After patiently waiting his turn, Vahn approached the receptionist's desk, where a brunette in her late twenties sat in an ankle-length salmon-pink dress with a white bonnet. The woman's expression visibly illuminated as she saw him, but when she learned that he wanted to accept the General Monster Extermination request, her brows promptly creased.
"While the request has no rank attached to it, it's generally reserved for Adventurers ranked Silver or higher to prevent those of lower ranks from purchasing the parts requested as proof of subjugation..." explained the receptionist, her tone even and her expression severe.
"Generally, meaning there are exceptions..." Vahn noted, adopting a smile that caused the woman's breath to catch in her chest and her brown eyes to widen as he questioned, "Perhaps there is a high-ranking examiner who can confirm my skill in advance? Believe me when I say that the Guild will benefit much more from me accepting high-difficulty requests than those of a lower rank..."
"I...I'll see what I can do..." responded the receptionist, her cheeks visibly flushed as she left her chair to presumably confer with someone of higher standing within the Guild. This left him standing awkwardly at the counter, but he didn't mind, as it would save a lot of time if he were allowed to take on more difficult requests from the outset.
Sensing someone approaching him from behind, Vahn briefly considered turning before realizing who it was. As a result, he remained still, allowing a hand to rest on his left shoulder before a familiar, womanly voice asked, "What kind of mischief are you getting up to that requires a receptionist to head into the back?"
"We meet again," hummed Vahn, half turning to meet the gaze of Tamara, standing behind him in casual wear. Her blouse was similar to what most women wore, but instead of an ankle-length dress, she wore dark brown trousers and had a large, nearly 30cm knife strapped to her left thigh in a quick-draw sheath.
"Yo. Want to join us upstairs for a drink?" asked Tamara, sporting a broad smile as she gestured with her chin to the second floor, located above the receptionist's desk. There, the other three members of Royal Purple were leaning against the railing or staring down at him with crossed arms.
"I'm actually about to accept my first request," stated Vahn, reciprocating with a relaxed smile of his own as he explained, "I figured that, now that I'm an Adventurer, I might as well increase my Rank as much as possible."
"Oh? You're aiming to become an Adamantite Adventurer?" asked Tamara, her brows rising and the smile on her face growing cheeky as she linked her muscular arm around Vahn's shoulders and teased, "Well, it's good for young men to dream big~!" before giving him a noogie.
"..."
Though he understood that Tamara was being affectionate in her own way, Vahn loosened his hold on her with his Domain before slipping out of her grasp and getting around to her back. She glanced back over her left shoulder in eyes-wide surprise, but all she found behind her were several lower-ranked Adventurers observing the scene with expressions ranging from surprise to intrigue.
thnk
Drawing Tamara's attention back to her front, Vahn removed his hand from the handle of her knife, which was now embedded in the top of the reception desk. He wanted to make it clear to her that he wasn't a novice who required guidance, so without her realizing it, he had deftly removed her knife from its holster and stabbed it into the countertop.
"Please stop treating me like a child..." said Vahn, maintaining his smile as he exhaled faintly from his nose.
"Okay...?" responded Tamara, visibly confused by what had just occurred. Fortunately, she didn't appear to have taken his actions personally, a soft, scoffing chuckle emanating from her throat before she retrieved her knife and appended, "You're paying for the damages," with a toothy grin.
"As I should," affirmed Vahn, offering a slow nod before meeting the half-lidded gaze of one of the receptionists glaring at him. He ended up having to pay an excessive fine alongside the counter repair fee, but with Tamara vouching for him, he was subsequently able to meet with the Guildmaster and receive permission to accept the General Monster Extermination. The caveat was that he would first need to help escort a wagon of supplies to a fortress to the east, on the border of the Baharuth Empire. As long as he was able to see the supplies there safely, he had free rein to hunt and kill as many monsters as he liked on his way back...
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[Ten Hours Later]
After half a day of preparation, Vahn found himself seated in the back of one of seven wagons. Five carried supplies, while the wagons at the front and back of the procession ferried him, the four members of Royal Purple, and another Party of Gold-Ranked Adventurers called White Wyrm.
"So, what's this Termina place you hail from like? What caused you to end up leaving it...?" asked Tamara, doing her best to keep the mood light with casual, albeit probing conversation.
"It's a place where people are treated equitably and fairly, ruled by a man called the Dragon God of Infinite Possibilities..." answered Vahn, polishing his Mithril Mace.
"The Dragon God of Infinite Possibilities? Is he a former Dragon Lord...?" asked the purple-haired, lavender-eyed Dorothy.
"He usually assumes human form, but he's able to transform into a giant, fourteen-winged dragon with scales of ivory and gold..." answered Vahn. "As for why I left, it was to expand my horizons and gain experience in a new environment. I fully plan to return someday, but only after I've seen and experienced more of what this world has to offer."
"Oh? And here I was thinking you were an escaped convict or a political refugee," hummed Tamara, grinning as she contended, "You absolutely give off the aura of a high-ranking Noble or maybe even a Prince. You're not totally detached, but you carry yourself as if you're above everything happening around you."
"I won't get into the specifics of my background, but you're not wrong in that one of my reasons for venturing outside was to gain a more grounded perspective of the world," confirmed Vahn, eliciting reactions ranging from quiet shock to intrigue from the members of Royal Purple. From their point of view, he had essentially admitted to being a high-ranking Noble, which greatly elevated the tension in the back of the wagon.
"Do I need to apologize for my earlier behavior...?" asked Tamara, looking nervous and uncomfortable as she cupped the back of her head and gave an awkward smile.
"I've always been of the mindset that actions speak louder than words. If you feel an earnest desire to apologize, then do so. If your only reason for doing so is that you feel forced, then it's just empty words..." stated Vahn, his expression and tone relaxed as he met Tamara's gaze and added, "You should behave in a way that feels natural to you. Just don't be surprised if I swat your hand away or escape your grip as I did previously."
Seeing Vahn punctuate his words with a wink, an awkward chuckle rose from Tamara's throat. She could tell that he was doing his best to engage with them on a similar level, but now that she knew he was a high-ranking Noble, she felt out of place seated next to him.
piiiiiiiiipiiiiipiiiiipiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Interrupting the exchange and causing a shift in the wagon's atmosphere, a burst of high-pitched whistles echoed from the front of the convoy. This was the signal of an impending attack, prompting everyone to hastily grab their gear and exit the back of the wagon to prepare their defense.
"Where is the enemy attacking from...!?" shouted Tamara, running to the front of the convoy and taking charge of the situation as the high-ranked Adventurer present. If the enemy were attacking from behind, they would have been the ones to sound the alarm. The fact that the alarm originated from the first wagon suggested a frontal attack or diversion.
As tensions rapidly increased, Vahn, contrasting the panic and unease around him, calmly scanned the forest south of the route they were on while making his way to the front of the convoy. His Domain was unable to reach that far, but with his enhanced vision and senses, he could make out a large number of humans wearing silvery, full plate armor and cloaks that concealed their presence.
'This is no ordinary ambush...' Vahn realized, his gaze sharpening as he recalled Tamara mentioning that the Baharuth Empire staged an assault on the Re-Estize Kingdom at least once a year, particularly near the end of the harvest season. It was the reason her Party was visiting E-Rantel, and since they were currently escorting supplies to a fortress that served as the first line of defense against an imperial incursion, he presumed the concealed soldiers were Baharuthian saboteurs.
Upon reaching the front of the convoy, Vahn's suspicions were all but confirmed when he saw their path was being blocked by what appeared to be twenty or so bandits. They were dressed the part, but a close look at their carefully cared-for weapons, relatively pristine leather armor, and muscular builds made it clear they weren't lacking in funding or food to fill their bellies.
Brandishing a large, cleaver-like sword with a curved edge, the would-be leader of the bandits shouted, "Drop your gear and leave the wagons, and we won't chase you! Resist, and all the men die! As for the women, well, it gets cold here in the mountains, doesn't it, boys!?"
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!!!"
"Utterly despicable..." muttered Juliette, tightening her grip on her sword and raising her circular shield as if it would be able to protect her from the sinister, perverted looks she was receiving.
'This isn't good...' thought Vahn, poisedly taking stock of his side's forces compared to the enemy. Even if they counted the coachmen and workers allocated to load and unload the wagons, they were outnumbered by the bandits. If he counted the soldiers lying in wait, the enemy had more than twice their number and better equipment. Without releasing his limiter, the convoy was virtually guaranteed to be wiped out...
Though he understood that it was probably the fate of Royal Purple and those guarding the convoy to perish in the ambush, Vahn had never been the type to ignore tragedies and misfortune occurring right in front of him. The problem was that the power of his current body had been sealed by an Authority that was no longer his to command. He could channel power from his other selves, but his vessel was too weak to contain more than a small amount at a time.
'This is an unpleasant feeling...' Vahn noted, his aquamarine eyes gaining a golden hue as he extended his left hand toward the group of faux bandits, startling everyone privy to the scene as he discharged a golden sphere of Ki from his palm. He briefly felt as though all the warmth had left his body, but all that mattered was the result, an earth-shaking explosion of golden energy detonating within the center of the bandits, killing six and blasting the rest in all directions.
"Holy shit! Was that Magic...!?" exclaimed a member of the White Wyrm Party, but Vahn didn't stick around to answer. The moment he unleashed his attack, the troops hiding in the treeline partially emerged with armor-piercing crossbows at the ready. He sent a wave of air pressure along the length of the convoy to try to protect it, but the arrows were unfortunately enchanted to allow them to ignore air resistance. As a result, nearly all of the coachmen and horses were downed, followed by a sphere of light not all that dissimilar from his own striking the wagon he and the members of Royal Purple had been riding in.
BOOM
As a sizeable explosion destroyed the rearmost wagon, an icy feeling he hadn't experienced in some time permeated Vahn's mind. In less than six seconds, he had already failed to protect at least seven people, with one guaranteed to be dead. This caused him to feel tremendous rage, but his expression was a mask of absolute calm as he materialized his Legendary Spear and accelerated toward the ambushing soldiers as if he were flying above the ground...
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