Nate and the others in the group were making their way back to the village in good spirits.

None of them got injured or died, they were able to get some insight into the threats within the valley, and they had even found the weapons of the six people who went in first.

Three swords, Two spears, and another slingshot!

Strangely, they weren't able to find the bodies of the previous owners. They had theories on what happened to the corpses, but none of them were willing to voice them out.

'Well, now we know that we'll be goblin chow if we get killed...' Nate mused. He looked calm on the outside, but he was most likely the happiest one in the group. 'Things are looking up. Although Miyu said it'd take us two months, maybe we can shorten that? Just wait mom, I'll be back soon.'

There were other things improving Nate's mood, like the fact that the success of the first expedition had increased his clout within the village, the fact that those goblins had probably given them a bunch of points so they could improve their equipment, and the fact that more people would probably join the group on their next run. But the hope of his reunion with his poor mother was the greatest one. If it wouldn't be outright embarrassing, he'd be skipping right now.

"Well, aren't you quite happy." Miyu quipped from beside him. They weren't walking in formation like they were doing before. Nate thought that it was a bit premature to let their guards down, but everybody was too hyped up about the win that he didn't want to put a damper on things. He would just stay alert for everybody else.

"Do I?" Nate unconsciously massaged his cheeks. He had a bitchy resting face so an intimidating grimace was his default expression. He wasn't paying any particular attention to his face at the moment so he was a bit shocked.

"Mm." Miyu nodded while grinning. "I just kind of felt it. Your face is usually scary."

"I get that a lot." Nate smiled wryly. "My face was really useful in my job."

"Oh, what did you do?" Miyu inquired curiously.

"Ah..." Nate hesitated for a moment before saying, "I sold medicine."

"Oh..." Miyu tilted her head. The way Nate said it was a bit strange, but she smiled nonetheless. "I see, so you were a pharmacist."

"..." Nate stayed silent and didn't correct her misunderstanding. He quickly looked for a change of subject before she had any weird thoughts. "By the way, that short girl was really good. She shot the goblin archers even though she couldn't see through the fog."

"Oh... yes, her name is Ayumi. I mentioned that I had a friend who was in the archery club and won competitions, right? I was talking about her." Miyu quickly latched onto the new subject. She was proud of that best friend of hers, so she liked bragging about her. Although, Miyu also hoped that she would take the man-hunting down a notch...

"That's amazing..." Nate said with a hint of admiration. When he still attended school, all he did was play around with his friends. Throwing oneself into a sport sounded amazing to him.

'Maybe if I'd continued going, I might've gotten into a sport too...?' Nate thought wistfully, but he shook his head and smiled wryly. It wouldn't matter. He didn't think his youth was wasted by working early. Even if he went back in time right this instant, he would still do the same things. 'Well, maybe not the same things... I'll avoid all the events that almost got me killed...'

"..." Miyu felt a little complicated watching Nate. She felt like it wasn't too good to let him get close to Ayumi. Miyu decided to change the topic. "Actually, I studied Ken-- I mean, swordsmanship too... Although I didn't enter any competitions..."

"Oh, you did?" Nate's eyes brightened. Winning archery competitions was cool and all, but Nate liked swords a lot more. He was immediately interested. "Like... Kendo?"

"Oh, you know about that...?" Miyu was a little surprised that Nate was familiar with that, but then she realized that Kendo was famous so it wouldn't be too strange for a foreigner to know about it. She shook her head and said, "No, I studied Kenjutsu. It's a little different."

"That's so cool." Nate gushed. "Have you ever held a real sword before coming here?"

"Yes. It was my brother's. We mainly used wooden swords when training though." Miyu explained.

"Woah..." Nate's mouth gaped open. At this point, anything Miyu said about swordsmanship would be amazing to him. He sheepishly asked, "Can you maybe teach me some things...?"

"Huh?" Miyu tilted her head in confusion. "Teach you?"

"Yeah. I've just been swinging it downwards, y'know? I don't have any swordsmanship training so I've just been using it like a baseball bat." Nate scratched his cheek awkwardly. He had asked just for the sake of asking. Teaching someone would obviously be very hard, so it wouldn't be strange if he was refused outright. "How about it? It's fine if you refuse, by the way."

"Hmm..." Miyu put a finger to her chin as she ruminated. 'Teaching him huh... we'll have to spend a lot of time together then... that's a good thing. Wait, no. Why is that good? Get a hold of yourself!'

Miyu shook her head to clear her thoughts, but when Nate saw that he nodded understandingly. "Figures. It's fine, I know how much of a pain it is to teach an amateur."

"Eh? Ah, no. I'm okay with it..." Miyu said. Her ears were a little red, but thankfully they weren't too noticeable.

"Really?" Nate's eyes widened in surprise.

"Mm." Miyu nodded meekly. "If you're fine with me..."

"Of course I'm fine! This is great, thanks!" Nate beamed happily. He playfully nudged Miyu with his elbow and jokingly said, "Should I start calling you Sensei? or maybe, Shishou?"

"You don't have to!" Miyu retorted, elbowing him right back.

'This is great. Things are going fucking great.' Nate thought happily. The valley thing went well, it was looking like they could get to the Altar without many problems, and now he got himself a swordsmanship teacher. Albeit, they wouldn't have much time to train, it was still better than not having a teacher. Things were really looking up.

Nate led the way out of the foggy valley in very good spirits.

*****

"Cheers!" Nate said loudly while raising a bottle of water.

""CHEERS!!"" The voices of the Expedition Group (A name that they had just decided to call themselves) reverberated loudly across the village and threatened to reach up to the night sky.

After Nate and the others returned, they were welcomed by the fanfare of those that remained.

Although they had left at some time in the afternoon, the scene that met Nate and the others was a village shrouded in darkness, illuminated only by glowing orbs of light here and there. Nate had been shocked by this at first, but everybody else seemed to treat it as normal, so he chose to ignore it. It wouldn't be the strangest thing that happened to him in the past week.

Right after they arrived, some of the people who had managed to kill a goblin or two rushed up to the stone slab excitedly only to discover that they had gotten a lot of points. At least, more than they ever expected to obtain. Even the members who didn't kill anything got quite a lot of points as well.

They had profited from the trip greatly.

As such, someone suggested to celebrate while having dinner together and quickly got the majority's agreement, hence the current situation. A few good-natured people even shared food with the others that were left behind, so even those who didn't come with them and earned a ton were now joining in the fun. Some people even appeared to have gotten drunk just from the mood and were retelling the battle that occurred in the valley, albeit with some embellishments here and there (some guy was telling his friends that there were a hundred goblins, and they were two meters tall.).

'Haaah. Even though I don't need to eat, I can't refuse the celebration. Otherwise, I'll seem like a killjoy... Smile smile smile...' Nate thought, as he focused on maintaining an amiable smile. He was used to this. In his years as a drug dealer, he'd learned how to be amiable. After all, if you had to buy drugs anyway, wouldn't you buy it from that nice guy instead of that asshole who never talked? Some people preferred a dealer that was somber and whatnot, but most people definitely liked the chatty and good-natured dealer more. He had plenty of regulars because he knew which role to play.

He sipped his water quietly as he basked in the merrymaking and the frequent looks he got from the people around him. Since he was the leader of the expedition, this level of attention was expected. The success of the first expedition and Nate's willingness to charge into the fog alone had won him the hearts of most of the members, and the respect of the people who stayed behind. Nobody could challenge his authority now.

"Look at 'em getting so excited even though all we're eating is bread and water..." Ayumi shook her head in exasperation as she nibbled on her bread roll.

"Don't be like that. I'm sure everybody was anxious going into the valley. Let them blow off some steam." Miyu chided from beside Nate.

There was also another reason why some people were giving him looks. It was because he currently had two beauties close to him.

'If looks could kill...' Nate mused. He ignored the looks for now since nobody was going to do anything anyways. He looked around for someone, then quickly found who he was looking for. The man and Nate's eyes met by coincidence, and Nate signaled him with his chin then stood up afterward. The man also stood up right after.

"Hm? Where are you going?" Miyu asked curiously.

"Piss." Nate tersely said, then walked off. The blushing Miyu stared after him.

"Too bad, huh?" Ayumi said teasingly as she nudged Miyu lightly.

"Oh, stop that." Miyu lightly shoved Ayumi, but she was clearly pouting a little.

'God, she's so cute. I almost don't want to give her away to Nate.' Ayumi squealed inwardly, she latched onto Miyu and tightly hugged her.

*****

"So, what's up?" Ming asked nonchalantly.

"I need you to do something for me..." Nate sheepishly said.

"Hm..." Ming examined Nate's face for a moment, then grinned as he said. "Sounds like trouble."

"Not really." Nate shrugged. "You stand to gain something from this too."

"Oh?" Ming's eyes widened a little in amusement. His smile grew wider as he asked. "Do tell."

"The group's probably going to get bigger soon, and I don't think I can manage that many people." Nate began.

"True." Ming nodded knowingly. With the knowledge that the valley wasn't an absolute death trap, and the fact that you could gain a lot of points from goblins, many others would seek to join them. "And you want me to help you manage them?"

"Exactly." Nate nodded. "It helps that you catch on fast."

"Hm." Ming nodded then took a step closer, practically being just a ruler's length away from Nate. He made a gesture with his hand and then spoke with a smirk on his lips. "What's in it for me?"

"Authority." Nate said casually.

"Hm? What about it?" Ming's asked nonchalantly.

"You want it right? I'm saying you can have it." Nate said casually. "If you don't want the number two spot, then I'll just have to ask someone else..."

Nate turned around and started to walk off, but his shoulder was grabbed by Ming.

"Don't be like that." Ming smiled wryly.

"You in?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'll help you manage the team..." Ming sighed, but then his expression changed. His sharp eyes bored into Nate's. "You seemed quite sure that I'd accept. Why is that?"

"..." Nate thought about it for a bit, then answered matter-of-factly. "I frequently work with people with a similar feel to you. So I just kind of knew."

"Similar feel...?" Ming asked in confusion.

"The type of people who can't stand not being the at the top." Nate said.

"And I'm one of them?"

"Yes."

"How can you tell?"

"..." Nate thought about it again, then spoke slowly. "I just know."

"What the hell...?" Ming chuckled in amusement. Then he looked at Nate seriously. "Well, you're right. If you know that, then you know that I don't like you, right?"

"I know." Nate shrugged again. "Relax, though. I just want to finish this damn trial or whatever. I don't give a crap about anything other than that. If you want to throw your weight around in the village, be my guest. As long as you don't prove detrimental to the expedition, I'll let you do whatever you want."

"Hmm.. well, what makes you think that you can stop me, even if I did disobey." Ming asked probingly, with a hint of provocation. He even extended his hand and pushed Nate lightly with his forefinger.

"..." Nate's blue eyes stared into Ming's dark eyes. After a moment, Nate took a step toward Ming and then grabbed his collar. He tugged it downwards with tremendous force and his knee dug into Ming's solar plexus.

"Guh!" Ming gasped out all the air in his lungs. Nate had let go of his collar, so Ming fell to the ground, writhing in pain. He glared upwards and met Nate coldly staring down at him. "Wh-what the fuck was that for...?"

"Just a warning. I'm not playing games, Ming." Nate said frostily. "I seriously don't give a rat's ass about what you do, as long as it doesn't affect me. Don't try me, man."

"God fucking... Did you have to be so violent though...?" Ming said as he staggered back up.

"I had a very violent job, Ming," Nate said matter-of-factly. "Violence is my go-to solution to most things."

"..." One look at Nate told Ming that the man was serious. The man had just come forward without hesitation or a change in expression and kneed him in the stomach. Hard. Ming wasn't used to getting threatened this... directly. Plenty of people had sent him death threats in his career as an actor, but nobody had ever come up to him and just hit him like that.

"Are we clear, Ming?" Nate asked.

"..." Ming looked wearily at Nate, then sighed in surrender. "Fine... but no more hitting."

"Heh." Nate chuckled. "As long as you don't get in my way."

"Geez. Why the hell are you so hell-bent on reaching the Altar anyways... you were like this from day-- or rather hour one." Ming shook his head in exasperation as he massaged the place where Nate's knee became acquaintances with his torso. "So...? What now?"

"First things first, I can't make you the second-in-command if you don't have any accomplishments. You didn't suck in today's fight, but you didn't particularly do well either." Nate casually said.

"Son of a... I mean, I know I didn't do amazingly, but you make it sound like I wimped out..." Ming said, feeling a little wronged.

Nate ignored him as he instructed. "Gather up a bunch of people, and make some portable walls."

"Portable walls...?" Ming asked in confusion. "The hell is that?"

"The goblins had archers, right?"

"Yeah, they were scary. Good thing they all aimed at you." Ming said, with a hint of schadenfreude.

"If you dismantle some of the houses, we'll be able to get some wooden boards. Just tie some rope around it to make it easier to carry, and we can use it to block the goblin's arrows next time." Nate explained. Had he known that there would be goblin archers, or rather, archers of any kind, he would've done this before the first expedition. Sadly, he knew nothing at the time. "Make it large and wide but light enough to be carried by two or three people. It doesn't need to be too thick, the goblin's arrows are made of stone and they suck. Even if they do pierce through the wood, the arrows wouldn't have enough strength left over to penetrate too much flesh."

"Woah..." Ming marveled at the idea. Having those would certainly make the engagement easier. "How'd you come up with this...?"

'I saw it in a web novel.' Nate thought dryly. This tactic wasn't really useful if the enemy had iron arrowheads and good bows, but it would be enough to deal with the goblin archers.

"This is your idea now. Use it to build some clout." Nate said. "Have those whose weapons are knives carry the boards. They get points just for participating in battle, so it's not a bad deal for them. Figure out the specifics by yourself. We leave in the afternoon, so get it done in the morning. Bye." Nate said as he left.

"Right, see you tomorrow." Ming smiled happily as he left as well.

*****

"I'm back from my piss." Nate said nonchalantly as he sat back down on his spot next to Miyu.

"Stop saying piss..." Miyu chided with a blank expression.

"You stop saying it too." Nate smirked. He shoved an entire piece of bread into his mouth as he ruminated on the conversation he had with Ming. 'That went well. Now, Ming can help take the blame if we fail.'

Although things were looking up for the Expedition Team, Nate was aware that he wasn't a very lucky person. The fact that he was part of the rare few people with superpowers aside, his father died when he was young and his mother had Alzheimer's, forcing him to start working when he was only fifteen. To top it all off, a steel beam suddenly decided to fall on him just when he let his guard down. Nate wasn't delusional enough to think that everything would go well.

That was why he had found someone convenient to help him split the responsibility and the blame. He felt like Ming was the perfect person.

He didn't really know why, but he was sure Ming was similar to a few people he knew. A few dead people he knew. Ming was the calculating sort, the type who would quietly build up connections and power. Then one day, when he felt like he'd gathered enough, he would just start throwing his way around and fucking everybody else's wives in front of them.

'He's a slimy bastard, that one.' Nate mused. He helped the bread go down his throat by gulping down some water, then he picked up one of the berries that Miyu was holding out to him and popped it into his mouth. 'Still, guys like him are useful since they're really capable. Although, I'll have to watch my back from now on. Maybe I shou-- wait holy shit, this berry's actually so good...'

Nate threw a few more berries into his mouth and thanked Miyu as he made plans in his head.