The last commission had taken a great deal of effort.
For Lynn, who was bolstered by various monster bloodlines and possessed attributes far exceeding those of an ordinary apprentice, a single night's sleep was enough to fully restore his energy.
But for ordinary adventurers, undertaking such a commission would likely require several days of rest to recover.
When he saw Lupa this morning, her exhaustion was plain to see. That was why he hadn't told her about his plan to take on another commission today.
Fortunately, besides the Monk and Lupa, Lynn knew other reliable teammates.
These were, of course, Aguda and Hilda of the Fire Shield Party.
He had adventured with the former, and they had coordinated reasonably well, so that went without saying.
As for Hilda, when surrounded by monsters, she hadn't abandoned her weaker teammates and had instead chosen to fight alongside them. From that alone, her character was highly trustworthy.
Lynn first took Henry to the inn where Aguda was staying.
To his surprise, the innkeeper informed them that Aguda had already checked out and temporarily left Wingen Town.
“That guy is a regular of mine. When he left, I asked him what he was up to, and he seemed to say...”
The innkeeper paused to recall.
“Oh, right. He said he was going back to his tribe to undergo a trial and become a true class-holder. He also mentioned that if he succeeded, he'd return to Wingen Town before the Autumn Hunt.”
Hearing the innkeeper's words, Lynn finally understood why he hadn't been able to find the man the last time he looked.
It turned out he had left Wingen Town entirely.
Lynn wasn't particularly surprised by the news that Aguda was preparing to attain his class.
When they adventured together, the Monk had mentioned that Aguda had killed two Tier 1 monsters single-handedly last year.
It was only natural that he was preparing to attain his class now.
Furthermore, from the looks of it, the class Aguda wanted to attain was likely a hidden class.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to return for some “trial.”
This also explained why Aguda, who could already slay ranked monsters last year, had not yet become an official class-holder.
Lynn didn't mind too much that his first choice for a teammate was unavailable.
To be honest, after learning Eldritch Blast, Lynn's sustained ranged damage output was not inferior to Aguda's at all. Thus, Aguda's absence didn't make much of a difference.
Lynn took Henry straight to Rosemary Avenue, planning to find his second potential teammate, Hilda.
The party still lacked a frontliner, after all.
...
Rosemary Avenue, Oak Inn.
Upon hearing that Lynn and his companion were looking for Hilda, the innkeeper, who was busy balancing the books, didn't even look up as he spoke.
“In the backyard of the inn. She should be training there.”
Sure enough, as they reached the sandy backyard, a mane of fiery red hair was the first thing to catch Lynn's eye.
It was Hilda.
Hilda was dressed in activewear. She held an unsharpened iron training greatsword, swinging it in a rhythmic cadence.
As the heavy iron sword shifted positions around her, the various muscle groups of her body took turns exerting force. Her muscle lines rippled, conveying a strong sense of power without being overly aggressive.
Sweat poured like rain, tracing across her healthy, attractive skin before running down the cleavage formed by her rising and falling chest.
Lynn felt that Hilda's presence seemed slightly stronger than when they had last met.
Well... actually, he couldn't really perceive an aura; it was just an intuitive feeling.
In this world, it seemed only official class-holders possessed a distinct “presence.” When class-holders met, they could recognize each other as such at a single glance.
“Hilda.”
The woman turned her head at the sound of her name, looking toward the newcomers.
It was the rogue who had suddenly appeared and saved her and her teammates from the gnolls.
His name was Lynn, if she recalled correctly.
Hilda placed the greatsword on a nearby rack, draped a long linen towel over her shoulder, and walked toward Lynn.
“Hello, Lord Lynn. Is there something you need my help with?”
Hilda still remembered that she had promised Lynn to do one favor for him.
Lynn shook his head. “I was just planning to invite you to join me on a commission. Do you have some time?”
Hilda wiped the sweat from her body with the towel, though a few fiery-red strands of hair, plastered to her fair forehead by perspiration, remained quite prominent.
Hilda considered Lynn's proposal.
In fact, since their last near-death experience, the number of times Hilda adventured with the other members of the Fire Shield Party had decreased significantly.
It wasn't for any negative reason.
It was just that Hilda felt she was not far from attaining her class.
Her Strength attribute had already exceeded ten points.
However, the cost of activating the magical instrument used to test attributes was too high for her to afford, so she didn't know her exact score.
With her attributes meeting the standard while her teammates only took on simple commissions, Hilda found herself unable to hone her combat techniques in actual battle.
As a result, she could only stay at the inn, relying on tedious repetition to train her skills.
Yet lately, she felt her combat skills had hit a bottleneck. No matter how much she trained, she couldn't take that final step.
Hilda felt stuck right at the threshold of becoming a class-holder.
Now that Lynn was inviting her, she naturally had to consider whether she should head out to clear her head.
After a moment of silence, Hilda asked, “What kind of commission are you planning to take?”
Lynn: “A monster hunt. Any kind of monster will do.”
A monster hunt.
Hearing this, Hilda felt an itch in her hands.
It had indeed been a while since she last hunted monsters.
“Alright.”
Hilda agreed readily, turning back to her room to pack her gear.
Carrying a large pack on her back, Hilda stepped out.
“Let's go, Lord Lynn.”
And so, the three of them headed to the Adventurers' Guild together.
Upon arriving at the guild, quite a few eyes turned toward them.
Some looked at Lynn, while others looked at Hilda.
“Isn't that the captain of the Fire Shield Party? Who's that next to her?”
“I hear he's a very powerful adventurer who saved Hilda out in the wild.”
“Ah, so that's it. Then them walking together now means...”
The speaking adventurer looked at Lynn with an envious gaze.
Adventuring with someone like Hilda was a dream shared by countless adventurers.
After all, braving the elements in the wilderness was a grueling task, but having a powerful and beautiful companion of the opposite sex would undoubtedly ease the mental strain significantly.
Neither Lynn nor Hilda cared much about being the center of attention.
Henry, on the other hand,
had his nose pointed straight to the sky.
As a blacksmith's son, Henry wasn't particularly popular among the adventurers.
After all, most adventurers in Wingen Town chose this profession simply to make a living.
Someone like Henry, who had a family business to inherit yet chose to become an adventurer, was somewhat suspected of just “slumming it.”
Everyone naturally assumed he was doing it on a whim and would slink back to the blacksmith shop to take over the family business once he tasted enough hardship.
Consequently, Henry, who had never received such attention before, was understandably feeling a bit smug about being in the spotlight.
Rate on N.U.
