As new Platinum-ranked hunters, we needed to do our first job. The job Diplomat picked was a 'modest' one.

We were to scout out a pack of Magic Wolves to the southeast of the city, in the forest of Tov. We would need to travel by the road and we would get there at the mission area by nightfall of we departed now on foot.

The scope of the mission and the field where we were to search was quite vague. The pack of wolves was said to be always on the move and so the listing was always changing.

"Why did you have to pick the one where we have to travel far and wide?" Snake said with a face of annoyance.

"Well, Ghost doesn't mind, besides, we need to explore as much as the world as possible all the while trying to get on this Guild's good side," Diplomat explained.

We were given a crude and incomplete map of the region by the receptionist. There were other big cities further inland to the southwest but the mission was opposite of that. There was a small town we would pass through and we thought we'd make some money on the way by any means necessary.

It was after the examination did it enter my mind what the bigger picture was. If we were to only do things covertly, we would have a hard time gaining access to necessary information and connections needed for us to fulfill our mission of opening a stable portal on this world.

I now had a rough plan in my mind. First, we needed to distinguish ourselves to progress in the Guild at a rapid pace, afterwhich we would be then called by the Emperor or someone of high rank in the Empire.

The second part I overheard from the examiners. Without a doubt, this empire would love to use us if we do everything correctly.

Sigh..

Also, the receptionist explained to us that our plates were magical. If we killed a beast or a man, the plate would automatically suck the leftover magical essence of said beast or man and record it. This was to avoid fakes and unwarranted murders.

Well, we wondered if it would even work for us. The receptionist said it was passive and only needed a tiny ounce of magic but neither of has had magic.

We were given a crude and incomplete map of the region by the receptionist. There were other big cities further inland to the southwest but the mission was opposite of that. There was a small town we would pass through and we thought we'd make some money on the way by any means necessary.

Except for murder, since, well, the magic plates and all that shebang. We couldn't just take them off our necks you see, as long as we had a mission, we couldn't take them off or we risked being disqualified for said mission.

There were some farms along the way so we could ransack some storehouses and sell them off. Still, too risky.

The main reason we needed the money was to procure a carriage. Two carriages because we couldn't all possibly fit into just one carriage, we were too huge.

If we do so, our travel time will be cut short and we would arrive at our destination before night arrives. But.. there was another problem, how are we even sure that town had carriages?

I guess we could just bribe passing empty carriages? I doubt we'd even come across them in this area!

Sigh.. again.

Our options were too limited. I wished we had a vehicle but God damn it. How the hell are we going to conceal that.

And also, we were bringing along the little girl with us. We had no choice, we did not trust the people at the guild enough. She could possibly be sold again into slavery, taken advantage of, bullied, whatnot. The thought of these things happening to her plagued Snake's mind. I sensed her rage against this state grow each time she thought of it.

If one such thing were to really happen to the girl, Snake could, in theory, singlehandedly destroy that entire town on her own or massacre the entire guild.

Sigh.. again, of course.

[I have marked the location on the map. Everyone can now check by bringing up their radar]

Eva was extremely helpful. My rage against her evaporated already by the time we were pass the castle gates.

We drew gazes from everyone we came across. The guards, the townsfolk, other hunters. We were just too different and bulky.

Again, Yeti and me were hulking musclemen, at least Yeti had good manly looks. I, on the other hand, have this scar across my face, my bald head, and constant frowning as my looks.

Diplomat and Snake were the two 'normal-looking' in terms of body size. Diplomat was only 6 ft tall and so was Snake. Diplomat was devilishly handsome, fair-skinned, charming, you name it. Snake was, however, despite being a beauty, was a voluptuous and murderous egghead.

Sigh.. for the last time.

This is going to be a long mission.

The little girl walked by Snake's side while the other took the front and I took the back. From time to time, Snake would carry the little girl on her back, both of them enjoyed it.

We still haven't gotten anything new from her, but we were getting to know her faster than anticipated. She was more comfortable towards us than when she first woke up back at the ship. She was laughing, playing, talking about things and asking us questions, like any other child her age.

Though I still sense something dark lurking within her that brings a smile to my face if I could smile, sadly, I could not.

"4 kilometers before we reach that town," Diplomat said.

We walked by grasslands where we saw some livestock here and there, grazing on the grass. We passed by fields but there was nothing to harvest, the fields were either newly-planted or decimated, which was strange. Bad harvests maybe?

We then stumbled upon what seemed to be an abandoned farmhouse. The windows were boarded up, nature had been growing around the walls, cracks and termites infest the wood.

The four of us surrounded the farmhouse and scanned it for any irregularities. There was nothing inside, just two rooms and a few furniture.

"There is a bed in one of the rooms but there is something over it," Yeti pointed out.

"A corpse, maybe?" Diplomat said.

"Maybe, the shape is similar albeit small," Snake said.

We then decided to enter the house through the front door. The door fell backward as soon as Diplomat pushed it, a cloud of dust launched into the air, slightly obscuring our vision for a few seconds.

We all held our breathes until the dust cloud disappeared. The first room was nothing special, broken chairs, a dashed table, there was also a dagger stabbed onto a corner with a slab of rotten meat at the tip.

"They seem to have been murdered," Snake was the first time enter what we assumed to be the living room. There was only one bed. The sheets were dirtied, dyed a pool of dark red. Yeti confirmed it to be blood.

There were two rotting corpses on the bed which lied on each side. Judging from their external features, both were women.

"Their positions.. they were used here," Snake said as she drew closer to the bodies.

"Their bodies seem to be a week old at most, their skin is burnt and whatever fair skin left is bruised," Yeti said as he was inspecting the body on the left side.

"They don't look like farmers. This place must have been abandoned for awhile and these ladies were dragged here by someone, probably a group," Diplomat said.

I then sensed the frustration and anger building up within my team. I couldn't blame them. This was exactly what we promised to never again let happen but what can we do? We had just arrived in this world full of barbarians.

"Tch, there is no use. But let this remind us that the longer we delay our forces from crossing that portal, more atrocities by these barbarians will be committed without a doubt," Diplomat said as he took a dirty mattress. He then spread it over the bodies, covering them from the outside world.

We then got out of the house and headed back onto the trail without finding anything in it that seemed valuable to sell.

The little girl was really curious as to what we saw in there. At first, Snake hesitated to say it but she couldn't bring herself to lie either. And so, with encouragement from Eva, she told the little girl bluntly what we saw in a weird accent.

The little girl tilted her head to the right with a confused look on her face. She was completely oblivious of what the hell Snake was saying.

"Paraphrase it into something she could understand you bollock!" Diplomat complained.

"Okay, okay! I got this," Snake countered. As time went on, the little girl still did not grasp what dead bodies looked like.

"You don't got this," Yeti sighed.

I nodded in agreement.

"You fucking jerks," Snake said.

After an hour of trekking, we finally reached the small town which was labeled on the map as Torn. It was a small town located in the middle of a plain. It was surrounded by nothing but grass, no walls, no defenses, just buildings and a few janky trees.

There were a lot of people outside, however, which was quite a surprise. They all looked poor and neglected, the men were skinny and lacked muscle and the women were surrounded or were carrying children, or even both.

"Looks.. very rundown. The men over there look like farmers, carrying hoes and the like," Diplomat said.

"The fields across the grasslands have some harvest but.. the hell, this town is too impoverished," Yeti said.

"This wasn't in that fucking mission information!" Diplomat said.

One of the townsfolk saw us grumbling and staggered towards us.

She was an old lady, dressed in a pink cloth whom we assumed to be at least 60 years old, but our scanners said otherwise.

[The woman is actually 49 years old according to the biological scan]

"Whaa.." The team was left on a state of shock.

"Erm.. hello there, travelers.. welcome to Torn, as you can see, we don't have anything of value but some food and places to stay.. please make yourselves.. welcome," The woman said.

What a greeting.

"Eva, are you sure the translations right now are correct?" Diplomat asked.

[Confirmed]

"Alright then.. goodness. How the hell are we going to progress from here?" Yeti said.

"Eat, investigate and go," Diplomat said.

We then heard someone's stomach grumble. We slowly turned our heads to the culprit behind us.

"Hehe" the little girl blushed. She was hungry.

"Did you even feed her?" Diplomat asked.

"I-I did!" Snake answered.

"Clearly, it wasn't even enough," Yeti followed.

Literally a torn, as if the town was actually a torn on the Empire's side. Maybe it was.

"A rural area, low urbanization, farmland, good grief, this is a backwater town that serves only as a bait for monsters in the surrounding regions," Diplomat said.

And so, we asked the middle-aged lady to lead to the town's leader or mayor or whatever they were called in this region.

We were presented to a small man of only 4ft in height wearing a short brown leather tunic which I assume was really meant for a kid.

The man was trembling, he couldn't even maintain eye contact with any of us. I looked at my team and oh boy, although they did not mean it, they were looking down on the man with menacing expressions as if we were there to kill him.

Thankfully, they noticed just as the man was about to pee his pants.