Chapter 20: Where Did My Ice Bear King Go?!
At the foot of Mount Elor.
Anna’s adventure team had been walking for almost a full day and night.
At the front of the group, Anna looked exhausted. Her usually well-kept black hair was now just… black, messy and tangled, like it had been scratched by chickens.
Her back was slightly bent, as if all her energy had disappeared.
The teammates behind her didn’t look any better. The vice-captain Stella and the temporary commander Lisa were both covered in dust, looking like they had just crawled out of a mine.
“Lisa, how much longer do we have to walk?”
Anna, who was leading the group, couldn’t help complaining. Back then, Lisa had talked about teamwork and confidence, but look at them now.
They had walked for a whole day and night and gained nothing. Instead, they lost over 700 coins.
For this mission, Anna had spent a lot. Money, manpower, everything.
And when they finally arrived, they realized… they went to the wrong mountain.
The hunting location was on another mountain, but they had come to Mount Elor instead. A “sister mountain” of Mount Kaelte.
Anna was so angry she felt like her lungs would explode.
And when she found out the map was drawn by Lisa, and that the direction arrow was wrong, her face turned completely dark.
What kind of person messes up the direction on a map?
How could their Dawn Guild, one of the top-ranked guilds, make such a basic mistake?
Lisa held the map, now lacking confidence.
At the start, she was the one who had been the most confident. But after climbing the mountain, they realized they came to the wrong place.
A completely wasted trip.
Going on a guild mission wasn’t cheap. There were wages, food, lodging, medicine, magic tools, and more.
All of that added up to a huge cost.
On top of that, competition between adventure guilds was intense. The appearance of monsters was also unpredictable, sometimes they showed up at night.
They even had to wake up in the middle of the night to compete with others.
If they only got leftovers from others, they wouldn’t make money. They would actually lose money.
Luckily, not many people knew about the Ice Bear King this time. Otherwise, their losses would have been even worse.
This was truly a double loss.
“Lisa, I’m talking to you! Are you mute? How long until we can get back?”
Anna grabbed her hair, clearly annoyed.
“I… I don’t know…”
Lisa turned the map around in all directions. When she bought the information from an underground trader, she was too excited and just drew a quick map.
After sleeping, she couldn’t even understand what she had drawn.
“You drew the map, how can you not know?!”
Anna clenched her fists, almost wanting to beat her up.
You brought the information, you drew the map, and now you say you don’t know?
“Don’t panic, I’ll think of something.”
Lisa searched through her bag for a long time but couldn’t find what she was looking for.
“Did any of you… see my tracking potion?”
She looked at the others anxiously. One teammate replied,
“Boss, we didn’t bring that in the first place.”
“Then how did we have it before?” Lisa quickly checked their team handbook. It clearly mentioned emergency methods.
If you enter a maze-like area, use a tracking potion. It will guide you back using the power of nature.
It was also called a ‘cheap teleport stone.’
It cost less than a teleport stone but worked just as well. In some special areas, it could even be better.
This item was one of the main reasons why their Dawn Guild had always completed missions with zero casualties.
And now they were saying they didn’t bring it? What a joke!
“Logistics! Where is logistics? Someone explain this to me!”
Lisa raised her voice at the confused team members.
“I’m asking, where is logistics?”
“Boss… our logistics team… isn’t here anymore…”
Lisa: …
“Who was it?”
“…Peiya.”
Just hearing that name made her grind her teeth in anger.
“Support, support! Stop pretending to be dead, come cast a spell and talk to the plants.”
“S-support… isn’t… also gone?”
“……”
“Who?”
“Peiya…”
Lisa was completely speechless.
“At least the scout should still be here, right? Go ahead and check the road. I’m too tired, I’ll rest for a while. Hurry up, don’t waste time.”
Lisa collapsed onto a nearby big rock, with no strength left at all.
She had also walked for a whole day. She was too tired to even deal with the team now.
But the same team member spoke again, raising their hand weakly.
“Report… we checked, and it seems the scout is also not here.”
“????”
Lisa was completely stunned. Anna was also confused.
Their Dawn Guild hadn’t had many resignations recently.
Only Peiya left.
So why were so many positions suddenly empty?
“Are you sure you’re not lying? Whoever is lying, step forward now!” Anna shouted.
She was about to go crazy. How could such a big guild be missing so many roles?
“We’re innocent, boss! Before, intelligence, cooking, medical care, support, clothing, logistics, lighting, scouting, even rear guard… all were done by Peiya alone.”
“How is that possible? One person did all of that?”
Anna glared at everyone, but their expressions all seemed to say—
Yes… that’s right. That person could…
Anna’s face turned extremely ugly. She looked at useless Lisa again.
“Lisa, tell me, who used to draw the maps?”
Anna suddenly felt uneasy. Before, she rarely managed guild matters and didn’t really know who did what.
But Lisa, as the person in charge of personnel, should know best.
Under Anna’s stare, Lisa felt huge pressure.
Because… the one who drew the maps really was Peiya.
But she knew if she said it directly, Anna might lose her mind on the spot. So she answered vaguely.
“Maybe someone else… but you know, if you practice drawing maps, you’ll get better.”
Anna: …
You might have time to practice, but I don’t have time to run around with you!
This trip had almost broken her legs. She came full of hope to defeat the Ice Bear King first, but now…
Nothing.
Nothing at all!!!
Who could she even complain to?
No monster, lost over 700 coins.
The Ice Bear King was a valuable target. If they defeated it, other guilds would definitely respect them more.
She couldn’t accept this mission failing.
Now her sister, Elise, had returned. If it were Elise, defeating the Ice Bear King would definitely be much easier.
So she had to kill the boss before Elise heard about it.
But now, there was one critical question she had to confirm.
Anna, with bloodshot eyes, looked at Lisa and asked word by word.
“Lisa… tell me honestly. Was Peiya also the one who drew the maps before?”
Lisa swallowed nervously. Even though she prepared herself, Anna’s fierce expression made her heart race.
Her already pale face turned even paler.
“I think… maybe… yes? But you can’t blame me! You were the one who wanted to drive ‘him’ away. I… I even tried to stop it a little. Who knew he’d be so stubborn!”
Anna was completely speechless.
When Peiya was still there, she barely even heard her name.
But now it was all “Peiya, Peiya” everywhere.
Did she really do something wrong?
Besides, Peiya was just a support. Anna had money, she could just hire another one later.
But right now, what gave her a bigger headache was this group of useless teammates.
“Lisa, I think you’re getting a bit too bold. You even dare to talk back to me now?”
“I’m not! I did so much for you back then, did you forget? And I was the one who played the villain and drove Peiya away, you and Vice-Captain Stella stayed completely clean!”
“I never forced you to do that.” Anna turned her head away, acting like it had nothing to do with her.
Seeing this, Lisa finally snapped.
“Then what about when we said we would be good sisters forever? Did you forget that too?!”
“Oh, that… maybe it was true before. But now… maybe not anymore.”
“Ah?”