Before leaving the capital city, Jaegar asked Stevan about any locations where monsters would be most likely found abundantly. Stevan informed him that many monsters could be found in mountain areas with thick forests.

It was due to the fact that not many people go to the mountains to hunt monsters. Most people would only venture to such areas for specific requests that were posted in the taverns or other places where jobs could be accepted. So, it was believed that monsters proliferated in those remote and less visited areas.

The closest town next to Unowne was called Yuberden. Fortunately, it was situated within a mountainous area. Jaegar decided to go there to take the first step of accomplishing his new mission.

While on his way to Yuberden, Jaegar got stuck inside a lush forest with thick foliage when nighttime came. He decided to set up camp near a shallow river with the water flowing quietly. He scraped some broken branches to make a small fire. He then took out a piece of round bread from his small bag and ate it while sitting in front of the fire.

When he finished eating, Jaegar leaned back on the tree that was near his campfire. He closed his eyes to try to get some sleep. As his eyes were closed, all he could hear was the rustling of the leaves caused by the soft night wind that was blowing. He thought that if there were any monsters around, he could sense their movement immediately. But as of that moment, he deduced that there were no such threats near him. As such, he was able to rest without worry.

As he started to doze off, the leaves of the tall bushes in front of him suddenly moved and made some rustling sound. Jaegar quickly got off the ground and stared at the said bushes.

The movements of the leaves continued until three people got out of the bushes. There were two women and one man. The women wore pointed hats and capes, and were locked arms with each other. One of them had long, black hair, while the other had short red hair. Meanwhile, the man wore light leather armor and had a bow in his hand.

"See? I knew someone was here! The light came from a campfire."

The woman with black hair looked at her companions with a smile on her face.

"I guess we should have believed you earlier… I'm sorry for doubting you…"

The other woman with red hair wiped a tear from her eye while also smiling.

"So, who are you guys?"

Jaegar scratched the back of his head as he stood up straight and looked at the group that unexpectedly arrived in his small camp site. The man with the bow took a step forward toward Jaegar.

"Oh, sorry if we're intruding… It's just that we were doing a forage request, but then we got lost and then got stuck here in the forest. It didn't help that night time came faster than we anticipated…"

The man couldn't look straight at Jaegar, as his eyes darted around with his hand behind his head.

"And when I saw the light coming from this direction, I told them that someone might be here. They didn't want to come at first, but since we were desperate, we eventually decided to come anyway… I'm glad that it's a knight that was here…"

The woman with black hair breathed out a soft sigh.

"Well, that was not a good move on your part. I could have been a bandit or some bloodthirsty mercenary, waiting for some gullible and careless adventurers to wander by."

Jaegar crossed his arms together and raised an eyebrow as he stared at the trio, who were taken aback by what he just said.

"Um, are you…?"

The woman with red hair clasped her shaking hands together.

"I'm currently deliberating with myself if I should say 'Yes'."

Jaegar shook his head.

"We apologize for disturbing you…! It's just that… my friend here and I just graduated from the Mage Academy and this was the first job we accepted…"

The woman with black hair bent over to bow down at Jaegar.

"And I just joined them as a guide. I wanted to show off and thought it would be easy… but I wasn't really familiar with this forest, since I'm originally from Dosael…"

The man looked away while scratching his cheek.

"What are inexperienced newbies like you doing out here anyway? Also, you should have at least a capable fighter in your party, you know? In case you haven't noticed, the monsters all over have been fiercer than ever before."

Jaegar pointed at the uncomfortable group.

"Well, we had a knight arranged to join us before leaving Unowne, but when we were supposed to depart earlier, he said that the younger knights were given a new mission and he couldn't come with us anymore…"

The black-haired woman looked up at Jaegar and frowned after explaining their situation.

"Hmm… That's that, then. No use continuing on lecturing you. Experience is the greatest teacher, and once you REALLY get in trouble, then you'll learn your lessons by then."

Jaegar sat back down on the ground beside the tree and leaned back on its trunk again. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Um… Mister Knight…"

The red-haired woman raised her hand even though Jaegar had his eyes closed.

"What? You want to camp here, as well? Sure, go ahead. Just sit down there or something."

Jaegar replied without opening his eyes or making any other moves. The three inexperienced adventurers all quickly nodded at each other and sat down around the campfire.

"Can I ask… another question?"

The woman with black hair also raised her hand even though Jaegar couldn't see it.

"What is it this time?"

Jaegar furrowed his eyebrows while his eyes were still closed.

"Well… um, I was just wondering if you're really going to sleep with your armor on…"

The black-haired woman forced a smile while looking at Jaegar.

"It's a bother to remove. Now go sleep or be quiet—"

"Oh, I see! It's because he's alone and getting attacked by bandits or mercenaries while he is out of his armor would be fatal!"

The man put his hand on his chin as he looked at his two companions.

"You're right! Hey, I think we remembered the lesson he just taught us!"

The woman with red hair put her hands together and smiled. At this point, with his eyes still close, Jaegar's brows were further furrowed while he intensely gritted his teeth.

"If it wasn't clear to you guys that I wanted to sleep… Then I'm telling you I want to sleep. Not unless you three are really bandits who want me to remove my armor so you can attack me while I sleep? Is that why you asked that question?"

Jaegar opened one of his eyes and glared at the black-haired woman. She then grabbed the shoulders of the red-haired woman, who was beside her.

"O-of course not! We're sorry for the noise! We'll be quiet now. Goodnight, Mister Knight…"

The woman with black hair then started to sob quietly. Her red-haired friend comforted her by rubbing her back.

---

When Jaegar next opened his eyes, it was already daybreak. His gaze then went straight to the three unlikely intruders of his camp. The three were still soundly sleeping on the ground, each with a cloth covering them up, serving as a blanket. He shook his head as he saw this. He then stood up and lightly nudged the woman with black hair with his foot.

"Hey, wake up. It's already morning. And why didn't anyone from your party stayed up on watch duty?"

Jaegar placed his hands on his waist as he looked down on the oblivious trio.

"Huh…? Um, good morning, Mister Knight…"

The black-haired woman rubbed her eye as she sat down on the ground. The other two followed suit and also sat down and then stretched.

"Don't give me that. Why are you three so carefree? Maybe you still don't understand how this world works? It's not as forgiving as you think or expect."

Jaegar glared down at the three. They then silently looked away as they heard the harsh truth from him.

"I'm sorry…"

Tears started to roll down the red-haired woman's cheeks.

"You don't need my forgiveness or anything. What you need is to stay alive out here and survive. Anyway, I'm going on ahead."

Jaegar walked away from the group and headed toward the thick trees of the forest.

"Please wait, Mister Knight!"

The black-haired woman stood up and reached out toward Jaegar. He stopped walking and looked back at her.

"Huh? What now?"

"To repay your kindness… even though it was through harsh words, how about you stay for a while and have breakfast with us? We have some ingredients and we can make soup. I know you were only looking out for us, so let us return the favor…"

The woman then smiled at Jaegar.

"Fine. I won't turn down free food."

Jaegar then sat back down on the spot where he slept. He then stared at the party of three. The two women then looked at each other and then nodded.

"And now that we have your attention, we'd also like to ask something of you."

The black-haired woman clasped her hands together while trying to avoid Jaegar's gaze.

"Eh? So, it wasn't free… Damn it, I got duped."

Jaegar clicked his tongue and looked away.

"So, um, we'd like to formally ask you to join our party until we finish our forage request. Please!"

The three of them then bowed down at Jaegar.