Chapter 10
Marksman Department...
Lesley is currently packing her things up since she is now being transferred to the Assassin Department. And just beside her table, Granger is reading piles of letters of requests from different clients. And just by looking at him, he looks frustrated and it bothers her to see him wearing a scary look.
"Do you need help?" she asks after closing the box of her things. Granger looks at her as if she has four eyes before clicking his tongue in annoyance. He once again looks at the letters without saying anything.
"This guy really ticks me off," she thinks as she continues to fix her things. After a few minutes, Lesley finishes cleaning up her desk and is done writing the important notes that her substitute shall do in her place. She puts all her things on a medium-sized box before placing it under her table. She grabs her chair and sits beside Granger.
"What do you think you're doing?" Granger asks with an annoyed tone as he tried to snatch away the letters she took but Lesley managed to keep it away from his reach. People meddling with his business is one he dislikes.
Lesley smiles at him, "I'm helping a helpless brat who does not know how to reach out to others."
"Lesley, calm down. You're going to help him, not hit him right on the face," Lesley tells herself as she grabs some of the letters.
"Haven't I told you to separate request letters according to how urgent they are?" Lesley tells him which only added to his annoyance but Granger remains quiet and continues to categorize the letters.
"You should also arrange them chronologically so we could know which is to be attended first. Then, you assign marksmen who are suitable to do the missions, or who are currently free to complete them," Lesley says as she continues to arrange the letters faster than Granger could.
The Death Enchanter angrily slams the letters on his table and stares daggers at Lesley who is also annoyed with his actions and unpleasing attitude.
"Are you here to help me or simply nag at me?" he asks her with gritted teeth as he stands up with both feet, "If it's the former, then get your things and go to the Assassin Department already."
He even has his arm stretched out and his finger pointed at the door. Lesley raises her brow and kicks Granger right on the back of his knees which causes him to sit down again. When he is of the same level as her, she whacks him on the back of his head. He is about to retaliate but Lesley grabs both of his cheeks and pinches them as she moves his head up and down and left and right.
"I'm teaching you how to properly arrange the letters, I ain't nagging at you, you got that?" she states. She lets go of him when Granger tries to slap her hands away but then, she once again grabs his ear which made him yelp in pain.
"Don't give me that kind of attitude when I am helping you," she says before letting him go. "How will you survive in this department if you won't listen to me?"
Granger looks at her with gritted teeth, his jawline becoming overt as he holds his now red ears. Instead of fighting back, he simply goes back on his task since knowing Lesley, she is not the type of woman who would accept defeat. Quietly, he follows what Lesley had told him and they're working now with complete silence.
Upon finishing their task, Lesley grabs one of the letters that are in need of immediate attention and opens it. Her forehead creases upon reading the request.
"This is rather urgent. Follow me, let's go see Head Minsitthar," Lesley says as she grabs Granger by the collar, giving him no chance to retaliate and even say a word.
"You don't have to pull me like I am your dog," he complains as he takes Lesley's grip off from his collar. They both head to the office of the head of the Warrior's Society.
"What does it say in the letter?" Granger asks as he walks at a faster pace to keep up with Lesley. He saw her worried look yet no idea comes into mind about her concern.
"You'll know it later. Just hurry up and keep your ass going," she replies and she immediately knocks on the door upon reaching Minsitthar's office. Minsitthar was a former king but he chose to be the head of the warrior organization so he could keep his works on-hand directly.
"Marksmen, Lesley Vance and Granger Laichare ask permission to have an audience with the Head of the Warrior Society," she announces their presence so they'll be let in.
The two huge wooden doors are opened and they both walk inside side by side. They slightly bow in respect which earns them a small nod from Minsitthar who sits behind his desk filled with papers.
"What is the matter that you need to see me at this moment?" he asks them after putting down his quill.
Lesley steps forward and shows the letter to him.
"It is an urgent matter, sir," she replies. "It is somehow related to the invasion of the land of Dawn and it seems to have extended towards the Southern Mountains."
Minsitthar remains quiet for a while as he stares at the letter. He, then, puts it down on his table and looks at the two.
"It is indeed urgent," he says, " And since the two of you are free today, I am guessing you want to go there and check what is going on. This serves as your last mission from the Marksmen Department."
"Understood, sir," Lesley replies and when they are about to leave, Minsitthar stops them.
"Wait, it would be too dangerous if only the two of you would go there. it would be better to have it as a four-man team. I shall summon Guinevere and Gusion. Then, you may all go before the sun sets," Minsitthar adds as he writes on a paper. "They'll receive my Dawnian summon in no time so go and prepare for now."
Lesley and Granger simply bow in respect before leaving the office.
"You should go back to your quarters and get your things. I will come back and see you at the gates in an hour," Lesley says before turning her back on Granger. Yet she suddenly stopped when he spoke.
"Would it be okay for you to return in that place?" he asked. Lesley was quiet for she debated with herself if she should tell him the truth or say a white lie.
She thought to herself that she must choose her words carefully for Granger is one of the victims of her assassination jobs.
"The question suits you more, are you ready to go back to that place?" she throws the question back to him and just like her, Granger never said a word. "Do pull yourself together."
Lesley gave him a small nod before leaving him alone. Upon entering the Vance mansion, Mrs. Vance sees Lesley who is walking at a fast pace. Just with that observation, she knows that she is on a mission again. Since she can not keep up with the pink-haired girl, she simply follows her in her room.
Lesley, who is now choosing her rifle on her closet, hears a small knock on her door.
"It's open, please come in," she says and she purses her lips as she sees her adoptive mother.
"By the looks of it, you're in a mission again," Mrs. Vance says as she slowly walks towards the bed and sits down comfortably.
"Yes, mother. It will probably take two to three days so I will be away for a while," Lesley replies as she grabs the rifle she got from Mrs. Vance as a birthday gift.
Her mother stares at her midnight blue general outfit laid on the bed. It is trimmed with gold paired with a knee-high stocking and a belt where she keeps her extra bullets and grenades. Lesley sets her rifle beside her clothes before heading to her washroom. Mrs. Vance smiles for she feels delighted and happy that she's finally wearing the gifts she has given her.
She has been observing her and she almost forced Lesley to stop working in the Warrior's Society upon hearing Granger's presence. Mrs. Vance was afraid that the guy from the Southern Mountains might give her a trauma but it was a relief that the result is the opposite. She was able to see Lesley slowly transform back into her old self, or rather, she became a better version of herself. Yet she seems to be digging deeper into her fear.
Her eyes darted at the side table of Lesley's bed and sees an old picture of her and her father when she was still young.
"Poor Lesley," she thinks as she reminisces the moments when Lesley was still a bright girl. When her father was still alive, she'd train nonstop until she defeats him in rifle shooting. But now is totally different, she is drowning herself with mission after mission.
Lesley finishes taking her bath so Mrs. Vance hands her the clothes she is to wear in her mission.
"Thank you," Lesley says before going back inside the washroom. Just then, Mrs. Vance sees the eye patch that her daughter always wears.
"Lesley," she calls out. "I really like the colors of your eyes, both of them. They're beautiful, more beautiful than the sunrise."
Just by hearing her words, Lesley knows already that she wants her not to use her eye patch again. She feels a bit happy because she keeps on giving her assurance that she should not be embarrassed by having two different colors of eyes. She gets out of the washroom and immediately hugs her mother.
Mrs. Vance pats her head softly with a smile plastered on her face.
"You look gorgeous, General Rosa," she compliments her which made Lesley blush. She helped her in putting her weapons on her belt and on fixing her long, pink hair.
"It was a gift from my precious mother so I know I look good in it. I need to get going though," she says after having her hair fixed. Mrs. Vance kisses her on her forehead and smiles at her.
"Come back home safely," she says and Lesley nods in response before taking her leave.
Upon reaching the humongous gates of Magical City, Lesley sees Granger and Gusion waiting by the shaded area. She walks towards them and when the two men notice her, they simply gawk at her like idiots. It was a first for them to see Lesley wearing a different set of clothes other than her usual blue trench coat.
As she trots to their direction, she looked like a boss ready to punish anyone.
But she suddenly snickers upon fully seeing the two. Feeling offended, the two men just raised their brow trying to figure out what made her do that.
"Is there something we have missed?" Gusion asks her but she simply shakes her head as she tries her best not to laugh out loud.
"You look ridiculous with that silver hair," Lesley replies before finally letting her laughter out. Granger, who is usually composed, also snickers which made Gusion glare at him.
He is about to retaliate but Guinevere suddenly pops out and jumps on him.
"You are a moonlight sonata with that silver hair!" she claims while hugging him.
Guinevere immediately composes herself and faces the other two. She gives her sweetest smile before speaking.
"A bardic whisper," she says as she points at Granger who just looks away from her, "And a general. Why do you always want to stand out with your outfit, Lesley?"
Lesley rolls her eyes in annoyance and even clicked her tongue as she gazed at the mage from head to toe.
"You're the one standing out, missy. Wearing a turquoise dress when you're on a mission is inappropriate. And who in their right mind would even do that?" she snickers at her before heading towards the gate.
"Let's get going," she adds. The four warriors stood in front of the main gate of the city and they all stepped out side by side.
Thinking that they would be having fun talking on their way, Guinevere was disappointed so to start a conversation and kill the deafening silence, she clears her throat and spoke.
"Lesley, I heard you've been to the Southern Mountains three years ago. What does it look like?" she asks to the girl who is walking ahead of them.
"It's the usual village surrounded with mountains," she simply replies. It is not her hobby to tell stories to people she is not closely acquainted with.
"I heard there's a lone survivor from that place. Do you know where he is now?"
Granger, who is now the subject of the question, keeps quiet like usual. He may not hate listening to that kind of topic but he wants it not to be talked about as much as possible. On the other hand, Gusion acts like he does not give a care about their topic but he is intently listening.
"You called him a bardic whisper just a while ago," Lesley replies which made Guinevere gasp in surprise.
"Omo, omo, omo."
She gazes at Granger who is looking ahead, then stares back at Lesley, then to Granger again.
"So you mean, you killed Granger's clan and he knew about this but kept quiet about it?" Guinevere says out loud as she tries to process it in her mind.
"I thought you two were ex-lovers," Gusion states which made his fiancee giggle.
"I thought so, too. Their relationship is a bit complicated," Guinevere agrees.
"You two should keep your opinions to yourselves. I might fail to control myself and bomb you when you're asleep," Lesley says as she holds her grenade that hangs by her hips.
"You keep running your mouth as you please. You might as well consider zipping up once in a while," she added.
Guinevere scoffs in disbelief at the attitude being shown to her. Out of all the people who would show such bitchy attitude, she just can't keep quiet if it's Lesley she is against with.
"You're just a marksman," she haughtily speaks up, "I can kill you right here and right now."
This time, Gusion snickers for Lesley has gone quiet for the very first time. She usually wins in an argument but it's different this time.
"Good point, Guin," he says.
But they all suddenly come to a halt when they sensed something unusual.
"Hide," Lesley tells them and they all stealthily run towards the woods and waited for the newcomers to appear. Lesley and Granger have their weapons ready. Both Gusion and Guinevere are ready to summon their magic as they hear several faint footsteps.
"I sense these four warriors around here," says one of the newcomers. Lesley recognizes the high-pitched voice. It is the same as the guy whom she and Gusion ran away from the other day.
"Shall we finish them off?" asks a hoarse voice.
"Nah, Nah, Nah. We should not attract too much attention. Leomord, hurry up!" Dyrroth yells behind him.
The four warriors remain at their posts, not moving an inch. After a while, they hear the gallops of a horse and a deathly aura sends chills down their spine.
"Don't tell me he's that undead warrior," Lesley thinks as she remembers the scripture she read about Leomord.
Guinevere becomes impatient as she glares at Lesley, giving her the signal to attack but she mouthed no. The mage grits her teeth in both annoyance and anger until Dyrroth's team disappeared.
Guinevere summons her powers and attacks Lesley out of anger.
"Why the hell have we been hiding?! We outnumber them and we can defeat them! Stop being a coward!" she screams as she tries again to seriously hurt her but Lesley manages to dodge her.
Gusion, who knows what the passersby are capable of, grips his fiancee's hand to stop her.
"Let me go!" she yells at him.
"Those three are powerful enough to overwhelm us especially that Leomord is with them," he tells her as calm as he could.
"A spoiled brat who had never been to real a battlefield would not know the real dangers around her. Before you raise your hand on me, calculate the consequences of what is to happen first. If you attacked back then, I could have surely left you alone and let them kill the hell out of you," Lesley states as she stares right at the eyes of Guinevere. If only she holds no respect to the Baroque household, she could have lifted her rifle and shoot her right on the forehead.
"Your sharp tongue is not helpful at all," Gusion says as he glares at her, "Don't call her names if you don't want to go against me."
Lesley simply rolls her eyes out of annoyance. Yet her patience already reached it limits so she trots towards the two and grabs Gusion's collar with one hand.
"You better look after her because I swear that if trouble comes, I will never waste time to help her," she snarled at him before pushing him away.
"Fighting those guys has nothing to do with our mission about the demon attacks in the Southern Mountains. We should go and assure the people's safety first before going head to head with the abyssal warriors," Granger says before walking ahead this time. Dealing with troublesome people is not a job he wanted and he does not want to involve himself.
"Bringing these two mages is so much trouble," Lesley spits before walking behind Granger.
"Let me go," Guinevere hisses at Gusion before stomping away from him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone