"Oh. So good with words."

Eruya smiled faintly, fully displaying his arrogance. Seeing this smile, the unpleasant feelings concealed inside Hekkeran almost surfaced again.

"Well then, we’ll be relying on you inside the ruins."

"Of course. Leave it to me. It’ll be great if there are monsters that can put up a decent fight inside the ruins."

Eruya said as he tapped on the weapon hanging by his waist, producing a ‘pon pon’ sound.

"It’s completely unknown what kind of monsters might exist inside. Perhaps we’ll even run into dragons?"

"That would be quite scary. Monsters such as dragons would definitely put up a hell-of-a fight. However, victory would still be mine."

Putting up a ‘is that so?’ smile, Hekkeran was the last one to react due to forcefully having to suppress his other emotions.

Taking only the skills with a sword into account, there were rumors that Eruya could even win against orichalcum ranked adventurers. Considering this point, there was some basis behind his boasting. Having confidence was a good thing, since it was also important for workers to showcase their abilities and appeal to their clients.

However, there should be a limit to just how much one can boast.

The world’s strongest race, Dragons.

Masters of the sky, capable of producing powerful breaths, with scales that were near impenetrable, and possessing a physical prowess that was superior by far. As they age, they even became able to use magic. Having a life span that humans simply couldn’t compare with, the wisdoms that they accumulate would humble even sages.

They were the kind of existences often described in legends, whether as evil villains or as beings that aided the heroes. Just like in the tales of the Thirteen Heroes, the last opponent in their adventures was a dragon known as the 'Dragon God'. In many stories, dragons tended to be the final opponents of heroes.

Even though these existences were only used as an example during conversations, but to still be able to act this arrogantly was rather surprising. No matter how one interpreted it, Eruya’s words seemed like a joke. However he could tell that Eruya was completely serious just from the looks in his eyes. Just how self-conceited could he be?

It was still uncertain what kind of monsters would be in the ruins. Eruya’s sense of judgement would definitely be a hindrance to the overall operation of things.

It’s probably best to stay away from him.

It would be convenient if he was to perish by himself, but it would still be troublesome if the overall formation became broken. A faint smile appeared on Hekkeran’s face as he reached his conclusion, and adjusted his attitude towards Eruya, towards the direction of ‘discard after use’.

"Over there must be the members of 'Foresight'. Oya—"

The look of his eyes when he saw Imina was filled with prejudice and disdain.

There were rumors that Eruya hailed from Slane Theocracy, where humans were considered the most superior race. As an alleged citizen of the Theocracy, he had the tendency to treat those with mixed blood as lower-class humans.

For a man like that to see a half-elf such as Imina to be participating as an equal simply did not make him any happier.

It’s because of this that the rumors end up becoming so credible… However, people from the Theocracy should have a baptismal name, although there’s also been rumors that he’s forsaken it.

Hekkeran considered this deep in his heart, and said out loud just in case.

"…Oi, oi, don’t be so hostile to my comrade, okay?"

"Of course. We’ll be comrades for the same work this time. I’ll definitely be cooperative."

"I will take your word for it."

Perhaps the powerful wild child Eruya matured, but Hekkeran was still afraid that he would run amok. In short, he could feel the mental instability of Eruya. Hekkeran couldn’t relax even after giving the warning, that’s how unpleasant the atmosphere was.

"Ay, trust me. Anyway, returning to the previous topic, I don’t mind letting someone else take leadership during this trip. As long as there are no special cases, I’ll follow the orders given. If we encounter battle, I don’t mind taking the frontlines. I’ll let you guys witness my blade skills."

"Yes yes, understood."

"…Well then, I’ll be returning to my team then. If there are any problems just call me."

Eruya bowed, and walked off.

Hekkeran’s face slightly twitched after seeing a number of women following Eruya. However, showing one’s emotions here was simply unacceptable. It was not uncommon for situations to suddenly turn unfavorable after one’s emotions were exposed. As the leader of a team, this kind of behavior would be unacceptable.

Hekkeran suppressed his emotions, and removed all facial expressions.

Looking away from what he considered as trash, he greeted the final person.

"Hello, elder. I see you’re still healthy and well."

"Hoi, Hekkeran. You’re also looking well."

The sounds produced from the words said were due to the loss of frontal teeth.

Parupatra 'Green Leaf' Ogrion.

Also known as the ‘Origin’, he wore armor that looked as if it were brimming with lights reflected from green leaves wet from the morning dew. The armor wasn’t made from metal, but rather from the scales of a Green Dragon. Parupatra’s team was able to successfully hunt a dragon. Of course, from the size of the scales one could tell that it wasn’t that powerful. However, even then a dragon of that size was still an existence that posed a severe threat to adventurers and workers alike.

Furthermore, Parupatra was over eighty years old.

Typically, in this line of work, the majority of people would have retired by their early forties, sometimes even before forty. There were very few adventurers above the age of fifty. As harsh as it may seem, for a profession which is constantly surrounded by death, it’s hard to ignore the decline in one’s physical abilities.

In fact, even as a special case, when compared to his peak, the time when he was at Orichalcum rank, his skills had dropped considerably. Even so, Parupatra still hadn’t left the front lines.

Many people within the industry respected Parupatra for continuing to adventure despite his advanced age.

"Fumuu. However, that guy seems a bit dangerous."

The wrinkled face of Parupatra became tense as he spoke in a hushed voice. Hekkeran also agreed.

"That’s right. It doesn’t matter if he ends up killing himself, but it’ll be bad if we end up getting dragged down with him."

"Indeed, it’s true that guy is really strong, but his overconfidence could endanger the rest of us. He’s like a walking hazard."

Greenham also chipped in with a whispered "So troublesome to deal with". After seeing Eruya’s attitude, almost none of the workers would think otherwise.

"Also, just how strong is that guy anyways? I haven’t been to the arena recently."

"Does thee not know? I however, do—does elder also know?"

"I’ve only heard about it but never witnessed in person. I might be able to find out more if I ask my comrades. In the end, how do we define the threshold for strong? If we use Gazef Stronoff as the reference point, from what this old man currently know of… for example, ah that’s right… where would we place the Four Knights of the Empire?"

"The knights titled 'Heavy Explosion', 'Unmovable', 'Lightning', and 'Violent Wind' huh… That’s quite difficult to judge. Although it’s true that when compared against that man, the Kingdom’s Warrior Captain, the Four Knights are slightly weaker. However, the time of Gazef Stronoff being the strongest is already over. The passage of time have finally triggered the arrival of stronger beings, signaling the birth of a new era."