During my trainings at the academy, I was often overworked and under a lot of stress. Busy schedules, longs labs, meetings in various places. I had to learn to fall asleep very quick and in any situation. Even this uncomfortablly cheap bed was nothing for me.
Despite that, I slept horribly last night. The face of that man Lucas was constantly in my mind. I have to hurry and get rid of him, so I can be at ease.
I tried stretching to regain some vigour when suddenly.
- LUNAAAAA!!!!
- What!!??
Breaking through the door, Anna jumped on me with open arms.
(CRASH)
I couldn't hold my balance, and we both fell on the bed. The next thing I know, I had my face buried into her breasts.
- ♫Morning, Luna!! ♫ Have you slept well!?
- Hmmm! Hurf! Hum!
- Oh, sorry! Are you alright?
I wanted to shout at her, but it would be pointless to argue with such a braindead woman.
- Yeah, I'm fine! Can you let go of me now?
- Not yet! I haven't fill my Lunameter yet!
''Lunameter''? am I some sort of product? Got to remember to lock my door before going to bed.
- Oh right, the rest of the party came back. We will introduce you during breakfast. Hurry up and get ready!
The others are already here? I'll finally meet Ms. Christa's brother. I hope he is as classy as she is. I also hope the others are at least worthy, because so far, except for the Hero, Sebastian and Ms. Christa, I'm not impressed.
I quickly watch my face and changed from my pyjama. Anna was waiting in front of my door. Good thing, I was worried she would want to help me undress.
She took me to a different room than yesterday.
- Oh, Luna, good morning! Please take a seat!
Upon entering, I was greeted by the Hero. She seems to be in a better mood than yesterday. She even called me by my name. That's a relief. I don't want to make an enemy of her.
- Lun… Ms. Hamon, I wanted to apologize for my behaviour of yesterday! I tend to be a little overprotective of Lucas. I hope I didn't scare you too much. The Hero said while I was sitting.
I wasn't going to hold that against the Hero, especially since I understood her situation. But still, even without that, her apologetic face would have melted my heart. I just wanted one thing: hug her.
- I should be the one apologizing Ms. Marr! I was out of line yesterday, questioning a ''hero'' capabilities.
- No, it's a normal reaction. Sebastian already explained it to you, but you're not the first one to question his abilities. However, if you still want to apologize, I'm not the one you should do it to. She said while pointing behind me.
I turned to see Lucas behind me, holding a plate. Shit! I don't really want to bow to him, but I needed to deceive them. Alright asshole, enjoy while it last.
However, he stopped me before I could even speak.
- Don't need to! That's fine! Most people react this way the first time. It's true that compared to the others, I may seem useless. … Come on take a seat! The food is getting cold.
- Oh right!
I looked around, searching for my seat, but there weren't any names written on the chairs this time.
- Excuse me, where can I seat? I asked the Hero.
- Anywhere you want. Only the war room is organised.
- Here, here! Come seat with me! Anna said, waving her hand like a tail.
- Thanks!
I sat next to her, and Lucas put the plate in front of me.
- So, let's continue with the introduction! The Hero spoke.
Following her words, the man next to Ms. Christa opened his mouth.
- Greetings Ms. Hamon! I am Roy Armstrong. I'm sure you already met my sister Christa. I am a Heavy Knight and part of the vanguard. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Oh my goddess, he is handsome. Much more handsome than Christa. Oh, thank you goddess, I will not be swept of my feet by his sister or the Hero.
- The pleasure is mine! I tried to reply, hoping I'm not making weird faces.
- Hi, I'm Ines! I'm a thief, a rear-guard. Nice to meet you.
This new voice startled me. I was a little grumpy because it dragged me out of my fantasy, but I had to meet all the members. So, I turned to meet this new person.
Upon looking at her, I became disappointed. It was another boring person. And what exactly is a thief? Even if it's useful class, can the Hero party have someone with such a shameful class name?
- Huh, … hi! I'm … huh, I'm D, … I …I
- The last one is Diego. He is a skilful assassin, but he has trouble talking, especially to someone he just met. Please, give him time. The Hero explained.
Great, so now we have someone so pathetic that he can't even talk. And he has ''assassin'' as class name. Here I thought thief was shameful.
- Ok, now that everyone knows everyone, we will learn to work together. Tomorrow we will go hunt some monsters in the dungeon. Anna will show you around the house and help you prepare for the hunt. Very well! As for the rest, you are free till tomorrow.
- Yes Ma'am! They all reply.
I ate my food, talking to Anna, or more specifically listening her talking to herself. How comes she has so many things to say. I don't even remember half of what she said.
After breakfast, everyone disappeared, leaving their plates on the table. Lucas was the one picking them up.
Anna pulled me away and gave me a tour of the mansion. She first took me to her room. It was similar to mine, except it was furnished. She had 3 books shelves.
- Are those grimoires?
- Well, I'm a witch after all. You can use them if you want. They mostly contain fire spells though.
As expected of low life magic user who made a pact with a spirit. I don't need grimoires. I memorized more than 1000 spells. This only proves my superiority.
After that, Anna showed me the rest of the mansion. As expected, it was smaller than what I'm used too. It also wasn't quite charming. There was no decoration, not even a painting. The walls were naked, not nice to look at. How could they live in such a shabby place?
At one point, we came across the war room. The Hero and Sebastian were inside. They seem to be working on some papers.
- This remind me, I haven't seen anyone since breakfast. Where are they? I asked Anna.
- They are probably training! But I'm sure Roy, Ines and Diego must be sleeping since they worked the whole night.
- That's right! Where were they? Is it okay for a party to divide it forces.
- Yeah! Well, we do that from time to time. Some missions, way easier, don't require the full party!
- Training you said. Is there a training room? Did we miss it?
- Oh, we did not. Well, we had one, but huh, … it got destroyed ha ha ha! Well, since then, we are training outside.
- Huh?
- Come, I'll show you the background.
Behind the mansion, there is an open field. Or more like a battlefield. There were holes everywhere, all vegetation had been burnt, pieces of metal were laying around.
- What the …
- Yeah, we don't go easy with the training and the area ended up damaged. …
(CRASH!!!)
Suddenly, something fell from the sky and raised a lot of dust.
- Huh?
Before I could process what happen, some other thing landed close to us.
- Hey there Luna! Come to train?
- No, I'm just showing her around.
It was Bertrand who just landed. In his arm was a red glowing bow.
- Magic?
- Not quite! It's just enchantment.
- You can do enchantment?
- I have to. Normal arrows don't do much damage.
- I can confirm. A normal arrow wouldn't hurt that much! Said Christa coming out of the dust.
- It's you who fall?
- Yes! Bertrand hit me with an arrow. I wasn't expecting to be thrown that far though.
She was hit by such an attack, fell from so high and she is walking as if nothing happened. As expected of Christa. Her resistance is quite high.
However, I wasn't expecting a simple archer to be able to use enchantment. It's not the same as magic as it only requires being able to control your mana. Still, not everyone could become an enchanter. Maybe they are not so bad after all.
- Keep up the good work, guys! I'll finish touring with Luna.
We continued the tour and arrived in front of the kitchen. Lucas was in there, peeling some potatoes.
- Potatoes for lunch huh, Lucas?
- Oh? Hi Anna, hi Luna! Yes, I'm making some fries.
- Is he cooking?
- Yes, Lucas' foods are delicious! You know, you had some during breakfast!
So that why he was holding a plate. And after eating, he cleaned up the table.
- So, he is taking care of the chores while others are training? Shouldn't he be training too?
- Well, he is not good in a fight, so he is taking care of the chores.
-Hey, I do train! In the evening. When I'm done with everything. Lucas added, trying to sound cool.
I almost burst out laughing. Here I thought he was blackmailing the Hero. Turns out, she is just using him as a chore-boy. No wonder she doesn't want to hire someone else. That also explains why other members are staying silent. She has her childhood friend to take care of everything. She probably isn't even paying him. He must think he is an important person; he didn't even realise he is being used.
Forgive me Ms. Marr, I doubted you. How could I think that such a pathetic man could threaten you? I'm such an idiot. I must learn from her.
If that the case, I will also turn a blind eye on this. Leave this man in his illusion.
- Keep up the good work, ''Sir'' Lucas!!
- Huh? Yeah, I will!! He replied with a smile.
Such an idiot! He didn't even understand my sarcasm.
We left the kitchen and continue touring. I was in a much better mood now that I know the truth. I even held a conversation with Anna.
At lunch, we meet in the dining room. I must admit, Lucas's cooking is delicious. At least he is good at something.
In the afternoon, Anna helped me pack everything she considers useful for a hunt. It was mostly mana potions which were useless for me. I have an incredible amount of mana. My teachers at the academy were all surprised by it. I doubt hunting a few monsters would consume even a quarter of it. But she is the senior, so I just followed her instructions. For now!
When we were done packing, we brought them to Lucas. After all, he is our porter. Time to fulfil your role. Ha, what an idiot!
After dinner, I was resting on a hammock chair in front of the mansion.
Oh, hi Luna! Getting some fresh air? Lucas? Where are you going this late? It's time for me to train. Well, it's just a jog though. Oh yeah! So, you're done with your work? Yep! Finally! Be safe out there! Yeah, thanks!
Saying so, Lucas started running. He was quite fast; a few seconds after departing, he was already out of my sight. So, this was the result of the ''intense'' training Sebastian was talking about. I must say I was impressed even if I couldn't see the usefulness in a fight.
Still, what a stupid man! Working till this late while everyone was relaxing. And he still cannot see that he was being used. Well, if he likes that, who am I to stop him?
As scheduled, the next day we went inside a dungeon to hunt some monsters.
The morning, we assembled in front of the mansion.
However, the members weren't wearing their equipment. And strangely, they had small bags on their back. Are they carrying their equipment? If so, why is Lucas needed.
I searched for him and saw him coming with a huge bag on his back. This must surely be the food, water and potions, but why such a huge bag? I mean, the dungeon we were raiding has a danger level of only 3. Dungeons are classed from danger level 1 (not dangerous at all) to danger level 10 (extremely dangerous). Plus, this one is one of the many training grounds. Knights and scholars often raid them. I've also been in one close to the academy: it was during one excursion our class had. I don't think you need so many supplies for such a simple dungeon. Perhaps he was trying to look good since others are carrying their stuffs themselves. Yeah well, he is a porter after all. He must feel complexed and brought many supplies to make himself look useful. But you're just going to tire yourself faster this way.
Okay! everyone's here? Good! Luna, since the dungeon is a few kilometres away, we are going on foot. Is that okay? Yeah, I'm good! I may not be a warrior, but I can do this much.
I'm not the one you should worry about. Lucas won't be able to walk all the way there with such a huge bag.
Well, he did. He kept up with the party pace till the end. And more infuriating, I was the one tired. They were literally running. We covered about than 20 km in a little more than an hour. And that because they slow down for me. And to add to my insult, Hero ordered a break to let me recover once we reach the dungeon.
Well, excuse me, but I'm not a fighter. I'm a mage. Of course, I wouldn't be physically strong. The only good part is that I was carried by Roy when I couldn't keep up.
So, per the Hero's order, we took an hour-long break. The others wore their equipment before we entered the dungeon.
This was supposed to be an easy dungeon, however, once we got inside, we got into formation. Daleth, the scout inquisitive was in the front, looking up for monsters and traps. And Diego, the assassin in the back, making sure we don't get attacked from behind. The Armstrong siblings were protecting the front, while the thief and archer were protecting the back. The rest were walking in the middle, on high alert. Lucas, the porter was just behind me. He has a huge bag on his back. During the break, I learnt that he was carrying a spare weapon for everyone, on top of the supplies. All of those just for a level 3 dungeon.
I questioned the reason for such cautiousness, but the Hero answer was just:
It doesn't hurt to be prepared.
''Prepared''? You have enough supplies to raid a level 10 dungeon. Don't tell me they are so cautious because they can't clear the dungeon? Is a danger level of 3 too much for them?
No!
Danger level 3 is too low for them. Even a level 3 would be too low. 16 hours later, we returned to the surface. We had obliterated the dungeon. Every single monster has been killed. The only one left is the last boss of the last floor. And that because we need it alive so the other monsters would respawn.
I can't help but feel exhausted. Physically I'm fine. My mana reserve is barely depleted. It's my mind the problem. We spent 16 hours inside that dungeon. 16 hours. When I came with my classmates, it took us 5 hours. Yet with these heroes, I spent 16 hours. They are walking slowly, investigating every single millimetre of that damn dungeon, taking 15 min breaks every 2 hours. All of these for what? To one shot even the bosses. The difference in strength is like heaven and earth. Why act like that if you are so strong? We could have clear the dungeon in only an hour if they weren't so cautious.
At least, it's over. Let's just get home. Oh right, we have to walk. Damn it!
They didn't use the spared weapons Lucas brought. And the supplies were barely consumed. This means that Lucas bag was still as big as before. And as, we were raiding a dungeon, we had to collect monsters' materials. And of course, Lucas was the one carrying them. So, in the end, his bag was bigger. Yet he still walked the way back with no trouble. Well, whatever! Not my problem!
We returned to the mansion, I took a bath and fell on my bed.
The next day, we got summoned to the war room before breakfast.
Good job everyone! Yesterday raid was a success! But before we discuss it, let share the rewards. We killed all the monsters inside that dungeon. I guess we made a fortune. I spoke. Not quite Luna! We only made 17450 P.
Only 17000 P? My monthly allowance was 4000 P. 17000 P is quite a lot, considering it was only a level 3 dungeon.
So, per our agreement, you receive 4,5% of it, so 785 P.
That was the contract I signed. 4,5% of everything the party makes. I tried to get close to take the money, but she handed it to Christa.
Huh?
The next bag went to Roy.
What?
Daleth was next, and then Sebastian, and then Anna and finally me.
Wait, wait! What's this? Is there a problem with your share Luna? No! Not me! Everyone is getting the same amount? Huh, yes! This way, there is no jealousy.
Bertrand, Ines and Diego also receive the same share. There were 3 pouches left. 2 were like the ones we all received, and a big one.
We are 11 in the party. If everyone receives 4,5%, this means 49,5%. So, the big pouch must contain the 51,5%. Being the Hero sure is nice. She gets half of the reward. No, wait, my calculation is wrong. If the Hero receives 50%, that means the 10 of us receive the other 50%. But there were 12 pouches.
While I was trying to understand the situation, the Hero handed one normal pouch and the big one to Lucas.
What? Is there something else? Huh, yeah! I mean, wasn't the big one for you? No! As I just said, we all receive 4,5%. So, what's with the big one? That's for the party. It's to buy foods, weapons and armours, everything needed to take care of the mansion and us. But you handed it to Lucas. Well, he is the one taking care of that.
Wait, she just gave 50,5% of the reward to Lucas. What about the extra. The party raid more dangerous dungeons. If half always goes to Lucas, there is surely some extra left. I mean, look at this mansion. It's shabby, and there isn't a single maid. It's clear that he was not using all of the money to take care of it.
Don't tell me that the Hero hasn't noticed it. Or she knows but kept quiet. Are they both in it? They are stealing the party money. And the others don't know? Don't tell me they are that stupid.
No! Ms. Marr is a Hero. She is righteous. The Armstrong siblings and Sebastian are also good people. I'm not sure about the others though but it doesn't matter. If those 4 are not reacting, it can only mean one thing. Lucas is somehow deceiving them.
That asshole. He almost deceived me too. I thought that the Hero was using him, but no. My first deduction was right. He is the one using the Hero.
I have to get rid of him. No matter what, I can't keep this crook in the party.