"Ah right, I forgot to ask Lancer-san about your adventurer rank," Luke said.
"It's fine. I don't really need it yet anyway, I'll definitely get it later," I replied.
That's true—before meeting Lancer-san, Luke had mentioned that he wanted to ask about my rank.
But it wasn't a problem. So far, I hadn't had any difficulties even without having my own rank card.
——
Two days had passed since the meeting between the four of us and Lancer-san. I had also talked about that princess to Hime and Yuu-chan.
They said they would decide after our mission in this city was finished. So until then, all I could do was be patient and wait for their opinion.
I honestly couldn't imagine what kind of answer they would give. This situation was something completely new to me—something I had never experienced before.
And today as well, someone from the guild came to our inn and informed us that we needed to head to the guild as soon as possible.
He said that monsters had started appearing since last night, and several houses near the forest had been attacked.
Because of those attacks, dozens of people had been injured, and several had lost their lives.
Then, the soldiers guarding the city gates saw a large horde of monsters moving in this direction.
They weren't very fast, but they were expected to reach the gates within a few hours.
The same situation was happening in the neighboring city, Danvis. That meant Abbys was not holding back and was launching simultaneous attacks on both cities.
An assault on three gates across two cities would definitely make this battle far more difficult than the attack on Necvalion back then.
When that person arrived at the inn earlier, the four of us were still enjoying breakfast together with Sikiyomi-san.
Because of that, after hearing the bad news, each of us hurried back to our rooms to prepare.
"Luke, it's about to start, isn't it?" I asked.
"This will be my first time fighting alongside you all. I'm sure I'll experience something new," Luke said.
"I just realized something—you didn't bring a weapon, did you? Then how are you going to fight?" I asked.
"Ah, about that, I can work it out with Lancer-san, so don't worry," he replied.
——
Before we left, Sikiyomi-san said a few words to us, and she seemed worried.
"Everyone, I hope you return safely," she said.
"Sato-san, don't worry. We'll be back as soon as possible," Hime said.
We left the inn and hurried toward the guild. Along the way, I noticed that the city felt quieter than usual.
It was probably because of the news about the attack—residents had been warned to reduce their activities outside their homes.
After all, there was a chance that monsters emerging from the forest could enter the city.
As a precaution, several soldiers could be seen guarding the streets. They formed small groups and stood watch along the roads.
Behind the city gates, there were surely troops summoned by Marcen-sama, and it was possible that he himself would be among them, since he was the leader of this city.
We finally arrived at the guild, which was crowded with gathered adventurers.
The others and I immediately went inside and headed upstairs to meet Lancer-san in his office.
"You've arrived. Alright, let's begin the preparations," Lancer-san said.
As soon as we entered, he stood up from his chair and walked toward us.
Beside Lancer-san were two people who were probably also adventurers, tasked with guarding him.
——
All of us were instructed to line up in front of the guild to receive further instructions from Lancer-san.
"The current situation is chaotic, with attacks that could occur anywhere. Marcen-sama has already deployed his forces to fight at every location where monsters have appeared in this city," he said.
"Therefore, I intend to form three different groups—to head toward the forest, the main gate, and the gate at the fortress located between the two cities."
"And now, I will share some important information. You four, step forward," he said while looking directly at our party.
W-wait, what? We were being told to step forward?
I glanced at them to see their reactions, and the three of them smiled at me.
"Yukito-san," Hime said.
"Yukito-sama." "Yukito."
At this point, how could we possibly refuse to step forward and stand beside Lancer-san?
The adventurers who were already lined up stared at us with confused and curious expressions.
That was only natural—our party wasn't well known, and there were probably those among them who didn't trust us.
"Allow me to introduce them. These four are the ones chosen by the High Priest of Necvalion, Charles!" Lancer-san announced.
The adventurers began to look shocked and whispered among themselves.
"This may be sudden, but I already trust them with this matter. Marcen-sama does as well," he continued.
"W-wait, Marcen-sama thinks so too?" one adventurer said.
The others asked the same thing.
"Is that really true?" someone else asked.
Lancer-san responded with a nod, indicating that it was indeed the truth.
"That's right. Therefore, we must place our trust in them as well, as a sign of our resolve to free ourselves from the cruel threat of Abbys," Lancer-san said.
——
After Lancer-san said a few more words, our party was finally accepted into this battle and gained the trust of the adventurers in this city.
Lancer-san also mentioned that Marcen-san had already shared information about us with his soldiers. Well, I'd see that for myself later.
The gathered adventurers were then divided into three groups, just as he had said earlier.
And in order to distribute things evenly, our party would also be split up once the battle began.
Actually, it wasn't Lancer-san who suggested this—it was Luke himself.
"I'll go with the group heading to the forest, and this guy—Yukito—will go to the gate that connects the two cities," Luke said to the adventurers.
"Meanwhile, these two girls will go to the other city gate. How about that?" Luke asked.
Several people raised their hands and shouted, as if their enthusiasm had grown even stronger.
——
Lancer-san finally finished dividing us into the three groups, and he himself would join Marcen-san to oversee the battle.
Before our party separated—
"Yukito, Sephira-san, Yuu-chan, see you later," Luke said.
Hmm, did Luke call Hime by that name? I had already forgotten.
"See you later," I said.
"Yukito-san, Luke, make sure you come back, okay?" Hime said.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely return," I replied.
"If you don't come back, you'd better watch out~?" Yuu-chan said.
"Alright, let's move out!!!" Lancer-san shouted loudly, igniting the adventurers' fighting spirit.
"OOOHHHHH!!!" the adventurers roared.
——
On the way to the gate, the atmosphere in my group was anything but calm.
They repeatedly asked me about our party of four and our abilities.
They were all good people—friendly and easy to talk to—and because of that, I felt comfortable being around them.