The Adventurers' Association at noon was filled with a lazy atmosphere.

Even the most energetic adventurers, after making a ruckus all morning, would often choose to return to their inns for an afternoon nap, waiting until evening to continue drinking and boasting.

Coupled with the summer heat that made everyone lethargic, the association was sparsely populated, and most of the receptionists standing behind the counters were drowsy and nodding off.

"Creak—"

The soft sound of the door opening startled the receptionist who had been continuously "nodding." She looked up to see a five-member adventurer team appearing before her.

Like most teams returning from missions, they looked rather worse for wear—travel-stained and mostly injured.

Bern carried a cloth bag as he walked to the counter where they had originally accepted the mission. "Hello, submitting missions, numbers E1029 and E1033."

The return journey had taken considerable time because everyone except Lin Mo was seriously injured. Even after drinking limited health potions, they still had difficulty moving, so it took them two and a half days to finally reach the town.

However, the journey was relatively smooth overall, encountering only a few groups of goblins that Lin Mo easily dealt with.

"Please present your adventurer identification..."

The staff behind the counter immediately became fully alert and responded with a smile.

Working as a receptionist at the Adventurers' Association offered stable employment, decent salary, and high commissions—an excellent job in any circumstances, let alone in these difficult times.

Therefore, the association had high requirements for them. Not only were they strict during recruitment, but their work attitude and efficiency were also regularly assessed. Failure to meet standards or receiving too many complaints from adventurers could easily lead to dismissal.

Thus, those who managed to stay, regardless of their performance records, undoubtedly possessed professional competence and service attitude.

Bern produced his adventurer identification badge, and Lin Mo also placed his badge on the counter.

As for Evan and the others, since they were all part of Bern's team, there was no need for additional procedures.

"Alright, please wait a moment... Mission numbers E1029 and E1033 confirmed as completed. Would you like to recycle the extra materials?"

"Recycle them."

"Understood. The mission reward totals 22 gold coins. Additionally, there are 34 goblin ears, 7 cat demon claws, and 1 sub-adult cursed pattern cat demon claw, totaling 5 gold, 58 silver, and 50 copper."

As for the remaining two minotaur horns and that adult cursed pattern cat demon claw, they completely belonged to Lin Mo, who had no intention of recycling them at the association.

Although the Adventurers' Association offered relatively fair prices for material recycling, finding the right channels to sell to those with greater need could yield at least 15% more profit.

According to the previously agreed split, Lin Mo received three-tenths of the total, which amounted to 8 gold, 27 silver, and 55 copper.

Including this, his current assets only totaled 13 gold, 75 silver, and 13 copper—not even enough to buy one health potion.

There was no helping it. Although he had purchased weapons and leather armor at cost price previously, it still cost quite a bit. Rescue missions paying 100 gold coins weren't something one could encounter every time.

Normally, one had to accumulate wealth slowly, mission by mission. Even veteran adventurers like Bern needed to complete several missions before they could afford a suitable weapon.

"By the way, the money for that health potion..."

Bern took out 15 gold coins and handed them to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo took 13 of them and returned the remaining two.

"I drank a bit of it earlier, so this is enough."

Bern didn't refuse. Considering the consumption of two health potions during this mission, they had actually lost money. Having two extra gold coins would make the coming days somewhat easier.

Adventuring was never a business with enormous profits. Behind the seemingly extraordinary income compared to ordinary people lay countless hardships. Any accident could occur during missions—if weapons or armor were damaged, one or even several missions' earnings could be wiped out.

If the situation worsened further, they might have to use extremely expensive health potions, or might not even get the chance to use them, dying directly at the hands of monsters.

That they all returned safely this time was thanks to Lin Mo's help and tremendous luck.

"We'll head back to the inn to rest first. See you later."

With that, Bern waved and left the association.

Lin Mo glanced around the hall. It seemed to be Lena's day off today, as he didn't see the cat girl with silver-gray fur.

Having just returned from outside, he wasn't in a hurry to accept another mission immediately. Lin Mo ordered a cup of barley tea, drank it in one go to slightly relieve the summer heat, then left the association and headed toward Copper Hammer Street.

...

The afternoon business was the worst of the day.

The energetic dwarf blacksmith Edgar wasn't like most people who became drowsy during lazy afternoons. With few customers entering the shop, he holed up in his forging room, hammering away with clanging sounds.

That kid who made him sell equipment at a loss hadn't been seen since that morning when he came to have protective coating added to his weapons—quite some time had passed.

Even if he was on a mission, he should have returned for equipment maintenance by now.

He hoped the kid hadn't ended up as monster food, otherwise this "investment" would be a huge loss.

"Boss, a customer is here to see you."

The shop assistant called from outside.

"Wait a moment, let me finish hammering this iron ingot..."

Edgar said this while swinging his hammer again.

"Stop hammering. I brought you something good."

However, the next moment, the forging room door was pushed open, revealing a familiar figure, followed by an anxious-looking shop assistant.

"Boss, the customer insisted on coming in..."

Edgar waved his hand, signaling the assistant to leave. The assistant breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door behind him.

The young dwarf put down his hammer, jumped down from the forging platform, walked up to Lin Mo for a careful look, then jumped up and punched his chest.

"So you're still alive... I thought you'd already become slime dung."

"Do slimes even produce dung?"

Lin Mo was momentarily stunned, then said, "That's not the point. Check if this thing is valuable."

As he spoke, he took down the two enormous axes from his back—each nearly as tall as he was.

Only then did Edgar notice the massive objects he had brought. With great interest, he took one heavy axe and began tapping it with a small hammer.

"The material is pretty good... Where did you get these?"

"Killed two minotaurs and claimed them as spoils."

"Oh, minotaurs..."

Edgar nodded. Given minotaurs' size, using such large axes wasn't surprising at all.

He wiped the dust from the axe blade, his mind gradually shifting away from the large piece of iron before him.

Then, a thunderous roar echoed all the way to the front counter.

"MINOTAURS?!!"