3 Mission Quest: Fordel Village

CHAPTER THREE – MISSION QUEST: FORDEL VILLAGE

"The mission. What do you think?"

The black hooded woman asked Ryan and the man couldn't process what was the woman is saying as he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

The woman chuckled once more and raised an eyebrow as she tilts her head while waiting for Ryan's response.

'Ah? What was she saying? Is she…asking me about the mission? But why?'

Ryan thought as he seems to catch up with the phrase that the woman asked him about and he could only think about what he should respond to the woman.

"Ah…A-actually, I-I don't know. Well, the information that the mission is stated above looks okay but at the same time, ah…er…It feels like, something is off? I don't know but that is how it feels"

Ryan was stuttering at his own words as he couldn't construct his sentence properly, unlike what he is doing earlier when he is talking to the woman.

'More like pestering, you say' He thought and he felt even more embarrassed in front of her, and that didn't make sense.

'Why the heck am I stuttering like a shy maiden?! I am confident earlier when I approach her. Now that she is talking to me and asking me face to face and now what?'

While Ryan is lost in his thoughts, the black hooded woman only looked at him, and thankfully that the man didn't see the cold glint that the woman gazes at him.

But the woman just ignored him like she used to do, and then looked back at the mission board and she took the leaflet that she is looking through the whole time.

She had the same thought as Ryan when she read the mission and she wants further information on the said mission.

She didn't call out for the man as she went over to the reception area at the guild and approach the person in charge there.

Ryan noticed that the black hooded woman left him behind as the said woman went over to the reception area and Ryan went after her since he would accompany the woman. 

In the reception area, a person-in-charge is stationed there, and when the said person-in-charge saw the black hooded woman in front, holding a leaflet from the mission board. 

The person-in-charge smiled at her upon recognizing the black hooded woman.

"Going for another job mission, are we? You just got back from the other mission this morning"

The person in charge is a woman, with short rose-colored hair and chestnut eyes smiling at the black hooded woman in front of her.

The black hooded woman laid out the leaflet that she took on the mission board.

"Further information about this mission"

She said and the person in charge saw the leaflet that is laid out in front of her. 

She frowns upon reading the said mission and she took it to read it carefully.

"Fordel Village? Wait a minute. I remember there is an archive about this mission. Let me just check it for you, okay?"

She said and the black hooded woman just nods at her.

When the person-in-charge was about to go inside to looked for the details of the mission, she noticed that there is another person behind the black hooded woman and this is the first time that she saw someone unfamiliar in this guild.

"Excuse me, may I know this gentleman's name?"

She asked and Ryan heard the other woman's words and as he was about to introduce himself, the black hooded woman speaks for him.

"New. Going mission with him. Unfamiliar" the black hooded woman said and Ryan make face as he stared at the woman's back.

'O-okay? What a unique introduction, indeed!' Ryan thought sarcastically.

The person-in-charge is well-acquainted with the black hooded woman as she manages to catch up her statement since she knew that the black hooded woman didn't like to talk that much.

Every adventurer that has been acquainted with the black hooded woman knew this and she is not surprised about this.

But what surprises her is that the black hooded woman would want to take the man on her mission?!

'Am I dreaming or something?! This woman is famous for being a solo adventurer and never take a companion nor join or create her party, to begin with!'

Yes, as it stated. The black hooded woman is a famous solo adventurer and she never took a companion nor join or create a party on her own as she prefers to do missions alone.

In the Adventurer's Guild, there is a rule that you can't take missions if the said mission is not aligned on your rank. That's the general rule.

If an adventurer wants to go any further, they must join or create a party for taking such a dangerous mission.

The reason why these rules are established is that every year, several adventurers would get injured or die in the process of taking such dangerous missions. 

Even though you have the highest rank, you still need to establish a party for your safety. 

Before going to take such a dangerous mission, those who are present would need to sign an agreement stating that they would be held responsible for the actions they would take.

And of course, the only exemption to these rules is none other than the black hooded woman in front of her.

The person in charge left the two as she needs to retrieve some of the records about the said mission that the black hooded woman needed.

After a minute, she went back to the reception area, holding some files about the said mission.

She laid them in front of the black-hooded woman and then, the person-in-charge flip open the files as she starts to speak.

"According to the information below, the Fordel Village is situated at the mid-border of Silveria Empire"

The person-in-charge started as she flips another page and she continues to explain.

"There is a record about a month ago, the village experience a flood and then the villagers happen to find something beneath the village area"

As she stated, there is a sketch leaflet that is posted in the files and the black hooded woman took that and observe.

The sketch is not that clear and the black hooded woman had a confused looked as she observes it.

"Since none of them are experienced adventurers, the village chief put up a request on this one as they are worried about something that is beneath on their village"

After she finished explaining the mission details, the black hooded woman frowns because she felt that something is odd.

"When was the mission leaflet has been issued in the guild?" She asked.

When the person-in-charge heard the black hooded woman's question, she said; "I think…wait a minute, let me check the date…Ah! Here! Eh? Just this morning?"

She had a puzzled looked as she read through the section when the mission leaflet has been issued and the black hooded woman had a deep thought about this mission.

'Something is not right. It has been issued just this morning but the information about the village having a flood just a month ago. According to the sketch details, there is something beneath the village area that even the villagers didn't know? What kind of setup is this?'

She thought as she couldn't think of anything else.

When Ryan heard about the Fordel Village information, a light bulb suddenly appeared in his mind as he remembered something.

"Wait a minute! I happen to spoke with someone here in the Capital yesterday when I just got arrived here"

As soon as he speaks, the black hooded woman looked behind her back when she heard the man speak something that catches her attention and raised an eyebrow at him.

The person-in-charge saw this and she interprets what the black hooded woman meant to say; "She said go on"

When Ryan saw that the black hooded woman raised an eyebrow at him, he is quite puzzled.

But when the person in charge interprets the gesture, he understood right away what the black hooded woman meant.

Ryan started to speak; "The person that I talk about happens to be from the Fordel Village. According to that person, the Fordel Village is not a village at all but a mass graveyard during the war"

As he stated the information that he had, the black hooded woman looked at Ryan with a questioning gaze.

Ryan saw this and he didn't know what the black-hooded woman meant by her gesture. He couldn't help but sigh.

'How am I going to understand this woman? Do I need to pay some gold coins for her to speak?'

He thought and the person-in-charge saw this and she interprets it once again; "She meant to asked if that information that you have is a reliable source or not"

The person in charge said and when Ryan heard this, he sighed and he felt sorry for the other woman as she is the one who keeps on interpreting what the black hooded woman wants to say.

After he collected his thoughts, Ryan looked at the black hooded woman as he speaks; "Whether the information that I got is true or not, it can be useful as a hint and all we need to do is to investigate ourselves"