The idle chatter died down in the wake of Punitto Moe’s voice.
“We will now begin assigning parties for the dungeon expedition…”
In response to this, Tabula Smaragdina put up his hand in opposition.
“Hang on! Don’t you think it’s a little early for that? I think we should stay in our current movement parties and go as deep as possible before changing up. If we break up now, we’ll need to dispel our whole-party spells.. In addition, we should be able to go through the dungeon in this state, with only a little more trouble with the mid bosses, right?”
“That’s certainly possible, but shouldn’t we be more careful? Besides, there’s a pretty good chance those shitty developers will spring a raid boss on us.”
The other guild members began discussing the matter with each other, as though Punitto Moe and Tabula Smaragdina had given them the cue to start talking. However, Momonga, who had stopped to think early on, felt that he could combine their ideas, despite the differences in the details.
And then Punitto Moe, who knew that this would end up going nowhere, turned to look straight at Momonga.
“What do you think, Momonga-san? Should we change party composition before we enter the dungeon, or go in and take things one step at a time?”
This was one hell of a curveball. Neither side was absolutely correct, and there were pros and cons to both courses of action. In all likelihood, everyone would agree with whichever option he went with.
However, he was uncomfortable enough even when he thought of picking the right course of action. The very idea of choosing wrongly made his stomach start to ache and the burden on his shoulders felt even heavier.
This was the burden a guildmaster had to bear, and personally, Momonga would prefer to decline on deciding for them. However, that would not be possible.
Momonga turned the matter over and over in his mind.
At this point, Touch Me the clan leader would have eagerly led everyone forward. So, should Momonga the guild leader imitate him?
However, Momonga’s chest ached.
The last time that happened, there was an argument, which resulted in a person leaving.
Although Momonga deeply respected Touch Me’s leadership, that memory stuck in his craw. Or no, for all he knew, that incident weighed heavily on Touch Me as well. That might have been why he abdicated his position as leader, and put forward a successor with a different personality from his own.
If that was the case, then Momonga should not do as Touch Me would have done.
“—Then, we’ll go by majority vote. Everyone, those in favor of changing parties please come to my right, and those in favor of carrying on without any changes please proceed to my left.”
After some quiet discussion, everyone moved toward their respective sides.
Momonga counted their numbers, and came to a conclusion.
“It seems there’s more people who want to move on. Then let’s go. Also, everyone, I wish to use majority vote as the standard procedure for resolving guild-wide problems like these. If a tie results, we’ll have the suggesters play rock-scissors-paper… though that might be difficult for some of us here, so maybe some other form of tiebreaker might be better. In any event, I would like to settle disputes in this way. Does anyone have any objections, or a better idea?”
Nobody spoke up.
Was it because they had no objections, or was it because they felt uncomfortable about voicing their thoughts?
Things like this happened at work as well. When asked “what do you think?”, few people would speak up. Sometimes, the reason for their silence was not because they had nothing to say, but because they were afraid that voicing their opinions would lead to them being put in charge of any courses of action born from those words, or because they were afraid of having their ideas rejected, and so on.
Momonga would need to speak with people in private after these meetings, and made a mental note in his mind.
“Then, everyone, let’s make a move.”
After indicating their acknowledgement, everyone headed outside.
Although the losing side might be dissatisfied, nobody would throw a childish tantrum in the face of a majority decision. One could say that it was expected of adults… no, that was not quite right.
There were many kinds of adults as well. Momonga knew of adults who had never really grown up, like children. The fact that none of them could be found here was due to Touch Me’s good judgement in picking friends.
At this moment, Momonga was once more keenly aware of the gravity of a guildmaster’s position.
And then, Momonga heard a conversation which dispelled his unease.
“Aw man! I thought you were one of us, Flatfoot-san!”
“Nah, I like them flat, but not necessarily lolis.”
“You’re one to talk, naming your weapon Tsururinpettan[4]… Or are you referring to something else? Could it be you like men’s chests, Flatfoot-san?”
“M-men’s chests?”
“Am I wrong? Don’t you like them flat? If that’s the case, then men’s chests would be… are you a homo?”
Peroroncino!
Momonga suppressed the urge to yell at him. His introspection from earlier was nowhere to be found. Still, Momonga understood his friend’s personality… or rather, his fetishes. With him around, it would not be a surprise if this sort of thing was brought up.
Should he get himself together, and lend a helping hand to the dumbfounded Flatfoot?
Just as Momonga was waffling over this decision, he heard another voice.
“…People might laugh it off at a drinking party, but do you really think you can shout this sort of thing out just because you’re among friends?”
It was Bukubukuchagama. A premonition of dread filled Momonga as he noticed that the pitch of her voice was a bit low. However, for some reason, her little brother Peroroncino had not realized this yet.
The truth was, Flatfoot had already backed away from Peroroncino.
“Well, it’s because you’re flat yourself, Aneki, that men don’t—”
“—Oi.”
That cold voice carried a hint of impending doom, like a guillotine blade slicing down.
“Oi, brat. Do you want me to tell everyone about what you did when you were twelve?”
“…I, I’m very sorry for what I said.”
“…Hey, did I give you permission to shut up? Did that sound like a joke to you? Hah? You’d better—”
Sensing that something terrible was about to happen, Momonga hurriedly interposed himself between the two of them, forcing them apart with his body.
“Chagama-san, Chagama-san. Calm down a little, please.”
“Ah— Momonga-san.”
Bukubukuchagama’s voice seemed to have reverted back to normal, but the flames of her wrath were not completely extinguished yet. This was probably a small respite at best, so Momonga quickly continued:
“Well, ah. We’ll be heading into the dungeon soon. I think it would be best if you let go of your anger, right?”
After seeing Momonga pleading with his palms pressed together, Bukubukuchagama — presumably — relaxed her shoulders.
“That’s right, that’s right. It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel, Bukubukuchagama-san, but this is probably for the best. Thank you.”
With that, Flatfoot came to Momonga’s side and put his hands together as well. Now that the two of them had spoken up, Bukubukuchagama had a hard time getting mad. Therefore, she sighed in an exaggerated way.
“There’s no need for you two to apologize since you did nothing wrong. Ahhh, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I can’t believe I let that dummy get under my skin. Sorry about that.”
With that, she turned her face — presumably — toward Peroroncino.
“Oi, dumbass brother of mine. Remember this well — mind your manners, even if you get along with people. Especially when you crack your dirty jokes. Don’t embarrass me just because you get excited around friends. Got it?”