"This should be enough..."
Hal wiped the sweat off his forehead with a satisfied smile after tying shut a new, huge sack bag he had just purchased for twenty copper coins—a necessary expense, and around an eighth of his entire humble coin reserves.
He had successfully gotten the mission, and of course, Hal planned to take every boon he could from it.
The monsters' arcane cores were among his primary targets.
Although mere F-ranked monsters, the Mischievous Housesprites' cores would probably sell for around ten copper coins each, and with just two of them, Hal would be able to earn back the cost of his new sack bag.
Once done with his preparations, Hal strode out of his dormitory room, clearly in high spirits again.
He then made his way toward the academy's south exit, as he needed to leave through Aeloria City's southern gate.
To his surprise and intrigue, he passed by a small military camp where a platoon of the Imperial Army's wizards were moving about, setting up various devices as though they were tracking something.
Hal took note of them but his attention didn't linger by much.
He cared much more about his mission.
Unfortunately, upon arriving at the Donkey Exchange Terminal, Hal was utterly flabbergasted at the price of a regular seat on a donkey cart.
'Five times the price?! Get the hell out of here!'
But it was he who got the hell out of the terminal, opting to walk to his destination instead.
And so, the supposedly two-hour donkey cart ride turned into a six-hour walk.
It was an extremely tiring journey.
However, a long walk had its own advantages, and one of them was having more time to ponder his mission, his system, and even a bit of free time for his mind to wonder about what the Imperial Army wizards were up to.
But it also had its disadvantages.
Outside the safety of villages, towns, and cities, there was always a chance of encountering arcane beasts, though mostly only low-ranking ones, as higher-ranked beasts usually resided in areas with extremely dense and pure mana, such as forests, mountains, abandoned mines, and many more.
Furthermore, common paths were typically avoided by these beasts, fully aware that the donkey carts and their guards would turn them into mere arcane cores if encountered.
Hal's journey was fortunately very peaceful.
He even dared to stop and rest at a stump to eat his purchased packed lunch of fried chicken, rice, and broccoli.
There were a few times when those with mana-powered vehicles and hoverboards passed by.
And naturally, Hal could only watch them with a hint of longing.
Traveling would be much easier if he could purchase an all-terrain Manatech Motorcycle.
He'd look way more handsome as well.
Unfortunately, Manatech vehicles and devices were extremely expensive.
He could only continue to dream of owning one for now.
Hal continued on his journey just ten minutes after having lunch, drinking water from time to time to rehydrate himself.
Finally, after passing two towns and one village, another town came into view.
Its wooden walls were partially destroyed, and the town's entrance arch had collapsed.
The wind blowing leaves and tumbleweeds across the empty path added to the desolate atmosphere.
He had arrived at Greyfen Town, where Mischievous Housesprites had been causing trouble for the past few weeks.
'Based on the mission notes... I'm on the wrong side... I have to circle around to the entrance where the town's residents are in control...'
There was a war going on inside the town, and half of it was currently under the control of the F-ranked monsters.
If not for the creatures having weak magic, the residents wouldn't have stood a chance and would've had to totally surrender the town to the monsters while waiting for someone to accept their request.
The rewards they were offering were meager in comparison to the difficulty of the mission.
If not for Hal finding the sprites to be the perfect opponents for him, who knows how long the residents would've had to wait?
Hiring wizards of adept rank or higher was simply impossible for the town's residents, so they could only rely on a novice from the Grand Magic Academy.
Or worse, they would have to wait for the Arcanum Imperium's Imperial Army to resolve the situation, which might take months, as the empire's hands were full due to the darned Fellkin.
Who knew what would be left of the town by then?
...Hal, despite being confident in his current arsenal of spells, didn't dare to play around.
He was even slightly nervous, as this was his first mission.
Carefully walking away from the destroyed wooden walls, he hid behind a bush just outside the town, pointing his index and middle fingers skyward.
A tiny brown sparrow then emerged from a small brown-and-green magic circle.
'Phew... let's begin...'
The next moment, Hal closed his eyes and controlled the sparrow, making it fly at a slightly higher altitude than usual for safety's sake.
He couldn't allow such a useful spirit summon to be destroyed.
While the view wasn't as clear as he was used to, it was enough to show him where the enemies were, and fortunately, the west side seemed like a safe route.
Hal dismissed the sparrow and quickly got up, circling from the west.
Around twenty minutes later, he finally arrived at the side of town where the wooden walls and entrance arch still stood, with two young guards holding nothing but pitchforks standing atop the walls, visibly on edge.
"J-Just a few more hours. The academy sent word that a student accepted the extermination request..."
"W-What if we don't make it?!"
"Shh! Don't say such unlucky things, idiot! We'll hold! And even if we don't, we can always retreat!"
"B-But I hope the wizard apprentice arrives on time..."
It was then that a human silhouette emerged from the shadows of the trees and shrubbery, causing the two guards to tense up.
But when they realized it was a young man wearing the Grand Magic Academy's white and blue capelet, their expressions lightened, turning into one of utter joy.
The wizard apprentice had arrived!
It was only a matter of time before those pesky Housesprites were driven out!