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Why is she looking at me without saying anything? Next, she looked at Kuro and pondered for a moment, and after that, she turned her gaze toward Arisa.

“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Really? Well, then… Okay.”

What’s up with that quick exchange and understanding? Love? Is this love? Oh, excuse me, you have an inseparable relationship, huh.

…You don’t have to glare at me like that.

“Ahem. So, let’s refocus… Um, Miss Kuro, was it? Or Kuro?”
“Either is fine.”
“Alright then, Kuro. What can you do? What are your specialties?”
“Hmm?”
“Ah… I’m sorry; I’ll answer in her place. Is that okay?”
“It’s fine. So, let’s discuss this over here for a moment…”

…Ryuu was taken to the kitchen. Actually, Kuro… Isn’t it a bit strange that you can’t explain about yourself…? And why are you still clinging to me?

“Kuro, come here.”
“Mgh.”
“No mghs. It’s about yourself, you know? Come on, quickly! …Ren won’t disappear.”
“Ugh… fine…”

Oh, Kuro went too. By the way, Ryuu manages to handle Kuro, who can be difficult with her moody nature, quite well. It’s hard for even me to handle Kuro that skillfully… Is this also Ryuu’s growth? Or something else?

As the three-way discussion or interview-like conversation between Lily, Ryuu, and Kuro continued in the kitchen, Arisa brought dinner. Bread, potato salad, grilled orc meat! Plus, vegetable soup. Yeah, it looks delicious.

After serving the food, Arisa sat down at one of the empty seats.

“Arisa, what was that exchange with Lily earlier? About leaving it to her?”
“Oh, it means I’m fine with either option, and I leave all the decisions to Lily.”
“I see.”
“Between us, Lily has always been in charge of thinking about difficult things, so I trust her with the rest.”

“Are you okay with that, Arisa?”
“It’s totally fine. But just to clarify, I haven’t completely stopped thinking about it, you know?”
“…Is that so?”
“…That pause in your speech felt a bit painful. But yeah, as far as my thoughts go, I’m okay with including her in our group.”

“Is that so?”
“Yeah, there are several reasons. First, having someone trustworthy by Ren’s side is one reason. Then, simply put, if we have more people, we can do more things. And, that child is a cat beastkin, and based on the equipment and all, she seems like a scout, right? So, having more allies who can handle scouting enemies and such is a big plus.”

…Oh, I see. She’s really thought this through more than I imagined, and her observational skills are quite sharp… Well, I did realize this from our time working together, but when it’s articulated like this, it feels more real, you know?

“And I heard cat and dog beastkin, especially cat beastkin, are on a different level as scouts when it comes to concealing their presence. There are a few other reasons, but these three are the major ones.”
“…”
“Hmm, that surprised expression also hurts me a bit… By the way, I think Lily is thinking about the same things. So, I believe that consultation was mainly to confirm Kuro’s abilities and intentions.”
“I see…”
“That’s right. Oh, looks like it’s over now.”

Oh, Lily and the others came back.

“Huh? You haven’t eaten yet?”
“Eh? Aren’t we all eating together?”

We could have started eating first, but it wouldn’t feel quite right if it was just the two of us.

“Oh, right. Then let’s continue while we eat.”
“Sounds good.”
“Let’s do that!”

So, we decided to continue our conversation while having our meal.

To cut to the chase, Lily was in favor of Kuro joining. Her main reasons were almost the same as Arisa’s.

Currently, Norn and Bell handle the scouting roles, but the issue is that I was the only one who could understand their words. This limited the flexibility in assigning roles. However, with Kuro joining, it meant we could exchange information without relying on me. I see.

She was also considering splitting into two teams for activities. Currently, with just the three of us, I’m the only one below the legal age limit, and some people give us strange looks when we’re involved in hunting missions. Also, for Arisa to gain more combat experience, it might be better for them to operate as a duo in certain situations. Well, there were other various reasons, but I’ll omit them.

“So, does this mean Kuro is officially joining?”
“Yes, it does. Come on, Kuro.”
“Ren, let’s get along!”
“Um, let’s get along…?”

And just like that, we have a new member. Yay!

“That’s great, Kuro. Do your best not to cause trouble!”
“I will! Ryuu, thanks for everything!”
“Sure! Hehe.”

Ryuu blushed for being thanked so directly. What a heartwarming moment.

“With Kuro’s addition, we can now split into two teams for activities. In terms of our clan’s composition, it will generally be me and Arisa, and Ren and Kuro. Additionally, depending on the situation, Norn and Bell can also operate separately, significantly expanding our operational flexibility.”
“I see, that makes sense…”

Lily really gave it a lot of thought.

“…In that case, we’ll need to come up with squad names or party names for each group within the clan.”

Oh, there it is.

“Names… cool and cute names…”

Ah, Lily has fallen into that trap again!