Chapter 314: Loss and Gain

Blood-stained off-white bandages were wrapped around his abdomen, arms, and thighs circle by circle. The longsword, which had been wiped clean, had already been sheathed and fell lightly by his hand.

Margaret huddled by the campfire, holding a cup of tea with leaves floating on the surface and emitting a clear fragrance with both hands. The rising steam permeated her face, which was still stained with mud and dried blood, making her look even more dazed.

At this moment, she was no longer the squad leader who had considerable prestige, always maintained composure, and seemed to have everything under control.

She was just an ordinary adventurer who had just escaped death and survived with difficulty under the fangs and claws of ferocious monsters.

Until now, she still had no real sense of everything that had happened before.

It was clearly just the most ordinary investigative mission, yet it cost two precious teammates, and the enemy they encountered was an unexpected one—a suspected great Devil from the Nine Hells.

It didn't even need the other party to make a move; just the so-called "minions" summoned by that existence had dragged their squad into a deadly quagmire.

Even now that the battle had ended and she had sufficient time and a complete brain to think calmly, she couldn't imagine any possibility of turning the tables.

Closing her eyes and waiting for death, praying that her soul after death could escape the Devil's search and find peace, instead of being made into a soul coin for secondary use, forever drifting and sinking on the Hell wasteland, seemed to be all she could do.

But it was precisely in this situation where no light could be seen, in extreme despair, that the turning point... appeared before her eyes from a corner she had never imagined, in an unbelievable way.

I am afraid that even many years later, when she successfully retired and smoothly handed over the "Oath-Sworn Blackwood" squad to reliable successors, or was lying in some dark and damp cave about to die, she would not forget the fleeting picture in that breath.

Embers and sparks falling like snowflakes, lingering flames of red and sorrow, molten sword light, and those pitch-black eyes that looked like a solar eclipse...

The Devils were beheaded against the backdrop of the firelight.

And the root cause that brought all this turning point, allowed herself to continue sitting here as a living life, and allowed the team name of "Oath-Sworn Blackwood" to be passed on...

Margaret raised her head suddenly, her gaze looking toward the other end of the campfire.

What came into view was a black-haired young man who was concentrating on devouring the crab meat in his hand.

The piercing wound in the center of his chest, which had almost caused his death, had already healed, leaving only a hole in the middle of his black shirt, revealing the smooth skin where muscle contours could be vaguely seen inside;

There were traces of slight burns in many places on his shoulders and waist, but the bone armor on his legs and the pitch-black arm shield on his forearm remained intact, showing no signs of damage.

His physical state was much better than hers and Suoerding's.

His mental state was the same...

Margaret had been in this line of work for more than ten years, and she had seen almost all types of adventurers.

But even among the most cheerful and free-spirited ones, it was hard to say that they could relax immediately after such a bitter battle that was almost wiped out.

Probably at most they would crack two jokes with teammates, deal with their hunger with dry rations, and it would take two days to gradually ease up; celebrating or something would only be possible after returning to the town.

And right now, the enjoyment expression of the black-haired young man when chewing and swallowing was something that couldn't be acted out.

Making the female swordsman's already complex expression carry a hint of strange oddity.

Seeming to notice her gaze, after swallowing the food in his mouth, the young adventurer named "Xia Nan" raised the crab meat in his hand toward her, issuing an invitation.

Politely declining with some embarrassment, Margaret subconsciously looked away and took a sip of tea.

The warm fragrance rose, and the sweetness remained on the tip of her tongue; the pain and fatigue coming from all parts of her body seemed to be relieved under the fragrance of the tea.

Making Margaret's body tremble slightly with comfort, she exclaimed:

"This tea is really good..."

"Right?" Xia Nan raised his eyebrows slightly at the similar feeling of food taste. "I specifically asked the receptionist lady in the association for it."

"If you want to buy it, you can go to Ms. Edwinna's place and take a look. I remember she still has some stock in her shop."

Margaret nodded repeatedly in agreement, and turned her head again to look at the Dwarf Suoerding, who was wrapped in a blanket and reaching out to warm himself by the fire.

Nodded slightly.

The battle had ended, and the group naturally had exchanges about their respective identities and purposes.

They knew Xia Nan's mission was to exterminate the Goblin nest they were currently in, and the other party also knew that they had come here by tracking the traces of the Devil.

By mistake, they happened to be together, and only then did they have the encounter just now.

Margaret was not a noble person, and the status of an adventurer made her far from kind.

She basically considered problems from the perspective of interests and safety.

The current situation was already very clear.

On a moral level, Xia Nan saved the two of them from the hands of the Devil, allowing the Blackwood squad to survive;

On a realistic level, the powerful strength shown by the other party before, even if she and Suoerding in their peak state were added together, were not his opponents.

To a certain extent, whether the two of them lived or died was actually just a thought of his.

With this as a premise, Margaret, who had rich adventurer experience, naturally performed very "sensibly."

She didn't even need Xia Nan to speak, and took the initiative to bring up the "interest distribution" issue that was most sensitive to adventurers.

"Thank you for your help. It's shameful to say, but these few Devils on the field... the two of us basically didn't contribute much, so we won't participate in the distribution of related loot."

"In addition, as I mentioned to you before, our squad's mission was to investigate the traces of the Devil in the Shihua Xiyi nest. Now that this is the situation, of course, it can be considered completed."

"It's just that the specific rewards still depend on the association's judgment of the degree of completion. Suoerding and I have already discussed it and plan to exchange part of the reward points for gold coins and donate them to you."

"Please don't refuse. After all, if it weren't for your help, the two of us might not have the chance to sit here and drink tea now."

"Of course, the specific amount of gold coins will only be clear after returning to River Valley Town and submitting the mission, but it shouldn't be too little, after all..."

As she spoke, Margaret swept a glance at the corpses of several Devils beside her.

Such a decision fully reflected her experience as a veteran adventurer.

On one hand, immediately after the battle ended, she clearly and explicitly expressed her withdrawal from participating in the distribution of loot, reducing the possibility of unnecessary battles caused by suspicion and misunderstanding to the lowest level.

On the other hand, she even pointed out the commission rewards that could only be obtained after returning to the town, and indicated that she would give a considerable proportion of them to Xia Nan later.

In this way, for the other party, the two of them still had utilization value, so they wouldn't be beheaded on the road like those Devils after the temporary ally status was lifted.

Perhaps they could leave a good impression in the other party's heart and have opportunities for cooperation in the future.

To this, Xia Nan naturally would not refuse.

Several Devils on the field were killed by himself after entering the "second stage" by activating 【Ember Afterimage】, so the loot naturally belonged to him.

The Blackwood squad had indeed paid the price of losing teammates and had barely persisted for a period of time under the siege of the Devils.

But he and they were not teammates, not even friends; they belonged to complete strangers.

It was just because of the suddenly appearing common enemy that they became temporary allies.

This relationship naturally dissolved after the battle ended.

To tell the truth, when the three parties just met in the nest before Abi signed the Devil contract, he was even persuaded to leave by the few people with a threatening tone.

If it were an adventurer with a slightly more extreme personality, the heads of the two people in front would probably have left their shoulders just now, and how could they be drinking tea and roasting by the fire like this. ===== CHAPTER 315 =====