The crowd was still waiting there when he returned. All of them seemed surprised to see him so soon, especially when they saw a loaded bag that he had not entered with.

“Did he succeed?” someone asked.

“Impossible.”

“But look at that sack.”

“It’s true and…”

They started looking around as if they expected to see something. No one was looking for the kitten right? Would he have to give it up, after all?

The top of the satchel flapped at that moment, to Soral’s horror. The kitten had pushed its covering off. There was an audible gasp in the crowd.

“It’s true!”

Suddenly they were all smiles and approached Soral warmly. “You saved us!”

“Thank you so much,” another told him with tears in their eyes.

Soral was confused. What was going on? What did the kitten have to do with saving them? The mine snakes were mostly still there so it couldn’t be that. Was the kitten itself dangerous? But it was an egg before and it was right there and they didn’t seem bothered.

That was good, probably, right? Soral left the flap open for the kitten and slowly made his way through the crowd. They all wanted to thank him and he couldn’t turn them away. Once he finally made it past everyone he set off on the path back to the Belleas Guild. It suddenly felt a little lonely…

He suddenly got an idea to make this journey more interesting. As long as he went to a spot in the forest out of sight, he could probably use a portal. Sure the walk was less than an hour’s distance but who could resist such a tasty opportunity?

“What do you think?” Soral asked the kitten.

The kitten only blinked its wide eyes at him in response. Soral decided to take that as a yes.

He carefully checked his surroundings before opening a full sized portal before him for the first time. It felt oddly exhilarating. No time to admire his work, though. If someone saw the portal, it would likely spell trouble. Soral slipped through and immediately closed it after. This time, he was able to close it in a single smooth motion.

“Amazing,” he whispered, and adjusted both the pack in his arms and overstuffed sack to a more comfortable position. The kitten also shifted lightly in return.

From the spot he chose, Soral was able to return to the guild in no time. Everyone looked pretty busy, but the lady from before quickly came over.

“Did you succeed already?” she asked in shock. Her eyes were also locked on the egg bound kitten.

“Grace,” another employee began, “Is that what I think it is?”

The lady, Grace, held her hand up and beckoned Soral to follow her. “Let’s take care of this in a separate room. It looks like you got quite the haul.”

Soral followed her, growing all the more aware of the kitten in his pack and everyone’s extreme reactions to it. Once they were out of the public eye, the woman had him take a seat and began talking.

“My apologies. This quest would normally take someone a full day at least, not including travel time,” she told him, “Mine snakes are tricky to evade without patience and time. Would you mind telling me how you got out with their treasures?”

“I just walked out,” Soral replied, then winced under her sharp stare. “When this little guy hatched, the snakes ran away.”

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Grace took a sharp breath. “It’s exactly as I thought,” she muttered, “Soral, you have some incredible luck. You have been chosen by a rare magical creature. It is your duty to name and take care of it.”

“Name it?” Soral asked. Was the quest completion and reward was going to be delayed until he did? He really needed that money to legally acquire food so… “How about Jazz?”

“Jazz?” she asked, trying not to show her clear disapproval for the name.

“Yeah,” Soral said, scrambling, “Jasper! He can be named Jasper!”

Soral didn’t know why he was so sure Jazz, or Jasper, was male, but he was confident. Either way, the kitten seemed happy about it and finally climbed the rest of the way out of its shell cocoon to gently nuzzle Soral.

Grace watched in awe for a few moments before shaking herself out of it. “Now that you have named your friend, can I ask for something?” she questioned, leaning forward eagerly, “Do you happen to have any pieces of the egg leftover?”

“The egg?” Soral asked, then dug the shell out of his pack. It was still solid, even though Jazz had broken out of it.

She took the egg carefully. “I’ve never seen one in such a complete state before,” she whispered, then cleared her throat, “The Belleas Guild will reward you highly if you sell this to us. Of course, you will also be rewarded for your great contributions of retrieving these precious items.”

The loaded bag had made it into the room, though it seemed Grace had just noticed its existence last minute. Soral looked at Jazz. He didn’t really need the egg, and since Jazz didn’t seem attached either, sure. But he would make sure to get a hefty sum for it since she hinted at it.

Grace counted every item from the sack and put it into a pouch of her own. This pouch looked far too small to hold any of the items she stuffed into it, so Soral watched with fascination. He felt a little greedy. How could he get one of those? Unfortunately, he would have to wait. Food was the number one priority right now.

And so, Soral left the guild with very heavy pockets, and adorable fluffy friend, and a mark of completion he could choose to wear as a badge. There had been no need to even negotiate since the price for the shell was beyond his comprehension to begin with. The rewards for the actual job had been fairly hefty on their own.

Now it was shopping time. Soral knew exactly what he wanted to eat, and he was certain once Ruena had a taste of good food she wouldn’t want to go back to those awful rations either. First things first, he needed to find some real jerky. Nothing like that tough lump of dried meat he had gnawed on that morning.

After looking around he found just the place and started to buy some select cuts and flavors of jerky. He couldn’t tell if it was cheap or expensive but he had plenty of money to pay for it so he just did. Jazz seemed pretty curious about it so Soral let him try a little piece of one of the milder flavors. He seemed to like it.

On his way out, Soral ran into a very upset Ruena. “Uh, hi?” he said when he locked eyes with her.

“Don’t ‘hi’ me! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard what job you accepted! I thought you would at least consult with me first!” she scolded, ignoring all the eyes her shouting drew.

Was he supposed to consult her? Soral hadn’t thought about that, but she seemed to think it was an obvious step.

“Sorry?” he tried, but it ended up sounding too much like a question.

Ruena glowered. “That’s not even the worst part. The Belleas Guild had to contact me to let me know you came back safely,” she told him, “You could have at least dropped by.”

“I was on my way,” Soral said, “I was just picking up some food first. Here.” He offered her a piece of jerky, which she angrily bit into.

As the flavor hit her tongue, her expression changed drastically. “Is this really jerky?” she asked in amazement.

It was just like Soral thought. She had been deprived of proper food. This wouldn’t do at all. “This is just the first stop,” he told her, “I can cook a little bit so I was going to buy some normal food as well. If we are going to be as great as you say, we can’ be living off scraps.”

Ruena looked at his awkward smile, then back at the jerky he had given her. “Fine. Since you did this for our future I will forgive you, but next time consult me before you take on any jobs. Got it?”

“Yes, yes,” Soral agreed, glad the nagging was over. He didn’t want to imagine what she might say if she knew he had been tempted to steal that pouch from the Belleas Guild earlier.

They spent the rest of the day shopping around town. Somehow they bought a lot more than just food. First of all, Ruena made him buy some clothes. He didn’t really get the difference but she assured him that they were far more presentable. Then they got a few more specialty tools, and a little collar for Jazz.

Soral was glad that Ruena was alright with Jazz. He told her his name was Jasper too, but she didn’t seem to mind him referring to the shortened version. Jazz got to taste all sorts of tasty morsels as they shopped and was deep asleep in Soral’s arms by the time they headed home.

==========

Ruena really had been worried. After Soral had left, she had gone to visit her benefactor to retrieve a copy of the prophecy. She had intended to go over it with him when he returned. Hopefully if he decided not to take any jobs she could find something else in the prophecy that could guide them on the next step.

Then an hour went past. And another. Another still. There was no way simply checking out the guild would take this much time, right? She decided to check things out for herself.

The Belleas Guild was as friendly as always. One thing they excelled at was customer service. The other was testing people. She immediately demanded to know what happened to Soral. It took some convincing since that was his private information as a new guild member but she finally heard he had taken on mine snakes.

Mine snakes?! That idiot! Most of the time mine snakes appeared their lair was destroyed to prevent their spread. The fact they hadn’t been could only mean something valuable had appeared that couldn’t be risked. If Soral damaged, or even worse, stole whatever it was it would be the end of him.

They refused to tell her where it was, so all Ruena could do was wait. After a few more hours she was sent a message from the Belleas Company. Soral had successfully returned. Really? Then where was he?

Ruena went marching back into town and caught sight of Soral leaving a store with an adorable white kitten in his arms. She locked eyes with the kitten first, and she instantly felt it. That was what had prevented them from destroying the mine snakes. Unfortunately, she had no idea what it was, or why it seemed to have chosen Soral.

She was broken out of her reverie by Soral’s awkward greeting and let loose on him. She expected him to bite back since he was, you know, wild. Instead, he gave her a tasty treat and the next thing she knew they were laughing together on a shopping spree.

It was odd, but a part of her relaxed. Was this what it was like to have a partner?