"Excuse me. What is going on?"
Fran asked nicely to the villagers and the adventurers. Seeing that the White ranked adventurer Swordsaint is here to help, the adventurer stepped back and let her do this.
"We wanted to speak with the high ranking adventurers. We have a request for them."
"I'm a high ranking adventurer. You don't have to go this far for a request, you know?"
"Yes, but this is urgent. Our village is being attacked by the Veldonian army, and we are requesting backup."
"T-The Veldonian army?"
Fran turned to Keila, and she quickly explained.
"If the Veldonian army is attacking a village, then this might be a spark to a war. Adventurers can't handle these things, knights do!"
"She is right. Knights are the ones who are supposed to do these things."
Fran nodded to Keila and returned to the villagers, but the guy at the front shook his head angrily.
"No, you don't get it. They aren't knights. They are rankers. Veldonian rankers."
Hearing the word rankers reminded me that Veldonia used the term power ranking as their method to rank their combatants. Rank 1 is supposedly the highest rank, and rank 9 is the lowest.
A rank 1 is similar to a White ranked adventurer, and every number lower than that is simply weaker. From what I've heard, a Yellow ranked adventurer is equal to rank 3 ranker, which should've been fairly high. So a rank 2 is more or less like a newbie White ranked adventurer or a seasoned Yellow ranked adventurer.
"Their rank ranged from rank 4 to rank 2, that is why we requested a high ranking adventurer to help out, because not even the knights can do anything!"
Hearing that, Fran looked shocked, just like everybody else who were listening.
"W-What were they doing?"
"They gathered the villagers and beat them! We escaped just in time before they came because we are already outside the village."
Hearing that made me curious about something.
Everyone else looked extra shocked from his words, but I quickly stepped forward.
"Really? And how did you know what they were doing if you were outside the village?"
I asked him with a slightly taunting tone, and he became awkward as he answered.
"We looked from behind the trees. W-We can see them beating child and-"
"Okay, stop. A rank 2 ranker should be able to sense a malice coming from anywhere. If they really are a high ranker, then they should have been able to sense you.
And… how did you know that they are ranked 4 and 2?"
"I-I saw from their badges-"
"They don't wear badges."
He turned to shock immediately.
I knew it, he was lying. But I can tell he is troubled by something, so I should let him go for this.
I let out a sigh and moved on. To the true issue, at hand.
"Tell me what happened... The real deal."
The guy turned to his friends, and they looked quite worried. But then he finally answered the truth.
"O-Our chief was... Assassinated... And we had no one else to talk with about this."
"And you believe this assassin is from Veldonia?"
"Y-Yes. A few days prior, the chief had been rejecting deals with the Veldonian ruler. They wanted our village to be a part of their land, but the chief knows that was a terrible choice."
"I can't help but agree. And, the chief got assassinated for that?"
"Most likely... The sole survivor is the daughter, who is now under the care of the church in the village."
I turned to my friends. His words said no lies anymore, and he is telling what he knows.
Fran simply nodded, and Cane lifted his shoulder. I noticed their stand on this and grinned at them, then immediately turned fearsomely to the guy again.
"These kinds of stuff aren't exactly our thing. So Keila, try to contact the people at the knights corps. They will know what to do. Me and my team will be there as a support, just in case they might try to harm the village early on.
And you... I know what your intentions are. You are scared that the Veldonian army will come and ravage your village. Right?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Well, don't worry. The Veldonians have been having their way for far too long now.
It's about time we do something."
I said firmly to everyone, as if encouraging them that this is the right stand.
The villager then let out a sigh and backed up.
I turned to Keila and nodded, and she quickly went to the back before heading to the masters office. The adventurers who were defending Keila then excused themselves and left, while everyone else gradually left.
After that was done, Cane approached me from behind and quickly asked.
"Why... are you helping them?"
He asked, and I turned my gaze away as I answered.
"I… once went on a mission on Veldonia. A rather long one, and a political one. It was a secret White ranked mission that only a limited amount of people know. It was when I got that scar on my hand, remember Fran?"
I said to Fran who was listening behind Cane, and she nodded grimly.
"From that mission, I learned what kind of regime they had there. They bully their own citizens. I can't let a kingdom like that continue to exist."
"R-Right, but Veldonia had a ton of powerful rankers!"
I quickly laughed at Cane's words and patted his shoulder as I turned to the stairs.
"Trust me. Even Emily can go toe-to-toe with a rank 1."
I went up the stairs and headed to the master's office to see the master and Keila. I knocked on the door and entered, seeing that Keila and Valon were already talking.
The two turned to me as I closed the door, and I turned my stern gaze at Valon. From his expression, it seemed like he understood the situation already.
"Rize. Are you sure that you guys want to help out? If you are there, it surely helps a lot in case Veldonia tried anything stupid. But we won't be rewarding you much from this."
Valon asked me after I entered, but I just shook my head.
"It hurts me that you think I am that greedy. I once went to Veldonia as your 'secret' spy, remember?"
"R-Right... And what did you see?"
"… It's ass. Everything is.
Whenever there's a chance for peace, they never take it. Whenever their own citizens decided to rebel, they lifted their iron fist. Whenever I walk on the streets, there's at least one or two knights on duty that are bullying civilians.
The knights I came with on the mission back then, it was already very difficult for them to even survive. They just don't take peaceful acts seriously, maybe because they never wanted peace to begin with.
You can tell my reasoning is simply because I despised that kingdom very much. Their problems are already beyond saving."
"I-I see… And you want to help out in protecting the village? We can always give this to the knights, you know."
"I doubt the knights will be able to do much. If the rankers do come, it will be very dangerous. I don't doubt that the strongest knights of the kingdom can win the battles against the rankers, but I am sure it will be costly. I'm not taking unnecessary risks.
I want to help. My friends too. And if they don't want to, then I'll force them."
That last part made Valon chuckle while Keila simply shook her head.
"… All right then, I'll go contact the knight generals and commanders about the whole situation. Maybe we can start tonight, for this White ranked mission. Do note there won't be much payment, but if you guys can stop a war between Veldonians, that would be great for all sides considering our current situation."
"Gotcha. We already have too many wars on our hands."
I left the masters office and met up with everyone else.
I arrived downstairs and met with everyone at the diner. The villagers from before had already returned after being told that we are going to deal with this, and I'm sure they are breathing out of relief right now.
I told the team about the plan, and they all listened.
"We will leave around tonight, as early as possible along with the knights. We might need to stay there for a couple days, so go pack some stuff."
"Yays! Finally a long mission. I'm so bored at home."
Emily said in excitement, and everyone else seemed to be agreeing. Except for Cane, because he looked very annoyed.
We all went back to our homes and prepared to leave. We had three plus hours to prepare, so everyone took their time with preparations.
For the trip, I packed all of the thick clothes into my space ring, as well as bringing some frozen raw food for the journey. I used Hod's ice magic and put it on a magic crystal, creating an ice magic crystal that will continuously radiate cold air to freeze the raw meat.
I just hope there's a chance to cook good menus there… I don't want to be in a state of combat all the time.
After preparing, we met up in the Office during the evening after the third bell, and the master met us in the lobby himself.
He told us a carriage will arrive soon for us, and there will be three squads from the knights helping.
"A knight captain is leading, so be sure to follow his orders. Remember, you are adventurers, the backup. Try not to meddle too much."
"Understood. Guard the fort while we are gone."
"I can bet on Jonus for that."
I nodded at him, and we turned around and headed for the door, but then the master remembered something.
"Oh! And one more thing. A certain special someone… will be coming on the trip to help out. So… do your best to keep them company."
Valon said slightly awkwardly, and I became rather curious.
"Huh? Who?"
"You'll see later. It is best if it becomes a surprise."
A vein popped on my head as I turned around and left the Office angrily.
The carriage for us arrived around ten minutes later, and it looked quite large and fancy. It stopped right in front of the Office, and we immediately knew this was for us.
The driver is a knight, but he didn't even turn to us at all. He just parked the carriage in silence, as if knowing that we already know that this carriage is for us.
Since I'm the leader, I excused ourselves to the knight and entered the carriage. But the moment I opened the door, I could see that someone else was already inside.
There are two of them, sitting on the edge of the left seat row. A knight is sitting rather close to the window, while the girl wearing the white robe and hood is sitting next to the knight, lowering her head so we couldn't see her face well due to the hood's cover. From the way she sat right by the back of the carriage, I can tell that she is being escorted by the knight next to her.
Noticing her existence, I can't help but feel a flashback from my secret mission one and a half years ago.
A noble girl…? Another 'Lyona' case, huh?
We entered while being awkwardly silent, and I sat at the seat right across her position. Once everyone had sat down, the carriage started moving.
We didn't really make much noise, and I was having my attention towards the window at the back of the carriage. But then I noticed a gaze being drilled on my face, and I turned my curious eyes towards the girl in front of me.
I saw her face, and she quickly smiled at me as soon as I turned my gaze to her.
After that smile, she made a move.
She lifted her hand and took off her hood, revealing her face, hair, and everything about her appearance.
The moment she lifted the hood, was the moment my life became much brighter.
Her beautiful braided golden hair is tied on the back like a ponytail, and her pale silver eyes are glaring at me as if I am someone she wanted to see for a long time. The smile on her face decorates her already beautiful face, and the softness of it burns my heart so bad.
She seemed… familiar.
The pretty noble girl noticed that I was staring at her blankly from the surprise, and she quickly spoke.
"Good evening, Rize! My mother has told me a lot about you."
The girl said to me so softly and cheerfully. Her voice was so charming even though it was high pitched, that I simply can't process what to reply.
"E-Evening..."
I simply lost my words, and I bit my tongue a little to snap out from her charm.
"W-Who are you?"
I asked awkwardly, and the girl in front of me held her chest with her right hand. Her silver eyes are staring at my soul with focus, and her thin lips begin to move as she introduces herself.
"My name is Lescia Mazino, the daughter of the king and queen.
I've been wanting to meet you for a long time. Nice to meet you!"