The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild - Chapter 21

Chapter 21   Alric’s Agony

The Cotter brothers stared in shock at the shattered remains of the Stormbird.

They couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.

“No way. An A-class archer? We didn’t hear anything about that.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t possibly report this to the guild master.”

“What do you mean, what are we going to do? We…”

They were at a complete loss, bewildered by this unexpected turn of events.

Monica, seeing that her arrow had defeated the Stormbird, sank to the ground.

The tension and sense of doom that had gripped her dissipated, replaced by a wave of exhaustion.

As she sat there, she noticed something sparkling falling towards her.

It was a bundle of the Stormbird’s feathers.

Driven by the bird’s own wind power, the feathers seemed to float down to her knees as if returning to their master.

Monica gathered the bundle of Stormbird feathers in her hands and held them close to her chest.

(Thank goodness. This way, I won’t be removed from the unit.)

Laurent instructed Euphene to assess the unit’s damages and then hurried over to Monica.

“Monica, are you alright?”

“Laurent. Yes, I’m fine.”

Monica looked at Laurent, relieved that his voice had returned to its former gentle tone.

“I see. Anyway, well done. With this, you are now an A-class archer.”

“Oh, right. The Stormbird quest was A-class.”

“Was A-class? Did you forget?”

“Yes. I was just so focused on staying in the unit. I just wanted to stay under your command. That was all I could think about.”

“You really are… Well, in any case, this is just the beginning. It’s tough to become A-class, but it’s even tougher to maintain it.”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you’re alright? Do you need a little rest?”

Laurent looked worriedly at Monica, who was still sitting on the ground.

“No, I’m fine.”

As soon as she said this, Monica stood up quickly.

(I’ve finally earned Laurent’s praise. I can’t afford to look weak now and ruin his impression of me.)

“Alright. Then drink a potion. We’ll need to move quickly.”

“Laurent, about the unit’s damage report…”

Euphene approached at the right moment to give her report.

“Alright. Everyone, you’re authorized to use Earth stone and potions. Recover your equipment and stamina, then we move out.”

Laurent’s unit repaired their equipment using Earth stone and drank potions to recover. Once ready, they left the area at full speed.

The Cotter brothers were hurriedly forced to discuss their next steps.

“Hey! What are we gonna do?”

“We have to follow the Guild Master’s orders to prevent their class upgrades. The archer made it to A-class, but we can still stop the support mage and healer. Let’s focus on them.”

The siblings quickly regrouped their battered unit, still recovering from the Stormbird battle, and set off in pursuit of Laurent and his team.

By the time Laurent’s group had defeated the Stormbird, the ‘Golden Hawk’ had convened another strategy meeting with the returning main units’ captains.

The ‘Golden Hawk’ main units’ captains were tasked with reaching the 10th floor within two weeks of the dungeon’s appearance. They succeeded this time as well, but the monsters beyond the 10th floor were significantly more diverse and powerful, requiring stronger and more strategic team compositions.

This situation led to the inevitable budget and personnel disputes characteristic of large organizations. Each captain knew that requesting only what was strictly necessary would likely result in insufficient support, so they exaggerated their needs.

To reconcile these demands without exceeding the guild’s capacity, Lucius convened a strategy meeting, calling the captains and team leaders together.

Holding a dungeon strategy meeting to balance the needs of different units was a regular occurrence for the ‘Golden Hawk,’ as was the inevitable conflict and tension that followed.

During these meetings, each captain exaggerated their unit’s challenges, emphasizing how much more difficult their situation was compared to others, how their unit had made greater efforts and sacrifices, and how they were more disadvantaged in terms of supplies and deployment.

The first point of contention was the allocation of Jill and Daevin. Though still B-class adventurers, their versatility made them highly sought after by all units.

After that, the allocation of other B-class adventurers, distribution of equipment, items, and budget were decided sequentially. Just as it seemed the meeting would finally end, one of the captains suggested, “In that case, let us have Jill and Daevin,” resetting the entire discussion.

Past cases were brought up, highlighting which unit had been favored before or how another unit had been accommodated, leading to further disputes and overturning previous agreements. This back-and-forth continued endlessly, making the meeting a chaotic dance with no progress.

Alric participated in the meeting with a bitter expression. He was uncomfortable with the exaggerated complaints and victim-playing that characterized these discussions.

(These guys never fail to waste time. If only they would cooperate a bit more, we could avoid these pointless meetings.)

However, Alric knew that without securing budget and personnel, his dungeon strategies and standing within the guild would suffer, as would his adventurer class evaluation. Despite recognizing the futility of the meetings, he had to engage earnestly.

Alric had managed to buy time with Jill’s help to train C-class adventurers but had failed to develop any B-class adventurers. Competing against Lilianne’s unit and tackling the dungeon beyond the 10th floor with his current lineup would undoubtedly lead to struggles.

(There must be another way… Wait a minute.)

An idea struck Alric.

“Everyone, how about this? We could enlist the help of the appraiser, Laurent.”

The participants looked puzzled by the new proposal. Alric didn’t notice Lucius’s brief expression of displeasure.

“Appraiser Laurent’s help? Why would we do that?” Captain Savast asked, frowning suspiciously.

“Laurnet can discern an adventurer’s current skills, status, and even potential abilities. He can make appropriate assignments and optimize our deployment for each quest. Isn’t that exactly what this meeting is about?”

While Alric seemed to present his idea as a brilliant solution, Deanna sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration.

“Alric, Appraiser Laurent is no longer with the ‘Golden Hawk,'” Deanna said.

“What!?” Alric exclaimed in shock. “Laurent… gone? But why?”

“He was exiled.”

“Exiled!? Laurent? How… why?”

“I don’t know the exact reason. His performance before the exile was terrible. Maybe he deliberately sabotaged the ‘Golden Hawk.'”

“I see… That’s unfortunate,” Alric said, looking stunned.

Alric remembered when he was struggling as a mage and received valuable advice from Laurent. Although he believed he would have eventually become an A-class adventurer on his own, his rise would have been much slower without Laurent’s guidance. Alric appreciated and respected Laurent for that.

“Come on now, the loss of one or two appraisers means nothing. Adventurers who rely on appraisers are second-rate,” Savast, a captain, seized the opportunity to earn points with Lucius, who had become visibly irritated, and began to assert his superiority over Alric.

In truth, Savast owed much more to Laurent’s guidance than Alric did and had reached his A-class adventurer status largely thanks to Laurent. However, he was convinced that his current position was solely due to his own abilities.

Nevertheless, his comment pleased Lucius.

“Indeed. Savast is right,” Lucius said. “Alric, as an A-class adventurer in the ‘Golden Hawk,’ you should abandon such weak-minded reliance on an appraiser. A true elite can gauge their own abilities without needing someone else to tell them. Or are you suggesting that you can’t even manage a dungeon without the help of an appraiser?”

“That’s not what I’m saying…” Alric retorted. “But we lack B-class archers and support mages, and we need to train new ones. The shortage is because you’ve reassigned our B-class archers and support mages to special tasks. When will those missions end?”

“You don’t need to know about the special missions, and it’s not your place to question them. Your only concern should be the dungeon,” Lucius replied dismissively.

Alric bit back his retort, swallowing his words. He realized arguing further would only harm his position. The meeting ended with Savast advantage solidified. Lucius ensured the allocations and distributions favored Savast, pushing Alric’s requests aside.

While the ‘Golden Hawk’ held their strategy meeting, Laurent’s team reached the tenth floor. They activated the transfer magic circle at the sanctuary on the ninth floor, opening the gateway to the next level. The circle’s intricate patterns indicated the presence of a save point and a floor guardian ahead.

“So, there’s a guardian waiting on the tenth floor,” Laurent mused. It was common for recent dungeons to place a guardian at the tenth-floor save point, a formidable opponent adventurers couldn’t avoid. Conquering this floor often marked the threshold for advancing to B-class.

Reaching the tenth floor without encountering monsters was fortunate, but the unavoidable battle with the guardian would determine their progress. Successfully overcoming this challenge was considered a crucial test for achieving B-class status.

“Alright, everyone. We’re about to face the Guardian. Stay focused,” Laurent commanded.

Hearing this, Monica, Shaqma, and Euphene all looked down, lacking confidence.

“What’s wrong?” Laurent asked, noticing their hesitation.

“Well, we always manage to get this far somehow,” Shaqma started awkwardly. “But we just can’t seem to defeat the Guardian beyond this point.”

“Our unit is also worn out. Maybe it would be better for Shaqma and me to complete some C-class quests first?” Euphene, usually stoic, voiced her concern.

Laurent couldn’t help but laugh. The idea that an A-class archer and B-class skilled support mage and healer were all afraid of a mere tenth-floor Guardian was amusing to him. The melee combat unit had grown significantly stronger since they first entered the dungeon. From Laurent’s perspective, there was no reason they couldn’t win.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured them. “With your current abilities, the tenth-floor Guardian won’t be a problem.”

The three looked at him in surprise.

“Come on, seeing is believing. Let’s go,” Laurent said confidently.

Encouraged by their commander’s confidence, the squad hesitantly stepped into the magic circle leading to the tenth floor.

The Cotter brothers, who had arrived late, were astonished to see Laurent’s team heading to the tenth floor.

“No way! According to reports from above, they shouldn’t have been able to reach the tenth floor,” one brother exclaimed.

“Idiot. They have an A-class archer with them now. Of course they can reach the tenth floor,” another replied.

The Cotter brothers’ squad anxiously watched as Laurent’s team prepared to face the Guardian.

In the expansive, long corridor of the tenth floor, Laurent’s team was confronted by the Battle Elephant, a massive war elephant waiting to challenge them.

With tusks as sharp as spears, a powerful trunk, and a massive body weighing several tons, the battle elephant charged down the long corridor, gaining momentum as it rushed toward the squad. It was clad in armor and weapons, and behind it, armored wolves and armored orcs waited in reserve.

Monica took down the battle elephant with a single shot. Her arrow easily pierced the thick armor, striking the vital point. The immense, armored body of the battle elephant collapsed in the middle of the corridor without ever reaching the squad.

From there, the team engaged in familiar combat. Under Shaqma’s support magic, the melee unit methodically dispatched the armored wolves and orcs. Monica, perched atop the fallen battle elephant, rained arrows down on the monsters from her elevated position.

Despite the monsters’ final desperate charge, they were unable to break through Laurent’s shield unit and were ultimately defeated.

The ease of the battle left the three feeling somewhat anticlimactic.

“What happened? The Guardian was much easier than usual this time,” Shaqma said, looking puzzled.

“I didn’t even do anything,” Euphene added, sounding bored as she hadn’t cast a single spell during the fight.

“That just means you’ve all become that much stronger,” Laurent said with a smile.

At the end of the corridor, they found a spring, two teleportation magic circles, and a shelf holding a shortcut ring.

The group replenished their supplies and, preparing for the exploration beyond the tenth floor, decided to return to the city for now.