“What about this one?”
“An escort quest?”
“It’s two weeks’ worth of travelling. And I know this merchant.”
Right now, Jiuru, Zelentriya, Aelee, and me are in the guild choosing what quest we would do. Raela and Klare still doesn’t have their adventurer cards so, right now, they are on their part-time jobs as clerks at Blanche Trading. They said that it’s been a month and a half ever since they lost it. It should come back anytime soon. After that we can officially add them to our party.
And Mist… decided to be the maid of the house out of nowhere. I don’t know what she’s feeling or thinking, but I do know that she’s strong. After all that happened to her, she was able to recover both mentally and physically. If that’s what she wants to do, I have no reason to stop her.
Zelentriya suggested that we do an escort quest.
[Escort Quest: Merchant
Reward: 400,000 oires
Location: Luminus Town to Shimmer Town
Duration: Sixteenth day of the tenth month until the party arrives at the said destination.
Requestor: Warren]
“A Platinum-IV quest? That’s rare,” remarked Jiuru.
Mostly, escorts quests are only at Gold-II and Gold-I. Of course, there’s an exception. If we’re escorting a high ranking noble or high quality goods, then the rank of the quest will go up. This also means that the higher the rank the more parties they will require. Since this is at Platinum-IV, I’m guessing that will they will need at least two parties.
“Should we bring it to Miss Bel, then?” Suggested Aelee.
*****
“Next, please. Oh? Greo, good morning.”
Her smile is so bright as always.
“Good morning, Miss Bel. We’re here to take this quest.”
“Escorting merchant Warren, I see. Merchant Warren’s goods have always been peculiar. From magical tools to ancient treasures. He has a very good reputation amongst the merchants and merchant guild. His customers have high opinions of him too. Every time he places a commission, it was always at Diamond-IV rank or higher, but it seems like he’s not bringing his usual wares this time.”
“So he’s a famous merchant.”
“Well, for Greo who was always on his training for twenty years, of course you wouldn’t know him.”
“R-Right. Anyway, we’ll be taking that one. How many parties is he requiring?”
“Just two. There’s already a party that accepted this quest. You’ll meet them on sixteen. But if you want, I can make an arrangement for you and their party to meet.”
Meeting them first would be beneficial. We can make night watch schedules and such. It’s also good to learn what they are capable of.
“Please do.”
“Certainly. Please sign this.”
Greo signed the usual form and headed out to buy supplies for their quest.
“Ah! Since we’re buying supplies, why don’t we visit Raela and Klare?” Suggested Aelee.
“Mmm. The fire and water girl. Why not. The establishment they’re working at pretty much have what we need.”
“It’s decided then.”
*****
Shortly after leaving the guild, we arrived at Blanche Trading.
As we entered the establishment we were greeted by Klare in her uniform. “Welcome to Blanche Trading. How may I help you?”
“W-who are you!?”
She’s smiling! A full blown, friendly, and bright smile! Compared to how she normally looks when outside of her work, here she seems like a friendly staff who would help you without hesitation. But this still doesn’t look as genuine compared to when she’s talking to Raela.
“Mr. Customer. If you’re here only to fool around. Can you please kindly leave?” She’s still smiling but her eyes are not.
“Greo, don’t tease Klare too much. I understand your reaction though,” said Raela who appeared behind Klare.
“Sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”
Really. I was just surprised.
“Wow~ Your uniform looks cute on you two,” complimented Aelee.
“Right~? I really like how it looks on Klare too,” added Raela.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Hmm. Not bad, not bad. You both look good in those uniforms.”
Even Zelentriya? I guess that’s no surprise, she does give a compliment when she actually means it.
“Ahh! Stop it! Are you guys here to mess with me or buy something? You too, Raela! You were supposed to be stocking at the back, aren’t you!?”
“Hehe. I was just done.”
“That’s right. We need some health potions and mana potions. Also two tents, two lanterns, and four sleeping bags.”
“Understood. Klare, can you show them where the potions are? I’ll show Greo the tents.”
“Alright. Come this way.”
“Jiuru, Zel. You two can take a look around the store. I’ll get the potions.”
“Nah, I’m coming with you,” said Zelentriya.
“I will go check their staffs.”
Klare led Aelee and Zelentriya into the aisle where the potions are located.
“Follow me upstairs, Greo.”
“Alright.”
Raela then led me to the second floor.
The second floor has an assortment of different things. From fire woods to tents, magic bags, and even carriages.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
I pointed at the carriages lined up. “How is a carriage on second floor?”
“Well, we use magic bags to move them around.”
“Oh.”
That makes sense. So you can use magic bags like that too huh.
“We’re here, Greo. You can choose from our selection here.”
We arrived at the corner where five tents are lined up based on their sizes.
From the right, the first one can fit one person, next to it is a little bigger that could fit two people, the third one is much wider as it can fit five people, next to that is a tent that can fit at least eight, and the largest of them all can accommodate ten to fifteen people.
I guess I will take the second one.
“I’ll take two of this.”
“Understood. The sleeping bags are over here. Follow me.”
Somehow, she looks professional.
Raela continued on guiding and giving me suggestions. For some reason, I ended up buying more than what I need. Her upselling skill is scary.
“Does this store have grimoires?”
“Unfortunately, no. Grimoires are hard to come by.”
“Hm? Why’s that?”
In my parents’ house, there are tons of grimoires.
“For one, grimoires are order-made. Meaning, they are made to specifically suit the user. And most importantly, only witches can make them.”
Witches!?
“Seriously? I don’t think there are any witches registered on this kingdom or any in any kingdom for that matter.”
“Yes. Witches are known to quite eccentric and selfish. Unless they took a liking to you, they will never hear you out.”
“Seriously… Anyway, can you bring those items downstairs. I’ll take a look around for others things first.”
I guess this unique skill can wait.
“Alright. Take your time. Call me if you need any help.”
I’ll look at their armors.
They have two types of armors, light and heavy. Light armors are mostly used by archers, mages, assassins, beast tamers, and summoners. While the heavy armors are mostly used by tanks and fighters. That being said, it is based entirely on the person’s preference.
I will need to wear an armor underneath this robe. Ambushes are pretty common in escort quests after all. Arrows will come flying at you at any given moment.
“But their price… This silver one is one million and five hundred thousand oires. Silver light armor… It’s enchanted with low-level ailment resistance. This one… Crimson Armor, two million oires. It increases the wearer’s fire magic, twice their original firepower. This looks like it’s suited for Klare.”
“Master, what about this one?”
While looking at the armors, I heard Hollo’s voice.
“Hollo? Where have you been?”
“Apologies. I took a nap on their roof. The sunlight was very refreshing.”
Hollo likes taking a nap under the sunlight. Every day from six in the morning to ten, he’s always on our house’s roof napping. He’ll never fail to take a nap every time he gets the chance.
“I see. So what’s that armor?”
“Infested armor.”
…
“What now?”
It’s a single piece of armor. Chest armor to be precise. It has a dark purple color and full of intricate engravings, and right in the middle is a red rose—surrounded by strange letter—sigil.
“Infested armor. It increases your mana’s regeneration, thrice the original amount.”
“But…” I leaned in and took a closer look at the plate where the description is written. “…It makes your whole body itchy…”
“Worry not, master. When you summoned me, I was granted a unique skill of my own. [Curse Master].”
“So you’re saying…”
“Yes. The ‘side effect’ is nothing but a curse. With my skill, I can create, remove, identify, and modify curses.”
“So that’s how it is! And because of the side effect, the price is only three hundred thousand oires. My personal money should be enough to buy this. Alright, I’m taking it.”
I hurriedly went downstairs and called Raela.
I showed her the armor and she made a face that looks like she’s questioning my choice.
“Ah… Don’t worry about it. I have a plan for it. So, where can I try it?”
“Right… This way.”
After that, while I was carrying the armor, she showed me to a room with a full body mirror.
I went inside along with Hollo.
“Alright, Hollo. Can you remove it?”
“Understood.”
Hollo hovered in front of the armor and breathed a purple mist on it. We waited until the mist disappeared.
“Is it good now?”
“Yes, please try it on.”
I removed my robe first and wore the armor. And to my surprise, there’s no itch anywhere, in fact, it’s very comfortable to wear. It doesn’t weigh that much so it doesn’t affect my movement at all.
I cast a water ball on top of my palm and immediately dispersed it.
“Ohh! I can feel my mana recovering quickly. This armor is nice. The design is also great.”
To think that I can get this for just three hundred thousand oires. That’s thanks to Hollo.
“It looks good on you, master. Although, it does not match your blue hair.”
This is what I like about Hollo. He doesn’t lie and tells me what he actually thinks.
Well, not really, he does lie from time to time, but only when necessary.
“You think so? But I guess that doesn’t matter, I’ll wear my robe on top of it anyway.”
“I see.”
“Regarding your skill. Do not use it when not needed, alright?”
“Understood.”
I checked myself on the mirror for a few minutes and wore my robe back on top of the armor. I got out of the room and told Raela I’ll be buying the armor and that I’m already wearing it.
Their co-worker is working as their cashier.
“Your total comes to four hundred and fifty thousand oires.”
Eh?
“Didn’t we also bought potions.”
Klare replied. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll pay for those; we can’t go with your quest so think of this as our contribution.”
“I see. We’ll gladly accept these then.”
“Good.”
After paying and sorting our supplies, we went back home.
*****
Meanwhile, at the third floor of Blanche Trading.
A maid knocked three times on the door with ‘owner’ written on the plate.
“Come in.”
When the maid entered, her eyes widened, she saw the owner of Blanche Trading tinkering some sort of mechanism that looks strange.
But that’s not the reason she was shocked.
“Master Mikael! I just cleaned this room this morning and it’s already this messy!?”
A mountain of papers, most probably blueprints, and scraps are all over the place.
“M-my bad. I was so focused; I didn’t realize it was this messy already. Anyway, what is it?”
“Someone bought the armor you made.”
“You mean that itchy armor?”
“Yes.”
“Huh? We wrote the effects of that armor, right?”
“We did.”
“And they still bought it despite that?”
“Yes. And he was already wearing it while paying for the armor.”
“Seriously? Do you know who is it?”
“Based on their conversation with the part-timers earlier, I’m guessing they know each other. You might want to talk to them.”
“Alright. I’m already done anyway. Are they still at the store?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
As he was about to strode off downstairs, the staff grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up.
“M-Madel…?”
“You are NOT seeing anyone in that state. Come, I’ll wash you.”
“AHH! Let go! I can wash myself!”
“No can do. You’re still a growing kid master Mikael, let me do this for you while I still can.”
That’s right. The owner of the Blanche Trading, Mikael Blanch, is only a kid at the age of fourteen.