"Alright, thanks for your help." Zelir put the ancient tome away.

Though he hadn’t gotten the answers he was hoping for, it wasn’t a total loss. At the very least, he could now confirm one thing: the ancient tome’s origins were far more mysterious than he had imagined.

"Want to go find Marcus and the others and pick up a quest?" Zelir suggested.

"Let’s go." Valles slung his Longbow over his back.

...

Adventurer’s Association.

The place was as bustling as ever, and Zelir was starting to fall in love with the atmosphere.

’Good thing I’m not one of those stuffy Mages who needs daily Meditation to increase their strength. It’s the adventure that makes things interesting.’

When Marcus and Gray saw Zelir moving around with ease, they had the same surprised expressions. But when they learned a Mage was the one who had healed him, their surprise turned into pure, unadulterated envy.

For Adventurers like them, who lived dangerously, getting injured was a major ordeal.

Minor injuries weren’t so bad. They could slowly recover on their own with the restorative abilities granted by their Heart of Qi and a visit to a clinic. It was just a grueling process.

But if it was a crippling injury, your adventuring career was basically over—unless you had enough savings to hire an Empowerment Mage for specialized treatment.

And most Adventurers couldn’t afford it.

Take Gak, for example. He was still laid up in bed recovering from his injuries.

"Sigh... I’m going to be a Mage in my next life," Gray said with a long drawl, his face full of yearning.

"That’s easy," Valles said. "Just get drunk, go lie down for a nap deep in Gray Wood Forest, and you’ll be reincarnated before you know it."

"And I’ll become a Mage that way?"

"No guarantees," said Valles. "You might just get reincarnated as a goblin that I end up shooting with an arrow."

Marcus was long used to their verbal sparring. He simply ignored the two of them and led Zelir to the quest board to choose a mission.

Their eyes scanned the dazzling array of requests. Finally, a newly posted mission caught Zelir’s attention. He reached out and plucked it from the board.

[Undead Creature Cleanup at the Cemetery]

Recently, a local resident, Madam Adeline, reported witnessing a horrifying scene at the cemetery on the outskirts of town late at night:

Numerous skeletons have been seen crawling from the ground and wandering throughout the graveyard.

To preserve the peace of the departed and eliminate this potential threat, we are now recruiting an Adventurer Squad to perform a cleanup.

Quest Level: Junior (Two Stars)

Quest Objective:

Eliminate all Skeleton Soldiers within the cemetery. Estimated number is around twenty.

Evil Remains may also be present in the cemetery. Please be psychologically prepared for combat.

Bounty:

A reward of Ten Silver Coins per Skeleton Soldier.

If Evil Remains are encountered, an additional Ten Gold Coins will be rewarded for each.

Association Note:

Skeleton Soldiers typically only emerge at night. Please plan your mission time accordingly.

Also.

Adventurers who are afraid of ghosts need not apply.

Valles leaned over to read the request and frowned.

"What kind of person wanders past a cemetery in the middle of the night?"

"A widow, probably," said Gray. "Dark, windy nights are perfect for a secret rendezvous. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times."

"Is anyone here afraid of ghosts?" Marcus asked.

"I’m fine," Zelir said. "That kind of thing doesn’t bother me."

’I was a firm materialist, after all. Nothing to be scared of.’

’Then again, this is an Otherworld. Maybe ghosts and monsters are real... It’s a bit spooky.’

’No matter. If there are ghosts, I’ll just blast them with an Arcane Missile. If one isn’t enough, I’ll use two.’

"It depends," said Gray. "A male ghost would be fine, but a female ghost... well, I might get a little more excited."

Valles couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Marcus did a quick calculation.

"Twenty-some Skeleton Soldiers, plus maybe some Evil Remains... the four of us should be enough."

"Speaking of which, what about Hill? Have you guys seen her recently?" Zelir suddenly remembered her.

’If Hill were here, the squad could take on higher-level quests, and both the pay and Experience Points would be significantly higher.’

"That female Assassin? I don’t know. Haven’t seen her since the goblin mission ended."

Gray shrugged. "She probably picked up another job from the Assassin’s Guild. I bet she’s getting ready to slit some poor bastard’s throat right now."

Zelir thought for a moment and decided against using the token to find her at Number Seven, Dark Alley Street. Besides, they didn’t need her for this mission anyway.

Marcus took the selected quest request to the front desk, where he saw Eira standing on her tiptoes, gazing in a certain direction.

"What are you looking at?" Marcus followed Eira’s gaze and saw Zelir’s group.

"Ah... It’s nothing. I was just checking on Mr. Zelir’s recovery."

Eira finally noticed Marcus had approached. She cleared her throat and said with a serious expression.

"Chairman Hogan gave me specific instructions. Since Mr. Zelir is one of the association’s rare Mages, I’m to pay special attention to him."

After registering the quest members, Marcus announced that the squad was dismissed and that everyone should go home to prepare.

Since the Skeleton Soldiers only came out at night, they agreed to meet up the following evening.

「Dusk.」

The sky was a brilliant orange.

The four members of the Marcus Squad gathered on time at the gates of Black Stone Town.

The cemetery where Madam Adeline had spotted the Skeleton Soldiers was located on the western outskirts of Black Stone Town, in the opposite direction from Gray Wood Forest.

As the squad marched on, the view became much more open. There were far fewer of the sky-blotting ancient trees, which were replaced by rolling hills and sparse shrubbery.

Along the way, however, Gray noticed that Zelir was acting a bit strange.

His eyes were glued to the ground, and he kept starting and stopping as if he were searching for something.

"What are you looking for on the ground? Did you find some money?" Gray craned his neck, trying to see what Zelir was looking for.

"I’m looking for herbs," Zelir replied without looking up.

He spotted a small, peculiar-looking purple flower blooming by the roadside, so he carefully dug it out and placed it in his cloth pouch.

"When did you become a botanist?" Gray asked curiously.

"You wouldn’t understand," Zelir said without further explanation.

Ever since witnessing Instructor Manlin’s miraculous Extraction Skill, Zelir had developed a keen interest in Magic Potions.

’If concocted properly, they could be a huge help in battle.’

’The thing is, I still haven’t learned any Magic Potion Recipes. Asking Instructor Manlin directly would feel a bit rude, and since I’m supposedly incapable of learning Empowerment Magic, it would seem suspicious.’

’I’ll have to find a reasonable excuse to get Instructor Manlin to teach me a couple of them.’

And so, as the party advanced, Zelir continued to forage, collecting a dozen or so strange-looking plants along the way.

By now, the sky had grown completely dark, and the squad had arrived near their destination.