A few hours after the new joint party was established, they gathered in the lounge area once everyone was freshened up and ready for the meeting.
The couches were pushed aside earlier and a long table was placed there. Turns out this guild doesn't have a dining room or a dining table, only the kitchen's small table for the four members of Misteltein to gather around to eat. They had to go out and buy a table big enough for about twelve people. Fortunately, there was a store right down the street since they're close to the plaza.
Shaun and Idalia stood behind Arnold in silence, looking nervous for some reason. Meanwhile, he was seated at the head of the table while Elora was on his right and Josephine was on his left. Galadriel stood in a corner, arms folded and eyes closed but listening closely.
Admeera, Alice and Cameria were also at the table. On the table was a map of the mapped area of the World Tree Forest. It showed the only paths humans took throughout the past few centuries. Since elves were very cautious of humans, only certain individuals were granted access over the years. A few of these individuals mapped out the region. All of these paths were combined into a singular map, handed out to only high-ranking adventurers (A and above) so Cameria was able to secure a copy of this same map.
She opened the map.
Everyone eyes turned to it.
"The journey there will take about a week by carriage." She took a while to show the route using her finger before continuing, "I would prefer to use a wyvern steed to get there faster but the guild authorizes only one per party."
"Will you camp along the road or stop at roadside inns?" Josephine asked, "I need to know so that I can prepare the necessary supplies."
"There are about four roadside inns between the empire and the Great Ridge. Two require that we steer from the main road path. Both of them are close to the border. As such, we will set up camp once we exit imperial territory."
"Noted."
"When we get past the imperial border, we'll have to deal with hostile demihumans." Alice added, "If any of you heard the rumors that has been going around, a war is brewing between the demihumans and the Theocracy. We might walk straight into that if we're not careful."
"Going through that red zone will just start unnecessary fights," Admeera added, "I think we should figure out a different path."
"Good idea." Cameria and Alice nodded along.
"It will also be dangerous to camp along the road if we're right in the middle of all that so I agree…" Elora added.
They all looked at Arnold.
"I think it's fine. But even if we take that long path, they will follow us, thinking we're reinforcements there to ambush them."
"You're not wrong…" Alice nodded with a sigh, "They may be expecting us to take the long path so they will try to attack while our guards are down."
"A conflict is unavoidable then?"
"What if we seek passage?" Admeera offered a sound solution, "There may be patrols waiting right outside imperial territory so we can seek safe passage the moment we run into them."
"You're willing to negotiate with bloodthirsty animals that see you as nothing but meat?" Arnold narrowed his eyes.
If his artifact wasn't malfunctioning, he would've suggested using it after lying that it's from the Dragon God's Lair. Spirits really are annoying.
"…We need to save our strength for the fight ahead so I don't want to start a conflict."
"Alright… We can talk to them. But if they take the first swing, I will swing back tenfold."
"Yes, so we should be prepared."
"On to the paths then." Cameria continued, "We can always go through the capital sewers to reach an underground path that leads straight to the roots. But there are rumors of unstable mana mutating otherwise harmless or weak monsters down there."
"What about the other entry points?"
"There is also entering from the back of the World Tree, where its shadow rests when the sun sets."
"How do we know which side is that back…?" Elora asked curiously.
"If you were to look at the World Tree from this empire, the side facing us is the front. That's because the World Tree is bended—whether natural since its birth or man-made—slightly towards the north, which is where we are, so ancient elves believe that means it's the front."
"Is that why the elves don't live near the coastline?" Elora asked again.
"Yeah, no one has lived there for centuries, or none that we know of." Cameria placed her finger at the coastline then traced it along the river that flowed from the Wood Elf Country to the sea, her finger stopping at a dark line that split the front and back of the World Tree, probably to act as some barrier, "The mana is unstable in this area as well and there are animals and monsters corrupted by powerful spirits, kept at bay by only the druids. But unlike the underground passages, we will have more space to fight and danger won't be lurking in every corner, only closer to the first root. I can't promise that the weather and terrain won't be hostile, though."
"…How worried should we be about these corrupted monsters?"
"I'd say we should go in expecting to fight SS-class monsters. The corrupted spirits breed by consuming other spirits, making them more powerful and dangerous. The World Tree is the womb that creates these spirits faster than carbon dioxide can escape our lungs. As such, even a harmless slime can become a lake that can drown an entire village once a corrupted spirit swallowed enough harmless spirits."
"Why do these things exist… So troublesome…" complained Admeera.
"I hope it's whatever is feeding on the World Tree's lifeforce, so that we can kill two birds with one stone. But we're fighting almost intangible spirits that can jump from one host to the other and create armies of corrupted monsters so we need our magicians to head into this fight with their exorcism spells and equipment ready."
"Got it." Lucia, Elora and Admeera said in unison.
"I don't think we need a party formation, right?" Cameria looked at Alice, "It's not like we're facing ordinary monsters. And besides, we would need a tank."
"I'll be the tank." Arnold suggested since he has the highest defense.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded.
"Since Nova takes up the tank position, I will be the main vanguard while Cammy is the rearguard."
"Sounds good." Cameria agreed with Alice, "Then we'll have the magicians in the center and the porters in front of me."
When she said "porters", she gave Shaun and Idalia a displeased side glance.
"This is your last chance to back out," she addressed the two, "We're heading into territory that is dangerous to even S-rankers. Maybe not on the level of the Mountains of Wails but we might encounter monsters that can even hurt us."
"They're in my guild so they will be my responsibility." Arnold replied before they could say anything, "You just focus on protecting our rear."
As Guild Master, it actually is his duty to protect his adventurers. Of course, he'll make sure they're compensated for this quest. It will probably be more money than they have ever seen in their lives.
"Humph. Fine, then."
The two silently bowed.
"Before we conclude our preparations, we need someone to go to the frontlines ahead of time to make sure we know the demihumans' formations. Chances are they will remain the same even if we take a long time to embark on our journey." Alice suggested.
She's right since the demihumans on the outskirts of that battlefield brewing near the Great Ridge won't have to worry about being attacked so they don't have to change defenses or move positions. They'll likely stay in the same place, awaiting orders from the tribes.
"I'll do it." Arnold spoke.
"It will only be a scouting mission so we don't want unnecessary trouble. If we take that same route after you cause trouble, the tribes will be hostile towards us." Alice warned.
"I know."
"Alright. We're counting on you to relay the information to us so that we can finish our preparations. You should take a small map of the region with you just in case."
"With that out of the way, when do you all think we'll roughly be able to begin the quest?" Admeera asked.
"I still have some leftover quests that I need to get out of the way. I want a long vacation after this SS-class quest, spending all that money that the average noble will never see." Cameria sat down and placed her dirty feet on the clean table again.
"I don't have anything going on right now so I want to go visit a friend." Alice said.
"There are some important guild matters I need to get out of the way. And like Cammy, I want to take a long vacation after this quest." Admeera said next.
They all looked at Arnold. Elora's gaze was especially intense. It seems she thinks he'll leave again.
"…I need to work on getting my guild up and running so that we can accept requests from all around the empire and surrounding nations. There is also a mountain of paperwork to go through and applications to review." Due to the sheer volume of work left behind, he needs to visit the guild every day after school to help Elora, Galadriel and Josephine.
Elora's glare vanished.
"All right, how does a month from now sound?" Cameria suggested.
"That works." Admeera nodded.
"I agree." Alice also nodded.
"It's settled then. The Joint Party for Misteltein, Dead End and Red Storm will start this quest one month from now."
A knock came from the front door just as Cameria finished.
-Arnold von Berkley! Her Excellency, Angelica orders you to come outside now!