A whole week had passed since I got a party, and I began to notice how time flew by swiftly. To be honest, I thought they were just pretending, to give me hope of becoming stronger and preparing for difficulties, but unfortunately, with each day their attitude towards me became worse and worse. Kopii noticed that Canoe was increasingly showing his true face, and Gedo was becoming more and more arrogant and haughty than at their first meeting. I decided that the time had come to learn more about their familia, and not just superficial information, to understand what I was dealing with.
They were both from the Soma Familia, which was a rather notable fact. Initially, my searches for information about them yielded no results: all the information I learned was either completely useless or, frankly speaking, I already knew it. But I was not going to give up; I continued gathering data on the Soma Familia. The most useful thing I learned over these long days was that the god Soma himself had long black hair with bangs hiding most of his face, and black eyes. He was of average height, with thin limbs and an almost fragile build, which certainly did not inspire confidence.
Also, I decided to start obtaining information from adventurers and learned that Soma was obsessed with a passion for brewing wine, but that was logical, and it was also logical that he rarely appeared in public. I also noticed that, for some reason, Soma ignored his familia, avoiding any contact. Everyone I asked had their own theory: some said he was simply tired of it and longed for solitude; another suggested that he had severed ties with his familia; and a third believed that no one could resist his wine, and so he was disappointed in them, since they began fighting for the last sip of this wonderful, in their view, wine. In the end, I learned nothing, and came back to where I had started.
All this information about the Soma Familia turned out to be completely useless and irrelevant for me. Several days passed as we descended into the dungeon, and the atmosphere only worsened. Canoe no longer pretended: he became terribly greedy and vile; this was probably his true face, and Gedo kept pace with him with his arrogance, but he had been like that from the very beginning. The last straw was that I began receiving 10 percent of all their earnings for all my efforts.
The first day of joint efforts turned out to be a true emotional trial for me. But that was only the first day; after that, we never descended below the eighth floor. When I asked them what the matter was, it seemed useless and inappropriate. Then I realized that he was using magic weapons, which, as it turned out, gave power but broke very quickly and fell into disrepair.
For me, this was a sign of weakness; using magic weapons would lead its wielder nowhere. His growth would slow down, and that was the main reason why I would not use them. But of course, I understood that they could be a good backup plan, well, and that was all.
But in truth, I did not know the maximum of such weapons. So I decided not to rush for now and to observe.
Two weeks after my joining Canoe, I finally realized why he truly needed me. I turned out to be simply free labor, but that was already clear. But most importantly — I became for them a free supplier of healing potions, which Naaza always provided me. They simply took advantage of my familia.
Also, I finally learned something worthwhile about their familia; it turns out that the Soma Familia was not commanded by Soma himself, strangely enough, but by some mysterious captain who forced his subordinates to bring money in exchange for a sip of Soma's wine. Probably the entire familia was mired in an abyss of madness, where everyone was ready to kill another for just one sip. After all this information, I decided that the next descent would be the last, and I would leave their party forever. I wanted to do it earlier, but while I was studying monsters so that I could later handle them alone, time slipped away.
Today was a day off, and Kopii did not understand why they had decided so, but he was indifferent to their thoughts and whims. In truth, he did not mind resting, for tomorrow would be the last descent with them, and he would leave their party. Lying on his bed, he did not know what to occupy himself with — the sun had already risen, and the day promised to be as beautiful as always. But he was so bored.
Kopii decided not to linger and headed to Miach's room, but he was not there.
«Where could he be?» — he wondered. Not knowing what to do, he decided to go down to Naaza; maybe she knew.
— Naaza, do you know where Miach might be and when he'll be back?
— No, Kopii, I don't know. He said he wanted to spend time with friends. – Casting a sleepy glance at Kopii.
— But he's with them almost every day, isn't he?
– ... Yes, you're right.
– Naaza, what should I do? I'm bored. The dungeon is out of the question. – He said, looking at her with expectation.
– I don't know.
His smile fell after her words; what other answer could he expect from someone who did nothing but work every day?
– Well, alright, I get it. I won't bother you.
Exiting the Blue Pharmacy, Kopii did not know what to do, but he definitely did not want to stay within four walls all day. A whole day to have fun and enjoy life.
But soon he grew tired of simply walking without a goal.
«How boring!»
He used to enjoy strolling, calmly spending time, dreaming about the future. But now it wearied him. Kopii stopped in the middle of the street. He noticed how a little boy dropped an apple, and it rolled right under the feet of a woman hurrying past. She tripped and almost fell, but caught herself in time. The boy, upset and frightened, rushed to her with apologies, but the woman simply waved him off and continued on her way.
Suddenly, he felt a light touch on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Miach, smiling his signature wide, sincere smile.
— Kopii! There you are! I've been looking for you!
– Yes?
— I thought maybe you'd like to unwind too. Let's go to the park; there's a performance today.
— What? Seriously? — Kopii asked, not quite understanding what he meant. He did not know that a performance was being held in the park. It was probably organized by some familia, but only the Ganesha Familia came to his mind. With curiosity, he asked Miach:
— Which familia exactly is putting on the performance?
— No-no, Kopii, it's a traveling theater, — he answered with enthusiasm. — They arrived today, and the performance will begin in the evening.
— Don't we have a lot of time? — Glancing briefly at the sun, which stood proudly high.
— Yes, it may seem so, Kopii, at first glance, but you don't want to watch their performance from afar. We'll come early. Well, enough about that, come on, let's go! Naaza is already waiting for us, so let's move, — he said, already pulling Kopii along with him.
«Naaza? How so?»
— Alright. — He agreed with him, feeling his mood gradually lifting.
On the way to the park, Miach, as always, chattered nonstop about traveling theaters, about what impressive performances they usually gave, how skillfully the actors wielded swords and how beautiful the dancers were — where would one be without that. Kopii listened to him with half an ear, sinking into his own thoughts and reflecting on the upcoming descent into the dungeon with Canoe and Gedo. He imagined how he would tell them about his departure and how they would react to this news. Of course, he already knew that they would react aggressively.
When they arrived at the park, there were already quite a lot of people, and the atmosphere was filled with anticipation. The traveling theater began preparing for the performance, and everyone, including Kopii, began to radiate notes of excitement. Kopii looked around. Among the crowd were both adventurers and ordinary city residents; all were eagerly awaiting the start of the performance. Miach immediately pulled Kopii and Naaza closer to the stage.
— Let's go so we can get the best seats. — He said with unanimous enthusiasm, cheerfully pulling them along.
— Aren't we too early? — Naaza asked with slight irony.
— Miach-sama, you said they were performing in the evening, so we still have a long wait.
— You understand perfectly, Kopii! — Miach said with a touch of playfulness.
He merely smiled mysteriously in response and deftly slipped forward, pulling Kopii and Naaza along. To their surprise, they managed to take good seats, right in front of the stage, which brought them slight joy. Naaza, as usual, remained impassive, but a faint curiosity flickered in her eyes, which usually did not show. Kopii merely observed what was happening around, carefully trying to make out the details in the stage decorations and the actors' costumes, expecting something unusual.
Time dragged slowly, as if losing count. The sun gradually sloped towards sunset, painting the sky in crimson and orange hues, creating a stunning landscape. More and more people gathered in the park, and the noise of the crowd grew, creating a dynamic atmosphere. Miach, without pause, told stories about various traveling theaters and their most famous, legendary performances. Kopii decided that he would simply enjoy the performance.
«How many times has he already told this one?»