Leave a comment

A few days later Gadius contacted us.

The commission was apparently to accompany the beginners for the harvesting the following day. Thus, we were going to meet up the day before it.

The day before tomorrow, which is today.

We left our carriage packed full of luggage as well as Cloud’s horse to the barns in the back, and headed to the Guild where we were supposed to meet up.

As we entered Stollar’s Adventurer’s Guild, all the Adventurers inside focused on us. But that was the usual for us, so we didn’t pay any attention.

Not just me, even Michelle and Finia were with me, so it was a natural response for men to focus on us.

“Ah, miss Nicole. Please come here for your commission.”
“Long time no see. Have they been waiting for long?”
“No, they only just arrived as well.”

I felt slightly relieved to hear that. It would be pretty rude if we showed up late during our first meeting.

The receptionist lady guided us to a small room where we were supposed to meet.

As we arrived at the door, she tried to quickly leave the place.

“This is the room. I leave the rest to you. Quarrels are forbidden, okay?”
“Oh, okay. But why do you look so flustered?”
“Oh no, you’re imagining it… Well then, I’m off!”

She quickly fled back to the counter right as she said that.

We were all puzzled by her actions.

“What was up with her?”
“Who knows? It looks like she didn’t want to enter this room.”
“More importantly, let’s go in and greet them already. We have to confirm if we’re all ready after this too.”

Once we greeted the beginners, we had to confirm if everything was ready to take on the harvesting commission.

Beginners tended to underestimate the need for preparations and get seriously wounded. Not just that, some even get themselves killed, so this wasn’t anything trivial.

Part of this commission was to teach them about preparation too.

We first had to greet them before moving on to that.

“Hello, we are the instructors for this—wahh?!”

Michelle opened the door in a friendly tone, but then raised a yelp.

I didn’t think there could be anything dangerous inside the Guild, but Cloud and I peered inside over her shoulders to check what was going on.

There, despite chairs being available, there were newbie Adventurers crouched in a gangster style.

“Huuh, instructors?”
“Suup.”
“You’re too late, dammit!”

They were three men with shaved heads or ruffled hair.

Looking closely, they seemed to be Cloud’s age, but their clothing choice was rather…unique.

What was the point of those thorny shoulder pads? Why were they naked on the upper half and only having studded belts on them? Or what was the point of the tattoos on their faces?

Seeing the appearance that made them look like the relatives of the demon king that manifests at the end of the world, not just Michelle, even I was petrified in place.

“Not answering? what’s with your attitudes, huuh?”
“Whassup teachers!”
“You’re not even greeting us, dammit!”

I finally reacted once he pointed that out. Anyway, communication was important. Even if they were looking like countryside barbarians, they were still our clients.

“Err, I’m Nicole, in charge of instructing, nice to meet.”
“I-Im Miche—”
“I can’t hear you!”
“Eek?!”

Michelle mumbled her greeting but one of them snapped at her. I could understand their point though. It was very important to properly introduce yourself.

“I’m Cloud, let’s get along for today.”
“Yeah, let’s.”
“Err, I’m Finia. I specialize in the four elements magic.”
“Magic! You’re amazing, missy!”
“Umm, umm, I’m Michelle…”
“Huuh?”
“I-I specialize in bow…”
“Huh, you’re a hunter?”
“Waah, Nicoleee!”

She finally burst into tears and I patted her head while gathering their attention on me.

“She has the biggest attack power among us, so don’t look down on her.”
“Huuh? And what can you do, then?”
“I specialize in interference magic and scouting. And I’m also the party leader.”
“Yer a leader despite using such lame magic?”
“Don’t underestimate interference magic.”
“What, you wanna go?”

They flipped at my words. I see, they certainly are naughty, more than I expected. I can see why they came all this way and why they were driven out of their hometown.

“We’re fourth ranks, and came here for the commission. Do you understand what that means?”
“Hah, using your rank to brag. I can see you’re nothing but talk.”
“Okay, I guess this is the case where you won’t understand until you get beat up.”
“What did you say!”

The Guild told them they lacked skill and they commissioned this request, so which one of us was nothing but talk.

The receptionist lady did tell us to “refrain from fights” so I didn’t want to get violent here.

“Well, we only planned to introduce each other and do advance preparations, but it wouldn’t be so bad to know each other’s skills.”
“Bring it on. I’ll take you on any time.”
“The Guild will see us here. There’s a training ground so let’s do it there.”

Guilds often had training grounds where you could test spells, archery, weapons, and such. This Guild in Stollar also had one such facility.

It was also the duty of the seniors to dampen the confidence of these kinds of folk.

Newbies wouldn’t know where it was so we took the lead. But I felt a strange gaze on my waist. Not just me but even Michelle and Finia seemed to have sensed it, so they were talking quite restlessly.

Looking back, those bunch were grinning and directing lewd gazes at us.

I gave a sigh and tried to move the girls behind them. But before I did, Cloud pulled down his shield and got between us.

The newbies visibly clicked their tongues at Cloud’s move to block their sight.

“Tsk.”
“Just so you know…”
“What?”
“As you can see, they are all cute.”
“What about it?”
“The other Adventurers at this guild also think so too. Basically, they are like idols here.”
“Get to the point already.”
“Unless you want to get beat up by the entire Adventurer’s Guild, just drop that. I keep getting tormented for it all the time… It’s to the point I sometimes piss blood, you know?”
“O-Okay…?”

Cloud’s sorrowful advice made them bewildered and they nodded obediently.

They seemed to be honest in some respects too.