The next day. Eight men and women were gathered at the Adventurers' Guild
first thing in the morning.
"Yo, Welanna. You guys here too?"
"Well, if it isn't Jeff. You were invited too? What do you think today's about?"
"Dunno, and neither do the others. There's nothing we have in common, not
rank, nor age, nor race. We were trying to figure out the criteria for our
selection. Do you have any ideas? You lot are the only ones invited as a party."
"We don't know either. The most we have in common is being female
beastkin. But that's unrelated, no?"
"Yeah. I'm a man, and a human to boot. The others are two humans, a dwarf,
and a dragonewt. Gender and species are definitely unrelated."
Just then, one more female beastkin entered the room.
"Good morning! Nya? Welannya, Mizelia, and Cilia were called here too?"
"You were summoned too, Miya?"
"That's right, nya. I got back yesterday evening and the receptionist told me
to come here today. I didn't expect the three of you to be here too, nya."
"Neither did we... Hm? Hey, aren't you smelling a lot better now? Did you
finally move away from that trash mansion?"
"You refused to listen when we told you to move away from that place..."
"Did you finally reach your limit?"
"No, nya. I'm still living in that house now. I know it was like that, but I still
paid a pretty penny for it. It'd be a waste not to live there, nya."
"Then why has the smell weakened so much?"
"Actually, the day before yesterday, someone accepted the cleaning request I
put through the guild, nya. They cleaned it up neatly for me."
"They cleaned that hellish room with the infinite stench of death? Wow."
"I was surprised too, nya. But they really cleaned everything in under two
hours, even fixing the hole in the wall for me. Apparently it was cleaned with
magic? The room was sparkling after, nya."
"That's amazing in itself. Who was it?"
"A new kid, it seemed. He was probably under 13 years old, and had a big
basket weaved from wood and vine, nya."
The man called Jeff reacted to those characteristics.
"Oh? Under 13 with a big basket? Was that guy called Ryoma by any chance?"
"That's right, nya! That was what he called himself."
"What, you know of him, Jeff?"
"Only in passing. I saw him being called out by the old man the other day and
he looked pretty lost, so I told him the old man was just being a meddling
busybody. He sure talked politely for a brat, though."
"He really was a polite kid, nya."
Just then, one more person entered the room. When Miya saw him, she
yelled.
"Excuse me, I'm..."
"Ah! It's the kid, nya!"
"Miya? You and Jeff are here too, I see."
"Hey, sup. So you were called too. We were just talking about you."
"About me?"
That was when the woman called Welanna stepped before Ryoma.
"So you're Ryoma, is it? Nice to meet you. I'm the dog beastkin, Welanna. I've
known Miya for a long time now, and we're former party members.
"You were the one who cleaned Miya's house, I hear. I'm surprised. How did
you clean such a house?"
"Buying the house was one thing, but when the wall collapsed... Well, you
saw that sorry state, right? The smell was too much for us scent-sensitive
beastkin, and Miya just wouldn't listen to us when we told her to move... Ah,
I'm a tiger beastkin, Mizelia. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Cilia, a rabbit beastkin. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"I'm Ryoma Takebayashi. It's lovely to meet you all too."
"These three are the people I used to work with in the same party. When the
smell of the house seeped all over myself, I knew it was too tough for them —
especially for a dog beastkin like Welannya — but I couldn't give up the house,
so I dropped out of the party. I had caused a lot of trouble for them elsewhere
too, nya."
"Miya can be a little stubborn at times."
"No matter what anyone said, she insisted on living there because she had
bought it."
"Honestly, it's impressive that she lived there for 5 whole years."
"Five years there? That... must have been quite the ordeal."
Ryoma couldn't find the right words to say.
That was when Jeff addressed Ryoma.
"By the way, you had that basket the day before yesterday too, didn't you?
What's inside it?"
"My familiars are in this basket. I'm a tamer."
"Huh, so you're a tamer? What do you have?"
"Several varieties of slimes. I'm still a trainee. Slimes are slow to move
around, so it's faster to put them in a basket and carry them myself. It wouldn't
be good to upset the townspeople either."
"I see, makes sense."
That was when the guildmaster came in.
"Good, looks like everyone's here. Take a seat anywhere."
Everyone moved to a seat at those words.
"Now, I'm going to explain the reason why I called you all here. But first, I
need you all to take a vow of secrecy on the information you're about to hear.
Those who cannot swear secrecy may leave the room. Just so you know, you
don't have to accept the job after you hear the details I'm about to give. As long
as you don't leak the information to outsiders, you may refuse the job after
listening. There'll be no penalty either."
Hearing that made everyone nod without hesitation.
"All right. Then let's start with why you guys were selected. Firstly, you're all
trustworthy and tight-lipped. And secondly, you all have disease resistance
skills. You do all have that, right?"
"Indeed, I do. You should know best, old man — I'm formerly from the slums.
Anyone living there would have level 1 or 2 disease resistance. Though I'm at
5."
"We've all contracted an epidemic in the past too, while out on a job out of
town."
"Thankfully it was just a lighter epidemic and we all returned alive, but we
obtained the skill too."
"I believe we were all at level 3, right?"
"Mine rose to level 4. I don't want to admit it, but it's probably because I lived
in that trash heap, nya."
After that, the rather experienced looking dwarf adventurer made a guess at
the job details, which another young adventurer reacted to in a panic.
"If the job needs disease resistance... is it an epidemic?"
"Did one break out?!"
"Calm your horses, Sher. While Gordon is right about the topic being an
epidemic, it hasn't spread yet."
"Yet, meaning it's appeared in one or two people?"
"No, the infected location was just discovered by coincidence. The one who
discovered it is Ryoma over there, and there haven't been any patients yet."
Those words attracted everyone's attention onto Ryoma at once, but Worgan
the guildmaster continued with an explanation of the situation, describing the
nature of scavenger slimes and how they judged it was an epidemic.
"...And that's the story. The fact the scavenger slimes' disease resistance rose
from level 5 to 7 meant that level 6 wasn't enough to completely resist it, so it's
assumed that the epidemic has taken run rampant in a section — or perhaps all
— of the cesspits. The job this time is to stop the epidemic before it spreads to
town. Furthermore, it's expected that there will be great chaos if the town finds
out about this. Thus, actions must be taken with the utmost secrecy."
"So our job is to deal with the epidemic... in other words, clean the pit
toilets?"
"No, the nine of you won't be doing that work. Ryoma will be the only one
entering the cesspits to clean them."
"Hold it! You're gonna make that single kid do all the work? Isn't that a bit too
much, no matter how you think of it? Children are at greater risk of getting sick,
it's far too dangerous."
"It's impossible to ask a single person to clean all the pit toilets of the town. A
single cesspit is a job for ten men, you know?"
"I considered that myself, but this is for the best. First, Ryoma already used
his slimes to clean one of the pits yesterday, finishing it in a day. Next, even
among the nine of you, the highest disease resistance level is Jeff, with level 5.
If the epidemic can't be resisted by a level 6 disease resistance, you're still at
high risk. But in that regard, Ryoma's health level is 7. He has the lowest risk of
contracting the disease among you all, and on top of that, his life enhancement
is level 3, super recovery level 3, and stamina enhancement level 6. Even if he
contracts the disease, he has the highest chance of recovery amongst everyone
here."
Those words made the nine of them look at Ryoma in shock, before Cilia tore
her gaze away to ask Worgan a question.
"...I accept that he is the most suitable one here. But in that case, what are we
meant to be doing?"
"While Ryoma is dealing with the cleaning, you are to take shifts guarding the
entrance and make sure no one enters. The door is built to remain unlocked
while someone is inside. To make absolutely sure every gap was covered, I
called you lot with disease resistance skills. Also, those with the neutral magic
Appraisal will confirm that Ryoma doesn't bring the epidemic out when he's
done cleaning."
"Do you really need nine people for a lookout?"
"...According to Ryoma, he believes the job can be done in two to three days,
working non-stop. His health skill is a combination of disease, sleep, and poison
resistance, apparently. This has been confirmed too."
"I see. That's why we're to take shifts, then. Ryoma, was it? Will you really be
okay?"
"It won't be a problem. Working two to three all-nighters in a row was my
daily life. Since I'm doing this of my own will, it'll actually be easier."
"Is that so..."
"Well, if you accept the job, please keep an eye out for Ryoma and make sure
he doesn't push himself too far. I'll give you all ten minutes. In a way, this job is
more dangerous than monster extermination. It won't be enforced, and there
isn't a penalty for refusing. Give it some thought before you decide."
Once Worgan said that, he and Ryoma left the room to give the participants a
chance to decide. They all thought to themselves, until Jeff was the one to
break the silence.
"Hah... What'll you all do?"
The dwarf adventurer named Gordon was the one who answered.
"I'm participating. This is my town too. All my friends are here, so I cannot run
away."
Everyone stepped up after this.
"I shall humbly accept too. Epidemics are a threat to be prevented at all cost."
"An epidemic in this town, huh... It sounds bad, but I'd feel worse leaving it all
to that boy alone."
"Right? Our job is only to stand guard, anyway. The most dangerous job is
being done by him alone. I can't run away from here."
Ten minutes was almost too long for them to make their decision, and they all
expressed their willingness to participate when Worgan and Ryoma returned.
Worgan went on to explain the Earth knowledge of diseases Ryoma had
excused with his grandmother, and they went on to split the team into squads
with haste.