Published: February 1, 2026
Miss Rizel, equipped and ready to accept a quest, visited the guild alone. She noticed the atmosphere was slightly different than usual, causing her to wonder inwardly if something had happened.
She first moved from the door to the reception counter. Strangely, there were fewer adventurers crowding the reception to grab quests early like usual. Glancing sideways at the adventurers bustling before the quest board, she headed toward Stud, who was free and quietly watching her.
“Good morning, Stud-kun,” Rizel greeted.
“Good morning,” he replied.
“Did something happen today?”
Rizel looked around and casually ran her hand once through Stud’s smooth hair.
The unconscious gesture didn’t continue; Stud watched her hand pull away with an expressionless face before looking up at her profile.
“Today is 'Free Party' day,” he said.
“Huh?”
Rizel blinked, and Stud pointed to the guild’s bulletin board.
There, a plate read “FREE PARTY DAY.” Judging by the name, it was probably a day when parties could be formed freely. However, Rizel couldn’t entirely grasp the full picture.
Adventurer parties weren’t something you were forced into; they were usually formed as one pleased. It didn’t seem like something that needed to be emphasized, so perhaps the meaning was not entirely literal.
“It’s an event proposed by our guild master,” Stud explained, reading her puzzled expression.
“It was created due to repeated troubles caused by party member poaching in the past. Most adventurers who caused problems wanted to return to their original parties because it was ‘not what they expected.’ So, they thought, ‘If only there was a way to try out parties beforehand,’ and that’s how this seemingly silly idea came about.”
“I see.”
Without knowing the premise of poaching, it looked like just a guild event.
Did it stop conflicts? Not entirely, but the guild believed it had somewhat reduced them. Nowadays, most adventurers enjoyed it as an event.
Originally, changing party members didn’t require guild permission. Once an adventurer changed, you just re-registered. As a result, this gimmick probably turned into a festival of sorts.
“Is the labyrinth okay with this?”
“On this day, any party is recognized as a party, as long as it’s not used for cheating.”
As expected of the labyrinth.
Rizel nodded once or twice. Yesterday, Jill had declared, “I won’t visit the guild today,” likely because of this. Adventurers might try to approach the lone Sars with a ‘worth a shot’ attitude.
But Rizel found this quite intriguing. If she could learn from other parties and feed that back into her own, her adventuring life could improve.
“Oh.”
Suddenly, an idea struck.
Looking down at Stud, who was quietly looking up at her while sitting, she smiled lightly.
“Shall we go to the labyrinth together?”
“I’ll go.”
His immediate answer came in a matter-of-fact tone as he tore off the badge from his collar.
A certain guild staff member next to them doing some paperwork looked twice at Stud. Adventurers standing before him furrowed their brows in confusion, and those about to hand over quest forms to Stud froze mid-step.
A surprising guild staff poaching!
“R-Rizel, wait a moment… um…”
“Yes.”
After politely turning down the adventurer who was in the middle of registration, the staff member next to her nervously opened his mouth.
Under the icy gaze, he timidly said, “Stud, I don’t think it’s possible…”
“Didn’t you say he’s off today?”
“He’s off but can go.”
“Well, you see, guild staff entering the labyrinth as adventurers is impossible, I think… Stud, stop staring!”
The flustered staff member returned to his paperwork, and Rizel glanced at Stud, who seemed to understand the situation as he silently sat back down after trying to stand. Maybe he was betting on the possibility of going today and decided to try.
And he was prepared to step back if it didn’t work out.
“We can’t just leave you waiting outside the labyrinth,” Rizel said.