Guild Mission

[Arius POV]

"Alright, that's the last group!"

After waving the last group of adventurers out of the store, I raise my hands out as I take a well-deserved stretch. I yawn as a wave of fatigue washes through my body.

"Grampa Edward, how many items did we sell today?"

"We sold 2 engraved items and 5 normal items. About 15 silver in total."

"Is that good?"

"Yeah, it's good. Even I'm surprised by how much we've made today. As long as nothing goes wrong, we should be able to make the cut. Yesterday night, I told you we needed about 30 silver worth but after looking over all sorts of new taxes rules that have been implemented, we'll need around 100 silver coins worth of items."

"One Hundred Silver! That's so much!"

One hundred silver coins were something that I couldn't even picture. Back when I did some adventuring with Big Brother, I only made about 50 copper coins. One hundred silver coins is like... a lot more than that!

"Grampa Edward, what are you going to spend the money on?"

"Don't you remember? All that money goes to you, I'll just take what I need to keep the shop running, but you can take all the profits. Here you can keep these 8 coins for now."

With the heavy coins being placed in my hands, I felt really awkward.

'What am I supposed to do with these? I can't eat that much food. I didn't even earn them.'

"Grampa Edward, you can't do this I didn't even do much."

"Don't worry about it, I got seven coins on me as well."

"B-but you did so much more than me-"

Ding Ding Ding

Just as I tried to get these coins out of my hands, I hear the bell at the door ring again and I see Big Brother Jaque walk in.

"What are you doing here, Big Brother?"

"I just came to check out a store my friends talked about. Why are you working here Arius?"

"I'm here to help out Grampa Edward. We gotta sell a lot of stuff so that we don't get kicked out!"

"Woah that's crazy!"

After his initial surprise, Big Brother Jauqe turns to Grampa Edward and gives him a small bow.

"Thanks for taking care of Arius for me. He can be a bit troublesome at some times."

"Hey!"

"No, no, it's fine. Arius has been a big help... um.."

"Jaque! You can call me Jaque."

"Well...Jaque, Arius has been a great help so far. No trouble at all."

"Hmmm...alright. I thought he offended someone else again. By the way, Arius, why are you holding your hands like that?"

As Big Brother gave me a weird look, I looked down at my hands and saw that the coins had disappeared. Double-checking the fronts and backs of my hands, I panic a little looking everywhere in case I had dropped the coins.

"Where did they go?"

"Oh, that. Since you were so adamant about not wanting it, I hold on to them for you until the end of the week."

"What are you guys talking about?"

"The silv-"

"He's talking about the pay I gave him for today."

"I see, Arius, since you're working, you should accept the pay. You deserve it."

"No, I didn't!"

Ding ding ding

With another right from the door, I see Stella and Sophia walk into the store.

"Stella, Sophia, what are you guys doing here? No way you guys heard about this store too, right?"

After being questioned, I see Stella, who was originally happily talking to Sophia, point her finger at Big Brother as she walks up to him.

"Of course not! This is Sophia's house."

"Wait, what?"

Seeing the confusion arising from their argument, I quickly walk over and tiptoe to wisher into Big Borther's ear.

"Psst... Big Brother, Grampa Edward is actually Sophia's Grampa. I saw her leave this morning."

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. Also, don't tell Stella or Sophia about how the store might get kicked out, ok?"

"O..k."

"HEY! What are you guys whispering about? Also, Arius! Why are you here?"

"I'm working."

"Really? This little one already working. You're amazing, Arius."

"Thank you!"

"I feel like there's some bias going on."

"Jaque, what are you mumbling about? Are saying bad things about me?"

"Of course not! No matter how 'bad' my comments are, they would only be complementing you."

"Why you!"

...

As the whole group was here, we wrapped up shop and went out to eat with money that we had made today. This time we went to the buffet. There was so much food that you know I had to try. Only then did I realize the horror of good food and what it can do to you.

...

"...Uuurrrg."

Waking up the next day, I feel the room heat up from the warm spring sun. Rolling to my side, I pat my stomach. It was still full from all the things I ate yesterday.

'I don't even remember leaving the buffet. I must have experienced the so-called food coma that Big Sister Arielle always takes about.'

Getting up from my bed, I look around to see that I am back in the inn. Still groggy, I start walking downstairs with no plan in mind yet.

Ching Ching Ching Ching

As I walked down the stairs, I started to hear the sounds of metal hitting each other. Holding the disk and pendant that hung from my neck, I thought I had my problem solved.

Ching Ching Ching Ching

As the noise continued to ring, I started to get annoyed. Looking around for the source of the sound, I soon pinpointed that it was coming from my pocket. Reaching into my pocket, I feel a few extra items that weren't there before. pulling them out revealed eight shiny silver coins.

"Huh?"

As I stared blankly at the coins, eventually it clicked inside my head.

'Arius, you've been got.'

"I've been got!"

After realizing what I had in my hands, I quickly put them back in my pocket as I started to think about a plan to give them back to Grampa Edward.

'When did he put them there?'

'When you went into your food coma, remember? Arius, knock your sleepiness away, it's getting contagious.'

'But I thought you were a super machine'

'... ... ... *Snore*....'

'I guess machines can sleep too.'

As the sounds of Dakria snoring continued to ring in my ears, I started to work the gears in my head on what to do with these coins. Looking at the time on the clock, I realized that I didn't have time to forge some items. Soooo...

"I got it!"

With a plan in mind, I rush off to the Craftsman Guild. Walking inside, I see that there were a lot fewer people than before in the guild. Not that I mind, though, it makes my plan a lot easier. Walking into the area with many items on display, I look around amazed at all the different items there were here.

"Concentrate, Arius, I got to keep to the plan."

'Alright, Spectacles of A Determined Youngling!'

After shaking off the initial wow, I see the beautiful glow of mana as I activate my skill. Looking around the copper and steel ranked section, I start looking for items with the best distribution of mana.

"This one... and that one! That one too."

...

Soon I was out of a ton of items. The craftsman guild staff even gave me a backpack to carry everything. It was even free!

So once again, there was a sight of a kid carrying a large bag down the street. And as always, I didn't care about the stares I got.

"Phew! That tired me out."

Arriving in front The Marks of Fate, I take out my backpack and slowly squeeze my way in. After a bit of pushing and pulling, I got the bag in just as I see Big Brother and Grampa Edward talking.

"Grampa, big bro, look what I got!"

"Arius, we got a problem."

"Wa?"

"Yesterday night, the mayor issues a local guild mission for all adventurers. The mission involves sending adventurers to various towns around the area to protect them from the murders as well as calm civil unrest."

"Wait, doesn't that mean..."

"Yeah, most of the Adventurers in the city have been deployed elsewhere so you almost won't get any more sales."

"WHAT!"

Hearing the problem we were in, my joy disappears as the bag in my hands falls to the ground.

Plop!

...

---------------------------

Jaque's Fun Fact: Guild missions are a Guild-wide quest available for all adventurers of a certain rank or higher to do. It's usually only used in extreme situations. The only people who can issue them are the local leaders of the land, the branch manager, or the Adventurer Guild's Headquarters.