Bab 30: First Mission.
Before Raymond knew it, 2 days had already passed by, and it was the day of his first mission. Whilst he was walking towards the designated meeting point, namely the market, Raymond couldn't help but feel a little nervous and excited. This was his first mission, so he didn't want to mess it up, but more than anything, he was a bit apprehensive because of his eyes. He just really hoped that no one would bother him about it, and that he could complete the mission in peace.
In the market, a large number of mercenaries were gathered next to a rather long line of carriages. These carriages were naturally filled with a large number of resources, and they were all marked with the insignia of the Baxter family. Next to the carriage in the very front of the line stood a refined middle-aged man. The man looked like a scholar, and he was holding a registry. Next to him was a large banner with the Baxter insignia on it, as well as the word "Registration".
Raymond saw a few mercenaries walk up to the man to register themselves, and after observing for a little longer, he walked up to the man who was speedily jotting something down in the registry. When Raymond was about 10 meters away from him, the man seemed to have sensed him approaching, upon which he turned around to face him. After seeing that Raymond was just a blind young man, he frowned slightly, but after spotting the 3-star bronze rank mercenary badge that Raymond was wearing on his chest, the man was a little baffled.
He would normally not show as much emotion on his face, but since Raymond was blind, he didn't bother masking his emotions. Raymond was a little amused by his antics, but he didn't let it show on his face, he just had the same gentle smile as always. The refined man quickly composed himself, and his expression became indifferent in a heartbeat.
"Name?"
"Raymond Dawson."
"Seeing as you are a 3-star, you can go over to young master Christopher and he will assign you a duty." After saying his piece, the man pointed Raymond in the direction of a handsome young man that was surrounded by a few mercenaries.
"Thank you for the help."
Raymond thanked the man politely and walked over to Christopher at a leisurely pace. On the inside, he was a bit surprised that the man didn't question his combat ability at all. To the outside world, Raymond looked blind after all, wouldn't it be normal to question the combat capability of a blind man?
As Raymond approached young master Christopher, he received plenty of gazes; some curious, some a little peculiar. What made Raymond a little surprised was that none of them seemed hostile or anything of the sort. After observing a little bit, Raymond noticed that some people originally looked a little arrogant or disdainful, until they laid their eyes on the badge on his chest. Maybe this badge he received carried more weight than he had originally thought?
What Raymond didn't know was that most people saw a mercenary badge as an ultimate guarantee of a cultivators capability. If you were walking around with a 3-star bronze rank mercenary badge on your chest, then it was guaranteed that you were in at least the 7th revolution of body-refining; there were no exceptions to this rule. Even if you could beat someone in the spirit-refining realm whilst you were in the body-refining realm, there was still no way for you to get a silver badge without breaking through first. This was how it had always been.
As Raymond approached him, Christopher noticed him pretty quickly. It was hard to not notice him when almost everyone turned their heads to look at him as he walked. Christopher was quickly intrigued, much like everyone else that saw Raymond pass by. It was hard to not be intrigued by him. A blind young man with a gentle and refined temperament, he seemed to almost exist in a separate universe all by himself.
"Hey kid, over here!"
One of the mercenaries by young master Christopher's side called out to Raymond, just in case he didn't know where they were, the young man was blind after all. Raymond simply had the same mysterious and gentle smile on his face as he walked over, this time a little faster than before. When he was just a few steps away, he simply stopped dead in his tracks and maintained a polite distance.
"What's your name kid?" The same man from before asked with a mild tone.
"It's Raymond Dawson."
"Where are you from?" This time, young master Cristopher was the one speaking.
"I'm from a country far up north called Sweden, but I doubt young master has ever heard of it."
"Sweden... you're right, I've never heard of such a country before. What made you become a mercenary?"
Raymond was a little taken aback, was there any other reason than money that led people to become mercenaries?
"Money." He responded without thinking too much about it.
After hearing Raymond's nonchalant response, Cristopher started laughing. It wasn't often that people were so honest with him. He felt like it was a nice change of pace.
"You know what, I like you, you'll be a part of team 1. Your job will be to guard the most important carriage of them all."
"The most important carriage?" Raymond was a little confused. He'd never have thought that he would be assigned such an important job on his first mission. The only thing that confused him was this important carriage, what about it made it more important than the others. As if he could read Raymond's mind, Cristopher answered his questions before Raymond could even ask them.
"You're probably wondering why there's a carriage that is much more important than any of the others right?"
"Well, the reason is naturally that my sister and I will be riding it."
A little taken aback by his response, Raymond almost started laughing. Luckily he was able to restrain himself, but it was easy to see that his smile was a little brighter than before. He wasn't really sure about this young master yet, so laughing in his face was probably not the best idea until he knew more about him. Either way, Raymond had just managed to get himself a great opportunity.
Although the payment of a mercenary was decided beforehand, if a mercenary made outstanding contributions or did something else worthy of merit, he could get paid extra by the employers.
Since the employers decided who to pay extra, or even if they wanted to do it at all, getting close to them was like a shortcut to success. From this small interaction alone, Raymond had gotten an image of what kind of person Cristopher Baxter was. He seemed like a nice guy. He didn't put on any airs, he didn't seem that arrogant, and he didn't look down on Raymond because he was blind.
Naturally, there was still plenty of time for Raymond to observe Christopher more closely, and he could make a more accurate judgement later on.
Hadiah
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Power 
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