90人人模人人爽人人喊

Sol spoke plainly. "Kerman city sent word that they will help with the rebuilding efforts. They should arrive in two days’ time. We would stay and help out as well, but we must get going."

Famner nodded in understanding. "You needn’t worry about us. You have done more than enough for us already."

The mayor believed their squad had already gone above and beyond for their town. Even though their entire town was pillaged and they were all captured, not a single life was lost. He couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

The armless Grahan agreed. "All that’s left is to rebuild our home, and we don’t need you for that. I’m sure there are more important things your team should be doing."

Though the temporary guildmaster worded it bluntly, the rest of the town leaders agreed. They no longer required their strength. The bandits had been taken care of, and the orcs weren’t coming anytime soon. Though there was still the issue of the majority of the town’s fighters being crippled for life, that was the town’s problem to solve. None of them expected Sol and his squad to cure them as very few people were able to do such a thing.

Sol nodded. He personally wanted to stay longer and make sure no other threats appeared, but there was another important mission waiting for them. He couldn’t delay it any further.

"I hope the recovery efforts go well. We will head out the moment Rex returns with the carriage."

They all bid each other farewell, and the squad went outside the fort to wait for Rex, as it wouldn’t take long to bring the carriage from Chilton. Twenty minutes later, Rex arrived, and they all set off towards the Orna Mountains to complete their original objective.

While in the carriage, Sol asked Duncan if they had received word from the Royal Knights yet regarding the tunnels.

Duncan shook his head. "No. Grand Knight Lawrence and Commander Zaman are currently busy putting out some fires, and it’s too big of a decision to decide what to do without them."

Aron, curious as ever, asked, "Fires? What’s happening in the capital?"

"Not sure. They only told me that the two of them are meeting with a group of nobles to address some issues."

"We’ll have to leave the tunnels for another time then," Sol stated.

"If what you told me was true, then we should be sent to explore it later, right?" Nataly asked. She didn’t get to see the tunnel, but how they described it sounded really mysterious and interesting to her.

Duncan nodded. "Maybe. It could also be assigned to the Royal Army or be given to a nearby lord to explore. If we were the only ones that knew of it, then we would be able to go in with the Commander’s or a Grand Knight’s go-ahead. But since Chilton knows about it, word has likely already spread to nearby areas. I don’t know who will get the rights now; there’s even a chance it becomes a free-for-all."

While the tunnels were in orc territory, that wouldn’t stop the Kingdom of Crestelia from trying to explore it. After all, the two sides were technically at war, even though it was mostly the Frostaxe Clan invading the human kingdom. The tunnels were a complete mystery, but the fact they ran throughout the entire mountain range would lead many to believe it could hold great treasures and secrets. Many would jump at the opportunity to be the first to explore it, and even though Sol blocked the exit, it wouldn’t stop people from coming to find it or other entrances for that matter.

As their carriage made its way to the foot of the mountain, the hornsteads stopped under the shade of a tall tree, and the six of them got off the carriage.

Duncan advised them to stop here. If they went any further on the carriage, the orcs hiding throughout the mountains acting as border patrol would easily spot them.

Sol took out a map from his spatial ring and presented it to his squad. On it was drawn the entire Orna Mountains with a red circle near the southern area.

"This is the general area where they believe the material is at. Area-wise, it’s 50 acres. It’s a lot to cover, but we should be able to comb through it within a day. Rex, how far was your perception range again?"

"230 meters. I should be able to detect them way before they notice us. But if they are using something like [Invisibility], then it drops to 60 meters."

This range wasn’t Rex’s maximum vision range, as that was until the horizon, but his limit of awareness. Even if someone was hiding behind rocks or trees he could sense their presence from a ways away.

"Perfect, then let’s put on the coats and make our way up."

Everyone retrieved snowy white coats from their spatial rings. They were rare cloaks with only two skills: [Presence Reduction] and [Camouflage]. With the amount of merits their squad had, Sol wasn’t able to afford these cloaks at all, but luckily he didn’t need to. In mission details, they were allowed to use these cloaks for free. Normally, equipment wouldn’t be provided like this, but the importance of not getting caught was too high to risk sending the squads without some way to hide themselves.

The squad placed the hornsteads and carriage inside a cave Sol quickly made and began to make their way up the mountain in search of a legendary fruit.