88 Too Good To Be True (1/2)
Greyson went out the next day in search for some missions which would fit his means. Glancing through almost all of them, he could not help but furrow his brows. Why were they all so hard and taxing? The pay was not an issue and they were even offering more money than he would normally make per mission, however, they were too high which meant danger. Suddenly, Greyson felt stuck in a conundrum of whether to take the risk or to just go out on his own. Although making money was great and all, he wanted to be alive to receive it for the reward to mean anything. Nothing was more precious than life, right? After thinking it through, Greyson decided to take the notice for the relatively easiest mission. He thought that the reward was not so high that the danger would be beyond the level he could handle, and if, worse comes to worst, he would just ditch the mission and head to the Beast Empire on his own with his group. Their current power could not be easily overlooked. Greyson had powers equal to weaker magisters and Halcrem and Lucius both were equal to magister level magicians. With the rareness of magisters in outer human countries, Greyson was not particularly worried for their wellbeing. Bandits and other criminals could only hope their luck was not so bad to run into Greyson's group.
Walking back to the inn, he grabbed Lucius and Halcrem and hauled them over to the meeting spot mentioned on the notice. When he arrived, Greyson was surprised to see that the destination was a jewelry store! Seems that the danger during the transport was due to the price of the goods. Although caravans transporting food were usually the most targeted, precious jewels, especially magic stones, could sell for extremely high prices. The store was named Elegance. Impressed by the grand, yet classy, exterior, Greyson walked to the front door only to be stopped by a frowning guard.
”Name? Appointment?” Speaking just these two words, the guard coldly glanced at the rest of Greyson's group before directing his eyes back towards Greyson.
”My name is Greyson. I don't have an appointment...”
”No appointment, no entry. I do not recognize the name Greyson from the list of VIP customers.” Holding firm to the rules, the guard quickly interrupted Greyson without letting him finish. Peeved by the man's short temper, Greyson just squinted his eyes dangerously.
”I do not have an appointment but I am here to offer my services for the mission that was posted on the notice board in the city square. I saw they were hiring escorts to help guard a transport.” Stating his business clearly, Greyson then moved to go around the guard once more. Not completely convinced of the young boy's reason, the guard moved to stop him once more.
”What now?” Greyson looked over upset that this man continued to stop him.
”I need to see proof of your power. The escorts for this mission need to at least be advanced level magicians as said in the notice.”
”Proof?” Feeling that the request was not too unreasonable, Greyson allowed his mana to radiate outwards towards the guard. Sweat dripping down his face, the guard could feel a heavy pressure come down on him that originated from the boy in front of him. Shock clear on his face, the guard knew that the boy in front of him was actually an advanced level magician, perhaps even stage four or five. Respect appeared on his face as he no longer blocked the way and allowed for Greyson to go passed him.
”Follow me, sir. I will notify the master of your arrival.” Such a quick change in attitude was hard for Greyson to adjust to, so at first he just blankly looked at the guard. Lucius quickly poked his paw into Greyson's face to get his attention. Breaking out of his daze, Greyson nodded towards the guard and followed behind him into the jewelry store.
From all around him, Greyson spotted multiple different shining colors. He had never seen so many jewels and precious stones all at once before. After observing quietly as he walked up the different floors, Greyson realized that the first two floors contained normal jewelry for regular wealthy citizens or nobility, however the third floor and up contained jewelry decorated with magic stones. Each one was precious and had different effect. Looking at the expert craftmanship of each piece of jewelry, Greyson could not help but feel extremely impressed. Lucius and Halcrem barely even spared a glance towards such precious merchandise, completely unaware of its value. Sighing and shaking his head, he knew that jewelry did not usually have a strong impact on magic beasts. Some were born with a natural affinity and desire for such things like dragons. Eden's innate ability specifically came from this and allowed her to sense treasures in the surrounding areas. When he heard of the gift, Greyson felt slightly envious of such a useful gift. However, he knew that it wae a double-edged sword. Just like Lucius' gifts, Eden's abilities were the reason she was targeted and tricked into serving the Argentum family.
Wordlessly following, the group finally arrived at the topmost floor. After two large wooden doors opened, a large office opened up to them. The decor of the office was simple with jewelry identification equipment on one side and a large desk with a table and two couches in front of it on the other side. Eyeing the equipment, Greyson could tell that the owner of it was most likely a jewelry appraiser who tested the authenticity of the stones brought it. Their position was of paramount importance to any jewelry store because buying fake stones would cause a store to quickly go bankrupt. Moving his eyes toward the large desk, Greyson glanced at the figure sitting in the chair. The owner of the room was a surprisingly young man. His face looked around mid-twenties, however, the more powerful one was, the harder it was to determine true age. The young man had chestnut-brown hair and when he glanced up he showed his light green eyes.
”Charles, what is it? You know I do not like to be disturbed without prior notice.” A frown forming on his face, the young man completely ignored Greyson's group and turned to the guard who led them in.
”My apologies, master, however, this group is here to report for the posting about the escort mission. They already proved to me that they have the strength requested for in the notice.” Nervously bowing, the guard was quick to explain the situation.
”Hm?” Raising his eyebrow in slight surprise, it was at this moment that the man finally turned his attention towards Greyson. ”You are an advanced level magician?”
Inwardly rolling his eyes and complaining, Greyson decided not to say anything and directly showed his power. The young man's expression showed some approval, but his reaction was considerably mellow compared to the guard. Greyson knew that this young man must be at least a magister level magician from the ease which he dismissed Greyson's pressure.
”Hahaha, I apologize for all the testing. I just do not want to waste my time with liars and weaklings. Direct shows of strength are the easiest. Let me introduce myself, I am Wayne Tattersall. I am the owner of this branch of Elegance. There will be a trade going to the Beast Empire with a couple of rare jewels and stones that we received. Although there should not be any large issues, we do not want any bandits getting in the way so I decided to hire some people. Just make sure the packages get to the border and your job is done. There are guards waiting by the border to take over security. At that point, the packages are also no longer my responsibility so you will not have to worry about them.”
”If we run into serious trouble, I will run away and not protect the packages. Are you still alright with this?”
”Well, aren't you refreshingly straightforward. Do you think I would not expect as much from random hires I made? Of course, you are not going to lay down your life to complete this mission and I was never expecting you to. If you really have such bad luck as to run into those extremely strong bandits, I really would have nothing to say. I guess it would mean this trade was just not meant to be.”