Chapter 74

Ch . 74: Deciding After Listening

Ive thought about why the jobs always go wrong . Why Loren fails them, even though you have more than enough skill .

Loren swallowed the urge to say that since they were a party, his failures was her failures as well .

There was no way Lapis didnt know that .

If she put it that way even thought she knew, it meant that she was doing it on purpose .

Loren didnt respond and gazed back at Lapis, knowing that she was trying to tease him, and eventually Lapis beaming face started to cloud, and eventually turned into one of disappointment .

Umm, I dont think failing a job is the responsibility of a single party member alone

When Klaus tried to interrupt, looking back and forth between Loren, who didnt respond, and Lapis, whose expression became darker and darker, Lapis glared like him like a guard dog glaring at a stranger .

I know that . Im not looking for a response from you . Im so disappointed .

Lapis said angrily, but it didnt look like she was as angered as she talked, so when Loren nudged her to go on, she changed her expression and started talking about what she had realized like it was something good .

We fail because we accept the job .

Whats that?

If we dont accept a job, we cant fail .

Are you drunk already?

Loren responded coldly at Lapis, who had a proud look on her face .

Part of what she had said made sense .

Success and failure came with the job .

Then if they didnt go on a job, there wouldnt be any evaluation, therefore they couldnt fail .

It was a legitimate thought .

Other than the fact that they wouldnt be able to work as a result .

Adventurers received jobs from the adventurers guild and made a living off the rewards .

If an adventurer were to do as Lapis just suggested and not take jobs, they wouldnt have any income and go broke .

Although, Loren had been failing job after job, so he hadnt been able to receive enough rewards, so it was hard to say he was making a living .

Lorens mood got darker as he reached that thought .

Um, what part of that is a good thought? The only thing Im hearing is stop being an adventurer .

In his dark mood, Loren didnt even feel like asking, but Klaus asked Lapis in his place .

Lapis realized that she had tread into dangerous waters as she saw Lorens mood, so instead of biting at Klaus like she had done before, she answered his question .

To put it simply, we should do jobs that arent in the form of a quest .

Loren wondered what she was even saying at this point, but in front of him, Klaus clapped his hands together, like he had understood what Lapis was trying to say .

He realized that he was the only one that didnt get the direction the conversation was going, so he asked for an explanation, not caring if it was the stuck-up priestess or the nodding swordsman .

So what Lapis is trying to suggest is going hunting to receive extermination rewards, right?

Exactly what this womanizer just said .

Klaus asked for confirmation, and Lapis nodded with an insult .

Ignoring Klaus, who sighed, Lapis started explaining to Loren in detail .

Strictly speaking, it wasnt a quest .

Although it wasnt a job that was specifically requested by anyone, the adventurers guild had a different set of job that consisted of adventurers exterminating monsters and bringing in parts of them as proof of extermination and getting paid for it .

This was paid during normal quests as well, so there were many like Loren who thought they were a set, but in fact they were completely unrelated to quests so the guild would take the parts and pay the rewards regardless of where they were collected from .

This was because exterminating monsters contributed to making the area safer, and by paying for adventurers to do so, the guild could say that they were trying to make places safer and it would give them a better image .

On top of that, some guilds would receive money from the nation it was in for its efforts, and since materials from monsters were usually brought to it, they could sell those for profit as well .

The nations would have safer areas for a low cost, while citizens would have to worry less about monsters, adventurers could get paid even without accepting quests, and the guild would gain both money and reputation, which became a positive system for everyone .

So, I would like to suggest following the highway to the north from here and exterminating some monsters in that area .

If they took the highway to the north, the chances of encountering monsters declined drastically .

That was why Lapis had suggested travelling a distance away from the highway yet following its path .

And they would be travelling for quite a few days, so they would need to buy food and items to last them the whole trip .

Loren thought that if he couldnt defeat enough monsters to compensate for the costs, he would be in the red, which wouldnt be any different from failing a quest .

When he told that to Lapis, she had an answer even for that .

Im thinking of hunting near the which is north of here, and its a place thats abundant in monsters, but even if it ends in an empty swing, if we report the route that we used to the guild, we could receive money for that .

Not encountering monsters proved that the route was relatively safe .

Lapis explained that safe routes had value in themselves .

Lapis avoided answering a value to whom, and Loren decided that there must be or might not be people who couldnt use the highway due to circumstances .

Either way, I think that we would be able to make a bit of money .

As long as we dont lose the monster parts, yeah .

Lapis and Klaus both laughed nervously as Loren continued to take the conversation in a bad direction .

Many times, people would say, always expect the worst, but in Lorens case, it seemed that he tended to think about things in a bad direction and took it a bit too far .

It wont be that dangerous since well be wandering near the highway, so I think it would be fine .

The guild will evaluate it as contribution to the guild even though it isnt a quest, so I think its a good idea .

To be clear, I dont want you and your party to come, okay? This is a job between me and Loren .

I know . Of course, Ill hold back from getting in between the two of you .

As Lapis snarled with her gaze and her tone, not wanting Klaus and his party full of girls to come with them, Klaus backed off easily .

Were not short on money, after all . The two of you should have a good time together on the trip to the Black Forest .

What kind of place is the Black Forest?

Lapis reddened at the words, have a good time together .

Loren asked Klaus, trying not to look at her, Klaus looked up, trying to recall what he knew, and started talking about the Black Forest .

Its two days north of Kauffa by foot, and its a large forest . The overgrowth is quite thick, and it gets darker the farther in you go, which is where it got its name from, the Black Forest . There are many monsters living in there, and there are species of fairies, elves being one of the most prominent, living there as well .

Elves, huh .

When Klaus mentioned elves, the first thing he thought of was a woman named Nim, who was a member of a silver rank party that he had traveled with before .

She was great with a bow and had a slender body, along with all the other characteristics of elves, but most people knew elves as a species with beautiful looks, pointed ears, thin body structure, lived in villages within forests far away from humans, and had their own unique culture .

They were a closed society, and only a handful of them left to live with humans or become adventurers like Nim .

If youre planning to lay hands on them you should reconsider . Theyre not citizens of the kingdom so our laws dont apply to them, but apparently, they govern the forest with their own laws . If you get caught theres no telling what would happen to you . Even if theyre beautiful, its not worth it .

Im not you, you know that?

Klaus felt down again at Lorens immediate cutting response, and Loren knew that laying hands on elves was something only fools or the reckless would do, and he wasnt either .

Lets ignore this indiscriminate playboy . So, Loren, about this suggestion . Its not bad, isnt it?

Yeah

Loren started thinking .

If a person repeated failure after failure, he would get frustrated by it and would need to get a breath of fresh air every now and then .

Looking at Lapis suggestion from that stance, he thought of the two of them spending a few days together travelling didnt seem that bad .

The last job, although it was quite rough, ended in success, so he felt like he didnt need to force himself to get a change of pace, but he decided to ignore or feign ignorance in order to not waste Lapis efforts .

Alright, lets go with that this time .

Then its settled . We need to go buy food and supplies .

Loren left Lapis to decide what they needed .

It could be considered as making her do al the work, but the biggest reason for his decision was that since he didnt have much money, he would have to rely on her wallet .

Sorry, but Ill leave the selection to you .

But youll at least carry the stuff, right?

Loren nodded immediately .

Even if he couldnt offer money, if he didnt offer physical labor as well, it would look like Lapis was actually taking care of him .

Then lets get to searching . Its best to start acting immediately when it comes to these things .

I dont want to walk with alcohol in my systemwell, I guess its fine .

Loren stood up, accepting Lapis invitation, hitting his slightly dizzy head, and called out to Klaus, who was still feeling down .

Now that its been decided, Ill see you around .

Y-yeah . Take care .

Klaus raised his head and saw Loren off after he had said goodbye .

Seeing Lapis pull him out into the city, Klaus could only think of them as a guy and girl with a good relationship .

He couldnt help but admire them as he drank the rest of what was in his cup, and started thinking about which party member he should go to comfort him, thoughts which would lower the temperature of Lapis gaze to freezing if she heard them .