The life of an adventurer isn't easy (part 1)

"Alright, what quest got your attention, Finlay?"

A young archer with brown hair spotted the approaching pair of a monk with a shaved head and a blond-haired archer and called out to them the moment they were about to sit down.

"...and hello to you too, Amo..."

The Monk frowned and let out a tired groan while pulling the chair for the Shieldmaiden before sitting down himself.

"Cut the crap, Finlay. You told us that you have some amazing news, so what else could it be? What do you want to push us into, and how good the payout will be?"

The brown-haired water mage sitting next to the archer scoffed and leaned over the empty dish, with a few specks of mystery gruel stuck to its sides, glaring at the Monk.

"..."

...it was more than obvious that both of them weren't acknowledging the Shieldmaiden's presence, which made her visibly upset...

"The amazing news that Constance and I have isn't about a quest."

The Monk, Finlay, reached out and grabbed Constance's hand that she was clenching into a fist and declared while looking coldly at the pair of siblings.

"Ah! No way! That burden is finally retiring as an adventurer?! We can try to recruit someone competent?!"

*WHAM*

"Solange!"

The water mage straightened her back and gasped in amazement, which caused the Monk to slam his fist against the table while glaring at her, enraged.

"Finlay, you don't have to..."

"Ugh, just stop."

Constance turned to the Monk and carried his arm, trying to calm him down, but flinched when the archer, Amo, scoffed mockingly at them.

"...stop what exactly...?"

Finlay stood up and glared down at Amo threateningly.

"This. Exactly this. The thing you are doing right fucking now, you idiot."

The archer didn't stand up to match the tall Monk and instead moved just like his sister and leaned forward, returning the glare from below.

"She is a System damned Shieldmaiden. Why the fuck is a Monk like you protecting her?!"

Amo added, motioning towards Constance with his chin without breaking eye contact with Finlay.

"It would be a completely different thing if it was just you trying to defend her honor or whatever, but Finlay...! Fucking...! You took over her role as our party's main tank! All she does during fights is stay in the back even further away than Solange!"

The archer scoffed, getting out all of the complaints he had clearly bottled up for quite some time.

"And what's the problem with that? Someone has to protect our backs."

"..."

Finlay shrugged his shoulders dismissively while Constance looked down and scooted closer to him, not even attempting to look in the direction of the brown-haired siblings.

"Pffft! The problem is that I am a mage, you dickheaded moron!"

The water mage snorted mockingly and leaned back into her chair, titling it over and putting her feet on the table disrespectfully.

"I am supposed to go as far back as the reach of my magic allows me to. As for my back – my big bro provides perfect coverage. If there is something that he will be unable to stop from attacking me, you better believe that your bitch would not be able to do shit either! For System's sake! She wouldn't even try to do her job and just run away! The tables could not have turned more!"

"...!"

Solange waved her hand offensively towards the Shieldmaiden, who flinched, startled by the move, and clung to her Monk even more.

"Don't you dare to speak like that to her!"

"Pffft!"

Finlay bared his teeth and growled at the brown-haired girl, but she only scoffed in his face, not being intimidated in the slightest.

"You have to face the facts, Finlay. Since she got her ass kicked, that girl became completely useless for our party. She's just sucking out the EXP that she doesn't deserve and halts our progress, and you reject all hunting quests because she is fucking scared! She is the reason why we all are still in the E ranks! If I had more brains, I would have dropped both of you and tried to convince that kid who kicked our assess back then! Maybe with me and Solange around, he would still be alive."

Amo smirked at his party leader before his expression turned bitter, and he looked away.

"Watch your damn mouth! That bastard is the reason Constance became like this in the first place!"

"No! You watch your mouth!"

Finlay tensed up and declared as his muscles bulged out, stretching his clothes, but that only made Solange's anger spill over, and she stood up too – and she got her wand with a blue gemstone pointing straight at the Monk.

"Because of the stupid duel – that you arranged – we would all die if not for my big bro! When that kid got me with the lesser spark gems, I was scared shitless, thinking that it was over for me, but it didn't become a fucking mess for three years! You know what he made me realize?! No matter how much we weaklings try to live our lives in peace, our existence is only a second away from being extinguished by someone stronger! And not even something unbelievable like rank AA or S monster but another human that's less than 10 levels stronger than us! The only valid option we have is to get stronger and stop being weaklings! I don't care if that bitch is fine with staying a scaredy bitch – I just don't want her to fucking hold me back from achieving something!"

Solange stabbed the air repeatedly with her wand, getting angrier and angrier the more she talked.

"THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T BOTH OF YOU LEAVE THE PARTY DURING THOSE THREE YEARS?!"

Finlay stepped back, biting his lips before stepping forward and roaring at the pair of siblings.

"YOU THINK WE DIDN'T WANT TO?! THE ONLY REASON WE STAYED WAS BECAUSE OF THE THREAT OF A MONSTER VILLAGE APPEARING WITHIN THE FOREST TO THE EAST THE GULD CREATED A RULE THAT ONLY PARTIES OF AT LEAST 4 CAN TAKE ON QUESTS, AND WE COULDN'T FIND NEW MEMBERS!"

Solange snapped right back, ready to throw hands – or rather cast as many Skills as she could shut up the leader of their party.

"Excuse me. If you intend to continue the quarrel, take it somewhere else – adventurer's guild isn't some lousy tavern where you can start a fight because of your mood."

"...!"

"...sorry, Miss..."

The shouting contest was cut short by a bespectacled guild staff member who approached the table occupied by the four adventurers, making at least two of them – the Monk and the Archer – back down.

"Hmph. So? If it's not a quest or her retirement, what is the news you want to share?"

Solange dropped down on her seat and asked, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"..."

"...~"

Finlay didn't respond outright and turned his head towards Constance, who grabbed his hand and smiled reassuringly.

"The amazing news is that Constance and I are expecting a baby."

The Monk announced

"...what in the System's name are you even...?"

"Hold on."

Angry veins bulged out on the water mage's neck and forehead, and she was about to say more than just a few unpleasant words to the young couple, but her brother reached out his hand, which made her glance at him and stop.

"Good for you. I guess. But that means that she is retiring or at least taking a break from adventurer business. That means you must have a replacement in mind."

The archer nodded dismissively at the two before focusing on the Monk.

"No. There is no replacement for her because today, as the leader of our party, I am disbanding it."

"!!!"

"!!!"

Finally declared, leaving both Amo and Solange speechless when notifications confirming the decision appeared for all four party members.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?!" *SLAM* *CRASH*

"KYAAAH!"

Solange roared in fury, flipping the table with all the dishes still on it and making Constance scream while Finaly cowered her with his body.

"THAT'S HOW YOU TRASH REPAY US FOR STICKING WITH YOU FOR ALL THIS TIME AND KEEPING THIS SINKING SHIP OF A PARTY AFLOAT?! WE WERE LETTING YOU TWO SOAK ALL THAT PRECIOUS EXP POINTS AND YOU BALD FUCK DISBANDED THE PARTY JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T PULL OUT IN TIME?!"

The brown-haired water mage screamed her lungs out as her eyes almost popped out of her eye sockets.

"AMO! Control your crazy sister!"

"Oh, no. Solange is talking for the both of us."

Finlay called out to the composed archer sitting comfortably on the simple chair, but the help he expected did not arrive as the smartest member of their disbanded party had no intention of interfering.

*WHAM*

"WHAT I JUST SAID?! YOU WANT TO QUAREL, GET THE HELL OUT OF THE GUILD'S BUILDING!"

"!!!"

"!!!"

Even though most of the adventurers present in the guild were either ignoring or enjoying the show, the guild's staff was definitely not having it, which resulted in the bespectacled receptionist to slam her hands against the counter and roar at the quartet, causing all of them to flinch.