Chapter 285

Chapter 288: Faeries? No! It’s Pufferfish! (Please Subscribe!)

After breakfast, Finn was reviewing piles of documents.

To be precise, he was holed up in the office to handle the administrative chores of his faction.

This was part of the daily routine for him as the leader of the Familial Group.

Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one responsible for these tasks.

The two vice-leaders, Riviria or Gress, would often help out when they had time.

In this room with a predominantly brownish hue and a stable style, the faerie royal assisting the Halfling Tribe Leader held a parchment file in one hand and looked towards the few people who had knocked on the door and walked in.

“What’s wrong? Why are all of you coming together?”

“We want to go to the Dungeon, so we came to ask if Finn wants to come with us.”

In response to Riviria’s inquiry, Tiona didn’t hesitate and blurted out their purpose.

Apart from the invitation, the fact that there were four first-class Adventurers at home planning to stay in the maze also needed to be reported to Finn. Even if Finn might not join in the end, it still needed to be mentioned.

Otherwise, the disappearance of four officers would be too stimulating.

Upon hearing that the group planned to stay in the maze for a few days and even invited him along, Finn paused his document processing for a moment.

A brief pause, then he nodded cheerfully: “Hmm, okay. I’ve been wanting to find an opportunity to dive into the Dungeon recently. Occasionally, I just want to explore without any constraints.”

It was also for making money. The Halfling Tribe Leader added jokingly at the end.

The Spear of Command, known for its “Courage,” the {Fortia Spear}, cost nearly 200 million Valis for material fees alone for its re-forging, not including future enchantment costs for Izay.

The wallet of the faction leader was tight now~

“Riviria? With such a rare chance, why don’t you come along?”

Thinking that Riviria seemed to be busy with various things recently, just like himself, Finn made an invitation accordingly.

“…Alright, let me join. Occasionally going out to relax isn’t bad either.”

Mommy-san agreed to go to the Dungeon, truly just for relaxation.

Should we say, no wonder she is the strongest Magic Arts user in the city? Her words are so arrogant~

Relaxing in the Dungeon… Are you listening?

Others aside, but Gress would definitely have something to say!

If both leaders of the Familial Groups went missing, then all the miscellaneous affairs of the factions in the next few days would fall solely on him.

The old dwarf expressed his desire to scold someone.

Thus, the number of people in this exploration team increased to seven.

Finn, Riviria, Izay, Ais, Tione, Tiona, Refia.

Among these seven people, six were first-class Adventurers. To be honest, this lineup was powerful enough to make people wary.

However, it also fully demonstrated the strength of the largest faction reigning over Orario.

Later, the five of them did not disturb Finn and Riviria further.

They had to finish handling the trivial matters before noon because they agreed to meet at Babel Tower at noon.

Izay and the others, meanwhile, each went to prepare the supplies needed for exploration.

…

On Northwest Street, the bustling “Adventurer Street” filled with countless Adventurers,

The blue sky was clear and bright, gentle breezes blew softly.

The scene on Adventurer Street seemed unchanged at any time.

Reflecting various kinds of adventurers’ armors, different races of demi-humans were busily preparing to explore the maze.

Facing today’s usual plan to delve into the Dungeon, the road presented a lively picture.

At the Guild Headquarters built with white marble, Izay entered the Guild Headquarters.

Directly facing the street, the grand temple was almost as wide as the street itself, and was packed with Adventurers.

Carried by the crowd, Izay approached the massive bulletin board with a little sprite.

“It’s best to accept some decently priced Adventurers’ Quests. Doing what Adventurers should do while earning some pocket money… Refia, you understand, right?”

Taking advantage of the instructions heard from the faction leader, Izay teased Refia.

“Hmm… That’s true, but why am I with you…”

The little sprite, practically writing “sad” on her face, whimpered.

Before leaving Twilight Manor, everyone drew lots to decide what each person would prepare.

As a result of the draw, Ais and Tiona went to buy Spiritual Medicine, Tione was responsible for food preparation, and Izay brought Refia to the Guild to find a few suitable Adventurers’ Quests.

Refia, who originally fantasized about being alone with Ais, was struck by reality.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, it’s decided by drawing lots~” Izay shrugged helplessly.

“Hmm…” Refia puffed up her cheeks.

“In this state, Refia, don’t you look like a pufferfish!?”

“—!! Izay, you’re so mean!”

The little sprite turned red with anger and couldn’t help chasing after Izay to hit him.

But for Izay, her strength was akin to a back massage. Rather, it was more like selling cuteness~

With a slight smile, ignoring Refia’s desire to vent her grievances,

Thus, enjoying the service of the young girl, Izay began observing the huge bulletin board in the Guild lobby.

The bulletin board plastered with parchments posted many quests, most of which were collecting specific monster “drops”, and there were also escorts for caravans, etc., quests unrelated to the Dungeon.

Izay scanned the entire bulletin board from left to right, normally picking out a few suitable Adventurers’ Quests, and then at the farthest right end, found a quest that seemed to have been posted not long ago.

[Abnormality in the Maze Area]

[Recently, the number of monsters in the Middle Layer’s Great Tree Maze has decreased a lot, and strange roars can be heard. It might be due to someone damaging the maze? Or possibly for other unknown reasons, anyway, there are fewer monsters. We hope someone can help investigate the cause.]

Below the quest, it was also noted that due to the decrease in monsters, the rewards from exploring have drastically reduced.

The publisher was probably an adventurer who frequented the Great Tree Maze area.

Being constrained by Ability Values and unable to explore further into Water Riddle City, yet unwilling to explore only floors fourteen or fifteen, the Great Tree Maze became his main area of activity.

Now that there was an anomaly in that place, people like him usually noticed it quickly and were troubled by it.

However, the note also explained that since the explorer’s rewards from the maze have drastically reduced, the reward for this quest wasn’t much either.

Plus, it looked like a thankless task, so it was posted in the far corner.

“Izay, what are you looking at!? Have you chosen the quests yet? Hurry up!”

“Oh… Don’t rush, I’m coming~”

While Izay was pondering on his own, Refia had already taken the few parchments they picked earlier to submit and didn’t forget to urge him.

Pushing this matter to the back of his mind, Izay left the bulletin board position.