Lost World-Chapter 57: Escort Mission

Seeing as the sun was already down and night was fast approaching, Yamamoto decided to leave the library until the next day.

The following day however, Yamamoto woke up to a team meeting, and even more surprising, they would be going on a mission.

He got there a little late as it was unexpected and he hadn’t gotten word early. As soon as he arrived and everyone got their greetings in, Cole went straight to the point discussing the mission.

"Alright, now that we’re all here, let’s begin. We have an escort quest," Cole announced, holding up the contract notice. "It’s going to be a five-day journey to Mint City, and our task is to protect a merchant caravan, standard payment. It’s nothing glamorous, but it’s steady work and, good for team cohesion."

A week had passed since Thorin joined, and the tension hadn’t fully dissipated. The young warrior remained distant, professional but cold.

"Mint City," Yamamoto repeated. "That’s north, right? About three days’ travel?"

"Two and half if we make good time," Cole confirmed. "It’s a small city, but it’s prosperous, within Seamus state like Mashlow. The merchant is transporting textiles and spices. Low-risk cargo, but the route passes through territory known for bandit activity."

"What’s the pay?" Thorin asked.

"Forty Silver, split six ways. About six Silver sixty copper each."

Yamamoto did the mental math. It was decent money for relatively safe work. In the game, escort quests had been some of the most tedious content—long stretches of travel with predictable encounters, bandits would attack at specific points, monsters would spawn on schedule, difficult terrain would slow the caravan exactly when the script dictated, it was all too underwhelming.

He’d hated them. It always demanded too much waiting, but then delivered too little action and rewards that didn’t justify the time invested... He tried his best to avoid them for most of his playthrough.

"I’m in," Yamamoto said.

The others agreed as well, though Thorin’s affirmation was curt and businesslike.

"Good," Cole said. "We leave tomorrow morning, eastern gate, first bell after dawn. Pack for a week. Questions?"

No one spoke.

"Then we’re set. Get rest and be ready."

After that meeting, Ninia chatted with Yamamoto briefly and then they parted ways. He returned to the library. His time there wasn’t fruitful since Thessaly wasn’t around it seemed, apparently she had something important to do that day. The librarian he met there did not know where the section he was looking for was, saying that things were rearranged some time ago, and she was yet to familiarize herself fully. Not wanting to follow along on another search adventure, Yamamoto decided to return another time.

Yamamoto spent the rest of the day training his skills to level them up.

The next day, they all gathered at the east gate as agreed, and there they saw the caravan.

The caravan consisted of three wagons loaded with goods, pulled by sturdy draft horses. The merchant, a chubby man named Gareth, greeted them with obvious relief.

"Iron Vanguard! Thank Solara. I’ve heard good things about your guild." He gestured to the wagons. "My life’s savings is in those carts. I’m trusting you to get us to Mint City safely."

"We’ll do our job," Cole assured him. "How many in your party besides yourself?"

"Just two drivers and my assistant. Four of us total." Gareth introduced them—two weathered men who looked like they’d spent their lives on the road, and a young woman who handled the ledgers and inventory.

It certainly wasn’t an impressive number, and certainly not enough people.

They didn’t ask any questions though. Whether or not they were confident in their strength to carryout the job given the total lack of personnel, everyone except Thorin was more confident in Yamamoto’s ability to lead them through if anything got too extra.

Once they were ready to move, everyone fell into position as Cole directed, and they began their journey.

The first day passed uneventfully. The road was well-maintained, the weather clear and the horses steady. They made good time, covering a considerably good distance before stopping to camp for the night.

As the sun set, they had established a perimeter, with the wagons circled and camp fire lit in the middle. Gareth’s people prepared a simple meal, and everyone ate and was satisfied. For the earlier watch, the drivers took the spot, keeping watch after dinner and before it was time to sleep.

Yamamoto was still with the others as they found themselves sitting together just after the meal.

Cole, ever the leader trying to build team cohesion, seized the opportunity.

"So," he said, shifting a bit into better position. "We’ve been working together for a while now, but I realized we don’t actually know much about each other. Ninia, where are you from? I don’t think I’ve ever asked."

Ninia looked surprised at being put on the spot, since what Cole said wasn’t even entirely true, but it was still true that he did not know where she was from. Even then, she answered readily enough. "Ravencrest," she said, "in the western territories. Small holding, minor noble family. Nothing particularly prestigious."

"Noble family?" Cole said, clearly impressed. "You never mentioned that."

"Because it’s not as glamorous as it sounds." Ninia’s expression was complicated as she said that. "Minor nobility means all the social obligations with none of the actual power or wealth. My father wanted me to marry into a better family, improve our standing. I was sixteen when he started arranging meetings with eligible heirs."

"And you became a mage instead," Yamamoto said.

"I ran away to the Silverlight Academy and enrolled before he could stop me. Studying magic gave me independence, something good I could do that didn’t depend on who I married." She smiled slightly. "He eventually forgave me... Mostly. We write occasionally."

"That takes courage," Priest Donovan said warmly. "Defying family expectations is never easy." Ninia smiled a little.

"What about you, Donovan?" Cole asked. "You mentioned you were in the military before joining the guild."

Donovan nodded, his weathered face thoughtful in the firelight. "Northern army, medical corps. I was a field medic for eight years."

"Eight years?" Yamamoto said, piquing interest in the fact that he referred to the north. "That’s a long service."

"It was... But the north is different from the south. Up there, the kingdom’s army handles most of what adventurers do down here—monster control, dungeon clearing, protecting settlements. They have a special division for it, separate from the regular military forces. I was assigned to support those operations."

This was new information. In the game, Yamamoto had never explored the northern regions since it was locked content, unavailable in the base game with talks of its addition in the update. The lore had mentioned the north existed, but there were no details or accessible areas.

"Why’d you leave?" Yamamoto asked.