"I hope that they could handle it on their own," Souta muttered before he closed the window and lied down on the bed.
'Do you even trust them? They are your party members, right? It's just a simple material-gathering quest so they will complete it in no time.' Saya's voice sounded in his head.
Simple material-gathering quest? If this was really a simple material-gathering quest, Souta wouldn't be this concern for them. The rewards for this quest were 3 skill points and it could threaten them based on their power level.
Well, it's not that Souta didn't trust them. Bryan was strong, Brando was tough, and Lumilia was smart. They could probably handle this level of difficulty on their own. It's just that he didn't know what's inside in the sewer that increased the difficulty of this quest.
"It's a test for them. If they couldn't handle this level of difficulty then they are not worth it, no matter how high their potential." Souta said to Saya.
'Ufufu, what a good leader you are...' Saya laughed.
...
"Let's go to the Adventurers Guild first," Lumilia said to Bryan and Brando.
"What are we going to do there? I want to do finish the quest as soon as possible." Bryan said with a sighed. He thought that they would go to the sewer and finish the quest but it seems that Lumilia had different plans for them.
"We lack information right now so we're going to gather it first," Lumilia answered Bryan's question.
"Lumilia is right Bryan. We didn't even know how to get in the sewers in this dukedom. Information is valuable to every quest." Brando nodded at Lumilia's words.
"Okay." Bryan nodded with a tired expression.
The three went to the Adventurers Guild. Lumilia asked the receptionist about the quest and the receptionist explained to her the entrance to the sewer in this place. After she finished gathering information about the quest, Lumilia decided that it was time for them to head into the sewer.
"Based on the information that the receptionist told me. There are ten entrances towards the sewer and we just need to enter the nearest one in our location." Lumilia explained to Bryan and Brando.
They didn't know the exact location of the materials and all they know was that it was in the sewer. Even the receptionist didn't know the exact location of the materials so Lumilia had no choice but to roam around the sewers until they find the materials.
She also asked the receptionist if there were dangers in the sewer. The receptionist told her that the danger of the sewer wasn't that high. The monsters that inhabited the sewer were just the toxic rats and grim toxic rats.
The Toxic Rats weren't that powerful as they were just a non-evolve monster. It means that they were just a lower life form of a monster. The weakest form as it didn't even undergo an evolution. And Grim Toxic Rats was the evolved form of the Toxic Rats.
Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando were strong enough to handle a dozen of these monsters on their own. The first evolution monster was too weak for them. It wasn't even a problem for them.
"Okay, I wanted to fight those monsters right now. I hope they will entertain me." Bryan said with an eager look on his face.
"I'll leave all the monsters to you Bryan." Lumilia looked at Bryan and said.
"Leave it to me!" Bryan said as he patted his chest.
Lumilia then looked at Brando and showed him the ill.u.s.tration of the materials that they needed to complete the quest.
"Memorize the appearance of the herb. The two of us will focus on finding these herbs." Lumilia said to Brando.
"I understand. We can't count on Bryan for something like this." Brando said as he looked at the illustration of the herbs that Lumilia was holding.
"Yeah. Fighting is the only thing that we can leave to Bryan." Lumilia nodded at his words.
"And he's a genius at that to the point that he could defeat the two of us together," Brando said with a wry smile.
"Hehe~ you two are flattering me." Bryan laughed while scratching the back of his head.
Brando looked at Bryan and sighed. He knew the reason why Bryan have a lot of failed quest in his record in the Adventurers Guild.
"Let's stop talking and head towards the sewer," Lumilia said to the two.
Bryan and Brando nodded at her. Souta said to them that they needed to follow her instruction and Lumilia will be their leader in this quest.
...
After walking for a few minutes, Lumilia and the rest arrived in front of the entrance of the sewer.
The entrance was just a small hole that could fit one person. The inside of the sewer was pure black as it didn't have any light inside.
"Lit up the torches," Lumilia said to Brando.
Brando nodded and he followed her instruction. He lit up two torches. One for him and one for Lumilia. Bryan didn't need this one as he was the one who's going to fight the monsters.
"Here." Brando then give the other torch in his hand to Lumilia before he jumped down on the hole.
"Here I come." Bryan also jumped down without hesitation.
Lumilia sighed as she looked at the torch in her hand. She felt something was wrong in this quest but she couldn't figure out the reason why.
In the end, without any other choice, she jumped down on the same hole.
...
The three of them were inside the sewer. Darkness covered the entire area and they could barely discern their surroundings even though they have torches.
The sewer was wider than they expected. Rotten stench suddenly hit their nose as soon as they got those.
"What's that smell?" Bryan complained as he pinched his nose.
Lumilia took out of towels in her small bag and she slightly poured some water on it.
"Here, use this to cover your nose," Lumilia said as she gave Brando and Bryan the towels.
"As expected of class rep. You're reliable." Bryan smiled as he took the towel in her hand and used it to cover his nose.
"Stop talking. Focus on your surrounding." Lumilia said as she placed the torch near the walls. She found that the walls were covered in thick moss. It seems that no one cleaned this place for a long time.
"Why they aren't cleaning this place? They shouldn't let it be covered in moss." Brando commented as he placed his hand on the moss and felt it. He discovered that this was just an ordinary moss. Nothing's wrong with it.
"According to Sir Jared, the current Duke is a humble and kind man. He is also a great leader of this dukedom. But it seems the duke couldn't focus on any other things such as this as his entire attention is on the murders that are happening in the dukedom." Lumilia said her thought on this matter. She moved her head and looked at the path in front of her.
She took a deep breath and said, "Let's go now."
Brando and Bryan nodded at her. Bryan was walking in the front while Brando was in the back of the group. Lumilia and Brando were carefully looking at their surroundings. They don't want to miss the materials that they needed.
After walking for a few dozen steps, Bryan, Lumilia, and Brando stopped moving. They heard a loud screeching sounds. It was very loud and it echoed in the whole place. It sounds like the rats were wailing and dying.
Brando gripped his shield. He then moved his feet and stepped on a sticky substance.
"What's this?" Brando squatted down and he moved the torch in his other hand. He saw a red substance on the ground.
"Blood?" He placed down his shield and touched the red substance. He was wearing a glove so he didn't have a problem if this was a poison.
With a closer look, Brando confirmed that this was really a blood.
"What is it, Brando?" Lumilia asked Brando when she saw him found something.
"Blood..." Brando replied to her with a serious expression.
"Don't tell me... they are killings each other. That's why they managed to survive in this place that lacks food." Lumilia said in a low voice. She then turned her head and looked in the direction where she heard the loud screeching sound.
"Did you hear it? The sound is getting louder." Bryan said as he looked at Lumilia and Brando.
"Now that you mention it..." Lumilia and Brando looked at each other after they heard Bryan's words. Then, the two of them turned their heads.
The grounds started to shake and the stench of blood flooded the entire area. The screeching sounds grew louder and louder to the point that it could hurt their ears.
"Bryan!" Lumilia shouted at Bryan.
"I know. Leave it to me class rep." Bryan smirked as he started to emit a very powerful aura. Flames emerged and it coated both of his hands. He then lifted up both of his hands and aimed it in front of him. "This darkness is in the way. I will light up the area first so please bear it for a while."