46 Time For Rescue
Del gave Cassandra his backpack. The backpack wasn't worn out, but it definitely had seen some wear and tears. Cassandra grabbed the backpack and she grabbed her grimoire from her backpack. She started writing some spells inside of her grimoire. After that, she tore the page off from her grimoire and put it inside of Del's backpack.
"[Miscelenaous Program: Magical Storage]"
The backpack glowed and then the glow disappeared. Del picked up the backpack and he opened tha largest pocket of that backpack. As expected, the largest pocket of that backpack became increasingly deep and large.
Del could reach the bottom of the backpack, but it felt that it had enlargened to the sides as well. Heck, he could put three filled backpacks of the same size inside of that backpack considering how large the backpack was.
"Damn, I think I can store like 5,000 ammunition rounds here," Del commented.
"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked.
"Nothing," Del just smiled.
He had an idea to make a backpack that could carry 5,000 rounds of ammunition or more. He might be able to have an improved ammo bag. Why? It meant that the problem of carrying not enough ammunition could be solved.
For example, he could attach an M134 minigun on top of a HUMVEE and have a lot of ammunition. It should give him an edge on a battle against something that could stand one bullet. He also could deal with enemies infantry with higher effectiveness.
"Anyway, what should I buy?" Del wondered.
"A tent and a cold-weather clothing," Cassandra added.
"I see, well, I think we can buy a tent in Alder, and we can also buy a coat from somewhere," Del added.
"Well, I'll just wait here. I think you and Cole can go there together," Cassandra said.
"Sure."
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[Showing Available Cold Weather Uniform}
[Tech Level: 4] [Total Balance: 83502.5$]
[Soviet Ground Force CWU] [100$]
[United States Ground Force CWU] [300$]
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Del brought the USGF CWU. It cost him 300$, but it should be worth it. It was a cold-weather coat alongside winter clothing such as thicker green pants and thicker clothing. Del brought three USGF CWUs for him to use once he reached the foot of Adrea mountain.
He also brought three uniforms for Cole. He felt that Cole needed that kind of protection too from elements. Del also brought all of his crackers in case he needed them during the long search of that group of adventurers. He also brought one white gold coin to his backpack.
There might be enough ammunition for Cole, hopefully. Well, it was not like Del couldn't use Pidma outside of the house. He also brought additional 400 rounds of 7.62 rounds to be put inside of his backpack.
[Calculating Remaining Balance… 80702.5$]
"Emm, thanks for the new clothing," Cole appreciated that.
"No worries, this if for you," Del said.
Del finished packing up his things. He held the M240 in his hands and wore the modified backpack on his back. Cassandra had waited at the front door with her backpack on her back. Del walked outside and Cole followed him from behind. Del locked the front door of his house.
Cole got on the horse as Del prepared himself. Wolfie would follow him from behind as usual. Del got on top of the horse and they started their journey towards Midham. Maybe they could visit Rina on the way, but well, rescue operation took the first priority.
Cassandra explained that a quest like that usually had a deadline of one week. After one week, the pay would be gradually reduced to the point that the payment would only be reduced to only one gold coin. To make matter worse, there was a condition to retrieve the adventurers alive.
It didn't take long until they reached Midham, but Del decided not to ask Cole to stop there for a long time. He hoped that Rina didn't catch a glimpse of him. She might want to meet and greet him which would cost him some time. The only reason why they stopped at Midham was to put the horse there. They wouldn't be able to get the horse traversing the dense forest.
After that, they continued their journey towards the road between Midham and Begard. Eventually, they arrived at the location where they would start searching for the trace of those adventurers.
"Cole, let's switch places, can you carry the backpack now?" Del asked.
"Sure," Cole grabbed the backpack from Del's back and he carried it.
"And Cole, you can get your collar off, I know for a long time that the collar doesn't work anymore besides, it's not like the group that we will be searching," Del said.
Cole took off his collar and put it inside of his own pocket, "You have some good eyes, you know? Most humans often don't notice that."
"I'm not most human, am I?" Del asked.
"Yeah, you're rather… different," Cole commented.
Cassandra interrupted, "Are you boys are going to chat all day long? Or are you both wanting to get the money to rescue the people?"
"Alright, alright, let's start tracking them down," Del said.
"Yup, they're going that way," Cassandra said without any hesitation.
Cole gave Cassandra the confused look of a newbie, "How the hell did you manage to know that?"
Unlike Cole, Del started his observation. A stepped-down grass wouldn't heal that soon and the tendency of adventurers to bring heavy luggage would certainly broke the structure of the grass. The grass at the direction that Cassandra was pointed was indeed unnatural.
"Ah, I see," Del commented.
"What did you see?" Cole became more confused.
"This place is filled with unnatural signs, the grass is stepped, you can also find that there are footsteps on this exact road although it's barely visible," Cassandra commented.
"Ah, as expected of a member of MSVI," Cole praised her.
Cassandra laughed, "You know, Del might be a good candidate for MSVI, but I think he has to enroll in my university first."
"I see," Del nodded.
They started traversing on the grassland. The air was quite cold, possibly because of the cold air blowing from the top of the mountain. Before the foot of Aldea mountain was a forest, that forest was the border between the snowy foot of Aldea mountain and the grassland between Midham and Begard.
Cassandra led the way with Del in the middle and Cole in the back. Wolfie walked alongside Del. Somehow, Del noticed that there wasn't any creature that tried to attack him or any hostile animal that Del was supposed to find in that forest.
"Hmm, odd, there is simply no animal around here, what's going on? Is it because of your dog?" Cassandra asked herself.
"I have no clue, but I think we're on the right track," Del said.
This forest was also well-known to be a hideout for people being hunted by bounty hunters or a hideout for a well-known criminal. Still, it was rare for adventurers to encounter them unless the adventurers were actively looking for them.
Forest was also a dangerous place since the tall trees on that forest could fall at any moment and there was a real possibility that someone might plant a trap on the forest. Basically, it was a dangerous territory.
"Hmm, why rescue operation is dangerous?" Del asked.
"Well, a guild usually sent a rescue squad to rescue an adventurer if the adventurer doesn't return at around two days from the expected quest time. This type of quest is also a high-risk high-reward quest because the payment is only paid if the adventurer is returned alive," Cassandra said.
"But still, it's only a rescue operation, it's not like the chance of getting killed is marginally larger than bounty hunting," Del said.
"You really underestimate the job, don't you know that? As far as we are concerned, this can be a real rescue operation or an ambush set up by bandits. It's very rare for someone to take this kind of quest. Remember that the guild sent it under an assumption that an adventurer missing, not a fact that an adventurer is indeed missing, " Cassandra explained.
"Ah, I see," Del understood.
"Still, if we found them, the guild will give us some good cash. Still, as far as I know, this isn't exactly a place where a newbie adventurer would venture in and experienced adventurers are often experienced enough to know the threat of this region," Cassandra explained.
"What do you mean?" Del wondered.
"I have the feeling that this group is ambushed by something in the foot of Aldea mountain. We better be careful," Cassandra said.
"Don't worry, I'm not coming here unprepared," Del commented.
"Good, I really have huge expectations for you, Del," Cassandra said.
"Thanks, ma'am," Del assumed that Cassandra was old.
"Ma'am? Damn, how old do you think I am? I'm not even hitting 100-year-old marks yet," Cassandra commented.
Del just replied with a laugh.
