[Translator: Dawn]
[Proofreader:Karane]
"So you're telling me that you haven't heard anything about this mission?"
Caloir and I were sitting at a table in the corner of the grand hall, where only an occasional noise could be heard in the silence unlike before the airship landed on the Spearhead of the Valerius station.
And in front of us, there was a man who was so noble that one could unlock an achievement just by witnessing this man asking us a question.
How did I end up sitting at a table with these amazing people? This whole situation started with Gohn calling us after seeing our fingers in this almost empty grand hall when the airship was about to approach its final destination.
So Gohn and the four people who were with Gohn sat together with us at this table.
Gohn asked us as he placed his leg on the top of the table caressing his silver hair with his hand.
"You said your name was Caloir?"
"Yes, my blade belongs to the Sanctuary of Lowsvan."
Caloir said nervously and quickly as he had his head down, unable to make eye contact with him. He seemed to still be in disbelief that he is sitting at the same table as him.
And that applied to me as well.
"And… Mose?"
" Yes. m-my blade belongs to the Sanctuary of Asparagan."
I accidentally stuttered out of nervousness. However, Gohn just blinked his eyes as he raised the thin corners of his lips.
"Hyah, It's good to see that we have young Sworders as skillful as you two. The future of our blade is bright, don't you think? Anyways, all your secret missions should have been cancelled as far as I know…"
His loud laughter resonated through the grand hall.
And the giant man sitting next to him spoke in a harsh, low-pitched voice as if he was a rock rolling down to the ground.
"The difficulty of this mission has already been raised by too much. Rookies like them will only die if they were to go there."
And on the top of his head it said,
He too had an overwhelming level written on the top of his head. Caloir introduced the people that were with Gohn to me shortly right before we reached this table.
According to him, he was a mercenary ranked as the 'Triple Crown', which only belonged to six members in the 'Mercenary Guild'.
He was sure to be strong since he owns the title that only six people can hold in the Mercenary Guild which is said to have more branches than the Information Guild.
Meanwhile, sitting next to the giant man, there sat a slender woman next to him as she brushed her red, scarlet-colored hair like the setting sun behind her ear, and scoffed with her thick lips.
"Still, Mr. Mose right here is an adventurer blessed with 'immortality', isn't he? On the other hand, Mr. Caloir here is uh, hm…"
And on the top of her head it said,
She is one of the 5 great Merchants in Bing-Caravan known to be a country built by the caravans, 'Yvonne of the Roses'.
According to Caloir, the items she handled were so important that they were auctioned off on a national level.
And sitting next to her were two men in shiny silver armor, clothed in large cloaks with sleeves that are typical of priests.
Both of them were also extremely high level. Again, according to Caloir, they are from the order of holy knights that protect the 'Saint Iris', named 'The Order of the 14 Holy Knights'.
'The Order of the 14 Holy Knights', it was a name that I know because I have heard of it multiple times in the past.
Since it was said on the mission that the 'The Order of the 14 Holy Knights' was the requester of the mission.
The man with curly blonde hair and a beautiful appearance named Hire crossed his arms and spoke softly with a low voice.
"Adventurers are the people who shall bring light to this world. That is why Lord Bellica has bestowed them the blessings of 'immortality'.
Sir Mose, aren't you perhaps sometimes called a 'player'? I noticed that the immortals use this word a lot when addressing each other, no?"
At that moment, as if a sheet of music was being drawn in my head due to his soft and mellow voice, I suddenly came back to my senses at his question and quickly nodded my head.
"Yes, that is correct."
Hire smiled as he heard my answer,
"You will have nothing to worry about. As long as we have the three people sitting next to me, you will be able to return home without a single wound, 'as long as you don't get swept away by them by accident'."
His words with his soft voice mixed with a slight laughter contained some terrifying contents. Then Yvonne opened her mouth to speak.
"Anyways, why did the difficulty of this mission rise all of a sudden? After hiring all of the strongest people?"
Arora also brought up a question as he placed his fist that was as thick as my waist on the table,
"Surely, there better be a reason why 'The Order of The 14 Holy Knights' decided to hire the mercenary, merchant and these rare swordsmen too, isn't that right?"
Chills went down my spine as he raised his rough voice.
Just a moment ago, it was as if they were interviewing Caloir and I, but just one sentence from Arora turned the atmosphere cold almost like midwinter.
"Why did you raise the difficulty of the mission? This could almost be classified as 'Disaster' level."
Gohn also asked a question with a curious face as he placed his leg back on the ground from the table.
Yvonne was just looking at Caloir and I in a meaningful way.
Hire opened his mouth to answer as he maintained his characteristic gentle face.
"In honesty, we have requested this mission to many other organizations, not just to the Sworders who keep their missions secret. We have requested this mission to the 'Magician of the White Tower', 'Nine Finger', 'Gold Circlet', the great merchants of Bing-Caravan, and even to the mercenaries of the 'Triple Crown' ranks."
Gohn, Arora and Yvonne's face stiffened after hearing his words.
It felt as if the temperature of the air in this room changed depending on the facial expressions they made.
It was almost like I would be able to see my breath if I were to open my mouth.
"However, we could no longer keep this mission a secret."
Hire continued to speak as he looked around the room with his eyes that twinkle like a sapphire. Then,
"We have found the very source of the supernatural phenomenon."
As he placed his both elbows on the table to rest his hands on as he started the topic. His voice had become colder than before.
"Currently, we have sent one of our members of The Order of the 14 Holy Knights, 'Sire the Authority of Sound' to the 'northern snow wall of the Langnas', and he has already arrived there. However, we have received reports from him that the situation is dire. And we have gathered you here today according to the words of the saint.
"We have sent cancellation notices to everyone else that have received this mission, but it seems that it hasn't reached the two of you, Sir Mose and Sir Caloir."
Hire then took turns looking at Caloir and I, then bowed his head slightly. I too bowed my head without missing my chance to do so.
***
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – Karane]
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***
"Total population of 2.5 million. Langeru, a city where exchanges with 'Lang' in the eastern continent are very active, above it is the snow-walled mountain of Langnas. And supernatural phenomenons have been observed over the mountains. Red lightning has struck the ground a few hundred times a day, and some of them have reached all the way to some houses in Langeru."
Arora's eyes widened as soon as the words 'red lightning' came from Hire's mouth.
"Located further up north, there is the continent of magic, Ollu. We were suspecting that the lightning was a climate change caused by large magic experiments from them. Unfortunately, that was not the case."
"It's Garnas, isn't it?"
Arora opened his mouth as he frowned.
Caloir and I were just staring at whoever was speaking at the time going back and forth with our eyes wide open. It was as if we were spectating a game of table tennis.
"Yes, correct. We do not know of its exact route to this continent from the 'Continent of Mysteries', but we speculate that the 'Elder dragon Garnas' is currently here at Langnas."
This time, not a cold silence, but a silence filled with panic. Hire continued to talk without seeming to care about that at all.
"Continental catastrophic species number 17. 'Elder dragon Garnas'. It is said that the dragon's minimum amount of damage could wipe out an entire city into ashes with a population of 2 million without a single life surviving the attack. So inevitably, we had to call those who are called the veterans on the continent."
Arora's harsh facial expression from before was nowhere to be found, instead he seemed to become excited after hearing that.
"And rewards?"
It seems that some things I cannot handle had been said, but Arora's suddenly reversed reaction made me feel completely dazed.
"The reward will be '50 Orumacon tokens' from the Bank of Arantas."
At this, Arora's face showed a bright smile as if flowers would bloom around it soon.
"I like how the The Order of the 14 Holy Knights are feisty as hell. Alright! I'm in!"
Yvonne's seductive lips twitched to speak.
"I'm not really in need of coins…"
Hire lightly smiled at Yvonne's vital voice and said,
"For you Yvonne, we shall give you the monopoly to any food-related trade in Asparagan."
Yvonne made a satisfied face after hearing that.
Soon, everyone's attention headed towards Gohn.
Hire's facial expression suddenly turned seriously and carefully opened his mouth to speak to Gohn.
"Honestly, we cannot think of something that Sir Gohn would want…"
Then, Gohn suddenly turned his face to Caloir and I, as he started to change into a playful look.
"Well, I don't really care about the rewards and all. Since the confidentiality of the mission for Sworders has become useless for this mission, I would like to bring those two with me to the mission."
I nodded as he said that, but then suddenly realized what was going on and quickly turned my head to the side to see Caloir do that as well.
Then we both turned to look at Gohn at the same time. Gohn started to laugh out loud after looking at us, and said
"Let's see what the most skillful Sworder of the Lowsvan, and a rookie Sworder from the Asparagan who is also the first Player to become a Sworder in history has to show."
It seemed that Gohn knew everything about the two of us even before asking for our names.
The strongest Sworder, who was looking at us, clasped his hands to support the back of his head as he leaned back, and smiled softly. Then he declared.
"You two will be going with me!"
Immediately before my eyes, an interface window with a dazzling golden border, different from anything I have seen before, appeared.
< Swordmaster Gohn has invited you to the party. >
Good lord, I never thought I would get a party invite from a person of his caliber.
Even though he was an NPC, if he were to make a statement that he will be moving with me then it came to me as a 'party invite' since I am a Player.
I carefully accepted the party request, and an interface with the HP status of Caloir and Gohn popped up on the left corner of my sight.
I was involved in a quest that was suddenly changed into an SS class And it seemed that this is called the 'disaster' class among the NPCs. An old saying came to my mind.
'A shrimp suffers in a fight between whales.'
Now that I can't even imagine what will happen while I'm caught in the midst of these enormous beings, no other things could fit better in my head as this old saying.
As I was reflecting this situation on the old saying I thought of, it felt as if a hammer was banging my head. And as I was trying to relax my head,
The announcement of a familiar voice began to resound through the ship.
It was only when I heard the announcements slowly resonate through the grand hall, I realized that I was facing a huge situation.
[ Good afternoon passengers of the Dawn. This is your captain, 'McGroffin' speaking.
We have reached the end of the Dawn, the northern snow wall of the Langnas station. Although the mission of the Dawn has ended for the day, we wish you the blessings of Bellica and Velluce to be with you always. ]
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