Kenshi, The Spirit Swordsman

Chapter 41

Yuuki: Mr. Shin! Let me introduce you! These are my comrades from my guild, the Sleeping Knights!

Apparently, I was in a small inn with Yuuki and her guild.

Everyone started to introduce themselves, one by one.

Jun: I'm Jun. Nice to meet you, Mr. Shin!

Talken: A-And I... Uh... My name is Talken. I-I-I look forward to- Ouch!

The girl sat next to him hit him.

Nori: It's about time you got over that stage fright, Tal. You always get like that the second you're in someone's presence! I'm Nori! I'm really glad to meet you, Mr. Shin!

Siune: Nice to meet you! I'm Siune! Thank you so much for coming!

Tecchi: My name is Tecchi. Pleasure to meet you.

Yuuki: And... I'm more or less the guild leader, Yuuki!

She grabbed both of my hands and leaned her face closer to mine.

Yuuki: Mr. Shin! You see, we want to defeat the Boss monster on this floor... With only our members!

Shin: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on for a minute.

I went to their table and sat down, along with Yuuki.

Shin: Normally, boss raids are taken on by 7 parties of 7 people, a 49-person raid, aren't they? So no matter how skilled you might be, just seven people... would be a bit unrealistic, if you ask me.

Yuuki: Yeah, it was beyond unrealistic! You see, we tried to take on the 25th and 26th Floor bosses as well...

I surprised.

Shin: Just the six of you?

Yuuki: Yep. Personally, I think we put up a pretty good fight, but while we were adjusting our strategy, a huge guild beat us to the punch.

Shin: But why would you be so reckless?

Siune: We met in the online community of a certain game... We really hit it off and became friends. But unfortunately, we can only go on these journeys together until next spring, probably. All of us will be busy then for our respective reasons, so... We decided that, before disbanding our team, we'd create the one memory that we'd never forget, no matter what.

Shin: And that would be this boss raid?

Siune: Yes, if we defeat a Boss monster, then our names will be recorded on the Monument of Swordsmen. You know, the one in the Black Iron Palace, in the Town of Beginnings on the First Floor. We know it's all about self-satisfaction, but we want to get our names inscribed on that monument, no matter what. But there's one problem...

Shin: ?

Siune: If a boss is defeated by a single party, then all of its members' names get inscribed. But in the case of multiple parties, they only record the names of the party leaders. In other words, to leave inscription of the names of all the Sleeping Knights on that monument, we must take on the boss as a single party. And so we talked it over and arrived at this consensus. The maximum is seven players to a party. So we would search for someone either as strong, or even stronger than Yuuki, our most powerful player. And see if we could ask them to join our party.

Shin: Oh... So that's why you were dueling.

Siune: What do you think? Will you accept this proposition? We may not be able to compensate you sufficiently, but...

She opened her menu and sent me an amount of Yuld through trade request. I declined it.

Shin: Ah, no need to. These boss raids cost a fortune as it is, so you should use what money you have to cover those expenses. If you want to reward me, you can give me something the boss drops.