15 Thore Ales

"Excuse me, you are?"

Alice looked at the newcomer with a cold stare. She didn't like being interrupted, especially when she was talking with friends.

"Behave better than that in front of me, secretary! I am the fabulous adventurer, Thore Ales, rank B!"

As he introduced himself, Thore ran his hand through his hair and winked. This man was the epitome of arrogance and narcissism. Many people wondered if he wasn't ashamed sometimes.

He was one of those people whose reputation preceded them. For him, however, it was not in a good way.

The young man walked towards Lilliana and Stella. His incredible stature imposed a strong feeling of inferiority on the two girls. It was as if they were facing a predator.

His blonde hair was cut medium length, finding that it gave her a divine look. His sapphire eyes were so deep that it was easy to get lost in his gaze, mesmerized.

"So, you two are the ones I'm going to accompany? I thought I explained to them that I am an adventurer, daycare is not my style. I'm not interested in children."

Lilliana's eyes darkened. She wanted to draw her sword and show him what she could do, but she restrained herself. The use of weapons and magic was forbidden within the building.

Stella, on the other hand, gave in to provocation.

"Le-"

Just as she was about to cast her spell, she saw out of the corner of her eye a shadow move quickly before standing between her and Thore.

"Don't do it, Stella!"

Alice had stepped in.

"Let me take care of him! I hate his kind."

Alice lowered her head slightly, before raising it with conviction.

"You can't do that. You're too weak to take him on, it doesn't seem like that, but this creep is rank B. You'd be down before you even realized what had happened to you. Besides, it's against the rules."

Tsss-

Although reluctantly, Stella gave up.

"That's good, obey. Anyway, low ranks like you can only do that. "

"Raah... Thore, shut up. Listen. For an indefinite time, you are going to team-up. Your mission is to discover the origin of the horde that appeared in the hills of Heavenpeace. You will start today. Any objections? "

She stared at the three members of the group, in turn, hoping they understood the situation.

"So we'll have to carry out a high-risk exploration mission in such rain? This is pure madness!"

"Indeed. But we have no choice. This event could affect the city for a long time if the horde were to turn hostile towards it. That is why you are here, Thore. You will deal with any danger present in the search area. "

Lilliana, who had calmed down, was slightly worried:

"Are we the only team on this mission? "

Alice smiled slightly back at him.

"No, with yours, a total of six teams are being dispatched to get answers. You may run into them there, if not you will meet them tonight. You will have a meeting on the third floor every day at nine o'clock with the guild master and the other five research teams."

"I see... "

There was a short silence as everyone considered the mission ahead. For Lilliana and Stella, this was of course the first time they had been involved in such a large and important mission.

It was rare for adventurers below rank E to be called upon. Besides being beginners, their strength was not much more than that of a peasant or a craftsman. They had some knowledge of fighting and some had some knowledge of magic, but that was all.

But this time, Lilliana and Stella were directly involved in this case, and the guild master had deemed it necessary for them to be present in the investigation. To help them, a high-ranking adventurer was assigned to them.

"Well, you should go now, if you want to be there before noon."

The two girls nodded, while Thore sighed.

It took them just under three hours to reach the hills of Heavenpeace.

There they took shelter under a tree, scanning the area from afar.

On their last visit, the land was covered with a magnificent green dress dotted with flowers.

This time, however, the ground was upside down. A mixture of earth and grass, but also excrement covered the mountains.

Indeed, that was the second difference: these hills were covered with hundreds of creatures, goblins.

Although there were visibly fewer of them than in the last incident, the sight was still impressive.

The goblins lived in a certain insalubriousness, the smell of their excrements spread in the air despite the torrential rain.

"Ah, what a stench!"

The three adventurers plugged their noses. This did not change anything, however, as the smell was so strong. Fortunately, after a few minutes, they began to get used to it.

"We should get closer, we won't learn anything from here."

Stella nodded at Lilliana's words. The two girls walked forward as a stunned Thore looked on.

"Wait, are you crazy? If they spot us, this place will be like hell on earth!"

Stella turned, glaring at the young man.

"So what, B-ranked, are you scared?"

Thore tingled a little at this remark, but before things could escalate again, Lilliana changed the subject of discussion:

"If we're careful, we shouldn't have any nasty surprises. Our scent will be camouflaged by this rain, which will also cover the sound of our footsteps. Anyway, it's not a few goblins that are going to rough you up, is it?"

"N-No..."