Leon started to easily go through many small jobs every single day. Providing an extra set of hands or finding lost pets were quite easy with Leon's current ability, in fact, he could go the whole day without stopping due to his fantastic stamina and strength.
Most people were impressed with Leon's work ethic and how he put in his effort even for jobs that other people would call trash or even frivolous. However to Leon none of that mattered, most of the time the jobs were requests by folks from the town and since they didn't make much money the reward was often minute in terms of money or usually something like a free meal after the job was complete.
To Leon seeing some of the folks smile as their requests were filled was enough to keep Leon motivated. After almost two weeks, Leon hadn't done much in terms of fighting monsters, but his constant movement from doing labor and other jobs had slowly refined his body.
His muscles were more defined and his large frame that accompanied his tall height became more filled, although he was still very lean. Although Leon hadn't done anything too remarkable, the regular people who also took small jobs gave Leon the moniker of the small job slayer, since Leon often did at minimum triple the amount of work others did.
One afternoon as Leon stuffed his mouth with some freshly baked bread he received from a baker in the town as he requested Leon to help him lift heavy items like machinery, raw materials, and more the entire morning. The baker wanted to give Leon money after he saw how hard he worked, but Leon could see the baker was in a financial pinch and just asked for some bread instead.
As he made his way towards the bulletin board, he suddenly saw a sizable crowd surrounding the bulletin board, which made Leon pause for a second.
'What's going on? I've never seen more than seven people in front of the board as they choose small jobs, how can there be so many people at once now?'
Leon could now finally see the crowd more clearly and saw the plain-looking man he often made conversation with. During those conversations, Leon came to know the man a lot better. He was called Miles and also came from Partha, but came to this town over ten years ago as he wanted to leave home and explore the world like Leon.
After seeing how he was normal, he survived off doing some small jobs, but once he found out that Leon was also from Partha he became extremely friendly.
As Leon approached Miles, he gave a wave and called out to him.
"Miles!"
Hearing his name called, Miles turned around and smiled the moment he saw Leon.
"Leon! Get over here! There's exciting news!"
Leon started to walk over but still asked his question.
"Why are there so many people gathered here now?"
Miles merely pointed his thumb behind him towards the bulletin board.
"Come check it out for yourself."
Leon squeezed himself through some other people before he stood side by side with Miles and squinted his eyes towards a new piece of paper that had been put up. The paper said:
[Looking for mercenaries! As long as you are healthy and fit, we will take almost anyone. However, your background must be clean with no criminal history. Those who aren't on par with an adventurer are cautioned.
This job will most likely be a great risk to those who aren't at least around a D-Tier adventurer. Death is a very real possibility. The task will be to help transport our convoy deep into barbarian lands and reach our destination before traveling back.
The reward will at least be a single silver coin for anyone who lives and the reward can be potentially increased depending on the amount of risk the convoy encounters, but be warned there will be no safety net you will potentially be on your own. Meet at the entrance closer to the barbarian lands before night, if you are interested.]
Once Miles saw that Leon had read through the paper, he gave Leon a thumbs up as he excitedly spoke.
"This is your chance! Haven't you been waiting for something like this? Something exciting and offers a decent amount of money! I mean a silver could sate my financial needs for a month at least!"
Leon nodded and a small wisp of fire lit up in Leon's eyes as his adventuring spirit became lit with fervor.
"Yeah! This is definitely something I was looking for, but what about you. Will you be joining me?!"
Miles shook his head in regret.
"I no longer have that drive for adventure like you, Leon. So when you go, be sure to come back and tell me the story! Alright?"
Leon could tell Miles looked slightly apprehensive about his decision, but decided he wouldn't push and just smiled.
"For sure! Well, I better make my way, just in case they change their minds and put a limit on the number of people they are taking."
Miles gave a wave as Leon waved back before he started to jog his way towards the entrance. It didn't take too long for Leon, as Framas had become somewhat familiar to Leon as he ran around the city for almost two weeks.
He could already see a few people present and could finally see the convoy the request had mentioned. In front of the entrance, a pretty large carriage rested with its four horses tied up and being fed by a man in shabby black clothing. The carriage itself was enclosed with a roof and everything, but the windows were blocked with curtains and made it impossible to see inside.
A pretty well-built man with the same black shabby clothing was talking to the group.
"Are you fine gentlemen here for the job?"
The men nodded in response, while Leon also joined the group of men. The well-built man who looked like the leader of the whole convoy went on to thoroughly warn everyone of the potential dangers and the fact that since they were journeying deep into barbarian territory. There was a great chance they would run into barbarians and be forced to fight.
"Now, please leave if you are unconfident or uncomfortable with the idea of holding your ground by yourself against the barbarians."
His words managed to sway some people and only five people remained, but he didn't say anything more and shook everyone's hand. Before he could start shaking, one of the mercenaries raise his hand and spoke.
"What exactly are we protecting and doing going into barbarian territory?"
The seeming leader of the convoy gave a playful smile.
"Unfortunately I can't specify anything, but we will just be going to a particular location. As for what is in the carriage, I must ask you to refrain from going near or peeking inside."
Then he shook everyone's hand, Leon was the last person to shake his hand, but he immediately noticed something odd about the man.
The man's hand was rough and covered in calluses like a swordsman, but before he could think about it the man laughed.
"Haha, I can tell you work hard. Your hands are quite callused! Anyways please do relax for an hour or two before we set off!"
Leon smiled and went off, but on the inside, he started to glance around everywhere. The entire convoy looked normal, but the more Leon looked the odder it became. The carriage was unmarked and the fact that the man kept whatever was in the carriage a secret was quite weird.
It made Leon skeptical and as he looked at the dozens of shabby black-shirted people from the convoy. He noticed that all of their hands had calluses like they swung the sword every day, which couldn't be built from a few days.
This made Leon beg the question.
'What is going on here, these people don't even look like normal merchants...'