Part 1

  The soup wasn’t bad.Nor was it good.I’d say it was... decent. Floating somewhere between “was this supposed to be a vegetable?” and “why does it taste like dissolved chalk?”

  But hey. I was alive. Which was already more than I could say not long ago.

  Adapting to another world isn’t as hard as it sounds… until you realize no one here uses blueprints to build a house.No rules for farming either. They barely use anything to count the days, and that’s about it.

  The other day I saw a guy summon rain just to water a pnt. He did it well. Too well. He flooded half a farm.And four giant snails showed up and slid away with the chickens.

  Not exactly common, but not shocking either.

  And here I was. Lukewarm soup, straight back, living another day at the bar counter.The tavern smelled of smoke, beer, and something I hoped wasn’t the house special.

  —"I'm telling you it weighs less! I saw it float faster!!"

  ...What?

  I turned my head just a little. I didn’t want to look nosy. Just... there wasn’t much else to kill time with.Two girls were arguing beside me while sitting at the bar.One of them was holding a crumpled napkin like it was a treasure map.

  —"And I’m telling you, you can’t trust magic floatation! That doesn’t prove anything!"

  The girls seemed very passionate about their conversation.What do we have here?An argument about some dungeon... a puzzle, maybe?

  It wasn’t unusual for adventurers to come to the tavern to celebrate or drown their sorrows.Wait... is that a drawing of a bance scale?

  In this world, scales weren’t really used properly. People didn’t weigh things for cooking or trading — everything was done by "eye."

  Five spheres. A pedestal.A puzzle?It didn’t look that hard.

  I could probably see it better if I stood up… but I didn’t want to interrupt their heated yelling session.Would it be socially acceptable to stare at someone else's napkin over their shoulder?

  Probably not.

  Seeing that the shouting was reaching the point of being irritating, I leaned back a little — not fully turning around.With a neutral, polite voice — hopefully not arrogant — I said:

  —"Excuse me... but I think I might be able to help."

  —"Ehh??" ×2

  Both girls turned at once, surprised.Two pairs of eyes.A mix of shock and arm.I felt like I had said something terribly wrong.Maybe I should've just stayed quiet.

  —"Excuse me... but if I understand correctly, it’s a simple problem that— no, I don't know much but wouldn’t it be enough to—"

  —"Don't say it!" —the redhead cut me off, spping her hand over my mouth—. "Not another word!"

  —"Shhh!" —insisted the other, the one with short hair, looking around suspiciously—. "You want someone else to hear and beat us to the dungeon?"

  —"Uh? Are there more people interested?"

  —"Of course!" —snorted the redhead—. "It's a dungeon with ancient magical artifacts! If someone finds out we solved it, they’ll rush to open it before us."

  —"And technically, we haven’t solved it yet," —added the short-haired one—. "Technically."

  ‘Wow. Pretty sensitive over a napkin.’

  They looked at each other, then looked at me.Then at the soup.Then back at me.

  And then they dragged me to a separate table — one pulling to keep me from speaking, the other looking out for spies — though honestly, we would’ve been less obvious just walking normally.

  Part 2

  We sat at a table a little away from the noisy crowd."Discreetly," according to them.

  In reality: being dragged like a conspirator while half the tavern stared at us.Though, thankfully, they lost interest quickly.

  ‘Should’ve just stayed with my soup.’

  The redhead spread the crumpled napkin across the table like a war map.

  —"This. Do you understand this?"

  I leaned in for a better look.Yep. It was definitely a bance scale.But now, I noticed something else: some kind of inscription, scribbled with smeared ink.

  "Five sisters, identical at a gnce.Only one hides the truth.Weigh their fates, but do so wisely.The wind may blow twice, and no more.A mistake will be paid with fire,and only the cycle will cleanse it."

  —"This is what we found at the dungeon entrance," —the redhead said—. "Five floating spheres. A magical bance. A sealed pedestal."

  —"You can only use the bance twice," —added the brunette—. "And if you mess up… magical trap. Very painful. My braid got scorched."

  —"And if you mess up again?"

  —"It resets," —both said at the same time.

  ‘Clever.’‘And frustrating.’

  —"Did you already try to solve it?"

  —"Yeah, obviously," —snorted the older one—. "We think there’s a lighter sphere. That’s the key. But we don’t know how to find it with only two uses of the bance."

  I scratched the back of my head.It seemed so simple I thought it might be a joke.But they looked completely serious.

  —"I could tell you how to do it, if you want—"

  —"NO!" —they both shouted at once, covering my mouth again.

  Starting to get a little annoyed with that.

  —"Shhh," —hissed the younger one—. "There are other tables. Ears everywhere. If someone overhears and gets there first..."

  —"Right. Got it."

  I peeled their hands off my mouth, maintaining what little dignity I had left.

  —"Better if you just come with us and solve it there."

  —"There’s a problem with that. I don’t have magic skills, and my combat abilities are... bad."

  Silence.

  The girls exchanged gnces.

  —"That's not a problem," —said one with a confident smile.

  —"We'll cover you," —added the other, thumbing at herself proudly—. "You think, we smash. Fair deal."

  —"Ah. That easy?"

  —"Want a magic contract? I don’t have one. But you can trust us."

  It was funny they talked about trust, considering they were trusting some random guy they found at a bar.Or maybe they were just desperate.

  —"I'm Alma," —said the older one, tapping her chest—. "Elemental mage. I control basic elements... though I can't cast anything too strong yet. But that's not important right now."

  The short-haired one straightened up proudly, puffing out her chest.

  —"I'm Mei! The best thief: stealthy and strong," —she said with a smug grin.

  What a duo I'd stumbled upon.Now it was my turn.

  But I didn’t have any fancy title or skill. What could I say?

  ‘I'm Aven, a prematurely deceased student who runs errands to survive.’

  —"I'm Aven. Nice to meet you."

  Short and sweet was better.

  —"Great! Then it's settled," —said Alma—. "We'll meet at the north gate at dawn."

  ‘And just like that, I accidentally got recruited into a dungeon expedition. Honestly, ever since I arrived in this world, I haven’t set any goals. I just say yes to things. Wonder where this will lead me…’