Fully Armed

After rebutting Drake, Hogan's gaze lingered on Zeliel for quite a while before he slowly spoke.

"As for Marcus's team, although they only have two intermediate professionals, one is a ranger and one is an assassin. Both can deal lethal blows to the White-Haired Goblin, and they also have a mage."

"There's no need for me to elaborate on the importance of a mage in a team. Clearly, Marcus's team is better suited to this mission. This isn't favoritism, but a judgment based on my decades of adventuring experience."

Drake clenched his fists, his face filled with unwillingness, then abruptly turned toward Zeliel.

"Hey! You intermediate ranger, and you mage kid—want to join our team? We'll give you a bigger share of the loot!"

"I don't want to team up with barbarians," Vales refused bluntly.

"Not this time. Maybe another time," Zeliel said with a smile, politely declining as well.

What a joke. If he joined Drake's team, Zeliel would be worried about getting stabbed in the back.

Under the amused gazes of the surrounding adventurers, Drake could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger. As he brushed past, he shot Marcus a vicious glare.

"Damn it... let's go!"

He left the association with his indignant teammates.

In the end, Marcus's team accepted the commission.

"Say... that guy won't try anything against us, will he? He looked pretty unconvinced," Zeliel said with some concern.

"Who knows?" Hill replied carelessly.

"Alright, don't worry about them. Go back and prepare properly. We'll gather at the Blackstone Town gate early tomorrow morning." Marcus clapped his hands.

The next day.

Early morning.

After checking his equipment in his room, Zeliel let out a breath.

Today, he was fully armed.

Since he was right-handed, he wore his rapier on the left side of his waist for easy drawing in an emergency, while his white ash wand was tucked at his right side.

As for armor, in addition to his previous studded leather breastplate, Zeliel had spent one gold and ten silver on a decent-quality fauld and tassets.

This was because goblins were rather short. They generally couldn't reach someone's chest and could only strike at the lower body.

After all, Mistflow Veil still couldn't be used. The places that needed protection still had to be protected.

After buying all this equipment, Zeliel had four gold and forty silver left.

"This should be enough..."

He went downstairs.

Zeliel happened to run into Auro, who was about to change shifts and get some rest. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, looking extremely sleepy.

Seeing Zeliel's outfit, Auro asked in surprise.

"Zeliel, are you heading out on a mission?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of monster are you dealing with this time?" Auro could not help worrying.

"Nothing much, just a few little goblins," Zeliel said casually.

"You have to be careful. Come back safely," Auro said with concern.

"Don't worry. You'll see me back for a big dinner tonight." Zeliel smiled.

The faint light of dawn had only just climbed over the horizon, and most of the townspeople were still asleep.

At the Blackstone Town gate, several members of the team were already waiting.

A carriage drawn by two sturdy draft horses rolled over and stopped before them.

"Everyone here?"

Marcus jumped down from the driver's seat.

"This is the carriage I rented. Walking there would waste too much time and drain a lot of stamina. Put your equipment on it."

"Not having to march on foot is good news."

Gray took off his hardened leather armor and tossed it, along with his longsword, straight into the carriage.

Gak's armor and battle axe, Vales's longbow and leather armor, as well as Zeliel's rapier and leather armor, were all piled in the middle of the carriage.

Keeping that stuff on all the time was rather stifling.

"You don't have anything to put away?" Zeliel asked Hill curiously.

She was dressed exactly as she had been yesterday, still wearing a simple short cloak.

Hill merely smiled faintly.

"All my equipment is on me."

As she spoke, she unfastened her buttons and opened her cloak to Zeliel.

Zeliel's breathing quietly grew lighter.

Like her lower body, Hill's upper body was still clad in leather clothing that fit tightly against her skin.

The taut, specially made material outlined her proud curves, fully displaying Hill's charm as a woman.

Yet what shocked Zeliel even more was that the inside of her cloak was densely packed with all kinds of killing tools.

Everything from fighting daggers dozens of centimeters long to small throwing knives was there.

A coil of garrote wire as thin as hair hung at her left ribs, while many unknown throwing weapons rested at her right side. Retractable sleeve blades were tied to her wrists.

There were also many exquisite little tools at her waist whose names Zeliel did not know.

It was not difficult to imagine how dangerous an assassin carrying so many sharp weapons on her body could be.

Beneath the cover of her cloak, she could use any means at any time to effortlessly take a target's life.

"You don't seem to be looking at my weapons," Hill said teasingly.

"Really? You must be mistaken..." Zeliel awkwardly averted his gaze.

"Hehe..."

Hill chuckled and closed her cloak.

"Before we set off, there's something I need to emphasize once more!"

Marcus flicked the riding whip in his hand, producing a crisp crack.

"This mission is unlike the previous ones. We aren't facing a single monster, but an organized goblin settlement! Stay completely alert. I'll be giving the orders during battle, and everyone must follow them!"

"Understood!"

"You call the shots, boss," Hill answered lazily.

"Then let's go!"

Marcus returned to the driver's seat.

With the rumble of the wheels, the carriage set off toward Graywood Forest.

At a normal walking pace, it would have taken the team several hours to reach Graywood Forest. With the carriage, however, they traveled much faster and soon arrived at the edge of the forest.

The dense woodland ahead was unsuitable for carriage travel, and they might alert some monsters as well.

After leaving the carriage in a nearby village, the team members put on their armor, took up their weapons, and began moving through the forest on foot.

Hill did not travel with the group. After greeting Marcus, she swiftly began weaving through the trees.

Her figure was incredibly light, and her movements were even more agile than Vales's.

With a light push from the tips of her toes, she easily sprang onto tall trees. After a few leaps, her figure gradually blurred and vanished from sight.

What an assassin with her agility stat maxed out... Zeliel looked up.

According to the map provided with the commission, the goblin settlement was located in the central region of Graywood Forest, much deeper in than the wolf-clearing mission Zeliel had undertaken before.

Marcus and Gak took the lead at the front, forming the team's first line of defense.