第三十三話 レイドメンバー
「〈毒蜈蚣の小刀〉はしっかり効果があったようだな、ルーチェ」
「アタシも火力の高いクラスではないので、攻撃成功で状態異常を取れるこのナイフはありがたいですね! なんだか一気に強くなれた気がします!」
ルーチェが嬉しそうに答える。
「少しダメージを受けていたようだったが大丈夫か?」
「ちょっと新武器に燥ぎすぎちゃいましたね......。この先どんな魔物が出てくるのかわかりませんし、一応〈ヒールポーション〉を使っておいた方がいいですかね? あれ結構、効果が出るのに時間が掛かりますし......」
「〈ヒール〉」
そのとき、ルーチェの身体を白い光が包んだ。
振り返ると、大杖を手にした、少女が立っていた。
「あ、ありがとうございます......えっと......」
「クラス僧侶、メアベルっていうんよ。ウチ、回復クラスだからって連れてこられたけど、まだC級冒険者なんね。よろしく頼むんよ、B級冒険者のお二人さん」
「とはいっても、俺達もまだ上がりたての新人なんだけどな。俺は重騎士のエルマで、こっちは道化師のルーチェだ。こちらこそよろしく頼む」
は、ちゃんと信頼のおける仲間なのかどうかが大きな問題点となる。
人数が多ければ、どうしても個人間の人間関係は希薄になる。
連携は最初から諦めるというのも手だが、勝手に突っ走ったり身勝手なことを騒ぎ立てる冒険者も珍しくない。
ひとまず大事な白魔法役が信頼できそうな人でよかった。
〉にも入っていないのに、貴重な回復役のMPをこんなところで使わせるなよ」
弓を背負った男が口を挟んだ。
場の空気が一気に冷えた。
年齢は三十歳前後といったところか。
確か、クラス狩人のB級冒険者......ケルトだ。
に参加した冒険者の中でも、かなりレベルが高い方に入る。
「ここは外だから距離も取りやすい。もっと牽制主体に立ち回っていりゃ被ダメージは抑えられたろうに。こんな前座で突っ走る奴は放っておけばいいんだよ。せっかく雇った回復役が、ペース配分もできない奴だとはね」
「やー......すいませんね、ケルトさん。もう少し考えて動くようにするんね」
メアベルがぺこぺこと頭を下げる。
「結果論だろう。あの数の魔物相手じゃ、まず数を減らすのを優先して攻めに掛かるのは悪いことじゃない。長々戦っていれば、死角を突かれて痛手を受けるリスクが上がるだけだ。少なくとも、わざわざ空気を悪くしてまで口にすることではない。
は、かなりの長丁場になる。
魔物溜まり
経験年数を盾に、水掛け論に出てこられた、
「......場の主導権を得るために、わざと空気を乱しにきたな」
俺の言葉に、ケルトがニヤリと笑う。
ケルトは今の言葉で、回復役の行動に口出しできる空気を作りつつ、他の前衛冒険者達の行動を牽制したのだ。
回復役は集団戦闘の肝だ。
回復先を指示できれば、自分ばかりが経験値やアイテムを得られるようにパーティーを誘導することができる。
ルーチェへの言葉にしてもそうだ。
前衛が攻めあぐねて、敵の攻撃を引き付ける方へと注力すれば、それで得をするのは後衛から魔物を仕留められる狩人クラスのケルトだ。
楽に魔物へトドメを刺す回数を増やし、経験値を得ることができる。
ケルトは脅しを掛けるように、俺の肩を強めに叩く。
それから身体を翻して俺達へと背を向けた。
「さて......今回はアイテムドロップに恵まれてるな。揉めないように、ドロップアイテムはトドメを刺した冒険者がもらうって規定だよな? 遠慮なくいただいてくぜ」
ケルトが俺達にひらひらと後ろ手を振る。
多少は仕方ないにしても少し露骨過ぎる気がしていたが、嫌われても関係ない、というスタンスで割り切っているのだろう。
「......ドロップはアタシのスキルなのに」
ルーチェがぽつりと零した。
は、余程の強敵相手でなければ、魔物を倒した人間にドロップアイテムを取得する権利がある、ということになっていた。
結局そう決めてしまって例外を作らないのが一番揉めにくいのだ。
ただ、それはそれで、回復役や支援役のクラスばかりが損をする形にはなってしまうのだが......。
だが、ケルトは明らかに場慣れしている。
プレイヤーの知識もないこの世界の住人が、ここまで世界の仕組みを利用して立ち回れるものなのか。
この世界で生きる冒険者の知恵を、俺は少し軽視していたかもしれない。
「メアベルもあまり気にするなよ。最初から、難癖付けて威圧するのが目的だったんだ」
「大丈夫やよ。回復役として活動してると、どうしてもああいう人に絡まれる機会は多いから......」
メアベルは気丈に笑いながらそう口にする。
それから薄目を開けて、ケルトの背を睨む。
「ああいう人は、ポーズだけ頭下げて、理由付けて回復を後回しにし続けといたら、段々大人しくなるんよ。〈
メアベルは肩を小さく揺らし、悪い笑みを浮かべた。
「お二人さんとは仲良くしたいから、よろしく頼むんよ」
「......こちらこそ、是非ともそうして欲しい」
この世界で長く生き延びてきた冒険者は、俺が思っている以上に逞しい人ばかりなのかもしれない。
今思えば、メアベルがルーチェに白魔法を掛けたのも、関係の良好な冒険者を確保しておこうと考えての動きであったに違いない。
あそこのタイミングは、この先のことを思えば確かに〈ヒール〉は早すぎた。
Volume 2 - Ch 33
"It seems the Venomous Centipede's Short Sword works quite well, right Luce?"
"I'm not one of the Classes with high firepower, so a knife that inflicts abnormal conditions on hit is very welcome! It makes me feel like I've become strong all of a sudden!"
Luce cheerfully answered.
"I saw you take some damage, but are you alright?"
"I just got a bit carried away from having a new weapon.... Still, we don't know what monsters we will be coming across after this, so should I use a Heal Potion, just in case? It takes a bit for those to take effect after all....."
"[Heal]"
At that moment, Luce's body was covered by a white light.
When we turned around, a girl with a large staff in her hands was standing there.
"Ah, thank you very much....uhm...."
"My name is Mabel and my Class is Priestess. I've been brought along because I have a healer Class, but I'm still a C rank adventurer. Please take care of me, B rank adventurer duo-san."
"Well, we were only recently promoted too. I'm Elma, a Heavy Knight, and this is Luce, a Clown. We are pleased to meet you too."
During a Raid Quest, whether you can trust your teammates or not is an important issue.
The more people there are, the less they are able to cooperate properly.
It's not rare for people to even give up entirely on teamwork in such cases, but there are still sometimes adventurers that would rush in recklessly or make a fuss about something out of self-centered egotism.
It's good to see that at least one of the important white mages seems to be a reliable person.
"Don't make the one of the crucial healers use her MP for nothing before we even enter the Dungeon."
A man with a bow on his back interjected.
The atmosphere turned cold in a moment.
He seemed to be around 30 years old.
If I remember right, it should be a B rank adventurer with a Class of Hunter called Celt.
He's one of the higher level adventurers among those that volunteered for this Raid Quest.
"We are outside, so it's easy to fall back. She wouldn't have even gotten injured if she kept close enough to the core group. You should've just ignored someone who charges in blindly like that right at the start. To think that the healer that got hired is someone who can't even pace herself."
"Aah, I'm sorry about that, Celt-san. I'll do my best to think before I act in the future."
Mabel bowed her head repeatedly.
"That's hindsight logic. It's not wrong to prioritize cutting down the numbers first when up against so many monsters at once. If it turns into a prolonged fight, then the risk of a monster hitting a weak point and causing significant damage by chance goes up. At least it's not something you should go out of your way to scold someone about. What you did is even more pointless, even during a Raid Quest."
He managed to finish off quite a number of monsters in that last battle.
It seems he targeted the half-dead monsters to get as much experience and drop items as he possibly could.
Using his years of experience as a shield, he moved on to a pointless argument.
".....you came to bother us, so you could gain the initiative."
Celt broke into a grin from my words.
With his previous words, Celt created an atmosphere where he could influence the actions of the healer and rained in the front liner adventurers at the same time.
A healer is an essential part of group battles.
If you can designate who gets healed and when, you can direct the party in a way that you get most of the experience points and items.
What he said to Luce also served the same purpose.
If the front liners get disheartened and shift their focus to simply tanking the enemy, then Celt with the Class of Hunter who can kill monsters from the back line will be the one to gain the most.
He can effortlessly increase the number of times he can deal the finishing blow on monsters and gain the most experience points.
Trying to intimidate me, Celt patted my shoulder with quite a bit of force.
After that he turned his back to us.
"Well then....We got quite a haul of drop items here. The rule was that the one who delivered the last hit gets the drop item to avoid disputes, right? Then don't mind if I help myself."
Celt gave a casual wave back at us.
Doing something like that to some degree would be understandable, but he's especially blatant about it, as if he's deliberately saying that he doesn't care about being hated for it.
".....but those items dropped only because of my Skill."
Luce complained quietly.
During this Raid Quest, it was decided that as long as it's not a markedly strong opponent, that one who manages to take down the monster gets their drop items.
With that already decided, it would be hard to argue for an exception to that.
However, this method of distribution is also quite unfavorable for the healer and support Classes too.....
Although, it's undeniable that Celt is very much used to situations such as this.
I didn't think that a resident of this world that doesn't have the knowledge that can be expected from a player would be able to make use of the rules of this world to this extent.
I may have underestimated the wit of the adventurers that live in this world.
"You shouldn't mind it too much either, Mabel. It was his intention to complain about something and use that to try to intimidate us right from the beginning."
"It's fine. As someone that works as a healer, I frequently have the misfortune to come across people like that....."
Mabel said with a courageous smile.
Then she opened her half-closed eye and glared at the back of Celt.
"That guy is the type that calms down in the end if I act subservient but keep putting off healing him for some reason or another. When we enter the Dungeon, a Hunter like him won't be able to avoid taking some damage if he wants to earn experience points and the Defense of that Class is quite low."
Mabel's shoulders shook a bit from her quiet but malicious laugh.
"I still want to get along with you two, so please take care of me."
"....yes, we would very much like that as well."
Perhaps the adventurers that managed to survive in this world for a long time are even more tenacious than I thought.
Now that I think about it, the reason why Mabel used white magic on Luce was most likely to establish a favourable relationship with some reliable adventurers.
The timing of that [Heal] was indeed too early if I consider what we're about to face.
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
Action Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alchemy Arrogant Characters Artifacts Blacksmith Calm Protagonist Clever Protagonist Determined Protagonist Dungeons Fallen Nobility Fantasy World Game Elements Guilds Hot-blooded Protagonist Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Male Protagonist Mystery Solving Naive Protagonist Nobles Poor to Rich Previous Life Talent Reincarnated in a Game World Romantic Subplot Skill Books Strategic Battles Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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