Clear voices in conversation rang out.
They came from beneath a wooden shelter diagonally ahead of the girls.
"Brother, make a trip to the surface for me."
There stood a burly Werewolf Adventurer.
His left arm hung limply at his side, wrapped in thick bandages with large patches of dark red blood seeping through.
He looked badly hurt.
With his one remaining good hand, his right,
the Werewolf was handing a bulging purse to the person standing opposite him.
It was a pointy-eared Half-Elf wearing a pair of oddly designed lightweight running shoes, with a flat pack on his back.
"Go to the Demeter Familia's residence behind the Guild."
The Werewolf Adventurer spoke very quickly.
"Find a girl named Mia and tell her our expedition ran into a little trouble."
"I need to stay here on the 18th Floor for another week to recover."
"Tell her not to worry."
The Half-Elf took the purse.
He casually hefted it in his hand.
Listening to the gold coins clink inside, he readily nodded.
"Sure."
"Same rate as always, five thousand Valis for a message delivery."
The Half-Elf deftly slipped the purse into an inside pocket of his clothes.
"I guarantee I'll deliver your message before dinner today."
With that,
the Half-Elf darted away with extraordinary nimbleness.
In just a few movements, he slipped through the gaps in the surrounding crowd.
He sprinted straight toward the stairway entrance leading up to the seventeenth floor.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
"..."
Kohina still held her half-eaten meat skewer.
Her orange-red eyes stared in the direction where the Half-Elf had disappeared, her face full of incomprehension.
"They actually spend money hiring someone just to run errands?"
Kohina tilted her head, biting off the last piece of meat and chewing it.
"This