Atha was practicing archery, Bog next to him with a bow of his own. He could see the five members of the Try Hard Party doing their walking in place ritual. In front of the outside faucet because it was their habit to do so in front of faucets, apparently.

He could hear them laughing and joking around. They had told him everything about the surprise battle evaluation. How they had been top dogs for seconds, and then even managed to focus on the SS rank healer, Valerie, enough to make her yield. By attacking her together, on all sides.

But then, their guild master, Alklair, had summoned golems made of light that were wickedly fast and small. The golems had played with the five adventurers. Tapping their vital spots and yelling dead each time.

However, they had still tried to hold their own against the swarm. With the three archers littering the golems with arrows and Morris doing a whirlwind strike that lasted a whole three minutes. And Dorian managing to hold a steady firewall for two minutes, which was a record.

The crowd had cheered when the match was over. And they had all raised their thumbs up. So, with a chuckle, Alklair had given Armaros the title of adventurer and given each of the other four Try Hard Party a rank up. 

Now, Morris was ranked S, which he liked to brag about all the time. Atha would have called him insufferable, if his partners had not teased him silly every time he bragged.

Jean was rank A, but everyone was under the impression that it won't be long for the next battle evaluation, when he would get the rank of S again.

Dorian was rank B, which was a respectable rank for a tank. They had gotten numerous platoons offers after the match because of his new rank and the prowess he had shown during the duels.

The five had said something about taking up a party that had something to do with lilies up on their offer. Atha had only half listened. They had simply spoken rapid fire.

Leander was ranked C, but he had been told by the guild master that his quick heals had been the only reason Alklair had let the party fight on after the light golems began tapping them. They had come fast and had been plentiful. Imitating a real fight, where no one could afford to stay down.

And Armaros was B rank straight off the bat. Because he had invented spells, which was something that only rank B and up usually did. Not only that, he had spent most of his days practicing in the training hall, and that was placed on record.  Finally, his tornado spell had actually taken the guild master up in the air, therefore "killing" him.

Yes, Atha still couldn't believe that the duel could be counted as a win for the Try Hard Party. One could argue that the tornado spell had been gentle with the guild master and had just given him a pleasant experience in the air.

But Armaros had demonstrated the very same spell on a dummy, and it had been turned to sawdust. Followed by the mini-tornado until it was caught, with the strong wind not losing any momentum.

If the guild master had put up a barrier, the tornado would have cracked it up and that would have been that. But Alklair had done a trust fall and had tested the ability of the dungeon core to pull his punches. And he hadn't been disappointed in Armaros.

Which was all well and good, but Atha knew that the five would soon go out on a quest again. Then, he and Bog would be left alone, defenseless.

There was a tribe of leprechauns that was moving around in the forest that was connected to the farm. They even had a couple of griffins with them.

Atha had no idea if they were peaceful, and he was afraid to confront them. After what happened last time he greeted an unknown entity, he was cautious.

The Naga was certain that the five had no idea about the threat that was just waiting for them to leave. If Atha waited for them to go and check out the forest, it might take a while.

"Bog, do you think we should tell them about the leprechauns?" He asked the goblin. Bog was even more nervous about their new neighbors. 

"If we don't tell them, they will leave us with a simple barrier around the farm. What if the griffins make light work of it?" Bog's arms were shaking too much for him to hold a bow, and he lowered it. The goblin inhaled sharply, remembering the dead goblin tribe that had done unspeakable things to himself and Atha.

"Come on, then. While they are still outside," Atha slithered to the five, who had just finished and were using the faucet to wash their faces and hands.

"There are leprechauns with griffins in the forest," Atha began, trying his best to not let the panic enter his voice. "Could you please take care of them before you head out?"

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Dorian turned to look at Atha, water in his hands, ready to be sprinkled on his face.

"You were gone. When you came back, the only thing you wanted to talk about was the duel. I didn't want to ruin your mood," Atha explained.

"Atha, we value your safety above all. Yours and Bog's. We nearly left you with a simple barrier as protection," Dorian's voice was light, like he was speaking to a scared animal. Sure, Atha's wounds had been healed on the outside, Leander had spared no mana or medicine to make sure the Naga was healthy physically. But the damage on the inside was something they hadn't worked on. To their shame.

"So, you will deal with them?" Atha asked, hopeful.

"Leprechauns are peaceful, mostly. Before we go arrows blazing, we will try to talk to them. It would be nice if we can talk them into protecting the farm in our absence," Jean remarked. He received three confused looks.

"Didn't you say you were captured by leprechauns, once?" Lemon cake asked, and Jean rubbed the back of his head.

"I said they are peaceful, not defenseless," Jean clarified, and all five members of the Try Hard Party turned to stare at the forest. Now it looked darker and less welcoming, somehow.