End of the Mission

After listening to his response, Sarah simply nodded at his words and began contemplating to herself.

Alex, who was moving at the front of the group with Marwyn, turned his head around and gave a slight grin before joking, "Were you perhaps a fan of those heroic legends as a kid?"

Leo's face turned slightly red as he muttered, "I won't lie that I deeply admired them when I was little, but it was mainly just interest in the explorations and adventures described in their stories."

"Hehehe, it's alright. We won't judge you; I was also quite a huge fan of them myself." Alex casually waved his hand. "Maybe we could share some of our favorite stories together later."

After saying that, he resumed his attention back to the head of their group's direction.

Leo couldn't help but sheepishly rub the back of his neck at those words. He decided not to respond in order to prevent indulging his companions any further.

A minute later, the ground behind them shook and a loud rumbling noise was heard, causing everyone except Marwyn to turn their heads towards the source. The mysterious ruin that they had just escaped from had finally collapsed.

----------

When all of them finally returned to Victoria City, the sun was already setting. The darkening of the sky indicated that the time was currently in the evening.

Passing by some restaurants, the aroma of food that wafted out caused everybody's stomachs to start growling in pain. Marwyn's was especially the loudest, as even though he was currently mentally adrift, his body's biological functions could not resist the need for sustenance. However, the group did not stop to rest and eat as they still needed to make their way to the Adventurer's Guild and submit their quest.

As they headed to the guild, they attracted the attention of some of the bystanders on the streets who took notice of their strange cargo. Many of them smelled and witnessed the corpses that were piled on top of their floating plates. The sight horrified many while leaving others morbidly curious, and kept everyone at bay from the group of adventurers.

Once Leo and his friends walked through the front of the guild's doors, they swiftly headed towards the reception desk.

Because it was quite late, the guild hall was nearly devoid of other individuals, save for a few adventurers and guild staff still busying around.

The same reception lady who had previously interacted with Leo immediately spotted their group as soon as they entered. Her eyes slightly widened with shock and curiosity at the sight of the bodies they were carrying. Although her experience in the guild had allowed her to witness some gruesome scenes in the past, she had never quite seen so many corpses gathered up in one place so suddenly.

'What exactly happened?' she thought.

"You're back..." The reception lady squeezed out two words before remaining silent. A number of assumptions were going through her mind as she quickly tried to process the current situation.

"Ahem," Alex coughed before replying, "Excuse me, Linda. Can you get some staff members to take this guy to be treated?" He gestured towards Marwyn who maintained a dazed disposition. "We found this guy during our mission and it appears that he has suffered some severe psychological damage." After holding up Marwyn who was still restrained, Alex then suddenly indicated to the bodies floating behind their group. "Also, we want to preserve the bodies of the adventurers and goblins."

"Those are... goblins?" The reception lady, who was referred to as Linda, said hesitatingly. She held a bemused expression as she scrutinized the enormous body of the Goblin King and the weirdly dressed goblin mage behind them.

"Yes," Alex said in all seriousness, "We have a report that contains a lot of interesting information about the ruin."

Behind the reception desk, Linda's other colleagues also began listening in on their conversation. Each developed a bewildered expression upon seeing the dead Goblin King.

----------

Once Marwyn and all the corpses were taken away, Alex began explaining in detail about their trip to the underground ruin. From time to time, Leo and the others would also join in and add their own accounts to the story.

Their report took several minutes to complete. Most of it was hampered by the frequent questioning of the other staff members; Linda remained professionally quiet as she listened to their story, choosing to only interrupt whenever she needed clarification. After these workers heard the information about the Goblin King and his minions, as well as the strange glowing device that was found underground, many of them could not help but express some doubt and fear towards the group's encounter. The revelation of intelligent goblins was completely unheard of and terrifying.

"Give... give me some time to process this," Linda said as she pinched the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes. It was difficult to tell what she was thinking of. "You believe that your group actually encountered goblins with the capacity to learn and evolve past their own species' limitations? And not only have you all fought with them, but you've even managed to kill them and retrieved the bodies of all the adventurers in the ruin?"

"There potentially could have been others," Leo admitted before explaining, "Because the location had been collapsing, we didn't have enough time to explore the other areas. There may well have been other goblins or humans that were in the underground ruin and could not leave."

Linda breathed a sigh.

"Well, if that's all... I'll make sure to send this report to the Guild Master and let him handle things from here on." Considering the information she had just received, it was of vital importance that other people in this country should learn of this recent event. The sudden evolution of certain monsters in this world was a hidden danger that could very well shake the foundation of their nation's general knowledge! Although it was currently five hundred years since the Dawn of Magic, there were still new mysteries that continue to be discovered to this day.

After considering the scale of impact that this report would have, the reception lady suddenly looked at the treasures and magic items that still remained on a [Levitating Plate]. "I suppose next we should talk about distributing your reward."

The team's eyes brightened at the mention of that. Though they didn't outwardly show it, everyone was indeed a bit heavily exhausted from their quest. The idea of a reward greatly revitalized their spirits.

Technically, they had been unable to complete one of the tasks to map out the ruin's underground structure. But the fact that it had collapsed anyway should make the matter moot. In addition, the quest had never demanded that the adventurers should have to complete every task outlined by the minister.

"According to the quest's notice," the reception lady began, "Any hidden treasures that have been recovered can be kept by the adventurers who've found them. This also includes magic items and other artifacts. Of course, the minister who has issued the quest is also willing to negotiate a certain price for them if any adventurer chooses to accept. Also, we will let him know about your exploits so that he can provide the rest of the rewards on this notice."

"Can we have a moment to discuss about the distribution among ourselves?" Alex asked.

"Of course," Linda nodded. "But don't take too long. It's already evening and some of the staff are already preparing to return home."

Since the Adventurer's Guild doesn't have a luxurious history, and is currently still in a stage of development, it would naturally lack the prestige of other guilds in the city. Its workers' salaries aren't very exceptional, and it also wouldn't remain open for very long into the night.

In an attempt to save time, Leo was dragged alongside Alex's teammates to a nearby table. The crates they took steadily trailed behind them on a floating plate.

"Before we begin," Sarah was the first one to speak after sitting down, "I think we should distribute some of the treasure and magic items to Marwyn and the family members of the fallen adventurers. Although I don't think it will be enough to offset the loss of a loved one, it can at least be used as compensation.

"For those that don't have any remaining family members, we can simply split off a part of it to charity."

Leo was stunned that Sarah had already seemingly prepared a plan to help comfort those who would be affected by the recent quest. Not that he was against such kindness, but he was mostly surprised that she had already prioritized what they needed to talk about before they even began discussing their reward.

"Hmm... How about we give a third?" Judy suggested. "We could first split off a third of all the gold coins and jewelry in those boxes, then return all the magic items that belonged to their original owners. I think that's a fair trade."

"But how will we know which item belongs to who?" Leo asked while staring at the crates full of equipment beside their table.

"The guild should have a way," Alex answered as he held a hand to his chin. "I believe they got someone who knows divination magic. That person should be able to match all the items with their respective adventurer."

"Hm, impressive." Leo never expected that the guild had someone with that kind of profession. Even at Halo Academy, divination was a rarely taught form of magic that students would only strictly be able to learn. Though not very dangerous by itself, mastery of it often leads to certain problems... like cheating on exams. A lot of regulations and safeguards were placed at the school against such divinations.

As they continued discussing, Alex suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right! Hey, Leo," he called out. "I nearly forgot that I still owe you for all the favors you've given me. Out of all of us, you should probably get the largest share. How about it?"

Once this was suggested, Sarah and Judy immediately expressed strong approval at the idea.

"Yeah, Alex is right," Judy said. "If it weren't for your help, we might have never survived that place."

Remembering how the Goblin King nearly killed one of her friends, she shivered slightly at the traumatic memory.

Sarah also chimed in, "You've contributed a lot to us. At least take a quarter of each of our shares. We'll even give you first pick of the magic items."

Nobody else objected to her suggestion. To them, it seemed a perfectly fair trade.

That ruin had truly been a sinister trap. Although each member contributed to their group's overall survival, it had been Leo's support at key moments that provided all of them the opportunities to survive and escape. If he hadn't joined them in that cavern, or chosen to enter the ruin at a much later time, their team would have likely joined the corpses of their fellow adventurers.

The offer was truly quite generous, leaving Leo feeling genuinely touched. To be honest, although he had played a key role in the battle, he still felt that the share was a bit too excessive. It was Alex who had finished off the Goblin King and allowed the battle to turn in their favor.

Leo wanted to turn it down but it did not seem like the group was willing to accept his refusal.

"Take it man," Alex said with a smile. "It isn't polite to reject our sincerity."

"It's really quite generous," Leo smiled in return.

He thought, 'These guys really are an honest and loyal bunch. I'm quite lucky to have met these kinds of people on my first mission.'

After some consideration, Leo soon decided on another proposal.

"Thank you all for your sincerity," Leo said while bowing his head slightly. "But I still think this is a little too generous for me. I actually have my own suggestion." He raised a hand before anybody else could say a word. "How about you guys let me join your team officially? I've decided that this is the group that I want to be a part of as an adventurer."