Level 2 Insight wasn’t a whole lot better than the first, but that was pretty fair given how it had taken about an hour to level it up. I began to focus on a potion that was sitting atop the shelves. At level 1 I had only gotten their color from the description, which would be nice if I was colorblind. However, I wasn’t colorblind, even though I was a cat, and I’m pretty sure cats are supposed to be colorblind. Or was it dogs who were colorblind. Both maybe? Man I miss being able to look stuff up. Maybe it was some fantasy reincarnation thing where I got to not be colorblind, or maybe cats just weren’t colorblind in this world?

I stopped my train of thought at the station before it derailed and got back to my task, using insight on the potion.

A green healing potion.

Hey, it said healing now! A whole new adjective! Knowing what each potion did was pretty nice, could be useful if there wasn’t a label on it that clearly said healing and had a red plus sign on it. It wasn’t really important to know which potion was which since I wasn't buying or using any of them, but it was progress on my skill at the least. If each level was this much of an improvement, it couldn’t hurt to keep using the skill.

I turned back to Mina and the line of adventurers. I hadn’t really been paying attention to her, but it seemed she was currently talking with some annoyed looking guy who was wearing 4 separate belts. Mina looked plenty irritated herself, her smile strained and her voice an almost dangerously positive tone.

“I’m sorry, but as I have already told you, it was recently made so no quests are allowed to involve going to that area due to the proximity to the border.” She slowly explained, not for the first time apparently. I guess I had missed a pretty lengthy argument.

“But I always train there! I know it like the back of my hand, it would be fine!” He whined.

“I’m sure you would be, nonetheless, there are no quests in that area for you to take. There is a similarly ranked quest you may be interested in though, some abnormally large spiders have been cropping up in the woods to-” Mina was cut off as the guy stormed off without listening, yelling something about spiders not dropping belts. Her eye twitched a bit. I didn’t catch much of the conversation, but that guy seemed pretty entitled from what I saw. I decided to Insight him as he left the building, might as well.

Alleth, “Skeleton Slayer”, human rogue, level 49.

Oh, it says rogue, is that his class? I could see that now, I guess. Neat. That would probably end up being useful at some point.

The next adventurer stepped up to the counter. Mina took a deep breath before greeting them this time.

“Hi! Welcome to the adventurer’s guild! How can I help you?” Mina said cheerfully.

“I’m here to turn in the Vitaleaf Flower Gathering’ quest.” Said the adventurer.

Mina perked up a bit. “Alright, great! May I see the flowers?”

Wordlessly, the adventurer pulled five faintly glowing green flowers out of their pack and placed them on the counter, looking impatient. Mina began to look them over, her brow furrowing and her smile fading a bit.

“I’m sorry, but these aren’t quite up to standard, so you’re not eligible for quest rewards.” She said, her smile apologetic, yet also a bit pained.

“The quest asked for 5 flowers. I got 5 flowers. How is that not up to standard.” Asked the adventurer, although he didn’t phrase it as a question.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Well, the petals on these three are crushed, the stalks on all of them are bent to the point where the nectar is seeping out, this one has been dead for a while, this one’s petals are half eaten, and none of them have their root systems attached, you just cut them halfway up the stem.” Mina passionately explained, pointing to each ruined part of the flowers as she listed them.

The adventurer didn’t seem to care at all. “What does any of that matter? I got the flowers, give me the reward.”

“Well, that’s not enough.” Mina pulled out a large notebook, flipping through it quickly and turning it around for the adventurer to read. “It clearly says here in the quest description that the flowers must be high quality, properly harvested specimens. The flowers you’ve gotten meet neither of these qualities. So, I’m sorry, but I can’t accept these or give you your reward.” She stated authoritatively, with an almost unnoticeable amount of smugness creeping into her voice.

“Well how was I supposed to know any of that?” The adventurer protested, like a kid surprised they failed a test after not studying. “I went to a great deal of trouble to get these flowers, so I demand some sort of compensation for my spent time.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to just hand out rewards for failed que-” Mina started before being interrupted. I noticed her clench a fist under the counter.

“I want to speak with your Manager.” The adventurer stated, using the ultimate customer technique.

Mina took a moment before responding. “Well, they’re both very busy at the moment, so-”

The customer interjected once again. “I demand it. I won’t have my efforts be cast aside like this.”

“It’s a very low level flower gathering quest. You can find vitaleafs five minutes from here in the park. I’m sure you could redo it and-” Mina’s explanation was cut short once again, as the nuisance once again displayed their lack of basic human decency.

“I’m not moving from this spot until you get your superior to rectify the situation.” He said with the maturity of a four year old.

Mina took a deep breath before putting her slightly too bright smile back on. “Just one moment then.” She turned to the crowded bar, waving to try and get her dad’s attention. He looked up from the customer he was talking to, sighing before apologizing to them and making his way over to us. He put on a large, welcoming grin similar to Mina’s. Maybe it ran in the family?

“How can I help?” He asked simply.

Mina started before the walking annoyance could speak, determined to not be interrupted again. “This person wants the full rewards for the vitaleaf gathering quest, but, as you can see.” She made a sweeping gesture to the plants that were apparently absolutely useless garbage. “They’re nowhere near the required quality, and are functionally useless. Despite this, he seems to believe he deserves some sort of compensation for the efforts they put forth, and refuses to move until he is given the quest rewards.” Mina said professionally. Her dad nodded slowly, stroking his chin as he considered the situation. He glanced at a paper, looking over the quest details. After a few seconds, he sighed softly and spoke.

“Just give him the reward.”

Mina’s face fell in an instant. “But Dad, none of the requirements of the quest are complete. It couldn’t have possibly been done worse.” She whispered to him.

“I know, and you’re right. But look at the line Mina.” It was stretching to the door at this point, some adventurers impatiently tapping their feet. “Look at the bar.” Every seat was taken, with no one behind it. “Neither of us have time for this, just mark the quest as completed and send him off, I’ll take care of the rest later.” He said dismissively before briskly walking back to the bar.

The bastard grinned smugly at the whole exchange, holding out a hand for the reward. “Well, you heard your father! I deserve compensation for my immense effort and well completed quest.” Mina whipped out a pouch and silently began to count out a handful of metal coins, depositing them into the waiting hand. “Thanks a bunch! Glad we could reach an agreement in the end.” The piece of shit said tauntingly as he walked off.

“Have a lovely day!” She said in a voice that implied that maybe, just maybe, she didn’t actually want that absolute fucker to have a lovely day.

Ah, nuts. I forgot to use Insight on him. Whatever, it's too late now. The next customer walked up to the counter, the endless line of adventurers would wait for no one.

“Hi! Welcome to the adventurer’s guild! How can I help you?” Mina said cheerfully.