Inverse System

They approached the receptionist and presented the commission.

"Alright! It seems as though you have enough B-rank+ students to take this mission! As A-ranks, you may take 5 commissions a week. I will need you all to sign your names here," the receptionist brought out a pen and paper and got the three A-rank students to sign.

She looked at the three D-rank and handed them each a paper of their own.

"D-ranks are only permitted to take 1 commission a week. Please sign here," she said, her words surprising them.

"What?! We can only take one a week? How's that even fair?" Xenia protested.

"Hm, we were told that we'd get a limited amount… I didn't know it'd be this limited…" Core thought out loud as he signed the paper.

"All the more reason we shouldn't waste our time on the D-rank commissions. If possible, we should always go for the higher-ranked ones," Rein said as he handed back the signed paper to the receptionist.

"Alright! You're all set! The mission rewards are 18000 rol to be shared among the group and 25 points each. Since your destination is incredibly far, you may use one of the two teleporters that take you to the centers of each country. As of this moment, November 26th, 12:46 PM, your commission has officially begun! Have a safe trip!"

They took their leave, heading to the west teleporter, taking them to the center of the ex-Econican regions. As blue light filled their vision, they found themselves wisped away to a different place. It was a familiar feeling to Xenia, who had already used a teleporter before. The rest of the group was subconsciously in awe with this newly developed technology.

They appeared in a cramped storage room. It smelt of dried wine and beer, the floorboards creaking as they walked through. A small, flickering light rock was the only source of luminance in the dark room. They exited the room and Rein instantly recognized where they were.

It was a small pub in the town of Almes, which directly worked with the Elven Forest for trade and goods. Rein would often make visits during the war to resupply the Forest with provisions. During his visits, he would often recall recourses from this pub especially, so he became well acquainted with the owner.

"Rein? That you kid?" The man at the counter in the empty pub remarked as the group exited his storage room.

"Mr. Merle? Haha, long time no see," Rein greeted him, breaking off from his group who stood and watch him interact with this grizzly-looking man.

"I'll say kid! What's it been, like 2 months? If it weren't for Voron stoppin' by and tellin' me the deal, I'd have thought you dead!" The man scruffily laughed.

"I didn't know you had ties to the Ranger guild. So you oversee the guilds Econican waypoint?"

"That's right. We always have Rangers comin' in and out of this place. It's inconspicuous enough, and since most people in here'll be drunk, nobody ever notices. Anywho, looks like you made it into the academy! Congrats kid, that Voron had unwavering trust in you," Merle strongly patted Rein on the back as he noticed the rest of the group.

"Man, you could've told me there was a teleporter here. I had to run all the way to Hasbin on the first day of school. This would've saved me so much trouble," Rein put his hand on his head in disappointment.

"Haha, sorry kid, but this baby's a trade secret for Ranger associates only."

He greeted them all as they sat down to ask him a few questions about what's been going on in Aquifa.

"Hmm, the situation over there's been getting grim huh? I hear most of the loyal royal guards are staying in Cornear to protect the king during the war. You never know when Orthlys could make their next attack. Easy to forget during this peaceful phase, but we are still at war," Merle explained, taking a drink from his beer afterward.

"So you're saying that whoever's left in Aquifa couldn't give a rats ass about the Emperor?" Core asked.

"Nah, but I heard that there was a strange encouragement from some of the clan for some of the more loyal Sirens to station themselves in Cornear. Almost like they wanted to get rid of them, don't you think?" Merle smiled at them as he gulped down the last of his drink, then burped loudly.

"That is really weird…" Lance pensively stated. "Could it be that they were hiding something?"

"Or, they were hiding someone," Elaine intervene, putting emphasis on the word 'one'.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Reggie questioned her.

"No point in idling around here right? Let's think about it on our way there," Xenia proposed, which the group agreed to.

"You guys might want some transportation right? I can get you guys a Kindus tiger carriage that can get you there in about 3 hours. It'll be on the house because Rein here is such a good kid," Merle proposed.

"Haha, thank you Mr. Merle. We'll take you up on that offer."

They set out on the tiger-driven carriage making their way down the westbound highway.

"So it'll take us 3 hours to get there huh?" Elaine asked as they sat in the back of the carriage.

"That's right. I could run ahead and get a grip on the situation if you guys want me to," Xenia proposed, making Eliane laugh.

"Haha, no need. I can make us get there in 1 hour flat. Watch this," she hopped on the back of the tiger and closed her eyes.

"What's she doing?" Rein asked as he heard her breathing loudly.

"We'd better hold on to something," Lance exclaimed as the cart suddenly began accelerating at an alarming pace.

The group got down and held on tightly to the ground, as the cart flew down the path in a swift sling of speed, the wind blasting through the cart, making everyone's hair flap vigorously in the air. After about 1 hour of bumps and bruises, they arrived at the border of the city.

"Man, that tiger was running faster than a flying hawk. So you can speed things up with your Spring then?" Rein asked, fixing his hair that was ruined by the vigorous wind.

"Haha, it's a little more complicated than that, but that's pretty much the gist of it. Anyway, let's head inside the city," she said, taking the lead into the walled city.

The city was heavily fortified, walled up around the town, reaching all the way to the ocean's shore behind them. The walls were made of blue material, with banners depicting a Siren, mermaid-looking creature draped across them.

They went around the sides of the outskirts until they reached the south gate, where they introduced themselves and got permission to enter the city. As they entered the city, their bodies felt incredibly light, and their vision became brighter as if the very nature of the world changed. The air felt fresher as they could feel the ocean breeze wash over the entire city. The very atmosphere of the city felt like an ice-cold glass of lemonade after a long day at the beach.

"Rein, you feel that?" Core whispered.

"Yeah, somethings fishy…"