章 35: Raid: Toxic Slime Cavern (3)

"Let's now weave the spider's web," I muttered before making my way over to a group sitting beside an already lit campfire.

The group was made up of a few men clad in metal armor and the reason why I picked this group out of everybody else, was because they looked the most timid.

They were using metal armor, but they were actually in the backline as mages.

Three of them were fire mages, and another was a wind mage.

"Mind if I join you?" I ask but sit down anyway, right next to the wind mage.

"I don't mind," The wind mage responds, making a bit more room on the log for me, and I immediately integrated myself into the conversation.

Also, it seemed this was going to be a bit easier than I initially thought, as they were already complaining about the leader.

"Yeah, this leader doesn't know what he is doing. How could he let the slimes get past the tanks… and even kill them?" The wind mage says, clearly displeased.

"I don't know if you guys saw it, but I noticed the leader was surprised at how many slimes there were. It was as if this was his first time seeing this happen," I add.

"Geez… Can't this guy do his research? I mean, I know he is a muscle head, but shouldn't there be a better reason for his four-star? I was hoping he could carry us, but it's like he's a toddler trying to order soldiers around,"

These fucking scum… They expect everything from him… But, I have to let these thoughts go…

"Maybe going back is a better idea?" One of them suggested, and I knew this was my chance to do something significant.

"To be honest, I don't think going back is a good idea,"

The mages in front of me clearly didn't listen to my suggestion as they kept looking at me as if I was a child… I mean, I was, but I needed more in order to actually influence them.

"And why would you say that?" The wind mage asks.

"First of all, we've done so much already, and since we haven't seen any slimes, I'm sure the dungeon is taking its time regenerating the numbers… So if we continue the raid, we won't have as much trouble,"

The mages looked a bit more intrigued now… though it was all bullshit. But, I had one more thing to say.

"Also, don't tell anybody I told you this, but I heard the boss is supposedly weaker with fewer numbers in the raiding party. But don't take my word for it because it came from a second-hand source,"

Now, they were really invested in my words and saw me in a much more mature light as I now 'placed some trust' in them by telling them a secret… which was bullshit as well.

"Heh, you're a good kid," The wind mage says, slapping me on the back before handing me a piece of jerky.

"Thanks," I say before taking a bite out of it.

It was salty… and chewy.

But, I wasn't going to complain as it was the only thing we had… not that I complained about food anyway.

After eating so much terrible food in that magic tower for years on end, anything tastes better.

Even the cookies that Leo gave me still tasted like ass.

The only difference between them and the regular food my mother and I were given was that it was slightly sweet.

The texture was like that of cardboard, and the actual taste was a bit like dried meat… which was very off-setting.

But, it was different from the rest of the dry and crumbly food I had, so I ate it with glee.

"You drink booze, kid?" The fire mage sitting across from me asks.

"Nope,"

"You should try some! It's good!" He shouts, but before he can pour himself a cup, the leader comes storming over.

"Getting drunk within my raid team is forbidden. You have to stay alert at all times," He says, grabbing the wooden cup and metal canteen for the man's alcohol.

He then stormed off back to a group of seven people.

Oh, that's a big group... I'll save them for last… Actually, that's too risky. I won't approach them at all. Though, that's assuming they came up to the leader themselves, so they most likely have the most confidence… Well, we'll see.

"Geez, what a buzzkill,"

"I know, right? Can't we try and have at least a little bit of fun in this hell hole,"

"*sigh*... I just want to get this over with. I have a family that I need to feed,"

"Geez, you guys really hate him," I say.

"You wouldn't understand, boy, but we already have a direct hate relationship. That guy clearly comes from a rich family judging from his gear, and he's only here for the main dungeon boss reward… they're the enemy of us low lives struggling just to put food on the table," A fire mage complains before taking a swig of water from another canteen.

"Do you guys want to kill him?" I ask, making a bold move, but I knew it would work.

Everything was aligning too perfectly as if the gods were finally helping me…

About time.

"Of course, we want to kill him. I'm sure mostly everybody else is thinking the same way as well. But we can't do that because he is the head and backbone of our raid team. If he dies, then we all die… Can't do anything about that," The wind mage sighs.

"Well, thank you very much. I think I'm going to converse with the other teams in order to get a good idea of everybody's capabilities. I'm actually writing an article on the conditions within dungeons," I say as I stand up and give all of them fist bumps.

"I'll be looking forward to it then… Nobody should willingly choose to enter this place… I've been in this industry for fifteen years, and I'm only a D-rank… It's not a very profitable business unless you're talented, which is less than 1% of most adventurers," One of the fire mages complains.

So annoying...

"Thanks, I hope you'll like it… See ya,"

"See ya," They all say in unison as I make my way towards the next group of delicious prey.

Ah… It's too easy.