We embarked on our long journey that morning after we had gotten the mission from the guild. It would be a three-day journey, but two days had already elapsed, and we were now closer than ever to the Ruglai cave. The Mythril was only a few miles away, but this fact did not bring me any joy. So his pride won at the end of the day, huh? I thought to myself as I observed Sarde, who still hadn't given his answer. He was acting as a guard and escort for our merchant, riding on a horse right next to him, and at first, I was surprised by this. I didn't see him as the type to do such a thing, but I soon discovered why.

He wanted to hide the fact that he stole from our funds, which was actually quite clever when you thought about it. If I hadn't stumbled upon the vial, we would have had a mystery on our hands. I let out a sigh and thought, I really wanted us to get along, Sarde, but now, I must consider you an enemy. Surrounding yourself with people who hated you never led to a happy ending. In that respect, Batti was only asking the right, logical questions at the beginning, so I considered him family. What would a little girl know of war? He was only acting in the party's best interest by probing me, and he changed, so I could overlook it, but Sarde was a different matter. That look in his eyes...

"What are you thinking about, Daphne?" Phildina asked with a mischievous smile. Normally, I'd be irked by her nosiness, but this time, I saw it as a golden opportunity.

"Phildina, I'd like your help with something."

The excitement in her voice was palpable as she asked, "Are we going on an adventure together?!" 

"Yes, just the two of us."

"It's a date! A date!"

"H-hey, you're being loud," I tried to silence her, but she continued for a little longer, drawing the attention of everyone in the carriage. My face felt like it was burning, and I was probably as red as a tomato before she turned to me and said,

"You're so fun to tease, Daphne!" T-this girl! After the party members resumed their activity, she leaned in close and whispered into my ear, "Does it have something to do with Sarde?" 

"H-how did you know?" I whispered back.

"I saw you looking at him with a forlorn expression on your face. Did he break your heart?" She asked in a playful tone.

"I'd never fall in love with a guy," I answered.

"Then are you into girls?!" She asked with sparkling eyes. Was talking to her a mistake? I wondered as I thought about the answer. I'd love to answer that question honestly, but I didn't want to be pulled along by her pace, so I said,

"I'll tell you the answer once we complete our adventure." She pouted and looked at me with puppy eyes, but I would not give in to such cuteness. I also remembered a conversation I had with my little brother about girls like Phildina. He came back home crying that day from school, so I asked him what happened, and that was when he told me about a hot classmate of his who always used to tease him. He had been crushing on her for a long time, so one day, he gathered up the courage to ask her out, only to be rejected in the most horrible fashion.

"Huh? You thought I was serious?" I shuddered when I thought about it, his words echoing clearly in my mind, "You'll get burned if you take them too seriously." How he managed to go to school the next day still impressed me. I won't make that mistake, I thought as we finally arrived at Ruglai cave.

The inside of the cave was illuminated by the same species of mushroom that gave a dim blue glow. I would call them Glowing Mushrooms, as I didn't know what they called them here. The Glowing Mushrooms were more numerous in this cave than in the cave in the forest, so we didn't truly need to bring torches, but it was always good to be prepared! It was also relatively safe, as monsters did not spawn in it. 

"Why don't monsters spawn here?" I wondered aloud, and Lucia answered,

"Monsters don't spawn in areas of low magical density. I read it in Arkassus' Thesis of Monsterology." She started explaining it to me while throwing in a bunch of jargon I didn't understand. I was probably more confused at the end of her explanation than when she began, but it didn't stop me from saying, "I see," as if I understood. There has to be a catch to this, right?

Mythril was a rare metal that could be forged into Mythril weapons you could only get at the A rank. These weapons were incredibly powerful while being lighter than iron, perfect for fliers like Phildina. It also served as an excellent material for magic swords, which were also available at the A rank, so why didn't anyone want to take that mission? Were we lucky? Or is there something more to it? I wondered as we explored the cave that day.

It was almost like a maze, with several passages branching off into different sections of the cave. We encountered a few dead ends, but nothing truly unusual. As we continued our search, I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that we were doing something wrong, but my concerns were probably unwarranted, as we found the Mythril ore without incident. It was quite a large chunk, as well, a fact that brought a big smile to my face. Now, I can enact my plan! I would yoink 75 percent of it and give the rest to the client. What's that? Unscrupulous business practices? I can't heaarr youuu... 

He'd still be collecting a reasonable amount, and if he offered to make us some equipment... That'd be the best-case scenario! I was planning to make weapons out of it and sell the rest, but I'd have to go to a neighboring town to do that. We wouldn't want him suspecting us, after all, I thought with a devious smile on my face. 

Kimmel and Sarde carried the Mythril ore on their backs, and on our way back, I got the same odd feeling, but nothing came out of it. Eventually, we exited the cave with the Mythril ore. By all accounts, it was a successful first mission, but I felt like there was a missing puzzle piece, one that would soon fall into place.

"I can't believe it," Kimmel muttered in disbelief as we came out. 

"I know, right?" Lucia added, and it wasn't just her. Everyone seemed relieved for some reason, like they had just narrowly escaped the jaws of death. I couldn't understand why, so I asked,

"You can't believe what?" At this, Kimmel smiled and replied,

"I could tell you here, but I think it would be better if you see and hear it for yourself at the guild." What was he on about? I wondered on our way back, my curiosity increasing with each passing day. When we finally got to the guild, we were met with a great surprise. 

"Y-you what?!" Adventurers gathered around us, unable to believe what they had just heard.

"We retrieved some Mythril ore from the Ruglai cave," Kimmel spoke on our behalf. It was a team effort, so I didn't mind him getting some credit. He did help me haul it back and all that, I thought to myself as I observed the interaction unfold, but the next thing I heard shook me to the very core,

"You came out of the Teleportation cave alive." Teleportation... cave?

"During the great war with the Bazaar Empire 100 years ago, Leo, one of the greatest sages Camelia has ever known, turned that cave into a fortress that claimed the lives of thousands of Empire soldiers. He was alone, which lured the Empire to take action, so he set up random teleportation traps that claimed the lives of an entire army," Lucia explained to me. "Some were warped into the oceans, others bones were found in a volcano, and even more were found with their body parts lodged between walls." I almost felt like laughing at the irony. I led my team through terrible danger in an attempt to escape it. I'm never stepping foot inside that cave again!

I kept hearing things like: "T-this is nothing short of a miracle!" "It's a miracle!" "Unbelievable..." and such, and I was starting to believe it. I couldn't make sense of it otherwise, and it explained that strange feeling I was getting all along. What could this possibly mean? As I furrowed my brows in deep contemplation, I happened to remember that prayer I prayed before setting out: Developer, please let this mission go smoothly. I thought I was imagining things at the time, but... could that actually be the case? Is the god of this world truly the developer? It was a question I would struggle with for a longer time after this.

Kureous

The poll's closed, and I see you have made your decision. In the next chapter, you'll get to find out what happens to Sarde.