Getting Serious

The party continued onward. At the end of the cavern, they finally found something.

On a rug stitched together from animal hides lay several relatively new pieces of human equipment.

There was a breastplate torn more than halfway through, a finely forged iron longsword snapped in two, and several fragments of armor.

They were stained with blotches of blood. It was not hard to imagine what their owners had gone through.

"I recognize this sword. It was Rod's weapon..."

Gray crouched down and picked up the hilt, his voice unusually heavy.

Everyone fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

This was the life of an adventurer.

They could earn handsome rewards through mission after mission, but they could also end up dying without even a grave.

Killed by a pack of goblins like this... their final moments probably had not been pleasant.

"All right... let's keep looking and see if there are any other belongings," Marcus said.

The group began searching through the nest.

Gray found the bronze Adventurers' Association badges of three members of Rod's Party.

In a corner, Zeliel found a pocket watch.

When he opened it, there was a portrait of a man and a woman inside. After asking Gray, he confirmed that the man was a ranger from Rod's Party.

Other than that, there were only a few miscellaneous odds and ends.

They found no bones. The goblins had probably eaten them all long ago.

Those were all the belongings left behind by Rod's Party. After packing them up, the group left the cave once more.

The sun hung low in the west, faintly sinking behind the mountains. Complete darkness would fall in a few hours, so they began their journey home.

The forest was very quiet, broken only by the occasional birdcall.

"Say... have you ever imagined your own future?" Zeliel suddenly asked.

Vales silently shook his head.

"The future... probably retiring to a quiet little town once I'm too old to keep adventuring," Marcus said.

It was a simple, unadorned wish.

"Assassins don't think about that sort of pointless stuff. Think too much, and your hand will shake when it's time to kill," Hill said with a smile.

"I'm the same as Marcus. I'll return to my hometown and spend my old age in peace," Gak said, grinning.

"You all have plenty of energy. You're planning to keep at it until you're old before retiring."

Gray wore a carefree expression. "Once I've earned enough money, I'll quit and take Marianne traveling all over."

"Are you serious? You really like that bar waitress?" Vales frowned.

"Of course. Heaven and earth can bear witness to my sincerity," Gray said with a grin.

Hill tossed pebbles as she walked. Then, suddenly, she stopped.

"There's movement." Hill stared ahead.

The others immediately fell quiet and looked around warily.

"Monsters?" Marcus instinctively took his shield off his back.

"No... people. Six of them," Hill said.

"Damn it!"

Drake kicked a tree trunk, shaking loose leaves down from above.

His face was full of irritation. "Where the hell is the place marked on the map? Did you even find the right spot?"

"It's here, Captain."

A short, wiry man with a monkey-like appearance immediately sidled up to Drake, his face plastered with a fawning smile.

His name was Richie. He was the party's assassin and was mainly responsible for leading the way.

"Captain, I guarantee it. The place I found is definitely correct!"

"Then where's the Tree Spirit?" Drake glared.

After Marcus's party took the goblin subjugation mission for Misty Cavern, Drake had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and pick up another mission to kill a Tree Spirit.

The reward was lower, but it was still better than nothing.

Yet after wandering around Graywood Forest all afternoon, they had not even caught a glimpse of the Tree Spirit.

The longer they wandered, the more resentful Drake became.

He had really been cursed with rotten luck lately!

A high-reward bounty mission had finally appeared, only for someone else to snatch it away—and Hogan had personally assigned it to them!

How exactly was his party inferior to theirs?

What kind of worthless ranger and mage were they? Bah! One slash would take them down!

"Maybe the Tree Spirit went somewhere else... You know, Boss, monsters like that love running all over the place."

Richie suddenly fell silent halfway through his sentence. He cocked his head to listen, and delight appeared on his face.

"Wait... Boss! There's movement up ahead!"

"Oh? Is it the Tree Spirit?" Drake immediately perked up.

"Not sure... but we'll find out if we go take a look!"

The six-person party entered combat readiness and steadily advanced forward.

After passing through the bushes, they came upon a clearing in the woods. But when Drake's Party saw the source of the noise, they could not help but freeze.

"Well... if it isn't you lot."

Drake recovered and let out a cold laugh.

"Aren't you the elite party that stole our mission at the association?"

Marcus had not expected to run into Drake and the others. The situation suddenly became rather troublesome.

He had no desire to waste time here, so he said, "I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now. Goodbye."

With that, he prepared to lead his party around them.

"Hold it!"

Drake stepped sideways, blocking the path Marcus's party had to take.

His wolfish gaze swept repeatedly over them, full of scrutiny.

Their weary expressions, bloodstained armor and clothes, and bulging backpacks.

Yes, that was it...

They had already completed the commission to subjugate the goblin colony in Misty Cavern!

"Looks like you've had quite a haul."

There was a different meaning in Drake's expression. "How much did you make this time? Fifty gold coins? Or sixty?"

At the mention of that enormous bounty, the breathing of Drake's teammates behind him visibly grew heavier.

That was so much money!

The Tree Spirit mission Drake had taken this time only paid six gold coins in total. Split between them, each person would get only one gold coin.

"That has nothing to do with you. Move!" Marcus barked.

"Ha! You think this is still the Adventurers' Association? Think that old bastard Hogan is here to back you up?"

Drake could no longer be bothered to hide it. The expression on his face grew increasingly arrogant. "You won't be so lucky this time..."

Gak stepped forward and stood beside Marcus, looking fierce. "Didn't you hear what our captain said? Move!"

The intermediate swordsman behind Drake also stepped forward, refusing to back down as he shot back.

"This isn't your place to speak, you half-blood mongrel!"

"What do you want?" Marcus's voice turned completely cold.

"What do I want?"

Drake drew the broad-bladed saber from his back and rested it on his shoulder. "If you hadn't stolen my mission, would I have wasted my whole afternoon for nothing?"

"Could you stop saying things that make you sound like an idiot?"

Gray mocked, "President Hogan assigned the mission. If you've got the guts, go cause trouble for him. Besides, we're all adventurers. Who hasn't made a wasted trip before?"