I left Vallerynne to train on her own and hurriedly made my way to the first floor of the lobby.
Once I got down there, I saw Trudy standing on the square alongside some of the first floor trainees. They were probably preparing to try the eighth or the ninth floor as a volunteer party.
Perfect timing.
"Trudy, come with me!"
I called to the combat instructor.
"Serafina? What's the matter?"
She replied, walking toward me.
The two of us met right in front of the rift of space time.
"Zecht wanted us to meet him inside."
"Couldn't it wait? My trainees and I are about to go to the ninth floor. They would reach level 10 soon and be ready for promotion."
"That's great. But, no, I don't think it can wait, Trudy."
I said as I stepped into the rift of space time. My former comrade soon followed.
We entered the mirrored chamber and found Party 2 standing in the center of the room.
Four of them were huddled around one member sobbing hard on the floor.
Harl.
"I'm sorry! I'm really…sorry!"
The honey-haired girl cried. Her body trembled due to her heavy sobbing.
Yuxia saw us walking in and approached me.
"What happened?"
I asked him.
The 4-star elementalist sighed while giving a pitying gaze toward the former chief gatherer.
"The poor girl could not fight the soldiers. She immediately broke down once the trial started."
Harl's cry resounded through the mirrored chamber.
Now that I observed her, she seemed to be kneeling in front of her comrades. Apologetically.
"I'll fight goblins! I'll fight wolves! I'll fight ogres! I'll even fight those poor undead! I promise that I will stand in the front with you to beat those monsters!"
The girl shouted with a strong voice. Fists planted on the floor.
She then continued sobbing, trembling limbs crumpled together.
"But not humans… Please! Not living humans! I can't kill…people."
Harl's cry turned louder than ever. Trembling and gagging with her own sob and tear.
Zecht came to me as Tarran and Norn were comforting the girl.
"What should we do, Serafina? I don't think we can convince her to kill people. But, as you warned, the twelfth floor might not be the last time we would fight fellow humans. So I'm not sure if we can just let her sit this one out."
Since the possibility now existed that fellow humans could be our enemies in the trial, then it was quite possible that we would face them again in the higher floors.
It was likely that we would be fighting humans in the thirteenth and the fourteenth floor trials.
If a hero of the raid team could not make themselves fight and kill the enemy, there was only one outcome to their fate.
"Warden."
I called out.
As always, the fairy appeared in front of us immediately.
[Yes, what do you need?]
"Since there is a manager position for the magic hall's depository, I assume there is such role for the other storages in the lobby as well?"
I asked her.
She promptly nodded.
[The main storage on the second floor and the basic storage on the first floor. A manager can be appointed to each facility. Both positions are still vacant, though.]
Hearing the warden, I gestured to the crying girl on the floor.
"Ask master to remove Harl from Party 2 and recommend her for the manager position in the main storage."
[Understood!]
The fairy said before vanishing.
Zecht stared me with widened eyes.
"Serafina…"
"This is the best choice and you knew it, Zecht. Else you won't ask Trudy to come as well."
My words made him nod with a submitting face.
It was indeed the best choice.
Harl had to be removed from Party 2 since she could not fight the enemies.
She would only endanger her comrades had she remained.
It would be a terrible loss considering how compatible she was with Tarran. But it could not be helped.
No matter how sharp a sword was, it was useless if it could not be wielded.
Useless things were burdens.
The trial itself was a burden heavy enough for the raid team.
Meanwhile, the scale of the climb endeavor was increasing.
More people were populating the lobby and more parties were needed in the Quintal Trials.
We had been requiring large amount of resources and equipment more than ever. And the number would only grow from here on.
The gatherers had been doing their best to supply us with the necessary materials from the Weekday Dungeons. The crafters had been working hard in the workshops to make the equipment we needed.
However, demands across the lobby floors were increasing.
The first floor focused on training the newcomers and promoting the 1-stars. Consuming large amount of resources, especially basic health potions and elemental stones, each day given the floor's population being the highest in the lobby.
The second floor housed the raid team candidates. Equipping them with better weapons and potions as they climbed through the higher-and-harder trial floors. Resource consumption almost on par with the raid team's.
And the third floor housed the raid team itself. Provided with the best equipment and potion the lobby had to offer, among other things. Most of the resource gathering and equipment production was focused to fulfill these needs.
There were the supporter chiefs that had been helping us manage all the demands and provide some semblance of supervision to the climb preparation effort.
But someone would eventually be needed to organize our growing and fluctuating inventory.
Coordinating with everyone involved in resource gathering, supply making, and equipment production. Ensuring that all the floors were supplied with all the necessities according to our climb effort's plans and priorities.
Having this someone would allow the supporter chiefs to focus on their specific roles as supporters.
Previously I was performing this role, albeit loosely in authority.
But it was time we appointed someone to dedicate themselves solely for this job.
[It is done! Master has removed Harl from Party 2 and appointed her as the manager for the main storage.]
The fairy reported back after she reappeared.
I nodded to her before she vanished again.
The main storage was where our best resources, equipment, supplies, and collectibles were kept.
The needs of the raid team were fulfilled through what was available in this warehouse.
Harl would be a perfect candidate to manage the facility.
The girl used to be the chief gatherer. So she had experience in the Weekday Dungeons and well-learned of its daily yields.
Also for the past while, Harl had been training with Party 2 and the other raiders, climbing all the way to the twelfth floor. She would understand the workings of the raid team and its needs.
Harl would be able to tell when our supply was in surplus or not. Whether we would have enough supply for a certain trial, in a certain time, with a certain amount of parties needed.
As a manager, she should be able to tell us this much.
I was confident Harl would be able to provide all of this information given her prior experiences.
"Now that Harl has been removed from Party 2, there is now a new vacancy in the raid team."
I stated while eyeing Trudy.
The combat instructor immediately nodded.
"There is this swordsman, Jordane. A 2-star at summoning. He used to be a rookie squire for a noble house in the Lashkar region. The young man was my best trainee before he graduated to the second floor of the lobby. I originally prepared him to be included in Party 2."
"How far along is he in the climb?"
Zecht asked.
"Jordane just visited the eleventh floor with me and the other promising second floor trainees yesterday. He won't be a burden to your party."
Trudy replied.
"Can he kill people though?"
I directly asked her.
It was the most important question.
Fortunately, Trudy nodded back to me confidently.
"I've warned the second floor trainees about the twelfth floor. They know what's waiting for them."
I raised my eyebrows in curiosity.
"Do they, though? Harl is fortunate that there is a supporter role that she can take on. But the others that gives up would probably not find anything to fall back onto in the lobby and be rendered…useless."
Trudy did not need me to elaborate that being useless in the lobby only meant one thing.
Death.
Useless people would either be sacrificed for synthesis or sent to die by scouting the Quintal Trials.
Trudy nodded confidently once more.
"Don't worry. Jordane, at least, did not have any problem. He said he had killed bandits before coming here."
"What about yourself?"
I asked the combat instructor directly again.
Trudy promised to me that she would continue climbing the tower even if she was not in the raid team anymore.
Would she be able to kill humans?
Knowing my intention, Trudy replied me with a determined gaze.
"I'm willing to kill, Serafina. If Devisha and the others had not been summoned, I would still be fighting with you in Party 1. I will continue climbing the tower and clear whatever trial that comes before me like I promised."
As a reply, I nodded to her with a proud smile.
The combat instructor turned to Zecht.
"Would you accept Jordane to your party? Or would you like to examine his skills first? There are the other trainees as well, if you'd like to see them."
"Tell Jordane to prepare himself and come to Party 2's training ground on the third floor. Norn, Tarran and I will test him there. And I suppose it wouldn't hurt if we check the others while we're at it. Tell the other second floor trainees to come as well."
The Party 2 leader told her.
Trudy nodded to him and started for the exit.
"I'll spread the news."
After the combat instructor left the rift, Zecht turned to his comrades and gestured them to do the same.
Promptly, Norn and Tarran escorted the still-sobbing Harl out. Yuxia tailed the three with pitying eyes.
Left alone together in the mirrored chamber, I turned to Zecht.
"There's something else you wanted to talk about."
The mercenary nodded.
His face was pale and grim.
"The twelfth floor…. Those soldiers. Those crazy soldiers… They're nothing like I've ever seen, Serafina."