Chapter 178: From Discussion to Reunion (2/2)

If they could dig their way straight across the mountains, there would be no need for a guide. But the distance to dig wasn’t a short one, and even Gula couldn’t dig through it in a short time.

“Should we try it?”

Evil Gods were quite sturdy, and Lapis wondered if their beyond-imagination strength would make the impossible possible. Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Gula hurriedly moved away. A knock came right then.

“Are there any soil workers here?”

Without waiting for an answer, the door was opened, and a woman dressed like a hunter peeked in. She had straight blond hair with ears pointed like daggers, and she had a bow in her hand and a quiver on her back. She didn’t seem to think that opening a door without permission was something bad. She then surveyed the shed and, after noticing Loren’s party, said in a flat, slightly surprised voice:

“Loren? Have you been a good boy?”

“Huh? Eh… Is that Nim?”

The woman was an elf, and Loren remembered her. She was from a party of silver rank adventurers Loren had meet during his first job as an adventurer.

“Why are you here?”

“We are silver rank adventurers, we have to contribute something to our country and the Guild. We’re to scout the demons’ territory, a job to earn money as well as credits.”

“Hey, Nim, are the dwarves here? If yes, you should tell us so…”

Loren knew the voice coming from behind Nim. Three people appeared behind her: a thief-like, unshaven man with brown hair, a swordsman carrying a round shield and a longsword, and an old man clad in a robe and carrying a staff. All were silver rank adventurers.

The thief-like man lightly pushed Nim aside to enter the shed. Seeing Loren’s group, his face broke into a smiled:

“Someone came before us? Oh hey, isn’t that a familiar face?”

“Long time no see. Nice to see you doing well.”

“You have one more member? Another girl? Do you aim for a harem?”

“I don’t have such a plan… It just became like this somehow.”

Loren answered with a slightly bitter face. Thinking that he was joking, the man clapped Loren on the back and shoulder. He was a silver rank adventurer called Jack. The swordsman behind him was Ritz, another silver rank adventurer and the leader of their party. The old man who was clinging onto his staff was Quartz, a magician.

“Well, well, it’s not like I don’t understand how you feel, but have some moderation, ladykiller.”

“Jack, you’re a bit noisy.”

Nim, who had been pushed aside, thrust a tight fist into the side of a defenseless Jack. The impact of it seemed to reach his internal organs, and he fell to the ground in a somersault. Nim kicked him aside, then turned toward Loren with an expressionless face and said in a flat tone:

“Loren is a good boy. He won’t gather his companions for such a dishonest purpose.”

“Such trust… Where does it even come from?!”

Jack shot the question at Nim in between painful gasps, and she answered nonchalantly:

“From experience.”

“Ah, is that so.”

Jack weakly collapsed on the ground as if he had used up all his strength and glanced at Nim. She was stroking Loren’s head, who was sitting still in his chair with a troubled expression. Lapis looked at them with envy, and Gula turned to the dwarves, who were taken aback by the rapid development of the situation, and clapped her hands once:

“The problem is solved, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“We have one copper rank adventurer, me, and two iron rank, Loren and Lapis. How about adding those four silver rank adventurers? With this, we can deal with pretty much anything that happens, right?’

In theory, copper rank adventurers who didn’t die during jobs or subjugation could become iron rank after a certain time, but only a handful of iron rank could become silver rank. So, the addition of these silver rank adventurers would be enough to reassure Dig – that was what Gula thought. It wasn’t incorrect, but to Ritz’s party, who had witnessed Loren’s fighting before, being considered as better was a touch uneasy.

“Could you tell us about the situation first? Then we’ll think about it later?”

No matter what, they had just arrived. Lapis gave them a summary about the current situation, what they had to do from now on, and introduced Gula to them, of course, not without withholding “some” information.