Again, Verity felt that Dawn locked eyes with him as he finished his introduction, but the moment was so brief that he dismissed it as nothing more than his imagination.

  “Let’s skip the small-talk,” Knight Jerin said, letting his heavy mace drop to the ground with a dull thud.

  As someone who’d gone through many of these missions with the region’s knight order, he was used to taking the lead, especially with inexperienced adventurers. His gaze settled on Hoshino, a no-nonsense look in his eyes. Perhaps he’d heard some of what had transpired before.

  “It’s good that we have a mage, but what exactly can you do?”

  Hoshino huffed, puffing out her chest. “Hphm! The elements over which I hold dominion are the winds of creation and the light of Justice itself!!”

  Jerin raised a brow. “Huh, Light you say? I haven’t heard that one before. And dual affinity?” He crossed his arms, nodding in approval. “Not bad at all. What about the basic spells?”

  Hoshino's smug smile seemed to dim for a moment. “...I can use …somewhat…” She covered her face with her hand, striking another pose. “However, it is only a matter of time before I master the others! Perhaps even in this very moment, I may unravel the mystery behind–”

  “Specialty?” Knight Jerin cut her off, unimpressed. “Offense? Defense?”

  Hoshino took a moment to recover from the interruption, but her cape soon began flipping behind her dramatically. “My ultimate power lies in the heavens themselves. Through them I–”

  “Enough. Answer the question.” Knight Jerin snapped with a click of his tongue.

  Surprisingly, that shut her up.. “...Mostly offense, mobility, and support…Sir.”

  The knight nodded then turned to Felicia. “A swordsman I presume? How good are you?”

  Felicia unsheathed her sword. “I prefer swordswoman.” A soft glow enveloped it, illuminating her surroundings in a deep blue hue. “Would you like to see for yourself?”

  A whistle escaped Knight Jerin’s mouth. He hadn’t expected to see Sword Aura from a Silver-ranked adventurer. “Impressive,” He admitted, a rare flicker of admiration in his voice. “I’ll be counting on you if anything stronger than a goblin shows up, though I don’t hope for it.”

  Felicia smiled, sheathing her sword with a click. “That wouldn’t be so unfortunate…” She mumbled inaudibly.

  It was now Marco’s turn. “You’ll stand back and protect the mage with me,” Jerin said without even giving him a chance to explain his abilities, much to Marco’s dismay.

  He opened his mouth to protest, but a glare from Jerin made him forfeit the thought with a resigned sigh.

  At last, Jerin turned his attention to Verity. “Can you use Spear Aura?” He asked immediately

  Verity scratched the back of his neck. “No… not yet.”

  Jerin, clearly disappointed, waved his hand dismissively. “No matter. Just do your best. I shouldn’t expect such a thing from a Silver-ranked adventurer in the first place.”

  Verity’s eyebrow twitched.

  [Your sponsor chuckles, ‘Sure you do’]

  Dawn intruded on the conversation, pulling Verity out of his thoughts. “And I’ll be the scout!” He announced with a boyish smile curling his lips. “I’m a thief after all,” He added, throwing a wink for good measure.

  Jerin ignored him, and without wasting another moment, he donned his helmet and ensured his large shield was properly secured onto his back.

  He then picked up his imposing mace from the ground and turned toward the entrance of the forest. “Unfortunately, we do not have a priest, so try not to get hurt.”

  With that, he stepped forward, a certain confidence in his step. “Should you feel any doubts, simply follow after me.”

  One by one, all six of them entered the Grintar Forest, heading toward the location the regional knight order had designated as ‘likely to contain a goblin nest’.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  —

  An hour or so had passed.

  The atmosphere shifted slightly as Dawn returned, emerging soundlessly from the shadows. After a thorough investigation of a suspicious cave entrance, he regrouped with the rest of the party and relayed what he had seen.

  His lustrous dark hair danced in the wind as he spoke. “I’m frankly not sure how they managed to get to guard the entrance, but it doesn’t seem like there are any traps to be wary of,” he told the group, a laid back inflexion in his voice. “We can probably just take care of them and waltz right in. I’ll leave that part to you lot.”

  Knight Jerin nodded, standing up from his crouched position. “I’ll draw their attention.” He glanced at Hoshino. “Spare your energy, mage. A handful of Ogres does not require you to intervene.”

  Hoshino smirked. “Hmph! So I see you recognize my greatness!”

  She retreated away from the Ogres with Marco at her side should anything attack her unexpectedly.

  Jerin then pointed to Felicia and Verity. “You two, with me.”

  Three humans promptly exited their hiding place, immediately drawing the attention of the Ogres. These creatures, tall in stature, stinking of rot, and of pale skin, snapped their heads toward the disturbance almost synchronously.

  The largest of the four growled, saliva leaking from the corner of its mouth.

  “GRRRR”

  It picked up its primitive wooden club with one hand and placed it against its shoulder. The rest of the Ogres followed after him, gripping their crude weapons with unmistakable madness flickering in their eyes.

  A smile curled their purple lips as many thoughts crossed their minds. It seemed the promise of quality meat that was made to them turned out to be true after all.

  “Lorlei Valalrei!!”

  With a simple glance, any thought Verity held of speaking to them, as he did with Thragnuk, completely vanished. He thought.

  These weren’t the kind of monsters that could co-exist with humans.

  Knight Jerin pulled the large shield from his back, and without saying a word, hit it with his mace as hard as he could. The wave from the impact traveled outward, and hit the Ogres with enough force to tug at the rags they used as clothing.

  “Come get me, you beasts,” Jerin muttered.

  As if he’d become the sole light in their world, the Ogre’s gazes fixated on Jerin, and they rushed toward him without thinking twice. Their hunger had been sharpened into single-minded rage.

  This was possible because of one of the basic skills of the Warden class, [Taunt]. It drew the fury of those designated as enemies by the user, and the higher the level difference was, the harder it was for the target to resist.

  For the Ogres, all they could do was to be utterly consumed by it.

  “RAHHH!!”

  Verity and Felicia raised their weapons. Since the Ogres weren’t paying attention to them, their work had been made far simpler.

  The large Ogre’s club collided with Jerin’s shield, but thanks to his second skill [Resilience], he took the blow with ease. What would have crushed any other adventurer felt like a child’s tantrum to him.

  Without hesitation, Verity and Felicia lunged.

  They aimed for the Ogres who lagged behind the largest one. Verity killed the first with a thrust between its eyes, and Felicia the last two with a single swing at their neck.

  [You have slain an enemy.]

  [You have gained Exp.]

  Knight Jerin finished it all with a crushing blow of his mace at the large Ogre’s skull. The monster stumbled for a moment, nearly earning Jerin’s interest, but after a few pained groans, it fell to the ground.

  Dawn whistled beside Hoshino and Marco, hands on his hips. “Wow~ That was easier than I expected. Are you sure these guys are only Silver-rank?” He wondered out loud.

  Hoshino smirked, pleased by his awe. “That is only natural!” She declared smugly. “I would expect nothing less from my valiant knights!” She patted Marco’s shoulder, or rather his elbow given the height difference. “I expect great things from you as well, Knight of Iron!”

  Marco pouted beside her, not even registering her words. “...I never thought I’d say this, but I want to fight too...” He mumbled.

  On the battlefield, Verity wiped the gray blood from his spear with one swift swing, and a smirk curled his lip as he glanced at the dead Ogre.

  Wiping away the blood in such a way was something he’d been practicing recently, and he was finally starting to get the hang of it. Plus, after disposing of the Ogres with such ease, doing so gave him extra style points, as per his grading scale.

  [Your sponsor rolls her eyes.]

  Verity’s cheeks reddened. He shouted mentally.

  [Your sponsor scoffs, ‘I see you’ve missed me’.]

  Jerin turned toward the cave entrance. “What lies ahead, scout?”

  The first battle had gone smoothly, so Jerin was feeling confident. He even hoped they could wrap this up before the suns rose.

  Dawn approached, his steps light, as a thief’s should be. “Nothing until the first opening. Then, it’s a goblin camp, and probably not the only one.” He leaned forward, pretending to peer into the darkness of the cave. “Hard to tell from here, but the cave is massive, a labyrinth almost. Maybe you’d like to send a proper reconnaissance party from the Guild first?”

  Knight Jerin thought.

  Goblins were notorious hoarders, and so their nests often overflowed with junk, but sometimes great treasure that they had unknowingly picked up found their way into the mix

  Of course, Knight Jerin had no interest in whatever treasure may exist, as he was only there to ensure the goblins were exterminated. Still… the Knight Order might have a use for them.

  Plus, if any treasures were discovered, the Guild would make it difficult for his Knight Order to retain control of the mission.

  With a determined look, he secured his shield onto his back. “Unnecessary.” He marched forward, heading straight into the cave. “Mage. Light.”

  “But of course!” Hoshino snapped her fingers, and four balls of light followed the group as they entered the dark expanse of the cave.