"So…You two ignored my warning… and went past the third floor, all the way down to the tenth floor."
Bell shrank into his chair and Kaelis looked at the ceiling like this was all mildly interesting trivia.
Sitting inside the consultation room of the guild, Bell and Kaelis sat across from the half elf advisor looking sideways so as to avoid Eina's gaze.
Bell's outfit, which he got for his birthday—or what was left of it—was shredded.
His shirt looked like a monster had taken scissors to it.
Dirt and dried blood clung to the edges of the tears in the fabric, and faint red lines could be seen already slowly healing.
As she took in the sight of the two, specifically Bell, she couldn't help but turn to Kaelis in disappointment.
"I expected much more from you, sir Kaelis."
She said as she adjusted her glasses, preparing to scold him. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"Don't sweat the small stuff." He replied casually.
Bang!
She slammed the table between them so hard, it could be heard from outside the room, startling Bell who was trying to hide in the seat.
"Small stuff!?" she repeated, her voice rising. "Do you know how freaked out I was!?"
Her tone suggested she wanted to smack him.
She raked her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself, but the sight of Bell's completely destroyed adventurer outfit only added fuel to the flame.
"Look at him!" Eina pointed sharply at Bell.
"He's covered in dirt, he has dried blood on him, he barely has on any clothes! And those scratches—Kaelis, what were you thinking!?"
Bell's head hung low and he sank lower in the seat.
"Training," Kaelis answered.
"Training!?" Eina gritted her teeth.
"You call this training!? I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one! Bell is Level 1! His stats should be all 0! You—are—his—master! Shouldn't you know what his limits are!?"
Kaelis blinked, then shrugged. "He handled it."
"That's not the point!" Eina slammed the table again—less aggressively, but still enough to rattle Bell.
"And another thing!" she continued, eyes narrowing at Kaelis.
"Why were YOU in the Dungeon at all!? You don't have a falna! That's incredibly reckless and completely irresponsible!"
Kaelis pointed at himself. "I'm strong."
Eina stared at him.
Then blinked.
Then stared harder.
"I—excuse me?"
"I'm stro—wai wai wai!"
Kaelis was about to repeat the statement but he had successfully ragebaited the half elf.
She grabbed her ledger and loomed over him with a dark expression about to bash him head in.
He seemed to not be taking the situation seriously and so she decided to teach him a hard lesson but hearing his pleading, she paused mid swing.
"You can't just say 'I'm strong' and expect that to magically justify breaking every basic safety rule the Guild enforces! Do you have any idea how many people get killed going into the Dungeon without a blessing? Even seasoned adventurers die from carelessness!"
Kaelis arched a brow. "I'm not seasoned. I'm already cooked—wai wai wai!!"
"You!!"
She raised the ledger once more but stopped herself.
Bell just silently scooted further away from Kaelis hoping to not get caught in the cross fire.
Eina sighed as she sat back down, though the dark expression still hadn't left her face.
"You don't have a falna, you don't have recorded stats—you're lucky you made it back from the dungeon in one piece, Hmph!"
Kaelis held up two fingers. "One, I'm not lying. Two, I'm not weak."
"Three!" Eina snapped. "I don't believe you!"
Bell slowly raised his hand. "U-Um… Miss Eina… Master really is—"
"You hush!" Eina said, flustered. "You're the victim here!"
Bell immediately sat back down.
Eina let out a long breath, rubbing her temples.
"Kaelis… Bell listens to you. He must trust you a lot. So please—PLEASE—stop treating reckless danger as if it's some morning exercise routine."
"…No promises."
"KAELIS!!"
Bell whispered, "Master please just say sorry…"
Eina leaned back, taking in Bell again before exhaling sharply.
"As his advisor, you scared me half to death," she muttered.
Kaelis glanced over at Bell.
Even though it's his first dive and he experienced a somewhat close to death experience, it paid off as his aura is a little sharper.
"…He did good," he commented offhandedly.
Bell blinked.
He could pick up on the speck of sincerity in his Kaelis's voice and he felt like he had achieved something.
A small red tint appeared on his face.
Eina, though, could care less about whether he did good or not…
"Well—good or not—you still owe me an explanation," she said sternly.
Her concern is only on whether he comes back in one piece or not at all.
"And you're BOTH getting a detailed safety lecture."
Bell deflated.
Kaelis surrendered.
And Eina—finally—picked up her pen, ready to begin her multi-page verbal assault.
~~~
Time passed as Kaelis gave a comprehensive breakdown of what transpired from the moment they entered to when they exited.
Eina wanted full information. Says it's good for keeping track of her adventurers development for the future.
Though, during the retelling, she got increasingly pale hearing about the number of fights he got into until they reached the part where fought a war shadow.
She ended up smacking Kaelis anyway, saying it was his fault.
"Phew. That was quite the first adventure you had. Though, I'm still against Bell going lower than the third floor—no. You aren't allowed to go any further than fifth!"
She said firmly as she finished recording his report.
"Anyway. I noticed you guys didn't bring any loot with you. Did you lose them or…?"
"N-no actually." Bell pulled the key chain from around his neck.
"Hm?"
Bell summoned all the items they acquired from the dungeon.
"Wha—" Eina had no time to react.
Magic stones, monster materials, steels and many other miscellaneous items began pouring onto the table, breaking it in the process.
A few seconds later after the last item fell, Eina finally regained a portion of her composure.
"All this…you guys gathered…all this?" She looked over the huge pile all the way up to her knees.
"Yep." Kaelis simply said.
This was the first for her and probably for any other guild employee for that matter.
At no point since the creation of Orario did a rookie adventure ever gathered so much—heck, some don't come back at all.
And who does manage to come back, brought with them lunch money.
Kaelis waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hellooo? Eina? Still with us?"
She didn't respond.
"Oi. Advisor lady. You're staring into the void—come back before it stares back."
That finally snapped her out of it.
"I—I'm fine!" she insisted, though the tremble in her voice said otherwise.
She looked at the mountain of loot again. "I just… I've never seen… this much… from rookie adventurers."
"Great," Kaelis said, completely ignoring the disbelief in her tone.
"Took one of your first then. Can you calculate everything? We'd like to get paid before Bell passes out from hunger."
He really was hungry.
Kaelis turned back to the pile, and casually plucked one of each type of item from the heap—stones, materials, bits of dropped steel, whatever looked distinct enough.
He tucked them under his arm like he already had a plan for them.
Eina blinked.
"What… what are you doing with those? Just so you know, magic stones can only be exchanged at the guild legally"
"Research." He shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm not planning to do anything illegal. These are just samples."
She squinted but didn't bother adding anything else, she didn't need to.
Instead, Eina pressed both hands to her forehead and took a slow breath.
"O-okay. Alright. I'll go get the appraisal sheets and a calculator. And someone to bring a replacement table…it's coming out of your loot."
She stood up, still in shock, and shuffled toward the door like a tired office worker carrying the weight of the world—and a rookie party apparently built different.
"I'll be right back," she muttered.
The door closed behind her, leaving Bell and Kaelis alone with a pile of loot tall enough to qualify as a safety hazard.
Now that they are alone, they say in silence.
"I'm not dealing with her again. You're going to the dungeon by yourself from now on."
Kaelis broke the silence.
"I-I was hoping you don't."
Bell replied quickly, not wanting to go dungeon diving with his master anymore either.
"So ungrateful."
Chapter 66 end.
—————
Good gentles, I beg thee—grant me thy Power Stones, that my humble tale may climb ere it falleth into dust.