The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild - Chapter 129

Chapter 129   Contribution and Recognition

After halting the march, Laurent began assessing the wear and tear on each adventurer and their achievements in battle.

Rick appeared before Laurent, looking very pleased with himself. He dropped the head of a “Fire Dragon” in front of Laurent with a heavy thud.

“What do you think, Laurent? I took down two ‘Fire Dragons,’ and it’s only the first day in the dungeon!”

“…I see,” Laurent responded with little interest.

Rick was taken aback by Laurent’s indifferent attitude.

“So, Rick, have you thought of any strategies to avoid unnecessary wear and tear in the early part of the dungeon?”

“Huh? Well, um…” Rick hesitated.

Before the exploration began, Laurent had made it clear that the real challenge lay in the upcoming battle with the “White Wolf” in the latter half of the dungeon. He had also instructed everyone to think about how to minimize their exhaustion during the first half in preparation for that.

However, most of the members had become so engrossed in competing with the local guild that they had completely forgotten about it.

“Well, never mind,” Laurent said, letting Rick off the hook as he turned his gaze to the others.

“Does anyone else have any good ideas? After spending the day exploring the dungeon with the members of ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree,’ did anyone notice anything or come up with any strategies?”

“May I speak?” Leon stepped forward to share his thoughts.

“It seems like whenever a ‘Fire Dragon’ appears, the adventurers get too caught up in competing with each other. If this keeps up, we’ll be wasting energy unnecessarily. I think it would be better to divide into groups for the morning and afternoon shifts, taking turns dealing with the ‘Fire Dragon.'”

Laurent’s eyes lit up at Leon’s suggestion.

“Oh, Leon! I was just thinking the same thing. That’s a great idea. Let’s implement it right away. Does anyone else have any suggestions?”

“May I speak?” Claire stepped forward.

“Based on today’s exploration, it seems that there are a few members within ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ who possess the ‘Far Sight’ ability. If we could expand our search radius using those with ‘Far Sight,’ we could minimize encounters with the ‘Fire Dragon’ and thus reduce our overall wear and tear.”

“Can I add something?” Will chimed in.

“During today’s exploration, the formation got stretched out, and we couldn’t fully utilize the strength of the rear guard. I think we need to figure out a way to keep the front line more cohesive to efficiently take down enemies.”

Various other guilds proposed improvements as well, but all of the suggestions came from the local guilds; none were from the ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree.’

The next day, Laurent instructed the allied guilds to enter the mining site in a specific order. First to enter was ‘Shield of Dawn,’ followed by ‘Pegasus Archer,’ then Will and Lana, and then the local guilds that had proposed ideas the previous day. The other local guilds and ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ were the last to enter.

Seeing this, the adventurers from ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ began to feel anxious. It became clear that Laurent wasn’t showing favoritism, even to old friends or A-class adventurers. He prioritized the guilds that could contribute ideas on how to minimize wear and tear in the first half of the dungeon.

Realizing this, the adventurers of ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ hurriedly began brainstorming ways to conserve their energy.

After completing the ore extraction, the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance reorganized their units based on the suggestions from the previous day. They divided into morning and afternoon shifts, selected those skilled in ‘Far Sight’ to widen their search area, and assigned a frontline leader to each shift to keep the formation intact.

With these new strategies in place, the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance surged up the volcano at a faster pace than the day before.

Several hours after the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance departed from the mining site, the ‘Crown of the Sage’ finally neared the first mining site.

“Alright, we’ve made it to the mining site. I think we’ve closed the gap quite a bit, don’t you?” Neil said, breathing heavily.

He had been diligently casting ‘Agility Buff’ on the slower members of the unit, ‘Defense Buff’ on those under attack, and ‘Attack Buff’ on those struggling to defeat enemies. Thanks to his efforts, the exploration speed of the ‘Grand Alliance’ had dramatically increased.

(That said, it’s become all too clear that our ‘Crown of the Sage’ is essentially carrying the local guilds on our backs.)

Glen felt a deep sense of frustration.

He had hoped that the local guilds would actively participate in the dungeon exploration and contribute meaningfully.

(Neil has also burned through a significant amount of his magical energy. This leaves us with a major issue for the latter half of the exploration.)

“Alright, let’s head into the mining site. You all better start gathering ores immediately. If I catch anyone slacking off, there’ll be hell to pay.”

“Please wait, Captain.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Neil was startled and stopped in his tracks when a man suddenly stepped forward and knelt before him.

This man had previously participated in the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance.

“Before entering the mining site, I have a proposal. Why don’t we determine the order of entry based on each guild’s contributions? This way, we can clearly express how the alliance values each guild. Once the guilds realize they’re being evaluated, they’ll be more motivated to contribute to the alliance, fostering healthy competition. Ultimately, this could lead to a faster dungeon conquest. It would also make it easier for the ‘Crown of the Sage’ to lead the alliance and strengthen the sense of unity.”

(Interesting. I hadn’t thought of that approach.)

Ian was genuinely impressed by the man’s suggestion.

However, Neil was in no mood to entertain it.

The only thing on his mind was catching up to the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance ahead of them.

“Based on contributions, huh? You guys haven’t even taken down a single ‘Fire Dragon’ so far, and you’re expecting us to listen to your dreams? If you’ve got time to spout nonsense, start moving your hands and feet and get to work on mining those ores as quickly as possible. Come on, let’s get into the mining site!”

The man who had made the suggestion slumped his shoulders in disappointment, realizing his idea had been dismissed.

Ian looked at the man sympathetically.

He had privately agreed with the proposal but refrained from taking any action.

If he overstepped his role and it backfired, he’d be the one held responsible.

Ian was excellent at gathering and processing information, but he was out of his depth when it came to evaluating contributions.

In the end, the ‘Grand Alliance’ entered the mining site without any order or structure, completely disregarding the idea of rewarding contributions.

Neil and his group entered the mining site but failed to achieve any significant results.

(Damn it. Nothing but junk ores left.)

All the valuable ores had already been extracted by the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance.

(Well, nothing we can do about it. Let’s hurry to the next mining site…)

At that moment, the sound of battle echoed from higher up the mountain.

It was the sound of the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance fighting monsters.

“Hey, look. Those are ‘Spirit Workshop’s’ guys with that gear.”

“They’ve already made it that far?”

Glen and Ian couldn’t believe their eyes.

(No way. Are they actually moving faster than yesterday?)

(Even though we sacrificed Neil’s magical energy to pick up the pace. Are they really faster than us?)

Neil gritted his teeth in frustration.

“We’re heading out now! We’ll catch up by the end of today!”

However, despite Neil’s determined words, the local guilds’ morale had noticeably plummeted.

The earlier exchange had made it clear that the local guilds had little chance of being recognized or valued.

Members of the local guilds became particularly passive during battles, with some even failing to report when monsters approached.

As the monsters grew stronger, not only Neil but also Glen and Ian were forced to expend significant energy.

The following day, and the day after that, the ‘Crown of the Sage’ was unable to catch up to the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance, which secured the second, third, and fourth mining sites.

Even while battling Rock Fang, Rick made sure not to advance too far.

“Hold the line. Wait for support from the rear guard.”

Before long, Will and Lana arrived, driving the enemy away with ‘Explosive Magic’ and ‘Geocrust Magic.’

Despite driving the enemy back, Rick couldn’t shake a feeling of dissatisfaction.

(Hmm. It seems dungeon strategies vary depending on the town. I never thought this kind of cautious fighting would be so highly valued.)

“Rick, good job holding the front.”

“Oh, Laurent.”

“You did great. It seems like you’re getting quite accustomed to this dungeon.”

“Thank you. But, are we really doing this right? All this focus on conserving energy doesn’t make me feel like I’m really contributing…”

“In this dungeon, conserving energy is crucial. After all, we have a battle with the thieves’ guild waiting for us on the way back.”

“Ah…”

“Hmm? That’s a signal from Euphene.”

Laurent looked down at the magic circle that had appeared at his feet and spoke.

“Is this a signal to retreat?”

“It seems we’ve pushed too far forward. Let’s pull back our formation.”

This time, Euphene was acting less as a healer and more as a command tower. She used her magic circles to signal the group, ensuring the battle line didn’t spread too thin.

“Hmm. Now there’s a signal from the scouts.”

Three arrows were shot into the sky.

“Three ‘Fire Dragons’ are approaching… The strong archers and attack mages are already getting ready, I see.”

The adventurers from ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ were beginning to adapt to the methods of the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance.

Rick focused on being the tank, Euphene managed the command, Shaqma directed the formation, Lerio joined the scouting party, and Marina took charge of ore storage—each finding their own place to shine, though with slightly different roles compared to their work in ‘Adventurers’ Town.’

(Everything’s been going smoothly so far, almost too smoothly. The only concern left is the return trip and the ‘Crown of the Sage.’)

Laurent glanced back.

A loud explosion echoed through the air.

It was the sound of a powerful attack spell being unleashed.

(Despite using high-level magic, there’s no sign of them catching up. I expected them to start closing in by now… What’s happening with the ‘Crown of the Sage’? Why aren’t they making any moves?)

The success of the return journey depended on the ‘Crown of the Sage.’

If they decided to launch an attack, it would mean a three-way battle, with the ‘White Wolves’ involved as well.

At this point, they were nearing the limit of their exploration.

(Are they choosing not to attack, or are they unable to? Which is it?)

Laurent squinted downwards, but he couldn’t discern the situation with the ‘Crown of the Sage.’

(There’s only one more ‘Earthcraft’ mining site left, but it’s a bit far. What should we do?)

Lerio, while scouting the rear, was keenly searching for an opportunity to make a name for himself.

(I’ve spent the past few days just adapting to the dungeon and the alliance. It’s about time I made a mark… Huh? What’s that…?)

Lerio spotted the ‘Crown of the Sage’ in the distance. To his surprise, Neil, Ian, and Glen—the three A-class mages—came into view.

(Those are… the top three of the ‘Crown of the Sage.’ …Maybe I should appraise them.)

[Neil Dioclea’s Status]

Magic Power: 20-130

(!? This is…)

Lerio quickly rushed back to the main camp of the ‘Spirit Workshop’ alliance.

“Laurent!”

“Lerio, what’s going on? Weren’t you out scouting…?”

“I was, but I spotted the ‘Crown of the Sage,’ and when I appraised them…”

Lerio reported what he had seen.

“Lerio, well done. That’s exactly the kind of information I was hoping for. Everyone, gather around for a moment.”

At Laurent’s call, the nearby members gathered.

“Lerio brought back some valuable intel. The three top mages of the ‘Crown of the Sage’ are significantly depleted in status. This will make our return much easier.”

Cheers erupted among the troops.

(If we don’t need to worry about the ‘Crown of the Sage’ on the way back, we can explore even further. We’ll extract all the ‘Earthcraft’ and secure our victory!)

Recognizing Lerio’s contribution, Laurent awarded the honor of being the first to enter the fifth mining site to the ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree.’