Chapter 110 – New Party.

Roland was able to get a good seat in the back thanks to arriving early. Thanks to this he was able to examine everyone that would be taking part in this expedition.

The first person was the nun that arrived earlier than he did. Then there was the duo of Armand and Lobelia that he had the pleasure of meeting again. It didn’t seem that this martial artist had any goodwill towards him. This was understandable as not much time had passed since his firing.

Then there were the members that he was less familiar with, like Korgak the Half-Orc. This warrior didn’t talk much but seemed like he followed orders from people above him like the guild master that was also here this very moment. He was talking with the man who would be the party leader of this expedition.

This man seemed to have some kind of ranger class. He was wearing lighter armor that was covered by a dark green robe. He looked to be someone in his later thirties and was of the human race. He had a somewhat scruffy-looking beard that had some white patches here and there.

That was actually it, with him the party consisted of only six people. Armand and the Half-Orc were the warriors of the party while the half-elf and the team leader were probably the trackers and for monster detection.

The nun was clearly the healer but where they would place him remained to be seen. He had a wide array of runes that could be used from various ranges. People who looked from the outside might think that he was some kind of magic warrior with a wide range of skills, a jack of all trades type. In reality, he was very much focused on his crafting and mana capacity to utilize his runes.

“Okay, let us start this meeting.”

Roland heard the guild master speaking out while also glaring in Armand’s direction. The young pugilist was sulking after getting a smack on the head by a giant fist. Luckily one hit was enough to silence the room and now he and the party leader were discussing the plan.

“I think everyone knows the basics of this mission. You all will be heading into the dungeon to babysit some noble brats.”

Armand was quick to recover as he and his half-elven friend chuckled at the words of the guild master.

“Your main job will be to escort the nobles into the volcanic area below the 10th level of the labyrinth. Afterward, you will remain as lookouts. You will keep an eye out for any abnormalities, only get involved if their lives are in danger.”

There wasn’t much new information. Just like he knew this was a test for the nobles and how they can take stressful situations. There would be one leader that needed to command the troops. They would need to clear out monsters while venturing into the deeper reaches of the dungeon.

All of these nobles were fresh tier 2 holders that would be mostly in their early fifties. Due to spending a lot of time at the noble academies, the noble youths lagged in terms of battle experience behind the common adventurers. They made it up with the levels of their skills and better classes that were planned out from the start.

For instance, the ‘Knight’ class was locked away to people of noble descent. A person needed a hidden trait of noble birth to be able to procure it. A commoner would only be allowed to get lesser classes like shield warrior or spear warrior instead. The Runesmith Lord class could also have been triggered by Roland’s noble roots.

“Abnormalities? Like a tier 3 monster?”

He raised his hand and asked while some of the party members looked at him.

“I see that you catch on fast, Wayland was it? Let me answer that.”

Instead of the guild master, it was the team leader that spoke up.

“But first let me introduce myself, my name is Silvio and I will be the leader of this party.”

Everyone nodded at the introduction as the man continued to speak.

“Yes, If a tier 3 monster appears we are tasked to stall it while the nobles evacuate, even at the cost of our lives…”

“You serious?”

This time it was Armand that replied, he smacked his hand on the table that made it rattle around.

“Why should we risk our lives for some pompous nobles?”

“Why else, for the money!”

The man grinned while looking at Armand. Everyone here would be getting paid an extravagant amount of money. Roland knew this after a big chunk of what he needed for that manufacturing knowledge would be paid for through this single mission.

“You have all signed the contracts, you know what will happen if you abandon the mission.”

Before this meeting even started Roland was also called over to the guild during the recruitment drive. He needed to sign a document that would put him in a lot of trouble if he didn’t prioritize the nobles. This was a serious mission that the guild couldn’t afford to botch.

“If it’s so important, why doesn’t the guild send in more Platinum adventurers?”

This time around it was Lobelia that posed this question.

“There are several reasons but the most obvious one is that we don’t just grow on trees.”

Silvio shrugged while shaking his head.

“The nobles also asked for adventurers that are only at the silver rank, do you need me to explain this?”

He asked while indicating that it was something obvious. Roland knew what the reason was but two certain party members still had question marks above their heads.

“It’s the levels, they don’t want to lose out on the experience.”

The team leader noticed this so after giving out a sigh he just gave out the information. Due to how this leveling system worked it was unfavorable to have high tier people around when farming for experience. They still allowed a tier 3 adventurer to come along just in case. If the adventurer party stayed far enough and didn’t participate in the battles the nobles would not suffer any debuffs to their experience.

“Well not like it matters to me, as I see it, this is easy money.”

The older man grinned, it was clear that from his perspective the nobles were just throwing the money away. The dungeon had been mostly mapped out and there were no tier 3 monsters around. If only tier 2 monsters appeared it would probably be a low danger mission for this platinum rank adventurer.

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The only real uncomfortable part would be living down in a heated dungeon for so long. Roland was already prepared for that situation but he had never field-tested his equipment for a prolonged time. This would be a good chance to gather some valuable data for his future creations.

Him being on this expedition had a lot to do with the dungeon’s climate. The guild master did hire him probably with this in mind as he was the only person in this party that could use frost and cooling magic. This is also why when the question came up, he knew that he would need to do a little speech.

“That’s all fine, but how do you expect us to last for weeks while surrounded by hot lava?”

Surprisingly it was Armand that posed this question, before answering the party leader looked towards Roland and then quickly turned over to the guild master.

“The guild master assured me that one of the party members here would take care of that. If I’m not mistaken it’s the young man in the red armor?”

The people turned to him with surprised looks. They had seen him fight but he still acted more as a warrior type that just used some magical items to get ahead of the competition.

“Yeah, Little Wayland here will take care of that with one of his runic creations, mind explaining?”

The guild master called out to Roland who groaned inwardly. This would be the most uncomfortable part of the meeting but he had come prepared.

“Yes.”

He nodded while standing up from his seat and walking over to where Silvio and the guild master were sitting. After arriving he was given some space, he saw the other four party members looking at him.

‘Feels like I’m back at school…’