"There is no need for worry, the influence from the cult has been banished. I am my own self now," the butler informed Jack after seeing his alarmed expression.
"Really?" Jack asked. A hint of doubt in his tone.
"I assure you, master Storm Wind, that I will not try to kill you," Winston chuckled. "The Duchess had a friend who is a High Priest. She had cleansed my soul of the cult's infiltration. There is no more trace of that abominable presence within me."
"If you say so," Jack said. He entered the manor, but his gaze remained fixed on the butler. He still remembered the terror this guy exhibited when he was possessed.
The butler took him to the Duke's working room. Jack followed from behind with caution. When he arrived at the work room's entrance, he was surprised to find Commander Quintus and Captain Salem inside. He greeted the duke and the two military officials as he entered the room.
Duke Alfredo nodded to Winston, who then bowed and excused himself out of the room. He closed the door before exiting. Jack only allowed his gaze away from the butler after the door was closed.
Duke Alfredo smiled amusingly at him. He said, "he is no longer possessed, you know?"
"I don't," Jack said matter of factly. "I can't differentiate the him now with the him from last time when he was secretly possessed by that cult's cardinal."
"Fair enough, but please rest assured that he won't bring harm to you anymore," the duke said.
"How is the fusion of that fragments of map going? I assumed I being called here has something to do with that?"
"It does," the duke replied. "Tell me, Storm Wind. Do you mind following us in undergoing a long expedition?"
"How long?" Jack asked.
"Uncertain. The Shortest should be one month, but probably could last as long as six months. Depending on the smoothness of the expedition."
"You said following you, are the three of you will also go on this expedition?" Jack asked again.
Duke Alfredo nodded. "I will need a small contingent of troops for this expedition. I can't employ the main army, so I can only ask for favors from Commander Quintus and Captain Salem here for their private troops."
"How many exactly is this contingent you are talking about?"
"Captain Salem could only take one company, while Commander Quintus could take one regiment. So give or take around three thousand troops."
"Thr– three thousand?" Jack almost blurted out, then what the hell do you need me for? Instead, he asked, "I am only a level 21 Outworlder, I believe a single of your troop is at a higher level than me. I don't see the need for me to be included in this expedition."
In truth, the real point which concerned him was that, if he followed this long expedition, when would he have the time to work on his levels? Whenever they met a monster, he was sure that this small army would take care of it. Not to mention if the monsters would not already run away once such an army was sighted.
Then he remembered the time when he was with the cadet team during his initiation trial quest for entering Themisphere kingdom faction. At that time, he was appointed as a leader. If he was just a member, as what he certainly would be in this expedition, he doubted if he would get the share of experience whenever the army vanquished a monster.
While Jack was having his thought, Duke Alfredo answered his question, "Don't worry, you will just be a guest in our troops. We will not allow any harm to be brought upon you. The reason why I insist to bring you along is because I sense that your fate is somehow linked with these fragments of map. Otherwise, you would not have been able to collect all three of them. As you know, this concerns the cure for my wife, I will not leave things up to chance. There might also be something that only Outworlders can deal with when we arrived. So having one that I can trust will be more reassuring. You can just stay in the center of our formation and enjoy the ride along the way."
That was what I am worried about, Jack thought. I preferred you put me at the vanguard so I can gain experience for leveling. If this expedition lasted as long as you said it would be, wouldn't I be left behind by the others already when I returned?
After thinking for a while, he gave his condition, "I can join this expedition, but I cannot accept passive involvement. I want to be assigned a company of soldiers under my command, and I would like to have the priority in choosing which foes to take on when we met one."
The duke was slightly surprised when he heard Jack was eager to engage foes during the expedition. He imagined that might be a particular trait of Outworlders. He had received reports as well that most of the outworlders that had arrived in this world were all very active in monster-hunting activities. It was also due to their tenacity in hunting monsters that Commander Quintus and Captain Salem had the leeway to divert some of their forces for this expedition, as they had greatly reduced the pressure on the Kingdom's army in controlling the monster population within the vicinity of the capital.
"I think we can spare my men to be assigned to him," Captain Salem offered.
The duke nodded, "if you do not mind it, then we will do it that way."
"But if you sacrifice my men wantonly, I will demand responsibility from you," the captain warned.
"I will try to take good care of them," Jack said sincerely, then asked. "How many are your men?
"A regiment of three hundred," Captain Salem answered.
Jack lifted his eyebrows. He was going to take command of three hundred soldiers? Now he seriously hoped that he did not mess up. But then again, the number of monsters he could crush with these soldiers was also encouraging. This expedition might instead end up beneficial for his leveling speed.
"By the way, where are we going exactly?" Jack finally asked.
"It's a place called Temple of Divine Squall," Duke Alfredo answered.
"Sounds impressive," Jack commented. "Is it a famous temple? How far is it?"
"It's a ruin, an ancient ruin to be exact," Commander Quintus took over the explanation. "It is located outside of our kingdom territory. It is in a no man's land area called Fulgur region, which serves as a border zone between our kingdom and another country called Verremor."
Jack did not know what to think. He had just been wondering about his plan on reaching another city a while ago, now he was told that he was about to join an expedition that would take him all the way out of this kingdom's territory. Talk about taking a giant leap!
"How far is it?" Jack repeated his question again. He did not understand the distance of this so-called Fulgur region since he did not know the geography of this world. He had been looking for a purchasable map in the shops around the capital, but there was none available, even in the shops of the noble district.
He had finally asked Peniel about it, she had answered that Themisphere kingdom viewed map as an exclusive property of the kingdom. Since common civilians would not be doing any travels due to the existence of the monsters, there was no need for them to possess a map. Only high-ranking adventurers and kingdom officials could acquire them, either granted from the kingdom itself, or from the more high-profile factions.
Peniel had told him that once he became a gold member of either Adventurers Association or Hunters Association, there should be an option to exchange his points for a map. However, the scope of the map might be limited. It might only show a region, or several regions within the Themisphere kingdom. To get a map of the whole country, it would require him to become a diamond rank. For a map of the whole world, Peniel had told him there was still no such map in her knowledge, as there were still many parts of the world that were still unexplored.
Of course, there were also some exceptions in some organizations where they would provide their members with a map in a more lenient way. For example, the Trade Association where Fairdeal Dylan was a member. Since their members performed much travel for their trades, they received a map much earlier than other factions. The information on their map was inputted directly into their map system, and was not transferrable. They could share a location's coordinates with their friends, but they could not share the detail of that location.
Jack wondered if he would be supplied with a map to their destination since they were going there.
Answering Jack's question, Duke Alfredo said, "in terms of timing, it should take us around two weeks to arrive at our destination. Considering if we don't encounter any complications along the way."
