The last day out in the wilderness was spent doing nothing. They found a small cave and stayed the day. While they were given twenty-four hours, after returning they had to register that they had returned.

Once registered, their mission completion will be left pending. If Marvin hadn’t already or had a complaint, he had a week to bring it up. So long as there were no suspicious actions, they would receive their pay after turning in the request.

The clock would once again start ticking down. They were required to generate eight more gold in a period of thirty-five days. Since the day they registered to Mercury City, was the same day they accepted the request.

As for Claire and Jack, this mission ended their monthly quota. They had said that they would rest for a small period before they needed to look for another request for the next month. Combined with their reputation, it was unlikely they would run into each other again soon.

With such thoughts, Jessica didn’t get to enjoy her day off. She was rather fond of Claire and Jack. However, this event caused a rift between Saleh and them. To say little of their new budding friendship. It was likely they wouldn’t find anyone to work with.

Though the two had much time to think about it. Jessica decided to go back to doing what she was best at. While the Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t up on the take of assassination requests. They had plenty of elimination requests. They were fairly dangerous, some could only take a day, while others took weeks or possibly months.

Saleh had thought about it, he wasn’t sure if he would follow suit.

The next day they returned to the familiar yet foreign city. This time they entered through the north gate. This allowed them to enter straight into the northeast.

Registering, they were back and receiving their reward. It surprised her while at the same time seemed to make sense. Before they could take the reward, the two had to sign that they had completed the request. If a complaint or Marvin said they didn’t complete their task.

Possibly for even a third party to find out they didn’t complete the request. They would be found guilty of fraud. This would instantly revoke their guild membership, they would be arrested and serve time.

While it made sense, the severity for both sides in lying to the Adventurer’s Guild was harsh. Outside of Mercury City, both sides would return or go to another branch to declare the end of the request. Payment would only be given when both sides agreed to have been completed. The repercussions weren’t nearly as bad.

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Returning to Joe’s place. They had missed breakfast. Joe wasn’t even there. The two returned to their respected rooms. Jessica found herself sleeping when her head hit the pillow. She slept soundly as nobody had triggered any of her alarms.

Waking up, she saw it was the next day. She was a bit flabbergasted by the fact she had slept the entire day away. Moving a bit lethargically, she headed downstairs. Nobody seemed to be up just yet.

Joe’s breakfast time wasn’t a random thing. She had learned earlier that it seemed to have implicit meaning. Having been able to eat before leaving, the timing seem to have a deeper meaning as it was around that time she would wake up every day when they would start moving again.

By this point, she was used to waking up at around this time. If they weren’t woken up by an alarm, it was around this time they would need to get up to eat before they would set off for the day.

Shortly after sitting down to stare at the empty air, a door was opened. A woman with a straight face looked a bit startled. Nodding her head, she moved to the back of the counter before entering the kitchen.

Having only spent a single day here before leaving, she was a bit startled herself. Not knowing if this was normal or not. The other party acted so naturally, she found it awkward to try and stop the woman.

Of the two doors, behind the counter. One was the kitchen, soon she was able to figure out the second door belonged to Joe’s bedroom.

With a short yawn, he checked the kitchen with a quick glance before sitting down, “I heard you two came back yesterday.”

Seeing her nod, he couldn’t help but smile as he kept talking, “I was a bit surprised you didn’t come down for dinner. I guess the job was a bit tough.” Pausing for a bit, “I hope you don’t mind. I was recently asked about my work. Without much hesitation, I said I recently had new guests. While I didn’t say much, only a short few words.”

Seeing the look on his face, Jessica couldn’t help but ask, “They want to meet us?”

With a wry smile, “Yeah, they didn’t try to make it obvious. When Charles was mentioned, it turned into a dinner invitation. Though, I got the impression that the man was a bit interested in you. Though I didn’t really say much, so I am not sure why. However, I wasn’t really in a position to decline. If you don’t want to meet them you can either not show up or eat someone else.”

Jessica was frowning, “Won’t that put you in a difficult position?”

“Yes, but so what. This is my place, ultimately that means no matter who comes. They need to follow my rules. While it was impossible for me to stop him from coming to dinner. If he demands to meet my guests or tries to approach them through me. That is an entirely different matter.”

“Is Saleh going?”

“Yes.” Nodding his head.

There was a shift in her expression, Joe didn’t notice, but Jessica turned to him, “I have to look for a new request. Going to dinner shouldn’t be a problem.”

With Izic’s warning, it could be said that he was continuing to look after her. While one could attack or kill another in Mercury City, that was under the rules. One needed to apply for a duel, which was very easy to do. This needed both parties consent.

With Saleh, even if he didn’t help her. She felt a closeness to him as he had continued to stand by her side. Just his presence means that Everblood would likely not let anything happen. Azeban showing up after that incident was an indication of that.

For all she knew, she was thinking too deeply into this. However, she would rather be paranoid than caught unaware.