The room remained quiet, perhaps because the sullen mood of Hale's departure continued hanging in the air. Nobody responded to Aaron's proposal. Fay, who was usually happy and optimistic, stood quietly beside Tabitha, her eyes drooping low. It appeared as if she had not heard the captain's question at all. Carol was still her usual self, holding one hand against her grand axe as she chomped down a huge cake in her other hand.
Tabitha smacked her lips, wondering if it was time for her to step forward to say something. But at that moment, Alfred broke the silence.
"I believe the E-grade mission is more suitable for us now." The somewhat pale-looking man nudged the gold-framed glasses on his nose. "As a five-person team, having two support members is not a good thing, especially when Tabitha is still in a rookie phase. Captain, does the mission book provide any description of the kind of world the E-grade one is?" Tabitha gave him a sideward glance. He had not mentioned about the loss of his ability. She bit her lower lip, wanting to say something, but she subconsciously felt that the outcome would be worse if revealed the problem with Alfred's ability.
Aaron nodded and said, "Although there isn't a specific introduction, it does mention that it is a magical world." A glint flashed in his eyes. "If it's a magical world, we might be able to buy some powerful products from the market, which even the mission book won't offer us, provided that we are lucky enough."
Apart from Carol who remained ambivalent to everyone around her, the rest nodded approvingly. Even Fay, who was still in a daze, raised her face and looked at Alfred seriously.
"Now our team has lost a powerful member that face trouble alone, and we do not have any strong weapons. If we choose the D-grade mission, all of us might be wiped out if anything unexpected happens. Even if the rewarded supplies upon the successful completion of the D-grade mission is several times the E-grade mission, I don't think we should take this risk."
After Alfred finished speaking, Tabitha added: "And Captain, you mentioned that the D-grade mission is time-limited. Then what about the E-grade mission? In general, if there are no deadlines for the missions, we can recharge our batteries in that E-grade mission's world and only begin the mission after we get enough weapons and protective gear. Of course, only if the world is not as dangerous as the hospital."
Aaron nodded again. "Usually if the mission is time-limited, the mission book will tell us directly. Since you haven't taken part in other missions, you aren't aware of it. Generally, the worlds of E-grade missions are relatively safe. Except for the individual monsters or special items that will attack people indiscriminately, most people will just live their lives and do what they would always do."
The room fell silent again. Aaron hesitated for a moment and walked back to the counter. As he signed his name, he said: "Then let's go take a look at the mercenary world."
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"Miss, I'm just running a small business. If you don't have any red crystals, I can't sell this to you. If you want to make an exchange, you can go to the Vobode Store in front. We will go there when it comes to selling goods or making exchanges," said a mongoose with a scarf on its head. It had its two claws covered in all kinds of strange things spread in front of it as it watched the tall woman standing in front of it. As its mouth opened and closed, the beard under its nose trembled slightly, tracing out a tiny arc.
Tabitha touched her nose, unsure what she should do.
It had been two days since their team arrived in this mission world. The best plans involved them finding a place where people lived in and an attempt to buy any supplies before they officially began their mission. However, none of them thought they would see a lively market once they came out from the mission room.
"Actually, Mr. Awldrew, I just want to know..."
"Oh Miss, if you want to know any information you can go to the Doing Center by going straight ahead and turning right. If you want to work to earn red crystals, you can turn back and find the Mercenary World on your left. As you for the disappearance of mercenaries you asked about, do you know how many mercenaries come and go every day in this market? I mean, how many times have you come here in the past two days? Can't you ask all the questions you have in one go? Do you know how many potential customers I have lost because of you?!"
The mongoose with the strange name seemed to lose its patience. It held its forehead and yelled at Tabitha, giving her a fright.
"I-I'm sorry! I won't come to bother you again!" She immediately bowed when she noticed that the hawkers around were beginning to approach her. After apologizing to the mongoose, she ran back to the rest site that their team had found.
As depicted, the team which originally believed that they could lead a life of peace in this world had failed to buy the items or weapons they wanted. Instead, they were now caught up in a strange situation. First of all, everyone had forgotten that people needed to use money wherever they were. If one wanted to buy supplies or even weapons, one would need a lot of money. Naturally, the team members who came into this world because of their mission did not have any money in this world. Secondly, they had failed to find a single clue regarding the mission. They believed that the so-called mission that required them to "find the missing mercenaries" was offered by a particular organization in the world they were in and that all they needed to do was find the missing people. What they didn't imagine was that they did not even know who was missing!
When Tabitha returned to the abandoned house outside the market, only Aaron remained inside. It was difficult to understand what had happened in the world they were in. Apart from the lively market, the only thing they saw after they left were ruined houses, deserts, and odd-looking locals. She rubbed her hair and sat down beside Aaron, feeling somewhat frustrated.
"Captain, I didn't find out anything about the missing mercenaries..."
Aaron lowered the tabloid that had "Floating Town Daily" written on it. He looked at the girl to his side and when he noticed the frustrated look she had, he smiled warmly at Tabitha. "Did you go to Mr. Mongoose again? From the looks of it, unless we earn enough red crystals to buy its items, it won't give us any useful information."
"I'm sorry, Captain. I'm so useless..." Tabitha murmured in disgruntlement. She wished she had the ability to do combat like Fay so that she could take on jobs and earn red crystals.
"Don't worry. Alfred has found a lot of information in the houses around the area over the past two days. Perhaps you can explore the nearby houses with him tomorrow and I believe you will find the clue soon." Aaron waved the tabloid. The tabloid's blank areas had been filled with text, and a few words were circled. They were likely clues that Alfred believed would prove useful.
Tabitha lowered her head and looked at her rounded nails. She stuffed her hand into her pocket and felt something with her fingertips. It was something made of paper. It was the Basic Defense Method I that she had received previously... Thinking of how she had given up all her supplies just for this item, she took it out.
The book was thin and yellow. The words "Basic Defense Method I" were scrawled on the cover, looking like someone's notes. Tabitha remained unsure about opening the book she held in her hands. She was afraid to see things that she could not understand or that it contained useless information. Realizing how hesitant she was about reading a book, she could not help but despise herself. Taking a deep breath, she flipped open the first page and before she could react, she fell into an abyss!
Tabitha could only hear the wind whistling in her ears, and the shocking feeling of instant weightlessness caused her screams to be stuck in her throat. Her face was sorely battered by the wind. It was hard to tell how much time had passed when she crashed into a solid ground. In her state of shock, she sat there for a moment before opening her eyes. She only realized that she had felt no pain whatsoever after she opened her eyes to take in everything
"Welcome to the Concealment Area, my master."