Vol. 9 - Ch. 431 - Sea, the poster boy of summer vacation! Wait, what do you mean there's no swimsuits!?

The proposal to outsource a ‹Helper› to manage accounts and so actually didn't receive any objection.Well, some did question if it was okay to leave internal matters to someone outside, but over all. It was all right. There does exist a duty of confidentiality after all. Unless the ‹Helper› has any perfect reason to divulge the secret, taking this route was basically a trip down the abyss. Their future employment would equally be in shambles. It concerned too much so the Academy was also extra-hard on this system.

What about 'doesn't all this strictness mean it would drive away anyone from joining in the ‹Helper› system' then? A short answer was sometimes enough compensation could outweigh some cons.

I mean, plain ol' money was something universal. The QP they got from taking over the request was adequate. Another up point was the internal assessment. Academy would definitely not shy away from recommending them if they do their jobs well.

It also involves student's own growth. It was a perfect system to gain experience about all sorts of fields and then use that experience for their experience. And if they fail...so be it. What's a student's life if they haven't tasted any failure, right? It's the only period they could afford some failures.

Besides, whether it's for thick or thin, ‹Helper› was there for the academy environment, and something managed by them. Academy would definitely step up in case we got a problem on our plate or some blunder due to ‹Helper›. Tldr; academy was our insurance firm.

The pros were simply huge; as long as they don't break the confidentiality or commit an offense. This s1 was a perfect testing ground for students to polish themselves.

So we really don't really need to worry that much about 'what if our loads of secrets are out' theory. In the end, the proposal passed through without any objection.

Well, nothing is eternal in this world, so we do not plan to entrust everything. If anything, Sierra or Celestine would be the main decision maker and someone supervising them so there goes any worry poof.

"Couldn't we simply take in a new member in our guild for managing all the accounts etc'' question was also raised. Honestly, choosing this route would mean no QP to pay, so yay? And there was also another scenario of what if we couldn't find a suitable talent. They're all good points, but honestly, personnel cost was actually not that great. With ‹Eden› current earning pace, we could easily spare that much as easily as changes. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

You know, once we breakthrough the advanced dungeon, we would be basking in the rain of riches. Though that would mean accountant-cum-member would also get an increase in salary. So why take a costlier way when simply outsourcing was cheaper. And so, this suggestion was flinged out of the window.

What any itty-bitty disadvantage could easily be overshadowed by the skills after all. I mean, Celestiene himself was using skill etc to manage the count of materials and other things after all. This was usually a ‹Worker› or ‹Merchant› area of expertise. Anyway, the rest of the little details were left to Celestine to handle.

"And so, do recommend me if there's any ‹Helper› in your sight. Well, we would post the requirement on the bulletin board otherwise. We have settled on around three of them to employ at the very least.

"Well-well, this is my shine to shine then!" (Misato)

And the one hopping cheerfully at my statement was our excellent scouter Misato. Hmm, sounds like she had just the perfect person in her list of connections. Truly a social butterfly—maybe a social bunny?

Either way, just perfect. I also had another task for her in fact.

"There's one more thing I want your help, Misato."

"Oho, what is it?"

"We need fresh blood for ‹Arc-Arcadia› since few of them will be promoted to ‹Eden› soon."

"Right, more members for the sub-guild. Alright, leave it to me! Any deadline?

"It's time for most to return home. So let's leave it till summer vacation ends. You think you can handle it?"

"Okie-dokie!"

"Also, please don't forget about that person, Mert."

"Don't worry. It's in my hand."

The talent of ‹Arc-Arcadia› would soo dry up after intra-guild promotion. It was obviously the call for another bout of recruitment. Misato was a pro in that case, and Mert had his connections. So I was already keeping them informed about it.

Everything was so impromptu last time that we couldn't attract any ‹Count› or ‹Marquis› category holders. Well, now that we had quite a lot of time on our hand to extend, I want to make this perfect.

"But it's also about summer vacation. I will be having another appreciation party."

"Appreciation party! Are we going to dive into food ingredients dungeon again!?"

My words had just finished when Hannah replied immediately after. Oh wait. In fact, pretty much everyone's attention was taken by my announcement.

We did the same last time, like diving into the extra dungeon ‹Food and Livestock Dungeon› to gather as many drops as we could and then having a grand feast. It was quite fun. Of course, there's no skimping on this party as well! Though there was a bit of change in plan however.

"‹Food Dun› is nice and all but I want to check out another dungeon."

"Ah geez, stop speaking mysteries, Zephyr. Quit that pompous act and fess up!"

And then there was Lana who was already jumping in excitement at the hint of a new dungeon. I gestured her to calm down and answered.

"The dungeon where the sea unravels, ‹The Seashore of Fishes Dungeon›. Well ‹Sea-Dun› in short."

" "Sea!" "

Our poster girls of excitement, Lana and Hannah, cheered in harmony. Rest of the members looked spirited enough at the news.

"I have never seen the sea." (Lana)

"Likewise." (Sierra)

"Our territory is near the sea so I have the fortune to gaze at it. Truly, the sea is quite marvelous and deep." (Rina)

"Heh~ I can't wait!"

Oh? Sounds like Lana and Sierra were on the same boat, never seeing sea before in their life. Villagers, like Hannah, hardly venture outside so she also hasn't seen one ever.

But it seems like Rina's territory is closer to the sea. Hmm, basically majority hadn't seen sea in their life huh. Of course, following their excitement, starts their questioning.

"Hey, I heard the sea is salty, is it true?" (Lana)

"I don't think you can call that just salty anymore. It's more diabolically salty and non-drinkable." (Rina)

"Huh, then it's safe to go there?" (Sierra)

"But of course. It's never a problem regarding that. In fact, even the folks of our fiefdom take a jump into the sea, outside of winter season." (Rina)

"What, people jump into it!!?" (Lana)

"I heard you need to change into some special sea equipment to go into the sea. Is it true?" (sierra)

"You have heard it right, It's called swimsuits." (Rina)

Rina became the eye of popularity in a jiffy. First it was Lana and Sierra, then everyone swiftly joined in and started throwing their questions one after another.

Umm, guys...I know you all are excited about the sea, but how about listening to me as well?

"Everyone, I must warn you that you choose your swimsuits carefully. Especially how it suits you. It's a battlefield to score bonus points by showing off one's charming point to males." (Rina)

" "Gulp." "

"So, where can I get my hands on this swimsuit?" (Sierra)

"Oh? Isn't it generally available in shops etc?" (Rina)

"Hmm, I have never heard about it." (Misato)

The head of discussion trailed into a landmine territory. It seems like they have never bought swimsuits either.

Sierra's question brought a surprise on Rina's face, while Misato supplemented.

Wait, what? When you talk about the sea in summer, it's of course swimsuits, no? How alien were they to the concept of swimsuits?

Crap, truly crap. It feels like our little boat of excursion would sink before everyone could get on board if we didn't have them prepared beforehand. Was I too hasty in my plan?

But, stills sea was the flip word of Summer. How oblivious could things go actually!? I never paid much attention to it in the game since my focus was usually on grindfest and all, but grinding could go to hell for now.

I just want to play in the sea with everyone! And you're saying there's no swimsuit? What in the name of seafoamy! Right, Meeting. It demands an emergency meeting!

"Come on, Celestine, Mert, Reglam!"

The seriousness from the meeting had already melted away to oblivion, but just fine. I don't have time for that meeting, for now, it's the call of Boy's Strategy Time!

My intense spirit swiftly beckoned the boys, wondering what it was all about. I swiftly introduced our agenda.

"We can't perfectly have fun in the sea of ‹The Seashore of Fishes Dungeon›. I wish to arrange swimsuit equipment for our outing."

"Then let's just do that. What's the big deal?"

You really have no idea what kind of landmine swimsuits are, my dear Mert.

Kuh, damn it. I couldn't believe the boys of this world were so out of touch with the wonderfulness of swimsuits. But then again, there's no yearning for things they had never heard or seen.

Reglam nodded following Mert, saying he thought the same. Alright, so be it. Since they don't mind, let's speed up the talk.

"Very well. Then let's arrange swimsuits. However the problem at hand is fish materials needed to prepare swimsuit equipment are in extra dungeons."

Fish monsters were a rarity in ‹Dungeon Activity›. Well, you could say it's because there was just not a single aquatic stage where we needed to fight on.

The exception were few, like ‹The Seashore of Fishes Dungeon› where we could found those fishes monsters.The fishes here—don't ask me why—generally holds the traits to swim in air or had legs growing on, so we could simply fight on land. Honestly, even my ‹Dungeon Activity› sense fizzled when it came to this. Like, I truly doubt if the fish monsters here could even be categorized as 'fishes', if not at all.

Anyway, their drops could be processed to produce swimsuit gears. Or that's how it was supposed to be. But that means we would have to dive in it twice. And that mean QP......

Curse you, Developers. What a dirty trick. Cough up QP if we want swimsuits huh!? （※QP are rewards from Academy)

Anyway, it's unfortunate, but I realized that we need to prepare swimsuit gear. Man, that was so close to the seaboom. Phew, nice one, me. Glad that I mentioned it already. Could you imagine going to sea without swimsuits? It would have been all sea, no sunsation.

Afterward, we all settled on one date to dive into the extra dungeon. And the main thing about this schedule was everyone would be back from home visit by then. Great, so no one would be left behind! —And that's how we planned our last summer vacation days with an appreciation party.

I made sure to add 'prepare the materials for swimsuits before the appreciation party' in my to-do list. Fufu, look at my arms, they couldn't wait to go ballistic.

Either way, this was basically all that was needed to convey, and so we called it the day there.