"It's alright, we made it back safely, didn't we!"
"If we weren't hungry, we'd probably still be down there."
Hayasaka Ai waved her hand, her face full of indifference, trying to get Eina to drop the thought.
But it was clearly a wasted effort. Eina's personality would never let her gloss over such a dangerous and important matter. What if rookie adventurers just like them, but without a strong teammate like Tsuyuri Kanao, had encountered this? They probably would have been wiped out.
"On behalf of the Adventurer's Guild, I apologize! I will report this matter immediately, and at the latest, your compensation will be delivered by tomorrow."
Eina apologized once again.
"Alright, alright, Miss Eina, please get up."
"There are so many people here, I feel like we're becoming a spectacle!"
Hayasaka Ai was still not used to being stared at. It always felt as if her secrets were being exposed for all to see.
"Miss Eina, I'm going to exchange the magic stones and materials for money first. We can't get clean or eat lunch without money."
Hayasaka Ai once again held the bag of magic stones in front of Eina as she spoke.
"Go ahead. This is the least busy time. Most adventurers don't come back until around 5 PM."
Under Eina's guidance, Hayasaka Ai went to the Guild's exchange counter and poured the magic stones and materials from the bag into a box. It was then passed through a bank-teller-like window to the staff inside. They quickly calculated the price.
"Hello! That will be 11,000 Valis. Please take it."
"Thank you."
Hayasaka Ai accepted the money from the counter. Although she didn't know the cost of living in this world, judging from the elf, Miss Eina, beside her... This was probably a lot of money for a new adventurer.
"That's amazing! Even established parties of Lv.1 adventurers rarely earn this much Valis."
Eina said with admiration, looking at the large, full bag of Valis in Hayasaka Ai's hand. In all her years, the most impressive rookie adventurers she had ever met was this trio. As for Ais... she had started adventuring in the dungeon before she was even ten, so Eina had never been her advisor when she was a rookie, let alone afterward.
"Is that so?"
"Miss Eina, could you recommend a place where we can bathe and eat? We just arrived here yesterday, so we aren't familiar with the area and don't know the way."
"And who knows where that god of ours ran off to."
Hayasaka Ai put on a troubled expression, asking Eina for help.
"Alright."
Eina couldn't bring herself to refuse a request for help from rookie adventurers. Besides, she also had no idea where that god named Lin Feng was.
"Hmm... so it's here. Thank you, Miss Eina. We'll repay you for this."
Hayasaka Ai folded the simple map that had been spread on the table, offering a sweet smile of thanks.
"No, no, it's fine. This is just part of our job."
Eina quickly waved her hands in refusal. It was just pointing the way; how was that worthy of repayment? Hayasaka Ai, however, pretended not to notice. Building relationships was common sense. If she established a good rapport, she could definitely get a lot of good information in the future. Her little plan was about more than just gratitude...
"Let's go. First, a bath! After a whole morning of exercise, I feel all sticky."
Hayasaka Ai beckoned with her hand, and the three of them—with Tsuyuri Kanao and Katou Megumi—left the Adventurer's Guild.
"Eina, what's wrong? Is there something different about that party?"
A colleague at her side asked with curiosity. She didn't know these three were new as of yesterday; she had assumed they were veteran Lv.1s.
"It feels... a little unbelievable..."
Eina stared blankly at the retreating figures of the three girls. She didn't seem to hear her colleague's question, muttering words that made no sense.
"Eina?"
"Oh... Misha. It's nothing."
Eina finally snapped out of it when she heard the voice of her colleague and friend beside her. But she glossed over the matter of the rookie trio, not saying any more. After all, the Adventurer's Guild was a place full of gossip. It was better to say less about such things.
"Hmph! Eina, you meanie! What's there to hide!"
Misha, seeing that her friend Eina was keeping secrets from her, pouted and huffily carried her documents over to the counter to work. A couple of minutes later, Eina also returned to her work. Although there were fewer adventurers at this time, Orario was a huge city, so there were still quite a few people around.
..... The trio, following Eina's directions, walked toward the bathhouse. Along the way, their strange outfits, combined with the faint traces of blood on their clothes and faces, made people guess that these three exceptionally cute girls were members of some Familia. But none of the major Familias had recruited new members recently. Could it be they were from some unknown small Familia?
"Hehe, I wonder what the bathhouse here is like. I hope they have a hot spring."
"I want to soak in a hot spring too. It would relieve the fatigue."
Hearing Hayasaka Ai's random mention of a hot spring, Katou Megumi chimed in. How could there possibly be a hot spring? Even if there was, they wouldn't let you jump in while covered in filth. After all, a hot spring isn't a private bath.