บท 24: Chapter 24: Ambush
In the early hours of the following day, Zaos awoke, feeling rejuvenated. He took a leisurely bath and had a simple meal before returning to his room to get dressed.
Beside his bedside, was a wooden chest. Opening it, Zaos retrieved his black gambeson, arming chausses, arming belt, scarf, leather breastplate, and leather gauntlets.
Once he had donned his assassin gear, he retrieved his weapons from the bedside table and exited the house.
Deep in thought, he strode over to the guild hall.
[I must complete three tasks this week. Since it's currently the day of water, and assuming each task takes a day, I can meet my quota.]
A week on Krulon comprised six days, the first day was known as the day of light, the second: the day of fire, the third: the day of water, the fourth: the day of earth, the fifth: the day of wind, and the sixth: the day of darkness. Zaos still had a total of four days to complete his quota.
Zaos navigated through the streets quickly and arrived at the guild hall in a few minutes.
He entered the building, not sparing a glance at the receptionist table, and instead moved to the mission board.
Even though it was early, other mercenaries already surrounded the mission board.
Zaos maneuvered through the crowd and scanned the available missions.
[I can't accept any missions that require me to interact with others, it will be too troublesome if I get exposed during a fight.] Zaos thought.
[This will suffice.] Zaos eventually found a mission requiring him to deliver the fresh carcass of a specific savage beast to a settlement not far from here.
Zaos reached for the paper slip containing the mission detail, but at the same time, another hand was also extended towards it.
Both Zaos and the other individual grabbed the paper slip at the same time.
[Hmm?] Zaos redirected his attention to the individual.
It was a male youth with short green hair, dark eyes, and soft facial features. He was dressed similarly to Zaos, but his attire was ash in color. He had a quiver strapped to his back and a wooden bow in his hands.
"Ah! Hello there. Would you like to go together? We can share the reward amongst ourselves." The wind elf addressed Zaos cheerfully.
"No," Zaos replied plainly.
"... Then what should we do?" The wind elf's expression fell.
Zaos didn't answer, instead, he took another mission and proceeded to exit the guild, leaving the wind elf gawking in his direction.
Zaos left the settlement, his destination was a famous forest a few hundred kilometers from the mercenary city.
The forest harbored a wealth of rare herbs and a significant population of savage beasts.
Zaos' task required him to retrieve a fungus known as dwelop; a type of fungus used as a food spice.
[Finding the dwelop isn't a problem, the issue is the carmids that graze it.] Zaos lamented as he ran.
Carmids were savage beasts that resembled buffalos with armored hides. They lived in large herds and loved eating dwelops.
To obtain a dwelop, Zaos needed to stealthily navigate through a large carmid herd. While confident in his invisibility, his past encounters with the skivii colony made him cautious.
Several minutes later, Zaos arrived at the forest entrance. He immediately activated his invisibility, before cautiously making his way into the forest.
Unlike the forsaken woods, this forest had no fog so Zaos' vision was unobstructed in the dark forest.
[Dwelops grow around the perimeter of the forest…] Zaos recounted as stealthy searched around.
[There!] He spotted a cluster of pink mushrooms growing on the thick roots of a tall tree.
[Where are the carmids though?]
A second later, Zaos heard a deep and loud grunt from a few hundred meters away.
Zaos nodded impeccably, it seemed the herd of carmids were busy gazing somewhere else.
Armed with this knowledge, Zaos quickly gathered as much of the dwelops as he could and left the forest.
[*Phew*. Everything went smoothly for once.] Zaos lamented as he traveled to the delivery point stated in the mission.
As he journeyed to his destination, Zaos couldn't help but think.
[This path feels like it will make a great ambushing spot… ] Zaos observed the densely packed vegetation as he thought.
[Hmm?] Suddenly, he stopped. He caught a whiff of something.
Observing his surroundings, he detected some anomalies.
[I can hear heartbeats, yet nothing is in sight...] Zaos activated his elemental weave to nullify any sensory distortions.
Immediately, he sensed three presences appear in different corners of the path, but they all surrounded him in a closed formation.
[I'm being ambushed?] Zaos' expression turned peculiar.
"Heh. Come out, I have things to do." Zaos spoke loudly. From what he could infer, these individuals were not high elves, considering how they could not mask their heartbeat and scents.
Nothing happened after Zaos spoke.
"Tsk." He retrieved a throwing needle from a pouch on his outfit and hurdled it at one of the areas where he sensed the presence.
Following a rustle, a figure jumped out of the bushes they were hiding behind. The figure was dressed in an all-black outfit and had a hood over their head.
Before the figure or his companions could understand their situation, Zaos had already dashed toward the exposed figure, and with a quick strike, pierced the head of the individual.
"Ryo!" "Bast*rd!" "Kill him!"
The hooded figure's companion called out as they watched the body of their comrade fall lifeless to the ground.
They jumped out of their hiding spots as they charged at Zaos.
[They are untrained, probably bandits. What a waste of time.] Zaos sighed as he activated his invisibility.
"Where did he go!?" Another figure cloaked in a black hooded outfit screamed.
"Be alert! He should still be around here!" A deep male voice came from the last individual, he wore black just like his companions but had a dark red mask over his face.
Just as he finished his sentence, he felt the hairs on his body rise.
"He–" Before he could warn his companion, his throat was stabbed and he lost the ability to speak.
*Thud!*
He could only watch as his comrade was killed as he slowly bled to death.
"I guess that's all," Zaos muttered as he reappeared on the battlefield.
His gaze fixed on the blood flowing from the corpse, and a crimson tint colored his eyes. He shook his head and quickly regained his composure.
[Drinking blood will only make my blood lust act up!] With that thought, Zaos distanced himself from the scene and continued his journey.
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