It took the Hermes Familia and the trio's party a quarter of an hour to reach the entrance to the pantry due to waves of monsters rushing at them. But strangely, once they reached the area near the pantry, the plant monsters disappeared.
After they saw a glimpse of the pantry and no sight of monsters around, they took this chance to recover their stamina and injuries through potions.
After a few minutes, the group got ready and started walking towards the red light of the crystal which is the pantry.
When they were about to reach the room where the crystal was, Koneko's ears perked up and she put on a serious face, "...There's a lot of people inside. And one of them is strong... We're not a match."
Sona nodded at her and faced Asfi, "I think we should retreat."
Asfi was shocked at Koneko's statement, but she was more surprised at Sona's decision. They haven't even seen anyone yet much less gauge their strength, "We won't really know until we see and fight them."
"..." Sona could only stay silent. Although she trusts Koneko, the others don't have any basis of the same trust nor did she have any evidence that'll convince them.
"I know you only came with the Sword Princess and got involved in this mess. You don't have a reason to risk your lives as we do so it'll be fine for you to retire here and escape to safety." Asfi saw the hesitation in Sona's eyes and gave them a way out.
"Asfi is right. You three originally only got dragged in this mess. Although that doesn't change the fact that you saved us multiple times and we're very grateful for that. You don't have to worry, we'll give you a part of the reward for all the work you've done all this time." Keaks, a human and the one who kept bothering their Captain, trying to impress her, said with a smile and a thumbs up.
"Once we return to the surface, allow me to buy you a drink as thanks~!" Lulune added.
Everyone from the Hermes Familia was smiling at them and regarded them highly because of the actions that immensely helped them and potentially saved some of their members' lives, contrary to how they looked at them at the start of this quest.
A small girl with medium length purple hair and pale blue eyes came out from the back of their group and shyly went in front of Koneko. She was wearing a purple hat, purple robe, and brown shoes. Meryl, the sole magic user of the group, "Uhmm... Thank you very much! For saving me back then."
She then hurriedly went back to their rearguard where she can be safe.
"Well then, let's go." With Asfi's cue, the Hermes Familia simultaneously turned around and faced the entrance to the pantry before running towards it, leaving the trio behind.
The trio could only stay silent as they went through the entrance and they could hear the shouts of the battle soon after, "So these are Adventurers, huh. Unless they knew for sure that they'd lose their lives, they would tackle the mystery head-on."
Sona sighed and turned around, "If Kisuke is here, he would happily accept this arrangement as there are no more benefits for him, but..."
"We're not Kisuke... and we'll never be." Aika added with a big smile.
Koneko nodded, "They are also good people... Though they really have bad habits... And Meryl is cute."
Soon after, they heard an explosion and their expression changed, "Let's go and give Kisuke a headache!" Aika shouted as she ran towards the entrance of the pantry.
Koneko immediately followed her, "I think senpai will be fine with that."
Of course, Sona won't be left behind, "Just don't risk it. Yoruichi is probably coming soon."
" "Roger that!" " Both of them answered.
As soon as they reached the room where the pantry was, they were gobsmacked at the scene of the Hermes Familia running away from what seemed to be suicide bombers, "Dang it, to think it would evolve into this within just a minute or two." Aika hurriedly pulled out her throwing knives and aimed for the forehead of the white-dressed people, instantly killing them.
However, that didn't do much as the comrades of this suicide bombers would come near the dead body and activate the trigger of the bomb, "...T-these guys are crazy..."
"Aika, hold back those guys. Koneko, help those who need healing. I'll support both of you from behind." Sona commanded.
The two nodded and went to their respective works, "Ei!" Koneko went beside the human girl who was healing the injured male elf who got caught in an explosion when he tried to save Lulune from the first explosion and smashed the face of another suicide bomber, caving it in and instantly killing him.
"Y-you guys..." Nelly, the leader of the rearguard and the one healing the injured Elf, Thane, was shocked at the sudden reinforcement. A second later, however, she recovered, and focused on healing her comrade, "Thank you."
Koneko checked on them and figured that they would be fine. She then went to others who needed help. On the way to others, Koneko got besieged by numerous bombers, however, arrows flew one by one, killing them. Sona was keeping an eye on her.
"Why did you come back?" Asfi asked Sona who went beside her.
"We figured that we might as well finish this quest," Sona answered simply while sniping people with her bow.
But before Asfi could say anything, Aika shouted from the frontline, "Incoming monsters!" And soon as she said that, an almost overwhelming number of monsters came out of the ground.
The man-eating plant monsters, however, didn't just attack Sona and Asfi's group but also indiscriminately ate those from the other side.
That, however, also didn't deter the other side and they kept exploding themselves, making the situation more chaotic and unpredictable, "These guys are hopeless..." Sona commented.
Gritting her teeth, Asfi decided, "I'm cutting through. We have to take out that guy who seems responsible for controlling these monsters, or else, we'll just get tired and die."
"Are you certain? That tamer is probably around Level 5," Sona asked.
"Of course not, however, as long as I can catch him off-guard, I have a chance and I'm betting on it."
"Fine. I'll cover your flank. Good luck." Sona readied her bow and calculated who was going to be in Asfi's way once she ran out.
"Thank you." Asfi expressed her gratitude before running towards the leader with a speed of a Level 4.
Alexander Appreciation Corner(28th00 exists too!):
28th00: So, I don't really have anything to say for this chapter tbh. My knowledge has been completely superseded by now. Is it Olivas? Not a clue!
Alexander: I was already wondering, why no one edited the chapter. After all it was always a fight about who's faster. However, I am the same as you. I only followed the novel for a certain time, before I began to read wuxia, etc. I was fed up with beta-mc's at that time. At least in fan-fics, they get things done.