39 First Official Quest

"I hate sleep!" Sprite yelled.

The light of dawn seeped into the room through the solitary window as Gerard opened his eyes. Sprite, who seemingly took the opportunity to remove her burdensome clothes in the middle of the night, lay on her bed, revealing her upper body. Gerard maintained constant eye-contact

"All I did was see images of the past for hours, and now I have a sore back and neck! And I was cold all night!" Sprite pushed on her neck and then arched backwards to ease the stiffness of her body.

He failed to maintain eye contact and turned away.

"That's not a problem with sleep. These just aren't the greatest of beds. When we're earning more money, I'll ensure we sleep in better accommodation with better insulation." Gerard shifted to his side and yawned.

"Will it really make a difference?" Sprite pushed on the straw mattress beneath her.

"Yes. A better bed will have a better mattress that won't leave you itching. At least your first sleep as a human wasn't on the ground."

"I guess so. What are we doing today?"

"We'll get our clothes from Thorkin and a quest from the guild."

"Let's find a fun quest! If all quests are like the last one we had, I'm going to quit being an adventurer."

"Understandably. I'll find something less gross."

"You'd better."

"First, I read a sign downstairs that mentioned in-house breakfast. Let's thank the owner for letting us stay by eating here."

"Okay!"

Gerard tidied the beds and dressed himself. As he grabbed his coin pouch and began to leave, Sprite, who stood stark naked, moved towards the exit.

"Will you put on some damn clothes?" Gerard grabbed her shoulders.

"But-"

"I told you that you can take your clothes off when you're alone. You're not alone if we're in the same room!"

"Then, can you let go of me? It hurts a little..." Gerard looked down to see how hard he was grabbing her and got a full glimpse of her figure again.

He blushed and turned around.

"S-sorry. Please just get dressed. After our next quest, I'll find you some comfortable nightwear or something."

"Nightwear? Is it comfortable?"

"In this world? I don't know. Maybe."

"I'm dressed."

Gerard turned around and saw that she had successfully dressed herself this time. She smiled widely in response to Gerard's approving nods.

"Good for you, Sprite." He ruffled her dark hair.

On the first floor, Gerard waited for the owner when he suddenly popped up from behind the counter again.

"You really have to warn your customers that you're down there."

"My apologies; I'm not the tallest of people, as you can see."

"We were wondering if we could have breakfast here. I can give you the ten silver from last night."

"No, don't worry about that, I checked on your work after you retired last night, and you did a wonderful job. Breakfast is on me."

"Sorry, but I insist. I don't like owing people if I don't have to." Gerard pulled out the last of his coins and set them on the counter.

"Very well."

---

Gerard rubbed his stomach and covered his mouth before burping. He and Sprite approached the adventurer's guild.

"It might not have been the best meal, but it was warm and filling."

"A lot better than prison food." Sprite shuddered.

"That it was."

Gerard stood behind the inn amongst the wood he chopped the night before.

"What are we doing?"

"I want to test something." Gerard picked up the axe and tested the weight in his hands.

"Test what?"

"Don't move, or I might kill you."

Gerard swung the axe at Sprite. Sprite squeaked as her impending death approached. Mid-swing, his body seized up, and it felt as though an electrical current flowed through him until he eventually dropped the axe.

[You have attempted to use an item the WORLD deems as a weapon. Consequences have been delivered.]

"Ah, so that's what happens if I do that." Gerard shakily got to his feet.

"What in the hell?! You could have killed me!" Sprite kicked him in the shin.

"I was going to stop before that happened. I just needed to know if weapons designed for jobs could be used as weapons. Does this happen to other villagers?"

"Yes. In this world, they call that occurrence 'Divine Retribution'. They believe children and villagers were never meant to harm each other, but this restriction also goes for monsters."

"That is one way to prevent a lot of crime and murder, I suppose. How would a villager protect themselves against a monster, or someone who can use a weapon, or magic?"

"They can't."

"Oh, that explains why the people of Therinus were so grateful to us when we took care of the bandits."

"As always, you're a quick study."

"No, I'm just old. With age comes wisdom. Come on, let's get this quest."

"Wait a moment. Let me try." Sprite picked up the axe.

She grasped it exactly as Gerard did, took two steps and swung the axe down to the knotted stump used to chop the wood on. The axe handle snapped below the head, and the stump split in two.

"Damn. We need to get you a weapon."

---

Camilla stood behind the counter while scribbling furiously in a large book. Gerard stood by the counter for several minutes before clearing his throat.

"I'd like a C-rank quest, please. Preferably one with as little grossness as you can provide." Gerard glanced at the quest board on the wall to the left of the counter.

"Oh, hello, Gerard! Just a minute."

Camilla returned to her work. She wrote down the physical description of an undead monster known as a wraith and its known weaknesses. Above the text, she had drawn a detailed image of a spirit-like creature.

"So, a C-rank quest? For Sprite?"

"For both of us, please."

"I'm afraid, as a D-rank adventurer, most C-rank quests are unavailable to you, but I'll find one that allows D-rank adventurers to accompany a C-rank." Camilla wandered over to the board.

*Well, that's disappointing.*

*It'll be okay. With your human level and the ability to have multiple classes, I'm sure you'll reach my rank soon.* Sprite smiled lightly.

Camilla returned empty-handed.

"No luck?"

"Just a moment. We still have quests that haven't been added to the board yet." Camilla pulled open a drawer.

Raine, the male receptionist, appeared from the room behind the counter and grabbed a quest from the pile.

"This one should be okay, right, Camilla?"

"T-that one? The only reason it's in this pile is that we had to scale down the requirements and increase the reward when nobody would accept it."

"Exactly. Easy quest, high rewards. What do you say?"

"What's the quest?" Gerard puffed out his chest confidently.

"Clear Castle Hormiir of the elder vampire. All you have to do is go there, kill the thing, and come back. Easy, right?"

"What's the difficulty rank of an elder vampire?"

"Usually, we would expect a team of five B-rank adventurers to handle it, but nobody was willing. Our policy states that the guild offers ten percent extra pay and lowers the ranking requirements if the quest is deemed important and nobody accepts it..."

"Then we'll take it. What's the payment?"

"Seventy-five gold coins for the completion of the quest, fifteen gold coins for the complete cleansing of the castle, and a further ten gold coins for the vampire's body."

"One-hundred gold coins? Just give us directions, and we'll be on our way!"

*Are you sure? This could be one of our most challenging fights, and we're not exactly the strongest we've been if my strength as a golem was anything like you described it to be.*

*We went up against an A-rank adventurer and survived.*

*If Camilla didn't heal us, you would have died, and I might have as well.*

*Let's carefully level up on the journey to this Castle Hormiir place, then.*

*Remember, you can't heal, use magic or skills, or even evolve.*

*I know.*

"Thanks for waiting! Here's a map of the continent." Camilla set a large scroll on the counter.

The sheer level of detail put into the map astounded Gerard.

"Who is the cartographer?" Gerard pressed his face closer to the quality parchment.

"Lucian, one of our S-rank adventurers, has a skill that allows him to create quality maps like this. If you'd like, we can sell it to you."

"How much?"

"Thirty gold pieces."

"For a map?"

"It's a map that will change and grow. When Lucian changes his original map, the changes are reflected upon the rest of the maps, so you're not only buying a map, you're buying a map that will reflect the current state of the world. It will also show where the holder of the current map is with this small glowing circle." Camilla pointed to the centre of Solares, where there was in fact a small glowing icon.

"That's amazing. I don't have that much money, though."

"Don't worry about that, just sign this document, and it's yours." Camilla pulled out a contract and pushed it forward, along with the pen and inkwell she was using previously.

Gerard carefully read it. The contract stated that if he could not repay the loan of twenty gold pieces, he would have to work at the adventurer's guild until it was paid off.

"How much do you earn a day?"

"Fifty silver pieces, but that's a receptionist's pay. You would be doing gruntwork for five silver pieces a day, ten if Sprite were to help."

Gerard made some quick calculations in his head.

*You look like you're in pain. It would take us a month of work without a break to pay them back.*

*Thank you. We could always take another quest if we need to.*

"Okay, we will do it."

"Just so you know, our adventurers, upon failing a quest, have to pay back two gold pieces per difficulty rank. That's an additional eight gold pieces on top of a three-month ban on accepting quests."

"What?"

"Otherwise, we would have adventurers stupidly risking their lives on difficult quests too often. When their livelihoods are at stake, they act more rationally."

"Fine. Please give me the map. Could you provide us with travel packs and rations, as well as a sturdy weapon for Sprite?"

"Very well. I will need to write up a new contract. Raine?"

"Yes?"

"I'm heading to the storehouse. Could you watch the counter?"

"I'll keep these two company, yes." Raine leered at the two of them.

Camilla stepped out from behind the counter and proceeded through the door into the depths of the guild. Raine shook his head and cleared up the pile of quests before returning them to the drawer.

"What's your problem?" Gerard gripped the edge of the counter and stared at Raine.

"I hate adventurers. I hope you both die during this quest, so you don't put anyone else's lives in danger."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Adventurers freely use their abilities without thinking about who could be injured in the process, that's all."

Gerard breathed deeply and turned to sit on the bench by the entrance while he waited.

*I think an adventurer hurt someone he cared about.* Sprite sat beside him.

*Sometimes you're pretty good at reading people, Sprite. I can't be angry at a man who's grieving.*

Camilla returned after a short while with two bulging rucksacks and a scroll. She sat the rucksacks in front of the counter and rejoined Raine, who immediately walked out into the back room. Gerard stepped up to the counter while Sprite pressed on the bench's padding.

"Supplies and rucksacks, as requested. With the map included, you owe the guild sixty-five gold pieces."

*If we complete all of the quest's requirements, we'll be left with thirty-five gold coins. That's a couple of weeks of accommodation and food."

"That will be fine." Gerard grabbed the inkwell, dipped the pen, and signed his name at the bottom of the contract.

The words on the contract glowed light blue and slid off the page and onto Gerard's arm before disappearing. The contract was now just a piece of parchment on the counter.

"Very good. We give adventurers six months to complete quests in case of difficulty travelling, dealing with the nature of the quest, or handling unforeseen circumstances. If you do not start making your way back to the guild before that, you will become a wanted criminal with a bounty on your head, and if you're captured, you will be subsequently owned by the guild." Camilla smiled warmly.

*She's fucking terrifying!*

"I get it; we must come back, whether we've finished the quest or not, within six months." Gerard looked at his arm but saw no change.

"Exactly, I'm glad you understand."

Before thinking further about the darkness within Camilla that Gerard witnessed, he beckoned Sprite, and they left the building before heading in the direction of the northern gate.

"Are you okay? You look worried." Sprite looked up at Gerard's face.

"Everything is fine; it's just that we have to finish this quest and do it within six months, no big deal. We will become enslaved if we fail."

"We'll be slaves?"

"Yes, slaves. Well, not you, just me."

"Then let's not fail!"

Upon being cleared to leave the city at the northern gate, Gerard gripped the straps of his rucksack and breathed in the country air.

"To Castle Hormiir!"