章 46: Let's Stay Together!

Five adventurers were sitting at a table near the corner of the guildhall, a waitress standing beside them.

She wore a black dress with a combination of white and gold trim, a full skirt reaching above her knees, lace white half-apron, ruffled headpiece, long black tights bearing dragon lacing patterns, and a golden garter around her left thigh.

Her short hair was colored in pink, looking unusual compared with the other maids. She kept her gentle look before the adventurers and customers, showing a kind, smiling face.

"5 steins please!"

"Ah, wait, I'd like to have a glass of milk instead..."

"All right then, 4 steins plus one glass of milk, that's it!"

"Yes, sir!"

The barmaid left their table, moving to prepare their drinks. Meantime, they began conversing.

"So... shall we start?"

"Yes! What did you want to tell us?"

"First of all, let me clarify something here. From now on, you cannot go adventuring alone. If you want to do a quest, you have to tell us all to go for it together."

"Is that necessary?"

"I didn't want to go for this solution, as it'd take a lot of our time. Splitting forces would be the quickest way to get stronger. However, Felicia and Elena, you two have caused so many troubles. I cannot let you do the quests alone anymore. That's why from now on, we shall all be together. This way I can manage the situation before it goes out of control."

"Since you're the leader of this group, I'll nevertheless honor whatever you order, but is that all? If so, then I've not done anything wrong."

"Of course you've not done anything wrong, Liora. You've even helped us when we were in trouble. Notwithstanding that, there's also another reason to stick with each other. If we each go for different quests alone, then it can be hard to arrange a meeting at a proper time. Remember how we had to wait for you during this afternoon, and you were away adventuring for I don't remember how long. So I guess it's better for all of us to stay together."

"I see..."

"I'm sorry Liora. I know that we'll slow you down, and that's why I was telling you it's not a good decision to join our party. But since you still insisted, I think accepting our situation is absolute. You can just quit our group if—"

"No! No! There's no problem! I understand the conditions."

"Very well then..."

The same barmaid from before, this time holding a tray, began stepping toward their table.

"Here, sir! Your drinks are ready!"

Putting the tray on the table, she immediately served four beer glasses to Arian, Winter, Felicia, and Elena and the remaining glass of milk to Liora.

She then bowed down and politely asked to leave. "I'm taking my leave now. Please enjoy your stay!"

Arian continuied from where he had stopped talking as the waitress left.

"You, Winter!"

"Hm? What's that, my darling husband?"

A cough came from Arian, mostly due to her last words.

"Can you fight?"

"I don't know... but am I supposed to?"

Liora knitted her brows while hearing Winter's answer, looking more serious.

"Arian, how come she doesn't know how to fight? Does she even have a rank? Has she even joined a guild? How is she a member?"

"Ah well... you see, it's a complicated story. I will try to explain it when we get time. Winter doesn't have a rank since she's not joined the guild yet. However, albeit not officially, she's still a part of our group."

"Aren't you planning to get a rank?" Liora turned to Winter.

"I don't know..." Winter responded.

Her reply didn't ease Liora's worries and concern. Winter's attitude looked to be so unusual and weird. The only way Liora could feel a little bit more comfortable was to think about Arian's answer: "... it's a complicated story. I will try to explain it when we get time..."

A pause between their discussion was enough to give them a chance to gulp down their drinks.

Elena drank her beer deep, downing the glass in a single gulp.

Felicia shallowed it gradually, looking desultorily at the empty glass.

Winter took a long gulp of hers, wiping her mouth on her white sleeves.

Liora, however, who had ordered milk, started drinking with her eyes closed, a calm impression appearing through her countenance.

Meanwhile, Arian didn't even touch his drink, preparing himself to start the conversation again.

"Let me add something else here. We need to add a male member too in our group."

"A male member?"

"Why? Do you like men?" Elena teased.

"Ah? No! Of course not! It's not because of that!" Arian exclaimed. "Having four women alongside myself would bring so many horrible rumors behind us. There's enough bad rumor already!"

"Who cares about what people say..."

"I don't care about the public. But still, it'd cause a lot of trouble. To make things clear, we need to get a male adventurer to join us. Do you know anyone?"

"Hmm... not so sure..."

"I don't know..."

"What about you, Liora? Do you know any male adventurer who can join our group?"

"Sorry, I don't have anyone in mind right now."

"I see... then we have to find one in our way. It seems we've lost today. But there's always tomorrow, so go and rest. Felicia and Elena, bring Winter with yourself to your room. She's kinda clueless about everything here, so take care of her! Also Liora, please stay in touch so we don't have to wait for you like the previous time."

"All right, but what about you?"

"I'll be going somewhere now. But don't worry, tomorrow morning I'll be here at the guild. So take a rest and get ready!"