While on their way to the slums, Sophie suggested deciding on a name for their party.

Ryu, having considered it a temporary party, naturally hadn't thought about a name.

Ryu: "I have no intention of continuing this party for long."

Ryu stated it clearly.

Sophie: "Why? Is it because we're not strong enough?"

Ryu: "You're all just here to experience being adventurers. You'll all eventually return to the capital."

Betty: "That's natural. Sophie-sama needs to return to the capital and prepare for marriage to a suitable person for the sake of the country."

Sophie: "I told you, my father said he doesn't want to marry me off. He said I'll eventually find a husband. Of course, I won't accept just anyone, it has to be a man worthy of me. I think I should consider Ryu as one of the candidates. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea when I told my brother, but now I think it's a pretty good idea, considering the country."

Sophie (turning to Marie and the others): "Or do you guys want to make Ryu an enemy?"

Asked that, Marie and the others slowly shook their heads, their faces pale.

Sophie: "Of course, I respect Ryu's feelings. It would be great if he liked me, but if he absolutely doesn't want to, I want to find a woman who Ryu would like from among the royalty or nobility."

Ryu: "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in human women."

Alice: "What? You have a preference for...?!"

Ryu: "...What? I'm not human, you know. The guild should have already figured it out... I'm not human, I'm a draconian."

Alice: "Draconian? Like a lizardman with horns and scales... Ryu doesn't look like a lizardman at all..."

Ryu: "I used to be human. When I was born in this world, I wished for power, and they turned me into a draconian."

Alice: "...You wished?"

Betty: "Here we go again. How much longer are you going to make up stories? Draconians only appear in fairytales. They're an extinct species from ancient times. It's questionable whether they even existed."

Ryu: "Well, anyway, I don't seem to be very interested in human women. I know it's hard to believe, but that's the truth."

Alice: "So you're not interested in human women, but draconian females...?"

Ryu: "Well, I've never met a draconian woman, so I don't know."

Alice, who was usually quiet, started talking a lot after Ryu said he wasn't interested in women. Ryu recognized this reaction from his past life. Could she be a "fujoshi"?

Betty: "You're trying to distract us with a fake story. Don't think you can fool us."

Ryu: "Huh? Do you guys want Sophie to marry me?"

Marie: "Of course not!"

Ryu: "Then you should just believe me. I'm not human, so I can't marry Sophie. Why don't you take the princess back to the capital quietly?"

Sophie: "I'm not going back. You might be trying to convince me to give up with some made-up story, but I'm going to start by earning Ryu's trust as a member of his party. As part of that process, it would be even better if Ryu understood my charm. That's all. Whether or not we get married is a different matter."

Ryu: "Well, I guess I can stick around for a while longer."

(Scene Change)

Ryu was wondering if he should continue with Sophie's party indefinitely and how things would turn out in the future. Suddenly, he noticed a tiny feeling within himself.

There was actually a reason Ryu, while saying he lacked cooperation skills and was fine being solo, accepted the party and continued, even if it was unintentionally.

Ryu had a lingering feeling about being in a party.

Ryu had been in a party once before in this world. He eventually got fired from that party, but it really made him happy that his childhood friends still remembered him and asked him to join them.

Even though he was fired, they treated him as a friend until that time, and those memories of working with the party were enjoyable for Ryu.

He wished he could have continued with that party. He was very sad when he was fired. That feeling was lingering in the back of his mind, and he was even a little happy about Sophie's insistence on continuing the party, even if it was a bit forceful.

However, since the memories of his past life in Japan came back, they became more frequent, heavily impacting Ryu's personality. He had lived a much longer life in Japan than in this world. The worldview from that world grew bigger, making the feelings and values of this world seem small in comparison. Because they were small, Ryu himself hadn't noticed them.

People's actions and choices are often influenced by feelings and impulses that rise from their subconscious, things they aren't even aware of. People sometimes act or choose differently than they think they should. The reason they can't always live as they wish is because of this influence.

The cause could be memories of their life experiences in this world or even past lives. Those who don't have memories of past lives are especially unaware of where these feelings and impulses come from. They remain in the subconscious, and because they are unconscious, they cannot be controlled.

However, if you can clearly become aware of your feelings and impulses, then if those feelings are small, it's easy to put them in order.

Realizing his feelings, Ryu would eventually make an objective decision about what to do next.

But for now, he thought it was fine to continue working as a party for a while without rushing to dissolve it.

Because, in fact...

...Ryu had a premonition that the party with Sophie and the others would soon be over.

Perhaps it was a warning from Ryu's foresight ability...

Ryu's foresight ability was mainly focused on imminent danger, but he could see further into the future if he wanted to.

But the future is uncertain. One choice can change everything, and the future can change drastically. Even a powerful foresight ability has a higher chance of being wrong the further into the future you look.

He wouldn't know what would happen until it did.

Ryu decided to stop thinking about it. There was no point in dwelling on it.

(Scene Change)

Sophie, noticing Ryu had gone quiet for a while, spoke.

Sophie: "S-so, what should we name our party? Ryu, what do you think?"

Ryu: "Well, how about 'The Rowdy Princess and Her Merry Companions'?"

Sophie: "It's a strange name, but... if that's what you want, then let's go with that."

Ryu: "No, I was just kidding..."

Marie and the others protested against "Rowdy Princess" immediately.

Sophie suggested "Ryu and His Merry Companions," but Ryu refused.

In the end, the party name was decided to be "Sophie and Her Merry Companions."

Ryu: "It turned out to be 'Merry Companions'... It sounds like something out of a fairy tale or a horror story."

Alice: "Draconian... So, it's not wrong..."

(Scene Change)

(While talking, they eventually reached the slums.)

Ryu ventured further into the slums.

The slums were not a safe place. It was quite dangerous the further they went. Perhaps due to Ryu destroying the criminal organization, there were no longer shady guys following them from afar, watching them with suspicious eyes when four young women walked around. It had been like that before.

But even if they were attacked, they had no problem; all of them were capable fighters.

They eventually reached the area where the criminal organization's base was located, but Ryu encountered a problem. He didn't know where Zone was.

He thought he could ask someone if he went further into the slums, but he didn't know where to go or who to ask. Furthermore, Ryu didn't know where the Silver Wolves' hideout was located.

He had come to the area where the criminal organization's base was supposed to be, but that didn't mean Zone's hideout was in this area. (In fact, Zone's hideout wasn't in this area.)

Ryu activated his divine eye, attempting to find Zone's presence. He had thought he could just wander around because he had assumed he could locate him using his divine eye.

However... he couldn't find Zone's presence, no matter how hard he searched. It seemed that Zone wasn't in the city right now. He could expand the search area of his divine eye to look outside the city, but...

He had never tested how wide of an area he could search with his divine eye. He wanted to try, but searching a vast world systematically would take an enormous amount of time. He couldn't leave Sophie and the others in a dangerous area while he focused his mind on searching and zoning out.

It was a wasted trip, but he couldn't help it, so he decided to go back.

Golant said he had a different plan, so he would go meet up with him.

(Scene Change)

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(Text: It's a noble's order! Bring him to me immediately! Don't miss it!)