Chapter 149
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Sandwind Hill (3)
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Jun, who had been moving quietly, tilted his head at the sight of Maya tugging on his sleeve.
Maya's expression seemed a bit tense, so Jun asked,
"What's up?"
"Leader. There's somethin' around here."
"Somethin'?"
"Dunno exactly. The old folks won't tell me why."
"Ah?"
At Maya's words, Jun felt his guard go up instantly.
Whenever Maya's ancestors tried to move her like this, it usually meant invaders... in other words, something connected to the Skyheaven Church was nearby.
'I thought it was too easy.'
Bracing himself for whatever ordeal might come next, Jun asked cautiously again.
"Which direction?"
"That way."
Fortunately, the direction Maya pointed wasn't far off from their destination.
"Better to check it out ourselves than ignore the itch on the back of our necks."
At Jun's decision—he hated variables—the group shifted their steps.
And what they found there was...
...a person buried in the sand.
"What is it? An adventurer?"
This was a field where spotting people was incredibly rare, so Jun was genuinely surprised.
To encounter someone missing like this in the vast 5th layer field.
Still, Jun didn't let his guard down and asked Maya,
"That person... real?"
"Real. The old folks said it's dangerous, too."
"So not a direct threat from that person, but connected to something."
They couldn't just ignore a living person, so Jun cast a spell to pull the buried figure out.
And then.
"Puhah...!!"
As the sand cleared, the man gasped roughly, exhaling the breath he'd been holding.
"Ugh... uugh..."
"He wants water? Eleanor. Can you take a look at him?"
"Man, he's lucky. Getting found by us."
Eleanor, who had been watching, naturally scanned the man's entire body.
"Hey. What's your name?"
"Men... thrus..."
"He seems coherent enough to give his name. Captain, got a damp cloth? And Aiden. Get the splints."
"Got it!"
Eleanor quickly assessed the man's condition and prepared treatment.
About half a day later, the man came to.
"Truly... truly thankful..."
The man, Menthrus, shed tears of joy at having survived.
Thanks to the high priestess's dedicated care and Jun's recovery potions, Menthrus was up and about in less than a day.
"Wh-White Whale Mercenary Corps? No, now it's a company?"
Menthrus couldn't hide his astonishment.
The White Whale Mercenary Corps, the very ones he'd thought of in his near-death moment, had saved him!
'This must be Hermes's grace!'
If he survived this mission, he'd donate generously, he vowed. Menthrus lightly introduced himself.
"Pleased to meet you. And thank you for such devoted care. I'll repay this debt. I'm Menthrus, captain of the Menthrus Adventure Team under the Altas Adventure Corps."
"Altas Adventure Corps? The ones who found traces of the God of Death in the 5th layer?"
"Spot on. Ron Kyler's commission brought me here to find something... but last night, things went wrong."
Though Menthrus had nearly died pathetically, such incidents weren't uncommon in the upper layers.
No matter how familiar you were with the field, predicting every monster interaction was incredibly hard.
"Dust Sand Rabbits can move like that, huh..."
Aiden, listening nearby, was fully immersed in Menthrus's tale.
Who knew when such danger might strike them?
...Or maybe not?
Thinking back, they'd been caught in unexpected accidents with Jun, but never unprepared for field-specific threats.
"Anyway, thanks again."
"Hm..."
But Jun, who had listened throughout, grew serious.
'Second time now.'
Maya seemed disinterested in Menthrus now, but this was the second time she'd acted on her own like this recently.
The first was during the banquet in the Intrass Mountains, meeting Altas Adventure Corps' Ron Kyler.
And the second was today.
Both times connected to the Altas Adventure Corps...
'So the Altas Adventure Corps is linked to invaders or the Skyheaven Church.'
Not a direct deal between groups, but probably tied to what they were doing.
Jun didn't know every game story, so nothing came to mind immediately...
Just in case, he asked,
"Heard you found Deidas's grand temple. All wrapped up?"
Menthrus nodded lightly at Jun's question.
It wasn't a secret anyway; it had spread in the industry.
"Deidas's grand temple is mostly resolved. But they found clues to a new area and headed to the 6th layer."
That's when they needed an item, commissioning the Menthrus team.
"By any chance, the 'World Tree Sapling'?"
"...?!"
Menthrus spat out his water in shock.
"H-How did you know?"
"Truth is, we're here for the 'World Tree Leaf.' Same direction, rare encounter in this field..."
"Ahh... that explains it. Impressive. Didn't expect you to have that intel."
Menthrus shook his head at the White Whale Mercenary Corps' information network.
"So, what's your plan now?"
Back to reality at Jun's question, despair filled Menthrus's face.
"Sigh... Tough spot."
He couldn't even confirm if his teammates who'd come this far were alive.
Maybe swept away by the sandstorm like him, or infighting among the Isus Academy and Treasure Hunters without him.
Better to request a guild search than move rashly...
'Wait. The White Whale Mercenary Corps is right here.'
Sure, Menthrus was the senior in Blackout experience, but Blackout spoke with strength.
Unlike him wandering 5th layer for over 5 years, they'd reached it in just one.
Could he ask for their help?
'But will they accept...'
Problem was their goals overlapped.
White Whale wanted leaves, not the sapling, but...
'Who'd yield the sapling for just leaves?'
Even if they helped, no way they'd hand over the sapling.
"I know it's shameless, but..."
"Help getting the sapling? Sure, if it's a commission. Same path anyway."
"...?!"
Menthrus's eyes nearly bulged at the casual acceptance.
Of course, Jun wasn't the generous type to make such an offer.
'No real use for the World Tree Sapling...'
He had no way to keep it anyway.
Uproot it, and it died fast; maintaining it required top-tier artifacts.
Selling was possible, but acquiring those artifacts was hassle enough...
'Time to sell makes it not worth it.'
Plus, carrying it around was risky.
'Better to build ties with the 7th-layer Altas Adventure Corps.'
Judging that far, Jun glanced at Maya.
He didn't know details, but likely some connection between her and Altas.
'Never heard of Altas Adventure Corps in the game.'
Meaning, from the game's perspective, they'd met their end.
A famous 7th-layer corps vanishing without trace.
'Skyheaven Church suppressed info, or tied to rebellion.'
Deciding building deeper ties via this was smart, Jun proposed to Menthrus, feigning goodwill.
"Then... client? Shall we set the exact split here?"
Of course, he wouldn't yield on the payout ratio.
The 5th layer Sandwind Hill's terrain made progress inevitably slow.
In that time, Jun and the team fought repeatedly, shocking Menthrus on multiple levels.
Even regular members Aiden and Maya were frontliners he wasn't sure he could beat.
High priestess Eleanor went without saying, and captain Jun made him feel the world's unfairness.
'Field travel can be this comfy?'
A party with a mage was just different.
Camp setup that took others hours? Done solo in 10 minutes.
Above all, perfect ambush prevention in a stealthy monster field amazed him.
Sure, he had related artifacts, but...
Theirs recharged mana slowly, with narrower range than Jun's detection spells.
And against small monsters, a mage was unbeatable.
'But the mage we hired before wasn't like that.'
Mid-tier firepower, but not that mana-efficient, he recalled.
Usually mages stuck to one element at high circles...
'Differences between mages?'
Good mages were rare in 5th layer, so his knowledge was limited. He tilted his head.
Around week 3 in the field.
"C-Captain?!"
"You're alive?!"
His sandstorm-lost comrades, ragged as beggars, greeted him.
Menthrus teared up at their survival, but also felt a twinge of embarrassment.
Compared to the ever-clean White Whale Mercenary Corps via [Clean] magic.
Living as the Hero Party's Mage Chapter 150