Chapter 168

168 Don’t forget your reward, please! part Ryu’s lips curled up in what looked like a childish smile that held the charm of a fresh morning breeze. Everyone who knew him felt motivated to work because they were aware of his unusual, yet almost always, reliable way of thinking. The only one who distrusted him was, of course, Hana.

She was about to complain again, but even she wasn’t as shameless as to throw dirt on someone that was al least trying to be helpful. Even if it was a lowly F rank adventurer.

“The least we can do is hear you out”

Hana scoffed earning her the murderous glare of most people present.

“If we can tie an end of the rope to the dome we can use a tree to pull it up while someone goes down there and pushes it”

Ryu said the last part staring right at Bob, who then felt the pressure of everyone’s eyes upon him.

“I can try, but I can’t promise I’ll be able to push it all the way up by myself”

“I don’t expect you to do it alone. Since Sera is the weakest among us, at least physically, she will be following you trying to make footholds for you to rely on. We just need to level the terrain in some places so you can rest without the dome rolling down”

“I have a question mister Ryu”

.....

Sera lifted her arm in the air. She had been trying to avoid Ryu ever since they kissed, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to do her best to help him however possible.

“Yes?”

“What should we do if the thing breaks out of the dome? isn’t it too dangerous? don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind taking the risk if you ask me to... but... what should we do then?”

“That’s a valid question Sera, I don’t think we can afford to try a second time. If we fail, we’ll go back to the inn and ask for help. Our reward may be lowered, but there’s really no need to push ourselves”

“Don’t say wimpy stuff like that! I’m sure that my dear students are more than capable of lifting that thing up by themselves, even the useless blondie over there”

Risa nodded with her eyes closed

“How can you make fun of our party leader like that!?”

Hana, who wasn’t as experienced as Risa in adventures but had been on a few of them before, knew exactly how important it was to respect a party leader’s position. Not only their very lives depended on the party leader, but also the share of the loot and even the reward sometimes.

Without even realizing it, she had been developing an interest in Luke. It was all thanks to his confident attitude and his outstanding appearance that suited her taste, and the fact that he bossed everyone around only confirmed her suspicions that he was also the party leader. While it was true that Bob looked stronger than him, she knew better than to judge people by appearance alone, or at least that’s what she thought.

“What are you blabbering about? Ryu is our party leader”

Anne scoffed at a dumbfounded Hana after everyone, even Luke stared at her with a confounded expression.

“Why would you believe I was the party leader?”

“Well, you’ve been walking in front of everyone and giving commands, it was kind of obvious”

“Well, we’re not big on following orders, but we mostly follow Ryu’s crazy schemes”

“You’re pulling my hair, right? You must be joking! That guy doesn’t even look that strong, I mean, yes he has a toned body, but his presence is as low as hers”

Hana pointed a finger at Sera

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but we’re not joking. Ryu has saved our asses more times than I can count and we wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for him”

Hana fell silent while everyone started preparing the terrain to make it easier for Bob to pull the dome up. Ryu went as close as he could to the dome without slipping down and placed his hands on the ground.

Finding a connection with the mana flow was a lot easier this time, although he wasn’t able to see it, it was almost the same thing. Despite earth being unmoving, there was a strong current flowing within it, the strong energy that lied below the surface was unstoppable, but it could be redirected.

By connecting his mana flow with that of the ground he was able to change the shape of the dome into a more compact round shape from the distance, then he made some small rings on the surface of the ball shaped container. Now all they had to do was tie the rope into the rings and then pull it up until Bob was able to push it to ease their job.

“Hold on a second please!”

Bob shouted preventing Rina from dipping into the water to tie the rope in the ball shaped container.

“What is it handsome?”

“The rope snapped when we pulled it too hard last time, I don’t think it’s going to be able to hold the weight of that thing, it looks really heavy”

“That, my friend, is exactly why we need you to push from below. You see, if we only relied in the rope all the weight would be relying solely on the thin rope, but if you push it, the rope will be only a secondary help to you strength”

“Yeah, but I can’t push it while it’s underwater!”

“Oh! I actually know this one!”

Luke exclaimed with a refreshing smile that produced goosebumps onto Hana’s skin.

“Water has weight too you know, that makes any object below the surface a lot lighter!”

He further explained.

“Right... but then again, I don’t think I’ll be able to do it all by myself, I would feel a lot safer if we had iron chains or something even stonger to pull it up”

“I didn’t take you for such a coward big guy”

Risa said and she finished by sticking out her tongue in a mocking, yet charming, manner.

“That’s not it, I just don’t want it to fall into the lake again and be forced to come back later”

Ryu pondered Bob’s words for a few seconds. There was the possibility of creating stone chains but he didn’t know how strong they would be and how much mana he would need to consume to make them.

“You’re over complicating it, all we need to do is to braid the rope”

Anne said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but no one understood what she meant by that.

“Come on guys, I used to do climbing. Whenever a rope snapped or was cut I had to fix it, and sometimes I needed stronger rope too, when you braid a rope it’s like combining their resistance”

Anne proceeded to show everyone how to properly do it and it was so simple even Risa was able to understand how to do it.

It wasn’t a complicated process, but it was long and tiresome, still, they decided to give it a try since no one really wanted to be surrounded by steam again, except for Hana.

Her family had been the owners of the hot springs for generations and they perfected every possible aspect of their service to turn a simple inn into one of the biggest businesses in the whole kingdom.

They offered the best quality of sleep, privacy, security, high end food, rare drinks and all sorts of entertainment varying from sports to skilled prostitutes from all over the kingdom.

It may not sound like much, but to think that it all started with a simple pond of hot water in the ground was really impressive.

Hana had lived a life of wealth, her closest friends were all nobles and she was accustomed to having all of her needs and wishes fullfilled as soon as she voiced them. But she wasn’t a spoiled brat, her ancient family passed on the tradition to keep only the most capable members in charge of the hot springs and she was most likely the one to become the next head of the family.

It wasn’t solely her talent for administration, she had experienced all the benefits from living in the inn ever since she was young. She could tell where did any wine come from and how old it was, she could also tell the ingredients a dish was made from and she could tell with a simple glance and a quick touch the quality and place of manufacture of any piece of high quality fabric. All of that without even using her identify skill.

Living the same as the most distinguished guests for so long allowed her to put herself in their place, thats why she was able to tell immediately the amazing possibilities that a steam bath could provide. It was something so incredibly simple and yet no one had ever thought of something like that before. It was truly a remarkable business opportunity.

She was really grateful towards the heroes that worked so hard to save her inn without asking for a reward upfront, but she was even more thankful to them because they allowed her to tag along.

“Hey Hana! help us braid the ropes too!”

“Are you stupid?”

But not as grateful as to ruin her nails doing handy work.