adventurers in the sewers

Louis manages the team's collective funds.

"I think we cooperated quite well in this project, how about we form a long-term team?"

Louis suggested.

Dina naturally had no objections, and Nora nodded slightly after thinking for a moment.

"So what should we call our team? And we should decide on the team leader as soon as possible."

"Dina said."

She turned her gaze to Louis:

"I think Louis would be a good choice as captain. Wasn't he the one who led the fight against the goblins?"

Nora glanced at Louis and said:

"The vote is two to one, it seems we have no choice but to make Louis the captain."

"But considering how much I've conceded, shouldn't you let me have the right to name the team?"

"Uh, okay, but please don't give me a really outrageous name."

Louis sensed a hint of displeasure in Nora's tone, suggesting that the girl had also considered becoming the captain.

He certainly wanted to be the captain himself, so if Nora was willing to compromise, it wouldn't hurt to give her the right to name the team.

Nora pretended to be deep in thought, and after a long while, she slowly uttered a name:

"The Sewer Squad, I think that's a pretty good name."

Louis's face immediately darkened.

Daina was even more confused.

Rather than objecting to the strange name, she'd rather complain about it first.

"Why name it after a sewer? Does this word have any special meaning?"

Nora said in a lighthearted tone:

"Don't ask me that kind of question, ask Louis."

"Louis, stop hiding it. It's not something shameful; it's just the path you came from."

Daina turned to look at Louis again, looking somewhat anxious.

She felt that the two of them were hiding something from her.

Louis had no choice but to briefly recount his rise to power. When he got to the part about searching for the hero's corpse, he stopped talking because of the many people around him.

After carrying several sacks of corpse materials back to Nora's house, he told Dina about his search for the hero's corpse.

The two sides have already established enough trust, and the Hero's Tome has already "fallen into the river" and can no longer be found, so there's nothing wrong with being honest with Dina.

He wasn't honest at first because he hadn't gotten Nora's consent, but after an adventure, Nora chose to trust her teammate.

"I see. So you went through all this twenty days ago."

"The opportunity you mentioned before, was it referring to the hero's corpse?"

After hearing these secrets, Daina was surprisingly not surprised; instead, she felt it was only natural.

After all, she had long suspected that Louis harbored some secrets, such as his bizarre speed of becoming stronger and his seemingly superb swordsmanship that appeared out of nowhere.

Making a living in the sewers and incidentally finding the corpse of a hero—it's absurd, but not so absurd for Louis.

"It's a pity that the Hero's Codex was washed away, otherwise Louis, you might have been able to gain the Hero's Codex's approval."

"Then we'll become the first hero team in Blackrock City's history."

Dai Na felt somewhat regretful.

Louis: "Yes, after all, who wouldn't want to be a hero who saves humanity? But we're just ordinary adventurers; the legend of heroes is still too far removed from our lives."

In short, thanks to Nora's quirky sense of humor and her strong push, the name "Sewer Squad" was officially settled.

Everyone agreed to take a three-day break before accepting new assignments.

……

"Brother, and Sister Daina, welcome back!"

At the doorstep, Merry excitedly welcomed the two into the house.

Louis patted his younger brother's head and explained:

"The caravan's goods sold out very quickly, in just a day and a half, so I came back ahead of schedule."

"Your brother did a good job in auditing, so the manager gave me three days off. I'll probably go out with the caravan again after three days."

"So for the next three days, your sister Daina and I will spend some quality time with you."

The little guy was very happy when he heard that he could rest for three days, but when he heard that his older brother would have to leave the city with the caravan after three days, his face showed worry.

After hesitating for a moment, Merry tilted her little face up and said firmly:

"Brother, I want to take the magic aptitude test!"

Louis was slightly taken aback.

Magic adaptability test? What's that?

Dai Na offered an explanation from the side:

"It seems to be an activity launched by the Professionals Association in recent years."

"Every six months on a fixed date, children aged eight to fifteen can have their magic aptitude tested by paying 50 copper coins."

"It is said that the emergence of heroes in this generation has alerted all human nations and professional associations, prompting them to seek out more people who have the potential to become extraordinary professionals."

"In short, this is something that the professional association is doing even at a loss. If Merry wants to get tested, let him give it a try."

Merry nodded and said:

"Brother, Sister Daina, I only found out about this from people passing by outside the window discussing it."

"Although... although it's a bit unrealistic, I really hope my magic adaptability is higher, so that I can become a professional and protect my brother in the future."

"But fifty copper coins is a lot of money..."

Towards the end, Merry's tone lost confidence, and she lowered her head, seemingly contemplating giving up.

Louis felt a warmth in his heart and smiled:

"Go ahead and try it if you want. When the magic adaptability test day comes, your brother will take you to get tested."

"Don't be afraid to spend money. If you're really talented, you can easily earn this little bit of money."

Hearing her brother's support, a light immediately shone in Merry's uneasy eyes.

"Yes, thank you, brother."

The little one smiled happily, his glossy silver hair swaying slightly, his gray eyes pure, and his delicate face, so exquisite that it was hard to tell if he was male or female, seemed to glow.

Louis smiled with satisfaction.

Then he heard Merry turn and walk toward the kitchen:

"I'll go cook."

Louis's expression changed immediately, and he quickly said:

"No! I'll cook today! Besides, we're not hungry right now, we can eat later!"

I didn't have a choice before, but now that I have money and cooking skills, eating Merry's terrible food would be just asking for trouble.

Three uneventful days passed in a flash.

Louis and Dana leave home and reunite with Nora at the Adventurers' Guild.

After meeting, the three of them didn't exchange many words and went straight to the commission section to select suitable commissions.

Fortunately, Blackrock City is a large city, and a large number of new commissions are posted every day.

They need to find a safer city or a smaller town. They only look for commissions when they're close to an adventure, so they simply can't find a suitable one.

But even if Blackrock City is large, it's impossible for a commission that perfectly meets all of Louis's needs to come every day.

He looked around the task list but couldn't find a task that perfectly suited his needs.

Oh, there are quite a few requests to hunt goblins, after all, they're everywhere, and their reproductive capacity and environmental adaptability are astonishing.

But it's frustrating to fight this thing without losing some useful skills.

Just as Louis was hesitating about whether to be a "Goblin Slayer" again, a very flamboyant man suddenly rushed into the guild.

He was dressed in silk clothes, had a large belly, and his thick, radish-like fingers and neck were glittering with gold, making him look exactly like a nouveau riche.

As soon as he rushed in, the man waved a portrait in his hand and said anxiously:

"My son is missing! I'm posting a request; I'll give five gold coins to anyone who finds him!"

Five gold coins?!

This is a big deal!

Louis, Dana, and Nora, three people who were desperately short of money, all looked up at the same time, their eyes involuntarily glued to the obese man.

Louis soon noticed the portrait the man was holding high and waving, and his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Although this portrait is painted, it uses expensive oil painting techniques and is quite realistic.

Louis recognized the person in the painting at a glance.

It was that naive blond boy who was tricked by the Red Fox Squad.

Good heavens, it's been four or five days already, and that boy still hasn't returned?

Could it be that after the Red Fox Squad was wiped out, he didn't return to Blackrock City and went off to carry out the mission alone?

I hope my hot-blooded manga protagonist doesn't turn out like this.