"Damnit! Those mercenaries are too much!!" Victor—a fellow adventurer—yelled when he saw that both Marcus and Micc were all beaten up.
The adventurer guild had its own clinic that wouldn’t charge its people, at least to a degree, and they were here right now.
Even the Elders were there, in fact. It was because Leiah and they were actually supposed to report their findings and what had happened in the mission.
When they found out Marcus and Nona were in the infirmary, they rushed to this area instead.
"What happened? They weren’t always this shameless," the Elder asked, confused, troubled, and livid at the same time.
Indeed, as much as they were outnumbered and out-influenced by the mercenary guild, they still maintained a delicate balance. If not, the mercenaries would be forced to risk their lives out in the danger zone much more often than not.
It also helped that, despite the adventurers’ smaller numbers, it was a fact that they were far more experienced when handling beasts than Mercenaries were and were generally stronger than the average mercenary.
So, despite them wanting to push them down, they were not really able to do so.
This also wasn’t the first time they failed to recruit an adventurer, but they had never been so blatant in their bullying. At most, they would keep taunting the person or make their lives harder by teaming up with some merchants to blacklist them, but that was about it.
At this, Micc’s jaw clenched. "They said the others are dead. That the Lotus Town Adventurer Guild is nothing but an empty shell now, filled with weaklings."
They even got a bit physical, pushing his shoulders, spitting on him, or mockingly pressing a finger on his forehead, all while repeating these words.
Micc ended up sending earth spikes at them. He didn’t attack them, but he did threaten (so it was just within the laws of the town). Regardless, it irked them to hell and attacked, which was what Marcus ended up seeing (and joining).
Marcus and the rest flinched, looking down in sadness and in shame. The news of the deaths had already spread, and this was a huge blow to the guild’s prestige. This world valued strength so much, and the loss of manpower was directly proportional to how much freedom the guild, at least in Lotus Town, had.
They had, in fact, just finished the funeral for their lost comrades. Only their guild members and their family members were in attendance. They hoped to rest the souls and to help the families get closure.
The Elders had seriously considered hiding it, just so their guild wouldn’t be taken advantage of, but it felt too cold, and their brethren did not deserve that. So now everyone knew they had lost a quarter of their forces in a single mission.
Mercenaries had always been more powerful and numerous than adventurers. Adventurers generally had to go on adventures (usually deep in the danger zone) to be called adventurers, but mercenaries generally operated everywhere. The danger zone was less than a tenth of the continent, and it wasn’t like there weren’t resources elsewhere.
With the money they earned in their jobs and missions within the safety zone, they’d just buy the essence cores they needed without risking their lives as much as adventurers did.
Their presence in towns and cities was also very strong. Outside of the border towns bordering the safe zones to the danger zones, the branches of adventurers were far smaller and maybe even non-existent in certain towns. Unlike mercenaries, who had one in every stable territory.
As long as humans were there, there would always be conflicts, and inevitably, there were always some fights between mercenaries and adventurers.
Anyway, the Elders called in Leiah and the others to the meeting room. Marcus was a bit injured, but it wasn’t anything excessive, so they finally headed to the elder’s hall to make more detailed reports. Because they were tired and the families of the adventurers were vocal, they had to hold the funeral first.
Before this, all they could say was that the people with them were dead, and it was all because of Frago. That said, the Elders did begin preliminary questioning and investigations after the initial meeting.
"The client’s side denied it," one of the elders said with gritted teeth. "They’re planning on pretending until the end!"
They all felt incredibly angry, but could they afford to go into conflict against a noble? Especially one from another Town and had the support of the Lord? They only had a few witness accounts, word against theirs, and nobles’ words definitely held a lot of weight as well.
Leiah and the others stared at each other with furrowed eyebrows, and they couldn’t help but remember the tragedy. Even until now, the image was clear.
"What have you found so far?"
"Frago apparently was taken in a horrible condition. It is unclear what kind of injury he suffered, but sources said he was screeching like a banshee the entire time."
Marcus and the others, still dwelling on the losses of old friends, found themselves smiling again. "I wish I were there to see it."
"Would’ve made my year."
"Something similar apparently happened in Morveil," another Elder said. "However, they were hired mercenaries, and a lot of them. A lot were also survivors, which was why we knew so much.
"What’s going on?"
This was odd. Such large-scale tragedies didn’t happen anymore, at least not this often. It had been so long since they started exploring the danger zones, after all. Most teams knew where to camp and what amount of forces they ought to bring for a successful mission.
"We are not sure, and we will continue investigating," the elder said, sighing. They looked at the adventurers. "Regardless, we are glad you have returned safe and sound. It must not have been easy surviving through that."
"We were rescued," Marcus corrected them.
Because there were far more urgent topics on hand, especially with the funeral for so many people, they didn’t have the chance to mention Finn at all.
This made the elders blink, a little surprised. "By who?"
At this, the adventurers smiled. "An Innkeeper."