"The world is unfair, isn't it?"

  "What are you saying to a child?"

  "Even you, Dent, could get married if you put in some effort, right?"

  We mao return to the campsite before su and had dinner right away. After a full day of physical activity, even the rowdiest kids devour a meal that would put adults to shame.

  Ba Japan, the quality of food was naturally higher, but you get used to it after living here for a while. However, the meals during camping trips are even worse than what you'd get in town.

  Once again, I found myself appreciating the venieaste, and nutrition of the instant foods from my previous life. The fantasy-style camp meals are quite modest in parison.

  Tonight's dinner was a simple soup made by tossing in some ingredients and seasoning it with just salt, paired with hard bck bread. But in a way, this might have been for the best.

  Dent had stopped eating and was gring at me with a rather intimidating look. If it weren't for that, I might have felt nostalgic for oodles or instant foods, but right now, I couldn't even enjoy the meal properly.

  "Hey, let's allocate the points soon!"

  "Hmm, how should we distribute them?"

  I khe reason for Dent's behavior. It was because Nel and Amina were sitting oher side of me, happily eating their meals.

  If I had been sitting at the end, with Nel and Amio each other, Dent probably wouldn't have acted so childish.

  "Damn, when I was a kid, nothing like this ever happened."

  "Don't be jealous, it's unbeing."

  "Isn't it because of your attitude that this is happening?"

  Naturally, Nel sat to my left, and Amina to my right. As we ate, we reflected on today's leveling, discussing what we could have doer and what we should improve. Eventually, the versation turo how we should allocate our status points after the meal.

  The tent of the versation erfectly normal, but both Nel and Amina were unusually close. There's a saying about sitting ko-knee while talking, and that's how close they were.

  In fact, they were practically toug.

  "Well, both Nel and Amina are beastfolk, so it 't be helped."

  "That's true. Beastfolk women instinctively reize a good man. That's all there is to it."

  "Hey, I earn more than most adventurers out there!"

  "While strength and earnings are certainly factors, beastfolk womeo rely more on intuition."

  "It's unbeing to pete with a child, but even from my perspective, the kid has a lot going for him. That's probably what attracted them."

  Hearing their versation and seeing the closeness between Nel and Amina, I was utterly fused.

  Well, I could uand, but they're just kids, right?

  Unfortunately, my experieh romance is far from extensive. I spent what should have been my youthful years pying games, and the ratio of men to women among my acquaintances was about 95% to 5%.

  Even the women I knew were mostly work-reted. Outside of family, I had zero close female friends in my private life.

  So, being suddenly told that someone has feelings for me...

  "...Let's finish eating first. After that, we'll have plenty of time to think before bed."

  They're just kids, so even with my limited experieh women, my head stays cool rather thaing flustered.

  What Dent and the others are saying about their feelings for me is probably just them seeing me as a reliable older brother. You know, like how kids look up to the older kids in the neighborhood.

  "Yeah."

  "Okay!"

  To finish the meal quickly, I quietly sipped the soup. The slight saltiness and the natural fvor of the ingredients spread ay tongue, giving me a sense of relief.

  Eventually, I'd like to improve the food situation here, but for that, I'd need a party member with the right job.

  We 't expand the party eically right now, but once we level up a bit more, the training enviro will improve, and we start recruiting then.

  With that decided, I tinued eating, ign Dent's gaze, and mao finish the meal. Nel and Amina seemed eager to help with the up, probably because they wao discuss their status points soon.

  Every time they did, Dent would occasionally shoot me a jealous look.

  "Alright! It's finally time!"

  As we ehe te up in the wagon, Nel raised her hand to take charge of the proceedings.

  Normally, when adventuring, we'd take turns keeping watch at night, but si's uo have kids on watch, the adults had decided to ha among themselves.

  I decided to ighe muttered e made as we ehe tent.

  "Okay? On the t of three."

  "Got it!"

  "Ready!"

  We opened our status ss, which we had been holding ba until now.

  "Owo, three!"

  "Status Open!!"

  As we all shouted in unison, the familiar windoeared before our eyes.

  **Nel - Css 1 / Level 9**

  - Base Stats:- HP: 0- MP: 0- BP: 9- EXBP: 9- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Spear Mastery - Css 2 / Level 84

  **Amina - Css 1 / Level 9**

  - Base Stats:- HP: 0- MP: 0- BP: 9- EXBP: 9- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Staff Mastery - Css 2 / Level 83

  **Liberta - Css 1 / Level 9**

  - Base Stats:- HP: 0- MP: 0- BP: 9- EXBP: 9- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Spear Mastery - Css 2 / Level 94

  We lined up our status ss, leaning in close to pare them.

  "They've gone up!"

  "Wow, they've increased so much."

  "Well, it would be a problem if they hadn't."

  I should have checked when we first leveled up, but I was relieved to see that the EXBP had been properly allocated. If it hadn't, we would have had to look for other ditions, or even sider l our levels.

  "So, what do we do now?"

  "Right, let's start with Nel first."

  Sinel was the first to ask, I decided to expin her build first.

  "First, I reend Nel go for the Battle Mert style. As the name suggests, it's a mert who both fight and trade."

  "Huh? Most merts fight a little, but they usually hire guards, right?"

  "My dad fight too, but he says he's no match for professionals."

  The Battle Mert.

  In FBO, it's the css that has produced the most Attack Holders. It's a versatile css that excels in both bat and erce, making it a highly desirable party member.

  Both of them seem to have the impression that merts are primarily traders with only basibat skills for self-defense.

  "That's irely wrong. The Battle Mert requires a lot of skill slots and EXBP to fully develop, and the skill setup is quite demanding. But o's plete, it surpass pure bat csses in firepower while maintaining parable bat ability. Being able to fight means you solo dungeons and bring back monster drops and dureasures."

  I uand their impression, but that's more from a general perspective. As an FBO pyer, the Battle Mert is known for its overwhelming firepower and the phrase "Merts otlefield" es to mind first.

  "So, you make a lot of money!"

  In my memory, there's something about the Battle Mert that appeals to Nel. If you fight on your own, you save on hiring guards.

  Plus, you secure rare goods on your own.

  At first g might seem simir to a Treasure Hunter, but it's a legitimate mert css.

  Nel ched her fists, dreaming of the future.

  "That's right. To achieve that, we o allocate your stats. Remember what we talked about earlier? Do you want to go for the 4:1 HP to MP ratio for siarget destru, or the 3:2 ratio for a banced build?"

  There are choices in that dream.

  "Hmm, I'm not really sure. What do you reend, Liberta?"

  "Defihe siarget destru build. Mert skills don't e much MP, so you don't need high MP."

  There are three choices in total. Two of them are my ideas, which I feel a bit guilty about. The third is for o e up with her own idea and grow on her own.

  But it seems she was already sidering my two ideas.

  "The downside is that managing skill usage is harder than with the banced build, and the expenses are higher. But iurn, your si damage is so high that you take down most enemies."

  "Expenses?"

  "Battle Merts mainly use halberds, a bination of an axe and a spear. This ensures high si damage. When you reach Css 3 ahe Mert job, you'll unlock a bat skill called Gold Smash."

  I expihe pros and s. There's o hide them.

  The Battle Mert's strengths lie in its money-making potential and its devastating si damage. The key to this damage is the Gold Smash skill, which you unlock at Css 3. However, this skill is also the source of the css's high expenses.

  Nel seemed more ed about the expehan the difficulty of managing skills.

  "This skill es very little MP but uses s to increase its power. Additionally, the skill's proficreases based on the amount of money spent, not the number of uses or the strength of the monsters defeated."

  The more you use the skill, the more damage it deals. It's a skill that equates money with power.

  "By the way, how much does it cost to max out the skill?"

  "About 100 million zeni."

  "100 million zeni?"

  That's equivalent to 10 billion yen. It's an absurd amount of money.

  "Also, as your css and level increase, the maximum amount you spend increases. At Css 10 / Level 100, the maximum amount fold Smash is 1 billion zeni."

  "1 billion?"

  "Nel!?"

  To achieve maximum damage, you'd o spend 100 billion yen. It's an astronomical sum.

  Nel's face turned pale as she imagined mountains of gold disappearing in an instant. I quickly supported her back to keep her from fainting.

  "Don't worry! If you use other skills effectively, you earn enough to fire this skill hundreds of times!"

  "Huh? Really?"

  "Yeah! You one-shot high-rank bosses ahe drops for a profit! Of course, if you miss, you'll be in the red..."

  "Ah, a deficit..."

  "Liberta! Nel's face is turning pale!"

  But iy, among hardcore pyers, there were those who could one-shot hidden bosses or event bosses with this skill.

  If you have the money, you undoubtedly bee the ultimate Attack Holder.

  Some pyers went bankrupt trying to achieve this, but it's not like you o spend that much right away. As long as you have self-trol, it's manageable.

  However, some pyers became addicted to the thrill of spending vast amounts of money for insane damage, to the point where normal skills felt underwhelming. I hope Nel doesn't fall into that trap.

  "...Liberta."

  "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah."

  After turning pale at the mention of deficits and unrealistic expenses, ook a few seds to think carefully.

  I wondered if she would choose the banced build or if I should suggest another option.

  " you really make that much money?"

  "Absolutely. If you don't use Gold Smash, the css isn't that expensive. Besides, only a few people would actually spend 1 billion zeni on it."

  As long as you set limits, it's fine.

  "Then I'll do it!"

  But oher hand, she seemed drawn to the idea of being the world's stro Attack Holder.

  A determined fire lit up in Nel's eyes.

  "I'll bee the stro mert!"

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes!"

  "The's allocate your stats."

  If she's decided, I won't stop her. In fact, if you pn your expenses carefully, the profits outweigh the costs. Most people don't spend 1 billion zeni on it anyway.

  As long as you set a limit, it's fine.

  "Allocate 4 points to HP and 1 to MP. Use all your EXBP on HP."

  "Is there a reason?"

  "It's more ve for leveling."

  I also gave her instrus on how to allocate her BP for the future.

  "I see."

  Knowing there was a reason, she obediently allocated her stats. Only she could trol her stats.

  "Done!"

  Her slender fingers moved quickly, and she showed me her final stats.

  **Nel - Css 1 / Level 9**

  - Base Stats:- HP: 15- MP: 3- BP: 0- EXBP: 0- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Spear Mastery - Css 2 / Level 84

  "Okay, as you level up, you'll fill the remaining skill slots with four more skills."

  Once I firmed there were no issues...

  " is Amina."

  "I've been waiting!"

  I turo Amina, who had been waiting with a smile.