Chapter 6：Setting Out

"Mr. Halle, do you believe that he can do it? He is only a mercenary, not even a warrior." They were sitting in the carriage, still outside Sean's house. Drouin's expression face turned very serious. It was not as cold as it had been when he was inside Sean's cabin. The previous change in the expression on his face was just an aristocratic method for ensuring one's superiority.

The expression on Halle's face was not as serious as the expression on Drouin's face. There was more uncertainty as he said, "According to my investigations, he did indeed emerge from the Starfall Forest. And now that things have reached this point, we do not have a choice. We have to trust him. If we are unable to deliver the goods within the time limit…"

"I understand." Drouin nodded and did not say anything more. "Then let us do things according to what he has planned."

After Halle gave the signal, the carriage that was sitting outside the door of Sean's house finally started to move.

Sean, who was inside the house, watched as the carriage left. The expression on his face was not as relaxed and carefree as it had been earlier when he was talking to Halle and Drouin. He knew very well that in this world, no one else understood the horrors of the Starfall Forest better than he did. If the commission had been to just pass through the Starfall Forest to head towards the Minord Region, then it would not have made Sean as nervous. After all, during the early stages of the game "Miracle," he had traveled through the Starfall Forest many times to sell goods in the Minord Region just so that he could evade taxes.

Therefore, Sean still remembered exactly how to pass straight through the Starfall Forest to go towards the Minord Region safely and effectively.

However, if they were to head towards the Portoroa Kingdom, then it would be very difficult to achieve.

"How about this? Maybe we should refuse this commission?" Cecilia's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Sean. "I don't like that fat guy anyways."

Seeing the slightly worried expression on Cecilia's face, Sean finally relaxed. "The commission is indeed a bit difficult to accomplish, but we can take this chance to seriously hurt them back. After all, we need the money right now."

"But even if we do not have enough money right now, are we not living a pretty good life?" Cecilia seemed to be trying to convince him not to accept the job.

"We might be able to live a good life now, but are you going to continue to be just an apprentice magician?" Sean rubbed the hair on Cecilia's head, and then smiled and said, "Your talent is very good, so I will not let you waste your time here. Although following me in completing these commissions can help you increase some of your real combat experience, it will also affect your meditation time and study time. So, to fill this gap, we need to get enough Magic Crystals to help speed up your cultivation.

Cecilia pursed her lips and did not say anything more. Sean could tell that she was still upset but understood where Sean was coming from.

She was very young, but that did not mean that she knew nothing at all. At the very least, Cecilia was able to tell who was sincere in terms of taking care of her.

"Also, the Portoroa Kingdom supports using the power of magic. Over there, we might be able to harvest even more magic materials." Sean blinked and added, "At an even lower price."

Cecilia finally giggled when she heard what Sean had said. He was relieved to hear it.

"Go and get ready. With the aristocratic background of that Halle, I believe that he will be able to make a decision within the next few days."

"I understand!" Cecilia nodded earnestly before she turned around and left.

Sean watched Cecilia's back as she walked away, and then he looked back out the window in the direction the carriage had gone earlier.

In reality, he still had one more thing to say. He needed a lot of experience points to help him advance. That was the only way he could live a better life in this world. After all, it was a world where the strong are respected. On the Miracle Continent, young people around Sean's age all were at least rank-two professions. There were even some so-called geniuses who had already reached a rank-four profession or even higher.

However, due to the problem of gaining experience points, Sean had been forever stuck at rank one. It made Sean feel a bit helpless. After he had completed the "Wandering Darkness" dungeon, his level had advanced to level six. However, if he wanted to advance to a rank two profession, then his level as a mercenary had to reach level 10, which was why he needed a lot of experience points. Sean knew very well that what limited his development was not the rank barriers that people feared. Instead, it was the "experience points" that people in this world could not understand.

Even though Sean did not know exactly how to get the experience points, after one month of training inside the "Wandering Darkness" dungeon, he had at least learned one thing: the more difficult the commission was, the more experience points he would be able to gain. Apart from that, it seemed that the experience points could also be gained from battles inside the dungeons.

As long as he knew about those two facts, Sean believed that he would soon be able to advance to level 10 and take up a new rank-two career.

It was also the main reason why he was willing to accept this commission. Another reason was that the Portoroa Kingdom was one of the few kingdoms located on the northern side of the Miracle Continent that relied on the power of magic. Therefore, to help Cecilia grow, he would have eventually needed to head to the kingdom at least once no matter what.

For the next couple of days, Sean was not busy with anything else. He and Cecilia were still doing what they were supposed to do. Of course, if any commissioners came to find Sean, he did not refuse them. Even if the commissioners requested Sean to find things like small cats and dogs, he was happy to do all of it. After all, as long as it was a commission, there were more than 100 experience points available to gain. The accumulation of small things to form something big was still pretty impressive.

In reality, there were many mercenary teams within Hadas Town. It was not that Sean did not want to join one, but rather that the mercenary teams looked down on Sean and did not want him to join. After all, the current rank of Sean's profession was only at rank one [Mercenary]. Therefore, he would not personally go and bring hatred upon himself. However, there were a few mercenary teams that had wanted to invite Cecilia to join them after they had heard about her existence. It was a pity that Cecilia had refused all of them and that they had started to resent both Sean and Cecilia.

But neither Sean nor Cecilia cared about any of those things.

The fifth day after Halle and Drouin had visited, Drouin finally knocked on the door of Sean's house at the crack of dawn.

"Are you all prepared?" Sean glanced at Drouin, who was already dressed in his military uniform, and asked him with a calm expression.

"I have already prepared everything. I just want to ask you, are you able to set off right now?" Drouin asked with a solemn and respectful expression. He was not as frivolous and impulsive as he had been when he had visited Sean the last time. He now exuded the air of a warrior and not the aura of an aristocrat. "If it is possible, let us set out right now. The others are already waiting at the edge of the Starfall Forest."

"Of course, we can set off right now." Sean nodded.

He and Cecilia had prepared everything a few days ago. When Sean saw the very serious expression in Halle's and Drouin's eyes, he had originally thought that it would only take them at most two days to come back and find him. He never expected them to return after six days. They must have believed the trip to be very important and serious.

There was hardly any time for small talk. Sean and Cecilia each took what they had already prepared with them and got into the carriage that Drouin had arrived in.

Very soon, the carriage started heading towards the Starfall Forest.

The Starfall Forest was not very far from the small Hadas Town. However, it was not very close either. Even though they had ridden a carriage there, when the three of them arrived at the edge of the Starfall Forest, it was already nighttime.

As soon as they got out of the carriage, Sean saw that a temporary camp had been set up at the edge of the Starfall Forest. After they arrived, they saw that many people in the camp were busy. From time to time, Sean could hear cheers ringing through the space. It was as if they were preparing for something. Judging from the situation that Sean saw in front of him, he knew that there were more than 10 people in the temporary camp. Also, there was a large number of goods and supplies stacked within the camp. It appeared like they were a medium-sized merchant group ready to set out.

The scene made Sean frown.

"This is just a cover for us." When Drouin saw that Sean had furrowed his eyebrows, he guessed what Sean was thinking. "Only 10 people will be going through the Starfall Forest, including you. However, I was not able to invite a cleric to join us on this trip. Therefore, apart from you, Cecilia, me and Mr. Halle, the other six people are three guards that Mr. Halle invited, two archers, and a warrior who knows emergency aid skills."

"Emergency aid?" Hearing the words, Sean wanted to know more information. Was the warrior actually qualified to do emergency aid?

"That is correct." Drouin felt a little bit strange about the response from Sean. However, he was not thrown off by it. "Since we're talking about it, I also know a bit of emergency aid. However, Old Pete is much better at it. He is a real warrior."

After hearing what Drouin said, Sean had a bit of an idea on what Drouin was indicating. The person who was known as Old Pete was not someone whose profession was a rank two [Warrior]. He could have been a rank three [Elite Soldier] or [Veteran]. If that were the case, then Sean would be more confident in this trip. He knew very well that being an elite soldier or a veteran were both regarded as tough existences among the same class of profession back then inside the game "Miracle." It was a pity that only NPCs could have a new profession.

Soon, under the leadership of Drouin, Sean was ready to meet with the six other people in the camp that would be going into the Starfall Forest with them.

However, the meeting process did not seem to be very friendly.

"So, you are saying that we have to follow orders from this kid throughout the entire trip?" A middle-aged man with a face covered by a large beard started to frown after he heard the introduction from Halle and Drouin. "He is just a mercenary! How can we trust such a greedy scum?" The man sneered at Sean.

Sean glanced at the wooden bow that the middle-aged man was carrying. Afterward, he turned around and looked at another middle-aged man who was around the same age. However, the middle-aged man was emitting a murderous aura. "What did you say your name was?" he queried.

"Pete," the man responded promptly. The middle-aged man looked at Sean with a bit of disdain. However, the habits that had remained with him due to the many years he spent in the army meant that he did not oppose any of Sean's commands. "They all call me Old Pete."

A touch of golden light appeared in Sean's eyes.