A mont on the beach under the blazing hot sun.
The mbers of the Ian rcenary Group were all sprawled out in the living room of their lodging.
’Haaa...’
’I can’t get up...’
Having claid their respective spots to lounge, the mbers had been half-asleep since early morning.
It had already been several days since they arrived in this city.
The mbers, who had been swimming and playing in the sea to their heart’s content, had finally completely drained their stamina.
The novelty of seeing the sea for the first ti was slowly wearing off, and they were sick of swimming after doing it all day for days on end.
It was no wonder, as they had stayed in the water every day until they collapsed from exhaustion.
Ultimately, the mbers, who didn’t even have the strength left to swim, collapsed together in the first-floor living room.
Even while they did nothing, ti flowed on, and lunchti was approaching.
Rin, sprawled on the sofa, muttered.
’What should we have for lunch? Should we go to the market?’
’Too much work...’
’I wonder if Lia will catch sothing again today.’
Mika, lounging in a chair, replied idly.
While everyone else was collapsed from the endless swimming, Lia was the sole exception.
Even now, Lia alone had been out at sea since early morning.
As if on cue at the ntion of her na, Lia, who had gone out to the sea alone, returned.
’I’m back.’
’Lia, you really don’t get tired.’
’You go much deeper than we do...’
’It’s nothing once you get used to it.’
While everyone else lacked the strength to swim, Lia road the sea as if swimming didn’t consu her stamina at all.
Having gone deep into the sea again today, Lia set down the basket she was carrying.
The basket was full of fish that Lia had caught.
Seeing that, the exhausted mbers slowly sat up.
’What did you catch today?’
Thanks to Lia catching different fish every ti, they had been feasting on fish that weren’t even sold in the market.
Everyone gathered to see the fish Lia had brought this ti.
’Ah, I was lucky today.’
Lia opened the basket with a sowhat proud look.
Mika, peeking into the basket, flinched and stepped back at what she saw inside.
’Ugh...’
’What... is this?’
A reaction that was a bit more lukewarm than usual.
Ian also approached and glanced at the contents of the basket from the side.
What Lia had caught today were shrimps.
Not yet noticing the mbers’ sowhat hesitant reaction, Lia spoke with a slightly boastful face.
’I found a place nearby where shrimps were gathered. They’re usually hard to catch like this, but I got lucky.’
’Uh... are we supposed to eat this too?’
’Huh? Of course.’
Looking at the shrimps flopping in the basket, Mika told Lia with an expression of slight disgust.
’Lia, didn’t you say you hate bugs? Are sea bugs okay?’
’...Hah?’
Lia stared at Mika with an expression that said she didn’t understand.
After a mont’s thought, she realized that Mika had referred to the shrimps as bugs.
’What did you just say?’
’Huh? I asked if you didn’t hate bugs...’
’....’
Lia stared at Mika with a shocked face, then hurriedly looked around.
Soon finding what she wanted, Lia picked up her sword leaning against the wall.
Lia imdiately drew her sword.
’Fine... I accept your duel.’
’Why?!’
Mika, startled by Lia drawing her sword, hurriedly backed away.
Lia shouted at Mika as she approached with her sword.
’You just called shrimps bugs!’
’I an... they are bugs! Look at those legs, and the antennae...’
’Die!’
’Did you just tell to die?!’
Lia’s sword flashed.
Mika had also almost mastered the basics of barrier magic through various combat experiences.
The instantly created barrier blocked Lia’s sword.
With a noise like tal clashing against tal and sparks flying, Lia’s sword was repelled.
However, against Lia, who already knew the durability of the barrier well, it was only a way to buy a little ti.
With Lia’s imdiate physical charge, the barrier collapsed in an instant, and Mika was caught by Lia.
’Kyaa!’
A close-quarters battle between a mage and a swordsman followed imdiately after the barrier broke.
At the end of the sowhat one-sided duel, Mika was face-down in the sand.
Lia quietly turned the tip of her sword toward the rest of the mbers.
By a majority vote conducted at sword-point, shrimps were eventually recognized as not being bugs.
It happened to be lunchti.
A fire was lit, and lunch was prepared with the fish Lia had caught.
’....’
’....’
Everyone glanced at each other and quickly picked up the fish.
No one touched the grilled shrimp, causing Lia’s expression to turn sullen.
In the midst of that, Ian quietly picked up a shrimp.
Lia’s expression brightened noticeably.
’Ah, the way to eat it is... oh.’
Without even listening to Lia’s explanation, Ian familiarly peeled the shrimp shell.
As Ian ate the shrimp casually, the other mbers also hesitated before approaching the shrimp after seeing his reaction.
...So they really were edible.
They muttered to themselves, making sure Lia couldn’t hear.
’O-oh... it’s delicious...’
’You’re right. These bu... ahem.’
Mika, who almost let that word slip, caught Lia’s gaze and quietly shut her mouth, eating the shrimp in silence.
＊ ＊ ＊
Before long, the sun set.
Rather than going into the sea, everyone took ti to lie in bed and recover their depleted stamina.
Perhaps thanks to resting all day, the mbers, who had regained so energy, sat together in the living room.
’Phew... I can’t even play anymore because it’s too tiring.’
Rin, completely exhausted, muttered while massaging her shoulders.
It had already been several days since they spent all day playing in the sea.
They had also toured the market and bought souvenirs.
By now, it could be said they had enjoyed their vacation enough.
Ian looked at the mbers and asked.
’Shall we head back soon?’
’I suppose so. We’ve played plenty.’
Everyone nodded.
Even if they were told to play more, it was impossible due to a lack of stamina.
Ian decided to go out tomorrow and check the schedule for going back to Labyrinth.
Most escort requests were one-way.
It would be best if they could find an escort request going back from their destination at the right ti, but such things didn’t happen often.
If there were no requests, they would have no choice but to pay for a carriage to return.
However, the Ian rcenary Group was now a C-rank rcenary group from Labyrinth.
Labyrinth’s rcenary groups had a level of combat experience and skill that was incomparable to those of other regions.
They were common in Labyrinth, but outside of it, a C-rank from Labyrinth was considered a high-level rcenary group that received considerable recognition.
If the news of their return to Labyrinth were sent to the request diation office, carriages wanting to depart according to their schedule would likely line up.
This was a fact Camilla had told him when he asked where to find a return carriage while taking this request.
’Let’s prepare tomorrow and aim to depart the day after.’
’Sigh. We had a good ti, but it is starting to get a bit boring.’
’I feel like I’ve consud a year’s worth of salt...’
It was while they were all lying around chatting.
-This is difficult...
-Just let us pass on the ssage!
Suddenly, the sound of a commotion was heard outside the lodging.
’It sounds like soone is here?’
’Aren’t they just people visiting for fun?’
This wasn’t a guild house, so there was no reason for any guests to be looking for the Ian rcenary Group.
Since it was a tourist spot, it was natural for it to be noisy outside.
With that thought, they stayed where they were, but the noise outside the lodging didn’t stop.
’Should I go out for a mont?’
’If it’s nothing major, just co back in.’
Tanya slightly opened the door and peeked outside.
’Ah!’
The lodging manager, who lived in another building nearby, was in a scuffle with a few people who had gathered in front of the lodging.
One of them spotted Tanya poking her head out and ran over.
’Excuse us while you’re on vacation!’
’W-who are you?’
’We are from the rchant Association.’
’Pardon?’
Tanya was flustered by the sudden introduction.
As it didn’t seem the commotion would end quickly, everyone got up and went outside.
The people gathered outside the lodging were from various backgrounds, including not only the rchant Association but also the City Hall and the Guard.
It seed sothing urgent had happened, enough for all these people to swarm in together to talk.
As their opinions hadn’t been fully coordinated yet, a bit more of a scuffle ensued.
Then, a person who said they were from the City Hall spoke as a representative.
’Um, we heard that the mbers of the Ian rcenary Group from Labyrinth were staying here...’
The mbers all glanced at Ian.
Sensing those gazes, the eyes of the people who had co to find the rcenary group also turned toward Ian.
’That’s us. What’s the matter?’
’W-we are truly sorry while you are on vacation. But this is a crisis for the city, so we had no choice...’
Since it was a city that relied solely on tourism, there was no standing army or rcenary guild other than the guards for maintaining public order.
While not as much as Labyrinth, it was a city overflowing with money. If sothing requiring force occurred, it was a place that solved it by hiring rcenaries.
The military power of Labyrinth, which had a maze spewing monsters right in front of it, was what was unusual; this was generally normal.
Looking at the situation, it seed an urgent need for a high-level rcenary group had arisen.
An event so urgent that they couldn’t wait a few days to hire and bring in rcenaries from Labyrinth.
’...Let’s hear the story first.’
’Thank you!’
It was nice being treated like V.I.P.s.
But conversely, things like this also happen.
After all, this is why they gave them special treatnt.
It was the grand finale of a long vacation.
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