Sudden Mission

-West Forest-

*Scy's POV*

While we are walking through the forest to our guild in the middle of the night...

"Didn't I tell you guys to stay away from the guild leaders? If I didn't come in time then they will be interrogating you right now. Look at you. You guys are a mess." Why are they doing all those things I told them not to do.

"..." From the looks of it, Elle is about to cry.

"Of course Elle is a good girl so I forgive her." Then the others look at me like I'm favoring someone... I don't want anyone to cry...

"But how did you find us? It's still far from the guild." I think this guy's name is Chiron.

"Well I heard a familiar roar out of nowhere so I rushed to you guys as soon as possible and my first guess wasn't wrong. I met you guys here on time, thankfully before they take you guys." The truth is we are on our way to the castle on top of the Icy Mountains but I sensed some presence and found them on a pinch.

"Anyway, you must have good news for doing something so reckless, right?" I really hope it was worth the trouble.

"Kaita here was able to hear the conversation of all the leaders of guilds but there are only twelve of them." Aurora must be absent again when she's needed.

"The twelve of them doesn't sound like they like each other but they decided to investigate the castle later by sending the guild leader we fought earlier. Also, they started building a camp near the Icy Mountains to defend from the invasion if it somehow happens." Chiron explained.

"Yeah, I think we should only get back to our guild for now and then stay away from them because I'm pretty sure they will send us some spies because of what happened earlier. And I don't think Shiv is ready to investigate in that situation. He took a lot of injuries from Elle's friend. Though, if it is just an investigation then he might really go there." We don't want to attract more attention and because of what happened, I'm sure they'll watch us from now on.

"For now, let's continue. We are safer there." I suggested and we continued traveling back to the guild.

-Order of Light City-

*Zia's POV*

We finally reached the Order of Light City and it wasn't the city I expected. The city is so beautiful and really big but there are so few people around. Well, maybe the reason is that most of the adventurers and soldiers went to the same place but why do they have to have so many numbers, it's like they are getting ready for a war.

For now, I should check some new equipment to buy. I'm not really sure where to start though.

So I just chose blindly and one of the fancy shops attracted me. It's not bad to window shop, right?

For some reason, my body felt heavy...

"I don't think you need other weapons. You have me remember?" The stone sword... why are you getting jelly with the other weapons?

"I know I know, I just don't want you to wear down so fast so I need to use other weapons. If you get ugly so fast then how can I show you to my friends, right?" I just don't want to use her in a fight because I really don't want to have that fancy armor and weapon, not to mention those giant wings really doesn't suit my taste.

"Hmmmp. Ok fine, I'm watching you." She said trying to warn me. I still can't believe I'm stuck with this annoying talking stone sword.

"You do know I can read your thoughts, right?" Oh crap...

"Welcome welcome. There are a lot of people who visit the shop but this time, there are some problems with the neighboring city so most of the adventurers went there. Also, I already met a lot of women customers but I can say that you are the most beautiful!" Is this what they call sales talk?

"Sure sure, I'm looking for some good equipment," He can't hide that look that he can see me as one low-level player for having not so good equipment.

"Of course, of course, dear customer, my name is Tyblon. Miss customer."

He guided me through the shop showing different kinds of equipment, from those expensive armors to weapons. They look really fancy but the armor and weapons I'm using right now were given to me by Scy so I'm not sure if I have to change it.

Hmmm, an accessory caught my attention. I stopped while trying to browse the others.

"So you found one of my treasures, huh. This one is what we call feather necklace because it lessens the burden of items a player is carrying. This item is precious to merchants and heavy armor users because they can still move fast even with heavy armors and while carrying a large number of materials and items. But the problem is this item is really limited because the light bird which has the feathers for crafting the necklace is really rare. The item costs thirty gold coins." He explained... too bad, I only have twenty gold coins.

"I would really like to have it. Unfortunately, I only have twenty gold coins on me." It would really help me with my heavy stone sword but there's nothing I can do.

"You're in luck then! My shop now has a discount, and it's a large one too! I can sell you this item for twenty gold coins. I suggest you buy this now because a lot of people really like the item." I don't know much about buying and selling stuff but if I can buy it then I guess it would be even better.

"Here's your twenty gold coins Mr. Tyblon. Thank you!" I gave the twenty gold coins and he handed me the necklace. There's no receipt or something and we just transact like that.

"Thank you Miss Customer. Have a nice adventure!" He said while I am leaving the shop.

I wore the necklace and as soon as I put it on my neck, I can't feel anything that burdens my body. I even feel like I'm not wearing anything at all. It's really effective! Though for some reason, the feeling of not wearing anything is kind of embarrassing...

I sat on one of the benches near the shops to wait for them. The item I bought is really convenient because I can carry the stone sword without any problems. After I waited for like ten minutes, they finally arrived and done with their shopping.

"Hey there Miss Zia. What did you buy earlier in that shop? That shop looks like they sell expensive stuff too." Chelly asked me.

"Well, I bought this necklace. It does look good and it makes me move even faster because it ignores the weight of my equipment." Not to mention I carry this heavy sword.

"Oh, yeah but if you ask me, you wear light armor and I don't think the item really suits its price for just that effect. How much did you buy it though?" She asked.

"I bought it for twenty gold coins and he said that normally it costs thirty. Can you believe that? He sold it to me for a cheaper price!" I replied but her look changed...

"What?! You were tricked by that shopkeeper...The feather necklace costs around fifteen gold. We should get a refund for what he has done!" She's pretty angry. I understand her frustration but this is my first time shopping so I guess it might really happen.

"It's alright Chelly. We don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves. We are technically in a hotlist. Guards might come and that would be bad for us, right? I'll be more careful next time too. Thank you." There's no need to make a scene with the people around here.

"Ok then. I'll come with you next time when you want to buy something. Why don't we check some scenery around the area?" She suggested.

"I think that's a good idea. Let's check the place out then." I'm pretty excited!

So we moved out and visited some parks, inns and even the gate of the castle. The castle is so big that there are a lot of towers behind the gate.

We are enjoying the view but suddenly, we heard a loud sound of footsteps behind the gate. The giant castle gate opened and there are a lot of guards with really good heavy equipment marching outside! Did they discover us already? There are also four people that look like their leaders. We tried to move as fast as we can but...

"Hey, you there! Who are you and what are you doing here?!" A girl found us before we could even hide!

"Oh, hello there Ma'am. We are travelers and just strolling around looking for good scenery." I tried to find a good excuse.

*SWOOOOOSH!* What the?! She almost hit my head with that wand of hers!

"It seems that you evaded my attack. That doesn't look like you're just a traveler." Who in the right mind would just swing her weapon to someone just to confirm if she is really telling the truth! What if I am really just a traveler!

"We are currently looking for mercenaries and adventurers. I'll pay you a good amount of gold. Come with us." Who the heck is this girl acting so bossy out of the blue! But saying no here is not a right answer but...

"I'm sorry ma'am but we are currently going back to our village. But I really appreciate the offer." Who would join a girl like her!

"Oh, it wasn't a question. It's an order. Are you telling me that you dislike my offer, brat?!" Oh oh... And now she's being so unreasonable... Someone like I know...

I looked at my teammates and signaled that we just need to go with the flow. The problem is how we can explain this to Scy...

"There you go. Let's go. By the way, my name is Celeste and one of the officers of Order of Light Guild." I think I've heard her name before.