Practicing forgemastery was very expensive especially for those who weren't attached to any noble family. The reason they were just feeling it was because the school's point system made item purchase cheap for students.
They still had a lot of gold on them but if things went on the same way it wouldn't be long before they would return to being broke because apart from purchasing the required materials, they had to rent the association's forge rooms equipped with high-quality equipment and that cost a lot.
Immediately they were done with lunch, the trio headed to the commission billboard to pick a party mission.
"Adventurer Zero, you are finally out… I have important information for your party and time is of the essence." It had been days since Susan had last set her eyes on the trio and with fear of losing sight of them again, she immediately approached them the moment she saw them.
When they got to a private area, Susan began her report. "A few days ago, a messenger from the Winchester family submitted a request for a protection mission, but because you three were busy we couldn't disturb your research so we left it till now."
"The request ends today and if not accepted, they would change the commission a to public one..." Susan said.
'Why do I have the feeling that the Winchester family is trying to deepen our relationship to rope us in?' It wasn't only Blake that had the same thoughts, even Susan was suspicious about how the Winchester family were submitting private commission to a D rank adventurer party.
This wasn't her first time seeing or hearing about noble families using such tactics to rope in adventurers.
"Is there any info on the commission?" Blake asked.
"Yes, there is…" Susan said as she brought out a letter from her dimensional amulet. "The Winchester family wants you three to protect young mistress Tessie Winchester as she goes to the Bulian hills to harvest Dubian flowers."
"Is that all?" Brian asked with a raised brow.
This was something they didn't need to be paid to do since it involved a close friend, but this made it look even more suspicious.
"Yes..." Susan said with a nod.
"Well I don't think anyone is in opposition to accepting the commission, so we will take it…" Blake said after receiving nods from his team.
"I will inform the Winchester family about your decision." Susan quickly left the room to contact the Winchester family with the association's communication orb.
After a few minutes, Susan returned to the room. "They have agreed to pay 6k gold coins for the commission and the client will be here tomorrow morning."
"Thanks a lot, Susan. We will go and make preparations for the mission." Blake said as he tipped her 5 gold coins.
"Thank you very much." Susan slightly bowed as she couldn't hide her joy.
…
The next day at the agreed time, Tessie alongside Arnold arrived at the adventurer's association.
"Who would have thought we would meet each other so soon..." Blake said with a smile when he saw Tessie who was in a leather hunting suit that showcased her voluptuous curves with her shoulder-length hair tied up into a bun.
"Me too…" Tessie said.
"You know, you aren't meant to be paying us for something like this. We will be more than glad to help you out for free." Brian and Castiel nodded at Blake's words.
"The reason my master agreed to the young mistress plea to hire your party was because she trusts you guys, but even at that things are meant to be kept professional..." Arnold said with a stern expression as he reminded the trio that this was different from school.
"If everyone is ready, then let's head out?" Arnold said as he climbed into the carriage.
"Us?!" The trio asked in unison because the job description never mentioned protecting a butler.
"You don't have to worry; I am to stop at the safe point after the northern gate and wait for your arrival..." Arnold said.
After everything was clear, the carriage left for the northern gate and in less than 45 minutes they arrived at the edge of the safe point.
"Are you guys ready?" Blake asked.
'Let's hope things go well.' Blake took in a deep breath and exhaled before setting out for the Bulian hills.
The Bulian hills were a group of closely packed hills encompassed by the forest with heights ranging from 400ft to as tall as 800ft. Apart from the different beasts and herbs unique to the area, the Bulian hills were famous for a particular flower and that was the Dubian flower.
The Dubian flower had a similar structure as a hollyhock but instead of the pink petals and yellow pistil, the Dubian flower had purple petals and white pistil.
Among its numerous uses, Dubian flowers were one of the major ingredients when concocting antidotes for various types of poisons and venoms. To some a beginner alchemist like Tessie, it was a must-have ingredient.
'Let me guess he is following us?' Blake asked the system after the group was gone a substantial distance away from the starting point.
[Right from the moment you guys set out... Oh, 11 sklades are within range.] The system said.
"Prepare for battle, move into formation..." Blake said while drawing Reaper from its sheathe.
If this was when they went hunting, they could freely engage the enemy and easily wipe them out, but now they had to make sure no harm befell Tessie. So Blake stood at the front waiting to decimate anything that came their way, while Brian and Castiel stood by the sides to prevent any form of surprise attacks.
"5 sklades at the treetops, 2 below the ground, and 4 there, there, there and there." Using the system's detection range, Blake quickly made his team aware of the enemy's position.
"Brian use earth magic to prevent them from burrowing, we don't want surprises. Castiel use stealth to deal with those on our level, while I handle those on top." Blake injected lightning Mana into Reaper as he gave out orders.
"What should I do?" Tessie asked when Blake said nothing about her.
"Sit back and watch the show..." Blake said as he jumped into the air and propelled himself with a mini flame burst.