The seventh morning dawned like all the others: quietly, lazily, without ceremony.
Inside the rookies' home, the light of early sun spilled through the windows… but no one stirred with energy.
Selena strapped on her gear with slow, practiced movements, eyes half-lidded. She didn't even check the straps twice, like she usually did.
Rika mumbled to herself while adjusting her bowstring. She'd forgotten to oil it yesterday.
Hina pulled on her cloak backward and didn't notice until halfway to the door.
Yuzu fumbled her staff twice before she managed to loop it over her shoulder.
Lio limped into the main room, unshaven, boots loosely tied. The Greenie bounced along behind him, chirping quietly, almost like it sensed something was wrong.
None of them brushed their hair.
None of them washed their faces.
None of them ate.
They didn't even speak to one another beyond a few sleepy grunts.
They were running on nothing but muscle memory, driven by one thing: habitual greed.
And Red… was already standing at the door, arms crossed, watching.
As always.
The city streets of Silverhaven were calm, still damp with morning dew. The scent of rising bread and fresh river wind didn't even reach the group's dulled senses.
They arrived at the Adventurer's Guild just as the doors opened.
Sophia hadn't even unrolled the full notice board yet when the team rushed forward, eyes bloodshot, stances sloppy, looking less like proud adventurers and more like tired laborers.
They scanned the quest board, only to realize something.
There was only one job posted under Rookie Rank today.
"Escort: Merchant Dolfar. Destination: Dunreach Crossing. Distance: 50KM. Reward: 40 Copper."
Yuzu blinked hard. "That's… farther than usual."
"Fifty kilometers…" Hina murmured.
Hina: "That's nearly a full day's march."
"But it pays more," Lio said quickly, his voice hoarse. "More than the herb runs."
Rika ran a hand down her face. "We can handle it. We've done worse."
Selena didn't say anything. She simply plucked the quest slip from the board and walked toward the front desk.
The others followed without hesitation.
Sophia looked up from her paperwork and immediately frowned.
"All of you again?" she asked.
Sophia: "You look like you haven't slept in days."
"Just a long week," Rika muttered.
"We're still going," Selena said firmly.
Sophia looked over the slip.
Sophia: "Dolfar. I know this one. He's a merchant with a sharp tongue and tighter purse strings. He'll treat you like mules unless you speak up."
"We can handle him," Yuzu said.
"Your legs are shaking," Sophia replied gently.
No one responded.
Sophia sighed and stamped the paper. "Fine. But I don't like it. You've been running nonstop. This isn't a sprint."
The silence was heavy.
The stamp clicked.
The job was official.
Red stood behind them all, his expression unreadable.
But inside, he knew.
This might be the one.
They left through the east gate, quiet, exhausted, and determined.
The journey to Dunreach Crossing would take most of the day, a winding route along sloping hills, wide gravel roads, and a few scattered trade posts. The sun was bright. The path was dry. And they had no food, no proper water supplies, and no real strength left.
The merchant they were escorting, Dolfar, was exactly as advertised.
A wiry man with a beady gaze and a voice like snapping rope. He wore a thick vest lined with copper buttons and had three overstuffed crates tied to a mule-drawn cart.
"Oi! You lot are the escort?" he snapped the moment he saw them.
"Yes, sir," Selena said.
Dolfar: "Shit!! Children with sticks. I swear, the guild sends anyone these days."
He clicked his tongue. "Listen up. We move fast, no breaks. I don't want to hear complaints, and if anything touches my cargo, I'll have your hides nailed to my storehouse wall. Got it?"
The group gave slow nods.
Dolfar scoffed. "Hop to it, then. The faster we get there, the better."
The first few kilometers were tolerable.
The road was even. Birds chirped in the distance. Trees offered slivers of shade.
But the rookies were quiet.
Too quiet.
Selena walked ahead with Rika, keeping pace with the cart's left wheel. Their breathing was already heavy by the sixth kilometer. Hina followed behind, gripping her satchel tightly and trying not to stumble.
Yuzu dragged her boots, barely lifting her feet as she kept one hand on her staff for support.
Lio, walking on the rear flank, muttered to himself. "I can do this… just one step at a time…"
The Greenie hopped slowly beside him, confused.
No one spoke unless they had to.
And Dolfar?
He barked orders every five minutes.
"Keep up!"
"Stop dragging your heels!"
"Eyes on the cart, not the trees!"
"Are you even listening, girl?!"
He snapped at Yuzu so harshly at one point that she flinched and nearly tripped on her own staff.
Selena said nothing.
She wanted to yell back. Wanted to shut him up.
But she didn't.
Because they needed the coin.
Because they were too tired to argue.
Because greed had already chosen for them.
By the time they reached Dunreach Crossing, the sun was already dipping.
The outpost sat on a flat ridge overlooking a dried riverbed, surrounded by low stone walls and a few supply huts. A handful of local guards glanced up as the cart rolled in.
"Finally," Dolfar muttered, hopping down.
Dolfar: "Put the crates by the wall. Carefully!"
The rookies obeyed without protest.
Selena winced as she lifted one crate, her arms shaking. Lio nearly dropped his. Hina had to stop halfway through and breathe. Yuzu tripped again. Rika's fingers were bleeding from splinters.
The final crate hit the ground, and Dolfar inspected them briefly.
"No cracks. Fine," he muttered.
He reached into a pouch and tossed a coin sack toward Selena.
Dolfar: "Forty copper. You got lucky this was easy. Don't expect praise. Now get outta here. You're in my way."
No one answered.
They didn't even count the coins.
Selena simply stuffed the pouch into her satchel, and they turned back toward the road.
The return march was silent.
They didn't talk.
They didn't joke.
They didn't laugh.
They didn't even grumble.
Their limbs ached.
Their eyes stung.
Even the Greenie bounced less, sticking close to Lio's shoulder like a quiet, sticky guardian.
The light began to fade.
Night approached.
And the shadows near the trees thickened.
The team slowed, each step heavier than the last.
Selena stumbled slightly, just for a second, but enough to catch Rika's eye.
Lio's hands trembled faintly on his sword hilt. He hadn't said a word since leaving the outpost.
Hina and Yuzu lagged behind, shoulders hunched, heads low.
They were still twenty Kilometers from Silverhaven.
And completely vulnerable.
Red, several paces behind them, watched the slope ahead, his black cloak barely stirring in the wind.
He had said nothing all day.
But now, his gaze hardened.
In the distance, just beyond a narrow bend of trees, a glint caught his eye.
Movement.
Low. Fast. Small.
He recognized it instantly.
Goblins.
And not just a few.
A pack.
They were waiting.
Not for merchants.
Not for travelers.
For the tired. For the weak. For the slow.
Red said nothing.
Not yet.
Because some truths… had to be earned the hard way.