/Quest progression

4th wave successfully repelled

*push back the 4th monster wave (00:00:00) (completed)

5/11 objectives completed

Reward:

Players contribution...

/Error

/Contribution level beneath 0.01%

/Calculating...

/Adjusting the reward

/Reward granted: +1% to every base stat

/Reward granted

/Reward granted

A series of messages have popped up in front of Mary's eyes, but the brown-haired girl showed no interest in it.

She didn't care that this time her contributions were basically nothing since she and her monsters were focused on a different task during the entire time.

Instead, what she was focused on, was the death of two of her wolves!

Two of her precious tamed monsters were killed off while helping find the missing supply crates - a mission that although was a special quest, was supposed to be easy and safe thanks to the stealth skills of the same wolves!

Or that's how it was supposed to be.

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD!"

Mary roared furiously in the rat-faced man's face.

"Miss Hope, I'm telling you that you didn't discuss anything with me, but with the higher-ups of this place."

Shanks explained without budging even a bit.

"BUT IT'S YOU WHO LEAD THIS WHOLE OPERATION, AND ANY CASUALTIES ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!"

Yet Mary didn't seem to calm down at all even after hearing his explanation.

Probably because the man didn't explain the things she wanted to know in the first place.

"We've encountered a strong angel-class monster, we fought it off but it managed to kill two of your monsters. It's surely a huge loss for you, but still, looking at the bigger picture, this result isn't that bad."

"YOU...!"

...and even when he did, it got way worse, actually.

"Miss, I am sorry for your loss."

"...yeah, right...!"

Surprisingly enough, once Shanks bowed his head, Mary did calm down - or at least she stopped shouting like mad.

She fell down on an empty seat and sighed.

"This really sucks... Avocado was a bit timid, but he never hesitated to help people weaker than him. Being able to borrow his healing skills was helping me a lot since my mend skill is extremely crude and painful. Cherry was very brave and always did her best. She was really good with stealth and was the fastest after Cinnamon. Losing the two of them isn't just some loss, it is a disaster...!"

The brown-haired girl's face scrunched in a bitter expression and she hung her head down and shook it, dispirited.

"Say, that angel-class that you encountered, how strong was it? Just an hour ago, Blueberry and Arion hunted three of those around the perimeter of the barracks... and an earth dragon too."

Mary raised her head and asked.

The seemingly calm question was loaded with assumptions and the girl's trembling voice had shown more than enough that she was on the verge of blowing up again.

"How many faces and wings those angel-class monsters had?"

But Shanks asked for more details in a calm manner.

"...? How many? One face and a single pair of wings..."

That has taken Mary aback, and she responded in confusion as if it didn't occur to her before that the monsters in the Sloth territory could have a variety.

"Then, miss, with all due respect, your monsters have hunted basic angels. They are very strong when compared to the monsters we have in the south, but here they're just the bottom feeders and most common prey. Falling the earth dragon is a bigger deal though."

Shanks bowed his head once more.

"...then, what did you encounter... the rest of my wolves only remembers the flaming swords that kill in one hit and even Cinnamon could just recall that the monster was big because she was too furious to have a proper look."

This time it looked like Mary really did calm down, or at least her tense muscles relaxed.

"What we faced was a seraphim. Three faces, four pairs of arms, two pairs of wings, twenty-four feet tall, and still partly self-aware - the strongest type of angel-class that we possibly could encounter. Those things can see the mana in the air and can spot their prey just by sensing the distortion in the mana flow. That's how it got us even under the stealth skill of your wolves. Even if the stealth skill can block all five senses from sensing anything past it, it still affects the mana flowing around the casters. Avocado and Cherry died because they were too good at using their skills and were the easiest to pinpoint by the seraphim."

"...you knew all that and you guys still approached it...?"

When the rat-faced man paused, Mary straightened her back and glared at him with accusation.

"When I first noticed it, I mistook it for a cherubim - a one-step lower angel-class that cannot sense the mana flow - and proposed a plan to sneak past it. But the seraphim attacked us and killed Avocado before we were ready in the first place."

"You bastard! So it IS your fault after all!"

Mary ended up jumping back up with her face twisted in fury.

*click*

"Ah...!"

That was the moment when the door to the small room the two were having a talk in, opened, and a very young bespectacled girl wearing an oversized lab coat stopped and flinched looking between the two.

"Am I interrupting something...?"

She asked awkwardly, clenching the notepad in her hands.

"Yes, you ar...!"

"No, medic 13, miss Hope and I have already finished discussing the results of our previous mission."

Mary was about to lash out again, but Shanks stepped in front of her and approached the bespectacled girl.

"Oh! Yes! About that! Sir! I've wanted to thank you for what you did! Thanks to your leadership, all of my friends returned safely!"

The girl bowed gasped and bowed down to the rat-faced man.

"No, no. I should have done better."

Shanks shook his hand and denied.

"But, sir! For a group that small, and made out of inexperienced rookies to boot, encountering a partiality sentient seraphim is a death sentence! It's such a great feat that the higher-ups have granted them more rations - and that includes bonus sweets too!"

Medic 13 squeaked in a high-pitched, childish voice full of awe.

"Good for them, but in the end, we simply were very lucky, I should have been a better commander."

Shanks shook his head again.

"Sir...!"

Medic 13 fidgeted.

"If... if it's okay with you, everyone from the three squads that you lead today is throwing up a small unofficial party - approved by the higher-ups, of course - and would really appreciate it if you show up, even for a little bit... please...?"

The girl ended up bowing again and asked.

"..."

Shanks made a conflicted expression.

"Sir...? Please? We all want to show our gratitude!"

The girl pleaded, looking up at him with puppy eyes.

"Alright, I'll go."

The rat-faced man nodded and smiled in defeat.

"!!! That's great! Sir! Please, follow me!"

Medic 13 sprung back up excitedly, grabbed onto Shank's sleeve, and started pulling him instantly.

"...hmph..."

Mary glared after them and stayed behind in the empty room even after the door closed behind the two.