Reality and Departure

[Ace POV],

After that incident, we eventually arrived at our destination.

Emma is also with us, I should mention. We gathered after encountering her on the road. Anna and Chris are still completely unaware that they have a new teammate. I'll have to find some time to tell them.

Coincidently, just as I was about to knock, the door opened, and Adara emerged with a black bag in her hand. I could feel a tremendous amount of energy emanating from the bag, and even though I couldn't see what was inside, I knew what it contained.

It was most likely the crystal core of the Goblin Lord. Unlike zombie cores, which could somewhat be called false cores, cores harvested from ranked creatures are genuine and full of energy.

And I really need as many cores as I can get, especially now that I'm on a job quest. An item made from a ranked creature crystal core will go a long way, as I already have some plans for how to use it.

Adara spoke as I was thinking about this, and the expression of surprise that may have come from seeing us all of a sudden faded.

"And here I wanted to see you, but you came instead," Adara said with a smile, adding, "Come in."

We entered the building after hearing her invitation, and she led us to the study room where I had met her the first time I came.

She didn't ask me any questions about Emma. Perhaps she believes Emma came for her share of the coins as well.

Speaking of coins, I made a lot of money from the dungeon. With this in mind, I called out my status in my head and went to the store section to see how many coins I had in total.

I didn't have to worry about colliding with anyone or causing an accident because the panel was transparent.

[Total Coins: 2 Gold Coins: 36 Silver Coins; 36 Bronze Coins],

I was able to gain two gold coins as a result of the number of monsters I was able to kill in the dungeon and their strength.

That means I currently have a total of 236 silver coins and 23,636 bronze coins.

In comparison to others, I should be considered wealthy.

As I was thinking these thoughts, we arrived at the study room, entered, and sat in the seats Adara offered.

Seeing this, she sat down and placed the contents of the bag on the table.

A gleaming bright white crystal core and five gold coins

Emma said it was six gold coins, but I only see five, so perhaps Elsie isn't here because she has already received her share.

Not that it's my concern, but Adara's face appears to be stressed for some reason.

I did not inquire about the matter because I was not particularly interested, but Emma, unlike me, was willing to inquire as she spoke and asked Adara a question.

"Is there anything wrong, Princess Adara? You appeared stressed ", she stated.

"Oh? You noticed?" Adara asked, and despite the fact that she was directing the question at Emma, she looked at me with contempt.

'Did I do something wrong?'

Emma nodded in response to her question. Adara, seeing this, began to speak and said;

"It's not really much of a problem like that; it's just that there are a lot of unhappy people in the camp who are causing various problems," she explained.

Hearing what she said piqued my interest, and I asked her a question.

"Dissatisfied? Why are they dissatisfied? Aren't you the reason they can see a place to sleep and have food to eat?" I asked.

Hearing this, she responded, saying;

"There are internal issues in the camp specifically because of this food issue. Some argue that the food is insufficient, while others argue that they cannot risk their lives to obtain supplies where they could die at any time ", she said.

"Then chase them away. At the very least, this means one less mouth to feed ", I said.

When I heard the reason for their dissatisfaction, I honestly thought it was stupid.

Although I've only been here for a short time, I haven't seen or met any monsters, even if they were the weakest level 1. This means that people in this camp are actively clearing the monsters and assessing the capabilities of average humans before the apocalypse. I was 70% certain that the majority of the people cleaning the surroundings are Adara and my classmate's bodyguards.

If you look at it another way, even if they go out to look for supplies, the number of supplies they can bring in will be less than what Adara and my classmate's people can bring in. After all, the survivability and physique of trained bodyguards and ordinary humans differ prior to the change. So, in a way, the people here are being fed from the supply excess that the bodyguards brought in.

In a nutshell, they're worse than burdens.

"Y-you can't say that, Ace! What would happen to the people if I did that? Isn't that bringing them closer to death's embrace?" Adara questioned, her voice fluttering.

"Why are you thinking about it in the first place? This is a straightforward solution ", I said.

"However, this is not a good thing to do. If I do it, I wouldn't be able to sleep "Adara stated.

"Why? Conscience?"

The words she wanted to say became stuck in her throat when she heard this.

Seeing this, I spoke up again and said;

"I'll have you know that one of the people you 'shelter' threw a fellow human to the zombies and used her as a shield to protect his life. What makes you think that if you were weak one day, the people here would not do the same? ", I said as the room went completely silent.

"This is why the people of the old age said people who succumb to their emotions are weak, and this demonstrates it," I said.

I kept quiet after saying what I needed to say and did not speak again. I only spoke so much because I thought thinking about the burdens you shelter was stupid. It's one thing if you have the capital you shelter one, but it's quite another when the burden you shelter complains.historical

Emotions make people vulnerable. Despite knowing this, I still want to feel them.

Even if it was related to this...

"W-what you said is true, but not all humans will behave the way you stated," she said.

I had no intention of speaking again until I heard this.

"Of course, not all humans are like that," I said, quickly adding, "but most are."

"Perhaps it's because you haven't seen the other side of humans or aren't fully aware of the changes that will occur in this world. Everything will fall apart if there is no law and order. I'm saying this for your own good; if you believe you have to help everyone you see and continue to add burdens to your life when you don't have the capital to do so, especially the one who still complains, you're stupid, and you'll probably die faster "I said, as Anna immediately shouted out my name.

"ACE!"

'Why does she appear angry?'

'Did I say something wrong?'

As I was thinking about this and wondering if I had said anything wrong, Adara spoke up and said;

"What do you think I should do then?" she questioned.

"What would you like to do?"

"I just want to help those in need," she said, "but it's stressful."

When I heard this, I paused for a moment before responding, saying;

"In this case, I guess if you want to bother yourself with that you can do so but you have to let the people know who's helping who and who owes you. You can't continue to look at things like it was in the past. You have to change as the world itself is changing. Better not to be left behind." I said.

I'm not sure if that answers her question, but I've said what I needed to say.

Hmmm, I spoke a lot.

'Strange,' I thought as I heard Emma's voice.

"W-why don't we focus on why we came here?" She stated.

Hearing this, Adara kept whatever she wanted to say to herself, straightened up, and began speaking.

Because the topic of conversation was not directed at me, I ignored what she was saying and instead thought of my job quest. After all, I only have so much time.

In the end, Adara, Emma, and Chris each received a gold coin, while I received two gold coins since I was the main dealer.

The division was appropriate. It got even better when Adara suggested I buy the core, to which I agreed.

Because it was a group fight, I couldn't completely monopolize the core, so I agreed. The deal was only between me, Adara, and Emma since we were the three main damage dealers.

I ended up with a rank 1 crystal core, while Adara and Emma each received two gold coins.

When everything was finished and settled, my team prepared to leave, and Adara wanted to accompany us out of the estate but was unable to do so because she had been summoned to solve some issues in the camp. We eventually parted ways when we exited the building.

We left the estate after making sure we hadn't forgotten anything in the camp.

"So what next?"

Emma asked me a question as we approached the estate's gate. Both Chis and Anna were aware of their new teammate at this point and had no objections to it. Chris seemed pleased, and I couldn't tell what Anna thought based on her expressions, but since there was no objection, I guess everything is fine.

And the answer to Emma's question is quite simple. The plan now is to look for monsters to advance in my job quest and level up the team members.

"We're going to look for...

I was about to respond, but when I saw Emma's face, I changed my mind and said;

"We're going to grind."