Kayden stared at the map for a second. Then his gaze went to Edgar. “When you said it’s ‘kinda far,’ I thought you really meant ‘kinda’ and not actually ‘pretty damn far.’”

Edgar took a swig of tequila and shrugged. “We took the job already. Nothing we can do about that now. The way there is safe anyway; I asked the receptionist about it.”

“You moron,” Cecily said, massaging her temples. “There has to be a way to back out.”

“Cancellations have a small fee,” Ava said from the couch, closing her book. “Raine didn’t sign yet, so it’ll be you three paying for it.”

“If we do it, though, will the job actually help us?” Kayden asked.

“Yeah. Depends on how well you do it, obviously. But most newbies don’t take hunting requests on their own because of the danger involved,” Ava said. “Also, Mirham is around New Berkeley, right?” Raine nodded in response. “Then take the Caesar Highway. It’s relatively level ground, so you should be able to get to Mirham in a little over three hours by bike.”

Everyone's gaze went to the clock on the wall.

“You’ll get back before dinner time if you go soon,” Ava said, opening her book. “Have fun.”

“Goddammit,” Cecily said.

“Also, leave through the south gate to stay away from Irin.”

“Got it,” Raine said.

“We’re leaving now?” Edgar asked.

“There’s a difference between ‘soon’ and ‘now,’” Ava said. “But leaving at two o’clock like you wanted to would be a bad idea. The sun will set before you get back to Rialis. Even on the Caeser, traveling at night is stupid.”

“Fine. We’ll go sooner, then.” Edgar finished his tequila. Raine stared at the empty bottle with apprehension.

Way to boost your odds of falling off your bike, he thought. You’ll get concussed by the tag team of gravity and the ground before we even see one goblin.

“Hold on,” Raine said. “You guys mind if I get brunch at the cafeteria first? I haven’t had anything all morning.”

“Don’t go biking for seven hours with an empty fuel tank,” Ava said, her eyes still on her book. “That would be stupid as fuck.”

“It sounds painful as fuck too,” Raine said. “So let’s meet downstairs in about an hour.”

“An hour?” Cecily said.

“Yeah, an hour.”

“What, are you going to eat a full-course meal?”

“After brunch, I’m going to buy some water and food to take with us later.”

“Okay,” Edgar said, heading to the kitchen. He spent a second rinsing out his empty bottle, put it on the dish rack, and went into his room.

Kayden soon left to go back to his apartment and prepare for the trip. Cecily did the same after spending plenty of time complaining about Edgar.

Raine went to the kitchen and grabbed some biscuits and cheese.

“No brunch at the cafeteria?” Ava said.

“Changed my mind,” Raine said, cutting the cheese on a board.

“Uh huh.” Ava hopped off the sofa and approached. “So, how are you going to deal with the drunkard?”

“I’m not going to do anything,” Raine said.

“Oh come on. You have to do something. The fucker could get himself killed—or worse, get someone else killed.”

“Three hours should be enough time for him to sober up and not fall over himself while trying to stab a goblin,” Raine said.

“And what if he decides three hours is too long to go without alcohol?”

“Then I’ll say something.”

“If he’s still drunk, tell him to try to punch you. Make him miss and stumble around like an idiot.” She sounded like she was only half-joking.

“Oh yeah, that’ll sure show him,” Raine said flatly.

“Anyway, just make sure he’s sober enough to fight,” Ava said, closing her book. “Here’s your job for this request: keep everyone alive.”

“Me? I can’t do much. Leave that task to the bow-master.”

“I’m not talking about killing goblins. I’m talking about talking. Plan shit out with the others, and don’t let Edgar rush in like an idiot. Be smart about things. Got it?”

Raine sighed. “Yeah.”

“Good,” she said. “Now pass me some cheese.”

She lingered for a while, going over the worst-case scenarios of the request and how to avoid them. When she left, Raine sat on the sofa to think.

First, let’s not die. That’s the backbone of any solid plan. He glanced at Edgar’s door. But goddammit, how is the guy not satisfied with how we’re progressing now? We should be far ahead of most other beginners. Is it because of Marco? Stanbury? Plain ego?

He sighed again. Yeah, probably ego. I doubt this request is going to go smoothly without Ava or June there to help us. Should we buy some extra armor or something?

Edgar’s door opened then. He came out of his room with his backpack in one hand and his sword on his belt.

“Let’s go,” he said. While striding to the door, he swayed and steadied himself with the wall. Then he continued toward the door later like nothing happened.

“We have 40 minutes before we leave,” Raine said.

“Fuck that. We’re going to kill those fucking goblins and climb the ranks.”

Raine let out a small sigh despite himself. “Right. Give me some time to get ready, then.”

“Hurry up.”

Raine got up from the sofa, and Edgar put down his bag. They heard a clink.

“Ah fuck.” Edgar went down on one knee, pulled out a bottle of tequila from his bag, and inspected it. “Huh. No cracks.”

Are you kidding me? Does this asshole want to climb up the ranks or climb up to heaven today? Raine took a deep breath. “Edgar, it would be great if you brought water instead of tequila.”

“What?” Edgar looked at him with a frown. “Why? My bag, my space.”

“I’m just saying it would be very helpful for the team if you brought water so you can drink without getting tipsy, in case we end up spending more time on the road than expected for whatever reason.”

“This is fucking weak. It might as well be water.” He took a swig of the tequila. “Yeah, tastes like water.”

He put the bottle back in his bag.

Dumbass. Raine took another deep breath. “Really, don’t bring alcohol.”

“Pfft. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I’m just telling you that it’s a bad idea.”

“Yeah, sure.” Edgar’s gaze went to Raine’s room. “Are you going to get ready? We can go without you.”

Raine frowned. “Edgar, we aren’t shuffling papers. We can die on the job.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Yeah, so why are you bringing a goddamn bottle of tequila?”

“Fuck off. Nothing’s going to happen if I have a sip on the way there.”

You’re a fucking moron. “You’ve had at least one bottle a day since we got here.”

“So what? You think I can’t control myself? I’m sane enough to not get fucking wasted.” Edgar picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Fuck you. I’m gone.”

He strode to the door, flung it open, and left.

What an asshole. Raine sat back down on the sofa. Good riddance, you drunken prick.

He stared out the window. A moment passed. Then another. And another.

Goddammit. He got up. I’ll be glad when I’m finally unchained from the moron next month.

He went into his room to grab his things.

. . . .

“My name is Lambert,” the bearded man said.

Blake shook his hand with a smile. Lambert didn’t return one of his own, instead maintaining the same slight frown he’d worn since he’d arrived. The expression remained unchanged when he shook Wang Yan’s hand.

“And I’m Kiefer,” the blond young man beside him said, wearing a fake smile that barely reached his eyes. “It’s a true honor to meet the two of you.”

Typical of Xiyashi, Blake thought while he shook Kiefer’s hand. These two don’t really give a damn.

The four of them took their seats. Four cups of coffee sat on the table between the two pairs.

“So, where’s the second team?” Wang Yan asked.

“They aren’t here?” Lambert said with surprise. “They should have arrived first.”

“It’s possible they ran into some great orcs on the way,” Kiefer said. “But I’m sure they’re fine. They’re astounding hunters.”

“I see,” Blake said. “In any case, I hope the journey here wasn’t too difficult for you; I’ve heard that the Light’s Pass has grown dangerous recently for even Rank A hunters.”

“We were lucky,” Lambert said. “We heard plenty of dragons but encountered none.”

“We killed more than our fair share of orcs, however,” Kiefer said. “A handful of great orcs as well.”

Blake nodded and drank from his cup coffee while he watched the two Xiyashi hunters. Lambert, who was the team leader, looked like he was in his late-20s, while Kiefer seemed about half a decade younger. The former’s greater experience showed in his demeanor. He seemed far calmer than Kiefer, who was clearly nervous despite his efforts to appear composed.

Wang Yan unfolded a map of Rialis and put it in the middle of the table.

“Our time is valuable, so let’s get to it.” With a pen, she pointed at Irin Forest on the map. “We need you to spend a day or two cutting down the number of elite goblins in the Irin Forest.”

Lambert nodded. “And afterward?”

“You’ll go to New Annapolis and do the same thing at the South Forest. Then you’ll remain at New Annapolis until we need your help.”

“So we’ll be on standby,” Kiefer said.

“Yes,” Blake said. “Would that be an issue for your team?”

“Well, we would prefer to have a more active role in protecting Rialis,” Kiefer said. “That’s why we’re here, after all.”

“Castle Norma or Castle Mary would be better,” Lambert said.

Odd, they don’t strike me as the battle-hungry type, Blake thought.

“That’s too close to Blackheart,” Wang Yan said. “Xiyashi wouldn’t be happy about it.”

“We sent a letter to Xie Yong a few days ago about our plans,” Kiefer said. “He gave us the okay.”

“I see,” Blake said. He doubted Kiefer’s words. “But still, Norma and Mary are too dangerous. If you want to go west, I’d much prefer if your team stayed near New Berkeley.”

“New Berkeley...” Lambert said contemplatively, looking at the map. The city was halfway between Rialis City and Castle Mary.

“That should be fine, right?” Kiefer asked him.

Lambert nodded. “Then we’ll take care of the elite goblins at the Irin Forest immediately and go to New Berkeley.” He chugged his coffee and stood up. “We’ll be on our way now. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Collier, Ms. Wang Yan.”

“Wait, you’re going to Irin now?” Wang Yan asked incredulously. “Aren’t you tired?”

“To be honest, we’ve been incredibly bored on our way here,” Kiefer said with a smile. “After the Light’s Pass, our journey was uneventful. We’ve been looking forward to fighting some monsters for a while now.”

“Then we won’t hold you up,” Blake said, getting up and extending his hand to Lambert. “Thank you for coming to help Rialis.”

Lambert shook his hand. “It was only because Hopkins and Shields paved the way that our Guild was able to grow to where it is now. This is the least we could do to repay you.”

The two Xiyashi members left the room, and an attendant led them to the stairs.

Wang Yan downed the last of her coffee.

“They’re completely unconcerned with helping us,” Wang Yan said. Her empty cup hit the table. “I wanted to punch that Kiefer bastard. So fake.”

“What’s so interesting about Mary and Norma?” Blake wondered aloud, ignoring her words.

“Important, dangerous, right next to Blackheart.”

He nodded and continued to think.

“Maybe they want to see Hopkins’ strength.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Anyway, why did you tell them to go to New Berkeley? You could have just told them to screw off and go to New Annapolis.”

“It’s possible they aren’t actually interested in Mary and Norma. From Rialis City, you have to take the Caesar to New Berkeley to go to either castle.” At New Berkeley, the paths to the two castles diverged. “It’s possible that’s where they’re actually interested in going.”

“Huh. I guess it’s possible,” she said, staring at New Berkeley on the map. “I’ll have Kim Jun-seo trail them.”