Permanent Base

Tower entered the temporary tent in which the injured were being taken care of. He saw Mint and the old novice adventurer towards the end and walked towards them.

The old novice adventurer saw Tower walking towards him and chuckled. "You look....unharmed!" A strange glint appeared in the old man's eyes for a brief moment, but it was instantly hidden.

"Hmm! I hid as soon as the battle began. I was lucky enough to find a safe spot during the chaos." Tower answered lazily. He knew it was impossible for others to believe his lousy excuse, but as long as they did not find anything wrong, they would not bother him.

"It's fine. Who does not have some secrets." Mint, who was to the side suddenly muttered. His injuries were even more serious than the old man and he could barley make out some words. But he still chose to speak up at them moment.

"Hehe! Ok, ok. I get it!" The old man smiled like a kind grandpa. He looked into Tower's eyes and nodded. "Thanks for coming to see how we are doing."

"It's the least I could do." Tower replied, passively.

....

Tower watched the upcoming events silently.

The three dead Bronze Adventurers were cremated and their ashes were collected into pots to be returned to their families. This was the least the Association could do to its dead members.

The scout who had brought the crow disaster upon them was stripped of his scouting position and was reduced to a bag-carrier like Tower and the other novice adventurers.

Later when the group completed the mission and returned back to the Miller city, the scout would be kicked out of the Association. After all a scout that could not scout did not have any value.

Tower also learnt that the silver ranked adventurers would use a treasure to block the area when they come across monsters. This treasure creates an illusion that blocks all five senses, making monsters outside the blocked area unable to interfere. The Association wasn't filled with idiots after all.

The other scouts set out and chose a relatively safer place to camp down before the night of the second day. The heavily injured adventurers were transferred first while others followed in batches.

The path to the new camp was safe and the group did not encounter any monster packs during the walk.

The scouts did a wonderful job this time, seemingly under pressure.

This camp was five kilometers from the border of the forest, making it the central point of their mission which was to clear monsters in 10 kilometers radius. In fact the spot was chosen carefully according to the requirements of the mission.

This time the camp would be set up here for a long time and would act as the main base. Adventurers would leave from the camp and exterminate monsters during the day while returning during the nights.

The night-keeping watch was now shared by the three novice adventurers and a single scout. This made Tower sigh as he understood how the Association treated its deviants.

They were simply pushed to the lower levels before being discarded, but their lives were still guaranteed. This once again emphasized how lax the Association was with its members.