After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

Oath Ring?

Lin Da curiously opened his personal storage and found a small silver ring.

[Name: Lulu's Oath Ring]

[Type: Equipment - Jewelry (Female Only)]

[Quality: Oath]

[Level: 0]

[Attribute: Strength +30%]

[Description: A ring that witnesses the formation of an oath, can only be given to female team members. The member who wears this ring will permanently receive a +100% mood boost in the Back House system.]

Hiss.

Lin Da gasped.

This Oath Ring really had something special.

The attribute points were the most cost-effective, usable till old age 'Strength +30%' and also increased the mood of the team members by 100%.

Lin Da glanced at Lulu's profile with conflict. Perhaps it was the effect of the wheat beer, the beastwoman's cheeks were slightly flushed. Sensing his gaze, Lulu pulled her hand back, holding the mug of beer, her fingers tapping irregularly on the glass, her mood seeming rather agitated.

The favorability still wasn't enough.

Giving out the Oath Ring rashly at this time might lead to misunderstandings.

If Lulu thought he invited her into the team because he desired her body, that would be terrible.

Lin Da placed the Oath Ring back in the storage, planning to wait for a more formal day to give it away.

The rental house was filled with a warm atmosphere.

The temperature inside the house was just right as summer turned cool, and the dim magic light made everything look especially peaceful, soothing one's heart.

The whole scene was like a vividly historic photograph, everyone unknowingly becoming a part of it.

Enjoying the present, while also basking in the memories of the past.

Lin Da and Lulu spoke softly.

Monica leaned against him, her arms wrapping around his arm, seeming a bit sleepy.

Kafni's tolerance for alcohol improved, playfully bickering with Aiko.

The beer in their cups was the kind with the lowest alcohol content, almost similar to soda.

"I like big, secure men!" Kafni, having lost at rock-paper-scissors, slurred with a numbed tongue, unclear in her speech.

"Oru type? Shall I introduce you?" Aiko asked with a mischievous smile.

"That big guy...? That that that that kind won't do, must be..." Kafni struggled to find the right words, pondering.

"Which kind?"

"Um... maybe, like Lin Da?" Kafni blurted out. Lin Da could be quite an asshole at times, but sometimes, he was rather handsome.

Lin Da: "?"

If he had no other choice before, he might have settled for Kafni.

But now, with more and more beautiful female team members around him, Kafni simply couldn't compete.

There's a saying, 'first come, first served' near the water tower. If Lin Da were willing to be a scumbag, he probably could easily have any member's body. However, doing so would inevitably lead to the destruction of team dynamics, and his current goal was still to reach the top of the World Tree.

Looking at the old wall clock, it showed two o'clock deep in the night.

Had it gotten this late?

Lin Da frowned at the oblivious Kafni and the enthusiastic Aiko.

He coughed and said, "If we keep drinking, it'll be daylight. We need to send the guest back."

"Guest, what guest?" A drunk Aiko leaned forward, almost standing up from her wheelchair, joining Lin Da in searching for the guest.

All four of them looked at her.

Oh.

The guest turned out to be me?

Aiko half sobered up.

She pouted, not really wanting to leave.

Even if she couldn't win over Lin Da, she wanted him to at least ask when she would go to Phoenix Tail Flower.

If Lin Da never asked, Aiko would be very upset.

Luckily, Lin Da didn't disappoint her, he remembered.

"Aiko, will you... join our team?"

"Oh, actually Lia disagrees, the contract pressure is too high, the penalty is one million Gold Coins."

"I see, sorry to make you uncomfortable, let's pretend I never brought it up, don't be anxious about this." Lin Da said guiltily.

A huge question mark appeared over Aiko's head.

Is that it, you're giving up?

That shouldn't be, I'm a 25-level 'Holy Mage' genius!

I'm rich, I have money!

Aiko was so anxious she almost wanted to jump up!

For a penalty of one million, I can earn it with you, I'll put up 999999 Gold Coins, you just put in 1 Gold Coin, isn't that enough?

Right now, Aiko greatly regretted having asked that one extra question!

Now, if she wants to join, she'd have to initiate the conversation herself.

That's the same as shaking your butt at a dog,

begging...ugh, begging to join the team!

As cheap as toilet paper from a trash can!

Lin Da and his group escorted her to the door.

They didn't even use that broken carriage and brought her back to Snow Goose's villa!

Aiko miserably watched Lin Da and the others return to the rental house.

The pretty girl by Lin Da's side wasn't bad-looking at all.

To give herself away for free would be such a waste.

She had to make Lin Da notice that she was a special existence.

Aiko maneuvered her wheelchair back, all the while pondering over this matter.

As she passed by a bookstore, she bought a culinary teaching book.

As the old saying goes, to capture a man's heart, first capture his stomach.

Aiko's culinary skills were lacking, but that didn't mean, after seriously studying, it would still be as bad.

Her ability to study was a hundred times better than Bilya's.

Before being driven out by the Holy Light Church, Aiko was an excellent model student, a role model for a group of Paladins to learn from.

"Just a little chef boy, sooner or later, I'll make you my skirt-licking dog."

Humming a tune that predicted victory, Aiko went home to practice her cooking skills.

...

The next day, on one side of the Adventurer's Guild's notice wall, a notification about the real-life strategies of the Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team was posted.

This wall gathered the real-life strategies of all teams that were unfolding recently.

The notice was pyramid-shaped, divided into three layers.

At the very top were Iron Level adventure teams.

This layer was displayed as blank.

The second layer was the Rock Level adventure teams.

There were sparsely three or four teams.

The Rock Level corresponds to layers 10-15, usually hyping up a month in advance.

This kind of real-life strategy was not free.

Usually, they would charge adventurers for admission or collaborate with a branch of the Adventurer's Guild to collect a one-time buyout fee.

In the real-life strategies of the Rock Level teams, one could find the names of the Ice Flower Adventure Team and the Snow Goose Adventure Team.

Both were scheduled for next month, Ice Flower the 13th floor, Snow Goose the 12th.

Both adventure teams were highly anticipated, and tickets were sold out within a day of release.

Then, there was the third tier of the Apprentice Level teams.

There were more of them.

Brave Adventure Team, Sunny and Cheerful Adventure Team, Let's Get Rich Adventure Team... the names were diverse.

The strategies were concentrated in the first three layers.

There were too many real-life strategies on this level.

It was hardly interesting, and nobody would watch even if it was free.

Setting up such real-life strategies was purely for the empire's subsidy.

"Isn't there a higher-level strategy? I don't mind if the ticket is a bit more expensive."

A handsome elf in a white suit scanned the team list discontentedly.

His gaze moved to the bottom of the pyramid, and he noticed a name he had seen in the newspaper.

[Phoenix Tail Flower Adventure Team]

[Level: Apprentice]

[Strategy Target: Floors 1-3]

[Start Date: X month X day, two days later]

"Hey, look at this!" the elf said unexpectedly, "The leader of the Phoenix Tail Flower, isn't that the Ultimate Pervert?"

"Lin Da? His team is starting a real-life strategy?"

"Tsk, the first three floors, really not interesting."

The adventurers were indifferent.

Teams strategizing the first three floors were too many, all too similar, unable to produce any new tricks.

"Unexpected that Phoenix Tail Flower is so poor, real-life strategies subsidies for the first three floors are just around ten gold coins, right?" the elf who first noticed sighed, "The beautiful Miss Aiko actually likes such a poor man, I am truly disappointed."

"Who I like is none of your business," a soft, gentle voice with a smile sounded.

"Miss Aiko?!" The elf turned, and there, was a mage lady sitting in a wheelchair, with blonde hair and dressed in white.

The elf's voice trembled with excitement: "Actually, I am your fan!"

Miss Aiko today also looked very beautiful, the elf sighed internally.

Who wouldn't like a sickly, noble-born young lady with golden locks?

She also smelled wonderfully, definitely the legendary 'body scent.'