After that was decided, we moved out of the Druid Guild with everyone else, Rita used her shadows to bring them along so they wouldn't make a fuss in the streets, and once we landed at Ambil's Smithy, we explained to him we've brought a whole army of workers.
"Y-You what?! You brought all these freaks here to work with us?! Are you out of your mind?!" He was really shocked.
Nonetheless, once we walked back inside the Smithy, Ignis greeted them with a surprised but happy smile, and allowed them to work along us.
After introducing them to the many tools and the working process, I left an Avatar with them, sharing my own mind, and then decided to move out while they started working.
My friends, however, were slightly disappointed, to my surprise they kind of liked working in the Smithy, because they were gaining new skills and also some bonus equipment.
"It's not like I'm saying this is bad, but I would like to continue working in here…" Mark sighed.
"Me too, even though I hated it. If I can craft my own stuff later with these skills, I can earn a lot of money by selling them off back on Earth!" Rita was only interested in the money.
"Although I want to go on adventures, working on the workshop is also important!" Acorn complained.
"I don't mind either way…" Nieve didn't actually mind.
"I want to keep polishing my skills in here too! …But also fight to grow stronger." Brisingra said. "Ah, I wish I could divide my body like Lady Planta."
"Well, let's do it like before then. Let's divide our group, one will remain here and the other will come to an "adventure" in between." I said. "Is that alright? Right now I was planning on moving to the noble district to seek the traitorous noble."
"Our group would stand out too much if we are too many." Acorn said. "I'm not that good at sneaky stuff either… I'll stay and work in the workshop then!"
"I can accompany you then, my small body and ice magic should be of some use." Nieve smiled.
"I'll stay too, I ain't good at sneaky stuff either." Brisingra said. "I want to polish my skills here so I can eventually make something for my dad. We're also all working to open the way to the Fragment of Cloudia, to find out about my mom's past, so I feel obligated to help."
"I don't know if I can be sneaky… I would like to stay too, for now!" Lily smiled gently.
At the end, we made a team with Mark, Rita, Nieve, and Jenny. Johanna would also join us, she said she was good at camouflage with her ability to use a chameleon beast spirit.
"Then you're off! I wish you good luck." Said Ambil. "I've heard rumors about the Queen's Shadows, if they're your allies, you might meet them soon enough."
"I see, I'll keep that on mind then." I nodded. "We'll come back for dinner!"
"Sure!" Ambil waved his hand as he saw us off.
Before leaving, I set another Ward Barrier like the one I put on before, which shone brightly and resembled a giant temple made of pure light.
"This one should last 24 hours." I nodded with a smile.
"You can make Divine Wards like Barrier Masters or Clerics?" Johanna once more dropped her jaws in surprise. "Y-You're… Okay, I admit it, you're alright."
"Only alright?!" Rita facepalmed. "Grrr! This girl really needs some correction!"
"It's okay, haha." I giggled, shrugging it off. "Let's move. David should be waiting for us in the noble district, he and the detectives have found enough clues. The Shadows of the Queen must be around too, they are investigating the area where the suspect must be."
"Alright." Jenny nodded. "I'm glad I'm finally part of the big team! I'll do my best! I hated working in the workshop, honestly, my tummy always hurt…"
"Despite saying that, you were the most useful with your abilities." Mark laughed. "The power to forge and melt items inside of your own body and then reshape them was amazing… A pity you dislike it."
"Well it hurt! Of course I wouldn't like it! Grr!" Jenny was sitting over Mark's head in her purple-colored slime form, hitting him with tiny arms.
We walked through several streets filled with people to the brim, until we finally arrived at the noble district, which was guarded by gates that only allowed authorized people inside.
David was waiting for us right at the other side, we showed our Emblems, and we were immediately allowed to the other side.
"Lady Planta, everyone! I'm glad you're here! We've been waiting for you." David gently greeted us, he was being accompanied by a small squadron of knights, five Elite Knights whose levels ranged from Level 140 to 180. I had never appraised David before, but I took the opportunity of doing so now.
[NPC Name]: [David Luminary]
[Title]: [Luminous Kingdom's Paladin Squadron Captain]
[Guild/Affiliation]: [Luminous Kingdom's Knights]
[Guild/Affiliation Alliance]: [Luminous Kingdom's Paladin Squadron]
[Job Class]: [Holy Luminous Sun Paladin Captain]
Oh wow, he's unexpectedly very high level! I guess he'll be a good ally to have around when fighting the Cultists. The knights he brought cannot compare to his strength though, I wonder why he brought them? For training, maybe?
"Oh, hello David, nice to meet you." I smiled, everyone else also greeted him.
"Hey, you guys! Come on, have some manners and greet them politely." David asked his five knights, who all seemed to have distinct appearances and personalities.
"N-Nice to meet you, Lady Planta. I have heard great things o-of you." A young-looking knight with blonde hair and glasses spoke timidly. He looked like the youngest.
"Nice to meet cha!" A tall, muscular red-haired boy greeted me.
"It is good to see you all."
"It is an honor to meet the King's new allies."
A pair of twins, two girls with long and silky, azure-colored hair greeted me, they looked almost identical if it wasn't because the first had gold eyes while the second silver eyes.
"Hmph… Why should I greet with manners these commoners? They're not even from our country!" A dignified lady with pink-colored hair made into twin tails said, crossing her arms with a rather prideful demeanor similar to a "young lady".
"Patricia! You can't just say that in front of Lady Planta! Do you want me to kick you off the squadron?" David said furiously.
"A-Ah! B-But Captain!" Patricia cried, acting like a spoiled brat.
"You should be more like Joustin, Heshmerie, and Emerette and Juliette, they are very well behaved!" David sighed, crossing his arms. "If you do this again, I will have to reconsider having brought you along…"
"T-That's… Ugh, I'm sorry." Patricia apologized, her purple-colored eyes glaring at me with a lot of anger for some reason.
"I hope we can get along…" I sighed. "Why is there always someone problematic in these lands?"
As I whispered that to myself, I looked at Johanna, who only glared at me with a slightly angered expression, very similar to Patricia.
"Whatcha lookin' at?!"