(Attendance… plz…)
….
It was late evening when the three adventurer parties returned to E-Rantel. The sun was already beginning to set, casting long shadows against the city walls.
The return trip hadn't been quiet. A few more Goblins and Trolls had stumbled into their path, stray groups looking for trouble. But alas, they were wiped out just as quickly as the nest had been.
The Swords of Darkness acted like it was no big deal now. They had seen enough. It wasn't good for them to get too comfortable, complacency kills, but they weren't arrogant enough to think they could replicate what Momon and Reinhard did. They knew better.
They had brains. They knew now that there was always a bigger fish.
So they handled the cleanup. They gathered the proofs from the corpses, while the bodies, useless for bounty, were cleared away by Nabe's magic.
Even though they insisted on doing the grunt work, it wasn't a fun job. But they knew it was the least they could do.
Otherwise, they were just dead weight getting carried. And since the girl had insisted on equal pay, they felt obligated to earn their keep.
Felt was in a good mood. She walked with a skip in her step, already calculating the coin in her head. More kills meant more money. More money meant better gear, better food, and more quests tomorrow.
Reinhard walked beside her, smiling simply because she was happy. Solving the problem of the Goblins and Trolls raiding the villages was just a bonus. He didn't look tired in the slightest, unlike the Swords of Darkness, who were dragging their feet.
Momon and Nabe brought up the rear as usual. Momon kept his gaze forward, trying to keep his mind empty. If he overthought things, he might miss something obvious.
They entered the city gates. The guards recognized them immediately, specifically the duo of the white-clad knight and the blonde girl.
It was hard to forget the pair that had dragged a meat mountain through the gates just yesterday. They let the group pass without a single question.
Inside the city, they went straight to the Adventurer Guild to report.
The Guild was lively even at this hour. Adventurers stood in groups, talking loudly, drinking, or checking the boards. But as the party of eight entered, the noise died down a little.
People looked. They stared at the strange combination of groups entering together.
Peter went to the counter to handle the report. He hefted several heavy bags onto the wood.
The receptionist's eyes widened at the number of bags. When she checked the contents, her eyes widened further.
But she didn't overreact; someone had likely filled her in on the rumors of the new rookies. Seeing the red-haired boy and the girl confirmed it.
"I apologize," she said after a moment, regaining her professional tone. "But this is a very large number of proofs. It will take quite a bit of time to count them and prepare the settlement reward. The quest completion reward will be added to that. It will be prepared by tomorrow."
"I know," Peter said, nodding as he was expecting this. "So no problem at all. We will come tomorrow. Thanks."
He went back to the party and explained the situation. They all nodded.
"Well," Felt said, shrugging. "Not like they won't give us the money."
"I just wanted to say once again," Peter said, looking at the two other parties. "It was kind of a one-time experience we had with you guys. We never saw anything like that. We really learned a lot. Mostly that there is always a bigger fish in the world, and not to mention we have a very long way to go. I won't ever forget this quest."
Reinhard smiled. "It was a pleasure working with you too, Peter. You are a very good leader. Your team trusts in you. Try not to break that trust. And please, do not hesitate to come to us if you need help with anything."
Though Felt added, "don't just come with every useless thing and all, just so you know."
At this, they laughed a little and giggled. As Peter said, "of course. And thank you."
Momon nodded his helmeted head. "Indeed. You four were very good guides. Your knowledge on the quest and about monsters and the area was helpful. I hope it won't be a problem if we come to ask any questions regarding the place. As you know, Me and Nabe just arrived here a few days ago too..."
Peter looked at him. He couldn't understand how they were so kind and humble with that much strength. If it were him, he admitted to himself, he would probably be cocky.
"No problem at all," Peter smiled, and his party echoed him. "Call for us anytime you want for anything."
Lukrut grinned, trying his luck one last time. "Hey Nabe, there is still time if you wanna take up that drinking offer… you know."
Nabe looked at him like he was dirt, but didn't say anything.
Peter dropped a chop on Lukrut's head.
Bonk.
"Stop that now at least. Sorry once again for him."
While they were exchanging pleasantries and laughing, someone was watching from a corner of the Guild.
A woman leaned against the wall, twirling a stiletto dagger in her hand. She wore a strange, mismatched armor set that looked like it was made from the plates the Adventurer Guild issued upon rank up. The armor was fully covered in them.
Her hair was short and blonde, curling inside out. She had a cat-like grin on her face that just stayed there as she watched them.
She had been waiting here, looking for someone this entire time, and now she stood alone, watching the party of eight.
She was also one of those who had heard the rumors of a party ranking up in just a few hours. Actually, who hadn't?
"Hmm~" she hummed to herself, her voice raspy and playful. "So that one in white clothes... the pretty noble knight boy... and that little girl. Huh?"
She licked her lips. She was imagining something already now or something of the future.
Her eyes then looked for someone else, landing on the others, especially the one with black armor and two giant swords, and a Copper Plate on his neck.
"So many new toys to play with, hahah," she whispered, grinning wider. "Am I lucky or what?"
She played playfully with her sharp stiletto daggers.
After seeing the one she had been waiting for enter the building, she decided make her exit.
Unexpectedly, she had gotten way more new toys than she had thought of. She was happy... very happy.
As she was walking out of the Guild, she bumped into someone who was entering.
It was a young boy, no, almost still a boy in appearance, with short, bowl-cut blonde hair that fell in a messy fringe, completely covering one eye and half of the other.
The bangs shadowed his face, giving him a perpetually drowsy, uninterested look. He was slender, dressed in simple, slightly worn work clothes stained with faint traces of herbs.
He stumbled back a step, blinking in surprise from beneath his curtain of hair.
"Ah…" he started, voice quiet and uncertain, one hand lifting to push his hair aside just enough to reveal a glimpse of wide, surprised eyes. "S-sorry, I wasn't looking where I was…"
The woman tilted her head. Her cat-like eyes glinted as she looked at him.
"Oh my, oh my," she purred. "Are you hitting on me?!"
"Huh??!!"
….
A/N: Well, I hope it was good. I know I didn't really say much about this. But guys, please send power stones. By power stones, I get to see that people are liking this and supporting this series.
I know many people will say it is only on chapter 16, but I want to say that in this series I followed your advice and have made the chapters bigger. So if I had been on my usual 1k words per chapter, this series would already be on chapter 30 or would have passed it.
Q: Was it good? Or bad?
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