The warrior had leaned away a little in that instance. Jimmy's machete had chopped into his shoulder.

"Tsch." The warrior pulled out the machete from his shoulder. Walking up to Jimmy, the warrior slammed his head against the tour guide's head.

Jimmy collapsed onto the ground. Just like that, this sneaky tour guide was knocked out.

3 C-ranks vs. 3 C-ranks.

Berrystone: 0; The bandits: 3. And the three bandits were still healthy.

To the tourists, they could barely catch what had happened. All of this happened too fast!

Now, the scent of blood was in the air.

Seeing this result, some tourists started panting. Looked like they were having a panic attack. Some started weeping in denial. Some were sweating in this cold weather, sneakily stepping back.

Jeff sighed. Walking to the roadside, Jeff picked up a stick.

"Now." The warrior's gaze brushed through the scared tourists. "I will need everyone on that bus to get out."

"Actually. I'll show some respect to the elderly. Anyone over 50 can stay in that bus. It is cold here after all."

"Men squat on my right."

"Ladies on my left."

"I will count to 20."

"Oh? We still have a fighter." The warrior's gaze turned to Jeff.

Snapping little branches off the main branch, Jeff sighed.

'You know I don't do escort missions. I guess I'll have to do my first escort mission here, for  free.'

'Also, by the looks of it, breaking through under death threat still varies from person to person. Depends on how much unexploited potential that person has left. Maybe. Is there a way to build up potential though?'

Dropping the branch bits onto the ground, thinking of something totally unrelated, Jeff walked out of the tourist group.

"Yeah! We can't just give up!"

"We outnumber them! We'll kick their ass!"

[ Flight | Fight ]

A switch seemed to have turned.

"Take my bristles." Spellbreaker uttered out those words while panting. "And. Someone. Take my shield and sword."

"Take my dagger." Red Fang stared at Jeff.

"Use mana weapons against these guys?" Jeff chuckled and shook his head. "They still have a long way to go."

"That's some big words." The half-naked warrior swung his broadsword at Jeff.

Pa!

Yet, Jeff's wooden stick made impact first.

The warrior's head turned to the side. A red mark was visible on his cheek. His eyes rolled up. Stumbling backwards, this guy collapsed onto the ground.

Three rays of light shot towards Jeff. At the same time, Jeff felt a tickling sensation on his forehead.

If Jeff was a C-rank, he'd lose consciousness for an instance. And those bristles would end his life.

However...

Those three rays suddenly changed courses near Jeff. Piercing into the ground or trees nearby.

The air in front of Jeff exploded into a gust, offering the bandits a hint of Jeff had done. Yep. Jeff deflected those projectiles with his stick.

Boom!

Clusters of wood, snow, and mud rained down.

'Shield.' Jeff slammed forward.

"Hiiiiaaaaahh!" Wearing a pained face, the psychic-type bandit squatted down while holding his head.

"What the f~" The last bandit stumbled back. Without hesitation, he drew out his dagger with one hand, and another three bristles in the other hand.

"Alright, nighty night." Jeff suddenly appeared by the dude.

Slap.

The dude fainted and collapsed onto the snowy ground.

The crowd fell silent.

"Forcing your protection target into saving your asses." Looking at the two escorts, Jeff shook his head in utter disappointment.

Grabbing a red potion from the big guy, Jeff tossed it at Red Fang. Then he threw another red pot at Spellbreaker.

"This is not the time to be frugal. Drink up."

Potion drops sold for astronomical prices for a reason. In minutes, these two had totally recovered.

Leaving these two to their jobs, the two escorts quickly finished their investigation.

The tourists had gathered up outside the bus now. Surrounding Jeff, they seemed to have elected Jeff as their temporary leader... Without asking for Jeff's opinion...

"We have trouble." Red Fang came back. "These guys are only scouts. We need to retreat out of this bandit territory ASAP."

"We can't do that." Spellbreaker disagreed. "It won't take long for the other bandits to notice what has happened. We weren't stealthy and quiet either."

"We can only drive 20 miles per hour." Spellbreaker continued. "But even us C-ranks can ran faster than that. They will track us down, attack us by surprise, and then tire us out like a pack of wolves. I say we bring the fight to them! With the element of surprise, we still stand a chance."

"Take the fight to them? Can you even locate them?"

"At least this way, we still stand a chance!"

Red Fang shut up and looked at Jeff. Spellbreaker turned his gaze as well.

Everyone had their eyes on Jeff now.

"I work alone. Even if it's volunteer work." Looking in one direction, Jeff sighed.

"Are you mad? It's an entire camp of bandits!"

"Their scouts are C-ranks. There's definitely high-ranking fighters in there."

"Just because you are a B-rank, maybe A-rank, it doesn't make you invincible! We are counting on you as our trump card!"

The two escorts started to complain. The tourists quickly followed.

Jeff sighed and pointed to his ID. "Jeff Norman. Rings a bell to anyone?"

Silence...

Jeff looked around. They just looked at Jeff with clueless eyes.

"No?" Jeff sighed. "I also go by the name... the Mission Machine, of the sanctuary..."

"You are the Mission Machine? We are saved!"

"No wonder you are that strong!"

"Oh! You are the mission machine! I'm a huge fan of yours. Can I take a photo with you?"

Some chefs and judges didn't know Jeff's title either. However, looking at the celebrating atmosphere, they became relaxed as well.

The dissatisfied and complaining gazes from the two escorts disappeared.

The gap between them was too big. They couldn't even feel jealous or irritated by Jeff's arrogant... no. CONFIDENT demeanor anymore.

If your friend made $14 hourly, and you made $12 for the same job, you might feel jealous. But if your friend is a CEO making 8 digits, and you make $12 an hour... How the heck did you guys become friends in the first place?!

Their gazes quickly turned into awe and respect. Then a deep shame, as if their boss had caught them messing up red-handed.

"You guys can come and watch. However, you know my motto. No escort missions. I won't be protecting you guys."

Jeff scanned the perimeters one last time. "No monsters around. But if they do appear."

Jeff tossed a scroll to Alice. "That should take care of it."

Leaving these words behind, Jeff walked up the hill, quickly disappearing into the mist.