"Next time, offer a higher price and see if we can recruit that mage!"
"Inventory complete. The count is correct."
Ella raised her head, her gaze naturally sweeping past Marcus.
Swordsman Gray, assassin Hill, ranger Vales...
Wait a second.
Where was Zeliel?
He had always come along to turn in the quest before, so why had he not shown up this time?
And judging by the state Marcus and the others were in, it looked like they had been through a hard battle.
Damaged armor, weary expressions, quite a bit of blood on them—could it be...
"Mr. Marcus, were there any casualties in the party during this mission?"
Ella felt inexplicably uneasy and could not help asking, "Why don't I see Zeliel?"
"He's injured. He's at the clinic right now," Marcus answered.
Hearing that Zeliel was only injured, Ella relaxed slightly and let out a soft breath.
But Gray seemed intrigued. "Gak, the big guy in our party, isn't here either. Why didn't you ask about him?"
"Oh... How is Gak? Was he injured too?" Ella asked, following Gray's lead.
"Yes, he was injured too." Gray smiled from the side.
Ella grew a little uncomfortable under Gray's gaze.
"Mr. Gray, please don't look at me and smile like that..."
"I'm just looking at a girl who specifically remembered Zeliel."
The smile on Gray's face did not fade. "You really care about him, huh?"
"Mr. Gray!"
Ella's face reddened. "Please don't joke like that!"
"All right, all right, I won't tease you anymore." Gray raised his hands in surrender.
Ella placed a heavy pouch in Marcus's hands. The clinking inside made the generous reward obvious.
"This is your payment for this mission. Please keep it safe."
"Thank you." Marcus accepted the pouch, and his expression finally relaxed somewhat.
Fifty-three gold and