Fekro said, “Your turn, Miss Hard-to-Notice.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Introduce yourself, of course.”
Cecia came to a sudden realization. So there was still that to do.
“Nightingale.”
“Rank Zero Assassin.”
“Specialty: making people forget I exist.”
And that was all.
Fekro waited for a moment. “That’s it?”
“That’s already plenty.”
“What about the rest?”
“That’s... a secret.”
Miss Amber smiled at her words, her expression as pleasant as ever.
With Cecia finished, the remaining two adventurers began their introductions.
One was named Horn, a Rank Zero Warrior. He was a local fisherman with a tall, burly build.
The other was named Mia, a Rank Zero Mage who knew a bit of healing magic.
Now, all seven of them had exchanged basic introductions.
Cecia was quite satisfied with this. At least she now knew what names would be written on their tombstones after they died.
God only knew whether these names were the real names of historical projections or pseudonyms used by Spirit Realm excursionists.
It was probably a bit of both.
Right at that moment, the church bell rang out.
Clang, clang, clang.
Solemn and sacred.
Cecia looked up. Beneath the bright, glaring sun stood a pure white spire.
The large golden bell at the top of the tower chimed, resembling a lighthouse Cecia had seen in her past life.
The white walls reflected the sunlight—glaring and annoying to look at, yet radiating an unassailable aura.
Beside her, Miss Potato’s face suddenly went pale. Her body swayed, looking completely drained of strength.
Cecia caught Miss Potato just in time as she was about to collapse.
Miss Potato clung to Cecia tightly, holding on like a drowning person grabbing a lifeline.
Her body was trembling.
“Miss Nightingale, my eyes got even blurrier...”
Cecia held Miss Potato in her arms. She was very light, her body soft.
There were no visible injuries on her, but her complexion was dreadful.
Cecia couldn't spot anything unusual—at least not on the surface.
“Can you not see at all?”
“No... it’s just really blurry.”
She reached out toward Cecia’s face, seemingly trying to confirm Cecia’s condition.
Unfortunately, her hand reached into thin air.
It seemed her sight really was terribly blurry.
Once the bells stopped ringing, Miss Potato regained her strength. She struggled to her feet and went right back to eating the half-finished tomato in her hand.
“Are you alright now, Miss Potato?”
“I’m fine.”
Miss Potato mumbled through a mouthful of tomato, though her hand remained tightly clutched around Cecia's sleeve.
Cecia made no attempt to shake her off.
Because the old priest, Robert, had finally stepped out.
He was in rough shape, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, looking as though he hadn't rested in a very long time.
Fekro put away his cynical attitude, stepped forward, and said respectfully to Old Priest Robert, “Sir, everyone is assembled. We can set out to investigate anytime.”
Old Priest Robert nodded. “Thank you for your hard work.”
He immediately briefed the group on the current situation.
Tide Town was facing its usual threat from sea monsters. At first, Priest Robert hadn't paid it much mind, simply clearing out marine beast nests as he always did.
But gradually, Robert realized something was wrong.
A vast number of beasts were being washed ashore from the ocean.
All of them were infected by the Abyss to varying degrees, undergoing terrible mutations.
The sea monsters walked onto the shore, letting out painful yet beautiful melodies.
Robert understood that those were cries of agony.
He tried to purge the monsters, but their numbers were overwhelming.
The blood of the beasts nearly stained the sea red. Exhausted to the limit, Robert had no choice but to retreat to Tide Town.
He erected a barrier to protect the town.
Now, Robert needed two teams.
One team would patrol the beach, searching for clues while clearing out the monsters.
The other team would venture out to sea to search for clues.
Fekro was the first to step forward. “Isn't that simple? As long as the pay is good, I don't mind setting sail right now.”
Robert glanced at him. “The reward will be more than enough.”
“Old man, you sure are generous.”
Fekro nodded in satisfaction.
Immediately after, the burly Horn stepped forward.
“I'll go too.”
He answered quickly. As a local fisherman, he naturally stepped up without hesitation.
“Mr. Horn was originally invited by me,” Robert explained. “We happen to need someone familiar with the sea.”
Robert continued, “We're still short one person. Who else?”
Cecia thought it over and decided against going out to sea.
Why?
The reason was simple: it was too dangerous.
Cecia had no means of surviving out on open water, nor could she flee if things went south.
She had come here for the Spirit Realm Excursion. Dying here and failing the excursion would be a net loss.
Thus ended Cecia's deliberation.
Someone else quickly picked up the hot potato.
Miss Amber said with a beaming smile, “I'll go. I'm very curious about Abyss monsters.”
Cecia glanced at Miss Amber silently, admiring her confidence in her own strength.
“Then the team going to sea is settled for now.”
Robert looked at the remaining members.
“Lan, Miss Mia, Miss Nightingale, and Miss Poteto will handle the beach.”
“No problem.”
Cecia agreed without a moment's hesitation.
If she could win, she'd fight; if not, she'd retreat.
Lan maintained her expressionless face, merely asking, “Are there many monsters on the beach?”
Robert indicated that the numbers were staggering.
Lan let out a satisfied smile, then silently resumed sharpening her blade.
Cecia couldn't help but think the woman was a total battle maniac.
Cecia was staying on the beach so she could run away, whereas Lan was clearly staying to fight.
Battle maniacs are scary.
Miss Mia visibly breathed a sigh of relief. As a healer lacking combat capabilities, venturing into an Abyss-contaminated ocean was obviously the last thing she wanted to do.
That left only Miss Potato.
“Miss Poteto, do you want to go out to sea?”
Miss Potato was nibbling on her tomato, extremely focused.
“Potato, Potato, do you want to go out to sea?” Cecia gave Potato's arm a gentle shake.
Crunch.
Miss Potato mumbled indistinctly, “I'll just follow Miss Nightingale.”
Robert asked in confusion, “Why?”
“Miss Nightingale's scent makes me feel safe. I like Miss Nightingale.”
What an astonishing answer.
Cecia didn't even know how to respond.
Off to the side, Fekro's expression turned thoroughly entertaining. “My, you two sure get along.”
“Shut up, you rude guy.”
“Sure thing, Miss Hard-to-Notice.”
Cecia felt she probably wasn't going to shake off this nickname anytime soon.
Miss Potato had nothing more to add, simply pulling out yet another tomato.
Rate on N.U.
