The Return Journey

The request sheet on the Guild's notice board was made of heavy, expensive parchment, entirely different from the torn paper of standard F-rank tasks. It bore the silver wax seal of a high-end noble house, requesting an immediate, private armed escort from the sprawling inner districts of the capital city down to the rural, countryside border sectors. Specifically, the destination was the exact, dirt-poor village where Eren had grown up."Are you certain about this request, Rean?" the elven receptionist asked, her fingers lightly tapping the bronze F-rank plate Eren had just placed on the counter. Her sharp eyes scanned his plain traveler's cloak and his newly masked silver hair.The client is Lord Julian of the House of Alaskar. He is a high-ranking aristocrat who demands absolute perfection. Furthermore, the route to the outer countryside passes through the fractured sectors heavily damaged by the Demon King's blockade.""I'm certain," Eren replied smoothly, a cool, unbothered expression on his face.A few minutes later, Eren stood outside the secondary southern carriage gates of the inner wall. A massive, overly decorated carriage lined with velvet and gold trim sat waiting. Six armored, private house guards stood in a strict flank formation, but sitting lazily inside the carriage was Lord Julian himself.Julian glanced out the carriage window, his eyes narrowing in immediate disgust as they landed on the plain, silver-haired rookie."The Guild sent a solo F-rank novice?" Julian sneered, turning to his head house guard. "This is an insult! I paid a premium for extra eyes on the road, and they give me a silver-haired peasant who looks like he hasn't even seen a real battle!""My apologies, Lord Julian," the head guard bowed stiffly, glaring at Eren. "The veteran adventurers are currently stationed at the primary supply fortresses. This boy is merely here to carry luggage and act as a distraction if we encounter rogue strays. We will handle the real combat."Eren didn't pull a single punch or show a shred of anger. He just adjusted his plain cloak, a quiet, internal gamer smirk touching his lips. Let them talk, he thought. The lower their expectations, the easier it is to execute the run.As the heavy wooden gates ground open, the carriage began its slow descent away from the wealthy capital, heading down toward the reality of the outer world.The transition was immediate and harsh. Within a few hours of travel, the paved stone roads turned to cracked, barren dirt. The landscape was scarred, lined with dead crops and abandoned farmhouses that had received heavy damage when the female Demon King first arrived two years ago. The closer they got to Eren's childhood home, the scarcer the food became.Sitting atop the moving carriage next to the driver, Eren closed his eyes and activated his Absolute Adaptability sensory grid. Even without the 10x cheat code from Alexus, his veteran VRMMO tactical mind allowed him to break down the surrounding terrain like an interface map.Ding.[Sensory Scan Complete. Threat Level: E-Rank.][Multiple hostile signatures detected in the dead wood ahead. Aggro range: Closing.]Down in the brush, a coordinated pack of mutated Famine Hounds—beasts driven mad by the lack of livestock in the region—were tracking the scent of the carriage's horses. To the noble's private guards, the dense, dry forest looked completely empty. They were walking straight into a high-speed ambush.Eren slowly rested his palm on the hilt of his standard steel blade. He was currently sitting at Level 2, and this escort mission to his home village was no longer just a travel assignment. It was a live tactical zone, and he was about to show this arrogant capital noble exactly how an F-rank solo anomaly commands a battlefield.