Unfairly Fired From the Healer’s Guild After Five Years of Dedicated Service - CH 221

Episode 221 – Persuasion

Leaving the smoldering cinders and ashes of the monsters in my wake, I turned around and made my way back to the astonished pair.

“Sorry about that. I made a mistake while adjusting it, so it ended up being more powerful than I’d thought.” (Lewin)

“……..Oh. No, the power was certainly astonishing, but… you can also use magic, Jade-san?” (Rosalie)

“No, I didn’t use magic though? That was an item just now.” (Lewin)

“Ah, so it was an item… Wait, an item?!” (Rosalie)

When I explained to them that it wasn’t magic, Rosalie tilted her head in doubt. It was true that a normal shop wouldn’t sell an item with this level of might. Given its power, I felt that it was strong enough to rival an expensive Magic Item. Well, most similar items in circulation on the market would only be about as powerful as the second ball filled with only Bomb Grass.

“A Magic Item? Otherwise there’s no explanation.” (Aruna)

“It’s not a Magic Item. It’s a bit hard to put into words, but it’s not all that complicated.” (Lewin)

As for Bomb Grass, its power was something that was just about right for normal circulation on the market. But given that the cost of it wasn’t low, no one would be bothered to go out of their way to use the plant in experimental means to further increase its power. Because of [Plant Master], this combination was something I was only able to discover while searching for ways to make better use of my Skill.

“Hmm. I’d like to explain that it really isn’t that strange at all, but I’ll elaborate further about that explosion at our review meeting. We’re still in the middle of clearing, so for now let’s refocus and aim for the next layer.” (Lewin)

“…Mm. Got it.” (Aruna)

“That’s true. We’ll leave dealing with any further Gamura Parasites to you. As for any other monsters, Aruna and I will beat ‘em up!” (Rosalie)

Cutting short what was about to be a lengthy recap of the fight with Gamura Parasites, we got back to clearing the 14th layer.

“That was surprisingly easy! We didn’t encounter any hordes of monsters, and we managed to arrive comfortably.” (Rosalie)

“Mhm. There were no strong monsters yet.” (Aruna)

Thanks to the overwhelming performance by the vanguard, I had hardly used any support items, and I didn’t have to use any magic power to synthesize any plants. There were still 3 powder explosion balls left that could be used as trump cards, but, more importantly, I still had more than enough physical strength myself.

I had been hesitating on whether or not to fight that Boss back when we were on the 10th layer earlier… but this could work out. If anything, I could fight on the vanguard alone, since I didn’t have to do much for us to this point. I had verified the Boss of the 15th layer many times, and I had also gotten some useful information from Tobias.

“What do we do? Are we turning back?” (Aruna)

“…..No. Let’s go to the 15th layer, beat the Boss, then head back.” (Lewin)

“Right. Let’s head ba― eh?”

Aruna had already assumed that I would decide to turn back, but when she realized that I was actually on the same wavelength as her, a look of surprise and joy flashed across her face. In the battles along the way so far, they had been slaughtering monsters in such a lively manner, so I started to wonder how the two of them would react if I told them that they were going to be in the rear guard.

“Thanks to you two, I managed to preserve a lot more strength than I’d imagined. I’d like to be on the vanguard alone from here, so let’s take on the boss then make our way back.” (Lewin)

“Hmm? I agree to challenging the Boss. But I should be the vanguard.” (Aruna)

Along that line of thinking, the best way of taking this fight was for me to fight in the vanguard, since I had information about the boss and could play it by ear. Of course, I was a step behind them in terms of pure combat ability, but it wasn’t like I was just sitting around in the rear guard while watching them. In a simple battle, I had confidence in myself that I could fight even more consistently than them.

“Of course I understand both of your viewpoints, but please allow me just this time. I’m a bit bored of always being in the rear guard doing nothing, you see.” (Lewin)

“….It’s not fair for you to only take the good parts.” (Aruna)

“If you insist, then there’s nothing I can say back to that. But on our next attempt, does that mean we are going back to rotating the vanguard and rear guard again?” (Rosalie)

Aruna grumbled a complaint with a sullen look on her face. I should probably explain to them from the beginning why I wanted to fight in the vanguard, but, from the looks of it, I could see that the two of them would definitely say that they weren’t tired.

This kind of simple excuse was the easiest way of persuading these two battle maniacs. Then, as for the suggestion of going back to rotating the vanguard and rear guard…

“Hmm… Not sure. I think what we have right now works well.” (Aruna)

“It’s true that what we have now works well, but I also think we were also doing quite well when we were rotating the vanguard and rear guard.” (Lewin)

“I’m a-almost completely incapable of providing support from the rear guard, so I would be glad if Jade-san can stay on the rear guard!” (Rosalie)

“Yeah. Of course, that’s my intention. I know that I’m the most proficient at support. But this time, even if you say that…” (Lewin)

“I was just kidding earlier. You just don’t know how to take a joke, Lewin.” (Aruna)

“Hahaha, I see. If you were just joking, then that’s good! Then are you two okay with leaving the vanguard to me just this time?” (Lewin)

“Sure.” (Aruna)

“Of course! We’ll leave it to you, Jade-san!” (Rosalie)

I smiled at the two of them. I had succeeded in getting their approval, although I had half-forced them. It felt a bit selfish of me, but it was probably okay to do this every once in a while.

―Alright. Enough playing around. While we finish up with the 14th layer, I’ll keep thinking about how I want to go about this Boss fight.

As we proceeded through the 14th layer, thoughts of the fight ahead continued to run through my mind while I provided support and maintained vigilance over our surroundings.