"Imina-san!"
"I know, I know, Rob. He’s going to be a colleague for this job… However, I really don’t want to see that guy’s face."
"—I don’t like it either."
"Well, if I had to pick between like and hate, I also dislike him. Even so, you still need to consider the situation."
Hekkeran, who broke into the conversation between Imina, who was showing a vexed face, and Roberdyck, helplessly shrugged.
"…Oi, oi, you still have to greet him afterwards, so don’t think about unpleasant thoughts, or they’ll show on your face, okay?"
"Do your best, leader."
Hekkeran frowned in response to Roberdyck’s encouragement, as though saying "don’t poke into other people’s businesses", and then walked towards the group of three.
The first person that greeted Hekkeran was a worker who wore a steel-blue suit of full plate armor. The design of the armor was oddly rounded, almost spherical. Due to the especially large pauldrons, the man wearing the armor appeared more like an upright beetle than a human.
However, after seeing that the helmet had a horn-like design which stuck out from the forehead, it became obvious that the armor was intended to look this way.
However, one thing that wasn’t intentional was the length of the man’s legs. They were very short. The sight of him wearing the armor was like a real rhinoceros beetle that had been forced to stand upright by children who were playing around. To put it in kinder terms, short legs like those of dwarves gave more stability. It was one of the traits which suited a warrior.
"Just as I had foreseen, thou also came, Hekkeran."
"Yo, Greenham. I thought the request wasn’t too bad so we came."
Hekkeran raised his hand as a gesture at the remaining two leaders in a casual manner. The two of them responded back without any unpleasantness. Although Hekkeran was the youngest and least experienced of the four of them here, his skills as a worker were on the same level as them.
"About your side…" Hekkeran said, after glancing over to Greenham’s team and quickly counting them. "There’s five of you. What happened to the rest?"
"Resting, recovering from fatigue. Due to our previous work being of similar nature, some of our members had to stay behind to help with the transportation and repair of damaged goods."
This man, Greenham, was the leader of 'Heavy Masher', a worker team comprising of fourteen members.
Having more members definitely had its advantages, such as having more options available in choosing how to handle each request. In particular, it provided the flexibility of being able to select the best suited members for each different request.
However, it was not without its disadvantages, such as receiving less income due to having to split the payment between more people, or running into more conflicts due to disagreements between members, which made it more difficult for them as a team to take fast action.
When taking into consideration the personalities of typical workers, it wouldn’t be unusual at all for a team to just suddenly disband. Being able to maintain full control over such a large team of workers demonstrated just how strong Greenham’s management and leadership skills were.
"Fuuhn, how tiring. How about supporting us so you can earn enough not to disappoint the comrades you left behind?"
"Thy suggestion is foolish. After we finish this job, bonuses will be given based on the leader’s performance. As unfortunate as it is, the best performance will naturally belong to me."
"Oi oi, spare me already. It’s fine to speak like you normally do."
Greenham simply grinned. Sensing that he had no intention of stopping, Hekkeran shrugged and turned towards the other man.
"I think it’s the first time we’ve met face-to-face."
Hekkeran stretched his hand out, with a "pleased to meet you" intention. The other man grasped it and shook back. He had a very strong grip.
He moved his eyes and stared directly at Hekkeran.
"—'Foresight', I’ve heard a lot about you."
It was a voice that sounded as clear as a bell, which matched very well with his appearance.
"Likewise, 'Tenmu'."
The genius swordsman that was undefeated in the arena, there wasn’t a single worker who wouldn’t recognize who he was. This man’s 'Tenmu', was in a sense a team composed purely of himself. Part of it was the reason why Imina made her previous unpleasant face.
"The sword genius who’s said to be a match for the Kingdom’s strongest, Gazef Stronoff. It’s reassuring to have your squad with us."
"Thank you. However, I think it’s about time for it to be said the other way around. That man should only be referred to as being able to match up to this Eruya Uzruth. "
"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.