“Hey, isn’t that Saleh?” A female voice spoke quietly in the corner.

Turning to look, the man that was spoken to, turned to see a familiar man. “Yes, it is. Hey! Saleh you’re finally back!”

Turning to the side, he saw who was calling out to him and there was a warm smile on his face, “Yeah. I just got back yesterday. I haven’t even had time to register.”

He greeted the two warmly. These were two of the people he met when he first started taking requests. Having ended up on the same job, they grew close. They had been here for far longer than he had. While he was more talented and by extension stronger. 

Even though there were so many people coming to make it big. Not everyone had the skills to do so. One needed more than just strength, for the lacking Saleh. He had a number of troubles. To the point if not for a resident at Joe’s he wouldn’t have survived his first month. 

If he was kicked out, it was unknown if Everblood would continue to teach him. For that graduated senior and to the two in front of him, he was truly grateful. 

As he was about to turn around, he was pulled back by a voice, “If you’re back, that means you’re ready to start taking requests. We found ourselves a good protection request. We were just about to decide who to bring. Then we saw you walk through the door!”

A look of surprise surfaced on Saleh’s face. To the side, Claire gave him a look, “Don’t listen to him. He just doesn’t trust others. However, we are running out of time. We want to take at least three others. Everyone we know is either busy or not back. We were just about to do a random recruitment.”

A happy smile appeared on his face, “I would be happy to go.”

It was only after he finished speaking, he realized he was here with someone else. A bit of an awkward expression turned his smile a bit stiff. Following his gaze the two saw an absentminded woman looking around as if lost. The two seemed hesitant, seeing this.

“Who is she?” Jack bluntly asked. Clearly not impressed with what he saw, she seemed a bit slow.

“Ah, Jessica!” After calling out to her a few times, did he finally get her attention.

“Sorry, I got distracted.” Having snapped out of it, she quickly scanned the two that were eyeing her.

“This is Jessica. Someone that… Uhm, she is someone my teacher is related to.” He wasn’t exactly sure how to introduce her.

Being quick on the pickup, Jessica continued his introduction, “My father has a relationship with his teacher. I happened to be in the area, and we happened to be going the same way. Therefore, I started to travel with Saleh and his teacher.”

There was some doubt from looking at Saleh’s expression. However, soon he realized it was really true. From that slight hesitation in his expression, having known Saleh for a while, they knew there was something with her story. But, who didn’t have a story. At most, the two were curious who Saleh’s teacher was.

It had to be known that Saleh, was a bit of a monster. Even more so, he was overly straightforward. They knew this was because he grew up in an animal tribe. He wasn’t stupid, just lacked some common sense. Thus, they enjoyed working with him a lot.

After looking at each other, Jack was the one to speak, Claire looked a bit apologetic, “How strong is she?”

It was a bit blunt, though not entirely rude depending on the situation. Jessica didn’t say anything, as the question wasn’t directed at her. Saleh thought it over a bit and didn’t immediately answer. Jessica too looked forward to his answer. They had exchanged words along with fists. Though, she never got his opinion on her strength before.

“Hm. That is a bit of a hard question to answer. She is weaker than me. At the same time, she isn’t.” Pondering out loud, “Regardless, she is about as strong as me. In a more clear way, she is much stronger than you two.”

Jack looked ready to throw a punch, Claire seemed a bit more thoughtful, “So she is as strong as you, and has a special style?”

Saleh’s eyes lit up, “Yes! Her style, it's very difficult to deal with. It was made for killing.”

At those words, it wasn’t just the three who were surprised. His voice wasn’t exactly quiet, and everyone turned to look over. Very quickly, Jack pulled Saleh out, while Claire showed a much better expression as she invited Jessica to follow.

Once they moved to a corner, they huddled together. Claire turned to Saleh before speaking, “The request we got will pay two gold. This amount is an insane profit. Which is why we were willing to work with unknowns. However, truthfully, I was doubtful. If not for the reward, I wouldn’t have accepted the terms.”

“Two gold? That is suspiciously close to a suicidal request.”

Jack replied similar fashion as Claire, “Yeah, the request is to protect a merchant going north. It will take at least two months. It is being counted as a five-day request. The biggest issue is solved. You are from animal tribes, do you know about gray wolves?”

Hiding a glint in her eyes, Jessica had many questions so far. Still, she remained quiet. 

“I know a little. Are you sure this merchant is a legitimate trader? Wolf tribes do trade with the south. However, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has tried to squeeze in on the trade. Wolves don’t take kindly to invaders.”

“Yeah, we also brought this up with the protectee. They have already agreed to allow us full control of our movements into the animal tribe territory. Because of the pay, we decided to try our luck. So long as we can find their land, if we don’t invade but find a patrol, even if we were lied to. It shouldn’t get us killed.”