"Are you alright now? Melika?"
As everyone begun dispersing to make their own preparations for setting out, Vivian also took the members of her own party to gather at the out of the way corner of a carriage. She then gently asked Melika in a comforting tone.
"I'm alright now. Thank you big sis Vivian."
Melika shook her head and showed a smile to the group. However, that smile was rather obviously somewhat forced.
"I never thought that things would end up like this."
Diere's words were filled with displeasure. It was rather obvious that she held some absolute distaste toward the arrival of Leon's party's.
"Uuu, I really want to go home…"
Lumia even muttered those words half crying. It was obvious how much pressure she was feeling.
Shien felt like his curiosity was about to explode.
"What, is there a grudge between you guys?"
Shien wasn't all that delicate in his questioning. Instead, he just asked curiously in a very direct fashion.
Everyone immediately showed a rather difficult expression.
In the end, it was Vivian who answered for everyone.
"It can't quite be called a grudge." Vivian so explained. However, she did continuously sigh over it, "However, our party does have some issues with the other party. That much is true enough."
"I thought so too." Shien shrugged, "Never mind everything else, that rich boy young master was obviously quite familiar with everyone. His eyes were practically falling out of his sockets with how hard he was staring at Melika."
"Ugh…" Melika lowered her head silently. It looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
Diere's voice turned even colder as she spoke, "It looks like he still hasn't given up on Melika."
That much was obvious from just looking.
Vivian patted Melika's head to comfort her while looking over at Shien, "That young master Markray was once a part of our party for about half a month. It was back when he just became an adventurer, before he passed the probationary test yet."
Those words made Shien realized something.
He remembered back when Diere, Lumia, and Melika were all extremely cautious of him, Vivian had once told him a certain thing.
"In the past, we've had several male adventurers that the guild arranged to join our party, and among them, there were people who took advantage of times where we camped to…"
Given that, it was obvious without even needing to think about it, just what kind of things that Vivian's party ended up experiencing after a male adventurer joined Vivian's party at the guild's behest.
For female adventurers at least, at definitely can't be called a good experience.
Markray once joined Vivian's party as a newbie for about half a month, but the new adventurer's probationary testing was clearly for a month long. So, why did he only stay for half a month then?
The reason for that was quite simple.
"Back then, young master Markray was one of the most anticipated newbies at the Lamdrion adventurer's guild. He had very high potential, and he was already level 20 at only age 15. Even Leili had great hopes for him, so she set him up with my party so as to let me take care of him."
Vivian quietly explained what had happened.
"That young master tended to act impulsively, and he was somewhat overly proud with a habit of looking down on others. Even so though, despite the fact that he didn't have any worries when it comes to money, he still had the will to train himself and become stronger. Thus, he became an adventurer at Lamdrion's adventurer's guild."
In other words, although there were a few issues with that young master's personality, he didn't fall into decadence either. Instead, he was the hard-working type who sought advancement. In many people's eyes, he was probably a good budding talent.
Leili probably also wanted to adjust Markray's attitude so as to make him a better person. That was why she set him up with Vivian's party, so that Vivian could help train him into a better person, right?
However…
"Back when that young master joined out party, from the moment he saw Melika, his eyes have practically never shifted away from her. Not only did he constantly try to catch Melika's attention while adventuring, there were even times when he tried to show off in front of Melika to the point were he often missed his main responsibilities during work. His actions eventually devolved into completely orbiting Melika's existence, to the point where he privately stalked her, tried to give her gifts, and in the end, he even searched out the inn where Melika was staying at and had sneaked into her room multiple times."
Vivian's explanation made Shien blink in response.
"Isn't that being a completely obsessed stalker then?"
Shien had no words.
Given all that, he could tell without even thinking about it on just what kind of unforgivable actions that young master would end up doing.
"One time, while we were camping out during an adventure, he took advantage of a time when the rest of us left searching for firewood. At that time, he finally couldn't hold himself back from using force against Melika.
As she got to that part, Vivian's voice finally started turning cold.
"If… If it wasn't for the fact that Diere had been patrolling in the vicinity the whole time, detected that matter, and stopped it in time, then Melika would definitely have been hurt."
Even the timid beastman girl Lumia couldn't hold herself back from saying something. She obviously held a great deal of unease over this matter.
Melika's ducked her head down even further. It was as if she stared remembering the event from back then. Her figure started shaking uncontrollably.
Seeing that, Shien finally wrinkled his brow in response.
"How the heck is a guy like that still in the guild?" Shien spoke without a hint of civility, "Given how lacking his morality is, did Leili end up letting him off because of his talent or something?"
If so, then Shien's impression of Leili would definitely have fallen a great deal.
In the end, the one to answer that question was not Vivian, but Diere.
"That guy isn't someone oridinary. He's nobility." Diere coldly bit out, "His father is a vassal to Marquis Murrow. When Sir Balon was appointed to Lamdrion, he also followed along as a vassal and aid. His authority is only just below that of Sir Balon himself."
That was to say that is was due to his family's intervention that Markary managed to stay in the adventurer's guild.
However, even so, Markray was still kicked out of Vivian's party and no longer allowed to come near Melika.
"So that's how it is." Shien spoke thoughtfully, "And then, that young master joined the party of that Leon guys huh?"
"Indeed." Vivian nodded, "Leon accepted that young master, and allowed him to pass the newcomer's probationary exam."
"Then what's up with that Leon guy?" Shien asked in confusion, "Why was it that you guys seemed to have a bad impression of him too? Is he a bad person too?"
To that question, no one actually answered right away.
"That…" Vivian hesitated for a while before finally showing a bitter smile, "I can't really say that he's a bad person. However, in the eyes of people who know him, truth be told, Leon is rather looked down upon."
"Looked down upon?" Shien reacted.
