??? PoV

The Demon Fog.

That’s what the nearby village calls the phenomena that occurs deep in Reath Forest. A single breath from the Fog, causes various severe effects to its victims, truly living up to its name.

Some of its victims die instantly but that’s its gentlest effect. At worst, they will die with their breath stolen bit by bit, dragging them to an endless hell while others are incapacitated for the rest of their lives.

However, all of us know the true nature of the Fog. It wasn’t the Fog that does the magic but what’s inside it, a Breakleaf farm.

It’s illegal to own one without a permit but at the borders of the empire, nobody will suspect anything as long as people stay away.

“Oi, ye guys fasten’d it nice and tight?”

“Yeah, nice-”

“and tight!”

Markus lightly laughed as he checked visually that the masks are fitted as tightly as possible since these masks might prevent the Breakleaf’s effects from affecting us, the mask can’t prevent all of it. Spend 3 days in a Breakleaf colony’s effective radius and you’ll develop severe symptoms.

“Righto, we’re all set and how’bout the chubby elf? Is’ser mask okay?”

Checking the the elf kid’s mask, I made sure that it’s safe enough for her as she might stay in that place longer than us. Better safe than sorry.

“It’s alright, Markus.”

They said this is for our final initiation as Blackguards but who are they kidding? We are just meeting a single farmer and there it’ll be okay as long as the farmer is alive and we’ll get the goods. If worse comes to worst, we can just beat up the farmer, no big deal...

But I wonder why is it that the senior Blackguards gave us those looks of sending us to our death… It could not be that bad, right?

All six of us and the Elf kid quickly moved through the forest in a gait between a jog and a walk. We travelled at that pace to avoid spending too much time in the fog. Markus leads the way with the Xero twins behind him. I was next on the order as I was given the task of escorting the Elf while the rear guard are Rah, Rhi, and Hru.

I can hear the merry trio behind us joking around but that’s okay as long as they are on us.

As the path went on, the plants became more overgrown due to the lack of herbivores and begins to obstruct us. I think we already have spent 10 minutes jogging...

We followed the map until we have found the landmark for our destination, a steep tall mountain. It was unclimbable but to get there doesn’t include scaling that thing. We circled around the left side as the map said.

After five more minutes, a ravine can be seen and it leads to the farm. I don’t know why the our slave is very quiet but oh well, let’s get done with this.

On the other side of the ravine is a field of Breakleaves impossible to be managed by a single person. With 2 square kilometers of farming land, you would need at least 50 people to cultivate this much Breakleaves. This farmer must be a monster…

A hill can be seen in the distance, about a kilometer away with a huge ass tree behind it. The fog is thicker on the fields but strangely enough, it got thinner on the hill.

“AAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!”

Rah suddenly shrieked and looking back, I saw Rhi bleeding to death while Hru was lying on the ground, grappling against Rah.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Shit! One of them must’ve loosened their mask, these retards! Then in an instant, Hru reversed their position and begins putting his hands around Rah.

“God dammit, Rah! I don’t want to kill you but… DIE!!!”

Oh… Looks like they have it covered. But losing a third of our team already… That’s what they deserved from fucking around during the briefing. Markus and the girl went on as I waited for Hru to get up.

“Come on man, we don’t have much time.”

I extended my hand to him but he just stood there, laughing.

“Joe...Can you kill me now? I think my mask got a little cracked during that little struggle… Please spare me from the pain.”

“No, shit… You are still fine so, it must be okay, right?”

On that question, he suddenly got on his knees, coughing. I know…

I quickly snuck up behind him and cut his throat.

“See? I told-”

We Blackguards are the elite warriors of Hartat, emotions are worthless on missions. It was indoctrinated on us the moment we joined Hartat, that we can die any moment and avoiding many with a death is good enough.

We still have self-preservation instincts but we have overwrote that with the simple utilitarian doctrine of our group. “Power multiplies together, having no strength is worse than death.”

I quickly went back to the mission and ran through the dirt path cutting through the field. I think when they said not to touch any of those plants must mean they are a very powerful subspecies of Breakleaf. I would rather not touch them...

“Joe, what da fuck happened to dose guyz?”

“Nothing, they just died…”

“Naturally, that what’s to happen when three crazy people get along.”

“Carrect, bro!”

If I wasn’t on mission I could’ve hit them over and over again… Why does these fuckers have to speak so annoyingly? I know you guys are born from the same bitch at the same fucking time but do you really have to match each other every fucking time? Are you guys gay for each other or something?

The air around the mansion is clear of the fog or is it just that thin. Anyways, Markus rang the door and the twins knocked on it in a very rhythmic beat.

I tried to sigh loudly but the mask warped the noise, making it sound like something was fucking strangled.

Zero and Cero laughed at me and tried different sounds. God… Remove me from this mission…

The door creaked and pale teenager with shoulder-length pink hair comes out of the door. Her pink hair and pale skin must be a sign of Breakleaf overdose but he isn’t dead or incapacitated yet so he must be one of those special people...

“Yah, Gol- wait, you’re not Golez, who the fuck are you?”

Her voice would remind me of that nice lady from one of the inns Hartat owns but with her crass language and harsh tone, it would be impossible to think of that.

“Ah, it was that time of the month when couriers change… I'm Rugd so, who are you guys?”

And like always, Markus steps forward and introduces the team. He’s a very nice bloke but he’s a severe control freak.

“I’m Markus, dis is Joe and those are-”

Suddenly, the Xero twins fall down as two needles are stuck in their neck. What’s with this bitch? How did she move that quickly?

“Ooops! Sorry, they were too homo into me so I unconsciously…”

“YOU’RE A GUY?”

Shit, I actually reacted loudly…Control yourself, Joe… You are currently on mission and Rugd has already knocked the Xeros...

“Oh, didn’t ya notice, Joe? Dat’s pretty obvious, clear as crystle.”

“Yeah right, clear as fucking granite…”

How can this guy have such looks though he’s-

“M-Markus! Joe is bullying me in his mind, is he a sadist or something?”

He asked with an anxious expression. I can feel Markus’ eyes stinging me but sorry, he's not my typ-

SHING!

A needle passes near my ear as he stood there with a wide murderous grin.

“Oh, did you just insult me? Now, that's rude…”

Rugd’s begins swaying, leaning slightly to the left where I would likely to go. Is this guy a mind reader or something? But that's impossible to become able to read them without much interaction.

“Uwaaa, Markus! He's afraid of m-”

In a flash, Markus went down. Is this why they wished us good luck? Damn…

I should finish the trade and get out of here real fast before he decides to fucking kill us.

“I think we should start trading by now…”

“Ah right, you don't wanna stay here long… Guess, this place is just too gloomy, huh?”

“Y-Yeah, mistress sent you an apprentice for your farm, I think she might be a bit silent but form a bond with her and it will be a-okay!”

Seriously, why am I doing a sales pitch for my life?

“Where's the usual stuff?”

I instinctively closed in to Markus as I remove the bag of Holding in his back.

Bags of Holding are weird bags that uses magic to hold things in an alternate dimension as you carry them with no weight.

Very handy but very bloody expensive. If we ever lose this thing here, we would’ve to pay a huge debt upon coming back...

“Everything's here, including the new stuff, rations and all.”

I tossed the bag to Rugd as he clumsily catches it. He then opens a drawer near the entrance and fish out a similar bag.

Rugd lightly takes off his bag as he adds some more content to his bag of Holding.

“Done! You can have this. Now, scram but don't touch my babies, okay?”

Looks like I get to go home alive but what abou-

“Catch.”

Rugd tossed my three very thin assassination daggers but he just smirked innocently.

“Those are antidote coated needles but you can't use them near the house or I'll get mad at all of you.”

“... Okay…”

After my memorable encounter with that guy, I had to drag the remainder with me until I left the hill. Ah, Damnit!

I wonder if the Elf kid will be okay with that madman?