“As the job requires, second-level-explorer Hopes Wilder will participate in a joint expedition with the Commonwealth of Gold Coins . The job will commence on October 8th, at the Mining Hall . Food and accommodation can be claimed at the City Hall Finance Office .
This message is by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Northwest . ”
Hopes stared at this command with some suspicion . He took out his gloves and scratched his head, puzzled .
“What’s the meaning of this?”
The messenger was a pure rabbit-man who had blood-red eyes and a humorous smile . He was clearly used to such a situation as he merely smiled and said, “I’m unaware of the details, but I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Commonwealth of Gold Coins have some collaborative events, and helping them excavate is one of them . They lack manpower, and thus we will be sending some talent over to help . The higher-ups were looking at the name list and realized that we have a talented young man who became a second-degree worker shortly after graduation, and is thus worth developing . So… you know . ”
Hopes understood his meaning and smiled .
The Republic of Northwest ranked its workers according to their talents and skills . A level-one worker was one who had the basic skills and could finish a job decently . A level-two worker was one who had the same skills as a level-one worker but with improvement . A level-three worker was a leader . A level-four worker was a mentor . A level-five worker was an innovator or creator . Finally, a level-six worker was one who could teach the skills and write manuals . Although in theory, these levels could continue on to seven or eight, there were currently six at maximum .
Half-Orc Hopes Wilder had learned prospecting and mineral separation at the New Oriental Technical School . After he had graduated, he had gone to Gold-Panning Town to work for two years . With his brilliant performance, he was upgraded to a level-two worker and returned to a smelting center near Void City .
Hopes Wilder was young and curious, smart and talented . He thus earned a substantial salary and lived happily . Recently, he had just bought a house in Void City and was prepared to move out of his hostel . He had wanted to invite some seniors who had been taking care of him to recommend some ladies to create a family after he had moved in and was planning to live happily ever after, if not for this sudden command .
After he smiled, he read the message and was lost in thought .
In actuality, he was not willing to leave the Republic of Northwest . The environment and atmosphere was to his liking, and he felt relaxed here . The idea of leaving brought his mind back to memories from his past .
That was about five, six years ago . However, to Hopes, it felt like an eternity before .
What used to be familiar was now foreign, and it was all blurry when he looked back as if it didn’t quite happen .
He knew that it was because he had grown used to his current lifestyle and was unable to return to the old days . He did not desire to do so anyway .
Sigh… Why am I thinking about those days again…?
He chided himself lightly before shaking his head and walking away dully .
The Republic of Northwest did not have a forced labor rule . While this command was by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hopes had the choice to reject it should he wish and there would be no punishment—such a command was usually seen as undesirable by the workers who did not wish to travel and thus it was difficult to convince workers to take up such roles .
However, because of this, the pay was very high . This job paid especially well as the travel distance was far, and the destination was extremely isolated .
Hopes Wilder was tempted by the idea of such high pay . If he wanted to buy a house, marry a woman and start a family, he would require lots of money . Based on his current pay, he could probably afford it, but if he were to come across a large sum of money, he could live comfortably in the future .
So he thought further and decided that the journey wasn’t too bad .
In the end, he decided to pay a visit to city hall to hear the details of the job . After he had completed the task at hand, he stripped off his work uniform and took a bath before taking the command paper to city hall .
He directly approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was greeted by a smiling, chubby man with scars on his face . This man could not be described as fat, but he was rather big and had a round face, making him look stubby overall .
“Brother Cambrona, I’ve received a command . Do you know what this is about?” Hopes walked over and greeted Cambrona .
They had known each other from a while back, when Hopes had first entered the country . Afterward, they had become strong friends who had lunch together often .
Cambrona was an easy-going person who had many friends . Because of his job in the ministry, he received quick access to news, and friends often found him for any gossip or intel .
Looking at Hopes’ command, Cambrona asked him to wait and ran off to find his colleagues for assistance . After a while, he returned to tell Hopes all that he knew .
This expedition was to help the Commonwealth of Gold Coins explore several mine veins . Their exact locations were unknown, but they were probably close to the edge of the Republic of Northwest . As it was an outbound expedition, the pay was high and could come close to three to five times the normal pay—this extent depended on the results of the expedition .
Furthermore, high ranking powers were leading the trip to ensure the safety of all workers .
When Hopes heard that, he nodded and asked, “So… Brother Cambrona… do you think this is a worthy expedition to go on?”
Cambrona thought for a while and looked around furtively before whispering back, “Well, it’s definitely worth it but… the risk is rather big!”
“Danger?! What danger?” Hopes lowered his voice similarly and asked worriedly .
“Let’s talk after I’ve ended work for the day . It’s not convenient to discuss this here . ”
Thus, after Cambrona had ended work, they headed to his house .
With the accompaniment of warm wine and home-cooked food, Hopes, Cambrona and his wife discussed the matter at hand .
“A war may erupt at the Commonwealth of Gold Coins . ” Cambrona did not beat around the bush and jumped straight into the topic .
Hopes Wilder was shocked and began frantically questioning Cambrona .
Cambrona’s wife was a nurse, and she worked at Lady Steele Geerteng’s Hospital . During this period of time, the hospital had started training war nurses in masses . Some of the nurses had felt suspicious and had asked Lady Geerteng why . The answer they had received was that while the Republic was not directly involved, an internal war was likely to happen in the Commonwealth .
If it were just an internal war, it would not have concerned Hopes normally as he was not physically there . Now, though, of course, if he were to head to the Commonwealth for a job, this would directly involve him . Even if he wasn’t a member of the Commonwealth, being caught in the midst of battle meant that he would be in great danger nevertheless .
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