Alternate Title: The Swords of Darkness
[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]
A day has passed since he met King Ramposa the 3rd, and he had already given himself to the pleasure of touring around the Capital.
It didn't give him much trouble.
Ragna walked to a large building in Re-Estize, which had a few people carrying swords, staffs and other sorts of weapons. And most of them wore plates that look like necklaces, in copper, silver, and gold.
Those were the same plated a certain group had worn, except they had adamantite plates.
It was clear that those who wore adamantite plates are possibly some of the best of the best of the adventurers.
The only thing was, he currently had no interest in being an adventurer, though even if it would benefit him, there was something he really liked.
Exploration.
'Exploring this world, huh? I suppose I should gain information first before even trying to go somewhere.' He concluded, walking towards the counter.
But before he arrived to the counter, a few adventurers had passed by him and were the first to reach it.
They were a group of four, and he noticed that they were all bronze ranked adventurers.
"We of the Swords of Darkness have returned!" One boy spoke, smiling as the receptionist nodded her head.
"The guild has already been notified about the completion of your quest, please sit down where you like."
Upon hearing that, the group of adventurers sat nearby a table, and through curiosity, Ragna approached them first.
"Ninya, you've done a great job supporting us in defeating a small infestation of goblins, even you, Lukrut and Dyne!" A person congratulated his fellow adventurers, smiling at each other.
"Soon enough we would become silver ranked adventurers, and we'll definitely celebrate our achievement, right, Peter?" The man named Lukrut encouraged his leader.
But, an adult man with closed eyes shook his head in disapproval.
"Lukrut, what are you talking about? We are still low on money, therefore conserving it is the best thing to do for now."
He was probably Dyne, who had a faint smell of grass around him. It is possible that he is a druid.
And then there's the silent Ninya, who meekly looked at the approaching Administrator. Due to her fear of other nobles, it made her feel like trouble might come if she wasn't careful at all.
Even with that friendly smile if his, she couldn't help but imagine what might come next. Was he going to trick them? That is possible.
The others also began to notice Ragna, and they began to greet each other, keeping a respectful aura around them.
Because the guild asked them to go inside one of the rooms for something important before a proper introduction, Ragna was forced to wait for a few minutes before the party returned, obviously gaining proof that they are now in a higher rank.
".... Right, so where were we....?" Peter said, rubbing his chin then remembering what he wanted to say. "Oh, that's right! You wanted to give us a request, just after we are promoted!"
"Oh, right. Become my tour guides and lead me around Re-Estize, not the entirety or even too far away, because there are monsters too strong for your own good." Ragna stated, though the four were strangely silent, as if not expecting such a request from him.
To say they were surprised was an understatement.
"H-huh...?"
They were very confused, curious, and even shocked.
"Aren't you a noble of Re-Estize?" Ninya asked, scratching her head.
"I could agree, if I was the leader." Dyne followed soon.
To clear out this confusion, Ragna immediately explained that he wasn't from this country nor was he from this continent, which allowed the group to understand, even for a little.
But even with all that, the pay for Silver Ranked adventurers were pretty low, so Peter suggested that Ragna should give this request to other, higher ranked adventurer parties.
Ragna insisted, offering to give them 50 silver coins everytime they reach a city, 30 if they reach a town and 15 if they reach a village, until they report to a guild, then they would finish the quest.
Unless they have returned to the same place, there will be no addition to their payment.
It was a decent deal that actually convinced the Swords of Darkness to accept his request, even though in their minds, they've decided to be a little more careful in their quest.
Maybe they could achieve their goal while giving Ragna a long tour? They could go on a few towns and that would be it.
And soon enough, the party had started their quest, just after Ragna properly made the request to the guild, which will then be taken by the Swords of Darkness, officially beginning their quest.
[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]
The duration of their quest would possibly reach below a week. At least, that was what Ninya thought.
She had become very paranoid about Ragna, because ever since they have accepted that quest, even with the very generous reward they would get after this quest.
Too generous, in fact.
Aware that Ragna has possible negative intentions with her and her party, or maybe he was aware that she was a girl unlike her friends?
And now....
While they were in a long pathway in a deep forest leading to a village east of Re-Estize, a pack of Dire Wolves appeared from all around them.
"Everyone, be prepared! Protect Sir Ragna!" Peter commanded, unsheathing his sword at the same time he and his party members surrounded Ragna to defend him while he watched with some interest.
A Dire Wolf who was close enough to the group was bound by several vines, courtesy of Dyne's 2nd tier spell, [Twine Plant], before hitting it with a crushing blow from his mace.
Ninya, being a beginner mage, was currently only able to use a few spells, one of which was [Fireball], [Gale Bullet], and [Magic Arrow], pretty basic in fact.
In front of these agile wolves, she knew what she needed to use.
"[Gale Bullet]! [Magic Arrow]!" She casted her spells, pointing her staff towards the wolves running towards them.
The Dire Wolves were a little slow enough for the two spells to barely hit their bodies at the vital spots. Ninya kept repeating the same spells for a while, before feeling a little tired from all the casting.
At least she's killed a few more as more Dire Wolves slowly kept coming after the.. Not to the point where the party would feel overwhelmed by the monsters.
"Ninya! You've done enough, get to a defensive position and cast defense magic! [Lesser Agility]!"
Covered in a refreshing wind, even for a moment, Peter leaped sideways and dodged a terrible bite from a Dire Wolf, and swiftly decapitated it.
"Whew! I'm getting pumped up! [Reflex Boost]!" Lukrut spoke, as a glow covered his body, enhancing his body's speed where he began shooting arrows quicker.
Focusing on defending Ragna was their primary prority, and as adventurerstheh are expected to do their jobs cleanly, despite the toughness of a certain quest.
And soon enough, with a good amount of effort, all the Dire Wolves were slain, allowing them to continue treading towards the village, which they saw on the distance.
"Here we are, at a village between E-Libera and Re-Estize. Phew, it only took us a few hours to get to this village, and I do want to get some rest, my feet are getting numb!" Lukrut stated, enthusiastically pointing at the village after sighing.
Dyne stopped them, knowing there was still something he must do.
"Of course, but first, I still have something to do." He spoke, raising his hands towards Lukrut. "[Light Healing]."
"Thanks, you should heal Ninya and Peter too.",
They also checked whether of not Ragna was injured, but the young man only gave them a thumbs up as a response.
Later on, they smoothly entered the village, which Ragna realized was larger than Carne Village. But was as populated by warrior looking people and some mercenaries/sellswords.
They all looked at them strangely, while the administrator glanced at the farmers and the strange vegetation that seemed like a mix of grain and flowers.
The lack of crop rotation was glaringly there, making it grow exclusively one type of plant. Which possibly meant that people had to import ingredients and stuff from the either Re-Estize or E-Libera.
Strangely enough, he frowned for some reason.
The farmers seemed to be malnourished, too.
But for now, he had no interest in doing anything for them. Even if it felt quite pitiful.
The group, along with Ragna soon approached and walked into a small inn, where they all began to engage in a light conversation.
"So, Peter, why did you name your group as the Swords of Darkness?"
"There's this legendary figure from 200 years ago named the Black Knight, one of the Thirteen Heroes who fought against the Evil Deities, who wielded 4 powerful Demonic Swords, one of them is Kilineiram, the Cursed Sword, Crocdabal, the Corrupted Sword, Sfeiz, the Sword of Death, and Hyumilis, the Evil Sword." Peter began to explain, just before he confidently smirked at Ragna to continue.
"I formed the group because of an inspiration, and a hope that someday, we could recover even one of those swords and have a chance to wield such weapons!"
"An admirable dream, I must say."
Then, Peter, along with his group of members became sleepy, and Ragna, noticing their status effects through his reactivated HUD, already knew something was up.
'I see, so that is how it is.... One or two of us might be kidnapped while we are forced asleep, and then.... what's next? Hmph, I can't wait to find out! [Activate - AC AD2126 Class Switch - Actor: Level 15 and Trickster: Level 15!] ' Ragna thought excitedly, as he began to go with the flow after almost slowly eating whatever was in his plate.
Then, slowly acted as if going to sleep.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes....
"Hey, are you sure he's the one we were hired to capture and interrogate?"
"We have this girl, too. Thought she was a boy at first, then I felt something strange about her. These men will soon be in despair that they have no money soon, though. Fuhahahahaha!"
"Pack them up, the drug will last for hours, and by the time they wake up, they'll be in the Eight Fingers' hideout in Re-Estize!"
"Be silent! They'll hear!"
"Oh, right."
The group of people who wanted to capture him, and also Ninya eagerly tied them up, before putting them in thick sacks.
Meanwhile, a wide smirk replaced Ragna's mouth.
[ ~ TO • BE • CONTINUED ~ ]
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