THE LORD IS TOO OVERBEARING

As apparently the party was a group of people that Basil knew, the tension between the two sides calmed down. Although the rest of Team 4 didn't actually understand the history between the Knights of Hauler and Basil, it didn't stop them to know of each other.

"Hi! My name is Jocelyn Everton! What is yours, Miss. Elf?!" Upon hearing this word, Effie, who was ready to rebuke Basil once again, stopped talking. She turned around, and grasped Jocelyn's extended hand. "M-My name is Effie."

Jocelyn's eyes lit up, as she vigorously shook Effie's hand. "What a beautiful name! Do you mind if we become friends?! Anyway, that red haired lady over there is Alexandra. Ah! Who is this beautiful black haired lady beside you?!"

While Effie was overwhelmed with Jocelyn's brightness, on the man's side, Robert was surrounded by Steven and Jake. Like Effie, he looked overwhelmed by the enthusiasm the people surrounding him was showing.

"Hello, my name's Jake!"

"O-Oh! My name is Robert Tempest. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jake." Robert shook Jake's offered hand slightly in horror. 'Is this guy a giant or something?' It was his first time seeing someone as tall and overly muscular as Jake up close.

Right when Jake let go of Robert's hand, Steven quickly grabbed it. "Yo! Name's Steven. You can call me Steve or Steven. Nice to meet you, Robert!"

"O-Oh, yes. Nice to meet you, Mr. Steven."

"Uwahhh! You are so formal." Steven let go of Robert's hand, and took a good look at Robert. "Ah, are you perhaps uncomfortable being called that way by a commoner?" Judging by Robert's awkward expression, he couldn't help but conclude so.

Contrary to Steven's expectation however, Robert quickly waved his hand. "I was—I was just ... Surprised. You act different from the rumour I heard people spread."

"Rumour? What kind of rumour?" Steven was equally puzzled and intrigued.

"That Knights hate Mages to their Core..." Robert muttered.

Steven quirked his eyebrow, then turned to Jake. Robert quickly widened his eyes as he thought he might have offended the two somehow. Even before he managed to apologize however, Steven and Jake laughed loudly.

"Hahahaha! Jake, can you believe it? This guy just made a good pun!"

"Kuhahaha! I'm surprised too! I didn't know that Mages also have a sense of humour."

"Huh? W-What is happening?" Robert blinked his eyes in confusion and slight bewilderment. He didn't think he had said something funny; he had even thought he had said something rude.

Sylvia, who was looking at the laughing duo, sighed helplessly, then turned her eyes at Basil. 'Those two ... If only they acted like this guy, they would really look like a Knight, not an idiot.'

Looking around at the other Mages that were definitely feeling awkward, she suddenly remembered something. "Now that I realized it, where is Norman?"

"Norman?" Steven turned to Sylvia. "Now that you said it ... Isn't he supposed to be behind the wall?" He pointed his finger to the wall near the opened door. "Oi! Norman, get out!"

At the lack of answer, Steven turned to Thompson. The latter responded the former's gaze with his own awkward gaze, and turned to Basil. "You didn't accidentally kill him, did you?" As soon as he said that, everyone's head turned to Basil.

Even Iliana, who knew how meticulous Basil was, also turned her head to him. Different from the others though, she didn't doubt Basil in the least bit; she was just doing it to "enjoy the fun."

Receiving the people's gaze, Basil lightly shrugged. "Accident happens."

"EEEHHHH!!!" The reaction came from the Knights as soon as Basil finished his word.

Giving the Knights a light smirk. "Of course, it rarely happens to me."

Snap!

Basil snapped his finger once, and a blade came flying inside the room through the doorway before entering his Spatial Ring. Not longer after, footsteps could be heard approaching the doorway, and Norman finally showed himself.

Although he looked pissed as usual, he seemed to be more pissed currently; anyone could see it from how deep his scowl was. Turning his head to Basil, Norman clicked his tongue once, then moved beside Thompson wordlessly.

'Tch! Why didn't he let go of me the moment he let go of the others? I was so close to embarrass myself by asking him to let me go!' His scowl became even deeper at the thought.

"Are you okay, grumpy old man?" Sylvia asked Norman.

"Shut up, meat shield!"

"Haah?! Who are you calling meat shield?! Are you looking down on my Aura Ability?!"

"Do you think you have any right to scold me after what you call me?!"

Thompson facepalmed, and heaved an exasperated sigh; he was slightly embarrassed at his party who, most of the time, couldn't read the situation well. Looking at Iliana awkwardly, he immediately bowed his head apologetically.

"You have a rowdy party," Iliana commented while looking at the bantering duo.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I assure you they are all professional at their job."

Iliana shrugged. "I don't mind. At least they have the consideration to quarrel with a small voice." Cupping her chin, she continued, "They are quite well-mannered in my opinion."

Thompson scratched the side of his head, and laughed awkwardly. "Aha-ha-ha. Please, spare me from the embarrassment." Turning his gaze to Basil, he opened his mouth hesitantly. "Basil... I am not trying to be rude but... How ... How did you—"

Basil raised his hand, and Thompson stopped speaking. "It is not a talk that just anyone can hear. You just have to know that I survived."

"Ah, I see..." Thompson nodded his head in understanding. Stepping slightly forward, he lowly muttered, "We have reported your case to the Guild, but they told us to keep what happened to ourselves." He bowed apologetically. "We are sorry we couldn't do anything."

"Well, Basil himself didn't even need anyone's help in the very first place. So, I am sure you can chase your guilt away." Iliana waved her hand. "Let's talk about a more important thing. Although we have already known you, I still have to ask you, what is your purpose of coming here?"

As the people in the room weren't talking loudly despite how passionate their tone was, they could hear Thompson and Iliana's conversation quite well. Therefore when they sensed a serious talk was coming, all of them quickly behaved themselves.

The Knights of Hauler lined themselves up behind Thompson and Steven who was on his side; the students of Team 4 stood slightly behind Iliana and Basil.

"Actually, we are..." Thompson took out a small wooden plate with a glowing insignia carved on it, and presented it to Iliana. "We are the Mercenaries hired by the Guild to help the Kingdom." He was showing her his Mercenary Token.

"Hoh? To think you have come this far ... It's strange that we didn't meet even once."

"Actually, we have just arrived here today. We came from Crownveil Dukedom—from the west—so we didn't meet you who came here from the east."

"I see..." Iliana nodded her head once, and waited until Thompson had stored his Mercenary Token. "Then, what are you going to do from now on?"

"Oh, we are just going to slay some Monsters and help the civilians." Pointing his thumb to the window, Thompson continued, "We will start from that group."

Iliana quirked her eyebrow. "That group, huh? Very well. I will have to ask you to wait until we finish our investigation first."

"Yes?"

"That means, you have to postpone attacking the Monsters for the moment." Pointing to the horde 100 meters away, she continued, "There are many of those guys. If you attacked them now, we wouldn't have an easy time to investigate."

"What are you exactly going to do?"

"We are going to approach the horde, and observe them. That means, writing down anything about them: their amount, grades, and kinds."

"How long will it take you to do that?"

"Probably an hour ... Maybe less, if nothing unexpected happens."

Thompson hummed to himself, and the mood suddenly became tense once again. Each sides were looking at each other in slight awkwardness, as they could feel a disagreement was forming between the two.

"We can't wait that long."

"What do you mean 'that long?' It's just an hour." Iliana quirked her eyebrow.

"We are not here to only exterminate the Monsters, but also save the people." Turning his body slightly to the window, Thompson gestured at the horde. "Look at what those Monsters are doing; they are eating humans!"

"I don't care," Iliana coldly stated. "I can't let you endanger my team's life just so you can save dead bodies. Just so you know, our life worth more than theirs, even when they were still alive."

"As I expected, no matter who they are, Mages are..." Thompson shook his head in slight disappointment. "We are not going to save a bunch of dead bodies; the Monsters are entrapping people in the cage they made. We are going to save those people, before they get eaten. If we wait for another hour—"

"They might have gotten eaten?" Iliana chuckled humorlessly. "Therefore I am asking you, does it have something to do with us?" She stared at Thompson neutrally. "Tell me what you are offering us."

Right after hearing what Iliana said, the Knights frowned; they didn't quite catch where the conversation was heading to. Different from the Knights however, the Mages were nodding their head in understanding.

"I will give you this." Thompson took out a piece of paper out of his Spatial Ring, and gave it to Iliana. "This is everything about the horde that we have investigated earlier."

"Oh! So, that's the case. I can't believe I forgot about it!" Sylvia knocked her head, as the other Knights nodded their head in realization.

Iliana glanced at the paper briefly, and nodded her head afterward. "It's a great trade. Thank you for doing our job for us." She extended her hand forward.

Thompson looked at her offered hand briefly, before grabbing it with a sigh. 'Mages are really...' Although he believed that not every Mage was like Iliana, he was sure that Mages were generally as logical and cold-hearted as her.

"Very well. With this we are—"

Thompson's word was interrupted by the shaking ground.

Rubmble!

Everyone's eyes instantly turned to the window, at the direction of the horde. As they did so, their eyes quickly widened in shock upon seeing the scene in front of them.

Almost half of the Demon horde was coming their way.

Unlike the others however, Basil smirked and muttered, "They are coming ... My training dummies." His Sealing Sword appeared in his hand afterward.