"Vigilant and Archbishop Neri are back!"
At dawn, huntress Shantok, who had been keeping watch outside Ambori Village, rushed into the room where the rangers were resting and brought everyone the good news. She said excitedly:
"Those two must have fought their way out of the orcs' encirclement to make it back. It's not quite dawn yet and it's still dark, but I could see the wounds on them. Both of them looked exhausted.
"The Archbishop's armor is battered to pieces. One look tells you they went through a huge battle! They must have slaughtered a whole lot of orcs!"
"Oh, they went through a 'huge battle,' huh."
Yura, the rangers' second-in-command and a veteran of ten thousand years, rolled her eyes. As she gathered up the cards from the tabletop game, she took the chance to tear off the undignified slips of paper stuck to her face and told the brothers and sisters still playing cards:
"Then why aren't you rushing out to welcome them? Shantok, hurry and prepare some hot water, then find a clean set of clothes. I'm guessing the Archbishop will want a bath as soon as she gets back."
"Huh?"
The young yet fierce huntress was bewildered. She asked doubtfully:
"Shouldn't injuries be treated first? What kind of move is taking a bath right away? Aren't you afraid the wounds will get infected?"
"Just go prepare it when I tell you to. Rangers with no sense of tact have a hard time getting promoted! The most important thing in our line of work is learning to read the room. Anyway, listen to me. You can't go wrong!
"An old hand like me wouldn't lead you astray, right?"
Yura did not want to explain too much.
After all, she had to leave some dignity for her