Although we welcomed Rine as a companion, the two of us alone weren’t enough to be called a “party.”
Not figuratively, but literally.
In this world, it takes at least three people to officially be considered a party.
It was actually written into law—some kind of Adventurer’s Guild Act or whatever.
When filling out contracts or commissions, the concept of a party is defined as starting with three members.
In other words, we needed at least one more person before we could begin our real journey.
And that one person just so happened to be in this very city.
***
Thud!
A dull thump echoed as a hard object slammed against a wooden board.
This was followed by a clattering sound, like small objects bumping into one another.
“Come on, come on! Keep it moving!”
Fitting for a city known for its booze, the tavern was packed even though it was still broad daylight.
Among the noisy crowd, one place stood out for being especially rowdy.
In that spot, where cheers and groans clashed—
“It hit! It hiiiiit!!”
“No way! No way, how did that happen?! Aaaagh!!”
—was a classic gambling scene in full swing.
Dice rolled across the table, clinking gold coins accompanied every eye roll, and mugs of ale sloshed with movement.
“Who do you think’s gonna win this round?”
“That young lady looks like she’s on a lucky streak today.”
Spectators gathered to witness the spectacle—most with a drink in hand—cheering and groaning along with the gamblers.
“Hahaha! Man, today luck’s really on my side!”
And among them, one person stood out far more than the rest.
“Sorry in advance, gents! Looks like I’m cleaning you out today~”
She was someone who couldn’t help but draw attention.
First off, she was a half-elf—a rare mix, and even more so, half-dark elf.
Even among elves, who were already known to be aloof from humans, dark elves were the most reclusive.
They were obsessed with blood purity and actively avoided contact with other races.
A half-human, half-dark elf was so rare you might not meet one in a lifetime—maybe not even across the entire continent.
“Alright, I’m betting blind this time, boys. If you’re scared, just die already.”
And despite being surrounded by large, intimidating men, she didn’t shrink back in the slightest.
In fact, she led the atmosphere with confidence.
The pile of gold coins stacked before her was impressive, but what stood out even more was the single dagger planted beside the stack.
It sat there boldly, as if to say: try anything funny, and you’ll be stabbed.
“C’mon, show me a six! Six! Six!”
There was no mistaking it—she was in complete control of the table.
“Boom! Six it is!”
“You’re kidding me?!”
One way or another.
“Did you see that? You saw that, right?! Ahahaha!”
Then it happened.
“You cheating little bitch!!”
Wham!
A man slammed the table and stood up violently.
He stomped over to her, each step as heavy as the smack he had just dealt the table.
Seeing this, she uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet just as fast.
“Cheating, you say?”
She stared him down, her chin slightly raised, not flinching at all from his angry glare.
“Didn’t you see? I bet completely blind.”
Her expression said, “Try me.”
“That’s cheating! How the hell could you have known it’d land on a six?!”
“I told you—I didn’t know.”
“Bullshit!”
“How the hell would I know what’s under a covered cup? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You little scammer…!”
As she kept mocking him, the man lost it and grabbed her by the collar.
At that, other men nearby started rising from their seats, clearly agitated.
“Hey, old man.”
Still wearing a smug smile, she chuckled softly.
“Isn’t this a bit pathetic? A grown man throwing a tantrum just because he lost a few dice games to a girl? What do you think people in this town are gonna say about you?”
“…!”
The man suddenly swallowed hard.
Judging by his frozen expression, you might think he’d been struck speechless by her words.
But that wasn’t the real reason.
“You’re overcompensating, old man.”
More specifically—below him.
The tip of the dagger, which had been firmly planted in the table just moments ago, was now pointed squarely between his legs.
“You’re just small.”
Move even slightly, and he’d get stabbed.
“Ugh…!”
Tension filled the air, thick enough to slice.
It was broken by one of the spectators, who placed a hand on the angry man’s shoulder.
“Alright, alright, you’ve had too much to drink.”
“She’s right. There’s no way she could’ve seen under that cup.”
“We were all just playing for fun, weren’t we? You’re too into it.”
As others chimed in, offering similar words of reason—
“…Fuck!”
The man finally let go of her collar with a curse.
She calmly adjusted her disheveled outfit like nothing had happened.
Watching the whole scene, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.
“You saw that, didn’t you?”
I turned to Rine and asked.
“A half-elf.”
Her reply was cool and uninterested, as if none of it concerned her.
“That guy got completely cleaned out just now.”
“Huh?”
“She swiped everything—bracelet, necklace, wallet—while he was distracted.”
Rine tilted her head, clearly not following.
Honestly, even I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been watching closely, already knowing what she was capable of.
Her [sleight of hand] was so fast and flashy, you’d miss it if you blinked.
When he first grabbed her collar, she brushed past his wrist—taking the bracelet.
As the commotion drew others to their feet and heads turned for a moment—she snatched the necklace.
And when he let go of her collar, she “retrieved” her dagger—snapping the cord that held his wallet.
She completely cleaned out the guy who had his eyes wide open the whole time.
“Too bad for you, old man~”
“Y-you little…!”
Ting!
She flicked a coin at him.
He instinctively caught it, fuming.
“Bye-bye~”
She blew him a kiss, clearly to rile him up, and he stormed off without another word.
That sly smile she wore as she watched him leave—it was very familiar to me.
Of course it was.
“Ah, wait. I need a drink too! One beer over here!”
Her name was Evelyn.
Better known among rogue-class players as “Evie,” she was the “thief” I had come looking for.
“Shall we continue?”
Oh, and by the way, the angry guy was right.
That whole gambling table? Completely rigged.
Either way, it was set up so Evie would eventually take every coin from everyone at that table.
If that guy had calmly gathered evidence of cheating, like many players tend to do, and filed a proper complaint, Evie would’ve been the one in trouble.
But he didn’t, and he paid the price for it.
Evie chuckled to herself and took a long swig from the mug the bartender handed her.
She drained nearly half of it in one go, then briefly grimaced—only to quickly lick the foam from her lips with a smirk.
“Are you bothered by that half-elf?”
“Hm? Well, yeah.”
I mean, I came to this bar to find her in the first place.
But I couldn’t take her with me just yet.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one looking for her.
“Huaaaam.”
Out of nowhere, Evie opened her mouth wide in a huge yawn.
She rubbed the back of her neck and rolled a bundle of coins between her hands, but her drooping eyes showed she couldn’t shake off the sleepiness.
“…Why am I suddenly so tired…?”
Thud!
Suddenly, Evie collapsed forward onto the table.
“…?”
It happened so abruptly that most people didn’t even panic—they just looked confused.
“…What the heck?”
As she lay slumped over, not moving, the crowd just stared blankly at her.
“Pffff.”
Evie, somehow, began to snore.
Turns out, she was just knocked out cold.
Once it was confirmed her life wasn’t in danger, someone let out a sigh of relief.
Then, silence returned to the table.
The eyes of the gamblers and onlookers moved faster than the dice ever had, darting left and right.
“E-Everyone.”
One of the gamblers finally spoke.
“That money, I mean… she won it fair and square, right…?”
Even as he said that, his gaze stayed glued to the mountain of gold coins.
“So maybe we shouldn’t get any ideas—”
Of course not.
“Woooo!!”
Crash!
The table flipped.
“Out of the way! It’s mine!”
Gamblers and spectators alike all rushed the table.
Evie’s pile of coins spilled across the floor with a chorus of jingles.
“Let go! I grabbed it first!”
“Aaaargh!”
“Who bit me?!”
Crack!
A chair broke.
Clink!
A glass shattered.
Thud!
A punch landed.
In short, a full-blown brawl broke out.
And as the chaos spread across the entire bar, someone suddenly appeared—lifting Evie’s limp body off the floor and slinging her over their shoulder.
“Let’s go, Rine.”
With that, I stood up and gently tapped Rine’s arm, who was silently watching the chaos unfolding before her.
It was time to recruit one more ‘companion.’
But before that, there was someone I needed to visit first.
“Hey.”
The staff member who had hidden behind the counter to avoid the brawl.
“Who—”
“You still have some of that sleeping drug you put in the drinks, right?”
“…Excuse me?”
The one who had brought the drink to Evie earlier.
“You know, the one someone gave you with a fat tip, telling you to mix it into the drink for the half-elf. Said it’d just put her to sleep, nothing dangerous.”
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking abou—”
『Hand it over.』
“—!”
***
Shhhk… shhhk…
Evie slowly opened her eyes to the rhythmic scraping sound.
She quickly realized it was the sound of a blade being sharpened.
Startled, she tried to move, but all she heard was the clinking of chains.
“…Ha.”
Only then did she realize she was hanging, bound in chains, and let out a dry laugh.
“Shit, for real.”
Then she turned to the man with the menacing face who was sharpening the blade in front of her.
“You from Tiaria?”
“The boss is very angry, Evelyn.”
“Well, of course he is.”
“He said we could do whatever we want with you until we recover the treasure you stole from the vault.”
“Damn old bastard. I already pawned all that junk ages ago, and he’s still obsessing over it.”
“Where is it, Evelyn?”
“I just told you, you dumbass. I pawned it.”
Evie snorted and shook her head in disbelief.
The man stopped sharpening his blade and stomped over to her.
“You think this is funny? Huh? Are you laughing right now?”
“Shit, you guys are the funny ones. What do you expect me to do?”
“…Let’s see how long you can keep laughing.”
He crossed his arms with a look of disbelief, then gave a slight nod.
Three others got up and approached Evie, each holding some kind of tool.
“Ah, hey, hey! Wai—wait!”
Seeing them, Evie suddenly started struggling as if she remembered something.
“Ha… yeah, okay, I remember now. I’ll tell you. Where I hid it.”
Her sudden change in attitude made the man suspicious, but he still approached slowly as Evie beckoned him closer, saying, “I’ll tell only you.”
“Your mo—”
“In einem Bächlein helle, Da schoß in froher Eil~”
Suddenly, a song echoed from somewhere.
Everyone in the room, including Evie, turned their heads simultaneously.
“Huh?”
They couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Die launische Forelle vorüber wie ein Pfeil~”
A beautiful voice was singing, and someone was strolling in…
“What the hell is that?”
…carrying a ‘sack.’
“Ich stand an dem Gestade Und sah in süßer Ruh~”
***
Singing Schubert’s “Die Forelle,” I boldly walked toward the center of the “stage.”
Drawn by my sudden and unannounced [Performance], everyone present started gathering around me, almost hypnotized.
“Des muntern Fischleins Bade im klaren Bächlein zu~”
Everyone except for one—the shackled Evie.
The four who had been approaching her now circled around me, drawn by the song.
“Des muntern Fischleins Bade im klaren Bächlein zu~”
As I finished the first verse, the song stopped, and a round of applause erupted from my “audience,” wrapping up the [Performance] in questionable success.
Clap, clap, clap!
I responded with an exaggerated bow.
“Thank you, everyone.”
What followed wasn’t a flood of handshake requests—
“But who the hell are you?”
Instead, as soon as the clapping stopped, the cross-armed man shot me a question.
“I’m a bard, wandering the area.”
“Wandering? …In a warehouse this far out?”
“What a ridiculous—”
Honestly, even I thought it was a ridiculous excuse.
However—
[Persuasion]
Difficulty: 22
CRITICAL SUCCESS
“…Well, I suppose that kind of thing can happen sometimes.”
“What an amazing coincidence.”
To them, it must’ve sounded like a logical and convincing explanation.
“What the hell are you wearing on your head? Are you a bandit?”
“It’s fashion.”
“Fashion, huh… fashion’s gotten really weird these days.”
“Must be a bard thing…”
I had a ‘Charisma’ that made even nonsense sound reasonable.
“I had heard so much about the beauty of this city and wanted to take in every corner, so I wandered around and ended up here.”
I already knew these guys were after Evie.
But starting a fight at a bar would’ve been too risky, especially after just returning from the hidden slave auction house.
Even though the auction/brewery—one of their major operations—was reduced to ashes overnight, the company itself wasn’t ruined.
Everyone in the know still knew.
I still needed to stay in Stout for a while longer, and drawing attention now wouldn’t help.
“Well, okay…? Anyway, thanks for the song.”
“Sorry, but we’re a little busy here. Go sightsee somewhere else.”
“Of course. I won’t bother you any further.”
So yes, it was best to handle this quietly.
“But still, I believe this chance meeting was guided by Lord Shtarion.”
I lifted the wine bottle in my hand and gave it a gentle shake.
“Since fate brought us together, how about a single drink in honor of Lord Shtarion?”
Of course, it wasn’t just wine.
It was wine spiked with a sleeping potion.
One sip would put you to sleep for ten turns.
This was the same drug they used on Evie.
An eye for an eye.
“…You want us to drink? Here?”
“Aren’t we in the city of alcohol?”
They looked at me like I was insane—singing out of nowhere and now offering wine.
“Well… maybe?”
Bards were known to be eccentric and fond of drinking, after all.
[Persuasion]
Difficulty: 18
CHA Modifier: +25
Buff: [Joyful]
In any case, the math was the same—just don’t roll a 1.
If I had only one die, the chance would’ve been 1 in 6.
Pretty risky.
But I had two dice.
The chance of both landing on 1 was only 1 in 36.
Less than 3%.
And even if I did roll a critical failure, the [Attention Seeker] trait granted me one reroll.
Which meant a 1 in 1296 chance—about 0.07%.
In short, I was practically guaranteed success.
This wasn’t gambling.
It was math.
“?”
CRITICAL FAILURE
…Well, yeah, I mean—technically, it can happen.
Even with less than a 3% chance.
If that never happened, then wouldn’t all gacha game companies be scammers?
(And yes, if you object, you’re probably right.)
[Joyful] buff effect activated!
Anyway, I had a reroll, so it was fine.
Worst-case, I could even use the “Star Moment” skill.
But using a once-per-day ability that turns a 0% into 100% on something I already had a 99.93% chance of success?
That’d just be dumb.
Like seriously, what were the odds of rolling double 1s twice?
“??”
CRITICAL FAILURE
Suddenly, your hand slips, and you drop the wine bottle.
“When did that happen?” I thought—but by then, my body was already moving on its own.
In my attempt to save the bottle from hitting the floor—
“Oh.”
CLANK!
—I ended up smashing it squarely over a thug’s head.
Cliche Novel 
Thank for the chapter !
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