My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 52 I have a friend... who is physically weak

Who is this wandering knight?

Lucius discreetly sized up the young ranger who had just entered.

The other person had a cool and handsome face, an indifferent expression, and a cyan-gold leather armor that fit his body. His shawl draped down his back like wings. His outfit looked clean and neat, and it was obviously not one of those common clothes. Even he couldn't understand some of the craftsmanship.

Looking at his weapon, the bow was faintly adorned with the delicate grain of purple yew wood. Although his equipment wasn't top-of-the-line, it was still quite extraordinary. He was definitely not one of those low-level adventurers struggling to make a living; he looked like a noble young master from some great family who had come out on an adventure.

But Lucius had never heard of the name Hiro before, which puzzled him.

When did such a person arrive in Misty City?

Will he affect his plans?

Thinking of this, Lucius became more wary.

Seeing Lucius sitting there, Rhodes was also taken aback, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Lucius? What's he doing here?"

"You know him?" Alina's voice rang out from the consciousness space.

"Yes, friend."

This was the first time Rhodes had appeared in front of an acquaintance in his combined form, which made him somewhat uncomfortable.

With a cognitive filter in place... he shouldn't recognize me, right?

At the invitation of Milan, Don Quixote, and others, Rod sat down somewhat guiltily beside them.

Lucius suppressed his doubts, quickly putting on a polite smile, and took the initiative to look at Rhodes, asking, "This Brother Hiro looks unfamiliar. You're not a local from Misty City, are you?"

Rod nodded, but before he could speak, Milan, who was drinking from a glass beside him, spoke up quietly:

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before inquiring about someone else's background?"

"...Heh, I apologize for my intrusion," Lucius said with a slight twitch of his lips, then continued, "My name is Lucius, as for my background..."

"Nothing special," Lucius chuckled. "Just an ordinary apprentice knight in the Holy Light Church."

Milan let out a cold snort that was hard to decipher, but said nothing and just kept drinking.

"Hero," Rhodes nodded to him, then added, "His identity... is just an ordinary adventurer/ranger."

Milan, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow, quite satisfied with Rod's answer.

"Really?" Upon hearing this, Lucius's smile froze, then he flattered, "Brother Hero has an extraordinary bearing; he doesn't look like those ordinary adventurers."

Upon hearing this, Rod, who was sitting on the soft sofa, blinked.

Sure enough, the Windranger's stylish image was too eye-catching, and even Lucius, with his stubborn personality, had to admit it.

"You are the same," Rhodes replied politely and reservedly, "not like an ordinary apprentice knight."

Seeing the ranger's calm expression, Lucius smiled in return, but his heart was far from calm.

"Tsk, is he deliberately playing dumb to retaliate against me? Just as troublesome as Milan..."

The scene froze for a moment. Milan drank and smiled without saying a word, while Don Quixote wanted to say something to lighten the mood, but was stopped by Susanna next to him.

Even though there were twice as many people in the private room as before, the atmosphere became subtly awkward.

Just as Lucius was hesitating whether to try to make conversation, the vice president, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

"Hiro... I feel like I've heard that name before." He looked Rhodes up and down, observing how the ranger's distinctive features matched the descriptions in his memory.

"Isn't that the adventurer who wiped out an entire goblin lair a few days ago?"

Lucius, who was standing nearby, immediately understood and chimed in:

"To wipe out an entire goblin lair single-handedly and still call yourself unremarkable," Lucius quipped. "The Hero brothers certainly know how to joke."

"No," Rhodes shook his head, looking at Milan, Don Quixote, and the others beside him, "we wiped them out together."

"Oh?" Lucius followed his gaze to Don Quixote. "So there was such an experience?"

"That's right, we also contributed to the extermination of the goblins," Don Quixote finally couldn't help but say, "but everyone downstairs doesn't believe me. They insist that I produce evidence and refuse to give me that shiny adventurer's badge no matter what."

"Haha, that's just how the guild rules are. Catherine is just following the rules."

The vice president chuckled, his face full of polite and warm smiles.

"Speaking of Catherine, there's something else that also concerns Lord Hiro..." He turned to look at Rhodes, bringing the topic back to him.

"Our guild's receptionist, Catherine, encountered trouble in the lobby on the first floor. Thanks to your help, the guild's order was restored."

"As the vice president, I have always wanted to find an opportunity to express my gratitude to you in person."

He subtly revealed his identity while giving Milan and the others ample face.

As the vice president, he could naturally see that Milan's attitude towards this ranger was unusual.

This opportunity would allow him to give Milan face and also to naturally show goodwill and build rapport, paving the way for future requests.

"Heroes have emerged from among the young since ancient times. Although there are many adventurers coming and going to Misty City, there are very few like Lord Hiro who have achieved such feats at such a young age, and who are also such warm-hearted."

He paused at this point, as if remarking unintentionally:

"Today's adventurers are obsessed with commissions and loot, and their human touch is getting weaker and weaker. They are gradually losing their original passionate spirit of adventure, and sometimes they even lose their basic morality for a little bit of profit."

"Even the reputation of the Adventurers' Guild has been ruined." The vice president's voice was full of helplessness as he secretly observed Rhodes' reaction.

Rod looked perfectly normal. Don Quixote seemed to want to say something, but Milan spoke first.

"In that case, how about we raise the pay and entry requirements for adventurers?"

When it comes to selection criteria, who dares to compare with you mages?

Besides, if the threshold is too high, who would want to be an adventurer if they really made it big?

"Haha..." The vice president, who only dared to grumble in his heart, gave an awkward laugh, "That would be inconsistent with the Adventurers' Guild's ideal of freedom."

"Instead of letting those guys who can't even use magic become adventurers and feed monsters, it's better to let them be farmers and cultivate the land properly," Milan said, toying with her empty wine glass.

Makes it sound so easy, but you're the one who has to provide the land.

But when he thought about how the Arcane Society actually had a group of ordinary people farming on their territory, the vice president could only remain silent.

Lucius, standing to the side, had no interest in such topics; his purpose was to find out the background of the ranger in front of him.

He couldn't help but inwardly criticize the vice president's roundabout and superfluous behavior.

"Why insist on talking about all this nonsense? They just want them to find the source of the monster disturbances in the Misty Forest, without shaking the Adventurers' Guild's foundation here, but also afraid of being ripped off."

Lucius was sitting there because he knew the Adventurers' Guild needed Milan's help; otherwise, he wouldn't have been dragged along by the vice president to drink with Milan, this drunkard.

"Ahem..." He coughed lightly, breaking the silence and bringing the topic back to Rhodes, "A good horse needs a good saddle, and a famous instrument needs a hero."

"Brother Hero, this bow is quite impressive. Just look at the patterns on it, and you can tell it's no ordinary piece," Lucius said, then turned his gaze to Rhodes' elven longbow and asked, "Where did it come from, and which master blacksmith crafted it?"

By inquiring about the origins of the longbow, one can roughly deduce the family and power behind the other party.

"Fire and Steel Crafts," Rhodes replied, "I'm not sure if they have master blacksmiths."

"What?" Lucius was stunned, unable to recall any information related to the name for a moment.

"Where?"

"It's located within Misty City," the vice-guild leader beside him answered with a strange expression, "and it's a blacksmith shop that the guild partners with."

Rod nodded, thinking to himself that the shopkeeper would give him a discount if he bought it there.

"..." Lucius fell silent for a moment.

To avoid revealing his information, this guy even chose to buy his weapons in town?

Is it necessary to make it so mysterious?

A strange sense of powerlessness rose from the bottom of Lucius's heart. His repeated attempts to probe the other party were completely unresponsive, revealing too little information, leaving him with no way to investigate the person in front of him.

The last person he couldn't find any information about was that kid Rhodes.

As a result, the person went missing, and their fate remains unknown.

Rhodes was completely oblivious to his frustration, after all, Lucius always liked to ask a lot of questions, and he was already used to it.

In her consciousness space, Alina vaguely sensed that the attitude of these people was strange, but considering that Lucius was Rhodes' friend, she wisely chose to keep quiet and observe the situation.

Ding--

Seeing that they had repeatedly failed with Rod, Milan, in a good mood, took out a crystal bottle and placed it on the table. The crisp clinking sound broke the tense atmosphere in the private room.

"Alright, now that Hiro has arrived, it's about time we set off."

The group's attention was instantly drawn to her, and they all looked at the crystal bottle.

At the bottom of the bottle lay a stalactite, emitting a soft, pale green fluorescent light.

Rhodes' gaze fell on the bottle, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The stalactite in the bottle is much smaller than when it was first obtained, it has shrunk considerably, and its energy is also much less.

"Thanks to you, otherwise I don't know how much longer I would have wasted to find relevant clues." Milan smiled at Rod.

She tapped her fingertips lightly on the table and continued, "Remember our agreement? I said I would share any research results with you as soon as possible."

"I've been analyzing the residual energy above for the past two days and have successfully tracked down some interesting clues..."

She paused here, looked at Rhodes, and continued:

"My intuition tells me that if you come with me, we might make some new discoveries this time."

Rhodes was somewhat tempted.

He originally intended to go into the forest to find monsters to practice and test his new abilities, while also replenishing his depleted wallet.

Teaming up with a strong mage like Milan, with whom you've collaborated before and know well, is definitely much more reliable than wandering around alone or trying to assemble a random team with unknown backgrounds on the first floor.

Safety and efficiency can be guaranteed, and you can also face stronger enemies to challenge yourself.

But... since he's currently in a combined state, there are some things he still needs to ask his partner's opinion on.

Rhodes didn't immediately agree. A thought flickered in his mind, and he whispered in his consciousness, "Alina, would you mind if I teamed up with them again?"

"Huh? Ah..."

Alina was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Rhodes to specifically seek her opinion on such a matter.

After a brief moment of distraction, she lowered her head somewhat awkwardly, as if avoiding Rhodes's gaze, and whispered, "Why are you asking me about this? If you want to go, go. I've long since stopped caring."

"But we are one," Rod said matter-of-factly.

"If you feel unwell, it will affect the Wind Ranger's combat ability."

"I don't mind at all..." Alina was initially touched, but she was speechless after hearing the second half of the sentence.

Couldn't this guy have moved her a little more?!

Seeing that Alina had no objection, Rod nodded to Milan and said, "I'll go."

"Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet," Milan smiled, "This matter might be closely related to the monster disturbances in the Misty Forest..."

As she said this, she glanced at the vice president next to her. The slick man instantly shuddered, knowing that the important point he had been waiting for had arrived.

"Haha, so this matter is related to Lord Hiro..." He nervously glanced at Hiro, pondering what price he should ask to get these people to make a move.

While a mage like Milan might be demanding, these knowledge-obsessed fanatics simply wanted anything related to magic...

But who knows what this wandering swordsman who suddenly appeared wants?

Money? Glory? Knowledge? Or something else entirely?

Having witnessed the entire conversation between him and Lucius, even the vice president, who considered himself a man of many talents, was somewhat confused.

But the other party wasn't like the two people beside Milan, who took her as their leader.

Judging from Milan's attitude, the two seem more like partners.

"Don't embarrass yourself with those petty favors. After all, you, as the vice president, are representing the Adventurers' Guild in fulfilling our request," Milan said, glancing at Rhodes when she saw his hesitation.

"Think about it carefully. If we directly find the source of the monster disturbance and resolve it, how much benefit would your guild gain?"

"What good does this kind of thing do..." the vice president said instinctively, "It's all for the peace and stability of Misty City."

"Then go find those so-called elites outside," Milan shrugged. "They were all carefully selected by your Adventurers' Guild, so they should be able to solve this problem."

Those guys would love for even more monsters so they could raise the bounty and drive up the prices of supplies...

With this in mind, the vice president hardened his heart:

"Brother Hiro, why don't you tell us what kind of reward you want?"

"I will do my utmost to apply for the relevant benefits for everyone within my capabilities."

"Reward..." Rhodes asked after a moment's thought, "Is there anything that can strengthen the body and replenish energy? Preferably something that has a fast-acting effect."

"Huh?" The vice president was taken aback, looked Rhodes up and down again, and after a long pause, cautiously asked, "Are you... not feeling well?"

"I have a friend..." Rod paused, "who is physically weak."

The way the two men looked at Rhodes changed.