A Certain Middle-Aged Man’s VRMMO Activity Log - Chapter 84

It’s almost like a Party of Beginners

— Thud-!
“Pigi-!” thud … when I, who have become one member of a 5 person party, took down a High Rabbit all by myself, the other members said things like, “N,no way …” “He seriously, all by himself …” Good grief.

As for why I entered the 4s party, this is the back-and-forth conversation that happened.

────────────────────────

“Proprietor, why are you turning over here for this?!”

With the 4 people watching, the Proprietor came over. And this is what the Proprietor said.

“These guys are far too inexperienced. At this rate, if someone doesn’t put a stop to this, I believe that sooner or later, they will quickly return to the goddess’ side, na; different from you, one of the experts, we have no chance to start over, see. Therefore I would like you, who fought together with Zetan-dono, to show your strength and reveal just a part of the ocean they’re trying to traverse.1”

– – I do get what he’s trying to say.

“Maa, this just might be the soft-heartedness one feels for their own kind. Even if it’s just this once, wouldn’t you be willing to listen to my request? It would be a request from me to be the 4 of them’s escort; how about a reward of ten thousand glo?”

A request, ne … well, fine

“I got it … they’re already quite down from your words; later on, if I give them that ‘soft-hearted’ evaluation and they get depressed, is that going to be ok?”

To those words, the inn’s proprietor nodded.

“Right, if you fight as usual, that will be more than enough to make them feel depressed, I suppose. If they don’t get that sort of experience, they won’t be able to live very long from hereon after, ho-ho-ho-ho.”

────────────────────────

And now we go back to the hunting, or rather the subjugation, from the beginning.
We’re being faced with the subjugation duty that the Queen had officially announced.
And as for the all important 4 people, if I make an honest confession, I’m already beginning to regret coming out with them.

In regards to the party formation, the tank is Mia, the physical attacker is Roa, the healer is Colin, and the magic attacker is Lility, so it’s a good, balanced formation, but …
How should I say it; I can’t think of anything other than that they joined up together while only thinking of that balance.

It seems like they were thinking of the fundamental formations’ vanguard and rear-guard assignments, but …

Mia the tank has the Provoke Skill as her main and isn’t attacking much; I’m not going to tell her to spam Arts, but even she sees a definite opening on a monster, she won’t hit it with a low cost Art and is completely focused on guarding.

Meanwhile, Roa is going in to strike.
Without so much as minding the relative position, so therefore every now and then he’ll hit Mia’s shield with his two-handed sowrd; oi oi, are you intending to kill your ally?!
Thanks to that, not only does Mia have to frantically hide behind her shield, the chance to attack is also lost.

For Lility, Roa and Mia like THAT are being a shield in a bad meaning, and it seems she can’t get a chance to hit a monster.
Because of THAT, she doesn’t shoot enough magic, and when she does shoot it hits Roa or Mia.
On top of that, because it’s understood that she should be in the back, she’s just staying in the back without moving.
It seems she doesn’t think about going to find a target herself to shoot at all.

And then, in this horrible inefficiency, or rather, this mess of inability to cooperate, the healer, Colin is forced to take the burden. He’s probably used up all his MP for them to defeat one High Rabbit; he’s crouched down and short of breath, breathing heavily; he’s not going to be able to use anything other than recovery magic, na.

Seeing the 4 people fight, I can understand.
Aa, just like the inn’s proprietor said, at this rate they’re going to end up at their goddess’ side; no, without glossing it over and saying it clearly, at this rate, in the near future, this 4 person party is going to be completely annihilated.

At a glance Roa seems to be especially awful, but there’s Mia, who’s obsessed with the idea that tanks are to protect and won’t attack when she has the chance; she draws the monsters to her and they crowd around at her sides; Lility, who burns the opponents with moderate firepower, doesn’t think of using buff magic; and Colin who, although he’s a healer, he hasn’t used any support magic and is unable to do anything other than heal.
It’s a party full of problems, na; it’s amazing they’ve survived until now…

In front of the party that’s breathing wildly while crouched down and taking a break, right now I’ve brought down a number of High Rabbits by myself; and that’s why the 4 said those statements at the beginning
Of course I’m being vigilant along with using Danger Perception; right now there are not monsters coming towards here.

“How many hours are you going to rest; we’re not within the city walls, you know.”

I fire that statement at their really, way too defenseless appearance.
It’s not like I’ve been made the leader or anything, but they’re just crouching there without any awareness of their surroundings.
If War Goblins saw them like this, in a blink of an eye they’d be wiped out.

“J,just a little longer…”

At Lility’s words, I understand fully how much self-awareness they have and I frown.
Do they not have any interest in living long as wandering fairies?
It would be better for them to retire and find work in the city, but I guess the won’t, huh?
— Thud-! Went my arrow into a High Rabbit, and an arrow punched through the Thief Bird that came flying down and killed it; this makes 7 now.

“Is a bow and arrow really that strong…?”

Is what Mia asked. Good grief…

“If you’re talking about the ability to cause wounds, Roa’s two-handed sword and the one-handed sword Mia carries would be stronger, you know. Furthermore, a bow is a lot more difficult to handle than a sword; there isn’t anyone who will be able to fight immediately after switching weapons to a bow.”

At these words, Mia hung her head. But I can’t afford not to say it like this.
If she changes her weapon on a misunderstanding, and with that influence excessively fights and then dies, if I found out it would leave an awful taste in my mouth.

“In the end, it’s not the weapons but we ourselves that are the problem; is that how it is?”

To Colin’s question I say, “Or like, the mountain of problems is so high, I can’t help but think you’re trying to die.”
Hearing those words, Colin got teary-eyed.

“Exactly where are the problems …?”

Roa said that with a half-angry tone;
“Think about how many times you hit Mia with an attack. Even if she had a shield, what are you trying to do, attacking your ally? Watch your surroundings and the timing before you attack. Rather than swinging a lot, make a single attack that counts; that’s what a two-handed sword is for, right?”
When I make that reply, he shuts his mouth.

“… It can’t be helped; for just a little bit, I’ll have watch over your troubles, na.”

Even if I leave it like this, as long as they don’t die, this time’s escort request will be a success, but like this the inn’s proprietor probably won’t hand over the 10 thousand glo.
It can’t be helped, so let’s meet the inn proprietor’s expectations.

────────────────────────

“Mia! Right there, if you see an opening in the High Rabbit’s guard, use Slash to strike at the opening! Roa! At that place it’s going to recoil from Mia’s Slash, swing your sword down vertically to deal additional damage! Even if you miss, don’t hit Mia!
Lility, you can move a little bit from side to side to find a target to shoot, and then shoot through it with Fire Lance!
Colin, keep an eye on the entire field; if it seems dangerous, predict it and then start chanting the aria ahead of time!”

Starting with one-the-spot teaching tactics isn’t exactly a sane venture, but if I don’t do this, these 4 will immediately be in danger of dying.
Fortunately, the other parties who left early have reduced the numbers, so thanks to the monsters being spread out here and there, we have the concentration to spare to do it this way.
Although I am, as always, being vigilant with Danger Perception always on.

— And now some time has passed since I started instructing them on how to fight.

“That’s right, Mia, don’t just provoke them, use your attacks to attract their attention as well! Don’t just constantly have your shield up, ready your shield and parry it at the pivotal spot! Roa, steady on! Don’t recklessly swing and watch for the timing to attack! Since if you get one hit in, the monster will take heavy damage, na! Lility, do you get it!? While the two vanguards have the monster’s attention, you can fire off magic with some decent firepower without getting targeted! That’s right, Colin, it’s not just recovery, raising the defenses is also your job!”

The effects of the couching are already showing, huh; after around 5 High Rabbits were subjugated, their movements have improved.
Mia is also making attacks, Roa has stopped attacking his allies, Lility is no longer just staying in the back and has understood how to move a little and shoot, and Colin has also started to use support buffs.
These results have clearly begun to show; at the beginning, just defeating 1 had the entire group on collapsed on the ground, but now after defeating 5 of them, even though their breathing is a little disordered, they’re not collapsing.

“We … can fight … better than expected…”

Breathing ze ze, Roa spilled that out briskly.

“Or like, for not knowing how to fight, it’s amazing you lived so long, na…”

At my words, the 4 averted their eyes.
I understand their feelings, but if you continue to suck, you won’t be here anymore, you know…?

“The inn proprietor anticipated this, so that must be why he stuck us with him…”

At Mia’s spacy words, “—You are probably correct,” I responded so with all of my heart.

“We were really screwed up all over the place, ne…”

Getting her breathing under control, Lility said that. If they realize it to this extent, they probably won’t be rushing to an early death.

“Right then; if you understand that much, then let’s continue the subjugation. You don’t want to receive a spanking from Her Majesty the Queen, right?”

At these words the 4 nodded. Finally, they can now make movements that look like they’re doing subjugation work.

SKILLS
[Wind-Blown Hunting Bow]Lv15 ↑2UP
[Assaulting Kick]Lv22
[Farsight]Lv52 ↑1UP
[Craftsmanship]Lv55
[Small Shield]Lv 6
[Stealth]Lv41
[Physical Ability Reinforcement]Lv32 ↑1UP
[Chivalrous Thief]Lv24 ↑2UP
[Whip]Lv37
[Fairy Language]Lv99 (Forced Acquisition) (Unable to be moved to Reserved Skills)

Reserved Skills
[Woodworking]Lv34
[Blacksmithing]Lv39
[Alchemy]Lv42
[Advanced Cooking]Lv10

ExP 4

Titles Possessed:  The One who Charmed Even the Fairy Queen, The One who Defeated a Great Foe Alone, Liberator, ???
“The Fairy Queen’s Husband-san”, “Chef of the Battlefield-san”

A/N: The behavior of those who know the so-called battle knowledge teaching those who don’t know it is also aimed at by One More, that aims to make another world.
Here there is not distinction between players and AI.