It took Jin and Yuri a large part of the afternoon to find Azure Lake’s Premier Escort Bureau, one of a dozen privately-owned security companies headquartered in the city’s new economic enterprise zone. When they entered the courtyard, the pair was greeted by a large boisterous crowd of mercenaries, ex-soldiers, and scrappy men and women looking for temporary work.
For the average joe, the competition for security escort jobs was tough. Traveling merchants and other employers, such as brothel managers, carefully vetted prospective hirees behind elaborate booths. Banners and paper handouts displayed tiered wages depending on job difficulty. The needs of the employers varied widely - some were looking for experienced security experts, whereas others only wanted dumb muscle for simple guard duties.
Jin sighed to himself. Despite its fancy name, the escort bureau was no more than a glorified exchange for hired guns. It wasn’t the sophisticated broker-dealer network that he had expected to find. Moreover, the talent pool at this bureau appeared quite lacking. Based on how the qi in the area pulsed, he counted less than ten cultivators in the courtyard, including Yuri and him - the wolves among sheep.
“We should choose a booth and line up before the spots get filled,” Jin consulted Yuri. He pointed to one of the more popular employers. “How about escorting a merchant caravan to Mapletown? The round trip takes four days, so we’ll still be able to make it back for the Silver Manor’s banquet.”
Yuri didn’t feel particularly excited about Jin’s idea. Shaking her head, she stretched her neck to scout out other options. One of the booths caught her attention. It had a really short line, and most of the mercenaries avoided it like the plague even though the job description looked fairly simple. It was a herb extraction mission at the base of the local Gaoshan Mountain. Nighttime tunnel exploration was required.
“That one,” Yuri chose, leading Jin to the herb extraction booth, which was manned by a lady dressed in a pristine herbalist’s robe and a wizened old man, who may or may not have been her chaperone. They were apparently willing to pay twice the rate of the next highest paying job, plus a small share of profits once the collected herbs were sold.
“Are you sure?” Jin asked, raising a brow. There was a good reason why most of the candidates gave the booth a wide berth. According to the description, the herbalist wanted to gather blue candle weeds that grew on the crevices of cave rocks. However, these medical weeds only protruded out of the crevices at night when dangerous beasts and giant insects prowled. It was a dangerous job, even for qi adept cultivators.
“Positive,” said Yuri. “I feel bad for the lady. Just look at her; she looks so disappointed.” Yuri was referring to the fact that only five hired hands had signed up for the job - four commoners and a female cultivator who carried dual machetes on her back. The herbalist worked tirelessly to convince other potential hirees to join her cause without any success.
“Fine, but let me warn you that this job will likely not be easy. In fact, it will probably be downright dangerous,” Jin told Yuri after he saw the seventh mercenary reject the herbalist. “That being said, I imagine it will be a very good experience for you.” No matter what, he would make sure the mission didn’t get too out of hand. Yuri’s safety was his primary concern.
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Yuri nodded in understanding. If Jin didn’t reject her idea outright, then it meant he believed the mission was doable. Somewhat encouraged, she approached the herbalist and applied.
“Thank you! You don’t know how much this means to us,” the herbalist ecstatically said to Yuri, providing her with a handout that detailed the mission’s content. “We really need all the hands we can get.”
According to the handout, they were planning to leave tonight, set up camp, and scout the tunnels. On the next night, the group would harvest any weeds they discovered. Regardless of the outcome, they scheduled to return to the city on the morning of the third day.
“Despite what everyone thinks, we don’t believe it will be very dangerous. Grandpa Kang and I have already explored parts of Gaoshan tunnel system with a group once before. It was perfectly safe,” the herbalist reassured them, though failing to entirely convince Jin.
Just because the herbalist duo succeeded once, it didn’t mean they would succeed again. Did the old man and young woman throw caution to the wind for the lure of quick profits? Blue candle weeds sold for a hefty price because of the difficulty in locating and harvesting them. As an alchemist, Jin was well aware that their limited supply had jacked up their market prices recently.
“Aw hell naw!” voiced one particularly muscular man as he stepped forward. He was one of the hired hands who had signed up for the herb extraction mission before Jin and Yuri. “I don’t want to split the profits with these weak-ass looking teenagers. Get them the f**k out of here before I quit,” he threatened the herbalist lady.
“But, sir, I’ve already agreed to employ them,” the woman tried to argue. Grandpa Kang affirmed in support.
“Yer the biggest bunch of f**ktards I’ve ever seen,” the man swore again. “How much weight do ya think those scrawny arms of his can carr…ahhhhh!”
The man made the mistake of trying to snatch Jin’s arm to show the herbalist. Acutely protective of his personal space, Jin had easily caught the man’s extended hand and twisted the man’s entire arm behind his back. The hulking brute roared, trying to free himself, to no avail. Jin then tightened his grip, causing the brute to scream profanities as he begged Jin to stop.
“F**k. F**k. Please. Stop!”
“Do I look scrawny to you now?” Jin whispered into the man’s ear for only him to hear.
“What? F**k. Ow. Ow. No. No, no,” he whimpered.
Jin kicked the man into a kneeling position and forced him to face the herbalist. “I want you to first apologize to the good lady and then beat it.”
Drooling in pain, the man obeyed Jin like a dog before hightailing it out of the courtyard. A couple of spectators snickered, seeing as confrontations like this happened daily at the escort bureau.
“I apologize for losing you a guy, but it'll be fine. I’m more than enough to compensate,” Jin assured the herbalist and the old man.
“Miss, we are more capable than we look,” Yuri added.
Speechless, the only thing the herbalist and Grandpa Kang could do was nod.