A tavern in the city of Balse.
"Pisses me off!"
D-rank hunter Raiga Easter slammed his wooden cup of wine onto the table.
"Well, Mia did chew you out pretty good. On top of that, your beloved Ilza seems to think very highly of that Kai Heinemann."
Hook—Raiga's close friend, tactician, and restrainer—spoke as he gulped down his wine, keeping his eyes on Raiga, who was still trembling with rage.
Raiga was originally from Lamoor. The people of that city were particularly obsessed with ranking a person's worth based on the Gift bestowed upon them by God. To Raiga, Kai Heinemann—bearer of the Gift "World's Most Incompetent"—was someone he could never, ever accept.
(If it weren't for that flaw, he'd be an easygoing, good guy, though.)
Reflecting internally, Hook just couldn't bring himself to like Raiga's contempt when it came to Gifts.
A Gift was merely a guideline of ability. Just because someone's ability was low did not mean their character was inferior.
"And Mia, standing up for that incompetent piece of trash!"
"From her perspective, I don't think she was defending him. I mean, as a guild receptionist, of course she'd get angry. After all, thanks to your meddling, her position has gotten pretty compromised."
"Don't give me that crap! What the hell did I do?!"
"Are you honestly asking that?"
"Of course I am!"
Whenever it came to Gifts, Raiga lost all sense of reason.
"Just drop it and stop getting involved with Kai Heinemann. Ilza just wants to scout him for her ruin excavation team."
"I told her I was willing to join her team! But that woman had the nerve to say being B-rank or higher was an absolute requirement!"
"Doesn't that just mean it's that difficult of a quest? We're still only Class D, you know."
"We're almost Class C! With my Gift, I'll climb up to Class A in no time. And yet—that woman looked down on me, acting like I'm below that incompetent bastard!"
Hook didn't believe that a Gift determined everything. In reality, there were countless cases where Gift Holders who worked clearly outside their field went on to leave their names in history.
Since Ilza Harnish, the currently up-and-coming treasure hunter, recognized Kai Heinemann, he likely possessed crucial value for successfully exploring the ruins.
However, explaining that to Raiga while his blood was boiling would be completely futile. Now then, what should he do?
"Hey, Raiga, Hook! Someone asked me to give this to you guys."
One of their party members came over to their table and placed a letter and a pendant down.
"Who gave it to you?"
"They were wearing a hood pulled low over their head, so I couldn't see their face. As soon as they handed it over, they took off before I could even ask for a name."
It was far too shady. It would be best to throw it away without even touching it.
"Raiga—"
Hook started to speak, but—
"Ah, right, right. Apparently, it's about the exploration of the 'Ancient Temple.' They said they're only telling our group because Balse's most promising prospects, Raiga and Hook, are in it."
The party member proudly uttered words that seemed deliberately calculated to stroke Raiga's ego.
"W-Wait, Raiga—"
Though he knew it was futile, Hook desperately raised his voice to stop him.
Surely, if Hook had managed to talk Raiga down and tear that letter to pieces right then and there, they never would have had to face such a gruesome nightmare.
Yet, contrary to Hook's wishes, Raiga went ahead and read the letter.
"Kha! Kuhihhaha!!"
After laughing like a man possessed, Raiga spoke the words that set them down the worst possible path:
"We're gonna look into this pendant's effect, and if it's the real deal, we're heading out to explore the Ancient Temple all by ourselves!"
And so, their march to despair began.