The task displayed above read: [Escort the treasures to Capital City before the wuchen day of the bingshen month.]
"Let me check the deadline. We have to reach Capital City before the wuchen day of the bingshen month, or the mission fails."
"So when is that?" One of the mission participants had a headache just looking at the old-fashioned date.
"Converted to this calendar, it's the tenth day of the seventh month. That's next month, thirty days from now."
"Exactly one month."
"A month, huh? Good thing the escorts in this caravan know martial arts. At an ordinary person's pace, I doubt a month would be enough."
"Don't forget, all kinds of demons and monsters are bound to show up along the way. What exactly is this treasure?"
"For the old emperor's birthday?"
"Hey, Paradise's hints are usually pretty thorough. This time, all we got was 'The emperor's birthday banquet approaches.' What are we supposed to make of that?"
"Forget it. S-rank missions are all like this, with no head or tail to them. This one's not bad, at least. We know it's the emperor's birthday banquet, so these treasures are probably birthday gifts. If they have to be hauled all the way from the south, they're probably worth a fortune."
One of the mission participants raised his eyes toward the covered crates in the middle of the caravan.
The crates were the color of paulownia wood, smooth and glossy, with an almost moist sheen beneath the sunlight.
One look told them the crates had been maintained like this for years.
There were many treasures inside. Some were gold, silver, and jewels; others were rare medicinal herbs grown in the south.
Mission participants who had reached this rank generally had their own tricks for gathering information.
Since this was a