“Yo! You finally arrived.”
Lil’ Sha, who was following beside Ji Bai, felt her cat hair stand up and shyly hid behind her companion’s legs. From time to time, her large lustrous eyes would show up to scope out the surroundings.
“Mhm, sorry for the long wait.” Nodded Ji Bai.
While Ji Bai arrived on the dot, Huo Lei had already waited in the main mission hall for quite a while. His opinions differed greatly from other trolls when it came to them not using armor in battle; His two and a half meter tall body was encased in leather armor, while his shoulders were covered in metallic pauldrons. There was also a massive hammer of equal size as him hanging behind his back.
Even though it was just a cheaply-made leather armor, it wasn’t an easy feat to craft one of the same stature as a troll.
As he saw Ji Bai and the cautious Lil’ Sha following behind him, Huo Lei had waved his hands and called out to them.
The scene before him was different from what Ji Bai had expected. Huo Lei wasn’t waiting alone; There also was a ponytailed young lady wearing light armor standing beside him.
The girl seemed extremely bashful and shy, carrying a longbow on her back and a quiver chocked full with metal arrows on her waist.
“You’re here pretty early.” After Ji Bai nodded at Huo Lei in greetings, he shifted his gaze towards the young and bashful female archer.
“Oh, this is our companion for this trip. She has voluntarily registered herself to be a part of the sewer exploration team.” Introduced Huo Lei.
“H-Hello, everyone. My name is Xiaomu, an archer and second-year student of the eggplant class. May I ask everyone for your guidance!” Introduced the girl herself while bowing her body slightly. She appeared to be extremely uncomfortable with being the subject of Ji Bai’s gaze.
“Mhm.” Ji Bai only nodded his head in response after learning that she was a companion who would travel alongside them.
“Haha! Senior sister Mu needn’t be that modest! You’re actually the senior sister of us first years! We should be the ones to ask you for guidance instead!” Huo Lei was just about to express his friendliness by giving Xiaomu a few pats on the shoulder. However, after catching sight of her skinny and frail body, he rethought and instead slowly lowered his hands.
“You’re flattering me, I’m not worthy of being your senior sister…”
“Oh my! Isn’t that the young golden-haired catgirl from before? You even got her to join the team as well, my human brother? Hello there, young cat girl! Hahaha, have you eaten your breakfast yet?” Huo Lei shifted his gaze towards Lil’ Sha who was still hiding behind Ji Bai and greeted her in an extremely enthusiastic manner.
“Hahaha! As luck will have it, I did not have anything too! What a stroke of luck you’re here; I’ll just have you for breakfast instead!” After saying this, Huo Lei revealed his fangs. With a malevolent smile, his large sinful hands extended towards…
“Nyauuuu!…” The mental image nearly scared Lil’ Sha to death, making her instantly cower in fear. If the corner of a wall had been nearby, it would probably have resembled a scene out of a horror movie (Starring Lil’ Sha; for a limited time only).
Perhaps, this was caused by the genetics of her race; The Asiatic cat race had an innate fear towards trolls that originated from their souls, regardless of how friendly they were.
“Am I really that scary?” Huo Lei rubbed his nose unconsciously.
“Stop fooling around, let’s go.” Ji Bai swept his gaze over the trio before him and then took the lead by pushing the main mission hall’s doors open.
The people inside the main hall could be counted on one’s fingers. Midwinter was about to arrive, and the rational thinking most people possessed had melted under the warmth of their blankets. As for the people who had some semblance of consciousness left, they were at the edge of their bed incessantly testing out the waters but failing: Although they were telling themselves to only sleep for just a few minutes more, it was impossible for them to get out of their beds no matter what.
In addition, the fact that it was the weekend also had done nothing but to ensure that few people would stick around this area.
“Welcome, students! Are you here to accept a mission assignment or submit a mission report?” Asked a young receptionist lady with a professional smile hanging on her face. She seemed to have gotten up very early when compared to the rest of the people out here.
It wasn’t the same receptionist lady Ji Bai had seen before. As far as he could tell, it seemed that the job of receptionists operated on a shift basis.
“We’re going to accept the assignment to explore the sewers.” Said Ji Bai in a concise manner.
“Alright. Can everyone please report their name, the class they’re in, the amount of time since they’ve joined the order as well as their knight rank to me?”
“Ji Bai, first-year tomato class. Probationary Moon Knight.” Ji Bai unhurriedly announced his name, with Lil’ Sha and Huo Lei successively reporting theirs after and Xiaomu being the last one to do so. Their basic information wasn’t different from Ji Bai, with everyone on the scene being probationary knights. That was, if one excluded the fact that Xiaomu was not a first year student.
“Alright, can I get everyone to fill in this form, please? I will help you register into the system.” Although a strange expression flashed past the receptionist lady’s eyes, she immediately recovered her smile and handed four sheets of paper to Ji Bai and the others.
“Even though it’s just a simple exploration mission, the four of you should be extra careful since you’re still probationary knights.” Warned the receptionist formally.
“Four probationary knights? Since when are probationary knights capable of accepting assignments??” A man of lofty nature sitting on a nearby seat let his meaningful gaze sweep over them. His eyes shortly lingered as they came into contact with Xiaomu and Lil’ Sha.
‘I guessed that he’s a new student, but just being a probationary knight? …Hmph, I am guessing he’s relied on some flowery speech to win the attention of those cute young girls, no? In this case, I’ll wait for him to disgrace himself in a crucial moment then!’
The guy coldly thought as he looked at Ji Bai who was wearing a cross helmet.
Unaware of how the people around him were looking at him, Ji Bai didn’t tarry in the area after he finished filling in the forms and led the other three out of the mission hall.
………
The entrance of the sewers was situated in the outskirts, with ample vegetation beautifying the surroundings and purifying the air. It was only in the central region of the area where one could see a couple of withered tree branches and deteriorating grass stuck in the mud.
Together with a nauseating stench, a turbid, pitch-black fluid babbled its way out of a stone hole.
“…You’re joking, right? Do we have to explore a place like this? It’s so dirty that it makes my hair stand on end. A cat like me will definitely die in there, won’t I?” With her tone full of revulsion, Lil’ Sha pinched her nose while wearing an unsightly complexion.
“I’ve brought several extra nose plugs that may be of some use.” Ji Bai took out a few small, yellow balls from the pouch on his waist.
“This is like putting out a forest fire with a cup of water…” Despite muttering in such a manner, Lil’ Sha still accepted the nose plugs handed to her by Ji Bai.
“Thank you.” Xiaomu expressed her thanks to Ji Bai as she took two for herself from his hand.
“Huo Lei…” Ji Bai turned silent when he saw Huo Lei’s nostrils that were large enough to fit two apples.
“It’s alright, I won’t be breathing through my nose.” Huo Lei casually waved his hand to express that he didn’t require any nose plugs.
“Hold on a moment. The door to the sewers has been locked tight and we don’t have the keys. There’s no way for us to get in there, am I right?” Said Lil’ Sha, still holding onto traces of hope in her heart.
“There are a lot of ways to open a door.” Ji Bai took the lead and walked towards the obstacle. With a kick of his leather boots, he caused the severely rusted iron door to bend in on itself.
“Follow me. This sewer extends under the entire border town and is intertwined in a complex manner. More importantly, we don’t have a map of it, so pay some attention to not wander off by yourself.” While saying that, Ji Bai had taken the initiative and entered the dark and damp sewers.
“The torch I have asked you to bring along, Huo Lei?”
“It’s here.”
“Whoosh!” The red-hot burning fire illuminated a section of the area in front and around itself.
“D-Do we really need to go down into such a place?” Lil’ Sha couldn’t help but feel terrified as she saw the shabby piping installations in the surrounding and the endless darkness in front of her.
The walls were filled with unknown graffitis, while shattered dents that littered their surfaces looked like the scratches from an unknown creature…
“Drip, drop…”
“Uuuu! W-What sort of sound is that?!” Lil’ Sha wanted nothing but to shrink into a feline ball right now.
“Leakage from the sewage pipelines. Those are old and have fallen into a state of disrepair since it has been a long time since they were constructed. Nothing noteworthy.” Said Ji Bai indifferently as he carried the torch and led the way.