Kyle walked over to Tracy. "What's up?" he asked.
Tracy looked with confusion at Kyle.
Then, she pointed upwards. "That?"
"True," Kyle answered. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Tracy was still a bit confused, but she decided to ignore the weird question.
"I've thought about your proposal," she said.
At that moment, a couple of Fighters looked over with raised brows.
"Phrasing," Kyle said.
"What?" Tracy asked.
Kyle sighed. "Nothing."
Tracy furrowed her brows in annoyance a bit.
"Regarding your proposal," she said, making another long and dramatic pause.
The average altitude of the average brow in the cafeteria increased by about two millimeters.
Kyle just took a deep breath but didn't say anything.
"I accept," Tracy said.
Surprised expressions were had all around.
"You mean about the mission?" Kyle asked, enunciating every word very clearly.
"Of course. Was there something else you proposed?" Tracy asked.
The average brow in the cafeteria returned to an average altitude, and people looked away again.
"Alright, killing bandits. You in?" Kyle asked.
"Yes," Tracy said with a convinced nod. "I have to deal with this sooner or later."
"Sounds good," Kyle answered. "Wanna go right away?"
Tracy took a deep breath to calm down. Thinking about killing humans was still very stressful for her.
"You don't have to be so nervous," Kyle said. "Bang, bang, smash, smash, crack, crack. All done. It's not really different from killing beasts."
"Head go bonk, body stops moving. That's-"
"Bonk!" Bonk shouted from his table.
"Later!" Kyle shouted back. "Busy. Work."
"Later!" Bonk shouted.
"Anyway," Kyle said, looking back at Tracy. "I think you got the idea."
Tracy sighed. "Yes, I know. I'll just have to do it."
Kyle nodded, and the two of them walked over to the barmaid.
Without being asked, the barmaid took out the missions for the Newbies.
Kyle and Tracy signed up for the mission, and they received all the details.
Apparently, the bandits were between Gelden, which was a farming village to the east of Starkhold, and Deep Cove, a major city about 400 kilometers to the east.
Deep Cove was even bigger than Starkhold, and they had their own Guilds for these kinds of missions.
However, the bandits exclusively struck near Gelden, which made this Starkhold's affair.
Gelden was too small to have its own Fighter Guild outpost, which was why it was a great place for bandits.
The soldiers and guards kept the cities and villages safe, but they only occasionally patrolled the streets.
No bandit would dare to strike a village or town, but the roads were free for the taking, essentially.
Of course, if the Skysand Kingdom had the capacity, it would also send guards to deal with dangers on the road.
Sadly, the war with the Winterfire Kingdom made soldier presence inside the Kingdom very low.
The best they could do was to keep settlements safe.
"Alrighty then," Kyle said. "Let's get investigating!"
"I can do that," Tracy said. "I'm pretty good at finding hidden dangers."
"Sure," Kyle said.
The two of them walked out of the Fighter Guild and left Starkhold through its eastern gate.
While the western gate led to a sloping road, the eastern gate didn't have that.
There was just a very big elevator made of metal.
The elevator was operated by a group of dwarves who pulled ropes up and down all day.
Kyle saw the group of dirty dwarves pulling the big elevator upward.
"Strong dwarf!" Kyle shouted while giving a thumbs-up.
"Strong dwarf!" the entire group resonated with enthusiasm while pulling the ropes.
'They don't seem unhappy or bothered,' Kyle thought. 'Guess they're being treated pretty well, thanks to Bonk, probably.'
'I wouldn't want to anger Bonk.'
"Why do you keep saying that?" Tracy asked.
"Dwarven culture," Kyle said. "It's kind of a greeting and show of respect. Although, I'm not sure how they would take it when it comes from a non-dwarf."
"Interesting," Tracy commented as she looked at the dwarves.
"They seem a bit pitiful," she said.
"Nah," Kyle answered. "If they were pitiful, they wouldn't be pulling these ropes with such gusto and motivation. Look at them. Can't you see the light in their eyes?"
Tracy watched the dwarves for a while.
Sure enough, there was a certain kind of positive energy to their movements.
"I couldn't imagine pulling a rope all day," Tracy commented.
"It's a living," Kyle said. "All of us are just trying to earn a living."
Kyle remembered his money problems on Earth.
When he was younger, he looked down on blue-collar workers, but after he actually got into money troubles, he realized that he had been wrong.
These people had a job.
They could survive, and they could actually support their loved ones.
"A job's a job," Kyle answered. "I don't think there are superior or inferior jobs. We're all just doing what we're supposed to do. Gotta do what you gotta do to survive."
Inside Kyle's mind, Theodor snorted with disgust.
"I guess that sounds reasonable," Tracy said.
The two of them stepped onto the elevator, and the dwarves lowered the elevator after a minute of rest.
When they reached the bottom, they ran down a long road.
While traveling, they talked a bit about their jobs while exchanging tips about fighting.
Gelden was only about ten kilometers away, which meant they reached it after just 20 minutes or so.
'Pretty,' Kyle thought, looking at the landscape in front of him.
Wheat filled the fields as far as the eye could see.
Kyle could also see a couple of farmers harvesting the wheat with scythes.
'Always wanted to swing one of those.'
That was when Kyle noticed a couple of big dogs.
They ran through the fields at impressive speeds while keeping an eye out for intruders.
'Are those Late and Peak Beasts?' Kyle thought with surprise. 'Didn't know farmers had that.'
"This village is under the jurisdiction of a Beast Tamer," Tracy said. "All of these dogs are Secondary Beasts, and they're keeping the village safe."
"Cool. How do you know that, though?" Kyle asked.
"I grew up in a small town close to Gelden. I visited this place a couple of times with my family since my father owns some of the farms here," Tracy explained.
"Oh? You come from a farmer family?" Kyle asked.
Tracy smiled in embarrassment. "No. My father is a major investor in agriculture."
"Ah, cool," Kyle said. "Anyway, wanna ask around about the bandits?"
"Leave it to me!" Tracy said with a confident smile.
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