Frostfire Legacy

Even though the enemy was more powerful than they expected, they still managed to clinch the victory. This fact alone was more than enough to earn a celebration! Of course, not everyone joined in on the mindless celebration mood.

"What are you doing?"

Aster asked Kali, who was kneeling before the Red Cave Spider Mother's corpse, to take pictures of it from various angles. She spared a short glance at Aster before continuing what she was doing, snapping pictures without a pause.

"Mutants are more or less unique monsters; as such, there's little known about their properties." She explained. "I'm taking pictures and will write a report on its properties and abilities before submitting it to the Monster Records and Control Division later."

Aster raised a brow, hearing about the troublesome things she was about to do.

"Is that... something that adventurers are required to do?" He asked.

"No. I'm just doing it just because," Kali answered without stopping what she was doing. "I'm actually an aspiring Cryptozoologist, and researching unknown monsters like this one is one of my few real hobbies."

"Cryptozoologist...?"

Aster could recall the term, but it was used to refer to those who study mythical creatures of folklore such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, Yeti, or such.

'Did the meaning of the word change with the advent of dungeons, perhaps?' He mused.

Curious, he watched Kali do her "hobby" until she snapped a thousand images from all angles.

"With this, it should be possible to recreate a 3D model of it." She sighed, showing a genuine smile while reviewing the images she took.

Aster felt a little envious watching her. "Hobby, huh?" he muttered with a sad undertone.

Due to his disease, the only thing he could call his hobby was helping out in the laboratory at times or studying plants and other living things as part of his curriculum as a biologist.

"Well, a hobby or two wouldn't hurt." He shrugged lightly.

---

After the raid was completed, they went on their way back, dragging the large spider corpse with them. Of course, they didn't let their guard down just because they finished their hunt. They still have hundreds of enemies left, wandering the forest outside of the cave, after all!

However, wolves, goblins, slimes, and even the random Small Cave Spiders, were no match for them.

Without much suspense, they reached the entrance safely. Other than the four members of Party 3 who died, they didn't suffer any other casualties.

Adventuring is a job that comes with dangers, of course, so they should be prepared for such a thing to happen when they accept the emergency quest. However, such a thought wouldn't pass to the party's leader, the only survivor of their party.

And more than that, Lizandrea was unable to shake off their deaths from her mind.

When they returned to the guild, she requested to have her share of the rewards divided and passed to the families of the four casualties. Of course, she wasn't really satisfied with giving them pocket change, so she even pulled more from her pocket, giving their families about 50 million Tels each as a donation.

Of course, not everyone was happy to receive money just because their loved ones died, but even so, she still accepted their outburst of anger without budging, taking responsibility as the raid party's leader.

After the solemn matters were handled, the surviving adventurers, other than the leader of Party 3, who excused himself early, went to celebrate right inside the guild. Mugs of beer were passed around as mouth-watering food was prepared to sate everyone's thirst and hunger.

The sad air in the guild was washed away by jovial laughter, along with cheering and jeering. The festive mood brightened the place as all members celebrated completing the raid successfully and even gaining a level or two in the process.

The mages were a little disgruntled, however, as they weren't able to get a share of the Red Cave Spider Mother's experience. They weren't able to land an effective attack, after all, as the monster was immune to spells. Although it was sad, so was the law of nature.

Aster, Cassy, Kali, and Tina were sitting in a corner of the venue, enjoying their small portion of food together while drinking beer. Aster refrained from ingesting alcohol, however, and was instead drinking orange juice.

As he watched his three party members become tipsy, with Tina starting to become a little touchy-feely and sticking to him at every opportunity, he saw a figure weaving through the rowdy crowd and approaching.

"Hello." She greeted them as soon as she arrived. "Can I share the table with you all?"

"Oh, of course. Please feel free." Aster answered, offering the vacant seat to his left. "There's no way I'd refuse to let the princess of the Dragonseal family sit with us."

"W-What do you mean? I'm no princess." She scratched her cheeks awkwardly.

Everyone present more or less learned her relations right as she gave her name, hearing her last name. However, the person herself was dismissing her apparent connections with the Dragonseal family.

She might be trying to hide her true background, but there's no way such an awkward disguise would deceive anyone. She should've used a different last name, at least, or maybe dropped the "Von" in the middle!

Aster shrugged before turning to her with a serious glance. "Well, suit yourself. Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Ahh~! Cood ish be... you wanna join our parshy~?"

The tipsy Cassy interjected, her body wobbling left and right as she held a beer mug. "You're more zhian welcome~! Ehehe..."

"She has a good background and has little to no possibility of being an enemy. "I am more in favor of accepting her as a member than of having that clingy vixen by your side." Kali spoke in a fast manner.

Tina didn't miss her small taunt and reacted.

"Haa?! Ya picking a fight, you bitch?! Come outside; I'll take you on!"

"No need to go outside; that's too bothersome. Let's do it here, right now. What? Are you perhaps afraid of losing? I'm level 6 now, with you being level 5, so maybe you're scared?"

Not only was she speaking fast, she was even becoming talkative! Aster patted Tina's head, making her quiet down, before turning to Liz, who was still awkwardly waving her hand.

"L-Like I said, I don't have such a good background." She claimed, dismissing Kali's words. "I'm just a lone adventurer, planning to reach the highest rank of S-class with my own strength. However..."

'A lone adventurer without background wouldn't be able to casually donate 200 million Tels, though.' Aster thought as he put down his mug before focusing on listening to Liz's words.

He knew that the main topic was about to come out of her mouth.

Her face turned serious before she nodded her head. "Just as Miss Cassandra and Miss Kali said, I would like to join your party."