I yawned as I walked through the busy streets of Erantel, my eyes half-closed from lack of sleep.
That damn Zahara. She came barging into my room last night saying something about 'Let's drink till dawn'. And 'You wouldn't leave a drunk defenseless woman on her own' type of nonsense.
Haaa. If I wasn't benefiting from her training, I would've cut her loose long ago and ran.
As I approached the adventurer's guild, I heard a familiar voice calling out to me.
"Oh, Alex! You're here!" I looked up to see Veradine, the guildmaster, standing with a group of people.
There were four of them in total, with Katherine, the girl I had met yesterday standing by the side.
I walked over to join them, exchanging greetings with Veradine. "Hello, guildmaster," I said, trying to sound more alert than I felt.
Veradine smiled and began to introduce me to the rest of the team. "And these are..." he started to say, but his voice trailed off as he turned to the side.
"How have you been, sir Joseph?" a voice asked, addressing a man with a long sword.
The man, Joseph, replied, "Life is going well, as always, haha." As they chatted, I noticed Miss Jena standing off to the side, talking to the sword-wielding guy, Joseph. He looked incredibly awkward, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
I turned my attention back to the woman standing next to Veradine, who seemed to be in a stupor. "Hello?" I questioned Veradine, trying to snap him out of his distraction.
He apologized, finally regaining his focus on our introduction and mission briefing. "Ahh, right. Sorry I got distracted," he said, smiling sheepishly.
But I was getting distracted too, watching Miss Jena and Joseph's interaction.
"Umm, aren't you going to introduce us or something?" I asked Veradine, growing increasingly annoyed by his distraction.
The woman next to Veradine spoke up, "Miss Jena has been trying to court Joseph for two years". I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "They look good together, I guess," I said, crossing my arms.
But as I watched them, I noticed that Joseph seemed completely uninterested in Miss Jena's advances. "Then why aren't they together?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
The woman's expression turned strange, and she leaned in to whisper, "We all asked him, but he says she's not his type of woman."
I looked at Miss Jena again, wondering what Joseph's problem was. She was young, beautiful, and had a great figure. What more could a guy want?
I asked the woman, "Is he gay?" which elicited a loud laughter from Veradine. "Hahahahaaha!"
The woman's face turned bright red as she quickly exclaimed, "No, he's not! He's a hundred percent straight!"
I looked at her, still confused. "So, what is his type?" I asked.
The woman leaned in closer, her voice barely above a whisper. "Plump married women."
I stared at her, taken aback. "..." I muttered, unsure of what to say.
Veradine burst out laughing again, holding his sides. "Hahahaha! Oh, Joseph, you're a strange one!" he chuckled.
I couldn't help but laugh along with him, shaking my head in amusement. This was definitely going to be an interesting mission.
As Veradine cleared his throat, Miss Jena's attention shifted towards him, and she nodded slightly before responding, "Yes." The sword-wielding guy, Joseph, looked at Veradine with a hint of gratitude.
Veradine smiled, seeming to sense the tension, and began the introductions. "Now then, time for some proper introductions. Alex, Katherine, these are..." He gestured to the four individuals standing beside him, introducing each one in turn.
First, he pointed to the woman who had spoken to me earlier, "This is Jessica Hanolt. She's a grade 5 adventurer." I nodded, taking note of her name and rank.
Next, Veradine introduced a striking woman with bright orange hair tied into a ponytail.
Her eyes matched the fiery color of her hair, and she had a well-built figure wrapped in tough body armor. "This is Viona Gillet. She's a grade 6 adventurer." I couldn't help but be impressed by her intimidating appearance.
Veradine then pointed to a man with a lean structure wearing a long dark robe and carrying a staff. "This is Grant Hill. He's a grade 6 adventurer." I nodded, taking note of his name and rank.
Finally, Veradine introduced Joseph, the sword-wielding guy. "And this, as I'm sure you already know, is Joseph. Joseph Hanolt." I raised an eyebrow, noticing the shared last name between Joseph and Jessica.
Hanolt? I looked over at Jessica, whose face had turned an even deeper shade of red due to embarrassment. 'So that's why she was so embarrassed'. I couldn't help but chuckle at the obvious family connection.
Veradine coughed lightly, urging me to behave. "They are 'Raging Swords'." I laughed out loud again, unable to contain my amusement at the team's name.
What kind of name was that? It sounded like something out of a bad fantasy novel.
I cleared my throat, trying to compose myself. "Now then, back to the mission at hand," Veradine said, his expression turning serious. "You guys are heading to Oak Town to handle their goblin infestation."
"It'll take about three days to get to Oak Town from here, so best get going," Veradine added, glancing at each of us.
But Katherine spoke up, her voice filled with a hint of curiosity. "Wait, can't we use the teleportation gates to get to Smallive, and then leave from there to Oak Town?"
It was a good question, and I found myself nodding in agreement. After all, traveling from Smallive to Oak Town would only take a day, unlike the three days it would take from Erantel.
Veradine hesitated, his voice trailing off. "Well... currently, there's a civil war going on amongst the ruling family of Smallive. Hence, the teleportation gates are closed."
That made sense. Every major city in the federation had a teleportation gate, so the fact that we weren't using it meant that it was likely closed due to a major conflict.
Veradine continued, "Your main tasks there are to get rid of the shaman and the hobgoblin. The soldiers in Oak Town will handle the rest."
When he finished, he turned to enter the guild, leaving us to our mission.
Joseph stepped forward, his expression serious. "Alright, we have our mission, guys." He looked at me and Katherine.
"I'm the team leader of 'Raging Swords'." I couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at the team's name.
Joseph's eye twitched slightly, and I quickly coughed to cover up my amusement.
"Alright then, let's go," Joseph said, and we moved out towards the gate of Erantel.