That was how Karl found himself in front of the bus a half hour later, surrounded by clerics and a bus driver, while Thor rumbled happily as he got his scales rubbed. Everyone had gathered, and they should have been ready to go, but nobody could resist just one more pat, and the Lightning Cerro had gathered a huge fan following.
"Alright, break it up. The bus has to leave now, and you all have chores to get to." An older man's voice announced.
The students scattered, and Karl's team began to get on the bus while the older Professor watched to make sure that they were all behaving. Once he was certain that they were all going back to their assigned tasks, the professor came over and gave Thor a quick head rub, then motioned for Karl to put him away and get on the bus.
The driver started out as soon as all the bags were stored, carefully stacked upright so that the contents weren't dumped or damaged during the journey. It was going to be another long ride, though probably not as long as the train ride to get to the mission site, as it had made multiple delivery stops along the way.
"Did you all have a productive trip before it was cut short by the emergency?" Betty asked as the bus left the Seminary Academy Compound.
"Well, not as well as the group you'll be going with, since we were after Common Grade resources, but we managed to fill our bags before we returned to the train tracks. Unlike your Academy which has all the healers, we are short on them, so we stocked up on the ingredients for healing salves and potions when we managed to find them.
It's not as cool as Holy Magic, but it's a lot better than nothing, and a little on the wounds after a bad training day can help keep us in top shape." Karl explained.
The muscular dragon cleric laughed. "Can you imagine if they mixed the two Academies, though? A bunch of frail and delicate little innocent clerics thrown to the wolves with the warrior trainees."
The mages laughed at her implication. They were the frail and delicate ones, but they had offensive magic. However, from what they had seen, delicate and innocent was a pretty small portion of the students at the Seminary Academy, as they were mostly sent there after the Serum Awakening.
A compatibility with holy magic didn't soften them that much, as Betty herself was a testament to.
The bus bounced along the gravel road, then the ride smoothed as they got to proper pavement and passed through the edge of a few small towns.
The small farm towns were even more rural than the mines were, and Karl noticed how the locals would turn to look at the bus as it passed, wondering if it would be stopping.
The bus had government plates, and it was clearly for official purposes. Official purposes meant either one of the local businesses was getting audited by the tax service, or there was something horribly wrong that required a team of Elites to be sent out.
So, if it looked like it was going to stop anywhere but the gas station or the diner, it was big news, and they needed to warn everyone.
Or stop what they were doing and gossip about it, which was the same thing, really.
So, when the bus did stop to let them out to get some lunch, Karl wasn't surprised that the locals seemed to vanish from the streets at first, until the group had made the walk from the gas station to the café.
"Priestess, Elites, what can I get for you today? I've only got the one cook on, so it might take a minute." The older woman in a faded apron greeted them over the sound of bells ringing to announce their arrival.
Betty smiled at her. "We will just take the special, Make it twelve of them in total, the driver is still fuelling the bus."
Betty turned to the group. "Do you know about the expense accounts?"
Karl nodded. "Yeah, I got the card with my equipment. Direct bill, no need for a reimbursement form. I'm told that is the much more popular option when the amount isn't so extreme that it exceeds the petty cash we are allotted for the mission."
"The direct billing makes life easier. The Elites just pay with the card, but the clergy carry a bit of cash, and mostly rely on goodwill." She explained.
In a way, that was the same case today, as it would all be going on the expense account card that Karl had been given for the mission. He would have to account for the spending, but he couldn't see anyone arguing about them ordering the special at a small-town diner. It was likely cheaper than the replacement of the uniform pieces that they had damaged during the trip.
The waitress brought out large bowls of stew with entire loaves of bread and fresh butter, a luxury at the mines, as they were too far from the suitable cattle grazing areas to get butter for cheap. The nutrition of it wouldn't do much for the Elites, but it would fill their stomachs for the day, and that was the important part.
"There you go, dears. It might not be so fancy as you are used to, but the farmers will tell you sure enough that there's nothing better."She announced as she set the bowls on the table.
Betty winked at the woman and gestured at her bowl with her spoon. "How could anything that smells that good not taste spectacular? Just set the last one here and the driver will be along shortly."
The server smiled and nodded. "The station is full service, so he's likely just chatting while the bus fills. It takes a bit, our pumps aren't the fastest."
The driver came in as she was speaking, making the bells on the door jingle as the old server nodded in satisfaction.
"And that's everyone. Holler if you need anything."