After leaving the Campsite, it took us 3 hours of continuous ride until we finally arrived at the Neem village.
It's already evening when we arrive, and as we enter the village, I take a peak from the tarp covering the side of our carriage and observe what's happening inside the village.
Hmmm... I don't see anything wrong or unusual inside the village. The locals are doing their night shopping, probably buying food for their dinner. The village adventurers seem to be doing fine, in fact, they have this celebration looks like they completed a difficult quest. Also, the village Guards seem to be expecting our arrival.
I guess this is just really an escort quest to pick up something from this town, not some kind of a cover-up quest that needs three groups of Adventurers-Party to be their guards.
We stopped at one of the village sheds used as a parking area for carriages and horses.
As we all dismount from our ride and gather in front of our employers, Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris give their instructions for our group and the NeoHeroes.
"We're only staying for an hour in this village. It's just for letting the horses rest and to pick up the packages."
"Both of your groups need to guard each of your carriages. You can send one or two of your members to buy any necessities but make sure someone remains to watch the horses and carriages."
Also, Fred-san has an instruction for us as well.
"Our group together with our employers will be going to the Guild Branch to meet the Branch Manager. If anything happens just send someone to call us there okay?"
After our employers left together with the DryadGuardian, that renxa guy and Mr. Slain also left leaving Ms. Karna alone to watch their carriage. That's better since I don't want to stay here guarding our carriage with that renxa.
Ms. Karna then approached our group to apologize, bowing her head in front of us.
"Everyone, thank you for helping me earlier, and I'm sorry about Renxa's actions. I hope you can forgive our group for everything that happened."
"You don't have to apologize for that guy, Ms. Karna."
"We're not mad at you, Miss."
Mifumi-sama and Felin are right, Ms. Karna didn't do anything wrong. Besides...
"You should not be the one to apologize. His words came out from his mouth so he's the only one responsible for what he says."
"Thank you Ms. Mifumi, Ms. Vier, Ms. Felin."
Ms. Karna lifted her head and then looked at us with a smile. But somehow, we can still see that she still looks upset because of everything that happened.
We're worried about her so Mifumi-sama decides to talk about Ms. Karna's group.
"So, how is your group doing, Ms. Karna?"
"Renxa leaves to see the village, I think he is still mad at me for not detecting that Hobgoblin-Mage. Slain followed him to make sure he wouldn't cause any trouble."
Sheesh... That guy is a bother both in and out of the battle. And he really has the guts to let someone apologize for his troubles. And if Mr. Slain went with him, does it mean he agreed that Ms. Karna should apologize to us in place of renxa?
Sigh... I'm also starting to lose my respect for Mr. Slain as a fellow adventurer.
"I noticed that you prepared an offensive-skill after you cast the support-skill, but he ignored your intention for the initial strike and jumped in straight to those Goblins."
Mifumi-sama try to console Ms. Karna by reminding her that Renxa was the one who didn't cooperate with their group during the battle in the Campsite.
"Mhm! Toast the monsters with magic first, then chop them using your sword next."
Felin's explanation is a bit weird but that's the basics when it comes to fighting a group of monsters...
"Sheesh! Vier-chan, don't teach words like that to Felin-chan."
Ehh?... Why is Mifumi-sama holding me responsible for that?
"Please don't suspect me for everything, Mifumi-sama. Maybe it's Felin's mother or her master who taught Felin those words."
"Pfft!!.. Hahaha!... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make fun of you by laughing. It's just nice to watch the three of you after everything that happened."
Well, Ms. Karna looks more okay now so I guess it's fine. Anyway...
"Don't feel depressed about not detecting that monster, Mifumi-sama and I also didn't notice that Hobgoblin-Mage. Only Felin notices its presence a few seconds before those Flame-Arrows appear."
"You're more skillful than what that guy says, you manage to defend yourself from that surprise attack. Even I won't be available to escape unscratched by myself from a sudden three-way maneuver attack."
Mifumi-sama and Ms. Karna are both Sorceress so what Mifumi-sama said should be more consoling for Ms. Karna.
"Usually, our battle strategy starts with me casting my support-skill and firing an initial strike. Then Renxa as a Vanguard will follow up and Slain will support Renxa from behind and act as my guard while I continue to cast magic to support both of them. But this time, Renxa probably wanted to demonstrate his power to Mr. Fred and his group, he ignored our usual strategy and acted on his own."
So that renxa was trying to show off his skills. Sheesh...
"That guy is quite troublesome."
"Mhm! I hate that guy, like how I hate the smell of the road to this village, disgusting!"
"Felin-chan words came out from her mouth but originated from you, Vier-chan. So you're also responsible for what she says."
"Ehh?... Please stop throwing my words back at me, Mifumi-sama. And what is this disgusting smell on the road Felin?"
"Hmmm?... I'm not sure."
"Pfft!!.. Hahaha!... It's really fun to talk with your group."
A few minutes after our group together with Ms. Karna finished eating our dinner, her teammates finally returned. Then the DryadGuardian along with Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris came back from the Guild Branch.
"We're back, nothing unusual happens while guarding the carriage right? Considering that none of you called us from the Guild Branch, I guess everything is alright."
I'm not sure why Fred-san keeps asking that. It's like he's expecting that something will happen.
And not only that behavior of Fred-san is suspicious.
Both Fred-san and Mr. Nach are carrying a medium-sized wooden box, maybe around 30 centimeters in size. Those boxes are probably the package we're here to pick up but for some reason, Fred-san and Mr. Nach put each of those boxes in a separate carriage.
I'm seriously having a bad feeling about what they're doing.
Usually in an escort quest like this, you would want to place all important packages in a single carriage so your group can focus on protecting a single carriage. By separating the package into different carriages, it's like they're assuming that even if one of the carriages gets attacked and destroyed the other one can escape and reach back our town.
After setting up the packages inside the carriages, Fred-san gathers us to prepare for our departure.
"It's almost 9 in the evening, so we're leaving after we prepare the Magic-Lanterns and install them in the carriage. Everyone should prepare their own Magic-Lantern in case we all need to come down from the carriage and check our surroundings."
"I don't need something like that old man, my Magic-Sword is more than enough for me to see in the dark."
Here he goes again. Why is this renxa so attentive to everything that Fred-san says?
"Do you plan to burn the carriage and the forest with the flame of your Magic-Sword Renxa?"
"Shut up Karna, I'm done listening to all your stupid ideas."
"Hey! Don't talk to Karna like that, Renxa. We're all members of the same Adventurers-Party, we should be working together instead of fighting."
"I can take care of myself on my own, you weaklings can do what you want."
Sheesh... This guy really needs a serious beating. Maybe I should consider Felin and Mifumi-sama's idea of dealing with this guy after this quest.
He is seriously thinking that the light emitted from his Magic-Sword is enough for him to fight in the dark. Even if you can see better at night by enhancing your eyes using Mana-Flow, it will still be hard for you to see since you're waving, slashing, and moving your light source at a very high speed. It will be much easier to have a steady light place in the ground like the Magic-Lantern.
Since Magic-Lantern is self-sufficient Magic-Items, they won't even consume a drop of your Mana. All you need to do is place a Mana-Crystal inside the Lantern and the Magic-Circuit will do its job to produce light magic by consuming the Mana-Crystal.
It's the most basic most useful Magic-Item made by the Spellcasters yet he refused to use it. If Sakura-san sees this, I'm sure this guy will receive the beating he needs and deserves.
After installing the Magic-Lanterns in our carriages and preparing our own Magic-Lantern, we rode our respective carriages and began moving back towards Green-Dale town.
"How are you doing Vier-chan? We have been riding for more than half a day, do you still feel okay."
"You're not getting dizzy, Vier?"
Now that Felin and Mifumi-sama mention it, I'm not getting dizzy anymore.
"I'm okay Felin, Mifumi-sama. The medicine that I drank had taken its effect and I'm also getting used to the shaking and rattling from the carriage."
"Pfft!.. Hahaha!... Hey kid, don't tell me that all this time you have carriage sickness?"
Ugh!... I messed up. I forgot that Mr. Nach is here. Now he has something on me. I can't let him make fun of me because of this.
"What's the problem with that, Mr. Nach? I can deal with it by taking my medicine and getting used to the ride."
"Pfft!... Seriously? Hahaha!... And you're an adventurer? How do you plan to travel... ouch!... ouch!... Nymh please stop... ouch!"
"Thank you as always, Nymh-san."
Why does Mr. Nach always like to make fun of me? I'm already close to considering breaking the law and doing something that would make him regret making fun of me. If I did that, I'm sure that would silence him for a week... No, maybe a month...
"So kid, what do you think about the NeoHeroes?"
Huh?... What with that sudden question out of nowhere?
"Why would you think that I'm concerned about them, Mr. Nach?"
"Come on kid, I also have information about you. I won't ask why you're hiding your Mana-Tech to that group but it might be interesting to hear your opinion about them."
"Do you like Vier-chan that much, Nach? I have no idea you're gathering info about her."
What Nymh-san said gave goosebumps.
"Felin-chan, let's protect Vier-chan!"
"Don't come any closer to us Mister!"
Felin and Mifumi-sama move in front of me to defend me from Mr. Nach. Then all of us look at him with an expression like seeing the most disgusting person... No, the most disgusting trash in a dump.
"Hey! Don't give me that look, I'm not like that! Nymh, please clarify what you said. These kids might spread rumors that will destroy my image."
Mifumi-sama, Felin, and I look at Nymh-san waiting for the clarification that Mr. Nach is asking from her.
"....."
"Ehh?... Nymh?"
When Nymh-san didn't say anything, we all looked back at Mr. Nach with our disgusted expression.
...BAMMM!...
"Nymh, I'm begging you, please!"
Mr. Nach bows her head hitting the floor of the carriages.
"Sigh... Nach only wants to look after your group, Vier-chan. Because when Nach was a rookie, he didn't have much offensive power but used many tricks like you."
That is unbelievable no matter how I think of it. But since Nymh-san said it, I can believe that it's true.
"I didn't think that you wanted to look after us, Mr. Nach. You might actually be a good guy after all."
"That might be true, who knows?... Still, you're fun to mess with so I have to gather my cards against you, right?"
"You just ruined your image again."
"Anyway, let's hear your thoughts about the NeoHeroes."
"Hmmm..."
I give a little bit of thought before I say what I think about the NeoHeroes.
"That renxa thinks that he can be the strongest in the world. Mr. Slain believes that they can deal with anything as long as the three of them work together. And Ms. Karna is devoted to supporting and following her friends in whatever direction Mr. Slain decides to take."
"So your conclusion is?"
"They are the type of party who would be beaten if they face a monster slightly stronger than the three of them combined."
"You think the same huh, kid?"
"They won't run away if they encounter a monster stronger than them?"
"It's okay to run away if you can't beat a monster."
"Both of you are right, Mifumi-sama, Felin. But in their case, that renxa will misjudge how strong a monster can be, then Mr. Slain will follow up believing that it will be alright as long as they fight together, and Ms. Karna who's the only one with good judgment will support Mr. Slain's decision. There's no one capable of making the decision that they need to fight that monster not to win but to run away."
"That's the difference between your group and the NeoHeroes, you have this kid who's capable of making that judgment."
"You might be concerned for us after all, Mr. Nach."
"Maybe you're a good guy, Mister."
I guess Mifumi-sama and Felin are seeing Mr. Nach in a new light. Maybe we're being too harsh on our opinions about him.
Either way, if Mr. Nach is comparing our group to the NeoHeroes, of course...
"There will be one more important thing that's different."
"And what might be that, kid?"
"Our Adventures-Party's name won't be as lame as the name NeoHeroes!"
"Jeez... How long do you think the Guild is waiting? Just submit your Adventures-Party's name already!"