We continued to make our way towards the gates while I proudly displayed my rank. I had noticed most of the people were staring at me in awe. I was already a terrifying handsome, but it looked like seeing the high rank tag on me made them stare even harder. "Maybe I should have gone for the Adamantite rank instead." I muttered to myself, feeling it was a shame to lose and even bigger crowd to look up to me.
When we got to the gate of the town that was barely a city, we showed our identity passes while Layla spoke to the guards. Although, she spoke while they smiled and sneakily, while failing, ogled at her large chest. I kind think she likes the weird attention. It was like she was almost daring someone to try and touch her. What were you going to do? She was a gold rank adventurer.
Just as we were about to leave, something caught my attention. A group of three slowly walked through the gates. Two males and one female. The men wore black long robe with their heads and faces covered. The lady, however, was a very pale looking young woman with deep black eyes and long black hair that touched the ground behind her. She wore a simple white dress that reached her knees. She did not have any slippers on either. From their set up, with the lady in the middle, it looked like she was the one in charge.
The interesting part was no one seemed to not notice them. Even if the guards were trying to ogle at Layla, they still had their attention on the gates and everyone that passed. Anyone that passed showed their citizen cards and passed. The weirdly dressed group, however, merely walked through without stopping. Not even Layla who was a gold rank was able to notice them.
With an amused look, I turned back to look at them. It seemed they were able sense someone looking at them because they all suddenly stopped moving. The two in the cloak turned to look at me, and then slowly followed by the woman in white. The place turned grey, and the temperature dropped around me. It looked like I had been isolated from the rest of the world. The moment her dead eyes locked into mine, I felt something trying to invade into my mind which I easily blocked. I could see the shock in her eyes although it barely showed on her face.
I chuckled and waved at them. It looked like the two were about to make a move but were stopped by the woman in white. With one last look at me, the woman and her group turned around and continued their way. "Quite the interesting group." I chuckled to myself. It looked like something was going on in the town.
"What interesting group?" Layle walked to my side and asked. Looking around for the group I mentioned. I chuckled at her and walked out of the gates while ignoring her constant questioning about which group was interesting.
We hitched a ride on a carriage to take us to our destination. The mission was more of a reconnaissance mission. There were rumors of certain small villages becoming ghost towns. The people of the town would just disappear in one night. There were no records of blood, people hearing screaming or any kind struggle. They just disappeared.
There were speculations of there being a general of the demon lord in the towns. The might of the demon general was something a party of gold ranked adventurers would have problems dealing with. In the end, it was better to send a few platinum rankers or an adamantite rank adventurer. However, those high-level groups were spread out thin. There were only so many that could handle such high-level missions.
In half a day we arrived at the location. It was a small village far north of Lorks. The coach that brought us could not wait to leave. He kept mumbling something about the town being cursed or something. It was not hard to see why. The whole village was eerily quiet. There was not a soul in sight.
"So freaky. Oh right, I never did ask. What mission is this?" Feeling uncomfortable with the quietness of the village, Layla finally asked. For a gold level adventurer, she looked like she was afraid a ghost might pop out at any second.
Laughing at her I walked towards the village while she stuck close to me, "Oh. There are rumors there might be a general around here." I spoke while I made walked into one of the houses.
"General? What general?" At this point she was practically whispering. As if she was afraid she would disturb the sleep of the ghosts in the neighborhood. Confusion and dread were beginning to show on her face.
"What other general? Demon lord's general." Layla stood rooted to her spot. She looked like her brain was unable to process what I just said to her. She begun to look left and right. The vigilance and unease were evident on her face.
"We need to leave." She whispered to me, grabbing my arm trying to pull me away. This time there was actual dread on her face. Even if they were a hero party they were far from ready to take on a demon lord's general. The hero and party usually had to reach the adamantite rank, and in this case, beyond to battle the demon lord and his generals. That was of course, under the pretext that the hero was not a reincarnate or a plucked person or maybe even a regressor.
They needed time to grow and mature, and gold rank was not enough. That was the reason Layla looked like she was about to shit the whole week's meals. She had seen what mere minions did to civilians and adventurers. Generals were much more ruthless. There was no telling what they would do to them if they were caught.
Layla tried her hardest to pull me, but I was the one pulling her along to her dismay. "Why?" I asked her innocently. There was no need to leave when I had yet to confirm the rumors surrounding the town. Seeing the condition of the place., there was most definitely something going on, but no one knew for sure if it was truly a general.
"Why? WHY?! IT'S A DEMON LORD GENERAL!" At this point she had shed all fear of ghosts and don the fear of the general. She was almost strangling me. Looks like fear of the demon lord's general did not require being silent like ghosts. "I know you are a newly promoted platinum rank adventurer, but we still need a team of plats to take on a general. Let's run while we can." She begged. Almost crying