After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply Chapter 240

Chapter 240: 215, Lia's thanks, and apology

The dress was backless to begin with, and the front was obscured by Lin Da.

But this state could last at most seven seconds.

After seven seconds, it was the part where the man would spin the woman out, and the woman, facing forward, would perform a move that showcased the curves of her body.

By then, if Lia hadn't thought of a solution, the result would be…

She would have to stand there, showing off her white underwear and steel plate to everyone.

'Shocking, Captain Snow Goose suspected of being male!'

'I've never seen such a small bear.'

'Is Captain Snow Goose really an adult, with zero charm!'

In her mind, Lia couldn't help but envision tomorrow's White Dove Morning News.

That unscrupulous reporter Kami would definitely put the worst comments on display, making her the laughingstock of adventurers once again.

Anything but that… please no!

Lia's voice trembled as she looked at Lin Da with gritted teeth, “You, hurry up and help!”

“Is that the attitude you ask for help with?” Lin Da teased.

Lin Da was not about to help Lia for free, especially since she had stepped all over his shoes leaving footprints.

“Hurry up, hurry!” Lia still didn't understand why Lin Da wouldn't help her.

Three years, enough time for a person to develop all sorts of bad habits.

When dealing with others, Lia knew that she must have the right attitude when asking for help. But with Lin Da, she really felt it was only right for Lin Da to help her.

As time ticked by, they were about to reach the 'steel plate display' part, and seeing Lin Da's indifferent demeanor, Lia finally bit the bullet and conceded.

“Lin, Lin Da, please, help me.”

“I'll give you a reward of fifty Gold Coins.”

Lia, like a poor soul caught with her underwear showing, made an offer that was quite generous for her.

It's true that Snow Goose had earned two hundred thousand Gold Coins from subduing the Ironclad Land Turtle, but Lia had debts to pay and needed to distribute Gold Coins to Aiko and the rest, leaving her with very little in hand.

Even the Magic Guide Wristwatch she had stubbornly given to Lin Da as a face-saving measure was bought on an installment plan.

Now, Lia was in debt up to her ears.

The cash she had on hand was only a little more than a hundred Gold Coins.

“What did you just say?” Lin Da asked with a trace of confusion in his eyes.

“The reward… fifty… Gold.”

“The sentence before that.”

“Uh, asking you to help me.”

Lin Da shook his head, “That's not quite how you said it, is it?”

Lia's face turned red and she stammered, “Please do me a favor, help me out.”

Who would have thought Lia would see the day she softened.

Lin Da truly saw something new.

The female supervisor who had been a thorn in his side for three years, now humbly bending over to ask for a favor… Lin Da felt oddly satisfied inside.

“For the sake of an old team member, I'll help you,” Lin Da said.

“But forget about the fifty Gold Coins. The finances of Phoenix Tail Flower are doing well, we have over seven hundred thousand in cash.”

“How much…? Seven hundred thousand?” Lia was a bit stunned.

Yes.

After spending four hundred thousand Gold Coins to commission Gale to forge the Magic Dragon Soft Armor and fifty thousand Gold Coins to host a party, Lin Da still had over seven hundred and fifty thousand Gold Coins in his Savings Card, belonging to the team's communal adventure wealth.

Adding to that, the items in the trophy display room could fetch a million if sold.

In total, Lin Da's disposable assets reached one million seven hundred and fifty thousand Gold Coins!

Of course, he had no interest in Lia's fifty Gold Coins now.

“Alright then.”

Lia didn't argue.

She needed to repay her debts first.

If she lived frugally, fifty Gold was enough to last a long time.

Once again, Lin Da's hand grabbed onto the back of the girl, caught the broken shoulder strap, and pulled it up.

But wearing it or not seemed to make no difference.

Lin Da thought it odd to himself, when Lia pressed against him just now, it wasn't as if he felt nothing, but it was nearly nothing.

Take his teammates, Lulu and Monica; getting close to them was like being hit with a nuclear blast.

Lia with her steel plate just didn't pique his interest.

The dance ended without incident.

In the saluting part, Lin Da became the epitome of a courteous gentleman, supporting Lia's back.

In reality, his fingers clung to the strap while bowing to the guests.

Applause thundered like roaring waves.

Everybody thought that the two captains had thawed their previous animosities, which seemed quite the story.

Only Aiko sensed something was amiss.

Why did Lia seem so flustered?

With Lia's temperament, if her relationship with Lin Da had improved, she'd be barely able to hold back a smirk, unable to suppress the corners of her mouth.

Could there be more to the story?

Aiko rubbed her chin, pondering.

The Elf host smiled and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please take a short break. There will be a second dance in a bit, but there's no need to draw lots this time, everyone is free to choose their desired dance partners.”

Pair after pair of eager eyes turned toward Lin Da.

Lin Da declined politely, “I won't join in, I'll rest for a bit. I hope everyone has fun.”

Many of the single female adventurers felt disappointed, losing interest in participating in the dance party.

Lia nudged Lin Da with her elbow and asked, “Are you going to the restroom?”

Her real goal was to find someone to fix the strap on her dress.

Not wanting a third person to discover it, Lia had no choice but to shamelessly ask Lin Da for help.

She carefully held on to the back of her dress with her hand and ran toward the exit of the hall.

Reaching the corridor, she stopped to look back, to see if Lin Da was following.

Lin Da nodded but didn't follow; instead, he headed toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

What was he doing?

He couldn't possibly think she was going to take a dump and had forgotten to bring toilet paper, so he went downstairs to get some, could he?

Lia, whose thoughts ran wild, blushed at the idea. With such a large villa, wouldn't the restrooms have paper? Could Lin Da's wealth be just for show?

“Lia, what are you looking at?” Aiko questioned suspiciously as she approached in her magic wheelchair.

“Nothing, nothing at all!”

Lia certainly did not want her teammates to know of her embarrassment.

She dashed to the restroom and hid inside, waiting for Lin Da to come 'deliver the paper', at which point she'd ask him to fix her dress as well.

If it got ruined, not only would she be embarrassed, but Lia would also have to pay for it.

The rent wasn't much, only a mere thousand gold coins, but given Lia's current financial situation, she couldn't afford it…

Seeing Lin Da who seemingly had money–an astonishing idea struck Lia. Perhaps she could borrow gold coins from Lin Da!

Lia, now level 27, desperately needed to upgrade to an orange main weapon. But the problem was clear–she was broke!

'No, I can borrow from anyone, but I can't ask Lin Da.'

Lia shook her head vigorously, dismissing the ridiculous thought. It would be too embarrassing if Lin Da refused–how could she, a proud former team leader, ask a teammate who had left the team for money…

The corridor was eerily quiet, far from the lively noises of the hall.

Once calmed, Lia realized: if Lin Da came by, wouldn't it mean the two of them would be alone together!

Her heart skipped a beat, and it felt like ants were crawling on her back.

Their situation was undoubtedly awkward, still caught between past teammates and enemies.

“No, that's not right!”

On second thought, it was also a rare opportunity!

Words Lia couldn't say in the presence of a crowd at the hall, if there were no onlookers, perhaps… she could speak her mind.

Lia was gradually coming to understand the reasons behind Lin Da's departure from the team.

If the mistake could be divided into ten parts, one part belonged to Lin Da, two to Aiko, two to other teammates…the rest, all on her, the captain.

In the quiet corridor, Lia leaned against the wall, taking care not to let the dress slip.

She pursed her lips, gripping her right arm tightly with her left hand, her complexion somewhat pale.

While drinking in silence at the hall, she had been reminiscing over the past three years. It seemed that ever since Snow Goose's second-level failure, she had become impatient for success, and it was from that time that Lin Da's strategy papers became thicker and his work slower.

On every holiday, Lia never gave Lin Da a gift. She did receive many gifts from him, though–nothing very expensive, just some clothes or dolls that she carelessly piled in a cabinet, collecting dust.

She had assumed these were things Lin Da bought in bulk and didn't take it to heart.

But recently Lia came to understand that the gifts they each received were always different, each carefully selected by Lin Da.

Every sharp new reality she recognized after Lin Da left the team felt like a swordsman's strike cutting into Lia.

With her intelligence, she completely lost measure, as if she was watching her own villa crumble before her eyes, yet all she could do was stand there dumbfounded, unable to think of any solutions.

Lia's knuckles turned white from the grip. Why had she, consumed with the desire to reach the higher ranks and blinded by ambition, not paid attention to the teammates around her?

Snow Goose was like a heavy chariot that needed pushing from behind to move forward.

And those pushing were precisely Lin Da and the other teammates.

This realization had escaped the former Lia, who arrogantly believed that all the credit for their success was due to her and that replacing any teammate would not make much difference.

Only now did she understand that the credit belonged to everyone; without any one of them, Snow Goose wouldn't have made it this far.

'Why couldn't I have been nicer to him back then?'

Lia drooped her head, like a wilted little flower.

If that night she had not burst into Lin Da's room, knocking over his meticulously prepared strategy papers, trampling them underfoot, if she had not pulled out that resume, if instead, she had calmly talked with Lin Da, in an attempt to understand each other…things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Although she couldn't change the outcome, Lia hoped to do something to clear her conscience.

There was something she had to say to Lin Da.

And it had to be in private. Lia knew her own nature; as long as there was one other person watching, she wouldn't be able to mouth the words.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

After waiting for about three minutes, footsteps could be heard coming upstairs from the other end of the corridor.

It was Lin Da who appeared.

Lia, feeling inexplicably nervous, stammered, “Why, why did it take you so long, what were you doing?”

Lin Da lifted up the needle and thread in his hand, “I went to borrow them from Monica. Chloe seems to be having a great time with her.”

“Oh…well, that's good.”

Lia mentally braced herself, resolving to speak up once her dress was fixed.

She was the 'Blazing Swordsman'; no challenge could stop her.

Yes,

Lia prepared to summon the courage to thank Lin Da for his three years of dedication to Snow Goose, and also…to apologize.

(ps: Continuing to ask for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and subscriptions, ying ying ying)

Chapter end

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