It was nearing sunset, and a group of exhausted and dirty adventurers walked the streets. A member of this group was a priestess who wore a white garb, that was smeared by dirt because of the encounter in their commission.

She was a young girl around her mid teens. She had average length black hair and dark purple eyes in addition to her light brown complexion.

Her breathing was a bit rapid because of how tired she was. However, the men in the group didn’t seem to be breathing as quickly as her, but they were still tired, but with the exception of the other girl.

The other girl had long dark brown hair and dark eyes and wore a light robe commonly seen worn by mages.

“The day’s finally over.”

The mage named Anita was the first to speak, relief evident in her voice.

The priestess turned a wry smile towards her and spoke.

“I would have preferred not to face one of those, but we have to encounter three of those worms.”

The priestess, Tina, didn’t like worms. Especially the enemies they had to fight off which were way bigger than normal worms. Reason being was because those worms were monsters. Sharp teeth on their circular mouth, not only that, they also borrow into the ground, which became a struggle to deal with.

They would hide, and some escape through the ground, while some attack them by surprise.

Tina who was mostly in the rear was in a precarious situation since she hadn’t much guard and such opponents would likely come from behind in surprise.

“Their numbers were quite troublesome, weren’t they?”

The man bearing a sword sheathed on his waist said.

“Oh yes they are, Dune! The commission didn’t say there would be two more! They better pay us more,” Anita complained.

“Well, we definitely would, we brought trophies from each one, so I think we’ll be fine. So don’t worry,” Dune said.

“Better be!”

Tina smiled at the two. It was quite an intense fight since those worms surrounded them. They might have even lost their lives if not for their impeccable teamwork and her support.

It was a dangerous situation, but Tina was thrilled. She could never feel such a feeling from inside the church walls. Even the hard training wasn’t comparable to the urgency in real dangerous events.

Going outside with friends, and getting into intense situations fills the hole in her heart.

That said, she wouldn’t want her friends to die.

A shame that she couldn’t use her full abilities as a supporter since the church forbade her to use the arts taught to them. However, when it comes to it, she wouldn’t hesitate to use it. She would accept the consequences, even if they wouldn’t let her become an adventurer anymore.

“What are you guys complaining about anyway? It wasn’t that hard.”

The one who said that was a man who had a spear as a weapon, Derin. He frowned at them as though he genuinely thought it wasn’t that hard.

“It was pretty enjoyable you know. Not always you get to find a challenge.”

“Uh-huh, a challenge that would get you killed!” Anita glaringly said.

“Meh, I wasn’t scared.”

“Keep denying.”

“I am definitely not denying anything, Anita. Besides, we got our dear healer and buffer, so we’re safe.”

“I agree, Tina’s support abilities have saved us many times. And this time, it has again,” the man with an axe named Iruyu said.

Tina giggled when she heard them.

“You guys are welcome.”

Tina’s abilities were focused on supporting her allies, the drawback was that she couldn’t help much in terms of offense.

A short while later, they arrived at the adventurer’s guild. It was two storeys high, and many people with weapons entered in and out.

The group entered inside, and the noise immediately assaulted their ears. They were those who were loudly bragging about their achievements, about their day, about the monsters they have killed.

There were also loud laughters, and quiet drinkers, while some only quietly gaze around.

Tina followed behind Dune as he walked towards the reception.

“I’ll go take a short look at the board while you guys go turn in our finished job,” Derin said before going towards the board full of papers of commissions.

“I’ll go with him.”

Iruyu then followed Derin.

Dune, Anita, and Tina went ahead and arrived in front of the desk of one of the receptionists.

“Here’s the commission we took,” Dune took out a paper to show what job they took and placed it on the desk. “There has been some unexpected encounter, it was not only one worm, but there were two more.”

The receptionist read the contents of the job. Dune then brought up a large pouch containing the trophies as proof of the accomplishment.

“There are three pairs of antennae from the Ruvelur Worm in here, as proof.”

The receptionist took a look inside the bag before nodding.

“You will be only paid the amount of reward offered in the commission, so no bonus. That said, the guild will compensate you for the other slain monsters.”

The receptionist then gave the group several silver coins. The compensation was not as much as the reward, however, it was fine. Eliminating monsters without a commission bore not that large amount of reward since it was not a contracted work by someone and was only paid by the guild.

Dune received the payment and returned to the main lobby where everyone else had gathered.

“So, saw something interesting?” Dune asked.

Iruyu nodded.

“There was one. Hunting notorious group of bandits known for their cruelty. Theft, slaughter, kidnapping, torture, and some more nasty stuff. It was also mentioned that these bandits had existed several years ago and went quiet, but now they are getting active again.”

“The objective is to eliminate them. It’s also a joint operation,” Derin added.

“I see. We’ll think about if we’ll take it. When is it starting?”

“Three days from now,” Derin replied.

“Alright, for the time being, let’s go back to the inn. I’m too beat to think.”

They left the guild and then returned to their inn.