"Congratulations. That concludes the accelerated training course prepared for you all. You passed."

A large buff man put down a large practice shield and nodded with approval.

/Special quest progression

*complete the standard training course (7:29:12 remaining) completed

1/11 objectives completed

Reward:

+5% to each base stat

Reward granted

Series of messages have popped up and the first-timer disappeared from the upper right corner of Mika's vision.

"Oh, thank the system..."

Mika breathed out and plopped on her butt right where she stood, exhausted both physically and mentally.

Even though their group was allotted both time and place to sleep, the ashen-haired girl wasn't able to sleep even a wink, which resulted in the state she was now in.

She sighed, pulled her knees up, and hid her face.

At last, all the so-called training was over.

Honestly, Mika couldn't really see a point in any of the exercises that they were put through by the instructors.

The only thing she was sure of, was that every single one of the Sloth soldiers, including the recruits, was better suited and prepared to complete the horrible special quest.

With her head still down, Mika glanced at the first of the remaining ten timers.

(31:28:44)

Her body shivered uncontrollably.

Thirty-one hours and twenty-eight minutes - that's how fast will she and her companions have to face the first wave of monsters.

No.

That's how much time they have to repel the first wave of monsters.

In the past few hours, they were briefed about the strategy the Sloth soldiers use while guarding the border.

The frontline was divided into three lines of defense.

The first one, the one at which the most fighting took place, was an area where squads of close combat-oriented Sloth soldiers were chasing down the passing titans while the gunners were raining hailstorms of bullets to stop the monsters from ever approaching.

Every titan-class monster was extremely aggressive and the confrontation with at least one would occur once every two or three hours at minimum.

It was worth mentioning, that the Sloth soldiers on the first line very rarely got to kill any titan-class.

Those monsters were actually much smarter than they looked and every bit as tough as they looked, so they would manage to retreat before the first line soldiers could deliver a decisive blow.

Even if the squad wanted to kill a particularly aggressive and stubborn titan-class, another titan-class monster would arrive at the spot and help the first one escape - despite the support of the artillery from the third defense line.

One could say they served as a bumper for the titan-class monsters to bounce off of.

The second line of defense was composed of a combination of traps, pillboxes with powerful stationary heavy machine guns laid thickly as well as tens of miles of barren land where the sea of mist was the thinnest which allowed precise aiming for the deadly bombardment from the artillery cannons.

If the titan-class monster was to breach the first line and push its way into the second line, the duty of the remaining Sloth soldiers from the first line would change from stopping the monster from passing through to stopping the monster from retreating.

The second line of defense was the killing ground that the titans almost never escaped alive.

The third line of defense was composed of nearly countless batteries of artillery protected by walls spiked with heavy machine guns and all available spare personnel ready to support the soldiers from the first and second defense line.

In the long history of Sloth soldiers protecting the Fruit Salad, no titan-class monster was ever able to come close enough to pose an actual threat to the third defense line equipment, not to mention actually breaching it.

But according to the - Final frontier - quest, that could no longer be the case, and it was up to Mika, Corvus, and the three bodyguards to prevent the disaster that was supposed to be too much for the Sloth soldiers to deal with.

But will they actually be able to do that?

The burden of the responsibility that was pushed on their shoulders was honestly way too much.

Especially for young Mika, who didn't even agree to start the quest on purpose.

If she was alone, she would probably scream and cried for hours over the blatant injustice that she had to face.

If only she used different words while talking to medic 7, the system wouldn't misunderstand the as an agreement.

That's why now, instead of screaming and crying, the ashen-haired girl just wanted to punch herself.

"Miss, you should get some rest while you can."

Ti approached the ashen-haired girl and sat beside her.

Even though the copper-eyed woman was level 99 - which was the maximum level that a player character from the southern territories could achieve, she was just as tired as Mika.

"That tamer girl never joined our training, did she? She probably hasn't received that stupid special quest."

Mika raised her head and sighed, even though that was only her own guess.

"Lucky..."

She murmured, leaning her head against her own arm.

"Not at all."

Ti shook her head and laid down on the ground.

"When I disguised myself and went around to gather some information, I learned that miss Hope did get the - Final frontier - quest just like us, but considering the difference between our vocations, she was put under a different training regime together with her tamed monsters."

The copper-eyed woman explained in a low voice.

"What? Seriously?"

Mika gasped and looked at the bodyguard in shock.

"Not only that, it seems that they are treating her way better than us, like, as if she could actually be useful. I learned that she will be dividing her monsters too. She, the griffin, and one of the wolves will come with us to the frontline, while the rest of her tamed monsters will go with those guys."

Ti explained and motioned with her chin at the dour Dandelions standing a few feet away.

"Well, she is a tamer who controls really rare monsters, so it's not that odd, I guess..."

Mika nodded and looked at the adventurers.

"Wait! I almost forgot! Before they go, we should ask them about lady Cranberry!"

Mika gasped as she finally remembered the original objective her group went on a journey for.

"I have already done that. They have said that they don't know anything beyond what they have already told the investigators sent by the royal family."

Ti clapped her legs together and reported.

"O-oh... I see..."

The ashen-haired girl flinched and slouched slightly dispirited, she was actually hoping that she could distract herself from the terrifying reality even for a little bit, but, well, that didn't happen.

Ti looked at her with worried eyes, then she quickly glanced at the Dandelions, particularly at the tall, black-haired elf.

"But we can go and ask them about it together. Maybe they will be more willing to talk to you."

The copper-eyed woman said and stood up.

"Can we?!"

Mika gasped in disbelief and also got up.

"Sure, sure."

Ti nodded and got up, then they both walked towards the four adventurers.

The warrior was the first one to notice their approach, and he budged the elven mage in the side and whispered something in her ear.

The black-haired elf's ears twitched, and she turned towards the two, tilting her head curiously.

She even blushed a little!

Mika furrowed her brows and glanced at Ti, but there was absolutely no change in the way the copper-eyed woman acted.

"I know you have already spoken with Ti, but..."

The ashen-haired girl moved in front of the female bodyguard and said instead of a greeting.

"Young lady, we have already told your friend, and the people sent by the royal family, everything that we knew. Honestly. One of the investigators even had a skill that allowed him to recognize when someone was lying. Everything is in the report."

The rat-faced man interrupted her in the most politely impolite way possible.

"But...! I'm not saying that you were lying to the investigators, but maybe you just forgot about some detail, or maybe..."

"Everything."

Mika tried a slightly different approach but was cut off instantly, with just enough passive-aggressiveness to not be perceived as offensive.

"...!"

The ashen-haired girl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

The short man was getting on her nerves for a while.

The rude, arrogant way he treated and talked to the instructors and the higher-ranked Sloth soldiers that were around his age that passed them during training, was completely unjustified in Mika's opinion.

That, coupled with her own anxiety about the approaching wave of monsters, ended up mixing together and ended up erupting as a brief outburst of anger.

"What is your problem?! Everyone is just trying to do their best but you think you are so much better than them!"

Mika shouted, stomping her foot and causing a small tremor.

"That is entirely not your business, young lady. Now, if you excuse us. There are plenty of crates with supplies that we were officially hired by the higher-ups to retrieve."

Shanks bowed his head to the furious girl and turned around.

He waved at his comrades and the four of them have left the area without looking back - except for the black-haired elf who did glance back at the copper-eyed Ti one last time.