In previous years, the wastelands during the lightning season were quite boring.
Thunderclouds constantly filled the sky. Even with lightning-proof equipment, the thunder still boomed in one's ears. Either one was used to the thunderous noises in the middle of the night, or … super thick earplugs were sold at all major stores. If you bought two sets now, you would even get a free eye mask. If you bought ten earplugs in one go, you would even get a black cloth to cover your eyes.
Cough, it seemed that I had gone astray. Let's not talk about the lifestyle businesses that came with it for the time being. There was also the mysteriously rising economic service industry. Getting back to the main topic, due to the lightning season, leaving the city became an incredibly difficult and tedious task.
Professional protective clothing and professional lightning-resistant magic armor were indeed capable of working in the wilderness during the lightning season. However, not only did this increase the cost, it also made it meaningless to leave the city in the normal sense … It was always thundering outside, and not even a rabbit could be seen. What was the point of going out to hunt, farm, or do business?
The reason why it was meaningless to leave the city in the normal sense was because there were still a few industries that could operate normally in such weather.
For example, as previously mentioned, natural lightning stones could be harvested during this season. There were also lightning elemental creatures with short lifespans, as well as precious lightning elemental materials. However, those who did such work were basically risking their lives. Protective clothing wasn't omnipotent, and magic armor's lightning-resistant capabilities were limited as well. If there was any damage or electricity leakage during battle, it was likely that the wearer would die without even knowing how.
However, high risks often brought high returns. In the Ansorenne, which was filled with the spirit of risk-taking (risking their lives for money), as long as there was a rumor of someone getting rich overnight, there would always be a few people willing to risk their lives for it.
Another industry was also related to mining. Although it was also rather risky, it was still within the safety limits — the daily mining of underground mines.
This wastelands was a sub-mining area for magical metals and ores. Before the Aishi People arrived, the Seymour tribe had already dug up a mess here. However, with the Aishi People's complete set of safe underground mining techniques, the mines were now much deeper than before.
With the dwarves' underground mining techniques and modern magical engineering tools, creating an underground maze was no problem at all.
It was also because they were underground that Lei Ji's lightning strikes could not affect them. Mining became one of the few jobs that Lei Ji could work normally.
However, it wasn't completely unaffected. The Thunder Elementals were born due to the high concentration of Thunder Elementals. Their range of activity wasn't limited to the surface. Sometimes, the mining area would be attacked by Thunder Elementals that suddenly appeared. Sometimes, the miners who were busy would witness the Thunder Elementals that were just born slaughtering everything around them.
Generally speaking, at this time, professional Warriors would be sent out to clean up the area, or elite teams would be sent out to guard the mining area.
Since Lei Ji didn't have many other adventure missions, many adventurers who were short of money were still willing to accept this job even though it was hard work and didn't earn much.
But this time, the situation was a little different.
"What? No garrison duty? Are you sure? Even if the churches are crazy enough to send out their main forces and elites to guard the mines, the non-church mines still need people. "
"… Don't you know? The board of directors just announced that Lei Ji is not allowed to take missions privately this year. All missions have to be taken from that Adventurer Union joint office. "
"Then wouldn't the quest at the market be meaningless? Even the quest to clear out the monsters was gone? How troublesome. "
"But there are also benefits. At the very least, that's what the advertisement says. The joint office or something will review and evaluate the missions. They won't let high-level adventurers run errands and waste manpower, nor will they let low-level adventurers fight baby dragons and elemental beasts."
"… That sounds like a good thing. I'm only interested in whether they'll charge extra for the missions."
"The advertisement says that they'll take a 10% commission for the missions. But I guarantee that they'll still earn more than before. After all, many of the missions in the past gave out too much commission, and there were far too many people who found all sorts of excuses to not pay up."
"I hope that they'll be able to do something good for the adventurers. Where's that joint office?"
"I think it's at the Aurora Plaza, right across from the Victory Building."
Some were complaining, some were hesitating, and some were indifferent. All sorts of thoughts and discussions erupted at the same time after all the adventure missions in Lei Ji had to be reviewed by the newly established organization.
"… This line is ridiculously long."
Opening the curtains, Rorschach was able to see the long line in front of the building across from his room.
The adventurer's guild's golden signboard was there, but the joint office on the first floor was already packed to the brim. Not only did the waiting crowd line out of the building, they even filled the entire Aurora Plaza.
Wild adventurers were all hot-blooded and impulsive. The competitive nature of their job class meant that they would definitely accumulate grudges against each other. Now that they were all packed together, more than ten fights had already occurred early in the morning.
"Hey, it's starting over there again. They're drawing their swords. Hurry, hurry, hurry, place your bets."
A familiar female voice from the window next door made Rorschach's eyebrows twitch. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, pretended that he didn't hear anything.
"Red swordsman, 500 God Coins. You don't know how terrifyingly fast a swordsman with a red horned helmet is. "
"That bald monk, 700. I think you don't know how strong a bald monk is."
"Ha, does a bald monk have a critical hit? I'm also betting on the red swordsman. This time, I'm going to win. Nana, don't even think about winning all of my pocket money … "
Rorschach became even more silent. This should be good news. Su Nanna and Su Xinqi had both come out of closed-door training. They should have leveled up as well. The Game Church should have become stronger as well.
However, why did they immediately participate in Isabella's bet? Did they finish all the work they had accumulated? While they were in closed-door training, their subordinates had to work overtime. Did they know how pitiful it was?
"Alright, Lori bet 1000 baldies. The bet is even. That's my adopted sister. That's the true meaning of 'baldies are the symbol of bosses.'"
Alright, even a God from the Game Church had personally participated. Rorschach, who had originally planned to make a list of all the troublemakers, had nothing to say.
"Can a bald monk really increase critical hits? Can shaving one's head really make one stronger? "
This pure young girl's voice sounded rather familiar … Oh, Isabella, she even dragged Ariel, who had just arrived, into the bet. However, she actually believed that woman's nonsense? She was far too pure.
"Of course, if you don't believe me, you can shave …"
Hey, hey, hey, isn't this too much? Do you think it's easy for a half-elf girl to have long hair and tie it into a ponytail? How can you casually shave someone's head?
"… Shave all of Rorschach's hair. You should have been stronger than him before. You'll know after you shave all your hair and fight him."
What does this have to do with me!? Am I being implicated even though I'm lying down? Isabella! Is there anyone who scams their boyfriend like you!?
"Yep, that's a good idea. He worked overtime last night, so he should still be sleeping. We'll help you hold him down while you do it. Even if he wakes up and finds that his head is cold, as a lolicon, he won't be angry at you."
Damn you, Su Nanna, not only did you exaggerate things, you even gave me extra stats that I didn't need! Since when was I a lolicon!? I clearly like Lori … Wait a moment, I was almost dragged into a trap. Lori wasn't a loli. Although Lori looked like a loli, a loli who looked like a loli wasn't Lori … I think I'm messing up.
The more Rorschach spoke, the more exaggerated his words became. Seeing that his feelings were about to turn into action, Rorschach fell silent and walked to the door.
He first locked the door, then piled the table behind the door. He also took out some anti-lightning earplugs. Even if he couldn't win or dodge, he could at least deceive himself.
As far as Seiji could see, the fight over there had come to an end.
Perhaps the red-clothed swordsman who lost his red horned helmet was truly a noob, or perhaps the bald monk really was capable of increasing critical hits and combos. Perhaps the bald monk really was the one who was showing off … and then, he was taken away by the security guards.
"Tsk, fighting in private, and in public? Starting from 10 days of confinement."
As the security guards got involved, the situation downstairs became even more chaotic.
Now that there was a large crowd, it would attract all sorts of strange people. The priests who were preaching their religions would forcefully compete with each other. The mobile lunch vendors were running away from the security guards. Even the smiths from the weapon shops were bringing complete sets of swords and armor to the scene to sell.
Rorschach saw Pheles and Wendill near the entrance of the adventurer's association building. These two powerful individuals also had ugly expressions. No matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem like a great success at all.
In just one short week, the board of directors had forcefully pushed through a religious bill, and now they were pushing for a new adventurer's association … This was obviously taking advantage of this thunderous season to forcefully integrate Vila Nova Dônia's territory, politics, and free adventurers. This would cause more trouble for the two new church leaders who were about to join.
But judging from the current situation, this wasn't just causing more trouble for the newcomers. If this wasn't handled well, even the Radiant Scroll and the Eagle Crown would be negatively affected.
The current chaos was no small matter. The fact that there were people lining up outside the office meant that the current administrative structure was unable to satisfy the adventurers' needs. The entire adventurer's market in Vila Nova Dônia had been paralyzed by this new law. The new adventurer's association had become an obstacle to the adventurers' curses, rather than the support and helper that was advertised.
"Although it's a custom for the veterans to bully and play pranks on the newcomers, if the veterans mess it up, they'll be looked down upon by the newcomers. Heh, it seems that they're going to go overboard this time …"
* Boom! *
A sudden loud noise rang out right next to his ear, and a sudden chill above his head woke Rorschach up from his contemplation.
Rorschach, who was wearing earplugs, suddenly turned around with an expression of disbelief and shock. Although the door was fine, the thin wall had been easily shattered by the Draconic Warrior.
The "young girl" in front of him was smiling awkwardly as she carefully hid her razor and scissors behind her back. This caused Rorschach to feel fear.
"… Did the 'newcomer' succeed? What's Rorschach doing? A ranger was ambushed just like that. As his ranger teacher, I feel so ashamed! "
Yep, Su Nanna, if you didn't secretly laugh, I would have almost believed it.
"I can't believe it. The newcomer actually believed it? How could such a ridiculous prank work? Just how pure does she have to be to fall for such a prank? "
Alright then, it seemed that the two shameless old men weren't the only ones who treated pranks on newcomers as a custom.
"… Don't say that. My older sister's really smart. She's just, just, just … very trusting. Yep, she believes in us. "
Su Xinqi, don't help your older sister explain. She's so embarrassed that she's about to bang her head against the wall.
Meanwhile, the sounds coming from the hole in the wall made the situation even more awkward …
"Mirror!"
After a long while, Rorschach finally managed to squeeze out a sentence. He then handed a round mirror to the silent Ariel.
"What the hell!?"
Rorschach was speechless.
"… You look really good with a wig, really."
After a long while, Ariel finally found some words of consolation. She then handed over a fluffy silver wig.
"You even have two ponytails for wigs!?"
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