Chapter 51 (1/2)

Ch. 51: Reunion After Arrival

“So, why are you here?”

When Loren asked the red headed man in a not-so-friendly voice, the man flinched, but managed to answer him in a clear voice.

“What’s so bad about me taking a job for my alma mater?”

In front of Loren, who was surprised at how small the world was, sat Klaus, who he had worked together with on his last job.

Since copper ranks like him and Lapis was able to go on the same question as iron ranks like Klaus and his party, it meant that the quest had no rank limitations.

Sitting next to Klaus was the magician named Ange, the knight named Layla, and the priestess named Roll.

After Loren and Lapis had decided to take the job at the adventurer training school, Lapis had gone and registered them and prepared. The next day, when they boarded the carriage that the guild provided, they met Klaus and his party inside.

“Weren’t you hospitalized?”

“I was. Since that priestess of yours treated me like a dog.”

Even though Klaus put it like that, all Lapis did was smile, and didn’t react to it.

“It was just mental damage and bruises from being whipped so I was able to get out after they healed. We decided on this job since we agreed on taking a simple job after what happened during the last one.”

“So, what you’re saying is that this job is easy?”

“If nothing happens, yeah. All you need to do is follow the students. Easy, right?”

Something about Klaus’ words nagged at him, but it did sound like an easy job.

In any case, Loren’s goal wasn’t to follow the students and earn money, but it was to go inside the dungeon and search for Lapis’ body part, which meant he had to think of ways to either do so without them noticing, or luring them towards where he wanted to go, making his job far from being easy.

“Most of the students who take this exam are pretty capable. The only monsters you meet in the early floors are low rank ones like goblins and cobolts. It’s more difficult for a problem to happen than them failing the exam.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate goblins. You should be wary of them.”

Klaus stirred slightly at Loren’s quiet mutter.

Goblins were monsters that even villagers who were slightly strong could defeat, and it wasn’t clear what to be wary about.

But he felt the weight of Loren’s words, and knew he couldn’t ignore them.

“This is an honest warning. Remember it.”

“I-I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

For a second, Klaus thought Loren was joking, but judging from his voice and expression, he understood that Loren was indeed giving him a warning and decided to receive it honestly.

“Anyways, one of yours has been glancing at me the whole time. Does she want something from me?”

Loren had noticed the gaze of Ange moving between him and outside the carriage ever since the conversation between him and Klaus started.

Ange seemed to think that she hadn’t been noticed, but to Loren, it was so obvious, he wondered if she really thought he hadn’t noticed. Getting looks wasn’t the most comfortable, so he decided to ask.

“Oh, Ange…come on, Ange.”

“Well…I heard that you were the one who saved me during the last job.”

When they were moving together during the last quest, an attack from a bone dragon had left Ange with critical injuries.

During that attack, Loren had saved her from the dragon’s jaws.

Ange had learned this not long ago from the rest of her party and had been stealing glances at Loren because of that.

“I guess something like that might’ve happened.”

“Please let me thank you, Loren. If you didn’t save me there, I would’ve died back there.”

“Sorry about taking away your boyfriend’s highlight there. He’ll definitely save you next time.”

Loren didn’t say that out of sarcasm, but because he realized during the last quest that Klaus had feelings for Ange, and the next time the situation occurred, Klaus would do so.

“Yes, I’ll look forward to that.”

“Something like that not happening again is the best, though.”

Although a hero arriving in the moment of need sounded good, Loren believed that not getting into such situation in the first place was important.

“Ange, I’ll try my best to meet your expectations.”

“Klaus…”

Loren looked away as they locked hands and stared into each other’s eyes.

The carriage that the guild had readied wasn’t that large, and the only parties that accepted the quest was Loren’s and Klaus’, so they were the only ones in there.

And currently there was a pair of a young man and a young woman looking at each other, holding hands, and whispering sweet things to each other.

It couldn’t be helped that Loren felt uncomfortable, so he looked around the carriage, holding back the urge to jump out, and saw Layla and Roll in bad moods, glaring at the two, who were in their own little world. Meanwhile Lapis’ empty eyes wandered all over the place, with a face like she had reached enlightenment.

Loren wished they would hurry up and arrive at their destination, but physical distance wasn’t something that would grow shorter by wishing or praying for it to do so.

From the description given when they left Kauffa, even though they left early in the morning, they wouldn’t reach the city which the Volf Adventurer Training School was located until in the evening.

Loren concluded that he should just go to sleep.

Someone in his former mercenary group had said, most things pa.s.s while you’re asleep, and when he heard those words, he thought that it was just the words of a lazy person, but in his current situation, those words seemed like gold to him.

“Lapis, I’m going to go to sleep. Wake me up later.”

“Okay, Loren. Sweet dreams.”

Loren faced out the window and closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him, listening to Lapis’, who sounded like she was keeping something bottled up in order to make herself sound calm.

How much time had pa.s.sed since then?