"So, what brought all of you to the Frontier?" Priestess asked the huntresses as they were sitting on the back wagon.
"It is a long story, but we and some other Huntsmen parties got assigned to exterminate Grimm that been appearing outside of Remnant," Cat Ninja explained briefly. There was a lot more to cover for the adventurers.
"We were starting to suspect that Grimm appearing on this side wasn't nothing normal. We usually don't need to kill them or else," the elf commented.
"And that's not all. Since most of Huntsm… I mean, the adventurers on the Frontier don't know how to deal with the Grimm, our Academy asked us to go here and bring some assistance. It is already bad enough for us back home," Brawler said while lying on the wagon and watching at the clouds.
"Academy?" Goblin Slayer asked with curiosity underneath his emotionless voice.
"It is just a fancier way to refer a Guild; someone thought it might sound intellectual," Fencer commented as she was polishing her nails.
"I wouldn't say that they weren't much of a problem. We defeated some yesterday close to a farm. They looked just the same as the ones you fought moments ago," the dwarf commented while still taking more sips of his fire wine.
"You mean the Beowolves? Those were nothing; in fact, they were the weakest type of Grimm you could ever encounter," Grimm Slayer said nonchalantly.
"The weakest? You mean, are there more of them?" Priestess asked, worried.
"Yep, a lot and bigger," the hooded girl said as it was nothing new. The group of adventurers started to look concerned about that critical piece of information. Beowolves shouldn't be much of an obstacle but discovering that they still didn't know it could be troublesome for the moment.
"Are the Grimm smart?" Goblin Slayer asked the Huntresses.
"Why so curious about those creatures so suddenly, Orcbolg?" High Elf Archer asked.
"It is a good question," Cat Ninja interjected. "Grimm can get smarter with age. The older they are, the wiser and dangerous they become." But, unfortunately, the Faunus' comment only brought more uncertainty for everyone.
"Why are you so eager to learn about the topic of Grimm?" Priestess asked Goblin Slayer.
"If you think about, those aren't much different from goblins," the armored guy said without much detail. That left his party wondering the same.
"Well, I couldn't tell much since we don't have goblins in Remnant."
"Wait, seriously?" High Elf Archer asked Grimm Slayer.
"Yeah, we only know about them through loose documents and stuff. We never fought one," Brawler commented. The adventurers weren't sure whether to be grateful for the Huntresses being oblivious to the goblin's atrocious acts.
"Well, there's always a first time, I guess," Priestess said, remembering her first-hand experience with goblins. She wasn't happy but no longer scared with the Goblin Slayer sitting next to her, bring a sense of security from there onwards.
"As far I know, I'm glad that your presence gave us resourceful information about the Grimm," Lizard Priest said while updating his notebook about Grimm.
"I suppose," Fencer said with a grimace. "We will see how things go once we reunite with the others."
"Reuniting with who exactly?" Dwarf Shaman asked.
"Another Huntsmen party that are our friends. We got separated because someone forgot to wake us up early in the morning," Fencer said as she slowly glaring at the hooded girl. Grimm Slayer looked away while whistling, or at least trying to.
"I hope you reunite with them; we still have some hours away before arriving," Priestess said to the group of Huntresses; they nodded with smiles. After that, everyone made themselves comfy for the rest of the trip; it was odd having more people accompanying the adventurers. Nonetheless, it was a breath of fresh air meeting foreigners equally powerful and knowledgeable as them.
"So, when I pulled out with my Spear of Grace while one ogre got me cornered, I used my spell Slow on that brute before he could cast any of his magic. In the split of a second, WHOOOOOooosh! I pierced his ugly forehead, killing it instantly!" Spearman was telling one of his stories to Guild Girl, trying to impress her again. "After that, I retrieved the Chalice of Virtue to return it to the King. Don't you think was an interesting quest?"
"I'm sure you did great; you must be exhausted for that." Guild Girl said while trying to maintain her professional smile in front of the talkative man.
"Me? Exhausted? Nothing can stop me when you have this kind of strength," Spearman said while flexing his arm, pretty much showing his bicep.
Meanwhile, on the tables next to the Guild's desks, a group of four young adventurers was looking at how Spearman acted. They weren't impressed in the slightest.
"What a jock," a girl carrying a hammer commented. "Can I break his leg?"
"Valkyrie, no! We already talked about breaking people's legs! I do not want another incident like that time when you did that with Mace Knight back at home." Without results, a guy with blond hair and a shield on his back tried to reason with the crazy-looking companion.
"Don't be a coward; you know Mace Knight and his party caused you a lot of trouble. What is the difference if I do the same with him?"
"Paladin is right; you can't do with every person you dislike, especially when we are not from here." Another girl with red hair and golden armor talked to Valkyrie; she wasn't complying that quickly.
"Oh, come on. Ranger, please, tell them that it is alright to break his leg if it appears like an 'accident' for everyone." She talked to a guy in green clothes and a belt full of belts.
"I would like to avoid trouble, please." Ranger had his head against the table, trying to nap.
"You guys are no fun," the hammer-wielding girl crossed her arms and pouted.
"Hey, Warrior. Do you have any idea when the others are going to arrive?" Ranger asked the redhead.
"I'm not sure, but I left them a note beforehand. I hope they get here sooner." She said while touching her chin. Everyone on the table gave a big sigh at the same time.
Across the room, on a corner, Witch crossed her legs and smoked with a pipe. She was observing that group and the way they interacted. It brought a smile to her face while thinking of how funny they acted. "Such interesting group… of young adventurers." She spoke with a calm and soft voice.
After an hour of the general quiet environment, the main door opened slowly by showing an adventure with leather armor with a big group behind him.
"Welcome back, Goblin Slayer!" Guild Girl greeted with all her energy as she saw the armored guy stepping inside the place. He and Priestess walked towards the desk while the rest of the group scattered around.
"Hey, there they are!" The hooded girl said with an energetic tone to her party. At the same time, she pointed at another group already waiting for them on a table.
"Heyoooo!" Valkyrie greeted them back as the rest stood up to go with them. It was evident they knew each other.
"What took you so long?" Paladin asked the hooded girl.
"We got some inconveniences along the road, but this guy's party helped us out with it." She said while pointed at the Goblin Slayer for them. The group looked at him with curiosity, as he looked as someone odd.
"Well, we are glad you finally arrived. Now we can start working." Warrior said while giving them an envelope. Fencer took it and saved it inside her handbag.
"Can we stop for a blacksmith or something? My gauntlets are in bad shape after we fought some Grimm on the road," Brawler said while examining her weapon.
"Yeah, I think that won't be possible," Ranger commented while scratching his head.
"What do you mean by that?" Ninja asked.
"Well… How do I put this?" Paladin started to drag with his words, as he was pretty vague.
"We are broke," Valkyrie said bluntly.
"What?" Fencer replied with an annoyed tone.
"It seems that Lien is not accepted on the Frontier." Warrior said with regret. Grimm Slayer's group went silent for a whole minute, just noticing the kind of scenario they were in at the moment.
"Whaaaaaaaat?" The Huntresses yelled in unison, attracting too much attention around the Guild Hall. Every single adventurer looked at them with strange faces.
"Hey, keep it down." Paladin tried to calm the girls, but they looked distressed for it.
"So, how exactly are we going to do? Nobody told us about that!" Fencer's patience was running low, just like their pockets.
"Well, we could just ask for a job or something in this place." Warrior said while looking at the quest-board.
"Oh, I wonder if they have something good, like hunting big animals or looking for treasures!" Brawler and Valkyrie ran towards the board to look at the available mission. First, of course, the usual tasks were from escorting merchandise for a night watch on a local farm.
"Hey, what about those?" Grimm Slayer took a paper with the request of hunting two Legendary Beasts known as "The Boar of Daruma" and "The Bull of Terema." Both did worth 30 golden coins each. The Huntsmen tried to calculate how much it was in Lien. Ranger, Fencer, and Warrior were doing the conversion on their minds while Valkyrie was counting with her fingers.
"It would be, 300 Lien each one. I think that should be enough for us," Warrior commented, which brought relief to everyone. The hooded girl took the paper and showed it to the receptionist.
"Good Afternoon, what can I do for you?" She greeted them with a bright attitude.
"We would like to take those requests," Grimm Slayer said while pointing out.
"Alright, I would like to see your tags," Guild Girl asked both Huntsmen parties. All eight of them showed bright red tags.
"Huh? They are ruby?" Priestess commented as she and Goblin Slayer saw their tags. They were Rank Five, also known as Rank Ruby, among the adventurers.
"This is weird…" The receptionist commented as she was looking at their tag with extreme detail.
"Is something wrong?" Paladin asked.
"I regret to inform you that we can't allow you to take those requests," Guild Girl said with regretful eyes. The huntsmen were in shock at hearing that.
"Why not!?" Grimm Slayer asked while resting both hands on the desk.
"You are from the continent of Remnant, correct? The problem is that adventurers and Huntsmen operate with two different bureaucratic systems, which wouldn't allow you to accept requests from the other." The receptionist explained in brief detail, which made the huntsmen both confused and distressed.
"Isn't another way to accept them?" Warrior asked.
"Well, there is one. You can accept under two conditions: The first is that all of you must take temporary tags while you are staying here."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Grimm Salyer commented.
"But you will get demoted two ranks below, which you become sapphire."
"Okay, now that is ridiculous!" Fencer crossed her arms due to the situation.
"And the second one is that you must take low-tier requests," Guild Girl explained while showing more paper on the desk. "Those are the requests we are only allowed to give you." Next, the Huntsmen started to look at the tasks; those were from the very bottom. The requests included cleaning infestations of rats, collecting samples of plants, and exterminating goblins.
The payment was low, and they weren't happy with any of that.
"Now this is stupid," Brawler protested, slamming her hand against the desk.
"I wish I could do something for you, but I'm just following the rules," Guild Girl bowed apologetically.
"I guess there's no point complaining," the hooded girl tried to calm her older sister; she complied quickly with a sigh.
"Although, if you want an easier time, you could ask a more experienced adventurer to help with some of the tasks and familiarize the region." The receptionist tried to give extra information, hoping they wouldn't feel depressed about their current predicament.
"Asking someone? Uhhhh…" Grimm Slayer looked at her surroundings, there were plenty of adventurers in the building, but none of them looked in the mood to babysit them. Of course, she focused her sight at the desk, noticing the armored guy next to her while looking at the Quests Billboard. "Hey, Goblin Slayer."
"Yes?" he replied.
"Would you like to help us?" the hooded girl asked.
"Are there goblins involved?"
"Uhhhh, probably?" She was getting nervous about his response.
"Okay."
"Really? Thank you so much!" Grimm Slayer thanked the emotionless man. Then, they took the goblin extermination request to sign in. The Grimm Slayer, Fencer, Ninja, Brawler, and Goblin Slayer put their names on the document.
"I'll go with you." Priestess joined the party as well; every group needed a healer after all.
"I'm so glad you are helping them, Goblin Slayer," the receptionist said with joy on her face as the armored guy, and the rest of the group walked towards the door.
"Hey wait a moment!" Paladin stopped the group before they could leave the place. "What about us?"
"Sorry, but the limit is six members per party. You could ask someone else to make the other requests," Guild Girl said to Paladin, which he wasn't much happy about it.
"But who would be accepting us?"
"That would be me," Spearman spoke as he approached the desk. He wrapped his arm around Paladin's shoulder while giving a smile at the receptionist.
"What are you doing?" Paladin whispered at the adventurer.
"Play along," he replied with the same volume of voice.
"Oh, so you want to take charge of them?" Guild Girl asked.
"Well, what can I say? They reminded me of when I was young. I never had someone who could guide me on those dangerous places. I would like them to be at my party and show the region since they are not from around here," Spearman said confidently, making use of his winning smile.
"Are you sure to allow them to join you?"
"We have always been a party of two, so having more people should be enough for a change of pace. Wouldn't you agree?" Spearman was squeezing Paladin's shoulder, expecting a quick response.
"Y-Yeah! We are glad of having an experienced adventurer with us. Hehehe..." The guy with the shield said with a nervous laugh.
"Thank you so much for helping them," Guild Girl replied with joy that things were solved pretty quickly.
"Sure, I'm always glad to help anyone," he said loud and clear, hoping that he impressed the receptionist. It went all according to plan, or so he thought.
"That settles it. See you later guys!" Grimm Slayer said goodbye to her friends; they replied the same way. "So, what now?" The hooded girl asked Goblin Slayer.
"We should prepare," he replied. "We are going to need positions, and some equipment."
"But we don't have money," Fencer rebuked the armored guy.
"Doesn't matter. I will pay for it."
"Are you sure? We don't want you to spend too much on us," the Faunus girl wasn't sure of his offer.
"Don't worry; he likes to leave everything ready before we start a request. Just go along with him," Priestess tried to assure the huntresses from his companion's odd way of thinking. But, despite looking cold and distant, they sensed something different underneath all that armor.
As they were heading to the blacksmith, Grimm Slayer wondered why he would accept them so quickly. One could say it was a simple fact that as long goblins are involved, he would never refuse them. However, the hooded girl thought there was more than that, as he had something that wouldn't let something go.
Whichever the case was, the huntresses were getting ready for their first mission in the Frontier.