Chapter 830: The Two who Returned ⑥ (2/2)

[First of all, let me say that knights are basically superior to adventurers in terms of combat ability. Well, in a sense, this is quite obvious. The knights are professionals, while the adventurers are just amateurs who are proud of their skills, so the average value of the knights is overwhelmingly higher than adventurers.]

After saying that much, Alice stopped speaking and drew a picture of Luna-san and Noir-san on a blackboard.

[Of course, there are exceptions…… Some of the Top-rank Adventurers with ”nicknames”, like Lunamaria-san and her mother, Noir-san, are stronger than knights. But overall, I would say that the knights have higher abilities…… but if you're asking me if knights are better than adventurers at everything, that wouldn't be the case.]

Continuing with her explanation, Alice then drew a group of knight-like figures in armor and a group of lightly-armored adventurer-like figures on the blackboard.

[First of all, knights may be professionals, but they're specialized. They are strong in their specialty, such as combat if they are combat personnel, but they tend to be unskilled in other areas. On the other hand, as the saying goes, ”The better the adventurer, the more versatile they are”. Adventurers can do many things on their own and those who are versatile are highly valued. This is because adventurers often work alone or in small groups.]

[……I see.]

[And above all, what makes adventurers superior to knights is their ”quickness” and ”cost”. Knights certainly are powerful…… but they are basically mobilized as a troop, so it costs a lot of money, and there are a lot of approvals required to mobilize them, which would take a lot of time.]

Just like that, together with pictures she drew, Alice gave a detailed explanation.

[In short, it would cost too much to mobilize the Knight Order for everything. For example, if there is no damage, but you find something that seems to be a monster's footprint near a village, people couldn't just leave it be as long as there is a village nearby, they would need to send a unit to investigate, but they wouldn't have enough manpower. On the other hand, if the damage is already done and the knights would need to be mobilized immediately, it will also take time to dispatch if they were far away.]

[And in such situations, it would be best to send adventurers huh?]

[Yes, adventurers who basically work alone or in small groups are agile. They can leave immediately after receiving the request, and their ability to respond quickly is a strength that the Knights don't have. And working in small groups means low costs. No, it's not that the adventurers make less money than knights. They are just much cheaper than the cost of running dozens of knights and coordinating shifts of security between them. Thus, they are more useful to the nobles who own a territory within the country.]

I see, so there are many cases where it's cheaper for nobles who own territories to hire adventurers than to mobilize their own private armies……

[Of course, if it's a large-scale event or a powerful monster appears, the knights will be mobilized…… In such cases, there's a chance where the Knight Order and the adventurers would cooperate with each other, with the adventurers who can respond quickly taking the lead. This kind of joint quest is only offered to adventurers with a certain amount of experience though, so even if you both become adventurers, I don't think you would be participating in such an event in the future. And thus, that's it for the answers to Aoi-san's questions and the basics. Let's continue on and start the topic of how to become an adventurer and their actual activities, shall we…… Please turn to Page 13, and take out the small booklet titled ”Adventurers 101”.]

How should I say this…… This feels like we're really in a school lesson…… I mean, this guy really is too well prepared, and I think she totally foresaw this situation right from the beginning.

<Afterword>

~ ~ Extra : Introduction of a character whose name has been mentioned but have not yet been introduced ~ ~

Grass Flower Princess, Camellia

She is one of World King's Executive Subordinates, the Seven Princesses, and is also World King's strongest subordinate. She basically wears plain clothes and has few features in her appearance, and at first glance, one may think of her as some village girl, almost unnoticeable even when she walks around town without Recognition Inhibition Magic.

She has a quiet personality and was a pushover. She generally enjoys housework, and when she's not busy, she cleans and does laundry at her workplace, which is why Ein misunderstood and thought that she's a maid. In the end, instead of the name Camellia, she was instead widely recognized in the Maid World as one of the only Four Super Maids, the Super Maid of Balance. As far as the Maid World is concerned, she is a perfect maid.

In battle, typical of the Spirits, she possesses extremely robust defensive capabilities, and her ironclad defense lives up to being an executive of the World King, but what makes her the strongest member of the World King's Executive Subordinates isn't her defensive capabilities, but her ”offensive capabilities”.

The only means she could attack in battle is basically ”a straight punch with her right fist”, but that is exactly what she is known for.

It's a straightforward strike with no tricks at all, but if one doesn't have countermeasures against it, it was a strike that can shatter the earth of the Demon Realm…… and even with countermeasures in place, it was a strike that would blow you away, shaking the earth with its tremendous power. It was a strike that was especially praised by certain battle junkies.

Other than Grass Flower Princess, she has also been called the ”Earth's Mighty Fist” because of her tremendous strikes that are said to be like the wrath of the earth.

Serious-senpai : [……A straight punch with her right fist?]

? ? ? : [Right. Her style is basically making use of her tremendous defensive abilities to prevent her opponents from attacking her, before launching a counter strike, a killing blow with her fist.]

Serious-senpai : [She has a reserved personality, but her fighting style is just too manly…… Also, I'm just curious, but that ”basically” word added before saying she fights with a straight punch with her right fist…… that means?]

? ? ? : [She has almost used it even in the past…… but Camellia-san is ”left-handed”.]

Serious-senpai : [……On top of her normal strike, she also has her ”phantom left”…….]