I Formed a Party with a Girl via an Adventurer Matching App - Chapter 5
The After-Party
Upon returning to town, we headed straight to the Adventurer's Guild to report our successful subjugation of the Violet Dragon.
It was bound to sound like a fishy, highly suspect report—claiming that a mere duo had taken down a boss monster with a 100-million-Norgle bounty—but the moment we presented the Violet Dragon’s horn as proof, the kill was instantly verified. However, due to the astronomical size of the bounty, we were told the payout would be processed at a later date.
Honestly, I didn't mind that part at all... but what was up with that guild receptionist? The entire time we were reporting our kill, she kept shooting us smug, knowing grins, practically broadcasting the telepathic message:
"So, it seems your absolute ultimate compatibility has been proven by none other than your own combined strength, hasn't it? (Heh... points finger knowingly)."
What was her deal anyway? Maybe she was holding a petty grudge because we had both whined and complained about the match being a total mistake earlier.
Once all the paperwork was finished and we left the Adventurer's Guild behind, it was time to head out for our after-party to celebrate the Violet Dragon's defeat, just as we had promised back in the dungeon.
Usually, an adventuring victory party meant going to a tavern. Since I knew a cheap, delicious place I frequented, I tried to lead Cordelia there, but—
"Huh? A tavern for the masses? Denied!"
"Why?! Taverns are great. The ale is cheap, and their grilled whole Salamander is absolutely to die for..."
"What exactly are you trying to make me eat?! Just imagining something that grotesque gives me the chills!"
"Hey, you don't have to go that far. Grilled whole Salamander is actually really good."
"Besides! Being seen out in public with a total loser like you would be an utter embarrassment! There is absolutely no way I'm doing that!"
Cordelia thrust a slender index finger directly at me as she laid down the law.
"Fine. If you hate taverns so much, where do you want to go?"
"Let's see. How about your room? I'd say you're incredibly lucky to have someone like me visit your apartment. Surely you aren't going to turn me down?"
"I won't turn you down, but..."
"Perfect. Then—"
"Just so you know, it's a room shared by six day-laborer adventurers where we sleep on the floor on unmade futons. You cool with that?"
"HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU THINK I'D BE COOL WITH THAT?!?!?!?!"
Cordelia rejected my room so violently I thought her neck might snap. You're the one who brought it up...
"You hate taverns. You hate my room. You hate everything. Then where exactly is a good place to go?"
"What you have isn't a 'room.' It's a garbage dump."
"Ouch. Harsh."
Realizing her plan had fallen through, Cordelia clutched her head with both hands, a look of pure agony on her face.
After a long moment, she opened her mouth with a deeply reluctant sigh.
"……I really, really don't want to do this. But just for today, I suppose I'll let you come to my room……"
……And that was the sequence of events that led to me being brought to Cordelia's apartment.
"Whoa. So this is your place, Cordelia."
"Hey! Stop snooping around my room like that!"
Cordelia shrieked in embarrassment, though I couldn't see anything she actually needed to be embarrassed about. The place was incredibly stylish and sophisticated.
Apparently, after graduating from the Academy, Cordelia had purchased a room in this apartment complex right as she started out as an adventurer. The apartment was located in a prime real estate district, and you could tell at a single glance that it was a brand-new building. It didn't look like the kind of place a rookie adventurer—let alone a freshly graduated novice—would live in.
It was a corner room on the 7th floor of a 7-story building. The layout was a spacious two-bedroom apartment with a wide veranda. It had great natural lighting; during the day, it must get absolutely drenched in pleasant sunshine. The interior design was chic, featuring a large living room with a glass coffee table and a couch that looked incredibly comfortable to sink into. There was even a decorative planter stand arranged neatly against the wall. Since she had only recently moved in, there weren't many personal belongings around, but that actually gave it a clean, minimalist aesthetic.
"This is a pretty nice room."
"I told you, stop looking! I'll cast Blindness Magic on you!"
"Don't use dark magic to rip away my eyesight just because you don't want me looking at your room!"
"Ugh, seriously! You're the worst! I knew I shouldn't have brought a boorish barbarian like you here!"
"You're the one who suggested the after-party. If you hate your room this much, maybe we really should have gone to mine—"
"From what you told me, who in their right mind would willingly go to a dump shared by six rowdy thugs sleeping on unmade floor futons?!"
"……"
"See! You can't even argue back! You're a man, so start living in a room where you can actually bring a girl over anytime!"
Cordelia huffed, breathing heavily in anger, before suddenly muttering in a tiny, quiet voice:
"Especially since... we might actually do it... There's no way I'm doing that in a creepy room like yours."
She had probably mumbled that unconsciously, so I didn't have the guts to press her on the meaning behind those words.
After that, we enjoyed the food we had bought from street stalls on the way over, pairing it with wine that Cordelia fetched and served from her wine cellar (she has a wine cellar at home?!). Granted, there had been a whole dispute before she actually poured it, with her snapping, "Huh? Why do I have to let you drink my wine? Go lick the juice squeezed out of a dirty rag instead."...
Naturally, the main topic of conversation to pair with our drinks was our very first adventure together today. We talked about how great a certain movement was, how a specific monster was unexpectedly tough—there was no end to the stories.
"That massive Rock Scorpion with the ridiculously hard shell was a pretty tough opponent."
"Yes, it was! It looked like my Water Magic was its weakness, so that served as our breakthrough!"
"I haven't learned very many spells, so you really saved me there."
"But the only reason I was able to break its mobility and shatter its footing was because your swordplay kept hounding the Rock Scorpion after my Water Magic pushed it back!"
"Hahaha, it was nothing! ……Though, I'm still not entirely thrilled about the fact that you got carried away blasting water everywhere and ended up soaking me too."
"Hmph! You're a stray adventurer, so you probably haven't even taken a proper bath. I washed you out of the kindness of my heart!"
"I take baths, alright!"
"So what?! Getting all worked up just because you got a little wet—talk about a fragile ego!"
"What did you say?!"
"What about it?!"
……Our personalities were polar opposites, so a single wrong step would immediately cause things to devolve into a full-blown shouting match.
However, perhaps due to the lingering euphoria of defeating an SS-class monster like the Violet Dragon, our bickering never lasted very long, and we would quickly slide into the next topic.
And just like that, about two hours had passed since the start of our party.
Honestly. It wasn't like anything specific happened. But the rapid-fire conversational relay that had been flowing so perfectly between us suddenly... broke.
And in that exact instant, I'm sure both of us felt the exact same thought.
Now's the time.
Both of us took a sip of wine to wet our lips, silently eyeing each other as if trying to gauge the other's next move. It was a sensation that felt strangely similar to the electric, razor-sharp tension of facing down a ferocious monster.
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