with them, after all.

Her slight uncertainty came from the fact that her element seemed partially incompatible with regular sound waves, which were relatively low-energy acoustic waves.

While she could strip away some energy from the perturbations caused by the waves, it always disrupted the compression-rarefaction cycles from the air molecules that ensured the transmission of the wave in the first place.

In other words, however much she used her magic on sound, it stopped propagating. Well, that was at least true for audible sounds. After all, in this world, it was difficult to confirm for higher frequencies. On the other end, she couldn't give more energy to a sound wave to make the sound higher pitched or increase its magnitude either. Just giving the molecules kinetic energy didn't produce the desired effect on those compression-rarefaction cycles.

(Still, even if I have no control over mechanical waves, I can stop them. In the end, shock waves are just acoustic waves on steroids!)

From the rustling bushes, a few bholphans emerged from all sides, their purple fur bristling as they snarled at the group. Iris felt a pang of conflict at the sight of those monsters, which were closely related to the humans of this world.

(E-eh? We're fighting dogs?!)

These creatures were reminiscent of a Doberman, albeit way larger and with more hair. Did they even deserve to be killed? To begin with, they were only snarling at them because they thought their territory was in danger.

Just as Iris was trying hard to resolve her internal conflict, she saw the bholphan in front of her look directly in her direction, raise its long muzzle, and open its mouth widely.

"Beware! It's coming!" Kiara shouted.

Iris tightened her grip on her shield and braced for impact, her eyes fixed on the creature before her. An instant later, multiple sonic booms were produced by all the monsters, indicating that whatever left their mouths had moved faster than the speed of sound.

(Ngh...! Or not? It does pack a punch, but just a shield is more than enough to block the wave. Then again, it attacked from quite a distance I guess...?)

Maybe this first wave of sonic booms had been a trigger, because the adventurers were now facing a sizable number of those dog-like monsters. Since the other three adventurers had been turning their back on the bholphan that attacked Iris and seemed fine despite that, it meant that they had not been affected by the attack.

(That overpressure did not expand in all directions...? A cone, maybe? Or a linear trajectory? Regardless, it's a good way to focus the energy on your target and thus save mana, as well as protect the caster from their own shock wave. Magic lets you do just about anything, huh?)

Iris looked at the Mist Slicers, who seemed particularly busy fighting those huge monsters. George and Kiara appeared to be fine at close range with their respective weapons, but Vivy the water mage had trouble. Without any water nearby, she was hitting a bholphan with her bow. Somehow, it seemed to be working.

(Eh... Did she attach a small blade on each end of that bow or something? Anyway.)

Seeing that nobody but the monster was looking her way, she loosed the grip on her shield and activated a mild version of a different type of armor, the kinetic version of her mana armor. She would be seizing the opportunity to try out her ability to defend against those waves.

Just as she had expected, The pressure applied by the shock waves increased the closer she got. She carefully analyzed the efficiency of her armor, confirming that it provided adequate protection against this localized attack.

Still, Iris observed that the bholphans displayed a certain level of stupidity. The intensity of sound waves followed the inverse square law, which meant that the waves' power decreased a lot more than the distance to the source increased.

Well, depending on the way those magical shock waves propagated they might not follow the inverse square law, but there ought to be important losses in energy to push away molecules and heat the medium the shock waves were propagating into.

And yet, bholphans only used their magic when they were far enough from their target and they relied on their claws for close-range attacks. Given this inverse square law, it would have been far more strategic and efficient to favor their magic at close range. They apparently lacked this basic strategic thinking.

(How come evolution made these idiots get this magic type?)

"Iris, get back here, it's dangerous! Go at the center of our formation!" George called out as he withdrew one of his daggers from a monster's carcass.

"I'm fine! Don't mind me!"

She was busy pinpointing the precise distance at which a bholphan would forgo its magic in favor of its claws.

(Ah, that's the limit! Can't get any closer than that. Alright, doggie, show me what you've got!)

Iris was starting to get used to the monster opening its mouth as if charging a breath attack. Well, in a way, that was precisely what it was doing.

However, before she could receive the pressure wave head-on, another figure interposed just as the sonic boom echoed, taking the brunt of the immense pressure in the abdomen.

The brown-haired mage staggered and fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"V-Vivy...?!"