Chapter 14: Odd jobs

As dusk fell, four of the sentries departed from their rooms in the inn, heading in a specific direction. They were leaving to complete the first quest: guarding a store during both night and day. Since they didn't tire or need food, this quest suited them perfectly, providing opportunities to gather information while on duty.

Meanwhile, at a store closing for the day, Angela took stock of the day's sales. Her concentration broke with a loud knock at the front door. "We're closed! Come back tomorrow!" she called out, eyeing several men outside. Despite her refusal, they persisted, pressing a parchment against the glass door – the quest for guards she had posted at the adventurers guild.

Realizing their purpose, Angela relented and opened the door. "Apologies, I didn't know you were here for the guard duty quest. My name is Angela, may I know yours?" she asked, addressing the group.

"I'm Vulcan, and this is my team called 'Dark Sentry'. Can you explain a bit more about our duties and for how long will we be performing our duties?" He said.

"Well, you will be doing regular patrols around the shop, making sure no thieves break in. Stand in the front of the store, your men look pretty tough so I'm sure you can scare away any troublemakers. During the day, about the same, kick out any customer making a fuss or shoplifting. If you can do all that then you're hired." Said Angela as she extended her hand.

Vulcan shook her hand, "Then you have yourself a deal." Angela was excited to have some guards finally. Last adventurers she hired were helpless against a group of thugs who came to extort her for protection money. These men looked like they actually meant business and could handle themselves well. She gave Vulcan a spare key to open the store in case he needed to talk with her in the 2nd floor of the building which was where she and her employees slept. Just like that, Vulcan and his sentries stood vigilant over the store. He had witnessed a group of thieves break into the store on the other side of the street. The thieves eyed the shop they were guarding but decided to leave it be. A guard patrol passed by and asked them what their business was and Vulcan had to show the quest document as well as their badges to confirm they weren't robbing the place and the guards went on their way.

Once morning hit, another group of four sentries left to do their own quest. This quest was about sweeping the streets and picking up trash to keep the town clean. They showed up to a building that dealt with anything regarding the town. The guards at the entrance asked them for their names and business. They showed the quest and turned in their weapons since it was a local government building. They arrived at a reception desk where a bored man in his mid 30s attended them. "What business are you here for?" He asked in a tired and bored tone. "We are here to complete the quest of cleaning the streets." Said Vulcan as he showed the quest paper to the man. Afterwards the man gave them several brooms and cleaning equipment they needed for the job and left them to go back to his desk. That morning several residents of the town woke up to see four tall men who looked like they could kill anyone easily sweeping the streets with efficiency. They all wondered why these men were doing such a mundane job when they could easily make a fortune doing something else.

Last but not least, Jess along with two sentries headed out towards the gate. Once they were checked by the guards they made it to the camouflaged hover bikes and rode them to a nearby part of the forest, they once again hid the bikes and started hunting. What were they hunting? Rabbits. The quest was to hunt for rabbits, anything they could take off them like their fur or meat would be paid for separately. They stalked the little creatures like natural predators, no matter how fast the little things tried running away they still were too slow for the skilled fighters. At the end of the day they had caught a total of fifty rabbits, they had waited for the blood to be drained and then skinned them properly. Once they arrived back into town, they had turned in their rabbit tails as sign of proof of killing a rabbit at the guild. The receptionist was surprised and gave them their payment.

Back at the Inn again, they had met back up with the four sentries from the street cleaning job. It was safe to say that they needed to clean up themselves, he had taken several spares of clothing in case this would happen to with change of clothing the sentries looked good as new and went out to change shifts with the sentries at the store. Angela was stunned to see more people who looked like the guards she hired show up but it was explained to her that they were just changing shifts for the 'men' to go rest. She was happy to know that her store was being well taken care of by professionals.

A month passed, and the group repeated the same quests, only changing the rabbit hunting quests since all the small furry animals had become hard to find. Instead, they did different hunting quests, and eventually, the 'Dark Sentry' was promoted to a peak bronze rank in the guild. Jess had questioned Vulcan several times on what the next step of the plan was, but he just told her to wait; they were waiting on a certain event to happen. During this time, Vulcan had found another hidden ability he had, which was that he could produce any person's voice perfectly. With this, he was able to give each of his sentries their own voice to relieve suspicion on why they were all quiet and only his voice was heard.

One day, a fancy carriage with exquisite craftsmanship pulled over in front of the shop. Inside was a beautiful woman wearing a stunning dress that accentuated her figure. The four knights riding on horses protecting the carriage dismounted and fanned out in a protective formation while the maids opened the door and helped the lady inside come out.

"Can I come out now? I'm getting tired of being inside this thing," said the frustrated voice of the lady inside.

"Yes, milady. Lend me your hand," said the lead maid, who was more experienced than the others, as she helped her lady descend gracefully. As soon as the noble lady got off, her smile beamed upon seeing the storefront.

"Finally, I have been dying to get a new dress. Especially now that the king and queen's anniversary banquet is fast approaching. Quickly now, we mustn't dally any longer," she said, eagerly heading towards the store, leaving her entourage struggling to keep up with her pace.

At the front of the store were Vulcan's sentries, who had observed the entire scene from the arrival of the carriage to the lady rushing towards the store. As they had done many times before for other customers, the sentries opened the store front doors and performed a small bow.

"Milady," they both said, their voices mimicking those of Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, who have both played the well-known character agent 007.

"Oh my, when did Angela hire such well-mannered gentlemen? Although your armor is rather lacking, I wonder what you men look like underneath," the noble lady coquettishly remarked, giving the sentries a suggestive glance.

"Milady, you must focus. The lord has already caught many of your lovers and is still secretly having the guards watch you carefully," the lead maid whispered to her ear.

The lady gave a side look to her guards and scoffed, then entered the store, where Angela, the store owner, greeted her warmly. "Angela, my dear, I have much to discuss but I desperately need something for the royal banquet. I can't be seen in front of the other noble ladies in these rags," she said, showing her beautiful dress.

Angela understood her plea and led her to the back of the shop, reserved for important customers like her. While trying on a dress, the lady inquired about the guards Angela had hired.

"By the way, the new guards you hired, who are they? They seem like outstanding men. Can you please tell me their names? I might need their services soon," she said, with a smile and a wink.

Angela, familiar with the noble lady's ways, responded, "I've only come to know one of their names, Vulcan, and he seems to be the leader of their adventurer team called 'Dark Sentry.' There are other members actually; you must have seen or heard about them. They've made quite a name for themselves in the last month," she said, taking more measurements.

The lady gasped a little, "Actually, yes. My husband has been keeping an eye on them as well. They're the reason a lady like myself has been able to come out of her home and not be afraid of disgusting ruffians attacking her carriage. They have not only cleaned up the town and made it look modest but have also kept a vigilant eye for any crime happening. Who knew that they were the men I've heard so much about. I will have to bring them up again to my husband during dinner; maybe we can recruit them to work for our noble house," she mentioned, while trying on a different dress.Angela knew that the lady wanted to recruit them for other things as well.

While this conversation was happening, a sentry inside the store overheard everything. It was all going according to plan for Vulcan. Now the next step was to attack the noble lady as she came out of the store; she was the wife of the lord of Roriksten after all.