The sun was beginning its afternoon descent. We moved leisurely, not worrying about the time, since the later we returned the better off we’d be. It was important that we spread my reputation, but judging by the levels of the people here if our actions were too absurd we’d attract the wrong kinds of attention.
Benson offered his shoulder again so we could return quickly, but I politely declined. Instead I opted for a pleasurable stroll back to the town. There was no rush now, after all. Benson went first, cleaving a path through the foliage with his body. Having repellent runes for monsters and bugs made it so we were undeterred by biting flies or mosquitoes, too. It was a rather relaxing jaunt so we made conversation along the way.
“Your staff, when it fired the lightning spell, I was legitimately afraid for a moment,” said the beastman as he pushed down a small sapling in our path.
“It was far more impactful than I had anticipated. My ears are still humming a bit from it," I replied.
“The light was blinding, too. If I hadn’t activated [Glare] I would have been troubled.”
“It makes sense in hindsight… Oh, I think I see the town up ahead,” I said as I pointed to the thinning treeline in front of us. Just then the edges of farmland came into sight. We had made it back to the town.
“Let’s hurry back to the guild, mistress. Perhaps we can take another mission today~” said Benson in a happy tone. His tail was wagging too. He was definitely enjoying the prospect of hunting monsters. Now that I think about it, he was smiling while cutting down wyverns earlier too. Perhaps he was a bit of a battle maniac…
We arrived at the guild and, upon seeing us a few of the adventurers inside snickered. I heard whispers of ‘they probably turned tail and ran away’ and ‘they probably gave up’ being spoken around the room. Did we return too early even after taking all that time to hunt herbs? I tried to judge how long it’d take me and Benson to hunt five level 90 monsters, since the levels would match up, and I used that as a base for our return time. Was it still too fast?
Well, it didn’t matter in the end. We’ve already returned. Can’t take that back now. Perhaps we should have just stayed out of town till the next day… Hindsight is 20/20, after all.
I walked forward to the counter and waited as Susan helped a small group ahead of us. When she finished she gave me a confused smile.
“Back so soon, Miss November?” She asked with a tilt of her head.
“Yes. We’ve finished the job,” I replied as I pulled the five cores I washed earlier from a pouch and set them on the desk. Susan’s eyes went wide and the whispers in the room died. The silence seemed to hum.
“I… I’ll just check these cores then.” Said Susan with a stutter. She seemed a bit shocked by the whole ordeal. With careful, practiced motions, she pulled out a small angular orb from a desk drawer. Magic power flowed through her hands into the orb and then a strange light was emitted from it. Susan moved the orb, and subsequently the light, until it passed over the five Wyvern Cores.
“5 Adults, 3 males 2 females… They’re indeed wyvern cores, and they were all killed within the last few hours,” commented the receptionist aloud as she worked. In the quiet room her voice seemed to carry, and I could see all the adventurers around us sweating while edging towards the sides of the room. Benson couldn’t help but give them a feral smile, causing some of the more timid ones to literally break for the door.
This was my mistake. I had assumed a few hours would be normal. Back in Xternity it only took a few hours to hunt monsters of equal level to you, after all. Then again, back then you had a HUD (heads up display) helping you out. There was even a spell that added a map with little red dots showing the location of nearby enemies. I didn’t possess that spell, but I assume it would be different now that there was no HUD. Or maybe it would add a small HUD with a minimap to it…
“T-then as promised. Here’s your deposit as well as the reward for completion. The guild will deliver these cores to Cardinal Reyes later today,” said Susan with a forced smile. Her eye was twitching.
“Hey Susan,” I said in a questioning tone.
“Y-yes!” She replied.
“How long does it normally take a high ranking group of Adventurers to hunt wyverns?”
“Ah, well… I’d say at least three days. That’s the time most A and S rank teams take for this kind of mission. Even those high ranked teams need to take precautions, after all, that they don’t stir up an entire nest of the monsters they’re hunting. You and Benson must have been rather lucky to encounter 5 wyverns away from their nest, huh.”
I felt a terrible desire to tell her we eliminated a full 50 of the creatures, but I refrained. It took a lot of self control. Perhaps I might be a bit of a sadist, because I desperately wanted to see her reaction. Still, my own situation and needs took priority.
“That’s so. Then, Benson and I will take another mission while we’re here.”
“... Miss November, I think it would be best if you go and meet with the guildmaster again.” Said Susan.
“Don’t wanna,” I replied flatly before moving towards the mission boards. “That woman gets on my nerves.”
“Miss!” Called Susan as she rushed out from behind her counter to my side. “Please, this is important.”
I looked over the receptionist and sighed in my heart. I couldn’t combat her puppy eyes. They were at a nearly lethal dose. It was the same look my mom used on me to get me to do the dishes or mow the lawn. I could feel my HP dropping.
“Ah, fine,” I replied before turning around and moving towards the staircase on the other side of the room.
Susan ran ahead and entered the guildmaster’s room without knocking. I, of course, waited at the door to be invited in. Proper manners were important, after all. I heard the two speaking in hushed tones, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Benson probably could, but I wasn’t so shameless to ask him right then. He could always tell me later.
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Finally, after about five minutes, I heard the Guildmaster call us, “Miss November... and her lackey, you guys can come in.”
“Afternoon,” I said with a smile as I leaned my staff against the wall and sat down in the same chair I had been in earlier.
“I had assumed you were strong… But I guess I underestimated you. How many wyverns did you actually kill?” Asked the guildmaster Carolyne rather bluntly.
“We killed five, just like the mission required,” I said with closed eyes as I straightened my sitting posture.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. To complete a hunt like this in one day you’d need to kill an entire nest. I’m not an idiot, Miss.”
“That’s news to me,” I replied with a snicker. I could see the veins on the guildmaster’s head bulging in anger.
“I understand you and your guard dog are strong. I’ve been kind enough to ignore your origin and even issued you guild cards. Yet you’re repaying my kindness like this?” She cried out in frustration.
“I don’t quite see the problem. We completed a mission. Now we want to take another one.”
“This is a huge problem. You two are clearly capable of being ‘S’ rank. Our town doesn’t have a lot of higher level commissions. Eventually you’ll be left with no choice but to take on lower ranked missions, and with your efficiency, you’ll put all the other adventurers out of business.”
Ah. I finally understood the problem. It wasn’t an issue of us being strong. She didn’t seem to mind that. It was our speed. I was in the wrong to complete the commission in a single day. I still lack common sense for this new world. Our method of just jumping in and slaughtering the wyverns was, probably, unheard of. Even if other high ranked teams were strong enough to do it, they probably wouldn’t for various reasons.
“Well, what do you suggest? I can’t exactly move my base of operations from this town for reasons I’m unwilling to discuss. I want to spread my fame and draw customers here. If I wanted to spread out to other locations I’d need resources I can’t quite get my hands on.”
The guildmaster looked at me with an astonished smile. “Is that so,” she mused. “What kind of resources do you need?”
I shrugged my shoulders before pulling out one of the few pieces of White Lodestone from my inventory I had leftover from my return point.
“This is called White Lodestone. I need a great deal of it if I wish to move from this town,” I said as I slid it across her desk.
“Susan,” said the guildmaster, getting her subordinate’s name right for the first time, “Take this to Reyes along with the cores. Ask him if he recognizes what it is and where we can get more.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” replied the receptionist with a pleased look on her face. She took the stone, put it in her knapsack, and ran out of the room.
“Now,” said Carolyne, “What is this stone used for that you need so much of it?”
“It’s a powerful conduit for enchanting and it has some special properties. It’s usually only found in dragon territories, though, so it’s unlikely you’ll find more…”
“Dragon territories? Really?” Asked the guildmaster with a strange smile spreading across her face. “Miss November, I’m certain you know that our little town exists because the monsters avoid it. Do you know why?”
“Isn’t it because some ancient animal used it as a nest?”
“Yes, that’s right. But, what animal do you think it was?”
“You’re fucking kidding me,” I replied without thinking. “That’s bullshit. There’s no way something this convenient…”
“It was a dragon nest. If your White Lodestone can be found anywhere, it’ll probably be right beneath our very feet. Now, answer my question, why do you need it?”
“Heh, such a valuable resource is right below us… You’ve got to be joking. Do you have any idea… The place where I come from, Miss Guildmaster, values White Lodestone so much that the average cost for a single rock, what I gave to your subordinate, was about 1000 ‘G’. Our ‘G’ is exchanged for about 3 of your High Marks.”
I could see sweat forming on the Guildmaster’s brow. “It’s that valuable? What is it used for?”
“It’s used for a lot of things, but it’s only valuable to Artisans like me. You need to have exceptional skills to make use of it. It’s used in all manner of tools, but the biggest use is in making [Gate]s.”
“I’m sorry, that last word escaped me. Was it in some strange language?”
“Hmm? You can’t understand the word [Gate].”
“That word again… It’s as if you’re speaking Elvish suddenly.”
“Bah, nevermind that. You don’t need to know that. You just need to know that if you can get me a large quantity of that White Lodestone, I will pay top Mark for it.”
“We need to speak with Kelding. This might be beyond a simple commission, depending on what you’re willing to pay for it.”
“That’s fine,” I replied as I leaned back in the chair with a smile on my face. Today hadn’t been going well, but now things were looking up. I hadn’t even considered finding White Lodestone possible… But if this place really used to be a dragon nest, then it was very feasible that buried beneath my feet was a vein of ore more valuable than any gold.
“Benson, I think we should get in contact with Tenia. Would you mind finding her?” I asked.
“I’m not leaving your side, mistress. I can’t leave you undefended,” replied my guard-cat.
“Tch, then, Miss Guildmaster, we will return here in say, an hour’s time?”
“No, let’s meet up in the Merchant’s Guild. They’ll have better resources there to help out. I’ll gather Kelding and Reyes. You go find your other pet.”
“I really don’t like being called a pet,” said Benson with a sharp tone. “You can call Tenia one, but not me. I’m a bodyguard.”
“You’re an oversized dog,” said the Guildmaster as she stood up. “Now I have work to do. Please excuse me.”