Part Nine – The Next Job

You ever just look at the sky and contemplate everything? Just thinking about how you got where you are and where you’re going? No? Me neither.

I was having the worst time. We were camping out in the middle of nowhere. Well not really. We did know where we were. I’d have to take it back a week to really explain it.

We’d run into a bit of a problem. Mostly that there were few jobs we could take. Obviously, we weren’t the only ones working in this corner of the world, so it wasn’t surprising that there were few jobs, just that all the ones that were there were incredibly suspicious. So much so, that even I didn’t want to try them.

Since we had managed to do two more simple jobs, we didn’t have many issues with money for the foreseeable future, but it was still nerve-wracking. We needed money. It was that simple.

Everything started with a sudden post. It was request asking for a great deal of mercenaries to be hired. More so, they wanted those who could speak English. Adding to it all, was that a government was posting this. Why did I know that? Because the country responsible had broadcasted it all over the world.

Now why would they do that? Well that’s probably because the country in question has a history of violating people’s human rights. Which was the primary reason I wasn’t eager to accept. But since the other two were on board and we needed the money, I eventually caved in.

Which leads us to where I started, with us camping out in the wild. We were heading for a town near to where the disaster border, where we’d meet up with our guide-slash-translator. The whole thing still worried me, mostly because I wasn’t used to being out of the country. I’d only ever gone on one trip overseas with my family and that was close to a decade ago.

Add in the fact that I had always had a difficult time falling asleep in places I didn’t know, and you had a potent combination leading to insomnia. Which was why I had bothered to explain this whole thing. I had briefly considered looking for monsters to hunt, but Alicia had explicitly told me not to do just that. And I sure as hell didn’t need to give her something else to gripe about.

Soooooo booooored. I don’t even have an internet connection, or cell phone service here. Though I do have a few games on my phone, but I’ve beaten them all. Hah, first-world problems persist into the apocalypse. Who’d a thunk it?

“WAKE UP ALREADY!”

“Whowhatwherewhenwhy? And sometimes maybe?”

“What? That didn’t make any sense. I’ve been trying to wake you up for ten minutes and the first thing out of your mouth is mindless babble? Do you even have a brain, or is it all muscle? Also, I’m pretty sure the last one was supposed to be how.”

“Who’re you calling a muscle-head? I just have low blood-pressure in the mornings. Hwaaah. There, I’m up. Satisfied?”

The glare she shot me was cold enough to extinguish flames, but I just ignored it. This had quickly become routine for us and it was certainly better than us not being able to stand each other. No matter how much she complained about me, I knew she’d have my back. Probably.

It didn’t take us long to pack up camp and head off. Because we were trying to keep a low profile, we were staying away from most towns and trying to run into as few people as possible. This resulted in us renting a jeep, which was an ordeal as none of us spoke any of the languages here. The only saving grace was the generous stipend we were provided in order to actually get to our destination.

Ethiopia’s really gone out of the way for this. It’s likely that there’s some other ploy at work. Maybe one of the minority groups are making some kind of power grab? I sure as hell don’t want to get involved in a coup. I don’t mind having to kill the occasional human, but I don’t want to specialize in it. My prey are monsters, plain and simple.

The whole thing was odd. I wasn’t exactly knowledgeable about Ethiopian politics, but since there was something called the internet, it wasn’t difficult to learn a little. Everything I saw made me uneasy, piling onto the stress of the upcoming job.

The description had mentioned that the job was related to Dungeons and that the country would buy any unwanted items. Because of the sheer number of mercenaries being hired, we theorized that there was multiple Dungeons that needed clearing. Or there was one that they couldn’t clear on their own. I believed the second to be more likely, meaning that we were probably heading for a C-Rank Dungeon, a brutal environment that could kill us at any moment.

Cameron and Alicia were determined to attempt it, even against my protests. I wanted to wait until they were C-Rank themselves, as I didn’t know what kind of scenario we’d end up in. C-Rank Dungeons were incredibly varied. While we’d be up against D-Ranks, something we were already used to, the number of monsters would be far greater than before. Not to mention the C-Rank Boss. The Kumoko Matriarch we recently fought was on the lower end of the Rank. The Boss would be far superior to it.

Even adding other people to the mix didn’t soothe my worries. It aggravated them. I couldn’t trust other people, not in these circumstances. I’d keep my eyes peeled and make sure no one could hurt my friends.

[Alicia’s POV]

“Welcome! It’s wonderful that you could join us, we’ve been looking forward to your arrival.”

They’d finally arrived in their destination: A small abandoned town a few miles away from the border. There, their guide was waiting alongside a small escort. When they caught sight of them, the guide had come closer in a jovial mood.

Michael had tensed up the moment they arrived. The way he kept shifting his eyes about and keeping his hands near his waist was a clear sign he was ready to cut down anyone who made a suspicious move. He’d been quite vocal about how he wasn’t happy with this situation, but the fact that they still needed the money had forced him to grudgingly acquiesce.

They had also talked about having her use Observer beforehand, but the fact that she wouldn’t be able to talk for two days kept them from going through with it. She and Michael would stay back as Cameron talked with the guide. He had a way of making people open up to him, something they didn’t have. She was too timid with people she wasn’t comfortable around and Michael….well everyone has their strengths.

“And so after we’ve arrived, you’ll be introduced to the officer in charge of the operation and a brief explanation of the details of the assignment will be given. After that, there will be a brief time to strategize and make connections with the other participants. Any questions?”

Since we had none, everyone climbed into their respective vehicles before setting off. Once they were in their way, Cameron asked them if they had noticed anything. Apparently Michael had, as he immediately went off.

“The intermediary isn’t a fighter. He carried himself completely wrong. He did have a sidearm, but its probably for self-defense from monsters. Same with the guards. They were probably there to protect him from threats, not for intimidation. And since they didn’t carry any guns, I’m putting their abilities to be either on the upper side of E-Rank or lower D-Rank. Most of their equipment was lower tier too.”

How did he notice all that in such a short time?

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s not that hard to learn. I was always up against monsters of the same rank in the labyrinth, so I had to be able to discern their strengths by looking at them. I can’t give an accurate estimation, but I should be able to ballpark someone’s ability by looking at them, given enough time.”

“And you never mentioned this before?”

“There was no need. Most of the humans we ran into were F-Rank. They weren’t worth mentioning. And it’s not completely accurate. I can’t tell what Skills someone might have.”

That made sense. This was probably why he never hesitated to fight monsters, as he was sure he could handle them. There had been two times he’d pulled them from a fight. Once inside the D-Rank Dungeon and the other after they’d come across a large group of Wolves. There had apparently been a C-Rank in the pack.

“So we go along with them and see what happens?”

“Sounds about right. Even if there is a C-Rank Dungeon, it would depend on the type as to whether we can actually deal with it. Since they’ve gone to all this trouble, there has to be something different about it.”

It took them just over an hour to arrive at the defensive fort. Which was an over embellishment. It was basically just a few prefabricated buildings that had been thrown together. Most of the forts had been hastily constructed or they were repurposed buildings. But there was one thing out of place. The large gathering at the center of the compound.

“I suppose that’s where the Dungeon is. Don’t you think they look rather worried?”

“There’s definitely a sense of unease about them. Which means we were right. This is a C-Rank Dungeon.”

Their greatest challenge yet was just about to begin.