Chapter 48: The First Mission

“Damn you, bastard!” In his daze, Rod heard some cursing. Vaguely, he felt someone helping him open the door and carry him to the bed, while complaining.
“Heh, who are you? Let go… I haven’t had enough yet. Go back… go back and keep drinking!”
Opening his blurred eyes, he barely made out that it was Ada helping him. Stumbling, he pushed her away and complained. Even then, his heart still trembled slightly—being held by her had made most of his drunkenness vanish.
“Hmph, go to sleep properly. Everyone else is resting. With whom did you drink? I’m telling you, behave yourself at night, or don’t blame me if I get harsh!”
Watching the drunk Rod, Ada frowned and cursed angrily at this damned guy.
With blurred eyes, Rod got rid of Ada, who resembled a rabbit, and muttered to himself as he lay back in his bed, soon falling into deep sleep.
Looking at the soundly sleeping Rod, Ada’s expression was complex. This guy’s arrival seemed destined to bring huge changes to her life. She studied his face carefully, filled with endless confusion.
…
“Rod, get up, you idiot! You’re still sleeping!”
In his daze, Rod felt someone shouting loudly in his ear, pulling at the hem of his clothes.
Frowning slightly, he turned over, pulled the blanket over himself, and continued sleeping, unaware that hateful eyes were watching him.
“Damn you, get up! I told you not to drink so much yesterday. If you want to be late or miss your first mission, keep sleeping!”
A strong force pulled back the blanket, almost knocking him over. Reacting quickly, he heard a furious roar by his ear—the sharp sound made Rod break into a cold sweat.
Opening his sleepy eyes, he glanced back in confusion. A shiver ran through him as he saw Ada standing by his bed, glaring at him fiercely, her eyes blazing: “Cough, cough… What time is it? Damn it, I overslept! Get up now!”
Realizing what was happening, he quickly avoided those beautiful eyes, feeling cold—he was only wearing underwear. He didn’t remember when he had taken them off yesterday.

“Surely it wasn’t taken off by that damned guy, did he take advantage of me while I was…” His heart trembled as he quickly put on a piece of clothing, his face turning pale. Rod hurriedly got dressed and jumped out of bed.

“Hmph, hurry up. We’re leaving soon!” Ada glanced at Rod disdainfully and spoke slowly before walking toward the door, leaving a silhouette behind the stunned Rod.

Rod didn’t notice that Ada’s face was slightly red. If he had seen that, it would only have made him more panicked and confused.

“Damn it, how could I forget even this!” After seeing Ada leave, Rod slapped his own head and muttered in frustration. Today was his first mission since joining the Windy Mercenaries, and he had almost missed it.

Cursing his forgetfulness due to drunkenness, Rod quickly prepared himself, packed his few meager belongings, washed up hastily, and headed for the hall.

Outside, he checked the sky—it was still early. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he wouldn’t be late. He quickened his pace and soon arrived at the hall.

At that moment, almost all members of the Windy Mercenaries were already there, having breakfast.

When they saw Rod, they nodded greetingly and continued eating their simple breakfasts.

After finishing quickly, everyone burped contentedly, waiting for Randy to give orders.

“Haha… Everyone’s here early. Good. Well, since we’re done eating, let’s get ready to leave. This mission might be simple, but we can’t take it lightly. As always, our duties remain the same. It’s not our first time traveling to the capital, so I doubt I need to say much. Just be careful! Alright, let’s go!”

Sure enough, in no time, Randy’s cheerful voice was heard, followed by his tall figure appearing before them. After his laughter came his rough voice.

“Hehe, Captain, when have we ever disappointed you? Don’t worry, it’s a piece of cake. Captain Bruce really got himself a great job this time—high pay for escorting those people to the capital. Hehe, such missions are rare!”

After Randy’s words, a young man around Rod’s age stepped forward. With his peculiar appearance, it was hard to imagine that he was one of the key fighters in the Windy Sword Mercenaries, a top-tier warrior.
“Bit, stop joking around over there. I know you well. Be more careful—simple tasks are the ones that often go wrong. Enough talk! Bruce and Colore have already met with the employer outside the city. Let’s hurry over!”
Looking at the thin Bit with a mix of scolding and amusement, Randy spoke boldly, clearly in a good mood.
It made sense too—according to what they learned yesterday, the bounty for this mission was as high as 500 gold coins. Such a reward for such a task was indeed astonishing! No wonder everyone was in high spirits.
What’s more, the employer even had a escort of hundreds of men for this mission. Hiring them was probably just to do menial work. Such a task must be rare, which showed that the employer was quite wealthy.
Rod secretly agreed with Randy’s words. Indeed, although the task seemed simple, it couldn’t be taken lightly. Problems could arise easily, and that would be troublesome! Especially at this moment, Rod felt something strange—a strong premonition warning him that this task wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
With a loud shout, led by Randy, the dozen or so members of the Windy Sword Mercenaries picked up their prepared bags and headed for the exit.
Naturally, they left under the reluctant farewells of many of their family members. Many of them had families back home, and their departure meant their loved ones would be left worried.
Walking through the bustling Blue Ice City, the group didn’t draw much attention. It wasn’t because they were few in number, but because such scenes were common in this town full of mercenaries. With countless groups of mercenaries coming and going, people had grown accustomed to it and paid no extra attention.
Even along the way, Rod encountered many other mercenary groups heading out on missions. Out of courtesy, they simply nodded at each other, while some even passed by without even saying hello.

Crossing two streets and heading straight along the main road inside the city, after about an hour, the group arrived at the northern gate of Blue Ice City! Looking at the gate, which was over ten zhang tall, Rod couldn’t help but marvel—truly befitting a great city, completely different from Blaze City, incomparable at all.

The gate was crowded with people at the moment. After a long wait, they finally made it outside Blue Ice City. From afar, they saw a fully armed group stopping to rest and prepare! It was a dark mass of about five or six hundred people! When they saw Rod and his group appear, two figures rushed out from among them, shouting and waving.

It was Bruce and Colore. Seeing them, Rod was stunned. He took another close look at that large group—fully armed, and most importantly, they seemed to be wearing imperial army armor, yes, actual military armor. It was indeed a organized army.

Seeing this, Rod’s brows furrowed involuntarily—it seemed nothing was as simple as he had imagined.

Like Rod, the others also frowned upon seeing this situation. They hadn’t expected the person they were escorting to have such significant connections, capable of mobilizing such a large army as a guard force. Their presence now seemed a bit redundant; they seemed to be officials.

Working with such people was the last thing mercenaries wanted—there were many rules, and no room for mistakes, otherwise, they’d face endless trouble. Seeing this, they understood why the employer had offered such a high salary. But if there was already an army to handle things, then what was the need for mercenaries? After all, ordinary bandits and robbers, upon seeing the attire of this group, wouldn’t even think of causing trouble—they’d have fled as far away as possible!

Bruce quickly ran over and, with a helpless expression, explained the situation to Landy and the others. It seemed they hadn’t been hired by these people directly but by someone else. He patiently explained everything to everyone.

It was just a task requiring them to assist the army—nothing too complicated. Since they had already accepted it, they had no choice but to go through with it. Besides, the hefty payment made it hard for anyone to give up such a task.