Chapter 134: Pack Rat

“You can’t blame teenage boys and their rampaging hormones… They all make mistakes. I would know; Damian can be a real challenge sometimes. I once got a call from the principal saying he confessed to his English teacher Miss Andrea,” Aria added in defense of her boyfriend, though her words did not manage to make Kaiden feel better one bit.

While Kaiden might’ve not appreciated the words of his Space and Moon Valkyries, he just chuckled amusedly.

Vaelira, on the other hand, had a much stronger reaction. She squinted her eyes with hostility as she studied the two women. “Did you, pink hair, just call your expedition leader a chick with a hot piece of ass, and did you, silver hair, imply that confessing to me was a mistake? I must’ve heard wrong; explain yourselves.”

It was Kaiden who spoke up before either of his Valkyries could.

“You heard them just right. You’re a sexy woman, and confessing to you was a big mistake of mine. I was all respectful and proper while doing so, you even got a rose bouquet from me. Not wanting to buy flowers for the girl I liked with pocket money I got from my parents, I worked an afternoon as a dishwasher in a restaurant to gather the funds. Yet you felt it was right to ruin my high school social life in return by spouting nonsensical lies. I could only chat with rejects like David, thanks to you. So, tell me, expedition leader, how exactly were either of my partners wrong in their statements?”

Vaelira was taken aback, not expecting such strong words from Kaiden. Back in high school, he protested against the lies for a bit, but after a while, he just accepted them for what they were. This combative version of Kaiden was not something she was used to.

She checked the reaction of her chat, and her heart skipped a beat when only ~75% of the chatters were mockingly laughing at Kaiden as a dude who got cruelly rejected after confessing. The remaining 25% was women sending blushing emojis and men spamming wide-eyed emojis regarding the three girls.

– HateWomen: I just found a new female specimen to observe after getting betrayed by Supreme Empress Luna, yet here he is again to haunt me… When will these nightmares end? If he charms Queen Vaelira as well, I’ll find him in real life…

– BubblyPink: You know them? Do they have a social?

– BraveHero69: Tell us!

Not wishing to promote Kaiden’s group, Vaelira quickly muted the user called HateWomen. There was no notification of it sent to the chat; moderating could be done without messages like Vaelira permanently muted HateWomen being public.

“Is there a problem, Vael?” Sasha, the redhead woman who stood behind her during introductions, asked while walking toward the group. She was flanked by the towering Jack, who now sported heavy armor and a giant mace and shield, and a black-haired guy with a knight’s armor and longsword called Leon. Together with Vaelira, these four were the main force of the Nova Circuit expedition group.

Vaelira stared into Kaiden’s gaze for a few seconds before shaking her head. “I was just introducing the mercs to the viewers. Isn’t that right, Kaiden?”

He nodded. “We’re here to level up and earn riches, not to settle some petty high school drama that happened years ago.”

“Good.”

With that, the blonde woman turned on her heels and walked away, followed by her lackeys.

“Well, that’s a great start. We entered the dungeon a minute ago, and there’s already brewing inner conflicts…” Nyx mused.

“At least it’ll be a good viewing experience.”

None of the ladies felt like addressing Kaiden’s statement.

They soon found their tent. It wasn’t one of those cramped, single-person shelters only good for lying down. Instead, it was a proper expedition tent, spacious enough to stand and move around in.

Four beds lined its walls, each with a mattress and a set of neatly folded blankets. In the center, a wooden table with four chairs provided a place to eat, strategize, or simply rest between fights. The tent’s walls were reinforced to withstand the desert winds, and a small ventilation opening near the top ensured fresh air circulation.

“Umm… Excuse me…” A timid voice sounded from outside the tent.

“Come in!” Aria replied cheerily. They knew it was the young girl with many backpacks from her voice alone.

“T-thank you…” she said while stepping in. “Umm… I’ve been assigned as your pack mule.”

Such a phrase for her profession didn’t sit well with Kaiden when it was her lips that uttered it. Pack mule was the common term used to describe her job, but it was not the official one, just like how the term ‘commoners’ was the unofficial but popular way to describe non-awakened people. “What’s your name?”

“Packrat.”

The fact that this time around, she didn’t even hesitate nor stutter with her response made all four observers flinch. “What Kaiden asked for is the name given to you by your parents,” Luna informed.

“Oh. S-sorry… Elara.”

It wasn’t difficult for the four to understand what was going on. She was ridiculed by the others so much that she accepted such a name as her real one.

“You’re going to be our dungeon aide?” Aria asked with a tender tone, using the official term for Elara’s profession.

The timid girl nodded, “Y-yes… Four teams of four were made so that combatants could hunt monsters effectively, and each team was assigned a pack mule.”

“Alright. We’re happy to have you, Elara,” Kaiden decreed with a smile. He didn’t expect Vaelira to split the team up, but if he thought about it, it made sense. Hunting XP as a group of 20 would be ineffective. It was best to make smaller teams and then rejoin each other once the 24 hours of XP grinding had been concluded and it was time to begin the clear in full.

Elara, who had brown hair and a few freckles that adorned her innocent-looking face, showed signs of surprise. She expected them to go with the Packrat name and treat her as a simple mule, not like this. “T-thank you…” she muttered with confusion, then asked, “Can I help with the preparation?”

“Thank you, but we’re ready to go as is,” Nyx replied while checking her dagger. With that, the five left the tent and saw two groups walking in the distance. They’d already left the camp in search of monsters to slay.

The final team—consisting of Vaelira, Sasha, Jack, and Leon—sat around a table, playing a board game while drinking and lavishly feasting on provisions. When Kaiden and his squad emerged from the tent, Sasha was the one to address them.

“We’ll be rotating shifts for hunting and guarding. Each team will hunt for six hours and take a two-hour turn defending the camp. We’ll keep this schedule for the next sixteen hours, which means you’ll get four hours of rest and twelve hours of hunting time. We volunteered to take the first guard shift, and the other two teams will cover the next four hours after us. That means you guys will start your guard duty in six hours.”

“Okay.”

It was obvious what was going on. Vaelira’s team remained behind first so the other three teams would act as test dummies for them. After the first 2 hours were up, they would know if there was anything dangerous they should look out for during their hunt.

Furthermore, by making Kaiden and co have their guard session last, their hunting would be inefficient because hunting for six hours straight was not feasible with their current Endurance stat under the scorching heat.

Nevertheless, Kaiden didn’t offer any rebuttals. As a merc, it wasn’t his place to do so. Being given harsher conditions than guild members was par for the course, though he would make sure to remember how they were treated by Nova Circuit. Any sensible guild would treat mercs with respect should they wish to retain working relations in case another difficult dungeon propped up.

“Let’s go.”

And just like that, Valhalla’s Sinners and their aide set out on a hunt across the desert.