"I'm so sorry, young miss. We shouldn't have gone with that awful plan, to begin with."

Ti apologized bowing her head deeply in what seemed like genuine remorse.

"Ah, no, there's no need to apolo... "

...or it would seem like it, if not for the fact that the copper-eyed bodyguard was using the chance to curiously peek at the black-haired elf talking with her friends in the corner.

And Ti did that in such an obvious way that Mika caught her immediately.

"What are you doing...?"

The ashen-haired girl leaned in and whispered confused to the copper-eyed woman.

"...! Nothing much, just... checking on those guys..."

Ti feigned ignorance but in such a way that it could be misunderstood as her keeping an eye on the four new people.

"Oh, that's right. Young miss. You weren't here when we all introduced ourselves. Those are the Dandelions."

Ti cleared her throat and pointed at the four adventurers.

"Oh? Wait! We are looking for them before we got involved in this mess, how come they got here together with you all?"

Mika took a step back and hid behind Ti, looking at the four adventurers with suspicion.

"They..."

"We were on our way back from one of the villages, we planned to get some fish for cheap from the fishermen's village, but as we got close, three people appeared out of nowhere the next thing we knew, we were here."

Ti wanted to explain but the rat-faced man was faster.

"Those three were our people. Fishermen 1, 2, and 3. With their teleportation skill and the skill combination affinity they are able to pull off mass teleportation."

Medic 7 finally stepped into the room and explained.

"The more people they transport, the more exhausting it is..."

She added glaring at the Dandelions.

"If it's so troublesome then maybe they should be more careful and not start the teleportation before they check the premises...!"

The rat-faced man scoffed back at the bespectacled woman and proudly raised his head.

"Don't try to blame others for the shortcomings of your own people, recruit 11-EKHEM! Medic 7 or however you are called."

He added.

"...!"

That remark made medic 7 scowl and breath out so hard that her glasses fogged up.

"...thrash who don't have even one stat in four digits amongst their whole group shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinion..."

Medic seven took off her glasses and sent the rat-faced man a murderous glare.

"If you don't like us so much then send us back."

The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulders and responded with a glare on his own.

"Oh, wait, your fishermen, or however you call them, all collapsed as soon as we all got here! Because of their own incompetence!"

The rat-faced man scoffed and shook his head.

"Fucking pathetic."

The black-haired elf muttered under her breath and shook her head.

"You...!"

Medic 7 gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

"...!"

Mika, as well as all the others from her group, were staring at the Dandelions in shock.

The ashen-haired girl couldn't believe her ears.

What were those adventurers saying?!

She could understand their behavior if they had stats backing up their confidence, but medic 7 had said that none of them had stats in the thousands. What could they do against the overwhelming soldiers of the Sloth territory...?!

Those people were either mad or simply stupid...

"What? Do you want us to fail the special quest we received?"

Shanks puffed out his chest and nodded up at medic 7.

"...tsk...! Just don't get in our way!"

The woman clicked her tongue, put her glasses back on, and turned away without actually picking a fight that she should win without breaking a sweat...!

"...eh...?"

Mika gasped wide-eyed.

It looked that the adventurers weren't either mad or stupid...

"Young lady, don't be surprised, the four of us simply received a special quest right when we arrived here."

The large woman in plate armor saw the ashen-haired girl got taken aback and explained.

"But what does a quest has to do with...?"

Mika looked between the Dandelions and the bespectacled woman in confusion.

"Miss. The special quests are the types you cannot just ignore. They have clear conditions of completion and failure - and if you do fail them, there will be a penalty."

Ti leaned to Mika and whispered into her ear.

"That's still not a good enough reason to..."

The girl shook her head and stepped away from the copper-eyed woman.

"Young lady. The special quest we got is for finding and securing the missing food provisions for the Sloth territory. Fail condition is for us four to leave the territory or to be held captive by anyone from the intelligent races. And the penalty is..."

The rat-faced man faced the ashen-haired girl and explained, and as he took a breath, he sent a mocking glance at the angered medic 7.

"For all the rations to never be found again. And that's something that the Sloth soldiers cannot allow. You can't really protect the whole kingdom from titan-class monsters with no food reserves, can you?"

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"As if weaklings like you can survive in the sea of mist."

Medic seven snorted and looked away with a sour face.

"Fine then. Go ahead and waste more rations looking for the missing ones without our help. Good luck."

The rat-faced man shrugged his shoulders and turned away.

That was enough - not for medic 7 but for Mika.

"You...! You all...! That's terrible! Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?! How can you four act like that?! Why are you acting so awful to the people who are literally risking their lives to protect everyone from the strongest monsters?! Do you have no conscience?!"

Mika might have only met three Sloth soldiers in person, and it was all within the past two hours, but that didn't change the fact that almost every child in the Fruit Salad knew the stories of the Sloth army protecting the kingdom from unimaginably powerful monsters.

In Mika's mind, everyone should be grateful for Sloth soldiers fulfilling duty and be happy to support them whenever a chance presents itself.

But those adventurers acted as if they were above that!

As someone with a role of Justice's Wrath, how could she stand for such injustice?

"..."

The Dandelions looked at each other with serious expressions.

The large woman shook her head.

The warrior looked to the side with an indifferent expression.

The black-haired elf crossed her arms and stubbornly glared at the agitated ashen-haired girl.

And as for the rat-faced man...

"Young lady, if that is what you think, then here."

He put his wrists, together and walked towards the angry girl.

"Take us into custody and force us to fulfill this quest against our will."

He said without even batting an eye.

"...!"

For a moment Mika wanted to take a step back.

But then again, why wouldn't she make those stubborn adventurers do the right thing?!

She was Justice's Wrath!

Wasn't her role enough of a proof that she was in the right?

"Hmph!"

Mika stepped forward and reached for the rat-faced man's hands to indeed capture him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"E-eh...?!"

"Don't you dare touch our young miss!"

But as soon as she make her move, medic 7, pale as a ghost, jumped to the ashen-haired girl and pulled her away from the adventurer, causing the copper-eyed bodyguard to roar in fury.

"What we're you thinking?! Didn't you heard what the penalty for them failing the special quest will be?!"

Medic 7 shouted at the startled ashen-haired girl.

"And didn't you hear me saying to not touch our young miss?!"

Ti stepped between the girl and the bespectacled woman and her body started glowing with all kinds of skills.

"How can you be sure about the penalty in the first place? Maybe those people just made that up on the spot!"

The copper-eyed woman clenched her fists and growled at the bespectacled woman.

"I know that they are saying the truth because of my hidden affinity, appraisal+. When I apprise others I can see their active quest. The same goes for your active quest, so stop making a fuss, bodyguard."

Medic 7 put a lot of emphasis on the last word, straightened her back, and stared down at Ti - she was towering over the female bodyguard by at least two whole feet.

After hearing that, Ti flinched and deactivated her skills.

"I'm glad that you understand. Now, you two, go sit with the rest of your friends and wait for the unique tamer to return."

Medic 7 breathed out and shooed Mika and Ti towards the table where the rest of their group waited in awkward silence since they missed their chance to step in.

"...miss, let's go."

Ti clenched her teeth, grabbed Mika's arm, and started pulling her towards their friends.

"Ugh... I hope they hurry up with those tests and we'll be able to send at least the unnecessary ones away..."

The bespectacled woman turned away and sighed to herself.

"...!"

Whether she intended it to be heard or not, Ti picked up her voice and stopped right in front of the table before she could take a seat.

She frowned angrily and gritted her teeth.

"Screw this. To he'll with caution. I don't care anymore...!"

Ti breathed out.

"Ah!"

"So you'll agree?!"

Corvus and Cri heard her and both exclaimed excitedly.

"Umm... what are you...?"

Mika pouted and asked, upset that Corvus had basically ignored her..

"System, yes."

Instead of answering Mika's doubt, Ti simply gave a system command.

And then Mika realized what her friends meant...

/The last essential character picked their choice

/Calculating...

/All the necessary essential characters agreed for - Final frontier - to begin

System messages started popping in front of Mika's eyes one after another.

/Adjusting the story...