Chapter 15: Chapter 14 Agreements And Negotiations
It was noon, the weather was clear and people were doing their daily activities: some went to the market, some went to the shops, others went to the taverns and the Guild office; today, instead, a crowd of people had gathered in front of the city gates to see the members of the expedition against the horde of orcs that was about to invade Salin, a small city that stood on the banks of the river and that based much of its economy on fishing.
In the city of Aster there were rumors that said that ten parties would take part in it, whose rank was between C and B, and the famous A-rank adventurer known as Dofus Thundering Hammer and his party would lead the expedition: he was known to be an ex-general of the army of the dwarven kingdom, but for a reason that no one had ever discovered had resigned and come to Aster to register as an adventurer and considering he was already eighty-six years old and, given the life expectancy of the dwarves of about one hundred and eighty years, for this reason more than once he had been considered by some as too old to continue his activity. It had taken him less than three years to make people think again when he faced a noble vampire alone, a monster of rank A, in his own shelter and had annihilated him with his weapon, namely a heavy hammer forged by a rare metal that only the dwarfs knew how to forge and strengthened with magic stones laden with electricity. Hence his nickname Thundering Hammer.
At this time the same Dofus was standing in front of the gate together with his party 'free spirit' formed by him, a woman with short brown hair who wore a priestess's robes and hold a staff, an elf armed with a long bow and some one-handed crossbows and finally a man in his fifties with a heavy armor and an imposing tower shield and a halberd.
Dofus was observing the members of his expedition and for some he had no good opinion at all: first of all was the party of Lefay Vanes, 'the blue roses', formed by her and her guards hired by her father; normally Dofus would have had no problem but that woman was too arrogant and a faithful one too 'zealous' of Fumina's faith, in other words he despised anyone who did not practice his own religion and was not of noble origins, he was sure he would cause not a few complaints but as long as she had obeyed orders he would have taken no action.
Dofus sighed in exasperation but, maintaining a professional attitude, he turned to the members of the expedition: " OK, I want your complete attention! we will leave shortly to head towards Salin, it will take a day to get there by wagons but considering that I want you all to be in force for when we arrive we will camp as soon as it gets dark and, once rested and arrived at destination, we will set up defensive positions around the place.
The guild's explorers have informed me that the horde is still finishing gathering forces and within three days it will attack, if we fail to stop it Salin will only be the first of other minor cities to be devastated; I do not expect you to love one another or make friends but now you are adventurers on a mission and here your grudges, ideologies and any feeling of superiority you can have with anyone have no weight.
I hope I was clear and now we don't waste time ... let's go! "
When the speech was over, the various parties headed towards some wagons large enough to accommodate an average of five people, Ichiro and his group headed towards one of them but as they were about to climb a person came to meet them and he recognized them; it was Jessica, Lefay's bodyguard and stood in front of him: "Ichiro adventurer, I introduce myself, I am Jessica Cray, captain of Lady Lefay Vanes's personal guards; I come here to make you a proposal: I think it would be advisable to join forces as unique respectable members of the C consignment of the expedition, obviously we do not expect you to do it for free and we have prepared a payment in exchange for your collaboration of sixty gold coins, half advance and half once the mission is concluded and returned to the city "she said maintaining one cold and impassive look.
Ichiro was surprised by the proposal, but this made him think: why exactly his team? it is true .. there had been some people who had proposed him to join their factions ... but it was still a C rank and in this expedition there were three well-ranked B party veterans ... there was something that didn't fit him.
He turned to the woman and said with a smirk: "I am honored that your Lady wants to offer me such an advantageous engagement, but I cannot help wondering: why really we? As you said, we are of rank C and in this expedition there is a party of rank A and three of rank B, it is curious that it came from us ... I almost think that the other parties have received my same proposal but have refused ... maybe your Lady is not much loved ".
This response was a blow to Jessica who, despite not showing any emotion, was infuriated by the boy's attitude towards Lady Lefay but could not even deny that he was partly right: the reason why he had chosen him it was because of rumors circulating that he had already completed various C-grade missions and two B-rank missions and, once this quest was over, he would have been promoted in record time; this made it a useful resource for many factions, including that of the Lefay family, which needed to show its superiority over the other noble families.
Jessica then decided to understand his intentions and replied:"it seems that there is a misunderstanding and therefore I dare to clarify, Lady Lefay is interested only in the result and not in the medium; the reason why you have been chosen is because you are not yet affiliated with any relevant group and if the items on your account are even partially true, you may find yourself a valuable item. If you accept and fulfill our request, I will try to introduce you to the most important members of the Vanes family and obtain a long-term engagement with us and I can assure you that the Vanes family knows well how to reward those who serve them ".
"ara ara ... it seems that we are more wanted than we thought, what do you think about Cattleya?" said Akeno with her typical smile. "oh dear ... I've never been passionate about politics and you know Akeno ... I'm just an adventurer and a blacksmith," Cattleya said, sighing.
Ichiro looked at them, amused, then turned to Jessica: "Well, the prospect of making money and getting in touch with the 'upper floors' of the city I don't mind, but I'd like to know more precisely what you would like us to do exactly for your Lady ... and let me tell you right away that if you expect us to bow down, call her 'My Lady' and carry her bags we will refuse ... we are adventurers, not servants or waiters. "
Jessica replied coldly "absolutely not ... what I want is that, once the fight has begun, you cede the merits for the enemies killed to Lady Lefay and that you cover your back to me and to the other guards from possible dangers. If my Lady should assume attitudes. .. 'problematic' with other adventurers I want your support and in the event that you turn to you for requests, do not say anything that may upset you but simply nod and come to me, I will take care of those eventually. "
Ichiro looked at it for a few seconds before offering his hand and smiling:" very well… it seems that we have a deal", Jessica nodded and shake her hand with his;
after the negotiation was over she turned and left to go and reunite with her group, leaving Ichiro and the girls alone.
After the discussion they got into the wagon and set off and after the first hour of the journey Ichiro had taken an unusually serious look and it hadn't escaped Akeno and Cattleya; the two looked at each other for a moment and then Cattleya turned to Ichiro: "Master .. is there something wrong? Is it since we left that you have such a serious expression ... there is something we can do for she?". Ichiro initially did not answer, then he looked down and began to tremble slightly under the preouccupated gaze of Akeno and Cattleya, and finally burst into laughter: "AHAHHAHAHAHAH! Sorry Akeno is that I could no longer hold back the laughter! I can't believe that she came in person to us ... AHAHAHAHA! and I was planning different ideas on how to approach her ... oh well ... patience ... she saved me the trouble. All we have to do then is to increase the ego already immeasurable of that noblewoman and to avoid ruining her 'pretty nails' ... ahahaha it was since I was in my world that I didn't laugh like that ..". After venting, he lay down on the thighs of Cattleya and enjoyed a comfortable journey to the first stage, all while Akeno fed him with a lunch prepared that morning before heading to the gates.
After several hours of traveling by wagon, the expedition group stopped in a small hill beside a river; there the adventurers joined a platoon of soldiers, about one hundred and fifty, led by their captain, a demi-human with obvious cat ears and a long spear in his hand, who welcomed Dofus with open arms: "ahaha ... "Dofus old decrepit dwarf! I am happy to see you, how long is it that we do not fight together! It will be just like old times .. well except that this time we face monsters"; Dofus gave a thunderous laugh: "AHAHAH ... Milkas, little pest! Look at you! You even became captain ... it seems to me that yesterday you were just a kitten ... AHHAHAH ... I hope you have something strong to drink, all those hours on a cart they really really put my backside down ... "once he finished talking to the demi-human, he turned to the adventurers with his authoritarian tone:" ok ... I want you all now to prepare your tents, choose also where as long as you stay nearby, once done head to Captain Milkas' tent where we will discuss the strategy, you have three hours to do this "; having said that he went with Milkas while his party and all the others went to prepare the camp.
Ichiro and the girls set up the tent in an area closer to the river and thanks to the magic of Akeno and Cattleya, who was used to it when she was an adventurer in her world, they managed to do everything in less than half an hour and Ichiro decided to enjoy a beautiful dinner, as it was now late sunset. He sat down with his back against a rock and enjoyed the image of Akeno and Cattleya lovingly cooking while the rest of the male adventurers gave him envious glances.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Anonimous22
Anonimous22 What do you think about Dofus and Milkas? they are best-buddy because of their past in the battle... or there is something even more?
Do you think Lady Lefay is engaged?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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