The Calm Before the Hunt

The inside of the cart was dark, and there wasn’t much space between the crates of merchandise. On top of the humidity, the air was thick with the smell of various oils, likely part of the cargo.

Still, traveling like this was a luxury compared to making the journey on foot, something Bernar was well aware of. That’s why he made a habit of visiting Dastion’s commercial district every morning to chat with the local merchants.

It was thanks to this routine that he’d earned the trust of many of them, who had no problem giving his party a ride whenever their destination happened to align with a trade route. Of course, in exchange, Bernar offered escort services, which were highly appreciated in the borderlands of the Rindel Kingdom.

"Are you sure those kids are going to be alright? I didn’t become an adventurer to play babysitter..."

Olenda, who was sitting next to Bernar, whispered in his ear and nodded toward the two youths chatting at the far end of the cart.

One was a slim girl with a small chest, long legs, and delicate curves. Her long, straight black hair was well maintained, and her face, framed by two amber-colored eyes, left nothing to be desired. The blond boy beside her was tall and surprisingly well-built for his age, with blue eyes that sparkled with youthful hope.

"What are you talking about?" Bernar asked, stroking his beard. "Aren’t we also babysitting this cart full of merchandise? Babysitting makes up half of what adventurers do."

"You know that’s not what I meant," Olenda replied, rolling her eyes.

"Don’t worry," Bernar said with a confident smile. "The guildmaster and I both tested their skills."

"Bernar, I agree with Olenda on this one," said a man seated across from them, polishing a pair of daggers. "Just because you got promoted to Bronze and gathered the five-member minimum to form a party doesn’t mean we should immediately jump into a monster extermination quest. Olenda and I are still Iron-ranked adventurers."

"Tiron, you too? Sure, this is the Bernar party’s first mission, but we’ve all got plenty of experience from other parties," Bernar replied with conviction. "Besides, if we never take risks, we’ll never achieve our dream of becoming a named party."

"A name for our party," Olenda sighed. "Only the Adventurers’ Guild Association can grant those..."

"There are no named parties in Frontier," said Tiron, still cleaning his second dagger without pause. "Besides, my dream is to open my own shop."

"And you will!" Bernar declared. "Frontier’s a small guild, so it makes sense it doesn’t have any named parties yet. That just means ours will be the first. And once we’re famous, we’ll charge for our services in gold delines!"

"Looks like the excitement’s picking up over there," said Leon, tightening the grip on his sword. "I can’t wait to get into action too!"

"I think you and the leader share a dangerous kind of blind optimism. That’s why you hit it off from the start," Jeanne said with her eyes closed. "Just remember this is a real fight."

"Don’t worry. Those... idis, or whatever they’re called, are only a bit stronger than goblins. Just think of all the training the second prince put us through."

"You mean all the time we spent torturing that scrawny goblin in chains? If there were a monster protection agency, I would’ve reported it already."

"Jeanne, you know what monsters do when they’re roaming free... And besides, the prince’s been exiled now."

"I know... but it was still a pretty awful thing to witness, especially since I was part of it."

"But hey, relax! This time we’ll be on equal footing!"

"That’s exactly what worries me, dummy," Jeanne muttered with a sigh.

"The leader said that as long as we don’t get overconfident, we’ll be fine," Leon said with a smile. "And if anything does happen, I’ll protect you. You don’t have to worry."

"Now that’s what I call blind optimism," Jeanne sighed again. "For starters, you’ve never even beaten me in a duel."

"That’s just a detail, a minor detail," Leon laughed. "Besides, you can’t beat someone with a bow if they start from far away! Especially when you use your cheat!"

"First of all, they’re not cheats, neither yours nor mine. Don’t forget that, or you’ll get too cocky. And second, aren’t there characters in those comics you like who deflect arrows with their swords?"

"They’re called manga. And don’t ask the impossible..."

"In those legends Miss Rosse loves so much, the First Emperor could do it without any trouble..."

"Legends are one thing, real life is another. That applies even in a fantasy world," Leon said, crossing his arms. "And Rosse is way too young for you to be calling her 'Miss Rosse'... hehehe..."

"You’re already having pervy thoughts again!"

That last outburst drew the attention of the other three toward the two younger members.

"Save that kind of talk for the way back," Olenda said with a sigh. "If you don’t stay focused on the quest, it could get dangerous."

"We— we weren’t talking about anything like that!" Jeanne protested, blushing.

Leon, for his part, just chuckled quietly, same as Bernar.

***

The cart had dropped them off in one of the outermost villages of Rindel. From there, they began to climb a path that wound up a nearby mountain.

Their goal was to locate the nest of the idis that had been causing trouble for the villagers.

Normally, the monsters near the border were left alone on purpose, acting as natural barriers, but that was only acceptable up to a point. One of those limits was when they started bothering the kingdom’s own people.

"Quiet," Bernar whispered, raising his arm to signal the rest of the party to stop. "Idis."

"Idi" was the name given to a small humanoid creature, roughly the size of a child, with purple, wrinkled skin. Its glowing red eyes could see in the dark, and its sharp claws could pierce leather armor with ease.

"I think I’m going to have nightmares," Jeanne muttered as she watched the three creatures feeding near a stream.

Mixed in with the animal carcasses in the idis’ pile of food were the unmistakable remains of a human arm.