Chapter CLI - First Mission (part 1)

The next day, I decided to do my first adventure mission after a really long time.

I woke up a little late, cleaned up, put on my adventurer's clothes, and went out to grab some breakfast. I stopped by at a diner close by to eat, and I ordered some food on the go.

Then it just hits me that the diner at the Office is new now. Should I expect it to look good or should I think it will probably be worse?

I decided to grab my meal anyway and went to the Office.

I opened the large double door and went inside. There are plenty of adventurers as usual… 

Oh dear, this is nostalgic.

I strolled down the sea of people while I looked around for any changes. The diner looked more or less the same, hence I didn't get let down or disappointed at all. The receptionist desk is more or less in the same situation, with the line of people in front of it. And the mission board also looks the same.

While I was picking up a mission from the Blue ranked list, the adventurers around me mumbled with one another.

"Huh? Who is she?"

"She is picking from the Blue ranked list. Is she a high ranking?"

"I have never seen her before. She is cute."

I ignored all those chatters even though I can clearly hear them using my insane senses. While I was reading the list on the Blue ranked, I realized that all of these are pretty boring.

Red orc hunt? Wyvern sightings? A... A distress from a noble?

Those are all easy missions... I want the good ones!

I took a glance at the Yellow ranked and White ranked missions, and they all looked... pretty neat.

Dragon sightings, a double dungeon, and… demon sightings!?

Those are interesting, especially the White ranked mission about the demons. Sadly, there are only two White ranked missions, like the dragon hunt and the demons. And what is even sadder is that I can't take any of those missions, not by myself.

I let out a sigh while picking a mission paper from the wall, a Red Orc hunt.

"Guess I'm stuck with more red orcs for now..."

I was about to turn towards the receptionist when the door got slammed open and a person went inside.

"Rize!"

A shout called me from the door, a rather familiar voice that I haven't heard in a very long time. I turned to see who it was, and the first thing I noticed was her unusual golden hair color.

Her hair was braided on the side and tied to the back. The soft firm smile on her face showed how much of a warrior she has grown after such a long time.

One of the top adventurers of all time… a White ranked adventurer.

Fran Mazino, the Legendary Swordsaint.

"So good to see you."

She said as she arrived in front of me, and proceeded with a hug immediately. If I am still a guy, I would be heavily flustered by her sudden hug.

Then I recalled getting beaten by her in a duel, and immediately I don't see her as the opposite sex anymore. Just a rival, and a friend, and I'm sure she thought of me as the same.

"Nice to see you too, Fran."

I hugged her back, and turned my gaze to the door where she came from.

A group of three fancy looking adventurers are now entering the front door, all with grins on their faces. Of course, they are familiar.

Brod, the tanker. Said to be the greatest tanker in the adventurers ranking, better than my old teammate Barrett.

Rath, the stalker hunter. He has proven himself many times in the past that he is the world's greatest hunter. But he is still a damn stalker--

And finally, Emily, the female magician. 

After seeing so many mages from Xyphon, seeing her now no longer surprises me with the fact that magicians exist. Back then, I used to look highly at her for being a magician. Now, I am very much curious as to how good she is when compared with a student from the magic academy.

But considering her adventurer rank is only Blue, I wouldn't put my expectations too highly. But, I am still very curious.

I waved my hand at them while slowly letting go of Fran's hug, and as she got further away, I could smell a hint of barbeque from her.

"Did you guys just have breakfast?"

I asked while she let go of the hug, and she nodded while grinning.

"Yep. Hod's place. Hod said the barbeque was actually your menu, and I loved it a bunch."

"Heheh... You're welcome."

"Nice to see you again, Rize."

Rath said as he approached from the door, along with Emily and Brod.

"You too, Rath. Emily, Brod."

I nodded at the other two, and they nodded back at me. Emily is still as stiff as a board, I see. But nevertheless, they seemed to have grown.

This is them. One of the top active elites of the adventurers. 

A Yellow ranked overall ranking, the Swordsaint's squad.

"So? How is the academy?"

Fran quickly asked me on the spot while I was busy staring into the others, and I am quite hesitating as to what to answer.

"G-Great! Yeah, great… Not that I got kicked out or anything..."

"Y-You got kicked out?!"

She looked quite surprised at first, but then she let out a sigh the moment she remembered what I used to be like.

"Right… This is you we are talking about."

"… What kind of view do you have of me?"

We both chuckled at the joke, and the others began to walk closer as we had the conversation. The other adventurers around us simply watched and stared at me, questioning my existence as to why I am so close with the legendary swordsaint and her team. 

Well… my old teammates were their friends. If only we were still active one and a half year later, I bet our rank would be rivalling them.

Hod would be the White ranked team leader, Valey and Barrett would be the Yellow ranked, while Cony maybe climbs to Blue at some point. Meanwhile, I will probably stay at Purple or Green, for absolutely no good reason at all.

That would be fun, huh? But, that's not what the world needs, and that's not what the reality is.

I chatted with Fran and her team for a while, and she finally asked a question regarding why I am here at the Office.

"Were you about to pick your first mission after a while?"

"Yeah… well, I do quite like a difficult and dangerous mission as the one. But all the missions on the Blue ranks are all boring… See?"

I gave her the paper that I just took, and she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, orcs are annoying. They aren't that strong to us, but they are definitely dangerous to others. It is still our duty to get rid of them, though."

"I know, but I just want something different, you know? So that I can get in the mood… or something. I don't know."

Fran chuckled while I let out a sigh of disappointment. But then, she immediately got a shocking idea.

"Then, why don't you come with us?"

"Huh?"

"You know, joining our team."

I looked at the four of them, and they all looked like they didn't mind. Since I just returned, I'm definitely all alone in the whole adventuring business. All my old teammates have retired, and only I was left.

But still... This is Fran's squad. The Swordsaint squad.

Am I… worthy?

"Oh come on, you are more than worthy."

After that long silence from me, Fran chuckled and immediately grabbed my hand. She pulled me to the White and Yellow ranked missions list, and began reading the missions issued.

She was grinning when she pulled me, but after her eyes dropped at the mission board, it changed completely.

"... It wasn't even a week ago..."

"W-What? What is?"

Fran looked frozen now. Her smile has already disappeared, replaced with widely opened eyes that are peering at the mission on the White ranked list. 

The others approached when they saw the change in her expression out of curiosity, while Fran picked the mission paper from the wall.

"Guys..."

She turned to the others with a shocked and pained expression, and gave Rath the mission paper. Rath turned his face away with a hateful sound of his mouth, while the others could only look away out of disappointment and anger.

"W-What is it?"

Meanwhile, I was left all alone, with curiosity placed on my face.

"It wasn't even a week ago... We lost so many people too..."

Rath said as he clenched his fist, the other two also looked quite beaten down from the news.

Fran grabbed the paper back and gave it to me. I picked it up and read the content aloud.

"Dragon hunt... 'Multiple dragons were sighted in the southern mountains. Possibility of a dragon raid is high. White ranked mission'."

After reading the content, I gave the paper back to Fran.

"What's a dragon raid?"

"It means that a whole pack of dragons has come to a certain spot within our territory, all with the goal to lay waste at everything. There have been a ton of them lately, starting around a year ago. And the last one was just less than a week ago."

"Less than a week? Then this is getting more frequent?"

"Yes... And with dragons, it usually means a lot of people are dead."

Fran said with a grim tone. Looks like this dragon issue has been going a little overboard, even to the point of actually taking the lives of people.

"Fran... We might need the Office's help again."

Rath stepped forward and quickly gave a suggestion to Fran. But Fran shook her head firmly.

"No. A lot of people have died already. We are the strongest squad, and the other White ranked adventurers and their teams are too busy with their missions. We have let too many adventurers die already. We have to do this on our own."

Fran answered Rath's suggestion with a strict tone, and Rath can only bite his lips. A lot of people have died from these dragon raids, and Fran's squad can't do this alone. They definitely need help, but they can't risk any more people to die just so they can succeed in killing the dragons.

I'm sure. After seeing their faces, so many people have sacrificed themselves for them. Adventurers do work like that, after all…

Let's end this chain of misery, then.

"All right. I'll help."