32 Chapter 32: Mission (2/2)
”Thanks.”
”Don't thank me yet.” The clerk waved me away dismissively. ”Go meet your new party.” She consulted her screen. ”They should be here any moment now.”
As it turned out, I had to wait about fifteen minutes before they showed up. None of them seemed pleased to see me, but academy rules stipulated that they couldn't just kick me out without a valid reason. And ”not liking him” was not a valid excuse to expel me from their party. Normally I would just find an excuse and quit, but I really needed the prestige points, so I decided to patiently bear with them.
”Isn't that the guy…the one President Alicia likes?”
”I don't understand why she likes him…he looks like a total loser.”
”Well…he did team-kill both the Crowley Academy's representatives and the Iron Fist Society within a week…”
”The first one was a fluke, and the Iron Fist Society are a bunch of weaklings. But I've seen him fight. He should be useful.”
The girls, in particular, seemed to hate me with a passion. Evidently they were upset about Alicia Violet paying some attention to me. As I said, there were quite a few unpleasant rumors floating around regarding Alicia's relationship with me, most of them completely untrue. That didn't stop the girls from hating me because of it.
The guys seemed more amicable, especially since they witnessed my match against two teams, where I went solo and still team-killed them both. Dan Xiao Gui extended a hand to me. I shook it politely.
”You know what the mission is, right?” Bei Pan Zhe asked, taking command. I nodded, but he went on to explain anyway. ”We've been asked to rescue a group of refugees from a pack of monsters north of Jing Tian City. They are refugees from Bi Nan Village, but an Emergence event occurred right outside their village, and now they are fleeing and seeking shelter from our city.”
Evidently he was the leader, especially from the way the others kept quiet and listened to him. I wisely did the same and watched as he drew a deep breath.
”And since there are children among the refugees, we have been asked to minimize any danger that would result from our rescue. I am aware that this is a combat mission, but the request stipulates that we avoid the pack of monsters as much as possible.”
I nodded silently. That was one of the reasons why I picked this mission. Without a party of my own, and being forced to go solo, I had thought it best to participate in a ”combat” mission where the conditions were to avoid combat with monsters as much as possible. If the mission had required me to hunt down all the monsters, I would most likely have refrained from applying for it.
”Unfortunately, the pack of monsters are roaming around the route between Bi Nan Village and Jing Tian City, and their numbers are enormous. So we have no way of avoiding them, unless…”
He trailed off, and exchanged a few glances with his group. Especially the girls, who looked at him meaningfully. I caught the exchange, but I didn't understand the meaning behind it. Rather, I was more focused on the mission at hand.
”You need someone to cause a diversion,” I guessed uncertainly. ”So while half of the group distracts the monsters, the other half will lead the refugees to safety.”
”No, not half.” Bei Pan Zhe leaned closer. ”Only you.”
”…huh? Only me? To do what?” my mind churned as I tried to digest what I had just heard. ”To cause the diversion?”
”That's right.” Bei Pan Zhe glanced at the two girls, who were smiling for some reason. ”I need you to act as bait to lure the monsters away…I mean, to cause a diversion, as you said. Do you have a problem with that?”
”Hey, wait a second.” Dan Xiao Gui raised a hand. ”You're asking Richard to lure the monsters away on his own?”
”Against a number of monsters from a pack of that size, we'll need everybody we can get to protect and escort the refugees. We're already stretched pretty thin, and we can't afford to provide more support, not unless we want to weaken our defense.” Bei Pan Zhe raised an eyebrow. ”Unless you're volunteering to be part of the diversion alongside Student Richard?”
”Uh…no…” True to his name, Dan Xiao Gui turned pale and shook his head fearfully. ”I'm not good with monsters.”
Then why was he participating in this mission? I glanced at him, but he refused to meet my gaze.
”How many monsters are there, exactly? The mission packet didn't state the exact number, but do you have an idea?” My question was valid. Bei Pan Zhe seemed to be talking as if he already had a rough estimation in mind.
”It's…quite large.”
I rolled my eyes at his flimsy attempt at evading my question. ”Do you have a rough estimate?”
”A…about…”
”Doesn't matter, does it?” Lavender cut in suddenly. She glared at me. ”Your job is to lure them away. We'll come back you up once we've safely escorted the refugees to Jing Tian City.”
”Really?”
”We are? Oh yeah! Of course we are!” Bei Pan Zhe forced out a laugh. I stared at him intently, worried by his reaction.
”We're wasting time here,” Daisy added. ”Every second we dawdle around, the refugees will be in greater danger. Let's go.”
”You're right. If there are no other questions, we leave immediately.” Bei Pan Zhe turned away and led the way.
I actually had a whole list of burning questions in my mind, but it appeared that I wouldn't be getting the answers, not from these guys anyway.