/Quest progression

1st wave successfully repelled

*push back the 1st monster wave (00:00:00) (completed)

2/11 objectives completed

Reward:

Calculating Justice's Wrath contribution...

/Error

/Contribution level below 0.01%

/Calculating...

/Adjusting the reward

/Reward granted: +1% to every base stat

*cling*

"Eh...?"

Mika got so surprised by the message that she dropped the fork right onto the floor.

"Whew... so that's how the waves will be. I thought that those timers are time limits for us, like the training one was, but it looks like they're just showing how long we need to hold the monster waves back to complete the objective."

Cri, sitting on the other side of the table nodded and took another forkful of food from his ration.

"We should get you another fork, miss."

The scary-faced Cal reached under the table and picked up the one dropped by Mika, but instead of giving it back to her, he put it to the side.

"Wait a bit."

He added and stood up.

"The reward is pretty bad if you ask me, but I guess we can't really complain since all we do is sit on our rumps behind secure walls."

Ti chewed on her food with a sour expression, looking at the message that popped up for her.

"Just to be sure, did we all got +1% to all stats?"

She asked looking at her companions.

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Same."

Others confirmed with various levels of enthusiasm.

"Here."

Cal returned to the table with a new fork and passed it to Mika.

"Ah...! Thank you."

The ashen-haired girl bowed her head and got back to eating.

"It seems like there will be no problem with us staying away from the actual fighting. Good."

Ti nodded, with relief.

"...I can't say that I like that though..."

Mika slouched over her ration and murmured.

"Mika, you need to take it easy. I know that some of the system believers take the quests too seriously and think that they are the most important thing, but they're not. The system can only interfere that much - in the end, we all can make a choice."

Corvus skilled at Mika over the table and explained.

"The system will adjust."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Free choice, yeah, right..."

The ashen-haired girl pouted and stabbed her food with the fork.

She knew that Corvus was saying that only because he never got a quest or a choice that was heavily weighted towards one option, while the so-called reward for the other one was basically a penalty.

Yes, Corvus never got a choice like that, so he could speak about the system's respect for their free will with a straight face.

But it wasn't the same for Mika.

"I just think that we should be prepared just in case."

She mumbled, staring at her food that she kept stabbing with the fork until it became an unrecognizable mush - more unrecognizable than it was before.

The phrasing in the - Final frontier - quest's description was really bothering her.

The Sloth's forces protecting the northern border for hundreds of years will no longer be enough to stop the titan-class monsters.

'Will no longer be enough', and not, 'are no longer enough'.

When she pointed that out to her companions, they've dismissed it as irrelevant flavor text and nothing more.

They all were older and stronger than Mika, so the ashen-haired girl couldn't really argue with them.

After all, Cri, Ti, and Cal were all max level for normal player characters, so they sure did see and completed a fair share of quests already and Mika was the sheltered, inexperienced one.

"Miss, you shouldn't play with your food."

"Sorry..."

Ti pointed out, making the ashen-haired girl flinch and blush.

"I don't think I can finish all of it anyway..."

The girl apologized, pushing the ration to the side.

"..."

Her action got the attention of a soldier walking by.

It was a girl, looking as if she around Mika's age.

Her black hair was cut functionally short so that it would fit under a helmet without any trouble...

...and she looked pissed of...

"Is every southerner so wasteful with their food or only weaklings like you?"

The girl stopped behind Mika and squinted her eyes looking at the unfinished mush in the simple container, and muttered so that only the ashen-haired girl would hear her.

"...!"

Mika flinched and gritted her teeth.

"What can we help you with...?"

Ti asked, raising her brow at the black-haired girl.

Even though the soldier girl kept her voice low, it wasn't that hard to figure out that she did or said something - at least based on Mika's reaction.

"Is every southerner so wasteful with their food or only useless weaklings like you?"

But if Ti banked on the black-haired girl to back down and go away, she lost big-time.

"You did attend the briefing. You should know that our supplies are running out due to the unusual behavior of the local monsters. Until the situation will get resolved, every single ration counts. You aren't doing anything, to begin with, why were any of you even granted any rations if you can't even appreciate it?"

The soldier girl doubled down and asked, looking down on every single member of the Wraths' group.

"..."

Ti closed her mouth, unable to think of a comeback.

"No. Wait. I need to clear something."

Suddenly the soldier girl raised her hand and bowed apologetically.

"The tamer that arrived with you. She may be weak, but she's doing her best to lend us a hand and both her monsters are helping monitor the situation in the sea of mist. I want to make sure you know that I'm talking only about the five of you."

She explained.

"Monk 89-F! Come back quick! We saved you a fruit bar!"

A voice that the Wrath's knew called to the black-haired girl from across the canteen.

"Ah! Squad leader, thank you...!"

The girl perked up and hurried over to the table where none other than bruiser 97-F and the rest of the close combat squad responsible for protecting Mika's group were sitting.

"Tsk...! Full-mouthed brat!"

Corvus clicked his tongue, staring daggers after the black-haired girl.

"..."

Mika grabbed the ration she previously pushed away and pulled it back.

"Miss you don't need to force yourself..."

"No. She was right. I have no right to be wasteful."

Ti made a worried expression but Mika only shook her head and picked up the fork.