Just like that, a week went by like a short breeze. 

“Why haven’t those morons said anything?” Frederika bit her nails. 

The men sent on the subjugation mission were meant to be sending daily updates via a magical transmission device. However, they had remained silent ever since they reported difficulties. 

“It isn’t like them to avoid sending reports...unless they found a bunch of loot or something happened to them.” Arlan sighed, “Knowing that shithead Derek, he probably struck gold.”

“We have no choice but to head to the village we received the request from.” Frederika shuffled through some parchment, “Rilsi village huh…” 

Orthal opened his idiotic mouth, “So what, you’re just going to leave us here?”

“Good to see you’re as clueless as ever Orthal,” she lightly chuckled, “No you guys are coming with us.” 

The rest of them discussed travel plans while I was deep in thought with a slightly troubled expression, Feihman are around level three in terms of strength, sending us to a place under the threat of their attack is similar to throwing us into a pit of fire.

“No need to worry, you guys will just hang back and guard the villagers.” she reassured, “Anyway we need to get you guys some gear before we leave.” 

Arlan guided us to a gear store a few minutes away from the headquarters. A small wooden sign hung the side with the words ‘Belethor’s Armory’ engraved on it accompanied by the symbol of an anvil. 

“Well if it isn’t eye-patch bringing in a bunch of rookies.” Belethor mocked as soon as we entered the store. 

“Nice to see you again, jackass.” grunted Arlan with veins bulging on his forehead.

Armor and weapons of all types cluttered the walls, shelfs and racks within the store. From longswords to scimitars Belethor had everything. 

“Just three basic kits for these little shits.” 

“Coming right up.” 

Belethor left us for a few moments and returned with a box filled with three sets of gear. With one glance he was able to obtain our measurements and adjust the armor accordingly. 

“Try these on.” Belethor handed me a bundle of armor. 

I untied the bundle and proceeded to attach a pair of greaves and polyenes to my legs. After fiddling with the straps to achieve a comfortable fit, I placed two tassets onto my hips and slipped into a chestplate. 

“This is surprisingly light.” I muttered, fitting two pauldrons and bracers on my arms. 

Orthal was unexpectedly already kitted up and ready to go as I slid my hands into a couple of brown leather gauntlets. Meanwhile, Tiber was still struggling with his two greaves. 

“How’s it fit?” asked Arlan.

“It’s perfect.”

Arlan walked up to the counter and spoke, “Can you also chuck in some cloaks? The place we’re going to gets pretty cold at times.” 

“Okay.” 

Belethor opened a draw and retrieved the lowest-quality brown cloaks he had on hand, “Take it.” he threw them over to us. 

Catching it with one hand I slung it over my shoulders, completing my transformation into a rookie mercenary. 

“By the way, how much are you being paid to take care of these kids?” Belethor whispered to Arlan.

“The mercenary guild is paying enough for me to show them the ropes.”

“But why?”

“Monsters have been growing stronger recently and the death toll for rookies have been rising. When the higher-ups in the guild heard of this, they flipped their shit since if too many rookies die then nobody would be able to fill the spots for the retirees.”

“I see…” Belethor narrowed his eyes.

 

◊  ◊  ◊

 

After paying for the equipment, we returned to the HQ and Frederika let us borrow some longswords for the journey.

As we attached to them to our waists, she warned, “Don’t lose these, or Arlan’s going to beat your ass.” 

Thanks to a week of nightmarish training, the three of us had had learned basic longsword form and technique but had yet to acquire the Warrior class. Arlan mentioned something about choosing the right weapon in order to obtain it, like how he wielded a tremendous Zweihänder.

“If the longsword is not the right weapon for me then what is?” Orthal scratched his hair in contemplation.

“No matter what weapon you choose I doubt a retard like you would obtain a class anyway.” Tiber ridiculed.

“You fucken-” Orthal tackled Tiber to the floor and broke out into a minor tussle.

Frederika waltzed into the room and stared at two of them completely dumbfounded, “What the hell are you guys doing? We’re about to freaking leave.” 

She walked over to them and chose to break up the fight by simply kicking them across the room.

“Argh!” Air rushed out of their lungs from the impact of slamming into a stone wall. 

“Are you guys finished?” she stared daggers at them. 

“Yes…” gulped Orthal like a mouse being eyed by a cat.

“Then let’s go.” 

We vacated the HQ, locking the door behind us and travelled through the bustling streets of mid-day Tyrend wearing heavy packs. There were stands selling food, tools and other strange instruments unfamiliar to me along with the voices of merchants and customers haggling. Orthal’s eyes were sparkling at just the sight of the city, I could tell he was a country-bumpkin. 

“Where exactly do we meet the guy taking us to Rilsi?” asked Tiber. 

“Outside the city walls, according to Arlan we’re getting a cheaper fare for escorting the guy.” 

We spent around forty-five minutes roaming the capital until we passed through the city gates and arrived at the stables. 

“Took you long enough.” Arlan complained, “Heres the guy we’re escorting.” 

A man clothed in a green merchant outfit introduced himself, “The name’s Orion, as agreed upon, you guys will escort my goods and I to Rilsi village in return for a discounted fare.” 

Frederika spoke, “Let’s go. The sooner we leave the better.” 

We boarded the back of a horse-drawn carriage and set-off on our journey to Rilsi village. The carriage traversed through endless planes of lush grass and fields of crops occasionally passing through small villages scattered across the trail. As the view of the capital grew smaller the sun also lowered by the passing of each second. And before I knew it, the capital was no longer visible with sun already being half-hidden by the horizon. 

“I reckon we call it a day before it's completely dark.” Frederika suggested. 

“I agree.” 

“Me too.” 

The carriage stopped beside a tall oak tree and we dismounted, “Can someone give me a hand with tying the horses?” asked Orion. 

Orthal raised his hand and followed Orion to the front. Meanwhile, the rest of us started gathering dry wood from the surrounding area 

“This’ll be enough.” Arlan nodded at an ample pile of firewood..

“I’ll light it.”

My mana fluctuated and I constructed a spell-structure. A fireball the size of a marble manifested and flew towards the fire setting it ablaze. Luckily, I toned the spell down otherwise who knows what could have gone wrong. 

“Nice.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I sat down in front of the fire, “This is just a party trick compared to some of the stuff I’ve seen.” 

I briefly recalled the massive artillery fireballs from Vale making my expression sour. I had completely forgotten about it thanks to the training distracting me, but now that I was out in the wilderness nothing was there to serve as a barrier. 

The sun completely set when we finished setting up camp. For dinner we cooked some ‘Brass-Tailed Cow’ steak over the fire and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Frederika mumbled while chewing on some beef, “We expect to arrive at Rilsi around this time tomorrow. By the way, I’ll take the first look-out shift. Arlan can go after me and then he can choose the next person when he’s done.” 

“Alright.” Arlan agreed.

Once dinner had ended, I secretly used my pocket-dimension bag to take out a marshmallow-type sweet, that I also “liberated” from the royal palace kitchen. When nobody was looking I skewered it with a thin stick and quickly roasted it over the fire.

Thank you for your hospitality, King Andarion. 

I scanned the area to ensure my privacy, then stealthily placed the roasted marshmallow into my mouth. It melted into a gooey mush upon contact with my tongue, spreading out a sugary, powdery and smoky taste all across it. My mouth swiftly chewed on it with some bits sticking to my teeth, and I swallowed it without hesitation.

I was suddenly reminded of campfire movie scenes from Earth, but I had to brush that feeling aside since I knew from the very moment I was summoned, that I would never be able to return.

After my dessert, I grabbed my pack and detached a rolled up sleeping bag from it. With my foot, I flattened the ground—removing all pebbles and debris—and laid it down.

I didn’t bother with taking my armor off since it was too much of a hassle, “Wake me up for last shift.” I politely requested, getting into the sleeping bag.

The moment I entered, my muscles relaxed and my mind was put at ease. My eyes closed shortly after, and in just a matter of seconds—I was out like a light.