Chapter 86: An Accident on the Return Trip!
Dungeon, 18th Floor.
"Bete, I'll leave it to you."
In one corner of the open forest, Finn spoke to Bete.
"Tch. You always dump this annoying stuff on me."
Although he complained, Bete still dashed out like a gust of wind.
On the way back from the expedition, they had encountered an abnormal situation on the 50th Floor.
A monster known as the Poison Vermis had appeared before the Loki Familia in an unbelievable number.
Even among all poison-using monsters, the Poison Vermis belonged to the most dangerous category.
Its poison could easily break through the defenses of high-class adventurers who had abnormal resistance.
Even detoxification magic had a hard time curing the poison of this monster.
No fewer than a hundred Poison Vermis surrounded the Loki Familia.
Although they successfully broke out, many Familia members were still corroded by the poison.
Their number even made up more than one-third of the Loki Familia's expedition force.
With no other choice, Finn decided to set up camp on the 18th Floor and rest.
He had Bete, the fastest on foot, return to Orario first to buy special antidotes.
At the same time, he also asked him to inform Loki about what the Loki Familia had encountered on the 59th Floor.
Although Ais's speed with Ariel active was even higher than Bete's, Bete was the better choice if they considered stability and stamina.
After giving Bete his instructions, Finn walked into the large tent set up inside the forest.
A row of poisoned Familia members lay on the ground.
Each of them had pale faces and tightly furrowed brows.
Riveria walked among them, observing their condition while occasionally casting recovery magic.
"Riveria, how is the treatment going?"
Hearing Finn's question, Riveria raised her chin toward the tent entrance.
Then she left the tent first.
Seeing Finn follow her out, Riveria walked to the edge of the forest and stopped.
Torajirou Shiro was also there at the moment.
Gareth was beside him as well.
The two had just been talking about the Poison Vermis.
When they saw Finn following Riveria over, they instinctively looked toward Riveria, who was walking in front.
Riveria did not mind the other two being present.
She held her staff in one hand and gently rubbed her brow with the other as she spoke.
"The situation isn't very good. We have too few mages who can use detoxification magic. We can only prioritize saving the members with the worst poisoning. If we want everyone to recover at once, we'll have to wait for Bete's special antidotes."
Just saving those heavily injured members had nearly exhausted her Mind.
Even if she had plenty of magic power, she could not afford to keep consuming it like this.
At times like this, she really envied people whose magic power seemed almost endless.
Thinking that, Riveria gave Shiro a resentful glare.
Facing Riveria's sudden and inexplicable look, Shiro tilted his head.
At that moment, Gareth suddenly spoke in a way that completely ruined the mood.
"We had Tsubaki forge five unbreakable weapons, plus more than thirty magic swords. Now we also have to buy these special antidotes. After we return, we still have to hand over the weapon materials to the Hephaestus Familia... our Familia's finances are already stretched thin..."
"Please, don't make me remember that right now."
Finn said with a bitter smile.
Shiro's expression also became a little subtle.
It seemed that ever since he joined the Loki Familia, the Loki Familia's expeditions were either losing money or on their way to losing money.
Although this expedition had fulfilled their wish to explore the unknown, the magic stones they obtained along the way were not even one-tenth of what they had spent.
It was hard to say whether they had earned anything or lost out overall.
In the end, adventuring was that kind of job.
An adventurer could earn several million valis in a single day by killing monsters.
But they could also lose everything they had because of one accident.
However, thinking about it another way, Shiro had helped the Loki Familia take over all of the Apollo Familia's assets.
He had also brought in Liliruca, a newcomer with great potential.
So the Loki Familia losing money definitely was not his fault!
Ignoring Shiro, whose expression kept changing at the side, Finn looked around at their surroundings and half-joked.
"Let's just think of it as deliberately staying on the 18th Floor to relax."
Riveria and Gareth could not help smiling bitterly as they also looked around.
At present, all the male members were taking care of the sick and patrolling.
Meanwhile, the female members had all gone to a pond deep in the forest to bathe.
This was an order Finn had given so the exhausted members could relax a little.
Once the female members finished bathing, they would switch shifts with the men, and the male members would go bathe.
However, to prevent anyone in the Familia from having strange thoughts, the male members would be driven to another pond.
"Riveria, aren't you going to bathe with Ais and the others? We can handle things here."
"Sigh... if I go, they'll become nervous."
Riveria sighed.
"I'll just go last after everyone else finishes."
Among elves, the difference in status was taken very seriously.
Even Riveria, who hated being treated with too much respect, had once disliked Gareth simply because he was a dwarf.
If she, a member of elven royalty, went to bathe with the other elves, they would not be able to relax at all.
Instead, they would probably tense their nerves to the limit.
The slightest movement would draw their attention.
They would never allow royalty like Riveria to be defiled.
With that thought in mind, they would probably kick even a passing dog and slice an earthworm in half lengthwise.
...
"Shift change! Boys, go rest. Leave this side to us."
The girls who had finished bathing returned to the camp one after another.
"Damn it, I still couldn't sneak a peek at the girls bathing this time."
"Don't say stupid things. Unless you have the blessing of a god of peeping, who would dare go in there?"
"Hurry up. Don't let Aki and the others hear this, or getting yelled at will be the least of our problems."
After Ais and the others returned from bathing, they handed over the various tasks to the male members.
The boys also took this chance to talk about topics unique to boys as they walked into the forest.
"Riveria, we're going to bathe too. We'll leave this side to you."
Finn greeted Riveria, placed his spear inside the tent, and walked toward the pond.
Halfway there, he realized Shiro had not followed.
"Shiro, aren't you coming with us?"
"No... I'm not really used to bathing with other people. I'll find somewhere and wash by myself."
Even before transmigrating, Shiro had always showered alone.
The thought of bathing naked with a group of men always made him feel like something was strange.
Finn did not force him.
After all, different races had different customs.
And it was not as if he was the kind of person who would force another man to bathe with him.
After confirming with Shiro several times, Finn pointed him toward a more remote pond.
Although it was a little farther away, people usually did not go there.
Following the direction Finn had pointed out, Shiro passed through layers of trees.
Soon, he heard the sound of flowing water in the distance.
After fighting in the Dungeon for so long, he could not wait and quickly ran toward the source of the sound.
He pushed aside the bushes before him.
A small clear spring appeared in front of his eyes.
But unlike what Finn had said, at this moment, in the center of the spring, there was an elf.
…
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