Something quite familiar

It took a surprising amount of time for the metal noise to get closer, moving far slower than I would have expected, even for a man in armor. Once the noise got a bit closer, I could hear panting, clearly the man in the armor was growing tired of running.

The noise momentarily stopped as a bit more clattering signified the man getting on his knees for a moment. He took a series of deep breaths, clearly trying to regain his stamina, though it didn't sound like he was in the best shape.

After a slight coughing fit, I could just barely hear him speak. "Lass, why couldn't yee have placed us just a wee bit closer? De yee know 'ow 'ard it is te run in this stuff?" It didn't even take me a full second to recognize that voice, as there was only one person I had met in this world with an accent that heavy.

My suspicions were only confirmed as I heard a familiar feminine voice respond, "Sorry, but the spell isn't very accurate for places I haven't been before. I need landmarks to help target it, and the further it gets from them the less precise it is." I could hear a grunt of begrudging acceptance in response.

I chuckled to myself, happy to know that I had gained an opportunity to work on my reputation with another critical group at the same time. After all, I had been in dire need of some time to work on my relations with the adventuring crew as of late.

Everyone turned to me in slight confusion at my humor, though realization quickly dawned on some of them. Isabell was the first, apparently knowing more about me than I had thought. Millana was next, as made sense from our few connections and Isabell being her servant. And the last to figure it out was Lana, who I honestly didn't expect to. 'Perhaps it is because she's a local, and connected me to them through Oliver?'

A smile was allowed to form upon my face as they began to come into view. The dwarf was clad in a quite heavy set of plate mail, made of a metal I had never seen before. 'Perhaps it's some form of fantasy metal? There is usually Mithril or Adamantine in fantasy settings, and plenty of other things that don't exist back home.' I saved the thought to ponder over later as I looked back to the rest of the party present.

The wonderful witch was of course present, having been the only one of them I am aware of that is capable of teleportation magic. She too was far better equipped than when I saw her last, making me realize something. 'When we fought my creation, they weren't using their proper gear. It was a surprise mission, I realize now, and we didn't head back to get properly equipped. I'll need to think about that when comparing the strengths of my creations in the future...'

Perhaps unfortunately, the next figure in view was the jealous elf, in a leather-armored outfit that surprisingly left everything to the imagination. It inspired a snicker from myself as I thought back to the fantasy stories I had seen. 'Everyone always **** the female characters to have super revealing armor to sell better. I suppose it would obviously be different here, as they need to wear actually protective armor.'

To my great surprise, that was the end of the entourage, my friend the knight being absent from the present company. I was left to only speculate if he had refused to come, or if they perhaps had simply not gone to get him after they last split ways. Regardless, I could not figure out if that would be a help or a hinderance to my efforts in the coming moments.

It became quickly apparent that I was not the only one to recognize the fact of who it was that gathered. As the adventurers all got sight of us, it was obvious that my outfit drew their eyes, and there was little time needed to remember me. Natalia seemed happy for a moment, before a slight grimace showed as her eyes flicked to Silvia. I could barely make out Grutrod's words as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his armored hand. "Oh bugger."

Silvia's reaction was, of course, the most dramatic. Her eyes scanned over our group, taking in who she was employed to assist. When her gaze at last reached me, she immediately tensed. I could see her jaw clench as she stared daggers into me, most likely wishing for me to drop dead on the spot. It was clearly taking everything in her to not charge me at the very moment, a fact that not only I was thankful for, judging by the two other adventurers giving her nervous glances.

Karen, apparently oblivious to common social cues, approached the three and quickly began getting down to business. "You three, you are the 'Mountain Tree Adventuring Group'? I thought there were four of you?" She raises her eyebrow judgmentally, forcing me to do everything in my power not to laugh at her. 'I swear, it's almost like this lady specifically wants everyone to hate her at this rate.'

Grutrod gave a grimace and looked to the others, silently asking one of them to explain it instead of himself. Silvia simply continued to stare daggers into my very soul, ignoring both Karen and her comrade. Looking around nervously at the other two, Natalia picked up the slack. "Uhh, well our fourth member, Oliver, is uhh." She looked to the other two for assistance, finding none. "Currently unavailable."

With a raised eyebrow, Karen for some reason decided to not leave it at that. "What do you mean they are unavailable? We hired your team, what is more important that providing the aid that was requested and paid for?" She looked down her nose at them, and couldn't help rub my temples in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

It seems I was not the only one who felt such emotions, as both Sisters looked at her with slight disgust, an act I was once again surprised to see from Lana. Isabelle too, looked at her in a more composed, yet still clearly disapproving manner. Last and quite probably least, Lycus on the floor stared at her with anger, with a look that almost seemed to blame her for his suffering.

Of course, Silvia was staring daggers into me, clearly blaming me for his absence, though she didn't voice that thought. Natalia was nervous, stuttering as she tried to think of a proper reply. Lastly, Grutrod was scratching his beard with a pained expression, seemingly thinking about the situation at hand. 'I don't blame him, as the person who seems to be the party leader, he has been put in a horrible position.' I decided to neglect the fact I was the one who put him in that position.

Taking in their reactions, part of me wondered if I should butt in to help, or if they would be able to handle this moment on their own.