After returning to his room in Orario, Drake looked around thoughtfully.
Lili had not been teleported back with him.
It seed that people bound by contract could operate independently across different worlds.
That was good… in fact, it was exactly what Drake wanted.
It ant that the more contractees he had, the more labor he had!
Right now, he had only contracted Lili, so he was seriously short on manpower.
As progress in the Terraria world advanced, Drake would inevitably need more contractees.
However, Drake had no intention of continuing to use the Contract ability in Orario.
If the gods noticed what he was doing behind the scenes, trouble was guaranteed to follow.
As for the Soma Familia, which Lili belonged to… that one was a special case.
Its patron god, Soma, had already completely lost heart when it ca to his Familia and no longer cared what happened within it.
That was exactly why all sorts of chaos had taken root inside the Familia.
The patron gods of other Familias would not be so easy to fool.
After all, these were genuine gods.
The only reason they walked the earth in human form at all was because they were seeking amusent.
From beginning to end, Drake had never once underestimated the gods of Orario.
Because after returning from the Dungeon, Drake had thrown himself straight into exploring Terraria, the difference in ti flow ant the two worlds were out of sync.
By the ti Drake stepped out of his room, the sky was still in the late glow of dusk, not yet night.
"I hope Miss Eina hasn't gotten off work yet."
Though the Adventurers' Guild had people on duty twenty-four hours a day, the one Drake wanted to see was his own adventure advisor, not just anyone else.
Compared to the morning, the Guild was much livelier in the evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun slanted through the stained-glass windows into the Guild Hall.
The magic stone lamps gave off a warm light, clearly illuminating the writing on the notice board.
The windows most favored by adventurers were naturally the exchange counter and the appraisal counter.
As for the counters handling registration and consultation, only the occasional rookie adventurer ever ca by.
Although that lightened the workload sowhat, Eina still felt a small sense of frustration at being overlooked.
Just then, the sound of an argunt rose from the neighboring exchange counter.
"That little money?! Don't ss with ! Are you blind?!"
"Did you even count the monster materials too?! Count it again! There's no way it's this little! It has to be more!"
Clearly, it was another dispute over the amount received from cashing in loot.
This sort of thing happened often at the Adventurers' Guild.
After all, adventurers risked their lives to bring back spoils from the Dungeon.
If the exchange counter didn't yield the amount they expected, it was only natural for voices to rise in protest.
And yet…
"Is it the Soma Familia again?"
The pink-haired clerk muttered under her breath.
"They really make people uncomfortable. Thank goodness I've never had to be adventure advisor for anyone from the Soma Familia…"
"You can't just say things like that."
Eina helplessly tapped the head of her too-blunt human friend.
Even if it was a well-known fact, it was a different matter for a Guild employee to say it aloud.
Still, Eina couldn't help feeling relieved inside.
Thank goodness it wasn't her dealing with such a difficult adventurer.
As that thought crossed her mind, the image of a certain boy rose in the half-elf's thoughts.
"I wonder whether his exploration went smoothly today."
"I just hope he ca back safe…"
"Hello, Miss Eina."
A familiar voice ca from the counter in front of her.
Eina snapped back to attention and imdiately shifted into work mode.
But before the professional smile on her face had lasted more than a few seconds, her green eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face.
"Ah… Drake, you're back from the Dungeon?"
"That's right." Drake nodded slightly and said with a smile, "I'm glad Miss Eina still rembers my na."
"If I can't even rember the na of a rookie I'm responsible for, then I shouldn't be an adventure advisor at all."
Seeing the boy standing before her in one piece, Eina's mood brightened at once.
The irritation caused by the argunt earlier seed to wash away completely.
She looked Drake up and down a few tis, then asked cautiously, "It looks like your first adventure went fairly well?"
The armor on him wasn't damaged, and although there were so bloodstains, they were probably from monsters like goblins.
And when he walked over just now, the movent of his legs and arms had been completely normal.
That ant he hadn't co back with any hidden injuries either.
Judging by the standards for a rookie's very first ti entering the Dungeon, this was already a perfect start.
"Maybe it's because Miss Eina was silently praying for , so I got lucky."
Faced with Drake's teasing, a trace of a smile rose on the half-elf girl's pretty face.
"What a smooth talker… but for adventurers, luck is part of strength too."
"So, did sothing troubleso happen this ti?"
Drake nodded, but what he said next made Eina's heartbeat suddenly quicken.
"Actually, I ca here specifically to see Miss Eina."
"…Eh?"
Hearing that, the pink-haired girl beside her imdiately put on an expression that practically said, 'Oh? Now this I need to sit up and hear.'
But after listening to what Drake actually had to say, Eina gave a helpless little laugh and summarized,
"So, all you want is to ask whether I know any channels for buying iron ore and selling potions?"
"As expected of Miss Eina. That's exactly it."
Drake nodded so firmly he practically looked ready to applaud.
"I thought… never mind."
Eina sighed helplessly, then began thinking it over.
"Still, you're a mber of the Hephaestus Familia yourself. You shouldn't lack contacts for buying ore, should you?"
"Actually, I haven't had much contact with that side of things."
Drake shrugged and explained.
After being taken in by the forging goddess Hephaestus upon arriving in this world, he had spent his ti learning blacksmithing by her side.
On ordinary days, he either dealt with the smithy or went to feed Hestia.
He didn't really know the other mbers of the Familia.
If anything, because he got to stay by the goddess's side, he had received quite a few jealous looks.
Drake simply couldn't be bothered dealing with the people who challenged him and shouted about driving him away from the goddess.
But what Eina took from that explanation was sothing entirely different.
"So that's it. Drake doesn't even have any friends in the Familia he can talk to. He must get bullied a lot."
The half-elf girl's gaze toward Drake imdiately gained a little more tenderness and sympathy.
"I probably can contact rchants who sell ore, but what's this about potions?"
"Well, here's the thing. I… ah, I have a friend."
Drake cleared his throat and started lying through his teeth with a straight face.
"He's an alchemist. Recently, he made a lot of recovery potions, but he's too busy to handle selling them himself, so he asked to do it."
These "recovery potions," of course, referred to Lesser Healing Potions and Lesser Mana Potions.
If Drake spent all the gold coins he had on those two potions, he could buy several hundred bottles.
There was no way he could use all of them himself, so he might as well sell them for money, convert them into valis, and then use that valis to buy iron ore and solve the urgent shortage of iron in Terraria.
That was the two-birds-one-stone thod Drake had co up with— provided Eina's network was strong enough.
Fortunately, the adventure advisor he had carefully chosen did not disappoint him.
"That's possible, but first I need to confirm the quality of the potions made by this 'friend' of yours."
As she spoke, Eina extended a pale hand toward Drake.
Her slender fingers spread open, the slightly translucent jade-colored nails making them look like a delicate work of art.
Drake saw that and froze for a second. Then he reached out with so confusion and placed his hand on top of hers.
"…What are you doing?"
That action made the tips of the half-elf girl's ears turn red, and she protested shyly,
"I ant for you to give a few potion samples so I can take them to the appraisal counter next door!"
"Oh. Sorry."
Realizing he had misunderstood, Drake scratched his head awkwardly and took out one healing potion and one mana potion, handing them over.
Eina accepted the potions with a faint blush on her pretty face, then glared at the coworker beside her who was trying not to laugh.
"What are you laughing at? Next month's summary report is all yours."
"Ehhh?!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers