Cole and Del were walking in the road stretching between Midham and Alder. Del was holding his rifle in his hands while Cole was walking alongside him. The road was bordered by two things. The sea was on the west while the grassland was on the east.

To look for the house where Osmond was hiding, they only had to look to the west or walk to the west. The grassland was mostly flat and if the description from the quest was correct, it would be a good idea to start doing that as soon as possible.

Cole kept an eye on the road in case bandits decide to ambush them from the bushes while Del keeping an eye on the west direction. It seemed that there was more than one house on the grassland.

“Damn, I know this is going to take a very long time,” Del said.

“Why so?” Cole asked.

“Look at it,” Del showed Cole the view of the grassland, “There are so many houses on that grassland. It looks like a whole settlement is established there.”

“I see,” Cole said.

“Too bad for Osmond though, a mage usually stands out and his bodyguards are not experienced at all. They’re just dangerous because of the optimal combination of the party and the number of people inside of their party,” Del said.

“How can a mage stands out?” Cole asked.

“They usually bring a staff, a magical device, or any magical enhancement clothing. These items tend to be very expensive and stand out. We only need to find a house with a mage in it and we’re good,” Del said.

“I see.”

“I only wish that I have a binocular right now,” Del said.

It was hard to differentiate between one house from another, not to mention that almost all of them looked the same. The houses on the grassland were made of wood and painted in white. Not stopping there, it seemed that there was always one person staying in front of each house.

Differentiating those people without any binocular was hard. Del didn’t want to risk attacking any random house and risking the target getting away while laughing at his stupidity. He also didn’t want to be ambushed if he went door to door while asking where Mr. Osmond lived.

He also didn’t know how deadly the ice dart that the mage was able to cast. Technically speaking, being shot with ice wouldn’t be as deadly as being shot with bullets. Knowing that he was very weak, Del feared that the ice dart would be able to mortally wound him.

“Cole, do you have a spell that won’t burn anything?” Del asked.

“Well, I have a spell that can manipulate magical stones, but I don’t think it will be useful in combat,” Cole said.

“Anything else besides that?” Del asked.

“I can heat up and cool down glasses, how cool is that?” Cole said.

“Oh, so you’re a walking refrigerator and stove. Nice, I might ask you to make me a cold drink or something,” Del said.

“What’s refrigerator?” Cole asked.

“It’s just something that exists,” Del said.

“Oh, I can make an explosion spell too,” Cole said.

“Now that’s the spell that I need, great job Cole,” Del said.

“There is one but though,” Cole said.

“What’s the but?” Del asked.

Col opened his palm and an explosion appeared on his hand. The explosion was small, maybe only comparable to an explosion created from a detonator. Still, it was dangerous. If it were Del, he might have cut his own arms off.

“I am only able to create an explosion this small,” Cole said.

“That might be small, but is there any special property of the explosion spell that you have?” Del asked.

“I can make an explosion at a precise place as long as I can see the target. Of course, it also depends on the distance of the target, the accuracy of the explosion, and the amount of magical energy stored inside of my body. However, this is the biggest that I can create,” Cole said.

“That’s not too bad, to be honest. Can I call you Mr. Detonator?” Del asked.

“Detonator, hmm, no. That is one of the reasons why I offer explosives to you anyway,” Cole said.

“Alright, alright, I get it. You can make a firecracker, that’s not too bad. Don’t worry, we’ll find its uses in combat,” Del patted Cole’s back.

Eventually, they decided to walk to the settlement on that grassland. Del wouldn’t enter the settlement, but he would circle the settlement from a distance farther than 100 yards. He didn’t want to risk being shot by the archer.

It was also an optimal range to see the target from afar. Besides, it was not like Osmond wouldn’t be standing out from the others since he always wore a white robe. Not stopping there, he would look way cleaner than his bodyguards.

“Del, looked at your left! the house on the right. It looks suspicious, right?” Cole asked.

There were three houses in the left direction. The house on the right looked suspicious. Two knights were guarding the house. It seemed that there was also someone holding a staff on the window of the second floor of that house.

There was also a person staying on the roof of that house. In the back of that person was a bow. It seemed that it was the house of the target. Now, Del only had to coordinate his plan with Cole. Cole also needed to understand the plan for it to work.

“This seems to be a good distance for me,” Del aimed his rifle at the window where he spotted the mage.

Del crouched while aiming his rifle to increase the accuracy of his shooting. Shooting a 100 yards target with an iron sight was quite a challenge after all since it was the first time Del ever shot a rifle at that kind of distance. He didn’t shoot the slime at that kind of distance. He shot it at much closer distance than that.

He didn’t lie down on the ground since he needed to be able to change position quickly enough so he could engage any target from a different angle and dodging the arrow that the archer might shoot at him.

“Alright, here’s the plan, Cole, here’s the sword.” Del gave Cole his sword. “I want you to approach the house from the back. Just hide behind one of the hay bales or something. The moment you hear a loud voice from my magical weapon, you better be running at the knights.”

“I understand. Do you have anything else to add before I walked into my death trap?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, don’t die,” Del said.

Cole nodded and he started walking circling the house from a distance. Del observed every single movement of the bodyguard. If he saw anything suspicious, he would take the first shot at that bodyguard.

He couldn’t compromise Cole’s position at the moment. He was also unsure whether the mage had spotted him or not. If the mage had spotted him, he would have been shot by the archer.

Eventually, Cole reacher his hiding spot with his sword in his hands.

Del took a deep breath and aimed his rifle at the mage. Del pulled the trigger. The bullet flew right through the window and the mage fell to the floor.

“Now that’s what I call a bullet,” Del pulled the bolt handle of his rifle and loaded another bullet into the chamber.

The archer started looking around and he eventually found Del. The knights were also charging in Del’s direction. However, Cole stabbed one of them from the back. Cole stabbed the knight from the back and he also entered a sword duel with the other knight.

“DEL, I NEED A HAND HERE!” Cole shouted from afar.

Del wouldn’t bother with Cole first since the bigger threat for him was the archer, not the knight. He aimed his rifle at the archer. The bullet hit the archer right in the torso. The archer fell from the roof and hit the ground hard with his head first.

“DEL, I THINK I REALLY NEED A HAND HERE!” Cole shouted as he parried the sword from the knight.

“YOU’LL DIE NOW, DEMON!” The knight shouted.

Del pulled the bolt of his rifle and aimed it at the knight. He aimed for the torso so he wouldn’t miss. Del pulled the trigger and the knight fell to the ground. Cole raised his thumb and Del approached the house.

Del walked to Osmond’s house and the inhabitants of the nearby houses were looking at them. Cole gave Del a brief situation report.

“There’s no backdoor, Osmond should be inside,” Cole said.

Del kicked on the door and he entered the house. The house looked empty. A staircase would lead them to the second floor, but Del wanted to search the first floor first.

“Cole, clear the room for any hostile, if you found Osmond, kill him!” Del said.

“Got it, boss,” Cole said.

Del put his rifle on his back and switched to his pistol. He looked around the living room on the first floor. The fireplace was still burning and a bottle of wine was still on top of the coffee table. It was very fancy after all.

“Damn, it would take me a long time to get this kind of amenities,” Del said to himself.

He searched through every possible hiding spot and he didn’t find Osmond. There was no trace of him anywhere in the living room. The wardrobe was also empty. Osmond wasn’t in the living room of that house.

Del continued by searching through the kitchen. The stove was still turned on. The magical heating element was still hot as well. It seemed that Del ambushed them when they were cooking.

Del continued his search by going back to the living room and headed for the bathroom. He aimed his 1911 at the door of the bathroom and he kicked the bathroom door. There was no one there. All that was there was a bathtub, a toilet, and other toilet amenities.

“Damn,” Del closed the door.

“Del, this side is clear as well,” Cole shouted from the other side.

“Let’s go upstairs!” Del shouted back.

Cole walked up the staircase first then followed by Del from behind. He kept his pistol in his hands while Cole kept him covered with his body. They eventually reached the second floor of that house.

“Damn, there are so many rooms in here,” Del said.

Del also observed that there was a blood trail on the floor. It might be from the mage that he just mortally wounded.

“Let’s follow this blood trail. This might lead us to anyone that is wounded,” Del said.

They followed the blood trail. The blood trail came from the exact position where the mage was standing. It eventually led them to a room on the corner of the house. Del kicked on the door and he found Osmond, but he’s dead.

“What happened?”

“I think I know what happened,” a voice could be heard, but it wasn’t Cole’s.

A woman appeared from behind Osmond. Blood was dripping from her mouth. Cole seemed to understand what was going on. However, Del was more focused on how to kill the threat that appeared so suddenly.

“Boy, you almost killed me, if not for Osmond, I might have died,” the woman said as she wiped the blood that was dripping from her mouth.

“Shit…”