Chapter 253: Worthy I

5 Gilded Row, Central District, Harmonia City

In the underground training room...

A makeshift meeting area was formed using a long table and some wooden benches.

Seated at the long table was Regis at the head; to his right sat Pandora, Killian, Vanessa, Brutt, and Perto, while to his left were Aurelia, Lea, and Greg.

They all wore serious expressions that seemed almost cute in contrast to their young ages.

"Ugh... What now? We’ve been sitting here for five minutes already..."

Killian could no longer help himself and broke the silence.

Regis, with his ever-so calm expression, shrugged, "I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not really good with these kinds of matters."

"I thought you already had it all planned out since you were so bossy back in the forest~" Vanessa chimed in with a slight smile.

She could still remember how Regis talked about having a meeting for the establishment of their supposed to be adventurer corporation while he possessed Brutt back then.

It had now been the second day since Regis and the others, along with the Midas Family, arrived at Harmonia via carriage.

They had only rested for one day before they called for a meeting with Vanessa and the others, as well as, Greg and Lea.

’Though I’m not really sure why Aurelia also called for Greg and Lea...’

Of course, that was not something that Regis was willing to express.

And so, the best course of action for him was...

"Ehem." Regis cleared his throat before looking at Aurelia, "You may start."

...to act all mysterious to hide his ignorance.

"Pfft..." Killian almost laughed out loud, while a slight smile could also be seen on the others’ faces.

Unfortunately for them, Regis’s hardened expression never faltered.

Aurelia merely shook her head with a slight chuckle as she pulled out pieces of compiled documents from the seemingly endless deep pocket of her black victorian dress.

"As you all know, we’re meeting here today to discuss matters regarding the establishment of the adventurer corporation."

As she spoke, her hands moved nimbly, distributing papers across the table.

Her calm, practiced movements were a testament to the experience she had gained assisting her father in managing their merchant organization.

Vanessa picked up the documents as her mouth twitched, ’Wait, are these really words? I don’t even know how to say more than half of this...’

Brutt and Perto were worse as they did not even know how to read.

Greg and Lea were a little better as they were already thought in the Midas Merchant Organization before they were assigned to the businesses under them.

Other than the previous two, Regis, Pandora, and Killian had no problem reading the documents.

Aurelia noticed this and spoke in a soft tone, "I’ll organize a lecture starting the day after tomorrow for those who have trouble reading, as well as for general knowledge, including monster compendiums and the like."

Brutt and Perto gave her a grateful smile.

After giving them a nod, Aurelia cleared her throat with a cough and continued, "Normally, before starting a corporation, adventurer parties would need two important things before even considering it."

"Let me guess, strength and reputation?" Killian raised his hand slightly before speaking.

However, Aurelia merely looked at him, speechless.

Her expression made him quite nervous, "What? If I’m wrong, then just say it..."

"Not really. In fact, that’s what I’m surprised about."

"And what’s that supposed to mean?"

Regis and the others looked at the two of them back and forth with interested expressions on their faces.

Aurelia tilted her head, "Nothing, really. I just keep forgetting that you’re a noble who received education from an early age..."

"Okay, now that’s just mean..." Killian dramatically replied.

Paying him no attention, she continued, "Anyways, even though he often thinks with his crotch, Killian’s not really wrong."

The person in question did not even have the energy to reply any longer as he silently sat in his seat.

Aurelia raised two of her fingers, "The two primary things that every aspiring corporation needs are reputation and a sponsor."

’Sponsor?’ was the thought on everyone’s mind right at this moment.

"Reputation is a given. Anyone who has reputation would surely have strength as well, as the former often speaks for the latter. So, it could be said that strength and reputation go hand-in-hand, since there are only really rare cases where they don’t do so."

"The Adventurer Guild prioritizes reputation since it could also be said to be a proof of an adventurer party’s character and strength."

"However, the next one could be said to be more important." Aurelia scanned the people at the meeting area with her gaze.

"Organizations like the Adventurer Guild are no different from merchant caravans in the sense that profit always come first. And so, they would need a guaranty that would lessen the risk they are taking in supporting the adventurer corporations under them."

"This is also the reason why most adventurer corporations have a noble backing them as one would have a sponsor, while the other would have an armed force they could utilize."

At this moment, Regis raised his hand and said, "But aren’t those two something that we already have?"

"Yes." Aurelia nodded affirmatively, "There’s no one in Harmonia with a better reputation than us, and we also have my father who’s willing to sponsor us. I just wanted to give u the gist of what goes behind the scenes."

"This is for your own knowledge. After all, even if you’re the ones in the frontlines, you can’t just be ignorant about these things. This would also be discussed by the tutors we’ll hire for the lectures"

Aurelia smiled, "Let’s now move on to the main topic."

She picked up one of the documents and showed it to everyone else, "Out of the 112 members of the former demonic suicide squad, Regis not included, more than half had chosen to live peaceful lives."

"Furthermore, there had also been those who had initially applied to be adventurers, but changed their minds some time after."

"And from this, three parties had been born. I will now be listing them down one by one along with the overall number of members including the leader."

"The first one is Vanta which consists of only three members led by Vanessa, second is Exemplar with four members led by Zild, and Gotun with six members led by Lesfera."

Aurelia then glanced towards Regis with hesitation apparent on her eyes, "Including the Decadence Tea Party with currently four members led by Regis, the parties at our disposal amount to four."

"And in order to qualify for the adventurer corporation application, we need to at least have five adventurer parties."

Seeing that she has finished speaking, Regis asked, "What’s the current state of the other parties?"

"Vanta, Exemplar, and Gotun all had outstanding records which only paled in comparison with our party. All the leaders had a rank of Elite Adventurer with the weakest member being Veteran." Aurelia answered.

Killian chimed in, "To think that they’ve caught up to my rank..."

"Well, it’s because you spent most of your time chasing different skirts every day." Aurelia replied sharply.

"..."

Silence permeated the surooundings for a few moments before a hand slowly rose in the air.

It was none other than Lea, who was scratching her cheek sheepishly, "Umm, can I ask why we were invited here?"

She and Greg were one of those who had chosen to live peaceful lives and were now working on one of the bakeries under the Midas Merchant Organization.

Aurelia facepalemed softly and said, "Oh, I almost forgot."

She then looked towards Regis and said, "Since you are the party leader, I’ll leave the problem regarding the fifth party to you while I talk to Greg and Lea, okay?"

"Alright, leave it to us." Regis replied.

Aurelia then scooted closer to Greg and Lea as they spoke in hushed voices, as if this were not a meeting at all but a casual chat where they were talking behind someone’s back.

Meanwhile, Regis turned towards his right.

Killian could feel the sharp gaze on him and asked innocently, "Why, is there a probem?"

"Yes." Regis said without a change in expression.

Pandora also tilted her head in curiosity.

Killian raised his hands, "Can I at least ask what the problem was?"

"Why... out of all the parties mentioned by Aurelia earlier, why does ours sound the worst?"

Faced with Regis’s seemingly serious question, he was at a loss for words.

Pandora also chimed in, "Vanta, Exemplar, and Gotun... and then, there’s ours..."

Killian looked at her with a peculiar expression, "You’re not helping."

"I know." She replied with a slight smile.

"Haaaa..." Regis let out a sigh, "Nevermind that, since we’re on the verge of getting rid of that name once and for all..."

He then looked towards the two and asked, "Do you know any parties that might be a good fit?"

Pandora shook her head, while Killian replied with passion, "No one comes to mind, but we can’t just choose anyone. They must be worthy!"

"Well, you’re not really wrong..." Regis used his right hand to support his chin, "So that’s how it is, huh?"

"We need to build a party from scratch..."