"Ouch!" Hal rubbed his head with one hand with a pained look on his face.
"Oh, sorry. Are you alright?" Freya asked again.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine." Hal said as he threw a stern look at Sir Jack, who also threw his head away in another direction as if oblivious to what he had done.
Freya removed her hands from Hally's own and said with more emotion in her voice...
"I'm so glad you made it, you have no idea how worried I was. Whenever I heard of a raid going down, I always came to the venue, not to participate in the raid, but in the hopes of seeing you."
"What? Did you quit being a Hunter?" Hal was very surprised and couldn't hide it.
"Well, yh. After the situation that happened during our last raid together, I decided to quit. I mean, of what use is a healer-type Hunter who can't help her comrades when they need it the most?" She said with heads down, her face one of sorrow and regret.
"Oh, Freya, you didn't....."
"Ouch, ouch! Hot! It's hot, I say."
Both the gazes of Hal and Freya shifted over in the direction of that voice, along with Sir Jack who was looking in that direction earlier.
From afar, an unknown man was whistling loudly at them.
More importantly, though, he was wearing the blue-colored prison overall.
'Is there a film shoot going on around nearby or something?'
While Hal was still wondering about what could be going on, a man in a sleek business suit climbed down from the front seat of a certain minivan.
He then threw out a measured warning at the prison overall guy.
"You shut it now, or I will."
The prison officer threw his face away in the other direction in the pretense that he knew nothing.
However, as soon as the guy in the business suit left, he threw an oily wink at Freya.
Immediately, Hal's expression crumpled.
Three more people climbed out of the van right away.
They were all men. And particularly worthy of note, was that, just like the other guy, they were also in blue prison overalls and had been cuffed as well.
The business suit led all four prison overalls toward the Organization's employees. And she welcomed him with a bright smile.
"You've finally arrived."
"Please, forgive us for our tardiness. There was traffic on the road."
The business suit guy then proceeded to sign each document the Organization employee gave him.
In the meantime, the employee called for the attention of the Hunters, and they gathered around.
"These folks are the 'replacement' convict who will participate in the raid, alongside you Hunters."
And so the expression of the Hunters hardened considerably.
Mr. Heights was the first to step forward.
"What replacement convicts are you talking about? Aren't there proper Hunters like us to do the job? Or are you telling us to work alongside hardened criminals?"
Hunters who had committed crimes had two choices.
Either spend their allotted time behind bars or cooperate with the organization and do their bidding, reducing their sentence.
Most chose the latter option and were then referred to as 'replacement' convicts.
"I'm sorry about this, but as some of you might be aware, the number of Hunters in our district has really declined, and the Gates are still showing up, so we have no choice but to look for an alternate solution. But rest assured, a Hunter from the Monitoring Division would go along with you people and keep the 'replacement' convicts in check."
This time it was Sir Jack who spoke.
"A Hunter from the Monitoring Division you say?"
"Yes, all the convicts are rank C's, but the Hunter from the Monitoring Division is a rank B, so there is nothing for you to worry about."
"Is that so?" Asked Sir Jack.
"Excuse me, what do you mean?" Asked the lady from the Organization.
"What I'm trying to say is, I'm also a B-rank Hunter, so I don't see how having another B-rank Hunter from the Monitoring Division would be of any extra help; I mean, I'm strong enough to take on this guy's." He said with a bit of air.
"Ah, yes, that's right, but the difference is, the Hunter from the Monitoring Division has the jurisdiction to apply force if these guys over here go out of line, unlike you." She said with a firm smile.
"Ah, is that so?" Sir Jack asked, a little bit convinced this time.
"Yes." The Organization employee replied, and both Mr. Heights and Sir Jack nodded their heads.
The popular opinion stated that you'd need around ten C-rank Hunters to contest with a single B-rank Hunter. And in this situation.... well, they had two B-rank Hunters, so there was nothing to worry about.
'One rank B and four rank C's, huh?'
Hal quietly studied the faces of the Monitoring Division agent as well as the four replacement convicts, before tilting his head slightly.
'Something's off here.'
He could sense a minute trace of murderous intent flowing between those four.
Was this also one of the facets of the Perception Stat, or was he simply being overly cautious?
In any case, he was overcome with this unexplainable anxiety all of a sudden.
Well, it was a good thing Freya wasn't coming with them. The rest of the Hunters were males, so everyone could look out for themselves.
The agent from the Monitoring Division signed on all of the documents and then came to speak to the gathered Hunters.
"My name is William Farrell from the Monitoring Division. I believe you've been informed of the situation. I'll keep a very close eye on those guys, so you have nothing to worry about."
He then beckoned the four convicts to come closer. They all trudged towards him and presented their hands. With skill proficiency, Williams undid the cuffs on their hands.
"Whew! Now that's better." One said with an expression of relief.
"Tell me about it. Shouldn't have had us cuffed up in the first place, we still Hunters!" Another replied while fumbling with his collar.
"Heck, we still serving our country!" The third guy said, his voice edged with an underlying violence.
"More like serving jail time, you say." The last one jokingly replied in a groggy voice.
"Ah-ah."
Lol.....
The convicts massaged their freed wrists and continued to yap.
William ignored their snarky comments and fixed back his attention on the Hunters.
"Who will be taking the lead today?"
Mister Heights was about to raise his hands but quickly placed them down when he got a killer stare from Sir Jack.
It was only natural that Sir Jack lead the team, as he was the one with the most experience in Dungeon raids and clearly the strongest.
"I will." Said Sir Jack.
"Ok then, let's get going."
With Jack Spencer in the lead, Hunters entered the Gate one by one.
Leaving the cool atmosphere of their environment, to face the unknown in a Dungeon.
What could possibly go wrong?