The morning light eventually peeked through the canopy, and the forest floor was littered with the corpses of goblins and dire wolves. The Greater Goblin and Greater Ravager had fought all night and were both exhausted. Either one would collapse at any moment.

The Greater Ravager had a single dire wolf by its side, which lunged at the Greater Goblin. However, with a swift and powerful motion, the Greater Goblin took the dire wolf by the neck and snapped it.

That distraction was enough for the Greater Ravager to snap its jaws at the Greater Goblin, who placed its arm in front to protect itself. The teeth sank all the way to the bone, but the Greater Goblin didn't even wince in pain. Instead, it dug its remaining fingers between the Ravager's teeth and, using its last ounce of strength, pried open its mouth with both hands.

Giving it everything it had, the Greater Goblin ripped the Greater Ravager in half.

The Greater Goblin dropped to its knees, utterly spent. The forest was silent, and only the haggard breaths of the victor could be heard. The Greater Goblin had emerged as the victor, and the Greater Ravager was no more.

> Minus Strength

Before the Greater Goblin could even react, a blade drove deep into its neck, reinforced by the mana stone in Haru's hand.

"Thanks for the assist. You did great. You can rest now," Haru said his final words.

The Greater Goblin fell, its consciousness fading before finally dropping dead.

Haru collapsed on the ground, the weary night of intense focus catching up to him. However, he suddenly felt like laughing and did so like no one was watching. He fell to the ground, placing his hands on his head as he relived the night through his mind. A well-needed rest was in the plans, but for now, he had to quickly do what he needed before the smell attracted other creatures and the dangerous monsters realized the territory was up for grabs.

"Time to get to work," he said, taking out a butchering knife and began processing all the corpses.

…

Back at the Adventurer's Guild, the air was filled with boisterous laughter and lively conversation. As always, the smell of ale and roasted meat permeated the air. Suddenly, the door swung open, and Haru walked in, his clothes still covered in dirt and blood from his expedition.

Unlike before, Haru now looked like just an average, run-of-the-mill adventurer, and so he did not garner any attention.

He walked up to the front desk where Tanna was currently servicing another adventurer.

"Have a good day!" she said as she finished and turned to the familiar face.

"Oh, Haru! It's been a couple of days. I was afraid we were never going to see you again!"

Haru gave a small chuckle as he scratched his head. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you pretty much left after receiving 1000 Kladors and didn't even pick up any quests. After that, we didn't hear from you at all. You basically disappeared from the city!" There was an underlying tone and a tense aura emanating from Tanna, which Haru chose to ignore as best he could.

"Oh, that. Well, I've actually been busy completing some of the quests."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Tanna looked a little surprised and asked, "What quests? I don't remember issuing you anything yet."

Haru gestured for her to wait a moment as he went to the guild board and tore off two subjugation quests. The two pages were presented in front of her, and she froze.

"You're not telling me you tried to complete these two quests on your own?"

"Yeah. That's not a problem, right? I believe subjugation quests are first come first serve, weren't they?"

"Yes… but these…" Tanna's voice trailed off as she looked down at the two subjugation quests in front of her. It was obvious that she thought Haru was lying. The quests were for the goblin camp of 30+ goblins, led by the Greater Goblin, and the 20+ dire wolves. The recommended requirement for both these quests was two full parties of high-tier C-rank adventurers or B-rank adventurers.

Subjugation quests were not the favorite quests for adventurers due to the time and resources needed to prepare for them and the overall unpredictability of the quest. They were issued by the kingdom, and the rewards always started a bit low. At this time, the two quests had been on the wall for months, and they would either require the quests to offer more rewards or for them to turn into urgent quests, which automatically gave out high payment.

"I think you might've given me the wrong posters…"

"No, they're the right ones. I have proof—" Just as he was about to empty his bag of holding, a drunk guild member happened to pass by and saw the two posters. He gave a boisterous laugh, "Were you trying to do a subjugation quest? Bro, aim high but don't go straight for the stars or you'll end up dead."

The entire hall heard the news, and some chimed in.

"These summoned, man. They really don't know left from right."

The hall filled with loud laughter, enough for the Guild Leader to suddenly exit his room to see what was happening.

Becker appeared and saw Haru. With a smile, he laughed, "Ha, you're back. I honestly thought you might've skipped out on us. Glad I was wrong about that!"

However, he soon saw the two posters in front of Tanna. "These are?" he asked curiously.

"He said he completed both the subjugation requests," Tanna replied.

Becker frowned before turning to Haru. "Is this true?" he asked doubtfully and with a strange look.

Haru nodded, a confident smile on his face. "I've brought proof," he said, reaching into his bag of holding.

One by one, Haru began to take out the materials from the hunt. He pulled out freshly skinned wolf hides, sets of goblin ears, wolf fangs, and goblin teeth.

The entire hall fell into silence as the adventurers stared at Haru in disbelief. Suddenly, several adventurers began yelling at him.

"You dare sully the Adventurer's Guild by pulling this crap!" one of them shouted.

A beer cup flew through the air and landed by Haru's feet, splashing liquid against his pants. The hall began to fill with angry chants of: "Kick him out!" Outrage filled the halls as they all repeated the same words.

Even Tanna and Becker had sour expressions on their faces.

"Haru, you should know, it's against the rules to buy materials from the underground market in order to complete subjugation quests," Tanna said, her voice filled with concern. "If you're found to do this, we have the right to confiscate your adventurer's plaque and kick you out."

Haru lifted his shoulders and gave a gesture like he didn't know what to do. "You've really gotten me all wrong," he said, shaking his head. "What ever happened to being innocent until proven guilty?"

"Are you trying to say you didn't purchase these and actually retrieved them from those monsters yourself?" Becker asked, annoyed. Even now, he fully believed that Haru was lying. As guild leader, reputation was everything for the Adventurer's Guild. The guild only worked because the citizens had trust in their abilities to do the hard work. Every adventurer took pride in their work, and they wouldn't stand by if someone were to make a mockery of it.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he replied. "I completed the quests, and I have the materials to prove it. I would never lie. I'm an adventurer, and I play by the rules.""

"Are you willing to stake your adventurer's plaque on that?" Becker asked seriously.

"Sure thing. You can do whatever you want to prove it, I don't mind." Haru gestured nonchalantly.

Becker gave Tanna a look, and she immediately began to work analyzing the materials. She touched the wolf hide and began examining it. Her years as the guild receptionist, overseeing the materials gathered by adventurers, ensured there would be no mistake.

"Oh, it's still moist, clean cut, it's fresh," she said with a hint of surprise. "The cuts are all similar, so it was definitely done by the same person."

She moved on to the teeth, examining them with a critical eye. "These are all from the third molar, no cracks, residual gum lining is still present," she continued. "They're all genuine."