On February 9, 3109 of the Magical Calendar, my adventure team was once again ready to go. Unfortunately, due to personnel issues, we were unable to accept escort and other missions. However, I was not sad about this, because a true adventurer’s favorite thing was not escorting but exploring those unknown legends.

Today I am going to look for new team members. I am looking forward to meeting team members who are as interested in the unknown as we are.

Caitlin, leader of the Fantastic Adventure Group.

After finishing her diary, Caitlin walked out of her room, and the group members had been waiting for her for a long time.

"Friends, today we need to find a teammate to form a full-fledged adventure group. May the goddess of luck bless us and let us find a good teammate!"

The Teke Province on the border of the Sharpnero Empire has always been relatively prosperous, but since a place called Maple Leaf Territory across the grassland suddenly rose a few years ago.

The Teke Province became even more prosperous, and countless merchants from the empire gathered here. Some of them went to Maple Leaf Territory together, while others stayed here waiting for the caravans from the opposite side of Maple Leaf Territory to arrive.

The escort agency that Lin Xingchen had always imagined for transporting goods also existed here, except that they were called the Adventure Group.

It is very simple to join an adventure group. You can just go to the guild and spend one silver coin to register. After that, as long as there is a team that wants you, you can join them and make money.

In the beginning, most of the missions were escort missions, but later they gradually became diversified. Caitlin's wonderful adventure group was mainly focused on exploration, and escort was a mission along the way.

Leading her three companions, Caitlin looked at those rookies or solo adventurers who were holding signs introducing themselves. She actually didn't want them.

"Caitlyn, please be patient! As long as we find a team member, we can take on an escort mission along the way. This is very important for the adventure team." Marcy Oliver persuaded softly. As the team's steward, it was his responsibility to ensure the smooth operation of the team.

At this time, another member of the team, Culliver Kirk, suddenly pulled Cartland's sleeve and said, "Caitlin, look ahead?"

Everyone followed the direction of his finger and found a lot of people gathered there, watching the fun.

Colliver, who liked to see something new, naturally would not miss this opportunity. The tall and strong man led a few group members and squeezed into the crowd.

The person being watched was a man. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have a pair of long pointed ears, Colliver would have thought it was an elf running out of the forest.

When I squeezed up to him, I saw a self-introduction sign in front of him. On it was written in common language, "Level 5 Swordsman, skilled in cooking, magic circles, potion preparation, ancient character research, and music." He also had his own request, which was to form a team to go to the provincial capital of Nestayo Province.

"Hey, Caitlin just happens to agree with our request. Why don't we get him in so that we can set off quickly? The Chamber of Commerce has been waiting for several days."

"Look at his strengths. I seriously doubt he is bragging." Scarlett Valen, another woman on the team, expressed her opinion.

"Whether he's bragging or not, I think he's the right person for us. First, we can discuss things with him when we're on the way, and second, he's a nice sight to look at."

"What Colliver said makes sense. Let's ask! Caitlin, what do you think?" Although Marcy asked Caitlin, his tone had already made a decision.

"Hey... handsome guy, I want to ask you, we have an escort mission to a city not far from the provincial capital of Nestayo, do you want to join us?" Colliver asked with a smile.

"Of course, I was originally planning to go alone if I couldn't find it today, but since I have someone to accompany me on the way, there's no problem."

"Since you agree, please come over to discuss the itinerary and allocation issues." After discussing the allocation issues with Masi and others, the wonderful adventure team officially set off.

The goods being escorted were cotton cloth from Maple Leaf Collar. The four carriages full of cargo exhausted the horses.

"Hey... Lin, let me ask you a question. Do you have elven blood?" Colliver was a very talkative man. After walking for most of the day, he finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind.

"It's true that I have elven blood. You won't reject me, right?" Lin Xingchen pretended to be worried.

"Hahaha... How could that be? No one in our team would have any opinion against you.

I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but I do have some foreign blood in me, but it's not pure enough." Colliver seemed to have met a soulmate and became even more unbridled.

"There are very few people like you who don't discriminate against half-blood people. I have met many people who reject me the moment they see me." Lin Xingchen smiled helplessly.

"Haha... I think the reason they reject you is not because of your bloodline, but because of your appearance. To be honest, if I hadn't seen that you didn't have long pointed ears, I would have thought you were a pure-blooded elf."

"But according to my observation, even among the elves there are very few as exquisite as you." Seeing that Lin Xingchen was not angry, Colliver naturally became more friendly.

"From your tone, it seems that you have seen an elf?"

"Well, I've had the pleasure of meeting them a few times at the academy, but they were much more arrogant than you."

"Okay, Colliver, stop talking nonsense. You've been a little rude." Caitlin ended the conversation.

Without the two people chatting, the team seemed a little quiet except for the squeaking sound of wheels.

After walking for about half an hour, it was already lunch time. The guard's duty was to ensure safety and they did not help with miscellaneous items, so some things about the carriage were done by the caravan members.

The other four members of the escort team were staring at the frying pan in Lin Xingchen's hand. A bream weighing at least three pounds was steaming in this huge frying pan.

"The four of them were originally planning to eat some cold steamed buns to fill their stomachs when they saw Lin, who claimed to be good at cooking, start to take out his weapons."

"It seems that he is not bragging. At least this set is really fully equipped." This is what Caitlin said to Scarlett.

Although the steamed buns popular in Maple Leaf Collar are delicious, they are not as tasty as steaming hot food.

On a portable magic stove, Lin Xingchen kept changing positions in front of two pots, frying fish and cooking, and was very busy.

The other four people sat around the portable dining table, staring at the fragrant dishes on the table.

Caitlin knocked away Colliver's outstretched hand when he originally wanted to eat secretly. After that, the few of them watched Lin Xingchen cooking while enduring their rumbling stomachs, hoping that he could finish all the dishes quickly.

Finally, the fried fish was served on the table. Both its color, appearance and aroma made everyone drool.

"I'm sorry, I don't have enough time so I can only cook a few quick side dishes. I'll make a good meal for you tonight when I have time."

As Lin Xingchen signaled that it was time to eat, several people were too busy with the knives and forks in their hands. The sight of them being unable to eat for a while made Lin Xingchen laugh.

He took out a few pairs of chopsticks and handed them to a few people. Regardless of whether they knew how to use them or not, they just picked up the rice that had just come out of the pot and started eating.

The two men, who were warriors, quickly mastered the tableware, but the two women found it a little difficult.

Fortunately, they were all relatively restrained, and Lin Xingchen even used serving chopsticks to pick up food for them, especially for bream, which had no way of tasting its deliciousness with a knife and fork.

Seeing how Colliver got a fishbone stuck in his throat because he ate too quickly and didn't spit out the fishbone, Lin Xingchen felt that he had miscalculated.

After helping Colliver remove the fish bone, the others became cautious even when eating the fish.

"Don't be impatient when eating fish. This kind of fish has delicious meat, but one drawback is that it has a lot of small bones. Chopsticks can easily remove these bones. I'm sorry for not considering that this is your first time eating this kind of fish. Next time I'll give you a fish without small bones."

“No, no, no…” Colliver waved his hands quickly. “Lin, I think this fish is really delicious. I was stuck by this little thing because it was my first time eating it. Next time you cook it, I will definitely not let this happen again. You must not stop cooking this dish. It’s really delicious.”

Not only Colliver opposed Lin Xingchen's suggestion, even the relatively silent Marcy said that this fish was very delicious and he hoped to eat it again.

"You guys like the food I cook, which is the best compliment to me. However, I don't like to repeat the same dish in a short period of time. The food I serve you next time will definitely not be worse than this."

Such confidence was warmly welcomed by the team members. The atmosphere became much more relaxed afterwards, and Marcy and Caitlin also relaxed their guard against him a lot.

The escort mission was very boring. He just followed the carriage slowly forward, and when he was bored on the road, he would go to the space farm to conduct his own research whenever he had the chance.

He was already accustomed to switching between physical and spiritual bodies, and after tasting Lin Xingchen's delicious food, the boss of the caravan agreed to let him sit in the carriage to rest and continue the journey with everyone.

The journey was relatively peaceful for more than half a month. With more caravans coming and going, the bandits did not dare to attack, because there were garrisons patrolling all the roads to and from the Teke Province.

One is to maintain the safety of the caravan, and the other is to safeguard the interests of the garrison itself.

Pointing to a group of cavalry that had just passed by, Colliver explained to Lin Xingchen why they were so active.

"All caravans passing by pay taxes based on the number of carriages they carry. Each carriage costs one gold coin. As long as these gold coins, called protection taxes, are paid, the caravans can enter and leave the town safely."

"Then why does the caravan still want to hire our adventure group? Isn't this a waste of money?" Lin Xingchen was a little puzzled.

"The garrison will only protect the caravan within the scope of Teke Province. Once it leaves the province, they will no longer be responsible."

"The Skako Province we are about to enter is famous for its unrest. For some reason, it has become a gathering place for bandits. A big reason why the caravan hired us is to ensure that nothing goes wrong during this 20-day journey."