The group of travelers was composed of five middle-aged men. They didn`t have any carriage and each of them was carrying a backpack. Four of them seemed to be mercenaries, they were wearing chain mail and carrying a sword. The last man was in the center of the group, seemed more scholarly, and the others were probably here to protect him Edward thought.

　　The group was stopped at the village gate. Balin wasn`t on guard duty at the moment and some others guards were manning the gate. Edward`s group was able to hear the conversation from the top of the wall.

　　"Greetings travelers, what brings you to Agripin?" one of the guards asked politely.

　　"We are coming from Gob閘iard and have some business in the area. Now would you mind clearing the way?" The man answered arrogantly without even greeting back the guards.

　　The guard was offended but before he could reply there was a sudden flash of pressure.

　　It was so swift that Edward wonder if he had dreamed it.

　　"Awaken!!" the guards below exclaimed before letting the group pass through.

　　Right now, there were only two Awakens in the village, Caspian, the guard`s captain, and Balin who was his second in command. This village was quite isolated and it was rare for villagers to meet Awakens. Clearly, this traveler wasn`t a nobody.

　　Well, it looks like I was wrong, if this guy is an Awaken, he shouldn`t need any guard to protect him. Unless those guards are Awakens too? But then why would a whole group of Awakens come to a small village?

　　"Shouldn`t somebody follow him?" asked Edward.

　　"No, it`s fine, from the way he is acting he should be a noble from Gob閘iard. They are rude but if he is here for business, it can be a good opportunity for Agripin to earn some money. Besides, there shouldn`t be much of interest in our village for someone like him and we are still on guard duty." Adrien answered.

　　"For once that something is happening, I can`t even go see it" Edward grumbled in a low voice.

　　*****

　　As soon as he finished his guard duty, Edward rushed to Agripin`s inn. It was more of a restaurant and a bar than an inn right now due to the almost nonexistent numbers of travelers, but the establishment still had a few rooms that guests could rent if they liked.

　　The newcomer had put a notice for a job offer on a billboard inside the inn. It was the place where most of the villagers would come to meet and enjoy after a hard day at work. A billboard had been installed to share information even though it wasn`t used much. Considering the size of Agripin everyone knew each other and information was traveling fast enough by word of mouth.

　　The villagers were actually talking about this job offer right now. The newcomer, Marc Vega was searching to hire people for an expedition in the Vipin Forest. He had discovered some ruins that were lying not far from Agripin and he needed carriers and guards.

　　He could just have hired people directly from Gob閘iard but then he would have to feed and take care of everybody until they reached the ruins. According to the information he had displayed on the billboard the ruins were closer to Agripin than Gob閘iard. The reward was five silvers per day for a carrier and ten silvers per day for a guard. Considering that Edward`s wage at Agripin as a guard was fifteen silvers per month this pay was exceptionally good.

　　In the inn, the villagers were attracted by the offer but arguments leaned both sides.

　　"Five silver per day just to be a carrier, I say we should do it," a robust looking villager said.

　　"Don`t you forget that`s inside Vipin Forest. A normal bloke like you without any blood enhancement would get killed by any random beast" his comrade replied dryly.

　　"True but come on we will only be carriers, not guards, I`m sure they can take care of the beasts, that guy is even an Awaken according to the rumors. And it`s not every day that we will have an offer like that."

　　"Do it if you want, I won`t stop you but I`m not going. I value my life too much to risk it for a few silvers. I wouldn`t forgive myself if I died and left my wife and children alone".

　　Edward heard the conversation. He didn`t want to end up stuck in this village and he had no family in this world. The life he led back on earth had left him with a trauma. He was scared of getting trapped in a place living a boring existence. He had just come into a new world and the possibilities were endless, he was itching to move and experience new things. Even if the pay wasn`t this good, he would have still accepted the offer. Still, what the villagers said made sense. He had been in this forest only for a small amount of time and he already had a preview of what types of beasts were residing inside. He had killed a black wolf on its own but the beast had been severely injured, and he didn`t want to think of what kind of beast could make an injury like that.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.

　　He had only been in Agripin as a guard for two weeks, he was still a rookie. He could be considered at the quiescent stage since he had been exposed to wolf blood, but he didn`t feel special in any way. He was maybe a tad stronger and faster than before but that was all. The bit of blood he had been in contact with wasn`t enough to make a big difference yet.

　　All of that made him think, he was agreeing with the bolder villager. He would still go to this expedition, who knew when an opportunity like this one would come again. He couldn`t travel alone in the wild yet because he was too weak, and in this world, you needed beast blood to get stronger. If he stayed in Agripin as a guard who knew when he would be able to slay a monster by himself and earn himself its blood. The guards valued safety before all, and preferred to avoid fights if they could. Their aim wasn`t to hunt monsters but to protect the Agripin and its inhabitants, their main job was more to be a deterrence than a real fighting force. Years could pass before Edward was strong enough to explore the wilds by himself. You needed monster blood to become strong, and you needed to be strong to hunt monster.

　　It was the same kind of paradox back on earth where companies were asking you to have job experience to get a job. Which meant you needed work experience beforehand to actually acquire work experience...

　　That`s why he decided he would still take this offer but he would only go as a carrier instead of a guard. This way he wouldn`t have to confront the beasts directly and if by any chance an injured monster managed to slip between the guards, he should be able to handle it. The one offering the job was also an Awaken, he could probably take care even of the beast that injured the black wolves, at least Edward hoped so. If that wasn`t the case Edward was pretty sure that that guy should still be able to stop it for some time, enough time for him to get away. From the way the villager talked, being an Awaken seemed to be a big thing.

　　At the bottom of the job offer, there was a space to sign with your name. There were five lines in front of each role, either a carrier or a guard. That would make a total of ten villagers. The group would be composed of five carriers and actually ten guards if you included the guards brought by Marc Vega himself. It would be a small expedition with an adequate number of guards.

　　This number of people shouldn`t attract too much attention, that`s good. This noble was also able to travel from Gob閘iard to here through the forest, it should be fine. Let`s do it. Edward thought, signing his name on the paper for a post as a carrier. He wasn`t the first one to register his name. There were already three other carriers and two guards registered. Edward was glad he didn`t come too late. He would have been mad if all the positions were already taken. The notice was also informing the participants of a meeting in two days at sunrise. The equipment and the food would be provided by Marc Vega directly. The expedition was scheduled to last no longer than a week.

　　There wasn`t much time between the moment the foreigner put the notice and the meeting, but Agripin was a small village and it was enough for the news to spread. Either people would be attracted by the pay and go for the offer or they won`t because they would be afraid of the Vipin Forest and what roamed inside. Giving more delay wouldn`t necessarily be a good thing, and would only give more time for the villagers to hesitate and waver on their decision. The delay was probably only there for the organizer to prepare the supplies. After all, his group was rather light-equipped when they came into Agripin, and they didn`t seem to be carrying enough rations for a whole expedition when they arrived.

　　Now Edward had to brace himself and announced his leave to the guard captain only two weeks after joining. He hoped Caspian wouldn`t take it too badly, at least a week of leave wasn`t that long, it`s not like he wouldn`t come back after the expedition.

　　*****

　　The next day, before the training exercises began for the guards, Edward went to see Caspian.

　　"Good morning Sir, can I have a moment to talk with you?"

　　Caspian looked at him with an annoyed face.

　　"Sure, but make it quick, the training exercises will begin soon and I want to be here to supervise it."

　　"You must know of the foreigner who arrived yesterday, Marc Vega. He put a job offer for an expedition in the Vipin Forest; I accepted the offer and want to participate in it."

　　"And another one of my guards leaving." Caspian sighed before frowning. "You are still a rookie. You just came in two weeks ago. It`s too dangerous for you."

　　"I want to go as a carrier, I know I`m not experienced yet so I will count on the others guards to protect me." Edward insisted.

　　"A wise choice, still look at you, you were lucky to survive and reach our village and you already want to go back. You sure have some gall." Caspian snorted.

　　"Sir, I was stuck in the world I come from. I know you and Agripin saved my life by offering me shelter but I don`t want to become stuck again," Edward affirmed strongly.

　　"Fine, fine" Caspian grumbled. "I can`t make you stay if you don`t want to. Still be careful out there, you never know what can happen." He shook his head. "Another one dreaming of becoming an adventurer". Still, since you are leaving starting tomorrow you are not excluded from today`s exercises and guard duty."

　　"Yes Sir." Edward answered with a big grin.

　　He had been afraid that Caspian would force him to stay. In that case, there wasn`t much he would have been able to do. Even if he had left with the expedition against Caspian wishes it would have been a point of no return, and he probably wouldn`t have been welcome to Agripin anymore.

　　Edward felt a lot better now that this step was taken care of.