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Chapter 22: The First Journey on a Strange Continent (2)

The stagecoach operates under the sponsorship of the Merchants’ Guild.

Though passengers pay a fare, it\'s not uncommon for merchant wagons to join the caravan as well.

The stagecoach runs with a generous budget, and since merchants don\'t need to hire adventurers for each trip, it’s a win-win situation.

"Hah, a runt like you is supposed to be a guard?"

This was what Arzen heard from another adventurer when he arrived at the west gate half an hour earlier than the appointed time.

"And what’s it to you, you lowlife?"

"???"

"I’m seriously asking, but you’re sitting there making that dumb face. You wanna die? You think I don’t know you’re mocking me from the start? You little punk."

Arzen couldn’t stand the sight of some random lowlife speaking down to him from the get-go.

“Hahaha!”

“Well, he’s got some spirit.”

“He’s more of an adventurer than you, Jack.”

The other adventurers burst out laughing, and the situation came to an end for the moment.

But the one who started cursing from the beginning? Turns out he was a high-ranking bronze-tier adventurer and the leader of the escort group.

As the leader, he was responsible for creating the duty schedule, which meant he wielded near-absolute power during the journey.

“There are 16 guards! We’ll run three shifts, with six people on duty for 14 hours at a time.”

The leader could set up the schedule so that anyone he didn’t like ended up with the worst shifts.

That’s how adventurers in power operated.

Arzen shot him a glance.

As expected, he saw the jerk assigning him to the night watch—an unmistakable sign of petty vengeance.

‘Seriously, this guy?’

Sure, Arzen could take this guy down in a heartbeat if he summoned his worker bees, but the one who strikes first is always at a disadvantage.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, dear senior. I lost my parents when I was young… I was raised by thugs, so my manners are lacking…”

Arzen was confident in playing the pitiful act better than anyone.

With tears brimming like chicken droppings, Jack clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Not gonna work, kid. This is where you learn about life. It\'s always the ones like you who have no problem selling out their parents.”

“Sniff, sob, waaah! Mom! Dad! Please forgive your useless son, boohoo!”

Even the other adventurers and merchants shot sharp glances at Jack.

“Hey, Jack. A kid adventuring at that age? You can bet he’s got a rough backstory. Cut him some slack.”

“What? You heard him cursing me out earlier.”

“Hey you, what’s your name and rank?”

“Why do you care, merchant?”

“I’m planning to file a complaint with the Adventurers\' Guild! How could someone like you make a kid cry?”

Back in the days of The Divine Guillotine, Arzen had mastered this trick to avoid violence whenever possible.

‘But now that I’m using it among normal people...’

Arzen realized something crucial: he could make his opponent look like trash.

“Come on, Jack. Sure, he swore, but he apologized. Why not just let it go?”

“What?”

“You\'re only hurting your own reputation by being stubborn. Don’t you have to take the promotion exam within three years? You don’t want to be stuck at bronze forever, do you?”

With stares coming from all directions, Jack had no choice but to back down in the end. He angrily scratched out Arzen\'s name from the night watch list.

“Ugh, this is ridiculous… Kid, you\'re lucky I’m a nice guy. Next time you pull a stunt like this, you’re gonna be in real trouble, got it?”

Pretending to wipe away nonexistent tears, Arzen smiled inwardly with satisfaction.

‘Man, the world is way too easy.’

---

The three-shift guard system was a little different from what most people imagined.

First, each person’s shift and team were assigned. In this case, there were 16 guards in total, with six on duty at a time. For the third rotation, the two missing guards would be filled in from the next team, creating a cycle for the shifts.

“Let’s move out!”

When they weren’t on duty, guards could grab a seat in either the stagecoach or a merchant’s wagon.

Thanks to Arzen’s pitiful act on the first day, plenty of merchants were willing to offer him a seat. However, after leaving the main road, he realized that working during the shift was actually more comfortable than resting.

During guard duty, each of the six adventurers was responsible for one of the directions, allowing Arzen to train in the powers of the Void in peace.

As a mere steel-tier adventurer, Arzen wasn’t assigned to any critical positions.

He was mostly placed in the rear or the flanks, away from attention, making it easy for him to train without being noticed.

‘I can’t let rumors spread about the Void powers being strange… I can’t use them freely in front of people.’

The witches of Karshiko seemed to have overlooked it, probably because they liked him.

But Arzen thought it best to avoid unnecessary risks.

Buuuuuuuzzz…

Guard duty mainly consisted of walking endlessly alongside his Void insects.

Still, the landscape of this Akrad continent was fresh and fascinating, so it wasn’t all that boring.

‘So, plants can be this vividly green.’

He’d heard that the Northern Republic had a tropical climate. Unlike the desert-like conditions back on the Adrion continent, here the wild grass grew up to his waist, and fireflies danced among the tall blades.

The ground beneath his feet felt firm yet slightly moist—a pleasant change from the dry, crumbly earth of Adrion.

Out of 30 Void insects, Arzen managed to enhance one during this escort mission, which was a small but satisfying accomplishment.

---

At the 16th crossroads, Arzen parted ways with the stagecoach caravan.

The request he received from Euphoria was in a forested area.

After leaving the riverside road, he would have to take a national highway that led deep into the woods.

“Hm, looks like it could be dangerous if snakes show up.”

The path to Euphoria was densely packed with summer’s vibrant greenery, exuding life in every direction.

‘But no problem! Not for Void Commander Arzen!’

Buuuuuuuzzz…!

He sent out his Void insects, spreading them wide to detect any wild beasts lurking in the forest!

‘With this, there\'s no chance of being bitten by a dangerous beast or snake!’

Now, all he had to do was keep walking as long as his stamina held out.

"Worker bee."

As Arzen pushed forward on the path, he spoke to his insect companion.

"We\'re on an adventure right now!"

In the heat of summer, as he wiped the cold sweat off his face, a smile played on the boy\'s lips, filled with excitement.

Arzen took frequent breaks.

It was nice to sit and lean against the shade of a giant tree.

It was nice to hear the rustling of the leaves as the wind brushed through the forest.

It was nice to listen to the cicadas singing in the background.

In the midst of this pleasantness, there was a magical tranquility that naturally lulled him into naps.

Buuuuuuuzzz…

Any snakes or beasts that dared approach the sleeping Arzen were quickly driven away by his worker bee.

It was a peaceful journey.

---

Euphoria was more of a wooden palisade than a stone fortress, and it had a somewhat desolate appearance.

This was typical for areas overrun by monsters.

The farmers were in distress, unable to finish their harvest due to goblins, even though early autumn was approaching.

Not just farmers, but many adventurers with swords and spears were going in and out of the gates.

The guards were mostly indifferent.

The merchants passing through the city traded herbs for potions and various iron ores.

While the war against monsters was a disaster for the locals, it was an opportunity for outsiders to make a fortune.

"What’s your business?"

“Goblin extermination.”

“ID tag?”

“Here.”

“And what’s the bribe for us hardworking soldiers in this summer heat?”

“Candy.”

“Candy? Alright, we’ve got a smartass here. Get him, boys.”

But when Arzen pulled out actual candy instead of flipping them off, the guards’ expressions changed.

“Hehe, I thought you mighty guards might need something sweet under this hot sun, so I bought some on my way here. Please, enjoy the candy.”

“Well, would you look at that? A polite young man. Go on through.”

Chewing on the candy, the guards lifted the crossed spears that had barred his way.

‘Even the art of bribing guards is something I learned from my days in The Divine Guillotine… Who knew lessons from those thugs would come in handy in life?’

Arzen stepped inside the fortress.

It wasn’t a city, so its scale was much smaller—perhaps a few dozen times smaller than a major city.

The adventurers’ guild was also small, proportional to the size of the outpost.

Compared to the guilds in the Seven Great Cities, it was nothing more than a tiny countryside office.

As he opened the door and stepped inside, the sign above his head creaked annoyingly, its hinges rusted with age.

"Hmm..."

There were only two reception counters, and there was already a line, so Arzen decided to check the request board first.

Since this was a regional outpost, the board had a map of the area as its background, with various requests pinned to it using tacks.

Most of the requests on the board were for goblin exterminations. The location of the tacks marked the areas where the requests were issued.

‘Strangely, there are a lot of high-ranking requests. I expected them to be around grade 12 or 13 at most...’

Let\'s see...

Euphoria is here, so...

‘Since I’m already tired from traveling this far, it’s better to take something close. I can\'t ignore the round-trip distance either.’

Arzen pulled the request closest to the fortress off the board and joined the line at the counter.

Then, something caught his attention.

‘Crimson hair?’

Hair the color of dried blood on a corpse—harsh, yet somehow alluring. The hair flashed before his eyes.

‘Wait, did that person just cut in line?’

But that thought barely registered in his mind, because... the woman was stunning.

It wasn’t her height or the massive greatsword strapped to her back that made her intimidating.

It was that short, crimson hair and the aura she exuded.

"Hey, sorry, but I already claimed that request."

She wasn’t talking to Arzen.

She was addressing the group in front of him, slamming her fist down on their request form as she spoke to the receptionist.

“We don’t need two parties for this job, right? It’ll only cause problems for both of us.”

The group she was talking to consisted of big, burly men. Yet, for some reason, they hesitated awkwardly, unable to meet her gaze.

“N-no, we were just…”

“Huh? What was that?”

“I-I said, we were about to take this request first.”

“Actually, we claimed it first. But if you follow along, it’ll just be a hassle. We’ll have to split the rewards and contribution points, and let’s be real—you guys won’t be of any help.”

The woman was slightly taller than the men she was addressing. She snatched the request form and waved it teasingly above her head.

“You know those urban legends that go around sometimes? About an assassin disguised as an adventurer, who joins the same quest and then makes it look like the others were killed by monsters? You’ve heard of it, right? Judging by your faces, I’d say you have.”

“...!”

“But here’s the thing. As you can see, I use a greatsword. If someone’s standing nearby, I can’t always control my strength. If you happen to get hit by my sword... well, your bones will get crushed, and it’ll look like a monster did it.”

Incredibly, the burly men, their fists trembling in frustration, turned away from the counter and grumbled as they walked off.

“Damn it, what’s a silver-ranked adventurer doing hunting goblins here anyway?”

Arzen became even more intrigued by this woman.

First, her overwhelming attitude!

Her sheer audacity rivaled, if not surpassed, what Arzen had learned during his time with The Divine Guillotine thugs.

‘And that confidence... It’s been a while since I’ve felt something like this!’

In The Divine Guillotine, the squad leaders and higher-ups were all gold-ranked, with most of the lieutenants at silver rank.

Even though Arzen had been an ordinary member, being silver-ranked meant you were a highly skilled adventurer, welcomed in any nation or city.

Only the top 9% of adventurers ever reached silver rank.

The silver-ranked female warrior flashed a victorious smile at the retreating backs of the large men, then theatrically tore the request form in half in front of the receptionist.

"We’ll be taking this request solo. You don’t think we won’t be able to handle it, do you?"

At a small regional branch like this, a silver rank could practically reign like a king.

The receptionist, visibly flustered, nodded eagerly.

"O-of course! A request like this is nothing for someone like you, Shia!"

With that, the warrior exited through the swinging doors of the guild, and a voice called out.

"Still the same overwhelming trash, aren’t you?"

The voice was deep, almost gravelly—likely belonging to a dwarf.

"…I\'ll take that as a compliment."

"Compliment? Trash was a compliment? Wow! First time I’ve heard that!"

This time, a slightly younger voice chimed in, immediately followed by the sound of a fist landing on someone’s head.

"Ouch! You idiot! You think that was a real compliment?"

It seemed she wasn’t alone—she had companions. Arzen\'s estimation of her dropped a bit.

Lone wolves are always cooler, after all.

When Arzen finally got to the receptionist, she looked visibly worn out. After the usual formalities—checking his ID tag and the request form—she picked up a pen.

"This is a 10th-grade request. You have your party members\' ID tags, right?"

"Party members?"

"This request recommends a party of at least five people. Only bronze or higher ranks can take it, and steel-ranked adventurers are only allowed in supporting roles. Where are your companions?"

"Sis, don’t you know me? I’m Arzen. I’m like a one-man army."

He threw in a playful, yet truthful, remark, but the receptionist wasn’t having it.

"Then you’ll need to find a party."

"Ugh, why?"

"That’s the rule."

Arzen didn’t like the idea of a party. Sure, he admired adventurers, but he knew better than anyone that most adventurers were trash.

"I’m stronger than I look. Just let me go solo."

How could she not trust Arzen, the cold and ruthless commander of the Void Legion?

"Sigh."

The receptionist responded with a sigh and spoke firmly.

"Steel-ranked adventurers always underestimate goblins, but the goblins in our region are different."

"No matter how different they are, they\'re still just goblins."

"Well, they didn’t use to be like this, but recently… In any case, you can’t take this request alone as a steel rank."

"Isn’t there anything I can do solo?"

"There are some requests from small villages, but they’re quite far. Should I check those for you?"

Arzen was about to nod when he remembered the letter of recommendation from Brother James.

"Ah. I’ve got this."

He handed over the letter, and the receptionist glanced at it indifferently at first. Then her expression changed completely.

"A recommendation from the guild master of one of the Seven Great Cities…?"

She seemed to realize this wasn’t something she could simply brush off.

The receptionist stood up and went to the back, where she exchanged glances with the old, grizzled branch manager while discussing something in low tones, occasionally glancing at Arzen. After a short conversation, she returned.

“Technically, this isn’t allowed... but since you’re such a unique case, we’ll approve your request for a solo mission.”

“Ah, thank you very much.”

\'James, is it you again?\'

\'My light, my joy, my hope.\'

“But seriously, this really isn’t by the book. Please don’t mention it anywhere else, okay? It could cause some problems.”

“Yeah, yeah.”