So-Called Friends

Lange arrived, and he brought new quest commissions with him.

The stamped recommendation from the previous village had unexpectedly raised their adventuring band's evaluation to Two-Star.

Because of this, the commissions they could accept had also increased quite a bit.

This probably had something to do with the rescued girls as well.

“Young Master, these are the quest commissions for this time...” After handing over the commissions, Lange sat down next to Ogre, which was directly across from Folke.

This was the seat Ogre had cleared for him.

“Ogre, do you want to take a look?” After flipping through them, Folke looked up and asked Ogre, who was currently leafing through today's Dandelion Daily.

Ogre set aside the complimentary newspaper and reached out. “Let me have a look.”

He had nothing else to do while waiting for the food anyway.

“Find a slime mimicking a dragon... clear the monsters near Deke Village to the west... investigate the mana-swamp crocodile attacks... investigate the missing adventuring band cases...”

Although their team was short-handed due to a severely injured teammate, the range of commissions they could accept had gradually widened.

As Ogre flipped through these quests, he could vaguely sense that they would be somewhat difficult.

‘What kind of garbage commissions did they take...’

Ogre handed the commissions back and gave a calm suggestion, “Reject a few of these. We should take it one step at a time. Investigation quests are mostly detective work. When it comes to the efficiency of these broad tasks, we can't compete with professionals. Combat is where our strengths lie.”

Hearing this, both Lange and Folke froze for a moment. Then, Folke took back the papers. “You're right. We were taking things for granted.”

“If we want to rank up quickly, material gathering quests are actually a good choice,” Ogre suggested. “Although they might not give as many evaluation points, we can complete some of them on the side while doing monster-clearing quests.”

He could tell that the young master in front of him didn't really want to cheat or take shortcuts.

If it were before, Ogre would have definitely complained in his mind—you already chose to exploit a loophole, so why put on this performance now?

But he wouldn't do so now. He realized that Folke might not simply be trying to exploit a loophole just to get into the Serris Academy.

‘He probably... wants to prove himself...’ Ogre suddenly thought of Folke's uncle.

It was highly possible that this uncle of his also intended to test Folke's capabilities.

In such a grand noble family system, they probably didn't truly care about whether their scion cheated or not, but they definitely cared about their scion's actual capabilities.

A family could have profligate sons, but its helmsman had to be capable.

‘If I weren't here, this really might have served as a test of his ability...’ Only when Ogre thought of this did he realize that he seemed to have become Folke's “cheating” tool.

Normally, no matter how many people Folke and Lange's adventuring band recruited, Folke should have been the core. It would have been a significant test of his decision-making and leadership skills.

But because of his own addition, the process seemed to have veered slightly off course...

Ogre could guarantee that among the apprentices in this area, absolutely no one was more adapted to the Forest of Monsters than he was.

“You're right, Ogre. We'll go reorganize the commissions in a bit.” After a brief thought, Folke also nodded in agreement with Ogre's suggestion. He didn't even notice—he was beginning to value Ogre's opinion more and more.

But this was only natural; after all, that was a guy who could solo and kill two opponents with Professional-level combat strength back-to-back.

Honestly, Folke felt that even if he didn't suppress his advancement and became a Professional mage, he probably still wouldn't be a match for Ogre.

Ogre's combat performance in that state was simply too exaggerated.

Was this really the strength an apprentice should possess?

And where did that lightning power come from?

With constant contact, instead of decreasing, Ogre's secrets seemed to only multiply in Folke's eyes.

However, he wouldn't be foolish enough to ask directly. Everyone had their own secrets. If Ogre didn't bring it up, he wouldn't ask.

“I'm only offering a reference.” Ogre tapped the dining table with his finger, looking at Folke seriously as he said, “Folke, you must remember that you are the captain. You are the leader. The only one who can truly make the decisions here is you, and it will always only be you.”

Since he had already decided to help Folke become a true adventurer, some things had to be made clear.

“No, no, no, I'd still prefer to treat you as a friend,” Folke quickly waved his hands. “It's not easy to make a few friends. I don't want to bring that family stuff here.”

“How did you suddenly become so polite? You weren't like this before.” Lange threw an arm over Ogre's shoulders and began to tease him.

“Friends...”

In the past, if someone draped an arm over Ogre's shoulders, he would instantly become alert or even retaliate.

But now, Ogre didn't show much of a reaction.

Picking up his half-finished drink and taking another sip, Ogre finally dropped his serious expression and smiled. “Perhaps I was being too sensitive...”

Flowers may bloom again, but youth never returns.

Why did youth need to overthink so much?

Hesitating over every little thing—it only made him seem like a piece of half-dead wood...

He lived such an exhausting life that he sometimes forgot he was only just past sixteen.

‘Friends... Perhaps I can try a different way of getting along with them...’

“Come on, let's eat first. I've been starving for ages.” Lange retracted his hand, picked up a lobster that had just been served, and began to tear into it.

Meanwhile, other dishes were served one after another.

Folke took a plate containing a steak and pushed it in front of Ogre. “I remember you eat steak. Give it a try; the beef here tastes much better than that previous tavern's.”

During their very first gathering, Ogre had indeed eaten steak.

“Thanks.” Ogre hadn't expected Folke to actually remember such a minor detail.

“Don't mention it,” Folke said with a smile.

“Exactly, why be polite with the young master? You weren't this polite before. What's wrong, Ogre? We've fought alongside each other. Why are you suddenly acting so formal?” Lange nudged Ogre with his elbow, then burst out laughing as if he had just witnessed something hilarious.

Through companionship, some people would let down their masks, while others merely swapped them for a new one...

“Alright then, I won't be polite either. We'll have another fight later to fulfill your dream,” Ogre shot back without hesitation.

This instantly cut off Lange's booming laughter.

Recalling the harsh words he had blustered when they first met, Lange's expression visibly turned awkward. “I was just saying...”

“Hahaha, alright, Ogre. Here, dip it in some salad and butter sauce. It's boring to eat it plain...” Watching this play out, Folke couldn't help but laugh.

Sometimes, smiles were merely transferred.

“It's not just talk.” Ogre cut a piece of steak. After dipping it in the seasoning, he ultimately decided to eat it plain—he really hadn't been in the mood for anything sweet lately.

“Serandic promised to teach you martial techniques. Since he isn't here, as his senior brother, I should fulfill that task for him.” Ogre then added, “Oh, and don't worry. I won't charge you.”

Speaking of martial techniques, Lange did recall some memories.

Before meeting Ogre and Serandic, Lange had always felt that martial arts were just flashy but impractical things—rather than practicing those, it was better to train one's physical constitution and battle qi. Once he could practice battle techniques in the future, wouldn't releasing his battle qi externally be much more satisfying?

But after being humbled several times and witnessing Ogre's battle soloing a Professional-tier goblin, Lange's impression of martial arts had gradually improved quite a bit.

“Then it's a promise. You aren't allowed to hold anything back!”

“It's a promise.”