"Yes, why would there be pharmacists and weapon masters in the South?"

"Are you deceiving us?"

"Damn it, is it fun to mess with people? What a waste of time! I could have taken on another task in the time I've spent listening to you blabber!"

……

The young woman's question was indeed very important. Gerard was just about to explain, but the people below were unwilling to listen any further, especially the burly man who had spoken first. His reaction was particularly intense and extremely angry.

The scene suddenly became uncontrollable, and the staff in the hall also came forward to check the situation, wanting Gerard to step down first. But Gerard was unwilling; he feared that if he stepped down, he would truly have no chance to explain.

Gerald was a bit flustered, looking around for a solution.

The noise of the commotion inside the house grew louder and louder, even ordinary passersby on the street started to look in. Gerard steeled himself and suddenly pulled out a bag of gold coins.

This was the money he earned from helping Su Yao sell potions for the second time.

"The mercenary organization has always been fair and honest, so I'll leave a thousand gold coins here. If any accidents happen when you are collecting your reward, let the hall staff distribute these thousand gold coins to you. The hall will be the witness, is that acceptable? I'll also leave my personal information here."

Gerald's actions truly shocked everyone; no one had ever done this before. None of them were wealthy, and most who worked as mercenaries were short on money, valuing gold coins as much as their lives. It was indeed the first time someone had put gold coins in the hall as collateral to prove their identity.

A bit too straightforward.

Even the staff in the lobby said directly, "Just leave your identification information, there's no need to leave the money as well." Leaving the money here would require extra effort to keep an eye on it, and the staff were also worried about it getting lost or stolen, causing trouble for themselves.

The mercenaries were on the same side as the hall staff. Since the staff wouldn't let Gerald leave the money, no matter how much they coveted those gold coins, they wouldn't embarrass the staff by demanding the money be left behind.

"Young man, don't go causing trouble for others." At this moment, a few new people had joined the mercenary team. One of them, an older mage, sighed and said to Gerald, "All the measures you've proposed, and the task you just announced, are all creating trouble for everyone. Let's not even discuss whether your task is real or not. I think just wasting our time is already very annoying. You should go back."

The old man had just finished speaking when a young man who looked very much like him also voiced his agreement: "If you don't have any other questions, hurry up and leave! Don't stand there blocking the way, we still have tasks to assign. A kid like you, do you even know your own worth? Is 1000 gold coins a lot? You act all high and mighty, but it's really laughable... Tsk, you still look like you haven't weaned off milk yet, go home and drink your milk!"

The younger man spoke as he circled around Gerard, his gaze growing increasingly contemptuous, and his words becoming more and more unpleasant to hear.

Although the old man's words were unpleasant, they were still within limits. It was the person next to him, who seemed to be his son, that started cursing directly.

Gerald clenched his fist, really wanting to throw a punch. However, he still had his wits about him and knew that fighting was prohibited in the hiring hall. Anyone causing trouble would be blacklisted by the hall. He still had to complete his boss's task properly and couldn't afford to cause trouble here.

"I'll take my money back and leave my personal information. I won't stand here wasting everyone's time. If anyone wants to know more, come find me, or take the items directly to the designated place to settle accounts with my boss." Gerard walked to the back of the crowd, giving the space in front to the rude father and son. "I hope your task is cleaner than your mouth."

"A little naked boy dares to shout at me, hahaha, how ridiculous." The old man's son directly threw ten thousand gold coins onto the table. "There are too many gold coins, no bag can hold them, so I'll leave them all here! Everyone can rest assured to take on my task, these ten thousand gold coins are the reward!"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"And our task is not difficult either," the old man added with a smile, "My task is to find someone. I can confirm that this person is in the Misty Forest to the south, a little girl."

"This... isn't the scope too large? And why is it in the Misty Forest again?"

The old man arrived a bit late and didn't hear that Gerard's mission location was in the Misty Forest. Of course, even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared. He didn't think his mission target would overlap with Gerard's.

"Everyone, please calm down. Since I said this task is simple, I will definitely narrow down the scope for you."

"This girl lives in the Misty Forest, and that's the key information I have provided. On this continent, apart from her, there are no other humans living in the Misty Forest. My task is to get everyone to help me find this person, preferably bringing her out. If she can't be found, then finding an exploration team of about a dozen people will also work. The leader of this exploration team is a Level 6 female mage and a Level 7 male mage."

The old man's son distributed the portraits to everyone, and the person in the portrait was the one who had recently visited the Anxin Inn

Merry and Wilson.

"To be precise, we have two tasks to announce. The first task is to go to the Misty Forest and find a young girl. This task might be a bit dangerous because it involves going into the Misty Forest, but if you can find her and bring her out, I am willing to offer 20,000 to 30,000 gold coins."

The old man said that his child kept taking out gold coins, still without a bag, just pure stacks of gold coins, making anyone who saw them feel a surge of excitement.

"The second task is to find the expedition team. The two people in the portrait are the leaders of the expedition team. I can't determine their exact location; they might be in the Misty Forest, somewhere in the south, or even in the north. However, you don't need to worry about safety for this task, as these two are not hostile towards us. I will provide ten thousand gold coins for this task, and they will also give you a guide fee when the time comes."

To be honest, neither of the two tasks mentioned by the old man was simple, but he was so generous that none of the mercenaries dared to question him further.

After the two issued the task, all the mercenaries present were in an uproar, immediately setting out to find the person mentioned in the mission. Even the mercenaries from other cities who saw the task were rubbing their hands, ready to take it on.

Gerald was quickly forgotten, standing alone in the corner, looking particularly lonely.

In the hall, people gathered and dispersed, dispersed and gathered again, but only Gerard stood there alone. Gerard was usually very composed and would patiently wait in such situations. But now, it was a task assigned by Su Yao, and he was afraid of not doing it well, so he began to feel anxious.

He mustered up the courage to stop a few people, but they were all very impatient. Normally, they might have been willing to stay and take on a few more tasks together, but with so many people now rushing for the high rewards, they didn't dare to linger, fearing that if they were late, others would beat them to it.

Time passed bit by bit, and soon it was noon. The staff couldn't bear it any longer and told Gerard to go home first. The task had already been sent out, and someone willing to take it would surely accept it.

Gerald nodded, feeling it was indeed inappropriate to stay any longer. Besides, he needed to go home and wait for Su Yao's letter to inform her about the task assigned by the old man.

The old man's instructions were quite clear. Anyone who had been to the Anxin Inn knew that the girl he mentioned was Su Yao. Gerard had to inform Su Yao in advance so she could be prepared.

Perhaps heaven truly favored Gerard, for he had barely left the mission hall when someone stopped him.

It was the middle-aged man who had just raised the first question about Gerard's mission in the task hall. This man's physique was extremely robust, leaving a deep impression on Gerard.

"Haven't you already taken on that task?"

"There's no such thing as too many tasks!" The man laughed. "Of course, mainly because I feel I can't compete with others. My skills aren't that high, and I don't have connections. How could I possibly match them in finding people?"

Gerald didn't care about any of that; he only knew that someone had taken the job. He immediately grabbed the man's hand, carefully explained the task again, and reassured him with his own credentials.

"It's alright, young man, I believe you. To be honest, I didn't at first, but when those two men came later and spoke the way they did, it made you seem particularly trustworthy."

The man patted his chest. "My name is Kelvin. I do have some materials on hand, and I'm short on money. I'm planning to pack up and leave tomorrow. Can you come with me?"

As he spoke, the man still revealed his worries; he still wasn't completely at ease.

The tasks at Gerard's farm were quite numerous. He pondered for a long time before finally sorting out the task allocation in his mind: "Alright, I'll go with you once. If you know anyone, you can bring them along too. That way, you'll feel more at ease, right?"

"Sure, sure! Young man, I knew you were straightforward!"

In fact, many people were interested in Gerard's task, but most of them were dazzled by the tens of thousands of gold coins offered by the two elders, so they looked down on Gerard's material collection task. After going home and thinking it over, and with Kelvin's persuasion, more than twenty people ended up going to the Misty Forest with Gerard.

On the other side of the hotel, after contacting Gerard, Su Yao also learned that she had become the target of the mission.

"There's no need to think about it, it must be the work of that Wolf Pack Mercenary Group," Peng Er fumed. "They still haven't given up! How despicable!"

Peng Yi's focus was on something more important: "It seems the fighting has already started in the north, and these people have actually come to the south to issue tasks..."