Meanwhile, before either of them could respond, it was almost as though he simply enjoyed hearing himself talk, he continued.
"I’m Jonathan."
"The captain of this team."
His gaze landed on Lyra.
"You must be Lyra."
A smile spread across his face.
Or rather...
What he probably believed was a charming smile.
Kael stared at it.
’Horrendous.’
The man looked like he was trying far too hard.
Before Kael could say anything, Jonathan casually glanced toward him.
"You must be her brother."
His tone immediately became noticeably more dismissive.
It wasn’t openly hostile.
Just...
Carelessly indifferent.
Then, almost immediately, he turned back toward Lyra.
That same forced smile returned.
"Stay close to me inside the Rift."
"I’ll make sure nothing happens to you."
Kael stood there for a second.
"..."
His mind genuinely blanked.
’...Did this idiot seriously just brush me aside?’
Normally, Jonathan’s attitude wouldn’t even register enough to annoy him.
But this...
It was so stupid it somehow became impressive.
The man was openly trying to court Lyra while treating her brother like he barely existed.
Wasn’t basic common sense to leave a good impression on the people close to the girl you liked?
Instead, the very first impression Jonathan had made was terrible.
Kael looked at him with genuine pity.
’This guy isn’t a man of culture.’
’At this rate...’
’He’ll probably die single.’
The pity lasted all of two seconds.
Then Jonathan smiled at Lyra again.
Kael’s eyelid twitched.
A dangerous thought quietly surfaced in his mind.
’...Should I just kill him and disguise it as an accident?’
Just as Kael was seriously contemplating whether burying Jonathan beneath a collapsing tree could reasonably be passed off as an unfortunate accident...
A voice suddenly came from beside him.
"...Are you perhaps trying to stare a hole right through him?"
The unexpected question pulled Kael out of his thoughts.
He turned his head.
Standing beside him was a broad-shouldered man clad from head to toe in heavy plate armor. Every piece looked meticulously forged, the polished steel reflecting the morning sunlight. Resting against one shoulder was a massive fortress shield nearly as tall as the man himself.
Even without sensing his aura, Kael could tell he was built to stand at the front of every battle.
Kael blinked.
"I’m not sure I heard you correctly."
The armored man repeated himself with an amused smile.
"I asked if you were trying to stare a hole through the captain."
His tone was clearly teasing.
Kael looked back toward Jonathan, who was still enthusiastically talking to Lyra.
After a brief pause, he answered with a straight face.
"...Was it that obvious?"
The bulky man nodded immediately.
"As obvious as daylight."
"Oh."
Kael nodded thoughtfully.
"I see."
That answer earned a hearty laugh from the armored man.
"My bad."
He extended a large hand.
"I’m Stanley."
Kael accepted the handshake without hesitation.
"I’m Kael."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
The two released their grip.
Since Stanley seemed considerably easier to talk to than Jonathan, Kael decided to ask the question that had been bothering him.
"So..."
"Is Jonathan always this... hateful?"
For a split second Stanley simply stared at him.
Then—
"Hahaha!"
A loud burst of laughter escaped him.
He laughed so hard that even the massive shield on his shoulder trembled slightly.
Kael looked at him in confusion.
"...Was it really that funny?"
Stanley gradually managed to calm himself, though the smile on his face refused to disappear.
"I’m sorry."
"I really am."
"It’s just..."
He shook his head while trying not to laugh again.
"I never imagined I’d hear someone use the words ’hateful’ and ’Captain Jonathan’ in the same sentence."
Kael frowned.
"...But he does seem pretty hateful."
"I don’t see what’s so funny."
Stanley rubbed the corner of his eye before finally regaining his composure.
"The captain isn’t usually like this."
He glanced toward Jonathan, who was still trying far too hard to impress Lyra.
"Today’s... a special case."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Stanley hesitated for a moment.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I probably shouldn’t be saying this..."
After another brief pause, he sighed.
"...Ah, whatever."
He leaned in slightly.
"The captain has a pretty huge crush on your sister."
Kael froze.
"...A crush?"
His brows slowly knitted together.
He looked toward Lyra.
Then back toward Jonathan.
Then toward Stanley again.
"They’ve never even met before."
Stanley nodded.
"That’s true."
"So..."
Kael genuinely couldn’t understand.
"How exactly did he develop a crush?"
Stanley couldn’t help smiling.
"Well..."
"Even though they hadn’t met..."
"Ezra talks about your sister all the time."
"She’s shown us plenty of pictures too."
"I guess seeing those often enough eventually did the job."
Kael silently processed the explanation.
So...
Jonathan hadn’t been acting like an arrogant jerk because he looked down on them.
He had simply become so nervous around the girl he liked that his brain had apparently stopped functioning properly.
"..."
Kael considered it carefully.
Then he slowly nodded to himself.
’I see.’
’So he isn’t naturally an idiot...’
’He’s just temporarily acting like one.’
Unfortunately...
That realization changed absolutely nothing.
First impressions mattered.
Jonathan had already managed to make a terrible one.
In Kael’s mental scoring system...
Not only had the man failed to earn any points...
He had somehow gone into the negatives.
Recovering from that was going to be difficult.
Jonathan suddenly clapped his hands together, drawing everyone’s attention.
"Alright, everyone."
"Chop chop."
"Let’s get moving. The day’s already slipping away."
The group responded with nods before preparing to enter the Rift.
There were five members in Ezra’s party.
With Kael and Lyra joining them, their temporary team now consisted of seven people.
Jonathan naturally walked toward Lyra.
Kael felt the corner of his eye twitch.
Before another dangerous thought could surface, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
He turned to find Stanley grinning at him.
"Come on."
"I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team."
Kael nodded.
"Alright."
The two fell into step together as everyone headed toward the massive Rift entrance.
Along the way, Stanley began introducing everyone.
"You’re already familiar with Ezra and Jonathan, but you don’t know what everyone does."
He pointed toward Ezra first.
"Ezra’s our healer, support, and scout."
"You could say she’s one of the team’s core members."
He then gestured toward Jonathan, who was still trying far too hard to impress Lyra.
"The captain is our main damage dealer."
"As for me..."
He patted the enormous fortress shield resting against his back.
"I’m the team’s tank."
Kael nodded.
It fit Stanley perfectly.
Next, Stanley pointed toward a lean young man walking quietly near the rear of the formation.
A longbow rested over his shoulder while a quiver full of arrows hung across his back.
"That’s Kyle."
"He’s our ranged damage dealer."
Stanley leaned in slightly before speaking in a lower voice.
"Don’t bother trying to start a conversation."
"He’s ridiculously quiet."
As if proving the statement, Kyle simply gave Kael a brief nod before continuing to walk without saying a word.
Stanley chuckled before pointing toward the final member.
"And finally..."
"That’s Buttercup."
The woman immediately stopped walking.
She slowly turned around.
Her sharp glare landed squarely on Stanley.
Stanley’s face stiffened for exactly one second.
Then he burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"I knew you’d react!"
The woman simply rolled her eyes before ignoring him completely.
She walked over to Kael instead and offered a small smile.
"Don’t mind that idiot."
"My name’s Betty."
"I’m the team’s secondary damage dealer."
"I specialize in precision strikes and ambushes."
Kael politely nodded.
"I’m Kael."
"Nice to meet you."
"You too."
With the introductions finished, the group finally arrived before the enormous Rift.
Without hesitation, everyone stepped inside.
The familiar sensation of space twisting around his body washed over Kael.
For a split second, everything blurred.
The next moment...
Solid ground returned beneath his feet.
They had arrived inside the rift.