The trip to the village was incredibly lackluster. He was just training the entire time. Since he was maintaining his Valkyr’s Deception the whole time, it was incredibly good training for him. He was slowly running out of magic though, since it was a very hard spell.
However, he managed to maintain it until he had to leave the group. They weren’t actually going to drop him off at the village. They reached a road that forked two ways on the second day of traveling.
That was where they split up. Leo would have to walk the rest of the way while the caravan would go ahead to Phoenix Greens. Phoenix Greens was a city that wasn’t even in the domain of Eldridge, so they were going to travel for another week before they reached their destination.
Leo walked slowly along the empty road for a while until he could no longer see the caravan. The minute they disappeared, he stopped the spell immediately. He instantly felt a burden on his body disappear and felt refreshed. He sat down and took a huge breath.
There wasn’t anyone there to see this, so he was okay with just resting until he recovered all of his magic. He only needed the rest because he was supposed to last a full day. Once he defeated the bandit, he could leave at his own pace.
After an, he felt he recovered enough of his magic and cast the spell again. He started walking to the village. On the way, he saw a couple of boards that showed him the directions. He kept walking for two hours and finally started seeing a glimpse of the village.
He walked to the entrance and looked at the entire settlement. It was a small village nestled within a picturesque valley, surrounded by lush green meadows and rolling hills. Its quaint streets were lined with charming cottages, featuring thatched roofs and sturdy stone walls. The village center was bustling with a lively marketplace, where colorful stalls displayed a variety of handcrafted goods.
In the distance, he could see a magnificent stone-built townhouse with a towering spire standing proudly at the heart of the village, while narrow cobblestone paths winded their way through the community. The entire place was incredibly small though. Compared to actual cities, it was a lot smaller and had fewer than a thousand people.
He walked into the village and walked to the townhouse at the center. It only took him ten minutes to finish the walk. He went into the townhouse and looked inside. Polished marble floors lead to well-appointed offices, each adorned with mahogany desks and high-backed chairs. It had expansive windows that allowed natural light to flood in, illuminating the grandeur of the space. A central atrium served as a meeting point, with a towering staircase ascending to upper levels.
He walked in and immediately found a reception desk. He walked there and waited for the receptionist to look up. When she did, she immediately smiled.
“Hi, are you new here?” She asked.
Leo nodded. “Yes, but how do you know?”
Leo’s dense mind ignored the flirting and just thanked her for the compliment. “Thanks. Do you know who I can go to see for this mission?” He asked her.
She looked at the mission in his hands. She asked to take a look at it. Once she did, her smile faded away.
“Are you the mercenary who is here to take care of the bandits?” She asked.
He nodded. She stood up. “Please, follow me. I will take you to the village head.”
He followed her up the stairs to the top where there were only a couple of rooms. They went into one of the rooms which had a small waiting area. There was another door that lead to the office of the village chief. The receptionist knocked lightly on the door.
“Come in,” a low voice came from inside.
She entered the room and whispered something. Unfortunately for her, whispering wasn’t very effective to contain information with Leo.
“Don’t you think he’s such a good target?” She asked the village chief.
“First call him in. I will see,” he said softly.
The receptionist walked out of the room and then smiled at Leo. “He is ready to see you.”
Leo nodded. “Thank you, what was your name again?”
“I am Lia. What about you?” She asked.
“Orion. Thanks, Lia.” He said and walked into the room. He was immediately met by the village chief.
The chief was tiny. He was maybe 4 feet tall and was sitting on the chair with his legs not reaching the ground. He spoke with a high-pitched voice.
“Nice to meet you. I am Chief Boban. I am the chief of this beautiful village, Bhunan. I was also the one who put up the request for a mercenary.” He started with an introduction.
“I am Orion. Nice to meet you.” He said.
Boban nodded. “I will cut straight to the chase. We offered 90000 Starcoins and you are here. If you bring us the head of the bandit, then the money we deposited with the Adventurer Guild is yours. Any information you need about the bandit that we have will be available to you.” He said.
Leo frowned. He already knew that something was being hidden from him, but now he didn’t know what it was because they chose not to tell him.
“So, is this a single bandit? I thought it was a bandit group.” He asked.
“We only want you to kill one of them. He goes by the name Sakkar. He’s the leader of the bandits. According to what we know, he’s a Middle-Stage 2nd Circle Aura Knight.” Boban said.
Leo still felt a heavy uneasiness in the back of his mind. He would normally be able to deal with a 2nd Circle Aura Knight in seconds. But for some reason, he couldn’t wrap his mind around what Lia said.
“Is there anyone except me attacking the bandits?” He asked.
“Unfortunately, we cannot give you any help. But if you want anything else, you can ask Lia. She has all the documents about the bandits. Anything you need for preparations to take down the bandit can be provided to you if we have the capabilities for that. Other than that, do you have any questions?” He asked.
Leo shook his head. While he was leaving, he thought about the village chief. Even though the chief looked harmless, he was a 1st Circle Aura Knight. He was giving him so much information, but why was he not helping in the hunt? Why was Leo supposed to do this on his own?
He went down and saw Lia sitting there. He went up to her.
“The chief said that you had all the documents about the bandits. Can I have them?” He asked.
She nodded. She quickly took out a stack of documents and stacked them on the desk. There were almost a hundred papers.
“Wow, you must know a lot about this bandit then.” He said.
“We do. We know everything about him. We were just never able to catch him.” She said.