Jack of All Trades, Party of None

After parting ways with the members of the tenth squad, I was now heading to the war room of the first squad with Ms. Selma.

Apparently, the others could also make time, so an impromptu meeting was arranged.

“Still, Sophia manifested her supernatural ability…”

Ms. Selma murmured with an expression that made it hard to tell whether she was happy or sad.

“Yeah, and it’s quite versatile. I think Sophie will only get stronger from here. Aren’t you pleased, Ms. Selma?”

“No, of course I’m happy. But with this, Sophia’s value has increased…”

I see, Ms. Selma is worried about Sophie’s future.

A supernatural ability is a unique power that others don’t possess.

Up until now, Sophie hadn’t been treated like a noble daughter by her family.

She has since left home, and her ties with her family have become so thin that it’s almost fair to say they’re non-existent.

However, now that Sophie has manifested her supernatural ability, the possibility of being used as a tool for political marriage is not insignificant.

“…Got it. I’ll be careful not to let Sophie’s supernatural ability become too widely known.”

“Sorry, and thank you.”

The Claudel family, huh.

I hadn’t paid much attention since I hadn’t heard any bad rumors and Sophie had little connection with them, but I’ll keep a closer eye on their movements from now on.

“It’s only natural for someone who cares about Sophie. —Ah, by the way, there was something I wanted to ask you, Ms. Selma.”

While thinking about Sophie and Ms. Selma, I remembered something I wanted to confirm with her.

“What is it?”

“Sophie’s uniform—did you give it to her as a present?”

Even though Sophie is a newcomer, her uniform differs in design from those other newcomers wear.

There’s no rule that newcomers must wear the uniform designed specifically for them.

Besides, it’s not a problem if someone doesn’t wear the uniform during dungeon exploration.

However, the material used for the explorers’ uniforms is wool from Noxious Sheep. Unless someone is particular, the uniform suffices, so everyone ends up wearing it after all.

“Well, I guess it’s a present. Sophia said she wanted to become an explorer, so I handed down my old uniform to her. It’s like a hand-me-down. Why do you ask?”

“Actually, after the thanksgiving festival ends, I want them to challenge the 30th layer again. Of course, if they don’t want to, I won’t force it. This time I’ll accompany them, and I feel like they want to take on the challenge. If that happens, they will almost certainly reach the 31st layer.”

“That sounds about right. Even though Sophia hasn’t fully mastered her supernatural ability, she has acquired parallel construction. I also watched the other two during mock battles with Orun, and they seemed capable of easily clearing layers up to the upper levels. They should be able to conquer the 30th layer without a problem.”

“Yeah, once they reach the 31st layer, they won’t be considered newcomers anymore. I heard from Ms. Estella that usually the exploration management department prepares the uniforms, but I want to gift one myself. So, if Sophie has a special attachment to the uniform she’s wearing now, I need to think about it.”

“I see. Like I said earlier, that’s my hand-me-down. If Sophia wants to wear something else, I’ll respect her wishes.”

“Got it. Then I’ll prepare something on my end. Well, if she doesn’t like my design, she’ll probably stick with the current one…”

“Heh, I don’t think that will happen.”

◇

While we were talking, we arrived at the war room.

When we arrived, it was just the two of us, but after waiting a bit, everyone gathered.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

“Yeah. With everyone except Selma being so busy, it’s been about a week since we last met as a whole, hasn’t it?”

“Time flew by. I also had that many interviews for the first time in a while.”

“Well, we’re the third hero parties to reach the 93rd layer. But the ones who were particularly busy were Selma’s boss and—Orun, right?”