บท 31: Party

The Adventurer's Guild was a bit crowded as the adventurers had come back from their quests and submitted their work and get rewards.

Most of them looked at our party of 3 when we entered. I could see gazes filled with admiration… and lust… towards the twins. They were both beauties after all. Just walking with them on my sides made me feel like someone special. I could understand why some of the male adventurers were staring daggers at me. But among those were also gazes filled with amazement and fascination for me, or more specifically, my attire. I was wearing my Black Viper Suit and it was definitely eye-catching. It went rather well with my black hair and eyes, making me look like a dark hero of sorts.

I wished that my sheath was also black like the one from my Katana. It would have added to my all-black aesthetics.

We reached the end of the line on Kenny's receptionist desk. She was my go-to receptionist since she registered me.

After a while, our turn came.

"Hello again, Mr. Rio. Your armor is really beautiful. It makes you look like a real adventurer now."

So, I didn't look like a real adventurer before, huh? Well, it's true though. I did look out of place before I started wearing armor. I still look out of place because of this unique armor though. Almost no one here is wearing magic armor and here all three of us are rocking magic armors. Maybe some of those looks were just because of that.

"Thanks. Yeah, I finally got my armor ready and decided to wear it from now on. It was kind of awkward being all casual when I would come to the guild. Haha."

"So, are you here to take on new quests?" (Kenny)

She said quests. In plural. Had she accepted that I would always be taking multiple quests at once? Well, that had been my pattern and it was probably not wrong to assume so.

"No, I'm actually here to register these two as adventurers."

She looked at the twins.

"Are they your slaves, Mr. Rio?" (Kenny)

"Well... yeah. I, uh, kinda sorta ended up buying them to manage the new house. But they're also good at combat and want to accompany me on quests. So I thought, why not? And here we are. Slaves can register as adventurers, right?"

"Yes. Yes, they can. But since they are property of their Masters, they are only allowed to act along with their Master. That is to say, they'll immediately be assigned to your party with you as their leader. And any quests to them will have to go through you. They won't be able to act individually on their own accord." (Kenny)

"I see. That's fine I think."

I asked the twins and they nodded in agreement.

I was going to form a party with them anyway. So, I guess it doesn't really matter?

"Ah, but can they also take the pre-evaluation test?"

I think they can pass it and get an initial rank-up like me. That would be helpful.

"Understood. I'll register them immediately. Please pay for the registration fee and test fee for them." (Kenny)

"Got it. Here."

The process from then was the same as mine. They filled their forms. Apparently, both of them were educated by their ex-guardian and could read and write. I told them to mention just the basic ability that they're most proficient at and not mention too much.

After that, both of them went to the training area and after about 30 minutes, both came back with smiling faces. Both of them passed the test. That was to be expected considering their levels and abilities.

Next, both of them received their guild cards with D-rank on them and I filled another form for the party registration.

**Adventurer's guild party registration form**

Party name: ________

Party rank(to be evaluated by the guild):______

Party members:

________(Party Leader)

________(Member 1)

________(Member 2)

________(Member 3)

________(Member 4)

________(Member 5)

***

Apparently, the maximum limit for a party was 6 members. If one wished to form larger parties, they had to apply for a special permit at the Adventurer's Guild and then could have up to a hundred members, thus being labeled as a clan. A clan was a sort of a mini-organization of adventurer groups within the guild that established their base in a country and did quests on a much wider scale than normal parties.

This town also had such groups but I didn't know about them.

I filled the form with me as the Party Leader and Maria and Mia as my party members.

I had to come up with a name for our party so I asked the two for advice. I had trouble with naming after all.

The two of them suggested names which each had my name in the party or emphasized on me like "Master Rio and co.", "Master Rio's Party", "Black Adventurer Rio's legion", and other embarrassing names.

"Okay, stop. All of them are terrible."

Seriously, why do they all have my name?

Don't tell me, these guys are bad at it as well?

I told the two to not include my name and think of more abstract names.

"What kind of party are we Master?" (Mia)

"What kind? Are there types?"

I asked, confused.

"Master, a lot of parties tend to have specialties. Such as resource gathering parties, hunter parties, assassin parties, guarding parties, etc. It's normal for parties to choose what kind of work they want to focus on to maintain consistency and gain proficiency." (Maria)

I see. I didn't know they did that.

I thought parties just meant doing quests together. Taking whatever quest you like and doing it together and then sharing the rewards among themselves. It turned out they had such classifications here.

"I haven't really thought of it. I guess we'll be a party that takes on all sorts of quests and enjoys adventuring and exploring? I don't wanna limit ourselves to one type. We can go with whatever quests we feel like doing. Something idealistic like that? I mean, other than that, our party has twins so maybe we can use that in our party name. Like "Two roses" or something like that. Oh wait, I think "Two Lilies" or "Two orchids" would suit more because the two of you have beautiful and silky smooth white hairs."

I wasn't trying to flatter or flirt here, by the way. I just spoke whatever came to my head.

"No Master, we appreciate your thoughtfulness but we can't be so presumptuous as to recommend that." (Maria)

"That name doesn't cover the most important person of our party, which is Master. Why not name our group "Obsidian Lotus"? It'll show off Master's beautiful black hair and armor." (Mia)

"Indeed. I do like the sound of that." (Maria)

I appreciated their consideration towards me but using me to personify flowers was too much. I was pretty average-looking. So, it would make more sense if the flowers were something that signified the two of them since they were just as beautiful, if not more, than those pretty flowers.

"If I had to say, maybe something like a [videogame] party name I have read on the [internet] might be suitable."

"Bideo…? Game?" (Maria)

"Master, what is a 'bideogame'? And 'Entar Nate'?" (Mia)

Both seemed bewildered. I had uttered words unfamiliar to denizens of this world. Since the concept of those things didn't exist here, they didn't have words for them in Vestia Language, and I ended up using the English terms for them. Whoops.

How do I explain that to them about video games or the internet? I'll have to explain to them a lot of things if I were to delve into modern technology and it'll only complicate things since they have probably never seen or heard those things.

"Oh, well… um… they are…. Let's forget about them. They're not important right now. Anyway, I think I can come up with some names from my hometown. Wanna listen to them?"

""Yes, Master.""

The two spoke in unison.

I had managed to change the topic.

"Okay, so, some of the ones that I can think at the top of my head are– The Elementalists, Black Order, Shadow Ravens, Raven's Claw, The Black & White Roses, League of Dragon Hunters, Dawn's Ballade, Dark Star, Invincible Legion, etc."

Most of them were popular videogame team names from e-sports and ranker lists of various RPG games I used to play. They were filled to the brim with Chuunibyou, but this world accepted such naming standards as common so I stated them without feeling too embarrassed. 'Too' being the keyword here.

"Those are all majestic sounding names. Each of them gives off a profound feeling. One cannot hear them and then forget so easily. They're all that kind of names." (Maria)

"I like the 'League of Dragon Hunters' and 'Invincible Legion'. They feel powerful." (Mia)

Mia said with vigor. She seemed to like party names that sounded grandiose. And, honestly, I got the appeal. Those were indeed some majestic names for a party. Maybe a little too majestic. I was told that party names often reflected the parties themselves. So if I chose, say, 'League of Dragon Hunters', they would expect that much from us. Or else they would make fun of us if we were just preposterous and unable to prove that party name.

"Yeah, but aren't they kind of too fancy? I don't suppose we'll be doing any dragon hunting around these parts. Party names should be something that reflects us." (Maria)

Maria seemed to have a rational mindset.

"I think 'Black Order', 'Shadow Ravens' and 'Raven's Claw' suits our party as it emphasizes on Master's elite-ness. People won't dare to look down on Master ever. If they did, they'll regret that as their worst mistake in life." (Maria)

Never mind that.

You're too dark, Maria. I don't wanna pick fights with people unnecessarily.

She even looked proud. Even Mia seemed to like that idea

In the end, we settled on 'Dark Star' as our party name. The guild didn't let me choose 'The Elementalists' which I thought suited our party with a wide variety of magic users. The reason was that was there was already a famous party with that name. So, it was literally the case of "Username is already taken". Alas. The way we arrived at the 'Dark Star' name was by the process of elimination.

At least the party name was settled.

After filling all the details in the form, our guild cards were then taken and we were given new guild cards which now had the name of the party and party rank along with our individual ranks. All 3 of us were ranked C.

I asked Kenny about it and was informed that the rank of the party was decided by the rank of the highest-ranking member of the team which was me at rank C.

With this, we were all set to take on quests and dive into dungeons. We left the guild and had dinner in the inn and then at night slept peacefully. I was once again offered nightly service by the two but I told them I didn't need it. Though, in all honesty, I did. Life wasn't so easy when one had two beauties ready to throw their bodies like that. Also, I would have definitely pounced on them if I wasn't aware of the fact that they probably did so out of a sense of duty and not because they liked me.

However, there was something I wasn't aware of at that time.

By the way, Shiro was taken by twins once again so I did feel a little aloof at night, but it was a small price to pay for their beautiful and soothing smiles.

***