The survivors had probably been asked about it, but it seemed that the identity of the culprit was still unknown. What if the culprit was among them? They probably wouldn’t be killed as a form of reparation, but there would be heavy penalties placed upon them.
Everyone watched with bated breath at how the conversation would unfold between the two.
Radian was dripping with cold sweat due to the pressure, while Siasha innocently tilted her head in curiosity.
“We didn’t see it happen, but we knew when it did.”
Radian furrowed his eyebrows, trying to recall the terrible incident, and glanced at Nora.
“It was wind magic. I only saw it for a second, but the scale and force was huge. The spell hit the nest, broke it, and blade bees came pouring out of it like smoke.”
Nora rubbed her arms under her robes to ease her goosebumps. There were no words for the overwhelming fear the scene evoked.
“Wind magic… We can narrow down the list of suspects if the culprit is skilled at it,” Siasha suggested, her black hair swaying. She failed to see how Nora reacted.
Norton shook his head. “I don’t know about that. Wind magic is quite common, and the adventurers that were in the forest today are in a class where it wouldn’t be unusual for them to have it. It’s going to take some time before we can get a better picture from eyewitness accounts.”
The culprit would obviously lie to protect themselves, and getting testimonies to form a clear picture out of the chaotic situation would be incredibly difficult.
But above all else…
“Did the culprit even survive?”
Everyone fell silent at Zig’s question. Forty percent of the adventurers escaped into the forest. The odds of his proposition were not low. If anything, it was hard to believe that someone who made such a clumsy mistake could survive.
The adventurers were torn between leaving the matter as settled and wanting to see whoever did it pay.
“This is bad.”
Zig ignored them, hiding the fact that his own expression was becoming grim. He didn’t really care about the man who broke the bees’ nest.
Civilian lives were one thing, but it seemed silly to make such a big deal of the deaths of thirty people whose living it was to fight.
A monstrosity’s nest was something adventurers got used to seeing every day, so it was easy to forget about the danger it presented. They were always one bad day away from getting massacred. It just so happened that the bad day was today.
Thirty was a small number for Zig, who was used to seeing hundreds of people die on the battlefield when he was a mercenary.
So, why was he so bothered? Well, it had to do with his contract.
“Three people…one and a half since I’m splitting it with Siasha.”
Zig frowned as he remembered the conditions of the job from Kirk: twenty thousand for every adventurer, forty thousand if they’re under thirty. That left him with a net of sixty thousand.
That amount was no joke. Circumstances were circumstances; while Kirk would understand why his numbers were so low, it wouldn’t change his reward.
Of course, he was tired after running all day. Zig had expended a tremendous amount of energy, especially after carrying two adults while being fully armored.
To put it simply, he was hungry.
The bigger an organism was, the more food it had to take in. The more you trained, the more calories you burned just by existing. Even when Zig was healthy, he still took in three times the amount of food compared to a normal person.
Sixty thousand was dicey; it might not last three days. Fortunately, his armor didn’t take a beating today, but his boots definitely needed fixing.
In conclusion, this request was a giant waste of effort.
“Urgh…”
Zig mourned his lack of profit along with the adventurers who lost their comrades that day.
A gloomy air followed the rescue team as they returned to the guild, each member having their own reason for being sad.
They stepped into a war zone as soon as the transportation light faded.
The angry shouting and rushed footsteps sounded like they were amplified by the light given off by the transportation stone.
“We have more injured here! Get on them!”
Guild staffers seemed like demons as they hastened to care for the injured. The adventurers quickly moved to steer clear of them, expertly handling the situation.
“E-excuse me! But the request report…”
“Now’s not the time for that, you idiot! Want me to heal that muddled brain of yours?!”
“S-sorry!”
Some were not as experienced as their peers, however.
The guild staffers turned their rage on adventurers who just returned from another job site. An older adventurer smacked the young rookie upside the head after he retreated.
All guild activities ceased as the building was temporarily converted into a field hospital; first aid came first. They stopped the bleeding of heavily injured patients so they could be transported to a proper hospital. The number of physicians was limited, so guild staff took over anyone they couldn’t look after. Some of them were quite knowledgeable, allowing them to spearhead the operation and weather through the storm.
Idle adventurers were also drafted to the cause.
“Hey, you there! Why don’t you buy us more medicine if you’ve got nothing better to do!” a staffer shouted at Norton, handing him a grocery list of medicines.
“Uh, me?”
“Yes, you! Move it!”
Guild staff were usually placid, behaving more like civil servants than anything else. Today, they were channeling their inner sailors. Adventurer class didn’t matter under these circumstances. Even a high-rank adventurer could be reduced to an errand boy.
“Uhh…”
“Buy everything you can get on that list. The guild will reimburse you for it. Try to filch any of it and I’ll kill you.”
Even Siasha was taken aback at the scene. “Whoa…”
Hearing the clear threat behind the staffer’s voice, the Sibasikul clan nodded and moved out.
Next, the demon staffer turned his eyes to Zig.
“The big one over there… Oh, you’re an outsider. Excuse me.”
“It’s all right. What should I do?”
Zig still offered to help the obviously perturbed employee. The guild’s field hospital setup reminded him of his old battlefields. He was more than used to this kind of treatment.
“Well, it’s just that the vice president is looking for you. Go upstairs. We’ll be borrowing the mage, though.”
“All right. Siasha.”
“Of course. I have it covered.”
Zig left Siasha on the first floor and climbed up the stairs.
He looked inside the waiting room, but found no one there. Remembering that Kirk probably wouldn’t have noticed Zig and the others returning, he took the liberty of going through the room until he reached an impressive looking door. He knocked on it.
“It’s me. We just got back.”
Zig waited for an answer before entering.
“Come in.”
The room was sparsely decorated, probably matching its owner’s taste. A wide desk was set before a sofa that could fit four guests.
Behind the desk, Kirk was doing paperwork. Although today’s events had kept him busy, his hair was still neatly slicked back. As vice president of the Adventurers’ Guild, he was probably used to these types of situations.
Kirk motioned Zig to take a seat without looking up from his paperwork. Zig sat down, and Kirk started the conversation, his pen not stopping.
“Good work out there,” Kirk began, closing off any avenues of escape Zig might have had in mind. “I’ve heard reports from the other adventurers.”
Zig wouldn’t be able to pull a fast one on him.
“Fifty-three survivors in all with only thirty missing…not bad. It’s a shame we lost a lot of lives today, but all things considered, I think things worked out for the best.”