We arrived at the meeting place at the east gate 30 minutes before the departure time and found the DryadGuardian with our employers already there.
As we approach their group, an annoying guy spots us and approaches our group instead.
"Well well well, if it isn't the Dwarf kid Vier-kun. It's good to have you on this quest."
Really?... We're barely here for a minute and this annoying guy already started blabbering nonsense. But I'm not just gonna listen to him, if he wants a fight then so be it!
"I'm not a Dwarf okay! And what are you doing here, Mr. Nach? Why are you taking this Copper-Rank quest? Wait, maybe you're actually just a Copper-Rank and not an Iron-Rank adventurer."
"Are you having trouble with money, Mr. Nach? Are you in debt?"
"Don't cause trouble for your friends, Mister!"
Mifumi-sama and Felin backed me up.
Fufufu... See that Mr. Nach? I'm not alone so you better be ready to go down in this fight.
"Jeez!... This quest is recommended for both Copper-Rank and Iron-Rank Adventurers, and I'm not in debt or causing trouble for my friends. You can consider this, us Veterans adventurers babysitting the Rookies... Ouch!"
Before Mr. Nach could finish his words, someone gave him a kick from behind and made him fall flat face in the ground. It was one of his friends, Nymh-san.
"I'm sorry for this everyone, Nach doesn't mean to disrespect your group by saying that."
"He's an idiot but also a good guy."
The leader of their group, Fred-san, apologized to us about the babysitting topic, and the old man Zen-san tried to at least build up the ruined image of Mr. Nach.
"Come on Nach, say you're sorry."
"Then please stop hitting me... Ouch!"
While Nymh-san is kicking Mr. Nach who is still knocked down on the ground, I look down at him with an expression of victory and pity for my enemy.
"Kid, Don't you dare look down at me like that... Ouch!... Nymh, please stop!"
Fufufu... I won the first round of our fight. If Mr. Nach keeps bothering me during the duration of this quest, then he better ask for some backup from his friends because he's gonna go down again and again.
Our group is actually acquainted with the Iron-Rank Adventurers-Party DryadGuardian.
Their group consists of the Elf Mage-Archer Nymh-san, the old man Sorcerer Zen-san, their leader the Swordmaster Fred-san, and the Ranger Mr.Nach.
They've been in our town for more than a year and their group is using our town as their base of operation while visiting nearby forests so Nymh-san can perform her Elf-duties, to heal the contamination caused by the monsters' activities in different forests.
"Vier-chan, you're starting to monologue again."
"Vier, you're doing the cat-staring face again."
"Ehh?... Am I doing it again?"
""Mhm!!""
While the three of us are having our discussion about my cat-staring face and while Fred-san and Zen-san are still trying to stop Nymh-san from beating Mr. Nach, the two employers of this quest approach our group and greet us.
"So you're actually a group of adventurers."
"Vier, Mifumi-sama, It's the honey-candy Mister."
"Do you know this group, Gregg?"
"Yeah, Borris. I met them earlier this morning in town."
"We're here to take this quest. I'm Mifumi, this is Vier, and this is Felin."
"It's nice to see you again, Mister."
"Mister! Do you have more honey-candy?"
"Felin-chan, stop. You can't ask for food from strangers."
After introducing our group to the employers, all of us waited for the other Adventurers-Party who had taken this escort quest to arrive. However, the last group arrived at the meeting place 15 minutes after the specified meeting time.
"We're the upcoming Adventurers-Party NeoHeroes. I'm the leader, Slain. Let's work together to complete this quest."
"I'm Karna. I'm sorry that we're late, it took longer for us to prepare our equipment and gather our supplies."
"Our party is more than enough for this quest so you can all sit and relax behind our back."
"Hey! Stop that, Renxa!"
"Slain is right! One of their groups is an Iron-Rank, so show some respect."
"Hmph! Sooner or later we'll be passing their rank so there's no need for that."
Whoa... This last group surely has the attitude, especially that Renxa guy. They arrive 15 minutes late yet he acts like that to the people he's supposed to work with.
I don't know what they're capable of to justify calling themselves heroes and declaring that they would surpass the DryadGuardian but I have this odd feeling that I'm getting from their group. Like a literally odd feeling and it's really weird.
Hmmm... I think it's better to stay away from their group during this quest.
After all the group who has taken this quest has gathered, the briefing for the quest begins.
"We, the DryadGuardian, will act as the leading group for this quest. If anyone wasn't satisfied with that speak now."
"We're fine with that, Fred-san."
"We agree with that as well, Mr. Fred."
Mifumi-sama as our leader and Mr. Slain both agreed to Fred-san's proposition to act as the leading group.
"Hmph!... Girls and old people just need to stay in the back."
"Hey kid, how dare you... Ouch!... please stop hitting me Nymh... Ouch!..."
"Don't fall to the level of a kid, Nach."
First, there's the annoying Mr. Nach, and now there's the arrogant Mr. Renxa. Sigh... I'm starting to think that this quest is going to be troublesome.
"If you don't listen to my instructions, then don't expect our help if you're in trouble because of your misjudgments."
"Hmph! I know, and who would be in trouble doing a simple and boring quest like this."
Fred-san gave a warning but Mr. Renxa just retorted to him.
Sheesh... If you think this is a simple and boring quest, then why did your group take this quest?
Although, you're right. This escort quest is quite a simple quest. We just need to guard the two employers until the Neem village then back to our town. We will be riding nonstop even at night, and that's why they hire this many adventurers to be their guards.
With the acceptance that the DryadGuardian will be the leading group, Fred-san continued with the briefing.
"We'll be using two carriages. Ms. Mifumi, your group will be riding the back carriage together with Nymh and Nach. The Neo-Heroes will ride the front carriage together with Me and Zen. We'll be riding nonstop so put all your supplies inside your storage-item to reduce the carriage load. We're only stopping at the Campsite to let the horses rest so you don't need to bring any camping equipment."
Storage-item are Mana-Tech or Magic-Item that have storage-skill like Slime-Watch and Item-Bag.
Slime-Watch is a combination of a Relic Replica called Rolex-Watch and a Monster-Core from the Rank-0 Slime monster. It's a simple Mana-Tech that can tell the time of day and allow us to use the storage-skill and regeneration-skill of the Slime monster.
Item-Bag on the other hand is a Magic-Item that has a Magic-Circuit similar to the storage-skill found in some Dungeon-Artifact.
Upon putting all of our supplies into our storage-item, Fred-san gave the instruction for us to start traveling.
"Mr.Gregg, Mr.Borris, we're ready to go any time now."
"Thank you, Mr. Fred."
"Everyone! Let's move!"
After leaving our town, we were riding nonstop for more than an hour. And in that whole time, I have been fighting a lone battle all by myself.
Sigh... I really don't like riding a carriage. If I didn't distract myself, I would probably get dizzy.
It's probably from the shaking and rattling of the carriage. The road to Neem village is quite uneven compared to the road inside our town. Although our carriages have the same suspension and tires as those 2nd-World Relic vehicles called Auto-Mobile, I can still feel the shaking and rattling from the carriage.
Anyway. I'm still concerned about the odd feeling that I'm getting from the NeoHeroes. I don't like to do this but I don't have a choice if I want to know who they are.
"Mr. Nach, do you have any information about the NeoHeroes?"
I ask for help... No, it's not help since I'm sure that he will take payment from me.
"And why would you think that I have any information about them, Ms. Dwarf... ouch!...ouch!"
"If you keep acting like that, Nach, I'm going to throw you outside the carriage."
Thank you for your support Nymh-san.
"Okay. I understand, Nymh. I will stop teasing the kid."
"You're always drinking with other adventurers at the Guild's diner so I thought you were gathering information. I guess I'm wrong then. I expect too much from you, Mr. Nach."
"Well, I do have some info about them but that will cost you money, Ms.Dwa... Ahem!.. it will cost you money, kid."
"How much?"
"1L Gold coin... Ouch!..."
"That's overpricing Nach."
"Fine!... 1S Gold coin then, but I can't say any private info, that's against the rules of the Guild. All I can say are rumors about them circulating the town."
"You're more respectable than I imagined, Mr. Nach. Here's the payment."
"Okay, so here's what I know..."
According to Mr. Nach, those three come from the Naiades Kingdom which is at the west of our Smilodon Kingdom. And those three are not just any other country-bumpkin adventurers they are rumored to be sons and daughter of High-Rank Nobles.
The Naiades Kingdom housed an Elf Ancestral Family so being a Noble means that those three probably carry the Elf Bloodline in their blood.
"Can you really tell if they have an Elf Bloodline just by looking, Nymh-san?"
"That's right, Mifumi-chan. Dryad gave the same reaction she gave when she met you and Vier-chan."
After saying the name of her Sub-Spirit, a small girl, around the size of my palm, appears in front of Nymh-san. That small girl with a plant growing out of its head floats and takes a seat on Nymh-san's shoulder.
"Nymh-san, Can I also do that with my Cat-san?"
Felin calls her Sub-Spirit as Cat-san but its actual name is Cat-sith. Seeing Nymph-san summoning her Sub-Spirit, Felin also did the same. A small black cat appears at the top of her head, but unlike Nymh-san's Dryad who is looking at us with a smile, the Cat-sith immediately takes a nap between Felin's cat ears.
"It takes practice and experience, so you need to work hard, Felin-chan."
"Mhm! I'll work hard, Nymh-san!"
Mr. Nach then continued to share his information about the Neo-Heroes.
"Also, they're not just any ordinary newbie Copper-Rank adventurers. You're all familiar with the advance rank right?"
"Mhm! Bronze-Rank and Steel-Rank!"
"Bronze-Rank is the advance rank of a Copper-Rank adventurer. They will be treated the same rank as an Iron-Rank adventurer in case of emergency."
"And Steel-Rank is the advance rank of an Iron-Rank adventurer. They're also treated as a Silver-Rank in case of emergency."
Felin answered what the advance rank is then Mifumi-sama and I gave its meaning.
"That's right, and those three are Bronze-Rank Adventurers-Party like your group. They were a big shot among the rookie adventurers taking the Adventurers Admission Exam this year."
"So they're here to take the Exam?"
"Well, I saw them apply for the Exam back in the Adventurers Guild."
I'm a bit confused. Their kingdom should have their own Adventurers Admission Exam so why are they taking the Exam here?
After our discussion, we continued to ride for more than an hour. And in that time, the lone battle I have been fighting all by myself is not going in my favor.
Ugh!... I can't take this anymore. I already drank my medicine but it's still not working. Perhaps it's better to talk to everyone to distract myself.
"Are you okay, Vier-chan?"
"Do you feel weird, Vier?"
"I'm okay, Mifumi-sama, Felin."
Mifumi-sama and Felin notice my discomfort but I just tell them that I'm okay. I don't want to show my weakness to one annoying guy after all.
"Hey kid, the thing that is inside your side pouch, that's a Slime monster right?"
Hmmm... Maybe I should try bullying Mr. Nach. That should be a good distraction. Alright, let's do this...
"No Mr. Nach, this Slime is my Sub-Spirit."
"Are you telling me now that you're a new and undiscovered Evolve of the Deamon-Slime race? I won't believe that you know."
"If you know that why still ask the obvious thing? Of course, he's a Slime monster, his name is Poru-III. He's my pet monster."
I took out Poru-III from my side pouch and held it in my arm. He's only around the size of my palm so it's really easy to take him anywhere. But it's still a mystery to me why he never grew any bigger.
"Who would have a monster as a pet, and why would you bring that during a quest?"
"He's a special slime you know, and if he became more useful than you in this quest, maybe the Guild won't mind him taking your rank as an Iron-Rank adventurer."
"""Pfft...Hahaha...!!!!!"""
"Ehh? Why is everyone laughing? Even you Mr. Gregg."
"I'm sorry Mr. Nach. It's kinda funny to imagine that thing happening."
"That would be impossible okay!... And what about Poru-I and Poru-II? I'm sure they die because you forgot to feed them, right?"
"Well, I'm still a kid back then so I'm not sure what are the right things to feed them. But I'm using both of their Monster-Core for my Slime-Watch and my Storage-Bracelet so you can say that they're still with me."
"Using the Monster-Core of your pet monsters after they die, that's a pretty weird idea, kid."
"You're the weird one for thinking that it's a weird idea, Mr. Nach."
"""Pfft...Hahaha...!!!!!"""
"Hey! Stop laughing, everyone!"
__________________________
***PoruShark Writer's Note***
Here are the characters' concept designs for the DryadGuardian Adventurers-Party.
Look at the comments.
•Dryad
•Nymh
•Fred
•Nach
•Zen