Seeker 170

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Chapter 170. Vice Captain

The man who had yelled at us approached, waving his hand as if to shoo us away. 

I could feel the disapproval from Kazane-san and Yuzuki behind me, so I tried to defuse the situation.

"Wait, Vice Captain. The adventurer has a point. Besides, having more fighting power would be advantageous for us, don't you think?"

The first to speak up was the young girl on horseback. 

Her voice trembled slightly as if she had mustered the courage to voice her opinion. 

On the other hand, the man addressed as Vice Captain let out a deep sigh and then gestured towards the five people behind him.

"That's right. It's a valuable suggestion from our Captain. Isn't that right, folks?"

The laughter that seemed mocking erupted from the five behind him. 

The Vice Captain turned back to the young girl on horseback, exasperated.

"Listen here, young lady. You know nothing about the field. Your role as a member of Black Wolf Knights is to be our face, nothing more. How to deal with monsters is our responsibility."

"But I have some experience in monster hunting too—"

"I'm not talking about gaining experience with an escort party and leveling up. That's not what I call monster hunting. Do you understand, miss?"

"Ugh... Then please, Vice Captain, enlighten me. What's wrong with my suggestion?"

"Ugh, you're a pain. It's not about whether your suggestion is right or wrong. It's the fact that you, a non-combatant, are interfering with the unit's policies. Do you get it?"

"But if I do that, I'll truly become a figurehead."

"That's exactly what we expect from you. You put on a good front for the people while we handle the real work in the field. Understand?"

The young girl on horseback hung her head, clearly frustrated. 

The situation appeared to be complicated.

Amidst all this, we have something important to do.

It seemed as things stood, we wouldn't be able to participate in the extermination mission, which was a problem. 

So, I decided to speak up.

"Um, Vice Captain, I'd like to ask something as well."

"Oh? What's this, an adventurer? Outsiders should stay out of—"

He seemed to want to refuse, but I won't let him. Without giving anyone else a chance to speak, I presented our case.

"Everyone here seems to have a lot of confidence in their field experience as adventurers, but we've also gained considerable experience up to this point. We didn't get here by playing games; we climbed up here with our strength. Our employer should know about our abilities quite well. At the very least, we've proven capable of handling B-rank quests without issues."

As I spoke, I turned to Eslyn-san, who nodded in agreement, understanding my intentions.

"I've also hired several groups of adventurers for jobs before, and those 3 are the real deal. They can even handle A-rank quests as a team, so they might not just be boasting."

Upon hearing this, the Vice Captain's face contorted, as if he had just bitten into an unripe persimmon. 

In the Adventurer's Guild, A-rank quests typically required adventurers of level 25 or higher and a party of four or more. 

Completing them with just 3 people indicated that these adventurers were highly skilled, even among level 25 seasoned adventurers. 

In other words, they were on par with or even stronger than Black Wolf Knights' members.

I could prove that we'd pushed our limits by showing our stats.

But that might lead to other complications. 

I wanted to keep that as a last resort.

While the Vice Captain listened to our conversation with a displeased expression. 

"So, what are you trying to say?"

"Even we, and experienced adventurers don't have all the information. Is there something wrong with what your Captain suggested? Do you have an accurate assessment of the combat strength of the mutated species in question? I believe it's better to have as much firepower as possible in case of unforeseen circumstances."

The Vice Captain stammered and made excuses. 

Essentially, it boiled down to him not liking that she had voiced her opinion, rather than anything wrong with the content of the Captain's suggestion.

After continuing to mumble for a while, he finally scratched his head.

"Fine, I get it! If you want to come so badly, then come along! But you lot are responsible for your own employer. Miss, you got a problem with that?"

"Ah, no, of course not. Well then, merchants and fellow adventurers, it may be a short time, but I'm counting on you."

"Yes, we're counting on you too."

With that, we obtained our ticket to move forward without being delayed at this location. 

At this time, we got our special mission.

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Special Mission: Cooperate with Black Wolf Knights to defeat the mutated ogre!

Experience Points Earned upon Mission Completion: 10,000 points

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It seemed like dealing with these interpersonal relationships would be quite troublesome.

But it would be a short-term association, so I handled it casually.