Chapter 54: CH. 54 | The Chief’s Toast

They kept at it nonstop, only pausing whenever the monsters hit their cooldown.

What was certain was that once the evening light started spreading across the sky, that was their simple cue to head back to the village.

Theo sat under an old tree, its leaves mostly fallen with only a few left. He kept watching ahead as a steady stream of fire explosions went off.

Whenever a worm monster got too close, Aya already knew exactly what to do.

Thalia had already leveled up to level five since the very first wave of attacks, while Aya leveled up a few rounds after that.

Now, the two of them were focused on helping Lily level up.

There was something unusual about Lily and her priest class. Whenever Thalia or Aya killed a monster, they earned 10 exp. Lily, though, only got half of that, around 5 exp.

Theo hadn’t noticed until their third wave of attacks. Even so, he asked Thalia and Aya, who’d already leveled up, to keep helping Lily out, at least enough to get her to level seven.

The amount of exp needed to reach level seven was fairly steep, but according to what Theo could see through Mystic Appraisal, she only had 25 exp left to go.

Just five more worm kills and Lily levels up.

BLAST!

Another burst of magic went off in front of Theo. Thalia stumbled, leaning on her staff for support, her face showing exhaustion and her breathing ragged, a clear sign she’d hit her limit for the day.

But thanks to Thalia’s last attack, a brief blue glow lit up around Lily’s body, witnessed not just by Theo, but by Thalia and Aya too.

"You did it, Lily," Thalia said, "You leveled up."

"Yeah, you’re right."

"I can feel my body getting stronger already," Lily said.

The girl turned around and waved toward Theo, calling out to let him know. Theo gave a brief smile and responded with a short nod.

He got up and grabbed his sword, which had been stuck in the ground the whole time. Theo walked over to them and told them how happy and satisfied he was with what they’d accomplished.

Thalia had leveled up to five, Aya to three, and Lily to seven. Lily walked over to Thalia and helped restore her mana.

"Aren’t you going to go hunt too, Theo?"

Theo shook his head. He told them he’d promised that today was about letting them level up, not himself.

That meant Theo had no obligation, or right, to go killing those monsters himself.

"Besides, I’m already set to level up once we get back to the city," Theo said.

"All right," Thalia said quietly.

Before long, Thalia had fully recovered. She told them that night would fall soon and they needed to head back to Neco Village. Thalia and the others followed along without protest.

Theo and the others started walking away from the area, leaving the worm monsters to their cooldown, since none of them had any interest in attacking again.

Aya seemed to be the happiest out of all of them. To her, leveling up felt like an accomplishment all her own, something she’d never expected to reach this fast.

"As long as you stick with us, you’ll keep leveling up quickly."

"I’ll do my best," Aya said. "Can we stop by the magic shop again once we’re back? I want to pick up a new skill for myself."

Theo turned and nodded. He told them he wasn’t going to hold back their wishes, as long as it helped the party out, he had no problem with it.

They kept walking along the dirt road until they reached Neco Village.

Oil lamps were already lit at several corners of the village, lighting up the place against the dark, cold night.

Right as Theo arrived with his party, several people came up to greet them. They carried goods with them, everything from wooden accessories to tools and food.

Theo was genuinely stunned. He’d never expected that the guild mission they’d just completed would have such a big impact on the village.

It clearly proved that the Black Ink Lizards had been haunting the village and its people for a long time.

Theo thanked them for their gifts, which they called a small token of their gratitude. He and the others tucked the items away into their inventory bags.

"Hey, you guys!"

"We’ve been waiting for you all," Lilia said.

He looked toward the end of the road and spotted Lilia there, waving at Theo. That prompted Theo to say goodbye to the people who’d come up to him, then walk over to catch up with Lilia.

"My father’s got everything set up perfectly. This is a big celebration for us since we managed to beat the Black Ink Lizards," Lilia explained, walking alongside Theo, right on his left side.

On his right, Thalia walked alongside Theo, her face sour. She told Lilia that killing the Black Ink Lizards had actually been easy.

"Really? I heard it was only Sir Theo out on the front line, not you, Ms. Thalia."

"I helped by drawing their attention away for Theo. At least I actually fought them, unlike you, Ms. Lilia."

"That’s enough, both of you," Theo said, irritated and worn out, "Let’s drop this. There’s nothing left to argue about!"

"We won against the Black Ink Lizards. That’s what matters. This isn’t just about who contributed what!"

Both of them fell silent for a moment, then kept walking with their faces turned away sharply. Their attitude was honestly wearing Theo out.

A long wooden table stretched out in front of Chief Jack’s house. It wasn’t sitting empty either, there was a spread of food laid out on it, chicken dishes, meat, bacon, vegetables, and fruit.

Jack spotted Theo and walked over to him. The two of them met up and got to talking.

Theo found himself enjoying the conversation with Jack a lot more than having to break up the argument between the two girls earlier.

"We’ve got everything set up to celebrate our victory," Jack said, guiding Theo toward the table, "A lot of villagers will be joining in on tonight’s feast."

"Hey, you all. Hurry up and get the firewood stacked. We need to build a bonfire for tonight," Jack ordered, and several young men nodded and got to work.

Theo sat at the table near Jack, with Lilia across from him and Thalia beside him. Jack, as the village chief, naturally took the seat in the middle.

"We’ll all be eating together tonight," Jack said, "But before that, would you care to have a drink with me?"

Jack held out a bottle of liquor and tried to pour some for Theo. Theo didn’t drink, had never even tasted alcohol before. Still, he worried that turning down Jack’s offer might come across as an insult.

"Just one glass. I don’t want to be rambling nonsense at a lively party like this."

"Of course."

Jack poured the drink and told Theo to go ahead and drink up. Thalia looked surprised, since as far as she knew, Theo only ever drank water or cola, never showing any interest in alcohol.

The moment Theo took a sip, the taste was strange and not something he liked at all. Still, he forced himself to finish the whole glass.

COUGH!

"HAHA!"

"Just as I figured," Jack said, "The liquor in our village is pretty strong stuff."

"It’s fine, Sir Theo. There’s plenty of other drinks you can enjoy here," Jack said kindly.

Theo coughed a few times and tried taking a deep breath, settling the tickle in his throat. He smiled and turned to Jack, thanking him for the drink, definitely a once in a lifetime kind of experience for him.

"Tell me something, Theo."

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or a wife?" Jack asked.

"About that... I don’t have one yet."

"Is there someone you’re interested in?" Jack asked again.

"Not sure."

"You’d better hurry up then. There are plenty of girls in my village if you’re interested, and if you’d consider Lilia, you’d have my full blessing."

Thalia flinched, visibly startled, her eyes shooting straight toward Theo. Theo smiled and told Jack he appreciated the thought.

"Thanks for the offer. But for right now, I haven’t really given that much thought," Theo answered.

"My focus is on getting stronger and taking on as many guild missions as I can, hoping the missions I complete can help a lot of people."

"That’s the spirit! A young man like you should go out and see the world. Don’t get tempted into marrying young if you don’t want to end up with regrets."

Jack reached out and gave Theo’s shoulder a pat, "I hope all your wishes and hopes come true down the road, Sir Theo."

"Thank you for the kind words, Chief Jack."