Adventurers Guild (Part-3)

I had been watching and registering everything they were saying, but my mind was really still back lingering on the Legion of Light. I snapped back to reality and nodded. "Hmm? Yeah, I agree with Ren. A bronze rank quest? It will be over simple and swift. A good warmup for the real stuff."

Ren raised an eyebrow and gave me an amused smile.

I turned back to the receptionist. "Can you tell us more about the quest?"

She brought a folder and took out a couple of more papers along with a map. "Alright so here it is, about 33 marks from the borders of Eldaria region, just by the Mori Forest. Bien village. They have reported repeated attacks and disruption of lives, by a small group of goblins at night.  Stealing their cattle, breaking down fences, poisoning their water by dropping dead animal corpses in their wells. There have been no human casualties yet as of the day when this quest was brought in, but they really can't go on with this for much longer. Estimated number is just about 8-10+ as they have confirmed, but there could be more. The goblins spotted are all forest goblins, thus the villagers are also unable to enter the forest for their regular needs. The village has no combat proficient fighters. So here is your task, hunt down these goblins. However if you find out the situation is more than you can handle, you are to investigate and bring back information in exchange for a lower reward, so that the quest can be upgraded to a higher rank. Do you accept the quest?"

I nodded. "We do."

"I'll be back with a copy of the Intel and your holo glasses."

As promised, she returns with copies of the papers(scribe mages can instantly make number of copies of any written material), and the five circular slabs of glass bordered with runic inscriptions on a metal frame. Each of them was slightly larger than palm-sized and was completely see through.

She handed the papers to me and a holo glass to each of us. "Best of luck, Master Liam. I'll await your successful return."

And with that we left the adventurers guild and soon exited the city gates as well in our caravan.

A few minutes have passed since we left the city limits of Eldaria, and Elaina finally asks the question that had clearly been on her mind for a long time. "Since I have been here, I haven't seen a single royal guard in Eldaria. All I see are those soldiers and knights, each of them with the symbol on the entrance of the adventurers guild. They didn't seem like adventurers though? Who are they?"

Luca glanced back at her and then turned his attention back forward as he replied. "That symbol you saw is indeed the symbol of the hero. The Everhart Sacred Sword. And those soldiers wearing that symbol are of the Legion of Light. Largest private military force of Asella, second only to the Royal Army, and the strongest military force on the continent. Not just quantity but also quality, each Legionnaire is as proficient as the Royal Crimson Corps. And their Lightier Knights are unmatched even by the king's own. That being said, it's hard to assess their true strength. The Legion of Light has never deployed wholly for any combat operation, so it's still unknown how many they actually are... Care to tell us the big secret, Liam?"

I glared at him with a smile. "You know I can't do that, well I am probably not gonna be accurate about that one myself. But still, you seem to know a lot about the Legion."

Lucs sighed as his shoulders slouched over. "Fine... I'll admit, I always wanted to join them, ever since I was a kid. Even applied for the Legion last year, but apparently I am too short for them."

That...

....

....

I tried, okay? I tried to hold back my laughter, but once Ren started laughing I couldn't hold back anymore. Even Elaina cracked a smile and pursed her lips tight to hold back her own giggles.

"Yeah! Yeah! Go on! Laugh at the short guy! It's not like I am sitting right here in front of you guys!" Luca said out loud, annoyed and flustered.

Ren held his belly and doubled down on himself, finally bringing his laughter to a control, while I leaned back against the wood board, breathing heavily.

I sighed and apologized to Luca, who had already started ignoring us. "Alright sorry. But hey, plus point for us, if your height was the only reason you couldn't join them, your skills must be the real deal. Good to have you with us, Luca."

He just snorted and said nothing.

We traveled in silence mostly, often just discussing small stuff. Luca joined in as well. For lunch we stopped by under the shade of a tree, just off the road. We didn't have to cook anything as we had already brought pre-made lunch from Silver Swan and it was better to consume it first before it went bad. After resting up a bit and walking around (Sylvie's advice for better digestion), we started back on the road.

It was just as evening fell that we first saw them. A long convoy of carriages, carts and troop carrier caravans. There was seemingly no end in sight. About a hundred soldiers bearing the symbol of the hero, The Everhart Sacred Sword, walked alongside the convoy, guarding it, no doubt with more soldiers inside the troop carriers, even as forty knights similarly marked, on horses, brought up the rear of the convoy. Surely the same number of knights must be upfront or even more. Small flags bearing the same mark of the hero flew above the convoy at periodic intervals.

I walked up to Luca and watched over his shoulder as the first knights and soldiers started noticing our approach.

"It's the Legion of Light."