Recruiting Teammates?

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After finishing their meal, Renzo and his group returned to his villa.

"Renzo! Where's the top-tier Bubbly Wine you promised me?"

As soon as they got back, Aqua suddenly remembered and clung to Renzo, demanding her prize.

"Tch! Here, take it!"

Renzo used his fantasy creation ability to replicate a whole case and handed it over to Aqua.

"Yahaha! Awesome! Thanks a bunch! Time to drink!"

Aqua happily took the case and skipped off to her room.

"This girl..." Renzo shook his head in amusement.

She was way too easy to please.

He had tasted that top-tier Bubbly Wine before. It was pretty good, but the alcohol content was weak.

Thanks to his data templates, he didn't have to waste money buying it again.

That stuff was ridiculously expensive—one bottle cost 5 million Eris!

Basically daylight robbery.

— — —

The night passed uneventfully, and the next morning, after breakfast...

"Kazuma! Aqua!"

Renzo turned to Kazuma and Aqua. "You two aren't taking any quests today!"

"Huh? Why not?"

Both Kazuma and Aqua looked confused.

Especially Kazuma—after racking up 80 million Eris in debt yesterday, he was desperate to make money and pay it off.

Renzo explained, "Kazuma, your job today is to learn Sacred Water Creation from Aqua. Then, I want you to practice controlling water-element magic with your breathing technique while training your sword skills!"

"As for me, I'm heading to the guild to recruit two new teammates!"

They still needed a Crusader to increase their physical endurance from Darkness, and a true explosive magic user—Megumin.

If there ever came a time when he wasn't around, they'd need someone like Megumin, a walking artillery cannon, to land a decisive blow.

Though, to be fair, both of them were... questionable choices.

Especially Darkness, a total masochist. But she had her uses. And of course, Renzo wasn't about to pass up the chance to add two beautiful girls to his team.

"Huh?"

Kazuma and Aqua were dumbfounded. "New teammates? Who? And why do we even need them?"

Their current lineup was already perfect!

With Renzo as the ace, Kazuma as the vanguard, and Aqua handling buffs and healing, what else did they need?

"Tsk!" Renzo rolled his eyes. "I'm not always gonna join your missions! Our power levels are worlds apart—I'll just go whenever I feel like it."

"Just like yesterday—if I wasn't there, you guys would've been wiped out instantly!"

"We need at least one tank and one heavy-hitter! Someone who can take damage and another who can finish fights with a bang!"

"That way, even if I'm not around, you won't get annihilated."

Of course, all of that was just an excuse.

He just really wanted Darkness and Megumin in the party.

Kazuma rubbed his chin, thinking about it. "You know, that actually makes a lot of sense..."

If they'd had a tank yesterday, he wouldn't have been mobbed and nearly eaten alive.

And if they'd had a powerhouse, the enemy wouldn't have even stood a chance.

The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with Renzo. "Damn, boss, you really think things through!"

"I'm in!"

"The stronger the team, the better!"

Aqua also nodded.

"Alright then! I'm off! You two, train hard!" With that, Renzo left and headed straight for the Adventurer's Guild.

...

At the guild, he asked Luna for some paper and a pen, then started writing a recruitment notice.

The requirements were simple—just like in the original story. Only top-tier classes allowed!

Luna, curious, leaned in to watch. "So, you're finally recruiting teammates? But isn't only accepting top-tier classes a bit too demanding?"

She hesitated to say more.

After all, their current party consisted of 2 adventurers, and an unreliable & useless Priest.

And now they wanted only the strongest classes?

Unless those elite adventurers had major issues and couldn't find a party, why would they join?

That said, the sheer success of Renzo's team in their last mission had caught a lot of attention.

At the very least, it showed their party had potential.

Plus, through her own investigations, Luna had learned that the massive disturbance at the western outskirts yesterday was likely caused by them.

That added an air of mystery to their team in Luna's eyes.

"You're becoming more and more interesting to me..." Luna mused, her gaze lingering on Renzo's handsome profile.

"He really is good-looking..."

As the guild's most popular receptionist, Luna was adored by nearly every male adventurer.

But that same attention made her love life miserable.

Any time a man tried to get close to her, he'd face the wrath of every other guy in the guild.

Because of that, she remained single. No dating, no marriage—just another leftover woman.

A woman full of bottled-up emotions.

"If Renzo is strong enough... could he be the one to free me from this situation?"

Luna's imagination ran wild, and a faint blush crept onto her face.

"Hmm?"

With his sharp senses, Renzo immediately picked up on her change in mood. He used Mind Reading and instantly saw her thoughts.

"Oh?"

He smirked. "Damn, my charm's already working, huh? Not bad!"

Honestly, Luna was indeed a beauty.

Great figure, too.

Sure, she had a bit of a greedy, money-hoarding streak but for someone like Renzo, who had no shortage of money, that was more of a cute quirk than a flaw.

But he couldn't rush things.

He was after an entire forest, not just a single tree.

"Try not to fall in love with me, okay?" Renzo teased.

"Wha—! I-I would never!"

Luna's face instantly turned bright red. She quickly cupped her cheeks with both hands, flustered.

"Unless... unless you can handle the pressure from every guy in this guild. Otherwise, don't joke about things like that—it could cause real trouble!" she huffed.

"Oh? So Luna-san is quite popular around here, huh? Must be a real headache for you," Renzo said casually.

Before she could answer, he grabbed the recruitment notice he had just written and walked over to the guild's job board. With a swift motion, he pinned it up before turning back to Luna, who had followed him.

"Why would you say that?" she asked curiously.

Usually, when people hear that someone is popular, their first reaction is to think that person is lucky, right?

In fact, many of the young women in the guild—and even in all of Axel—looked at Luna with either admiration or jealousy because of the attention she got.

"Because you're a kind person, Luna-san," Renzo said with a knowing smile. "And this isn't what you actually want, is it? Being the center of attention might sound nice, but for someone with your personality, it's not a blessing or a stroke of luck—it's just a burden, isn't it?"

Luna's gaze locked onto his for a long moment before she finally looked away with a sigh.

"...Yeah. I guess things feel different depending on who you are. This whole situation has been a huge headache for me," she admitted. "Do you have any way to fix it, Renzo-san?"

"Who knows?" Renzo grinned, spreading his hands. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Guess we'll find out. Anyway, you should get back to work—there are newbies waiting for you to register them."

"Huh?! Oh! R-Right! I'll get going!"

Luna hurried off, a mixture of flustered embarrassment and a strange sense of expectation lingering in her expression.

Meanwhile, Renzo found an empty table in the guild hall, ordered some snacks and drinks, and leaned back comfortably as he took a sip.

According to his senses, the people he was waiting for were already on their way here.

"Oi, kid!"

Just then, a familiar voice called out.

Renzo looked up to see the same bald adventurer he had met on his first day at the guild—the one who had kindly explained the registration process to him. The man was carrying a bottle of alcohol and plopped down in the seat across from him.

"Oh, hey, old bro! Something on your mind?" Renzo asked with a smile.

"Well..."

The bald adventurer took a swig from his bottle before leaning forward and lowering his voice.

"Not much, really—just wanted to give you a heads-up. I saw you getting a little close to Luna-san earlier, and, well... You should be careful."

"The guild's got plenty of hardcore Luna fanboys, and if they think you're getting too friendly with her, they might try to make trouble for you."

He sighed before adding, "Honestly, I can't stand those guys. Because of them, Luna-san's been under so much pressure that she hasn't even been able to properly look for her own happiness."

Then, the bald man gave Renzo a serious look.

"So tell me, kid... Do you think you'll be the one to bring Luna-san real happiness?"

Renzo stared at him, speechless.

Man, gossip really was part of human nature.

Even in another world, it seemed like that much hadn't changed.

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