Chapter 308: Sister Nieve is very stingy

Chapter 308: Chapter 308: Sister Nieve is very stingy

The days passed methodically, one after another.

Thanks to the steady execution of the overlapping advance tactic, the conquest of the Underground City progressed surely and consistently each day.

Until the evening of the eighth day.

The campaign to conquer the Summer Crown was finally entering its last stages.

And it was on this day...

...that the Red Dragon United Strategy Group, via its propaganda department, announced an exhilarating piece of news to the entire camp:

The distribution of High-Energy Compressed Spiritual Cuisine would be suspended starting today!

The logistics department would be bringing out all the alcohol stockpiled during the period of military control, as well as an abundance of unprocessed ingredients!

Tonight, the camp would hold a grand, pre-battle celebratory banquet!

With the first crisp POP of a cork in the square, the long-awaited feast officially began.

To enhance the atmosphere...

...the logistics department even lit a massive bonfire several meters high in the center of the square.

The warm, orange glow of the fire illuminated the face of everyone present.

Everyone sat around long tables, devouring roasted meat and chugging ale.

Although their faces still bore unhealed scars and grime...

...at this moment, genuine, joyous laughter was on every one of their faces.

Lance didn’t join the lively crowd in the center.

Holding a cup of low-alcohol fruit wine, he found a quiet step a short distance from the bonfire and sat down, his calm gaze fixed on the boisterous crowd in the distance.

Just then, Viters, carrying a large mug of pungent liquor and clearly already tipsy, plopped down next to Lance.

"Seriously, Lance."

Emboldened by the alcohol, Viters half-jokingly, half-seriously extended his invitation once more.

"Once this whole Underground City business is over, come build your career in the military!"

"With the strategic command talent you’ve shown these past few days, I’d bet my head on it. As long as I recommend you, the old marshal will absolutely treasure you!"

Lance smiled, raised his wooden cup, and gently clinked it against Viters’s enormous mug before tipping his head back to take a sip of the sweet fruit wine.

"I’ll have to pass, Captain Viters. I appreciate the offer, really."

Lance rejected the proposal without hesitation.

"I’m used to my freedom and can’t stand being tied down. After this is over, I just want to go back to being a carefree Adventurer."

"After seeing the hills, it’s time to climb the world’s great mountains and see the real scenery."

"Besides, I’ve never seen snow-capped mountains or the ocean in my life."

Viters heard the resolve in Lance’s words and didn’t press the matter further.

"Well, you’d better be careful then. I hear those Sub-human Species in the sea are extremely hostile toward us humans."

As the two were chatting idly...

...Felix walked over, holding a glass of wine.

He had overheard their conversation from a short distance away.

Compared to Viters’s straightforwardness, Felix’s thoughts ran deeper.

He knew that although Lance had shown astonishing potential, he was still far too young—merely an Adventurer who had just reached Level 3.

’At this stage, before he’s fully developed, stepping onto the stage of the Royal Capital too early would definitely not be a good thing. What he needs more is to temper himself in the wide world, to accumulate more trump cards and Power.’

The experience of fighting side-by-side had already built a preliminary bond between them.

Felix believed that as long as he maintained this relationship...

...then in the future, when Lance truly needed the help of immense resources, it would be the perfect opportunity for the Valentine Clan to shine and make its political investment.

However, for now, this was all just wishful thinking on his part.

After they got out, he would still have to spend a great deal of time and effort to persuade his family.

This also meant that after they parted ways in the Underground City, it would likely be a long time before they could meet again.

And so, Felix walked over to Lance, raised his glass, and said with a sincere tone:

"Mr. Lance, although we will all go our separate ways after leaving here..."

"...a person like you is like Mithril, destined to shine for the whole world to see once the dust is wiped away."

A glint shone in Felix’s eyes.

"Even if you don’t actively seek out the tides of the era, the tides themselves will push you forward until you’re riding the crest of the wave."

Faced with such high praise,

Lance just laughed heartily.

"Then you two better work hard. Don’t let the waves coming from behind knock you down."

Lance raised his cup.

"I hope that when the time comes, we can all meet again at the crest of that wave."

"Cheers!"

The men had a few more drinks and chatted casually about recent events.

Soon,

the two captains were dragged away by their respective squad members to continue their drinking contest.

Not long after they left,

Nieve, holding a wooden tray full of syrupy fruit desserts, silently sat down next to Lance.

She picked up a sugar-coated fruit with her fair fingers and began to chew on it.

Just a moment ago, she had been called over to the square by her teammate, the young Cat Girl Philis.

After persistent training every night during this period...

...the fusion of the Snow Lady and Elf bloodlines within Nieve’s body had successfully reached 9.6%!

With the fusion of her bloodlines, her Perception, which she had lost due to her racial limitations, was gradually recovering.

The most direct evidence of this was that she had now mostly recovered her sense of taste.

When eating dessert, she no longer needed Lance to hand-feed her using [Sensory Overload] just to be able to taste it.

As Nieve was quietly eating her dessert,

Bazzer, holding his daughter Lilia’s hand, also approached from the crowd.

He was clearly tipsy. His large red beard, soaked with alcohol, bobbed up and down comically as he spoke.

"Mr. Lance, we have you to thank for being able to leave this Underground City!"

"After we get back, I’ll definitely write down everything that’s happened here! I’ll beg my editor-in-chief, even if it’s the last thing I do, to let me serialize your story in the *Campfire Traveler*!"

The fruit wine Lance was lifting to his lips paused, and he froze.

"Wait."

Lance looked at Bazzer, puzzled.

"The manuscripts of my deeds that I authorized you from the Star Realm to have published... didn’t you submit them to the *Campfire Traveler*?"

Hearing this question,

Bazzer’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

He instantly sobered up by more than half.

Only then did he remember that he had never actually dared to tell Lance which publication the manuscript had been submitted to.

"Um..."

Bazzer explained.

"That manuscript... because the content was a bit... special. It was indeed published in the Royal Capital. But, it was in a special issue called *Midnight Rose*."

"Midnight Rose?"

Lance narrowed his eyes upon hearing the name.

’That name sounds a little off, doesn’t it?’

But before he could ask,

Lilia, who had long since grown tired of standing nearby, threw herself directly into Lance’s arms.

"Big Brother."

The little girl looked up and said in a soft, sweet voice.

"After we leave the Underground City and you’re outside, you have to remember to write to me and Daddy, okay?"

Even Lilia knew that after today, everyone would be leaving the Underground City.

However,

before Lance could smile and agree,

he suddenly saw a finger relentlessly poking Lilia’s shoulder as she sat in his arms.

The finger was poking with considerable force, again and again, as if trying to forcibly jab Lilia out of Lance’s embrace.

Lance didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he looked at the stone-faced Nieve sitting beside him, performing her "expulsion" maneuver.

He reached out and, with a practiced motion like petting a cat, ruffled Nieve’s icy blue hair.

Placated, Nieve finally stopped her assault.

But Lilia, who had been painfully poked, was having none of it.

She pouted, glared angrily at Nieve, and loudly protested, "Sister Nieve is so stingy! Big Brother doesn’t belong to just you!"

Hearing this provocative statement,

Nieve narrowed her eyes.

She immediately stood up and squeezed herself into Lance’s arms, trying to push Lilia out of her spot.

This childish scene drew a round of good-natured laughter from the Adventurers drinking nearby.

And amidst this warm and noisy atmosphere...

...the banquet gradually moved into its latter half.