The two hunters who approached me appeared to be a young man in his 20's that wore brown trousers, dirty brown steel-toed boots, a white, simple T-shirt with an iron breastplate and light iron/leather armor with a longsword at his waist. And then a Young woman who appeared to be an engineer, wearing a heavy dark-blue cloak with her hood down, and under that a travelling dress that reached to her knees, with black lace boots. She had a hefty tome in something like a book-holster at her waist, and a dagger on the opposite side of the belt. She wore a confident and excited smile while the swordsman wore a friendly expression.
Swordsman: "Hey there, you're the new D-rank yeah? Congratulations. Do you mind us sitting with you for a bit?"
Iris: ...Potential recruiters? Seems like they want me in their party. "Sure, I guess I don't mind."
Engineer: "Wonderful! Thank you~"
They sat down on the opposite side after getting my permission, and the engineer got straight to the point.
Engineer: "So, my name is Calico, and this is Ferru. Just call me cal, okay? Anyway, we saw you were alone and were wondering if you could join us! We're also D ranks, you see~"
So it was a recruitment offer. Ferru looked awkward, maybe he wanted to ease into it, but he rolled along with it anyway.
Ferru: "Yeah, we're really lacking another party member. I can play a defensive role against monsters, but Cal's hunting capability is limited by her mana, and neither of us can deal damage very well, so we were looking for some kind of assassin or a second engineer."
Calico looked a little embarrassed after being told she didn't have enough mana, but I guess they were close because she wasn't upset.
Calico: "Yeahh~ haha, I hate to say it, but just one engineer and one swordsman doesn't really cut it when hunting~ So how about it, will you join our party?! We could really use you!"
She said and put her hands together like in prayer. I thought about it for a moment. I still couldn't protect anyone right now, but I didn't have to protect these two, and it isn't like I should directly cause problems for them. And I was gonna head out solo anyway. This was just for convenience.
Iris: "...Alright, sure, I suppose I can join. My name is Iris, pleasure to meet you two. Lets work well together"
I gave them a business casual answer and tone before smiling softly. Calico put her hands up and celebrated on her own while Ferru stuck out his hand.
Ferru: "Pleasure to meet you, Iris. I agree, lets work well together."
I shook his hand before looking over at Calico.
Iris: "Why "calico" anyway?"
Calico: "Ahh~ Cause of my hair, see. Look's like a calico's!"
What a simple answer, but she was right. Her hair was vanilla blonde that turned black at the edges, And it barely reached her shoulders. Ferru's hair was swept sideways and was iron grey. After that we talked about formation and reward distribution for our party, with each of us getting a third. For formation, Ferru was the vanguard, he would attract the enemy's attention and deal damage while deflecting attacks. Meanwhile, Calico who specialized in Material Magic would deal damage with offensive spells. Then I would be an autonomous unit acting as both rearguard and dealer when I see an opening in the enemy's defenses. Otherwise I was to deal with stragglers and traps.
Once we finished that discussion and the two started chit-chatting, I went to the board to find D-rank requests. There were requests to find missing items, perform hazardous jobs in civilian areas like heavy construction, pest control, outskirts patrol, or criminal hunting. There was also exploration jobs to explore the outside of the district and delve into the lightless caverns of the Mountain Region. Then Small Monster hunts for close to the city. I decided to take a request involving Tunnel exploration and brought it over to the table, gently slapping it onto the center.
Iris: "This looks good. Tunnel exploration. Reward, 3 lead per monster killed. It'll be good training too."
Calico looked a little concerned but ended up nodding in agreement, while Ferru stroked his chin, thinking about it. I sat in my seat to wait for an answer, and after a moment he spoke.
Ferru: "Sure, this could earn us a good amount. Let's set off right away, unless you need to prepare first."
I shook my head.
Iris: "I already have necessary survival supplies. Let's go."
And so we went, with a positive attitude. We left the guild hall and the two raised their breathers, activating them, and I tightened the scarf around my face. We left through the Northern Gate, a large and impressive structure that could even let a giant pass on through if it were open.
As the gates opened, I was able to see out into the dark, rocky wasteland that made up the Uninhabited Zone around a mountain district. The darkness was rather eerie. My eyes widened a bit at the sight and I gulped, before being hugged from behind by Calico.
Calico: "Don't worry Iris~ It's not actually as scary as it seems out there."
Iris: "...Right. I know."
I gently wriggled free from her grasp and stepped outside with them, and the gate slowly shut behind us. It was even darker now, but I could still see thanks to the light from the City. We continued walking out into the darkness, the quiet black all-encompassing. There was a basic footpath that has been traveled leading away from the city, but outside of it was rough terrain. Jagged rocks jutting out of the ground like teeth, waves of stone making the ground look as though it were folding over itself. Then something unusual, there began to be large clumps of moss over the rocks as we got further from the city, and there were sparse trees growing through the stones like weeds emerging from concrete. It seemed, for whatever reason, plant life could be supported down here.
...ck...ack...ck...ack... ick...
I started to hear something strange. I pulled out my gun and looked around casually.
Iris: "...Can you guys hear that?"
I whispered. Ferru put his hand on his sword and Calico unclasped the book at her side.
...click...clack...Click...Clack...
It sounded like nails hitting stone. Calico casted Flare Light above us and a sphere of brightly burning purple light shot up above us and illuminated our surroundings. At first I couldn't recognize anything, then I saw it. Something small, a bit smaller than me, was crawling partly down from a rock. Its head was humanoid but it had no nose, and an elongated face twisted into a sneer that showed its razor sharp, jagged row of teeth with two pairs of extra-long fangs towards the front. The ears were pointed and curved like a knife's, and the eyes glowed yellow with evil intent. It's body was gangly with grey and black-spotted skin, pulled taut over its bones. The legs were built like a feline's, with three sharp-taloned toes at the end, and the arms were long and ended in four bladed fingers, 3 forward facing and one backwards facing for stability. This was a Goblin, from my knowledge in the diary. And there wasn't just one. There were many, all surrounding us.
