Putting aside the despair of losing their comrade, Adam and his subordinates managed to enter the entrance leading inside the tree.
“Huff, huff.”
Perhaps because they had sprinted at full speed, they all wore exhausted expressions.
The only fortunate thing was that, aside from Wells, there were no other fallen knights.
Meanwhile, the others gathered in a designated area, spread out a map, and exchanged their opinions.
Adam was instantly filled with anger at their actions and approached the group.
“Raviata! If you knew something like this might happen, you should have told us! We just lost one of our members!”
“…Hah. Hey, are you here for a picnic?”
“What did you say?”
“This is the inside of a cradle. You’re not children who need constant care. Do you think we have time to explain every little thing?”
“But just now…!”
“Tsk, this is why we didn’t want to accept knights.”
From a human perspective, they could have at least given a warning in such a situation.
Had they done so, Wells wouldn’t have been swept away so easily.
But it could be said that Raviata and her party also had their reasons.
“Besides, I didn’t run because I knew what was happening. This friend here who has taken on the advisor role started running, so I ran too. Did you think this was an ordinary dungeon?”
“Ugh…”
“This is the cradle. You never know what might happen here. Besides, I clearly shouted to run. Is that not enough? Didn’t I warn you to keep your gear as light as possible before entering? Who ignored that advice?”
Adam bit his lip at Raviata’s words.
Indeed, before entering the cradle, Raviata had warned everyone to keep their gear as light as possible.
However, Adam had taken that advice lightly.
Knights who trained in magic could run as lightly as a feather even in armor.
But it was a different story on soft, wet ground.
Moreover, when the Kingdom of Haiel conducted its own exploration in this place, there was rarely such heavy rain from the beginning. This led him to let his guard down.
“Now, now, Commander Adam. Please calm down. Of course, we express our condolences for what happened. But isn’t this just the entrance to the Great Mezaiya Forest? The knight who was swept away might still be safe. He might have been thrown outside the cradle. Fortunately, we left most of the heavy equipment behind, didn’t we?”
As the tension between Raviata and Adam rose, imperial guard knight Dominic intervened.
“Moreover, Raviata has a point. We were too excited. The problem was that we underestimated the danger of the five cradles.”
Dominic and Adam were both from a knights’ order.
They were usually strong against other humans or monsters, but adapting quickly to environmental factors was a different story.
But Dominic was a seasoned knight, unlike Adam.
He had no hesitation in acknowledging his shortcomings and changing his attitude.
“I noticed earlier, Shane, you started running first. Surely, you must be able to somehow predict the unpredictable weather of this Great Mezaiya Forest?”
He smoothly brought up his main point.
“I apologize for my earlier rude behavior. Can we hear a detailed explanation from you?”
When he bowed his head, the knights behind him reluctantly followed suit.
Shane watched them and smirked inwardly.
“I accept your apology. But you’re demanding something from me as if it’s nothing.”
“…Ahem, was it that obvious?”
Dominic smiled sheepishly.
“Indeed, you are an academy student, but also an adventurer.”
Adventurers are those who get paid for their services.
They had already struck a deal to bring benefits to Raviata’s adventurer party as a condition for following Raviata.
However, before entering the cradle, Shane stated that he had no prior contract with them and would act separately from them.
“What would we hesitate to offer for information that can save our lives? So, what do you want? I must inform you in advance, there are limits to how much imperial authority I can use.”
At those words, Shane stated his conditions without much hesitation.
“Fine. Then I will agree on the condition that the head of the Clayton family gets an audience with His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Hmm… I understand. That much, I believe I can arrange.”
“However, there are conditions. The information I provide is exclusively for the Raviata Adventurer Party and the Imperial Guard Knights. Also, I recommend documenting this agreement so that it can be fulfilled even if Sir Dominic cannot return.”
“Hmm, very thorough, aren’t you? I will accept that as well.”
The only ones who became desperate from their conversation were the Lampert Adventurer Party and the Kingdom of Haiel’s knights.
It was now evident that they would be naturally excluded from this exploration.
In this case, the heavy rain hadn’t been imbued with elemental power, so they only had to run. However, if they encountered acidic rain or weather conditions that froze their bodies upon contact, they might not even be able to return.
“Wait a moment. The Lampert Adventurer Party also requests a deal. Before that, we apologize for the previous rudeness. We are sorry.”
The first to step forward was Eleksa, the leader of the Lampert Adventurer Party.
“What will you offer?”
Eleksa briefly checked the surrounding eyes and then spoke quietly.
“I don’t want the details of our deal to be leaked. If you promise to keep it confidential, I’ll tell you the terms immediately.”
“Understood.”
Shane and Eleksa then moved to a corner to talk, and Eleksa soon emerged with a satisfied expression on her face.
The most troubled person was Adam the knight commander of the Haiel Kingdom.
He had been the one to most provoke Shane from the start, and losing a member due to this situation wounded his pride deeply.
However, in the end, Adam had to bow his head for the sake of his remaining subordinates.
“…Please forgive my earlier rudeness. Tell me the terms of the deal, and I’ll do my best to match them.”
This marked the end of the hierarchy sorting for this expedition team.
“Haha, isn’t he more capable than we thought?”
Raviata who was watching Shane explain the future plans to the dispatched members remarked with a smile.
“It’s truly amazing. To generate profit from those we thought were just burdens.”
“…Anyway, even money-grubbers find their own kind.”
“If you, my lady, personally handled the accounts of the adventurer team, you wouldn’t say such things. I earn money like a dog, but the people who spend it use it recklessly. So how can you say this of all people?”
“Ah, enough, enough. My ears feel like they’re going to burst.”
“Yes, there’s no point in saying more when there’s only one person here who needs to listen. So, let’s leave it at that.”
Raviata sighed in relief at those words and spoke again.
“You also extorted a lot from those jerks, didn’t you?”
“That is true, but I had the advantage of your name. No matter how significant the Clayton family is, being able to push them around at his age without being intimidated is a talent.”
Unlike their first meeting, James’s evaluation of Shane had become quite generous which caused Raviata to laugh in disbelief.
“He’s truly a money-grubber.”
“Now, look who’s talking?”
“Enough!”
The time the party spent standing still was not long.
Shane who had been examining the weather observation tool he took out from his pocket spoke quietly.
“It’s about time we moved.”
This magical tool had been created by Shane and an elder of the Magic Tower. It was designed specifically for navigating the Great Mezaiya Forest.
“We move to the next checkpoint in fifteen minutes.”
The plan to conquer the Great Mezaiya Forest was not only dependent on magical tools but also on one particular fact.
Despite the changing terrain due to the Great Rainy Season, there was one thing that never changed.
It was the huge trees where Shane and his team had stayed in.
For some reason, these huge trees were not washed away by the enormous rainwater and stayed firmly in place, and the journey through the Great Mezaiya Forest was planned to follow these trees.
The Lampert Adventurer Party leader Eleksa, encouraged her party members and ran after the group at the forefront.
As she ran, Eleksa recalled her earlier decision and praised herself for making the right choice.
Half a day had already passed since they entered the Great Mezaiya Forest.
If it hadn’t been for Shane’s weather observation tool, Eleksa’s party wouldn’t have made it this far.
It was too late when they noticed the unusual magical changes in the sky.
Every time they looked up, the downpour had already begun.
Despite her pride as a veteran adventurer, Eleksa willingly set aside her pride for the safety of her party.
There’s still a chance to redeem ourselves.
Eleksa was confident in battle.
Having spent her life fighting monsters, she and her party members were determined to survive here.
Was it because she had such thoughts?
Suddenly, a crisis emerged.
“Three minutes left! Push through quickly!”
On the way to their next destination, they encountered a group of monsters.
Each one was a large insect, about the size of a child.
They were Great Wood Parasites.
As if to mock the group’s limited movement due to the sunken ground, the creatures darted around the surface as if it were their own domain.
Moreover, the acidic liquid spewing from their mouth was potent enough to dissolve tree roots.
However, the group remained calm in their response.
“Phalanx formation! Block!”
With Eleksa leading, her party members raised their shields and the magical power infused into the shields reacted to form a small wall in front of them.
“Impressive, as expected of the northern tribes!”
Monster waves erupted with extraordinary intensity each year in the northern regions. Eleksa and her party members who hailed from there showcased exceptional defensive abilities.
Dominic praised them loudly before drawing his sword and channeling magical power into it as he shouted.
“Everyone, show the strength of the imperial family!”
“”“Yes!”””
“The time has come to release Wells’ wrath! Knights, draw your swords!”
While the insects paused to spew acidic liquid and prepare for the next attack, the imperial knights and the knights of the Haiel Kingdom charged at them.
The monsters that boasted sharp teeth and tough exoskeletons were no match for the knights’ auras.
The insects were swiftly slaughtered.
However, the surviving ones quickly realized that they were at a disadvantage and began burrowing into the ground.
“Damn it!”
The sharp teeth were not merely tools for gnawing on wood.
Rather, once the insects went underground, they burrowed through the earth like fish in water. And then they would emerge suddenly to target the group’s ankles.
Fortunately, the knights were quite sensitive to such attacks and were not caught off guard.
“One minute! Dilaila!”
“Okay!”
Time did not permit this battle to drag on.
Dilaila responded to Shane’s shout and stamped her foot imbued with magical power.
Then, a wave of magical power rippled out from Dilaila, causing the ground to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
And then.
– Screeech!
Soon, the terrible screams of the insects were heard from underground.
The soil, once their home, had suddenly turned into a forest of spears that pierced the insects and ended their lives.
“Heh, trying to burrow into the ground in front of me? They must have a death wish.”
“Enough with the useless talk; hurry up and run!”
“Hey, seriously! You should at least praise me when I do well!”
With that, Shane’s team ran ahead, and the remaining members quickly dealt with the remaining monsters and successfully entered the next huge tree.
But then.
“U-Ugh…”
“Hey. You’re here? Fortunately, no one got left behind. Wow, look at them pouring down again. It was already gross enough; should I go wash up?”
Raviata who had arrived earlier greeted the group that arrived with a bright smile.
With hundreds of insects charred black and emitting smoke by her side.
Seeing this, Eleksa felt embarrassed about her earlier resolve.
Three days had passed since they entered the Great Mezaiya Forest.
Fortunately, it hadn’t rained with mixed elements yet, but that also meant they were still far from the central area where such weather occurred.
Their movement was only allowed once the rain stopped and the water receded enough to walk, but that time was usually less than ten to twenty minutes. This made the expedition’s progress inevitably slow.
Meanwhile, Dilaila used the allowed rest time to check her magical power before lying down on the ground.
“Ah. This is unbelievably tough.”
Unlike the others, Dilaila didn’t have much stamina.
Despite this, the reason she could run at a fast pace was due to the abundant magical power in this land.
Dilaila, at least, was less affected compared to others.
Unlike Dilaila, who could absorb the land’s magical power without hesitation, the rest of the group had to be cautious due to the instability of their magical power supply.
However, there was no way to avoid mental fatigue.
No one said anything to Dilaila who lay on the ground.
Some were already taking short naps.
They took maximum rest whenever they had nothing to do, like now.
Meanwhile, Dilaila turned her gaze to Anais and Klein, who were polishing their weapons with oil-soaked cloths.
“Is it because you’re warriors? You seem more relaxed than I thought.”
“Haha, probably because we haven’t had much combat.”
“You’re the one with low stamina. You should exercise more.”
Klein who had grown comfortable enough to speak informally over the past fortnight laughed and replied, while Anais admonished Dilaila for her lack of stamina.
“Come on, I’m doing fine! There are plenty who are worse than me!”
“That’s not entirely untrue. Most magic department students sit around a lot.”
“Don’t think of people below that standard as average.”
“Oh, really.”
Annoyed, Dilaila stared through a hole in a tree.
Rain poured down as if the sky had collapsed.
Dilaila enjoyed the charm of rainy days, so she didn’t completely dislike the rain, but since coming here, she felt she might start to.
“Ha, it’s not as intense as I thought.”
Initially, she had expected the expedition to be suffocating due to conflicts with the dispatched members, but after the first day when they submitted to Shane, they hadn’t caused any issues.
In fact, Dominic from the Empire and Alexa from the Lampert Adventurer Party had been quite helpful to Shane and were even offering advice.
Just as she was thinking about how she hoped the expedition would just end like this, Shane approached her.
“You need to develop a discerning eye.”
“Huh? What’s that? Are you going to nag like her?”
“It’s more of advice than nagging. To broaden your perspective.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying that the people involved here aren’t as innocent as they seem. I won’t criticize you for resting, but don’t let your guard down around them.”
“……?”
Although she wasn’t sure what Shane meant, Dilaila nodded her head anyway.
She had heard that crimes often occurred while exploring dungeons like this.
Moreover, she had once been kidnapped by humans.
She straightened from her awkward lying position and turned to face the group.
“Hmm. I should be careful, hmm.”
Still, is there anyone who would dare mess around with this expedition, which includes the imperial family, the kingdom, and even Raviata?
Dilaila who was thinking this pushed away her uneasy thoughts and forced her eyes shut.
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