But as soon as he spoke, he felt the implication was wrong. Seeing Kelly’s flushed face, he hastily explained, "I mean, our mercenary group is like a family, isn't it?" Anna, standing nearby, chimed in, "But you're not a member yet, Brother Mo Han."

Anna had been calling him Brother Mo Han since earlier, and Mo Han found it a bit strange. He hadn't thought much of it at first, but elves are a long-lived race. Although Anna looked young, she was already over 150 years old and close to maturity. Having someone over 150 call him 'brother' sounded quite odd, yet having a beautiful woman call him that felt genuinely nice—at least no girl had ever called him that back in school.

Thinking this, Mo Han couldn't help but feel a surge of smugness. He turned to Anna and said, "I formally apply to join you now, Kelly. Aren't we family then?"

He kept his eyes fixed on Kelly as he finished.

Seeing his intense gaze, Kelly’s heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks reddened slightly. "If you want to join, you need to think carefully. We're just an E-rank mercenary group. Priests like you are welcomed by many large, high-ranking mercenary groups."

Mo Han chuckled, "But I just want to stay close to you... all of you."

Mo Han deliberately drew out the word 'you,' not knowing why, but he simply enjoyed seeing Kelly blush. He found her embarrassed look truly lovely. Indeed, Kelly’s face grew even redder upon hearing that, and she quickly said, "Then of course we welcome you to join us."

Mo Han smiled, "Then from now on, we are family."

Latin, observing Kelly’s expression from the side, couldn't help but interject, "Tricks and manipulation—that's not the way of a knight. What kind of man are you?"

Mo Han was about to retort, feeling annoyed, but Kelly spoke first, her face cold, "Latin, how could you say that? If it hadn't been for Mo Han just now, you'd be dead at Chris's hands. How can you speak to Mo Han like that? How can you treat your benefactor this way? Are you a worthy knight?" Hearing this made Mo Han feel utterly delighted. Having a beautiful woman defend him felt indescribably good. Latin, silenced by Kelly’s words, dared not argue and simply fell quiet.

Mo Han then said with a laugh, "Heh heh, it's nothing since we're in the same group. Even though I worked extremely hard to save Latin just now, I’m not one to hold grudges. Latin, you don't need to keep it in mind."

The others rolled their eyes upon hearing this. There he goes again. Where exactly was your hard work? Did just opening your mouth count as strenuous labor? And who is the kind of person who tells others not to be grateful while constantly bringing the deed up? Aside from this fellow right here, you probably couldn't find another on the entire continent.

Jack spoke up, "Mo Han, I truly admire you. Defeating a Mid-rank Swordsman using only your mouth—that must have been exhausting work for you."

This caused everyone else to burst into loud laughter. Mo Han, completely unconcerned, countered, "Heh heh, of course. Can you find another person on this continent who defeated a Mid-rank Swordsman with just their mouth?" This only made them laugh harder; Rock was bent over double, unable to straighten up from laughing so hard.

The two beautiful women were also shaking with laughter, causing Mo Han to stare fixedly at them, his eyes lingering on Kelly's chest. He felt as if a nosebleed was imminent.

This earned him an eye-roll from Kelly, who softly cursed him as a pervert and ran off blushing, leaving their poor priest even more agitated.

Anna then asked curiously, "Brother Mo Han, why are you bleeding from the nose?" Mo Han replied, "Huh? Am I? The weather has been dry lately, and I have too much internal fire."

Anna questioned, "But it's spring now?" "My nose is quite... sensitive; it senses things early."

Mo Han said this without blushing or seeming out of breath... When Mo Han and the others caught up to Kelly, they found her staring blankly at the mission board. Rock asked strangely, "What is the leader doing? We just looked, and there are no suitable missions." Mo Han said, "We’ll know when we get there."

Approaching Kelly and following her gaze, they saw her fixedly staring at a newly posted D-rank mission. The notice stated that it required adventurers to retrieve the crystal from the Silver Wolf King on the Plains of Adventure, with a reward of 2000 gold coins.

Mo Han asked Anna with surprise, "Aren't we an E-rank adventure team? Can we even take on a D-rank mission?" Anna replied astonishingly, "Brother Mo Han, you don't know? The Mercenary Guild rules state that all mercenary groups can accept missions one rank higher than their own, provided they pay half of the mission reward as a deposit. After completion, this deposit is returned with the reward, and the team's rank naturally increases by one. If the mission fails, the deposit serves as compensation to the quest giver, and the team’s rank drops."

Mo Han replied straightforwardly, "Heh heh, I genuinely didn't know. Anna, you really are smart."

Anna smiled, "Brother Mo Han, you must be the first mercenary ever who didn't know that rule."

Mo Han stated nonchalantly, "First? Not bad. I've secured another 'first place' record."

He paid no mind to the curious looks the surrounding mercenaries were casting his way.

This caused Jack and Rock to blush, wondering how they ended up with such a thick-skinned companion... Only Anna, who spent more time with him, was used to his nature and remained unfazed.

At this point, Kelly gathered everyone together and said, "I believe you've all seen this mission. What do you think?" Jack spoke up, "Although the Silver Wolf is only a Tier-three magical beast, they usually travel in packs, numbering from a hundred to often over a thousand. Moreover, the Silver Wolf King is a Tier-five High-rank magical beast; it won't be easy to deal with." Latin added, "But we don't have any suitable missions right now. At this pace, when will we ever reach our goal of becoming an S-rank mercenary team? The higher we go, the harder the missions and the more experience required. It took us half a year just to advance one rank. At this rate, even ten years from now, reaching A-rank might be questionable." "I'll go with what everyone else says," Big Rock said decisively. He was good at fighting, but asking him for advice was clearly too much.

Anna said sweetly, "I'll follow Sister Kelly's lead."

That left Mo Han. Kelly’s gaze settled on him as she asked, "What do you think, Mo Han?" For some reason, Kelly felt increasingly reliant on this strange young priest. Despite being only a Novice Priest, he possessed a certain convincing charisma. Mo Han stated calmly, "I agree with Latin's suggestion: we should accept the mission."

Surprisingly, he hadn't opposed Latin's view. He had already integrated into this mercenary unit, and raising the team's rank would benefit him too. Besides, wasn't he here? What Silver Wolf King? They would just become an extra dish. Although he hadn't seen the Silver Wolf King, Mo Han had strong confidence in his own magic and battle aura.

Hearing Mo Han's words caused Latin's attitude toward him to soften slightly.

Kelly announced, "Alright, since that's the decision, we will accept this mission. We can use the money from completing the current mission to cover the deposit." She then apologized to Mo Han, "It seems the money I promised you will have to wait a little longer."

Heh heh, Mo Han slyly approached Kelly and whispered with a smile, "What's the need for formality? What's mine is yours. Yours is... uh, forget I said that." Seeing the blushing beauty showing signs of getting angry again, Mo Han quickly changed his tune.

She had just complimented his character, and he was already back to his old ways. Kelly thought with a flushed exasperation—he is truly incorrigible.

Jumping to...