Hekkeran nodded his head, as a look of understanding dawned on him. Although Arche had dropped out of the Imperial Magic Academy, she probably still had some contacts there. She was probably more suited at gathering academic-related information and she could also visit the Magician's Guild to collect additional material.

"So that's why she went along. Rob is also quite knowledgeable, and has connections to the temples. Anyway, how did it go?"

Hekkeran made a sound as he sat down into a chair, and spoke up.

"Although the request was only offered to workers, the content of the job isn't anything bad. The reason why they chose to hire workers this time around is probably because the location of the job is somewhere adventurers can't go. However, just like the client said before, it seems like they've made contact with other teams as well."

"Are we really working with other teams? Even if it is said that the ruins they discovered appear to be untouched, for them to be willing to invest this much without any definite gains seems a bit..."

That Greenham guy—from one of the other teams that were contacted—was saying the same thing. But in the end, 'Heavy Masher' seems to be planning to accept the request. If we don't decide by tomorrow, things might become troublesome."

So far Hekkeran's team had only listened to the contents of the request, and they had yet to accept it. Although they promised to give the client a reply by tomorrow, if they were going to accept, they would have to start preparing immediately.

"And then, at this important juncture something else comes up… Are the two somehow connected?"

"We can't rule out that it was done by another team that wanted to make a fortune with this, but I think we should still wait and listen to Arche's explanation before deciding. If it really is some scheme started by another team, do we back out or carry on?"

"Of course we continue. If they plan on starting a fight, then we just need to keep whacking them until none of them dares to mess with us again, ‘till we knock all their teeth out."

"That sounds quite excessive."

Although Imina seemed overly harsh on the outside, Hekkeran also thought her approach to solving this problem was a good one.

While it wasn't too big of a deal to be looked down upon, their reputation would also drop if they backed out. Losing reputation was something that those in the worker profession wished to avoid.

At the same time a fiery determination burned within Hekkeran's eyes, a squeaky sound of doors opening came from the entrance. The figures of two people walked into the inn.

"—We're home!"

"We have returned!"

The first voice was somewhat whiny and belonged to a girl, followed shortly by the voice of a man whose eyes were filled with righteousness. The momentary pause came from the hesitancy of covering up the soft voice of his female companion.

The girl that first walked in was not too thin. The words “young beauty” would describe her the best.

With an appearance between fifteen to seventeen years old, the girl possessed a face with delicate features and shoulder long hair. Hers was an elegant beauty, but every now and then, she also gave the impression of being a lifeless doll.

Her hands grasped an iron staff that was around the same height as herself. The surface of the staff was covered with symbols and runes that could have been words or pictures. The girl wore a loose robe, and under that, sturdy clothes which offered quite a bit of protection. She was obviously a magic caster.

The man was wearing full body armor—although he had taken the helmet off—and over the armor was a surcoat embroidered with the symbol of a crest. A morningstar hung from his waist, and a necklace bearing the same crest as his surcoat laid around his neck.

With a neatly arranged hairstyle and a well-trimmed beard, the man gave off a hearty impression. Appearance-wise, his age seemed to be around 30.

These two were the comrades that Hekkeran and Imina were waiting for, Arche Eeb Rile Furt and Roberdyck Goltron.

"Ooh, welcome back!"

Could this be described as good timing or bad timing? Hekkeran thought while turning around to greet the two with a hard voice

"What’s wrong? Did something happen to the two of you?"

Roberdyck used a tone that did not display any seniority to the two of them. One of the reasons was due to personal choice, the other was because of the mutual equality between workers.

"Th-there's no problem."

"Tha-that's right. Just as Hekkeran said."

Arche and Roberdyck both watched as the two of them waved their hands in denial.

"Umm, speaking of which, this isn't a good place to talk, how about we go over there?"

Being done with joking around, a serious expression appeared on Hekkeran's face as he pointed towards a circular table at the back of the tavern area.

"Before that, err. About the drinks—Oi, Imina. Where did the owner go?"

"...Out shopping. I'm watching over the place for him."

"Is that so? Then what should we do? Is it fine for me to casually take out a bottle or two?"

"—I'm fine with not drinking."

"Ah, I'm also fine, thanks."

"...Is that so? In that case... then let's start the meeting of ‘Foresight'."

The relaxed expression on every member's face vanished. At the same time, they leaned their weight onto the table, bringing everyone closer together. Although there weren't any other guests at the moment, this sort of behavior had become an old habit that was hard to break.

"First, I would like to confirm the content of the commission."

Once he made sure that he had everyone's attention, Hekkeran continued. His tone and expression were completely different from before. As the leader of the team, it was necessary for him to act serious and maintain dignity when the situation called for it. That was only expected of a leader.

"The client this time is Earl Femel. The content of the request is to survey some ruins—most likely an underground tomb—discovered within the territory of the Kingdom. The compensation consists of a down payment of 200, followed by another 150 after completion. The quality of the contract and the total amount offered as reward is extremely high this time around. Not to mention that there's going to be a bonus at the end based on the results of the investigation. All magic items discovered during the investigation will belong to the Earl; however, the person that discovers them will receive an additional bonus of half the market price of the magic item. As for things like gems and precious metals, artworks and other treasures, after their value is verified, half the amount will be given to the discoverer. Also, they've made contact with other worker teams as well. Based on how events might unfold, it's most likely going to become a joint operation—alright, I think I've said enough."