Chapter 7: Quest Rewards

Eizo got back in Frostfield a little past noon. He was greeted kindly by the guards on the gate. The guards here were mostly former adventurers and they still show a sort of  camaraderie to other adventurers just like they’re used to. As he walked through the town, he observed the liveliness of the people there. Workers were running to and fro. Vendors were yelling what products they’re selling. And, a multitude of all kinds of people going about their business.

(Now that I think about it, this is the first time I walked through the town in the middle of the day. The other times I walked about were mostly in the morning when I’m shopping. This town is a city in all aspects but its name.)

Eizo entered the Adventurers Guild and walked to the reception desk. There, Anna was talking to a couple of adventurers like normal. She was the only one working there at this time as she was the only full time receptionist in the guild. The guild is usually deserted around this time, so, only one receptionist is on duty. The kitchen was also closed before late afternoon when most adventurers return to town.

After waiting in line, he was finally able to talk to Anna.

“Eizo, welcome back! How did it go?” -Anna

“It went just fine. I got a total of 15 bundles of herbs and hunted 7 goblins. Please confirm it.” -Eizo

He handed his guild card to Anna and she started processing the completion of the quest.

“So, you really was able to hunt that much goblins. And, you did it alone, too! That’s amazing!” -Anna

“It wasn’t much. I just had the advantage over them in that situation.” -Eizo

“Really? You must have had some amazing strategies against the goblins.” -Anna

“Something like that.” -Eizo

Anna gave back the guild card to Eizo.

“Here you go. It’s been processed. The reward for 15 bundles of herbs is a total of 750 Gil at 50 Gil each. And, the reward for the Goblins is 100 Gil for the required four goblin ears for the quest and a normal subjugation reward of 50 Gil for the other three ears for a total of 550 Gil. So, your total reward is 1,300 Gil. Here it is.” -Anna

She handed him 1 gold coin and 3 silver coins.

“Thank you. By the way, how much is the subjugation reward for a ‘Forest Troll’?” -Eizo

“‘Forest Troll’? Why are you asking? Did you see one in the forest? They are nocturnal monsters, adventurers don’t usually come across them in the forest as long as they stay clear of their territory.” -Anna

“I camped in the forest and came across one. I recognized it from the monster survey I read.” -Eizo

“You camped in the forest? Are you crazy? Why didn’t you sleep outside the forest?” -Anna

“It was part of my plan to hunt the goblins.” -Eizo

“Well, that was reckless, you know? You’re lucky you got away from the troll in one piece.” -Anna

“So, how much is the reward?” -Eizo

“Hm? It’s 3,000 Gil per troll since. You’re not thinking of hunting one, are you? It’s a B ranked monster, and you don’t even have a party yet.” -Anna

“3,000 Gil? hehehe.” -Eizo

“Why do you look like that?” -Anna

Eizo had an evil grin on his face as he took out an object wrapped in cloth out of his rucksack. He handed the object to Anna.

“Hm? What’s this? It’s pretty heavy.” -Anna

She carefully untied the rope and lifted the cloth to reveal what’s inside. Her eyes went wide when she realized what’s in it.

“Eeeee!!! What’s that!!? It’s a head!!” -Anna

The few people in the guild turn towards their direction with the sound of Anna’s scream. She was famous for being the calm and collected beauty of the guild. There was not a lot of things that can startle her so.

“What’s going on!?” -Adventurer no.1

“Did you do something wrong?” -Adventurer no.2

“No, I didn’t do anything wrong. Relax.” -Eizo

A small crowd gathered around Eizo out of curiousity, but, only the two were asking him questions.

“No, no! nothing wrong, Grant, Nelson. Everything’s fine. I was just shocked for a moment.” -Anna

“I haven’t seen you that shocked before, what the hell is this thing anyway.” -Grant, Adventurer no.1

“What? It’s a monster’s head! Is this a prank on Anna? Why would you show her something like this?!” -Grant

“I didn’t know what proof I should get from this monster, so, I just took its head.” -Eizo

“Grant! D-do you know what this is? It’s a head of a ‘Forest Troll’! I can’t mistake it for anything!” -Nelson

The crowd was voicing their amazement as well, saying, “What?” “Really” “Forest Troll” “Unbelievable!”

“So, the reason you were asking about the reward was because you killed one ‘Forest Troll’?” -Anna

“Yeah, I told you, I came across it last night.” -Eizo

“You? How did you kill something like this? He’s obviously lying, Anna. There’s no way a guy like this can kill a ‘Forest Troll’.” -Grant

“I used traps to kill it.” -Eizo

“Traps? What kind? How?” Nelson

Nelson has less accusation in his voice than Grant.

“Well, I can’t tell you obviously. Keeping the secret of my ways is part of the trade.” -Eizo

“So, you can’t tell us? You’re lying afterall!” -Grant

“Believe what you want. What do I care? What matter is, here is a head of a ‘Forest Troll’. You’re friend confirmed it afterall.” -Eizo

“What did you say!?” -Grant

“SILENCE!!! What’s the reason for all these commotion?” -???

“Guildmaster, this man here is falsely claiming he defeated a ‘Forest Troll’ by himself it seems!” -Grant

After hearing the loud commotion, the guildmaster went down to restore order to the guild.

“A ‘Forest Troll’? Really?” -Sergius, guildmaster

Sergius checked the wrapped object on the desk and confirmed that it was, indeed, a Forest Troll’s head. He had seen a number of them during his youth.

“Hahaha. How did you say you killed it? -Sergius

The crowd was interested as well as they start to argue about it on their own

“Is he someone really strong?”

“Probably, right?”

“But, look at his body. You can tell that’s not the body of a strong warrior.”

“Maybe he’s a mage?”

“A mage? Maybe. But I heard all mages are old”

“Also, mages are rich. They wouldn’t be working as an adventurer.”

“Really?” “Really, trust me.”

“I used traps.” -Eizo

“Traps, huh? Well I don’t need to ask anymore. Anna, please prepare the appropriate subjugation reward.” Sergius

“Yes, right away.” Anna

“What? Guildmaster, are you saying you believe this man?” -Grant

“Believe him? And why would that matter? Here is an unmistakable severed head of a Forest Troll. That’s all you need to present to get a subjugation reward. Just mind your own job and try not to bother the other adventurers. Or have you forgotten how to behave yourself?” -Segius

“No, guildmaster. We will be going on our way. I apologized for overreacting. Let’s go, Nelson!” -Grant

Grant and Nelson walked out the guild building in a hurry. The guildmaster went back to the upper level to his office as he determined there was nothing more to do in the lower level. The small crowd of adventurers also went on their ways.

“Here is your reward, Eizo. 3,000 Gil for the subjugation of one Forest Troll.” -Anna

Ezio accepted the reward and put them in his coin sack. He had a total of 4,575 Gil in his funds. The heaviness of the coins felt good to Eizo.

“Thank you, I didn’t expect it would be that big of a deal.” -Eizo

“Hunting a Forest Troll was definitely a big deal, no matter how you did it. You’re lucky there was only a handful of people here at this hour, or else, it would have been a fanfare hehehe.” -Anna

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Anyway, what do you do to the monsters’ body parts you receive here  as proof of subjugation?” -Eizo

“We harvest what’s usable to sell them. The rest are burned in the back.” -Anna

“Oh. That’s how it is. Anyway, I should get a move on. Goodbye Anna.” -Eizo

“Goodbye.” -Anna

Eizo exited the guild building, walked across the town square, and went to the Crafters Guild.

“Hello, is this where I can sell ingredients for alchemy?” -Eizo

“What kind of ingredients are we talking about here?” -Old man crafter

The man behind the counter was an old man who appears to be an experienced crafter judging from his hands. The main goal of the Crafters Guild is to protect its members and allow them to practice their crafts freely. This old man behind the counter seemed to take this responsibility seriously as he looked at Eizo with untrusting eyes.

The other function of the guild includes coordinating quest with the Adventurers Guild about the collection of ingredients in demand, arranging guards for crafters that has to venture into the wilds, connecting their members to reputable merchants to sell their products, and many others. 

“I have 3 vials of Forest Troll’s blood I wish to sell.” -Eizo

“Forest Troll’s blood? Let me see that.” -old man crafter

Eizo handed a vial of the blood to the old man who checked the contents of the container.

“Hmm. This seems to be real. I’ll tell you what, young man, we can buy all three vials here for 500 Gil each, or, you can try your luck in the auction.” -old man crafter

“An auction?” -Eizo

“Yes, it’s starting in about an hour. However, it’s a gamble. Some items don’t sell as much as we would pay for them here. But, considering the rarity of troll’s blood in the market, how about it?” -old man crafter

“The auction sounds interesting. Let’s do it that way. My name is Eizo Walker, by the way.” -Eizo

“Nice to meet you, Eizo. I’m called Marcus Serranus. I’m the guildmaster of this branch.” Old Marcus

“Really? I would never guess the guildmaster will be working the counter.” -Eizo

“Hahaha. Well, unlike the other two guilds, we don’t have a lot of staffs here. Every one has to man the counter once in awhile.” -Old Marcus

“Is that so? How does this auction work, anyway?” -Eizo

“Every seventh day, at 4:00 PM, we hold an auction here to sell some of the crafting ingredients that are not commonly in stock on shops. This way, many crafters has the chance to acquire some ingredients that they don’t come across with often.” -Old Marcus

“Okay, I’d like to see that as well.” -Eizo

Eizo waited for the hour of the auction and he sat in the far corner of the auction hall. There was a small stage in front for the auctioneer. When the time came, around twenty people have gathered in the hall. Most of them are crafters and merchants, some are representatives or apprentices. They exchanges their greetings and gossiped among one another.

“Did you hear?  They said there are Forest Troll’s Blood in the auction today?” -???

“I heard. That’s what I’m here personally, instead of sending an apprentice in my place.” -???

“Well, it looks like we’ll be enemies for today. hahaha” -???

“Let’s  have a good match! hahaha” -???

When the auctioneer came out, a small cheer was heard from the group of bidders. After saying his greetings the man finally open the auction for the first item.

The first item was a weapon crafter by one of the local crafters. Such weapons are usually the ones that the owner crafted with pride, but, are too expensive to sell in their shop in this town. It was sold for 1,500 Gil to a merchant. Selling the sword in a big city was the only way to make a profit off that weapon.

(Wow, that’s plenty cheap for that weapon. I was thinking it would go for more than 3,000 Gil at least.)

After several other items, the Forest Troll’s Blood was finally brought out.

“Now for the next item, we have three vials of ‘Forest Troll’d Blood’! The guildmaster himself vouched for its authenticity! Let’s see here, we’ll start the bid for 600 Gil for all of three vials!!” -Auctioneer

“800!” Bidder 1

“900!” Bidder 2

“1,000!” Bidder 3

(It seems there are some interest. Hm… I need  at least 1,500 Gil to break even with how much the guild would have paid me had I sold it to them. Well, actually I need it to sell 1,875 Gil taking into account the 20% commission of the guild.)

“1,400!” Bidder 4

Bidder 3 and 4 shared a look with each other like two cowboys facing off in a gunfight. It seemed they can tell that they have to outbid the other to win this auction.

“1,600!” Bidder 3

“1,800!” Bidder 4

“1.850!” Bidder 3

“1,900!” Bidder 4

(Yes! I can live with that!)

“You…  2,500 Gil!” Bidder 3

It was all the cash he was carrying with him. He was going all in.

“-oohh’-” other people

“2,500 going once-” -Auctioneer

“2,600! hehe I won this match” Bidder 4

“ah- 2,600, going once, twice-” -Auctioneer

Bidder 2 approached Bidder 3 and whispered something to him when he shouted, 

“3,000 Gil!” -Bidder 3

“Hey, what did that guy tell you?! That’s cheating!” -Bidder 4

“3,000 going once! --Twice! --Sold!! to the man known as Bidder 3, I mean, that gentleman over there. Congratulations.” 

“Yes!!” -Gentleman formerly known as bidder 3

Bidder 3 was ecstatic with his win. But, the clear winner here was Bidder 2 who made a deal with Bidder 3 to contribute 500 Gil in exchange for one vial of the troll’s blood. So in the correct sense, Bidder 3 paid 2,500 Gil for only two vial of troll’s blood.

(Yes! I’m rich! mwuhahahaha!! - oops, my evil side slipped out for a second there. I shouldn’t get too excited here. hehe)

The auction continued as Eizo went back the auction hall to meet with Old Marcus.

“Hey Eizo, youngman, we made a killing there!” -Old Marcus

“Right! Selling in the auction was the right choice! Thank you, old man Marcus.” -Eizo

“Don’t thank me too much. The guild also made a profit with it. So, here is your money as we agreed to before.” -Old Marcus

He handed 2 gold coins and 4 silver coins to Eizo. The three vials of troll’s blood sold for 3,000 Gil. Minus the commission of the guild, he received, 2,400 Gil. Now he has a whooping 6,975 Gil!

“Thanks.” -Eizo

He put the coins in his coin sack. The sound of metal coins hitting one another was music to his ears. 

“If you come across something interesting again, be sure to come to me. hehehe.” -Old Marcus

Eizo walked out the Crafters Guild happy and he went straight to the inn. He paid 10 Gil for a meal and a bath, then he went back to his room after.

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In the Adventurers Guild, Guildmaster Sergius was working until late in the evening.

“Hmm… That Eizo, I was sure he’s not the type to lie about his accomplishment. So, would that mean he really did kill seven goblins and a Forest Troll by himself? It is unbelievable to say the least. I can understand how the other adventurers would take it as a bad joke. He could be mage with that staff he carries. But,not all staff users are mages, isn’t it?

We don’t even know where he came from since he didn’t write it down in his guild application. But that cloak he wears, I’ve seen it worn by the staff crafters from that village, Iberia. So, is he from there?

Now that I think about it, he came here with the Titans Fell’s leader, Julian Corvus. Did they meet him during their quest? Is that all their relationship is? Hmmm.

That Julian, could he be planning to create a division of Titan’s fell here in Frostfield? Why keep it a secret? That can’t be it. I wonder what’s their connection. In any case, I have a feeling things will be interesting around here in the near future.” -Sergius