Frankly speaking, Rheia’s attempt at explaining was like trying to cover fire with a dry blanket. If she had not gone deeper, things would have been fine. Now that she had explained it, most sane mercenary groups would not even bother with the suicidal request. It was clear that the young mage was not the type to peddle snake oil, and she would do better at cursing someone to their face. But today was Rheia’s lucky day. Not only did she find a group of “mercenaries” who were brave enough to take requests, but they seemed to be totally clueless about the Great Pit.

Hao Ren did not realize Rheia’s tone as he was busy thinking about how he could get more information on the world from the little mage. He nodded without much thought because the latter’s explanation went into the left ear and out the right. “Ah, that’s fine, that’s fine. Danger is a part of the course…”

Rheia was worried that the group would turn tail and run once they heard “the Great Pit” but she never expected Hao Ren to react like that way. Her eyes widened. “Huh? You… agreed just like that?”

Only then did Hao Ren recover from his thoughts and feel that something was off. “Uh, is there a problem?”

“We are going near the Great Pit… Are you sure about facing this danger?” Rationality advised Rheia that she should not be emphasizing the dangers of the Great Pit, but as a kind person, she could not help herself. “Of course we will not really enter the pit itself, but we may run into ancient wanderers and shadow-corrupted… Ahem, obviously, I’m glad that you’re willing to take the commission.”

Vivian then continued, “Of course, we understand the dangers, but we’re pretty confident in our abilities. Plus, like you’ve promised, we won’t be going into the pit itself, right?”

“Absolutely! Rheia the Great Sage would not lie!” The little mage puffed her chest up. “Besides, I still want to live, I would not go in there myself.”

Hao Ren secretly threw Vivian an appreciative glance, while the latter rolled her eyes, indicating that he should not space out at such critical moments.

After that little episode, Hao Ren got into the mood and asked questions like a professional mercenary, “So when do we depart?”

“If you do not need any further preparations, we can leave before noon tomorrow. Of course, we can delay it to the day after as well. But the sooner the better.” Rheia seemed to be very interested in the ruins. “While the ruins will not run away, the magical items there are degrading every day, and many important archaeological digs have been lost due to delays in excavation.

“In that case, we should leave tomorrow.” Nangong Sanba nodded. “But provided if you are able to provide us the supplies needed for the search. We just arrived, and it will be difficult for us to gather them ourselves.”

“Naturally. That is a basic rule.” Rheia smiled, appearing to be in a good mood. “Then, please rest in this tower for the night. After the door, just follow the spiral stairs to the second floor for the guest rooms. The rooms are sufficient for you, and there are golems cleaning the rooms now and then so it can be used at any time. So just make yourself at home. The golems will also serve dinner to your rooms. My only request is to not enter the areas beyond the third floor and the basement, where my lab is. The tower’s defense core and energy well are all located there. I will not be responsible if anyone gets gibbed while wandering around.”

Hao Ren had no objections, and he agreed.

Rheia then indicated that she wanted to study her ancient tomes and magical problems. Following that, she allowed Hao Ren and the rest free use of the first and second floor. Before she bid them goodnight, Hao Ren pretended to ask for a tiny favor. “Oh yea, if it is possible, could you lend us a few books to read?”

“Books? Rheia was surprised. “What sort of books.”

“Books on the local culture and history. If it has to do with our venture later it would be better,” Hao Ren said with a smile as he tried to present the look of an industrious learner. “It’s still too early to sleep. I’m used to reading before bed.”

“Wow, that is a rare hobby to have in a mercenary group.” Rheia gasped in surprise before she smiled. “But seeing that half of your small team is of the caster class, this is not too hard to imagine, I suppose. No problem. While my grimoires are off-limits, there are plenty of books in the tower, and there’s a study on the second floor. You can take a look at the books there. Just remember to put them back.”

After thanking the youthful mage, Hao Ren and the rest bid Rheia a goodnight and went to the guest rooms on the second floor.

“Plans sure can’t form when there are situational changes. We somehow became mercenaries and accepted a commission from a young mage to search an underground ruin,” Nangong Sanba said with a slight sigh. “We were looking for the goddess of creation when we started…”

Lily pursed her lips as she wagged her tail. “That’s nothing too weird. Since when have Mr. Landlord’s plans survive the first contact. He even thought he was going to an interview for an office job when he paid Raven 12345 a visit. So it’s no surprise that things have gotten derailed now.”

Hao Ren gave Lily a sideways glare. “…You seem to be in a good mood?”

“Yep! Yep! Being a mercenary, exploring ruins, earning a paycheck, digging up loot!” As she spoke, Lily’s eyes gleamed. “I just love this sort of situations! This was the main plot in one of the novels I wrote in the past. I didn’t get a kick out of our mercenary-ing in Holletta!”

“Sure can’t depend on you to be serious for once.” Vivian facepalmed. “Go back to your rooms then. I’ll go to the study to get some information with Hao Ren and try to get some basic information on this world. Anyone coming?”

“Me! Me! I don’t want to sleep yet!” Lily literally bounced over. “I love books!”

“I’ll go back to my room. I don’t want to read… Uwaaahhh!” Y’lisabet pouted then screamed.

Before she could take a second step, her father grabbed her by the neck and dragged her to the study as he lectured her. “A child should read more. Learning new things while your brain is still young is the best. Stop thinking about playing all day…”

In the end, everyone went to the study, even Rollie: the catgirl had no interest in books whatsoever, she was just worried that everyone was going somewhere to eat and leaving her out…

Under any circumstances, a mage would need to be well-learned and have an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Even the most downtrodden of mages would not be stingy with their book collections. Even Rheia and her unreliable masters were the same. The dilapidated tower actually had a large collection of books; while they may have paled in comparison to the collections belonging to richer mages of higher status, in the eyes of a commoner, the rows of books against the walls could be described as a “mountain of books”.

The study on the second floor was just one of the libraries within the tower. It mostly had common books about the local culture and sagas of ancient heroes while the more precious tomes of magic were totally missing. It was clear that the room was meant for guests of the tower. Using knowledge to entertain one’s guest was proper etiquette to a mage.

The semi-circle study was not too big, but it could fit Hao Ren and his team. After entering the study, Hao Ren saw four rows of book racks that extended all the way to the ceiling, and before the racks was a sliding wooden ladder. Between the racks were three wide french windows with the night view clearly visible.

It appeared that whoever built the tower was not like the gloomy and conservative traditionalist mages who tended to build their homes with a foreboding atmosphere in it. Those wide french windows were enough to make any visitor feel welcome.

Hao Ren looked around as he started to delegate duties. “Let’s split up to look for intel. Lily and Rollie, the first rack. The Nangongs, both of you take the second rack. Y’zaks and Y’lisabet, the third is yours. Vivian and I will look at the fourth. Read anything that allows you to understand this world better. MDT, you’re on scanning duty. Search for anything to do with the Great Pit, historical or legend, it doesn’t matter.”

“I have a question.” Lily raised her hand. “Why is Rollie paired with me. She’s obviously of no help!”

“The most educated and the least educated together in a group would make progress balanced, no?”

“…That sounds almost reasonable.”

After their duties were delegated, everyone started to busy themselves between the racks. As they had the aid of the translation plugin and data-processing link, it acted like a laser scan even when they were just skimming through the pages. The world’s true identity soon became clear to all.

Hao Ren was reading a book called “The Frost Wolves – The History of the Ten Northern Kingdoms” as he approached Vivian. “How is Noobie?”

Vivian raised her left hand and focused her mind. Simultaneously, a mist-like thing started to wiggle as Noobie took form. The little one was confused at being summoned out of the blue, and she stared at Hao Ren for a good two seconds. Her chaotic red eyes were unreadable, but she then reacted to show her vigilance and hostility. “Sha… Biubiubiu!”

Hao Ren simply raised his hand to block her weak-as-water shadow bolts. “If you do more biubiubiu-ing, I’ll send you to Raven 12345 to eat noodles every day!”

“Eek!!”

“But if you behave, you can stay with us, and you’ll have meat to eat every day.”

The little one pondered hard before she nodded furiously.

“You see, she can behave.” Hao Ren threw Vivian a gleeful look. “So, you can control that thing freely now? Just like your little bats?”

“It’s not that easy.” Vivian sighed. “I tried earlier. I can only summon or absorb her back into my body. Other than that, she won’t listen to me. It’s still quite a difference compared with my bats.”

Hao Ren thought for a bit. “Well, she’s easier to carry around now.”

When it came to that, Vivian nodded in agreement.