The Returner Wants Complete Victory

28 – 028. How to find team members

While eating a late lunch, I was troubled.

Should I proceed slowly with the achievement project starting tomorrow, commuting within a day’s distance of the city, or should I go on an expedition altogether?

In fact, I hadn’t even considered a method other than an expedition.

There were many reasons, but the biggest reason was that there were not many chimeras near the city.

Kirnyu is a city created by stragglers who did not receive scout offers from Emur’s mercenary group.

I have to do something to survive right now, and since I don’t have the skills to go on an expedition, I just wander around within a day or two of the city, hunting down chimeras that have broken away from the group.

And more than anything, returning to the city every day is a huge waste of time.

When you go on an expedition, all 24 hours are a continuous battle.

This is a process of continuously searching for chimeras from the time you open your eyes in the morning until you go to sleep at night. It is not uncommon for enemies to attack you while you are sleeping at night.

On the other hand, if you return to the city, half of your day will be wasted.

Lastly, there was also a reason to conquer the dungeon.

Because the dungeon handed over to Mad Dog is about 6 days away from the city.

Since you started the achievement anyway, wouldn’t it be good to finish the dungeon as quickly as possible?

But that’s just my standard, and can the kids tolerate this?

Right now, kids who haven’t even served in the military have to camp out for nearly two weeks covered in dust without being able to wash properly.

Moreover, it’s not just camping, you have to stay on alert 24 hours a day, even when you sleep, because you never know when the enemy might attack.

The enemy may even include not only Chimera but also someone from the Martial Artist League.

I may have felt like I could do anything now that I had just finished training, but I was worried about whether I would be able to withstand the accumulated stress when I actually went to battle.

It seems like what happened on the carriage two weeks ago had quite an impact not only on the kids but also on me.

I’m cautious about what to do.

“Sir, what are you worrying about so much?”

As I stopped forking and was lost in thought, Bo-kyung asked me with a worried look.

“you guys… .”

Out of frustration, I was about to ask what it would be like to go on an expedition for two weeks, but I kept quiet because I felt inferior.

If you ask them, they will say that of course they can do it. There’s no way I can say I can’t do it.

This was a matter that I had to judge and decide.

As for the question of whether or not it is possible to kill another person, I decided to assume that children had made up their own minds.

Then the next issue is the number of people.

Even if the total sleeping time is set at 9 hours and each person is on watch, the actual sleep time per person is only about 6 hours.

However, if we drastically increase the bedtime to guarantee sleep time, then there is no reason to choose an expedition.

I don’t need too many, I just wish there were one or two more.

If I were asked to form a team right away, there are a few people that come to mind.

Although it’s only been about 8 months, I still have some history of working here.

The problem is that the other side won’t trust me… .

I can trust the other person, but in the other person’s opinion, I must be a suspicious person who came to Kirnyu even though I caught the only species in Emur.

“Doesn’t cooking suit your taste?”

When I didn’t eat and just swung my fork for a while, Rick asked me carefully.

He looked slightly hurt, so I quickly waved my hand.

“no. I just have some concerns… .”

ah.

Come to think of it, it was right in front of me.

A man who is Kirnyu’s best fielder and at the same time an icon of trust.

“Rick.”

“yes?”

“Could you please introduce me to someone?”

*

A CLOSED sign was hung at the entrance to the [Demilitarized Zone] for the first time in a long time.

“It’s been a few weeks since I left the store… .”

“Isn’t there a time when there won’t be any customers anyway? “And you also received three gold coins.”

Rick readily accepted my offer.

First of all, it was effective that there were no other customers in the store to protect besides us.

Once I found a team member, I had to buy the equipment needed for the expedition, so I took all my children with me.

When Bo-kyung and Eun-ha came out of the building for the first time in a while, they looked around as if they were curious.

“Sir, where are you going now?”

“Plaza.”

I gave a short answer to Bo-kyung’s question.

Actually, there was nothing more to say. It’s just a square with nothing really special.

“When I was receiving training, I was told that there was a mercenary guild… ?”

Bo-kyung heard me and muttered to herself.

After hearing that, I felt like I knew what I was misunderstanding.

Bo-kyung is a child who is so serious about fantasy that she ate the rye bread and stew set from the first day after the tutorial.

Well, you’re probably thinking of something like the adventurer’s guild from a novel.

“The mercenary guild is literally a mercenary guild. Not a job placement agency. An organization that exists to manage mercenary and mercenary corps grades, record performance, and guarantee identity. “It doesn’t exist in a city this small.”

And of course, 99 out of 100 mercenaries in this town, including us, are not even registered as official mercenaries.

Since you’ve completed the tutorial, you’ll probably be registered as a trainee mercenary to at least guarantee your identity.

“ah! So you told me to sell the chimera by-products to the merchant guild? Oh oh… .”

Still, I remember selling chimera by-products to the Merchant’s Guild, so I guess I fell asleep during training.

Bo-kyung let out an exclamation as if she realized something and turned her head towards me.

“senior. “We’re going to rescue our team members now, right?”

“yes.”

“Senior is a wizard, I am an archer, and Eunha is a warrior, so… .”

“why. “Is it time for a priest?”

“… no?”

“no. First of all, the priests here are the same as the religious people on Earth. It’s actually the wizards who know how to use recovery magic. Even though there are potions, the demand isn’t that high.”

“So what role are we looking for now?”

“It doesn’t matter who it is, as long as you can trust it and know how to fight. And in this town, nine out of ten people are linemen. To become a wizard or a proper marksman, you have to go to Emur. Long-distance response capabilities become necessary when waging war. Hunters can just run away or hide when a flying one comes out.”

After being locked in the building for two weeks, Bo-kyung seemed curious after coming out and seeing something new, so she asked various questions just like she did in the carriage.

As I answered them one by one, I soon arrived at the square.

As we entered the square, we felt all eyes on us, just like the first day we came to Kirniu.

The only difference from back then is that the main character receiving this attention is Rick, not us, and most of the eyes are friendly rather than hostile or wary.

“How about you wait here and I can take a spin?”

Rick asked as he found a nice flat brick to sit on and stood next to it.

Nonsense. I immediately shook my head.

“No, let’s go together.”

I’m not even going to an interview, so what would my first impression be if I were to sit here and wait?

Rick nodded as if he didn’t mean what he said seriously and took the lead again.

“uh! teacher?”

Before he could even walk a few steps, someone made a knowing look towards Rick.

It was a woman with long blonde hair braided back. And there were two more women standing behind her.

A party consisting of three women.

The weapons are a mace, a long sword, and a double-edged axe.

All three are vanguard.

“Ellie. long time no see.”

Rick saw the woman in front and greeted her warmly.

I was a bit confused, but when I heard the name, I was able to clearly remember it.

Although we weren’t close friends, we worked together a few times thanks to the bond we had as Rick’s students.

Contrary to her cheerful appearance, she was a woman who used a mace to crush the head of a chimera like a demon.

“Iknow, right! long time no see!”

Ellie lowered the mace on her shoulder to the floor and waved her hand happily.

Then he approached Rick, his eyes sparkling as if he was seeing something amazing.

“But what’s going on here? “He doesn’t usually come out of the store.”

“Oh yeah. Ellie. “Do you have some time starting tomorrow?”

“yes? why?”

“These people here—.”

Rick’s brief explanation followed.

Bo-kyung and Eun-ha are his students, and this will be their first real battle. This man is an experienced person with guaranteed credibility and skills. We are planning to go on an expedition for about two weeks, and the special thing is that there is a risk of being attacked by the Martial Artist League—that was roughly the explanation.

When Rick finished speaking, Ellie looked troubled.

“Teacher, that… . “I’m sorry to tell you this, but I think it’s going to be difficult.”

“why? “If you’re worried about the Martial Artists’ League—.”

“No, no. Those scumbags are probably fine. If you die, you die, right? But starting the day after tomorrow, we also have work to do… . “I think going away for two weeks would be a bit difficult.”

“Oh yeah? “If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do.”

Rick looked back at me and made an awkward expression.

Although he came out confident, he seemed embarrassed to be rejected from the start.

Ellie spoke carefully to Rick.

“teacher. But it’s probably the same for all teams other than us.”

“huh?”

“There is information that a high-ranking commander chimera has appeared in the northwest abandoned city area. In order to subdue that thing, a group of kids gathered together and decided to leave the day after tomorrow… .”

“Are they all the kids who learned from me?”

“lol… .”

Ellie let out an idiotic laugh as she looked at Rick, who looked embarrassed.

Rick looked genuinely troubled, as if he didn’t know the situation would be like this.

“Teacher, if you’re in a hurry, how about going to Noah?”

“Noah? “Isn’t Noah going with you?”

“yes. I tried to talk about it, but it turned out to be ugly. You know he likes to play alone. Still, I don’t think you would refuse if it were a request, teacher?”

Noah Russell.

Unlike Ellie, which was vague, this is a name I definitely remember.

Just like Ellie said that she likes to play alone, she always went alone and I don’t remember actually doing anything together, but we still gave each other a quick glance whenever we ran into each other.

Like Rick, he wielded a long sword, and he was the most skilled among Rick’s students and was considered a de facto successor.

Unlike me, who had to leave the city as if kicked out due to lack of skills during the first episode, I was a boy who earned the right to be with Rick in his final moments.

It’s embarrassing, but… I think I felt inferior at the time.

When I went to the place Ellie told me about, I saw a boy sitting alone and idly grazing the grass in the flower bed.

“Noah, this guy. how have you been doing?”

Seeing Rick expressing his happiness by tapping his shoulder, the boy only slightly bowed his head in greeting.

Scattered black hair, fierce eyes, and a grave expression. Moreover, he has a youthful appearance that makes him look a little too young to be an adult.

Now that I look at it, does it have a similar vibe to Eunha?

What I felt when I saw the face of an old acquaintance whom I had reunited with after almost 6 years was not longing or joy, but an inexplicable fatigue.