Party Grows

Walking up to a building, Cassian could hear chatter inside. It seems they have gotten back from the dungeon dive already.

Knocking on the gate he didn't have to wait long before it was opened by Chigusa peeking out of it. She was naturally slightly hunched over with her hands clasped in front of her chest, as she had a pretty shy personality.

"O-oh, hello Cassian."

"Hi, Chigusa, It's nice to see you again." Cassian greeted her with a smile and started walking into yarn when she beckoned him in. However, her odd choice of clothing still confused him to this day. 'Why is she wearing a random bandage around her neck?'

"It's nice to see you too." She muttered so quietly, Cassian would have a hard time catching it, were it not his hearing.

"Are the others inside?"

"Yes, we got back an hour or so ago."

"Good, they can see it directly then."

Walking further inside, they passed the first building and reached the inner yard, where he could see all the others. Apparently, they had finished supper not so long ago and were now resting.

"Oh, Cassian!" The one calling out to him was Takemikazuchi. "I wasn't expecting to see you today."

As he talked, Takemikazuchi walked up to him with a friendly smile. As Cassian received training from him, they quickly bonded and became friendlier with one another. Takemikazuchi was genuinely enjoying having him as a student, and Cassian's attitude that did not hold automatic reverence towards him for being a god was refreshing, allowing him to have a more equal type of relationship and friendship, where neither was subservient to the other.

As for Cassian, conversations with an immortal being could truly be interesting sometimes. Takemikazuchi told him some of the tales from heaven and the battles he had fought there, as well as stuff about the Far East.

"Thought I'd drop by since I wouldn't have time tomorrow. I completed the two commissions your children gave me." At that, Ouka and Mikoto immediately appeared before him, with deceptive speed for a level 1. Both were practically buzzing with excitement, but Ouka suppressed it while pretending to not be so interested. The constant glances he threw at the wrapped objects on Cassian's back were somewhat of a giveaway though.

"That is very good news. Thank you again for doing this, we truly appreciate having a blacksmith of your caliber make weapons for us." Takemikazuchi bowed his head a bit to express his gratitude.

"Stop that, this was a deal remember. I'm just doing my part. Now see for yourselves and tell me whether you like it or not." Removing them from his back, he handed the sword to Mikoto and the axe to Ouka.

Immediately unwrapping them as if they were a Christmas gift, they took them out of their clothes.

Mikoto's Katana was long with a gleaming silver blade and a dark blue handle. Ouka's War axe was as big as him, with a mix of silver and black colors. Both of them started admiring them, as Ouka started grinning and Mikoto started making a series of 'oooh' and 'aaah' exclamations.

"Do they have a name?"

"No, I decided to leave the naming part of these commissions to you as their new owners." Cassian nodded benevolently, as if he did it for some symbolic reasons, instead of just being lazy and not wanting to bother coming up with their names.

"Thank you! I shall make sure to give it a suitable name." Mikoto called out before starting to think of names suitable for her new sword. "Eternal Darkness? Maybe, Bloodmoon Reaper? Oh! Oh! Abyssal Destroyer! Yes!"

Each new name she threw out filled Cassian with dread and regret. 'Abyssal Destroyer? What? No, what??? Ugh, I should've just named them myself. This is what I get for being an unbothered bum.'

To prevent Mikoto from torturing him more, be desecrating his creation, he quickly tried changing the subject.

"So, have the rest of you come up with what you want me to forge for you?" Addressing Chigusa and the other three.

"Oh, I want a Naginata, please!" Asuka, the girl with possibly the worst Dressing Sense he had ever seen in his life, answered cheerily.

'I didn't pay much attention to her clothes before, but what the actual fuck is she wearing? That's not even clothes! It's just a rag with a hole for her head to go through draped over her and kept together with another smaller strip of rag! How are her boobs not dangling around every time she fights?! Even the amazons dress more sensibly than this! It's ridiculous!'

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"Tell you what, just for you, I'll even throw in a free armor." Cassian told her with a barely contained smile of irritation.

His intentions were noble, a desire to give her a proper set of clothes so that she didn't go around looking like an escaped slave, unfortunately for him, his intentions were doomed to be misunderstood, as Asuka started blushing while looking down at the ground, unable to meet his eyes.

'Good, it seems she's not a completely lost case and realized her poor fashion sense, which is why she's feeling embarrassed. I'll make sure to make you a good set you could wear casually too.'

"I want a Tetsubo!" Said the plain-looking guy.

"And a bow for me!" The guy with chubby cheeks now.

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'What were their names again? I don't remember.' Only one was left, so Cassian locked eyes with her. "And you Chigusa?"

"U-Umm, I-I would also like a bow, please."

"A bow, huh? Haven't made one yet, so I can't promise they'll be of the same quality as the melee weapons. I'll try though and I'll need to practice with them. If they don't work out, I'll make backup melee weapons for you two then, okay?" To which they nodded in acceptance.

"Okay, well I'm done now, I should get going back home."

"Ah, I see. Once again, thank you for this."

"And once again, this was our deal, you have nothing to thank me for."

--- The Next Day ---

"I couldn't find any free supporters, at least ones with active Falna and able to keep up with you, so I contacted some familia to maybe find someone among them. Only the ones I had reliable information on, saying they could be trusted." Rose explained as she took Cassian, Nico, and Leo to the back of the guild towards the private rooms.

"And? Was there anyone?"

"There were some yes. I selected the one I found most suitable for you. They're from the Eos Familia. Apparently, they suffered from some conflict a while back. Eos was targeted by another god, who stole away most of her members through money to make them betray her. The only ones left in her familia were the less capable ones and the supporters. The Eos familia was practically ruined, most of the ones left retired. The others started working as supporters for other parties."

"And those supporters are the ones you got for us."

"Correct. There are three of them and each one is a very skilled supporter with experience and professionalism in the occupation. As you know, supporters don't get the best treatment, especially ones from a ruined familia, so I'm sure they will appreciate working with you."

Opening the door to one of the rooms, Rose led them inside. Waiting there were 3 individuals.

A male Pallum stood in the middle with his arms crossed. He had brown slicked-up hair, and a handsome face, and seemed to be the leader of the trio.

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A female Pallum with light blue hair, wearing one of the most sensible armor Cassian had seen so far in this city.

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And a male Dwarf who seemed to be on the younger side, judging by the lack of a proper beard.

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The male Pallum was about to start speaking when the dwarf stepped forward frowning, clearly disgruntled.

"Children? Are we supposed to be working with some Greenhorn children? Rose, I thought you said they were capable adventurers?!" He rounded on Rose, before immediately shrinking back when he saw her eyes narrowed at him coldly.

"Call me Rose so casually again and I'll make you swallow that mace of yours." Returning her expression to neutral once the rowdy dwarf was cowed enough, she continued. "They are both capable and powerful just as I told you. They have slain an infant Dragon."

That got their attention. Slaying an infant dragon was no easy task, even for a level 2, so hearing about them accomplishing just that was amazing, especially at such a young age.

"My name is Cassian, captain of the Hecate Familia and the leader of this party. We need supporters for hunting on the middle floors. If you are uninterested, we can find someone else." Cassian paid little attention to the dwarf and instead addressed the male Pallum.

"That won't be necessary. My name is Arren, this is Robin and the Dwarf is called Durlin. I trust Miss Fannett's judgment, so as long as the terms are agreeable, we can work together." The now-identified Arren stepped forward but maintained a proper distance. Everyone knew the elves' tendencies.

"We're going down to the middle floors. 8 hours of hunting per day, plus the hour it takes to get there and back. The dive starts in the early morning and the payout is 5% of total earnings, including the magic stones and the drop items at market price."

"5% total for all three of us?" Arren's eyes were narrowed. It was a bit below the standard fare for supporters on the middle floors. 5% was the norm for a supporter on the upper floors, however, on the middle floors, where the party size rose, the percentage was lower for a supporter. Although the amount they earned actually rose, since the total earnings also rose exponentially. But around 1.7% was still too low, it should be around 3 percent.

"5% for each of you." Now that got their attention and made them blink in surprise. That was a very good offer. "However, you will have to sign a confidentiality agreement with Rose as a witness. You are not allowed to share the details of what you see in the dungeon with anyone. Only your goddess will be allowed, but only if she signs the contract too."

"Confidentiality? I do hope it's nothing… unlawful." Arren spoke carefully, even if the payout was hard to pass on, he would not get tangled with anything illegal.

"No, nothing untoward like that, it relates to our abilities, that we do not want to be known by the public."

"Ah, it was that. I'm honestly surprised a level 1 would have abilities he feels are best hidden, but if it's just that, then I can agree and promise to keep quiet." Arren glanced at Rose for confirmation and the nod he received reassured him and his friends that this wouldn't land him in hot water. "What kind of support work do you require?"

"Primarily harvest, collection and storage of loot as well as supplies, such as potions." Cassian liked his professional attitude.

"No assistance against the monsters?"

"If the situation arises, help will be appreciated, but no, we will deal with the monsters ourselves."

"Understood, then we have a deal. Shall we sign a contract now, Miss Fannett?" Rose brought forward the prepared contract. Reading through it carefully, Cassian and Arren signed it and formed a partnership.

"I look forward to working with you." Arren said after gathering his stuff, including the huge bag that he strapped on his back.

"So do I." But as Cassian was getting ready, Durlin strode forward and got into his face.

"We may be supporters, but don't look down on us leaf-muncher. If you screw with us, there will be hell to pay!" The dwarf threatened, and Cassian could tell he wasn't bluffing. His medallion vibrated and he could feel the presence of the magic sword each of the three kept hidden.

Uninterested in this confrontation, he put two fingers on the dwarf's forehead and pushed back, surprising the dwarf with the sheer strength that simple gesture held. He was pushed back without even being able to put up a struggle as if he was a small kitten.

"I have no intention of hurting either you or your friends Durlin. As long as we have a smooth cooperation, then we'll have no problems."

Durlin stared wide-eyed for a moment, before gathering back his composure. "Hah, and here I thought elves were all prickly about touching others. Where did you lose your squeamishness, pretty boy?"

"The same place you lost your beard at."

"Y-You…!" Durlin's face went red. From shame or anger, Cassian did not know. Apparently, he hit a sore spot, judging by the snickering from the female Pallum, Robin.

"I apologize for his behavior. We had some… bad experiences with other adventurers, so he's a bit overprotective. He means well, I promise" As the leader, Arren seemed to be the voice of reason among them.

"Don't worry about it, no hard feelings." Cassian reassured him and then addressed Rose as he started heading out. "Thanks for today Rose, I owe you one again."

"Don't mention it. It's my job as your advisor." She said while smiling slightly.

"Hey, how come he gets to call you that?!"

Sadly his cry was ignored by everyone.