Jon and Fay were staring fiercely at the guild employee they already knew, who returned their gaze with just a nod and a smile.
"Could you give us a profitable mission?"
The shooter was happy with the mission he had previously received, but he wanted one that would make his blood boil so he could become even stronger and survive catastrophes in this dangerous world.
"The rat mission had no excitement at all. It was a tiring mission because of the long work," the spearman began to list his complaints about the stinking sewer to the silver-haired girl, who didn't want to hear anything about those smelly, dirty places.
"Don't talk about the events in the sewer. I don't want to know." Her personality was quite direct as she ordered the hunter to stop talking with a few words. The look in her eyes didn't seem to be a joke as he was stared down with such freezing coldness.
"There will be a cooperative mission with the order of knights, so it could be an opportunity for you to train and earn money."
"What's the reward?"
"15 silver coins."
The duo quickly became cheerful when they heard the amount of money they would receive upon completing this cooperation between adventurers and knights.
"So, the time has come for them to experience dealing with those stuck-up noses," the veteran Hilda was smiling as she remembered her time dealing with knights, but her eyes held a hint of anger.
"I remember beating up several of those dandies for annoying me," Beorn didn't fall behind, laughing about his memories of fighting against the order of knights after some disagreements between the two groups.
A white-haired man was drinking a beer with one hand while holding his sword with the other. This individual had messy black hair, appeared to be in his late 30s, and his eyes were gray. "Good memories of cutting down those knights to strip them of their egos."
"That's the spirit, Eadwig."
The commotion caused by the veterans did not escape the duo's radar, who quickly went to consult their reliable source of information.
"Why are they reacting like this?" Jon was the first to be puzzled by the veterans' reaction to the cooperation with the order of knights.
Fay seemed to have his romantic image of knights being shattered. His inner self would ignore most of the comments to try to protect the image of his father in his heart.
"The order of knights was founded to be a nobles' hunters' guild, which only nobles or former fallen nobles can join," Luna explained. "Very rarely do they accept someone non-noble into their ranks. The noble knights are from the order of the sword; those without nobility but of noble blood are from the order of the shield."
The former resident of Earth's past life began to imagine multiple scenarios where nobles abused their powers to make things difficult. His heart seemed to be growing cold.
"Let's be careful with our words. Powerful people have sensitive egos as if they were untouchable," Jon advised.
"I think so too."
The two could no longer cancel the mission after accepting it and just waited for the man who would guide them to the cooperation site between the two organizations.
The person didn't take long to appear: a man wearing armor of animal leather, which seemed to be a mix of bear and fox. That man had long, coal-black hair, blood-red eyes, and pale white skin. His weapon appeared to be a two-handed sword hanging at his waist, beautifully decorated with a red jewel.
"My name is Egil. I am a 3-star Bronze Rank hunter, and I will be the guide in this cooperation."
The pair of boys quickly saluted to introduce themselves individually, excited to be under the supervision of someone above their rank.
"I'm Jon Walker, my rank is iron 1-star."
"My name is Fay, my rank is iron 1-star."
The two seemed obedient as they lowered their heads to show respect to the veteran. A smile was the response of acceptance from the one in charge.
"The place we are going to is a road to the north, an abandoned fortress," Egil began. "A group of bandits has gathered more than 100 members under the leadership of someone mysterious. The leader has very good charisma to gather 100 members and to take a fortress from under the empire's nose." More details were being given so they could understand the situation they were facing before arriving at the meeting point for the joint mission.
"Is this really a mission for iron-rank adventurers? 100 bandits don't seem easy to deal with, and occupying a fortress is even worse." The caution of the former inhabitant of the blue planet was activated; he did not like suicidal situations or those extremely close to it.
"I didn't want to say anything, but my friend is right. 100 bandits occupying a fortress is well beyond the capabilities of iron-rank recruits," Fay added.
Egil was smiling as he saw the caution of these two rookies from the hunters' guild. The smile was not one of surprise, but of approval. "The reason I was sent here is not just to supervise the cooperation, but to ensure the mission's completion." The bronze-rank swordsman was calm as he walked with the duo, and their nervousness ceased upon seeing the much lower risk.
A carriage had to be used to get to the meeting point far from the city, near the bandit fort. The view didn't have many interesting things in the opinion of the traveler from another world; the only things to be admired were plants charged with magical energy. His eyes couldn't help but be surprised to see flowers changing color in a few seconds. The plants dancing to the rhythm of something similar to samba surprised him even more. "I get more and more surprised every time I leave the city to take a look outside."
The carriage ride took about 3 hours and a few minutes. The travelers enjoyed the journey by sleeping or gazing at the landscape through the window.
"Don't fight because of your companions' acidic comments. It's not good to go against a noble," Egil advised.
The comment was quickly ignored by the two of them; it was as if the wind was speaking in their ears. The shooter with the firearm was too proud to bow his head to spoiled brats, and the spearman wouldn't bow to people he considered unworthy of respect.
"It seems they weren't as obedient as I thought."
The group walked to find two more carriages, which were not simple like the hunters' group's. The carts they used had better paint, more lively and noble-blooded horses, and the material was also more beautiful. Five people could be seen in the knights' group: two women and three men.
The first person to introduce herself was a very beautiful young woman with long blonde hair. This person wore standard plate armor for nobles and a purple cape symbolizing her status. "My name is Cecile Eadmund. I am a knight of the order of the sword and my current level is amethyst."
"I will introduce myself as well to maintain the courtesy offered. My name is Egil, and I am a bronze-rank hunter with three stars," Egil responded. Jon and Fay gave their greetings with minimal respect to the people in front of them; the two were too lazy to bother introducing themselves.
The first person to introduce himself was a man with sharp eyes. His face always seemed to be serious, his hair was long and red like fire, and his body was of medium size. The armor was very heavy, its color a simple gray, and he had a 1.5-meter sword on his back. "My name is Gregory Blackwood, a Quartz-rank knight of the order of the sword."
The second person to introduce himself was a very handsome blond young man. His eyes were slanted, and his skin was white. His clothes were animal leather armor from a fox and other parts made of metal. His weapons were two small swords. "My name is Louis Claremont, a Quartz-rank knight of the order of the sword."
The third was a woman with short green hair. Her skin was somewhat tanned, and her body was very well-built. Her clothing seemed to be more of a cloth made of leather and other parts made with magical plants. "My name is Arya Ravenwood. I am a knight of the order of the shield, and my rank is Quartz."
The last to introduce himself was a very large man, almost 2 meters tall, with a shaved black head. His clothes were made of bear leather. This person had tanned skin and had two small axes at his waists. "My name is Jaime Ashwort. I am a knight of the order of the shield, and my rank is Quartz."
The greetings ended, and everyone looked to the strongest members of their respective orders on the field, because the operation would be led by these people.
"The first thing to do is figure out how to invade the bandits' fortress. We can't go in with our current power by brute force," the hunters' swordsman said this to wake everyone from their wildest daydreams about breaking down the door with pure strength.
Gregory and Jaime were upset to hear that it would not be a direct combat against the 100 bandits at the beginning; their blood cooled.
"We will form a team to invade at dusk and open the gate so that the others can enter the fortress and retake it with a swift attack," the words of the black-haired, red-eyed man showed the strategy already formed. The problem was deciding the members of the fortress invasion team.
"We will apply guerrilla tactics to reduce their numbers before advancing to take the leader's head," the knight responsible for the members of the order of the sword and shield spoke now.
"The problem is that the primary invasion to open the defenses must succeed for that to happen," the short green-haired young woman spoke. Her gaze said that it would not be easy to do such a thing with the number of lookouts.
"The scouts reported a certain blind spot that can be accessed during a certain part of the night. It's preferable to send a team of knights and hunters to enter," Cecile explained.
Egil was thinking about the members to be sent to handle the invasion of the bandit fortress, which would not be easy in any way, remembering the number of enemies. "Jon, you are one of the members chosen to compose the team to stealthily invade and release the defenses."
The shooter did not like being put on the team to invade the fort, as his skills did not suit stealth missions.
"Arya is preferable to go on the mission with Jon," Cecile decided. "The member of the order of the sword to accompany them is..." The knight laughed as she looked at the two knights of the order of the sword, neither of whom wanted to be part of this team to deal with a mass of bandits and open the gate. "Louis Claremont."
The blond did not like at all being on the team to invade the fort with more than 100 soldiers; the guards were something to be very aware of during the climb.
"Formulate a strategy to deal with the enemies. You leave at dusk to take advantage of the opening," Cecile ordered.
The three gathered to look at each other while thinking about how to deal with the enemies at dusk.
"What are your specialties?" The first to speak was the former inhabitant of Earth, who wanted to maximize his chances of survival.
"I am proficient in the art of the bow and arrow. My fighting style was taught by an ancient deity named Diana," Arya said. The archer looked at the blond to introduce his skills; the two seemed to only see each other as worthy.
"My style is two swords. My fighting style belongs to the school of the ancient east," Louis stated.
The final presentation was left to the iron-rank hunter, who was not nervous about deciding the next course of action. "I am a shooter who uses exotic weapons. My fighting style is not suitable for stealth because of the noise I make while fighting." Honesty was noticeable on the face of the shooter from another world, who was not saddened by the disappointment of his companions.
"Let's invade and attack quickly and decisively," the first idea came from Louis, who wanted to focus on his faster style to fight and solve the problem at hand.
"We can't go too fast because we don't know the fort. There's no way to survive 100 bandits throwing things from all sides," Arya countered.
"Too slow would be bad too. We can't afford to be found too quickly," Louis argued.
The hunter was just smiling as he watched the opposing ideas clash, which didn't attract any of his attention to deal with it all.
"Do you have an idea?" The two seemed tired as they looked at the calm and composed shooter, who seemed to have an idea to deal with what was impossible for the two knights of different orders.
"You two invade the fort quickly and stealthily to unlock the defenses. I'll attract the attention of everyone present to buy time," Jon proposed. "The maximum time I can buy is 10 minutes; I can't hold out for more."
Both were skeptical when they heard the 10 minutes given to solve the problems, which didn't seem like much time because of everyone's superhuman physical abilities.
"And can you do that?" the green-haired young woman asked. The doubt about accomplishing such a feat was something to manifest very quickly; recklessness and courage were side by side.
"I have no choice but to do it. My skills will guarantee my survival." Jon just raised his hand to give a thumbs-up as an affirmative. His confidence wasn't very high, but he had to do it because of a blue screen in front of him.
The blond found the commoner's words quite problematic, wondering how he could last ten minutes against more than a hundred men.
Mission 03: Buy 10 minutes for your team to invade the bandits' fort. Failure: Death. Reward: Small Stat Increase in the Chosen Stat.