Hops carried his luggage to the dormitory the Mining Department had arranged for him.
It was a four-person dorm. One of his roommates had already arrived and was sitting on his bed reading.
From that roommate's smooth, silk-like long hair and slightly pointed ears, Hops could tell that he had elven blood. And the bloodline was probably quite strong, because Hops could sense the natural magic lingering around him.
As a quasi-spellcaster on the druid path, Hops could cast a few cantrip-level natural spells, but nothing more advanced.
In his perception, that roommate's magic was far stronger than his own. He was probably either a sorcerer of the natural path or a druid, and not low-level either—perhaps already intermediate rank.
Why would an intermediate adventurer come work as a prospecting laborer?
He found it puzzling, but it would have been inappropriate to pry right away, so he merely greeted him first.
The colleague named Sid was a rather quiet person. After they introduced themselves, he went straight back to reading by his bed, with no intention of chatting whatsoever.
Fortunately, Hops was not the sort who became awkward whenever there was nothing to say. He smiled, put away his luggage, and headed out on his own.
Because he had come in such a hurry, he had only brought some basic luggage. During the introductions earlier, Director Clito had said they would be training here for a while, so he needed to buy some daily necessities.
Tooth powder and toothbrushes for rinsing, spare underwear, simple washing supplies like basins, and thermos flasks that were useful but inconvenient to carry over long distances... When Hops returned laden with bags and parcels, the other roommate, who had arrived after him, was utterly dumbfounded.
"You... why did you get so much stuff?" the burly,