"Hisami, quick! Help meeeeeeee!"

"Ehh..."

Quine was running around the field being chased by tiny slime monsters. She was wet from head to toe, due to the water magic attacks that came from the slimes. Err, actually, in reality, they just bumped into her, and since slimes are liquid, it would only be normal for the one receiving the attack to become wet.

Quine attempted to attack by slicing at the slime, but instead, her dagger slid right in the middle of it. The slime didn't feel any pain and neither did it show any signs of stopping or giving up. Sure, it would seem that it took some damage, but it's not that effective.

Slimes are made of liquid though, so I guess it would be like cutting water. It was impossible.

This means that the only way to defeat these slimes was some sort of magic attack.

"How did it come to this...?"

Then, the reality dawned on me.

I don't know how to use this world's magic!

Going in unprepared for a battle... Honestly, what was I thinking?

"Ahh!"

Suddenly, a slime monster jumped in front of me, causing me to stumble with my butt on the ground. It then proceeded to step (or, more precisely, bounce) on my stomach.

"H-Hey! Hey! Get off of me!"

I tried to get up, shaking off the slime in the process. I managed to succeed after forcefully standing up on my two feet, causing the monster to fall to the ground.

Great, now I'm wet as well...

Being given a chance to escape while the slime was temporarily immobile, I joined Quine in her retreat, running alongside her. Behind me was a hoard of slimes chasing after us.

"Hisamiiiiiii! Use your magiiiiiiiiiiic!" Quine pleaded.

"Err, about that... I don't know how to use magic...!" I gave her the hard truth.

"Eh?!" Quine turned at me with a surprised face. "What do you mean you don't know how to use magic?! You're a witch!"

"I just found out today that my occupation was a witch... I've never read any books about magic spells..." The last part I made up, since I don't know if such books existed in this world.

They probably do. I haven't encountered them yet, that's all.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

"I didn't think ahead, I'm so sorry!"

We were now running in the town.

We were supposed to be exterminating slimes outside the town area, but as I looked back, they were still chasing us. Everything that got in the way of the horde got wet as a result. From boxes, stalls, animals, and even people.

Yikes, they're all glaring at us...

Well, the ruckus was because of us failing to complete our job.

This will be bad for my reputation.

We continued to run in the cobblestone streets. I was feeling tired, my lungs already struggling to grab as much oxygen they needed. Quine was feeling the same, her legs were wobbling and starting to slow down.

Damn it, I have to think of something, fast!

"Leave this to me."

A voice came from behind, and looking back, someone jumped between us and the slimes. It was a young man with blonde hair, probably around the same age as me (in terms of body anyway. If we're speaking literally, I was only a day old in this world). His body was covered in silver armor, the only place not being covered was his head. He was holding a sword in his right hand, with the left one stretched towards the slimes. It was like he was doing some kind of heroic pose you see in movies.

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Quine looked at the man and slowed down. Her face relaxed but showed a surprised expression.

"What are you doing here?" Quine asked him.

"I Should be asking you the same thing," the man said. For someone as young as him, he had a very deep voice, but he sounded like a lively person.

"I'm a wandering merchant. I go around random places trading and stuff, so it's normal for me to be in a town on the outskirts of the empire. You, on the other hand, are supposed to be at the capital."

"The king sent me here to inspect the area for potential threats. Turns out I'm lucky since it seems that I've stumbled across some!"

"Don't get your hopes up. They're only level 5 mobs."

"If it's one, then sure. But if it's a horde like this, you would be overwhelmed."

"How are you even planning to beat them? Your sword won't work on them. I've tried it with my dagger."

"You clearly don't know how to deal with slimes, Quine! Watch me handle them!"

I saw him move his lips, saying something that neither of us was able to hear. Then, his sword suddenly glowed red, and flames started to appear. With a loud cry, he charged at the slimes.

He swung the sword at a few of them, causing them to be cut in half and disintegrate. But almost after he made contact with the slimes, the sword was already at another batch of slimes, cutting them in half too. He was also managing to dodge the slime's attacks as well.

Amazing. In under ten seconds, the entire group of slimes was gone. He wasn't even wet.

"At times like these, you just have to rely on the hero to save the day," he said, sheathing his sword back at his waist.

"Showoff," Quine spat, but she was smiling.

He smiled back at her as if to say, "You're welcome".

"T-Thank you for taking care of our problem. I'm so sorry you had to get caught up in it." I said, bowing my head in gratitude.

"Save the gratitude, milady! This is a hero's job, after all!"

"A hero?" I looked up to him and tilted my head, puzzled.

"Ah, you don't know what a hero is?"

"Little miss witch here is new around here after all," Quine said, putting her arm around the back of my neck. "Why don't you introduce yourself to her?"

"Ah, right. My name is Dralk Galdren, the Hero. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Hisami Enatsu. Witch," I said, shaking hands with him. His hands, despite wearing gloves that didn't cover the fingers, was hard to touch.

"Dralk!" The group of people running behind him called out. "W-Wait for us!"

They seemed to know Dralk, as they came up to him and started reprimanding the hero.

"Seriously, what in the world were you thinking, leaving us behind? We get that it's an emergency, but at least wait until your party gets here!" The red-haired girl shouted at Dralk. She had sharp eyes, similar to that of a tiger. A dagger was hanging on her waist belt, so that must've been her primary weapon.

"Yeah, man. Don't leave us hanging, will ya?" The tall guy said. He was heavily covered in tough, thick armor save for the face, and his body was so big it could be easily compared to a wall. He held a huge shield in his right arm, and a small sword was hanging on the belt of his waist.

"I-If we d-didn't make it in time, w-who would heal you w-when you get hurt?" The other girl said. Based on her voice and her timid face, it was plenty obvious that she had a shy personality. She was wearing a cloak too, similar to mine. In her hands was a staff, one that you would normally see in fantasy shows.

"Nah, no need. I managed to clear them all by myself. See?" Dralk replied, showing them the wet road that was once the bodies of slime.

"......"

The three of them stared at it, dumbfounded.

Well, it was normal to react that way. Even I would be surprised if someone managed to singlehandedly defeat an absurd amount of enemies.

"How did you manage to clear this many slimes...?" The red-haired girl said.

"I'm the hero, that's why! The best adventurer this world has ever seen!" Dralk said, puffing out his chest in pride. "Do I need any other explanation?"

"...Sigh..."

In the end, the three of them decided to stay silent and accept the situation.

Looks like this Dralk guy is hard to deal with.

Ahh, the red-haired girl spotted me, her scarlet eyes meeting mine.

"Hey!" She waved at me as she got closer. "Did Dralk here give you any trouble? I'm sorry if he did."

"No, no! He actually saved me from the horde. I'm grateful to him for it."

"I see. I'm sorry for getting you involved in this." She said as she bowed.

"It's okay. It was our fault that the slimes came to this town, anyway."

"Hey! Why am I also taking the blame?!" Quine interjected.

"My name is Gala Fretle. That guy over there is Werd Vesdrel, while the girl hiding next to her is Alene Oroland. We're all members of the hero's party that was recently just formed."

"Yo! What's up!"

"H-Hi..."

"Nice to meet you."

Ahh, I see. They're all members of Dralk's party.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?!" Quine went up to Dralk and shouted at him. "Even if you did save us the trouble, who do you think is going to get the reward of this job?!"

Oh right, the reward!

The reason we tried to exterminate the slimes in the first place is because of the money that we would earn if we managed to complete the job. Since Dralk was the one who singlehandedly finished the job, the reward would definitely go to him.

"Oops... My bad," he said, placing his fist on his head.

"This man, seriously..." I heard Gala whisper to herself in frustration.

"This has turned quite into the situation..." Werd said, scratching his head. "How about we take the reward at the inn and give it to her - "

"I just got a perfect idea!" Dralk just exclaimed, causing the hiding Alene to flinch in shock. "How about we invite Hisami to our party? That way, she can earn the money while at the same time join our group! What do you say, Hisami?"

".........."

Should I join the hero's party?

Normally I would say that I don't have a choice, but I actually do.

Honestly, with the skills Dralk just exhibited, it looks like I was going to be in capable hands despite his aloof personality. If I wanted to earn money quickly, joining a powerful party would be very beneficial for me.

And so, starting today, I decided to join up with Dralk's adventurers party.