Chapter 1229 Chapter 1229 Nesting Swallows
Silence reigned, this time nobody was going to break it. Especially after a few glances towards Oditr showed that she was carefully sipping on her fourth or fifth glass of fruit juice just to keep the silence. Then it kept going… and going… and Kat noticed the corner of March's mouth twitching ever so slightly. Deciding to just be the one to go for it, Kat asked, "So what happened next,"
March's mouth stretched into a smile, "I'm glad you asked Kat. Now, keep in mind this is all second hand, told by the people who picked us up. I'm not sure if it's true, but it makes enough sense for me to believe it. Plus, it makes for a good story, which is at least entertaining. Still, keep in mind it might not have happened exactly like this.
"As I said before, I don't remember even reaching these guys, but it was a party of four adventurers. Mostly older types that aren't pushing forward anymore. I can't say what Rank they are. At least two, possibly three… but three seems unlikely. They're more like… the towns main crew. They handle most of the nasty jobs that aren't really for beginners, but not the really bad stuff you'd need to call in outside adventurers for.
"I know this at least, because I asked a few people about the group afterwards. What were they called?" March paused as she flexed her muscles a bit. Kat was assuming it helped March think. Must've worked because after a few seconds the name came to her, "Ah, yes they were called the Nesting Swallows. Apparently they had another name back when they moved around more, but I don't know what it is. Asking about it got me at least three different answers.
"Of the ones I can remember, 'Ranging Swallows' seems the most likely, and 'The Crimson Dragons' seems the least. Especially because I know a semi-famous company called the 'The Ruby Dragons' but maybe they're related to someone in the original team so I can't be certain. Anyway, here's how the story went from their perspective, as according to Evan, their healer.
"So, apparently four days after we left, the guy who sent us off on that mission was bragging to his friends about what he managed and they were all having a good laugh. Steph, the ranger of the Swallows, a half-elf with great hearing and Sound Affinity overheard them and started to really listen to their conversation.
"One of the man's companions pointed out that we were only Rank 1 so we probably hadn't even made it to the wolves yet because we were so weak, and didn't have any horses. They went back and forth for a bit, and Steph managed to get most of the details, at least enough to go to the adventurers guild and ask for more information… which had to wait till morning.
"So morning of the 5th day dawns, and the Swallows go to the guild and start asking for information about the mission… which the guild refuses to give them. Apparently it's against the rules to hand out details of another team's mission. Even when they explain why they want it the guild receptionist won't budge. Ruth, the teams defacto leader and tank apparently reached over and pulled the receptionist off her feet and said 'We've protected this town since before you moved here, probably before you were born. If you can't trust us to help, then why do we keep getting missions?'
"Anyway… apparently that still wasn't enough. Now, according to Evan the Swallows would later learn that the receptionist they were trying to shake down was good friends with Shady Sadist, so it wasn't that they were just following protocol but that they were hoping to protect their friend as well.
"Even informed me that normally the Swallows would go straight to the Guild Master at that point… but he was out of town visiting some of the smaller villages just to check up on things and make sure that everything was running smoothly. So then it became a bit of a bigger deal. The Swallows had to ambush the Shady Guys team, and then dragged them off to the constables office to explain what they'd done, and why they needed help getting the information.
"Unlike the receptionist, the constable was happy to help, and so an hour later, they had the information they needed. It was getting late, and there was a bit of a debate amongst the group about if they should leave right away or not. There was also talk of getting horses, but that would be another complication that might not even save them time.
"Luckily for me and my unconscious companions, they chose to head out immediately. They just ran along the road until they found me. It's hard to tell how long I was running, they didn't really know either but at least twelve hours, probably longer. As soon as I saw them, I collapsed, or so I was told. I'm not entirely sure I believe that part. It seems much more in character for me to have kept running until I DID collapse and they just picked me up afterwards, but I may have been just that tired that at the first hint of safety I dropped,"
"Well what happened after that?" asked Marigold.
March sighed at the question, "The aftermath isn't such a happy story… see what the bastard did, sending us on a quest too high level for us? Isn't illegal. Especially because they didn't actually SAY how hard the quest was. Never once did they mislead us about the difficulty… we just didn't ask.
"Which is still enough for them to pay a fine, and because of the Swallow's connection to the guild master get them kicked out of the town's guild, and a black mark put on their record. Not that they'd want to stay in town afterwards, the Swallows are quite well loved, and many business were ready to stop serving them to help force them out of town.
"Still… the fact they basically got away with it does leave a bad taste in my mouth. It's also worth mentioning that the guild should've put a black mark against me and my team because of the incident. Accepting quests, the way we did is also against the rules you see. It didn't happen because Alice and Alex both vouched for me, saying I tried to talk them out of it but was forced along by them.
"This combined with the fact that they both wanted to retire afterwards… well… they took the black mark, not that it mattered with the team dissolving. Then they went back to the farm. Content to get married and take over one of their parents' farms. It was… a rather sad moment.
"They spent most of our recovery time crying, or apologising to me for just about everything. It got to the point I had to ask Evan if there was a way to stop them, but he said it was best to just… let them go. Which, was a bit harder on me but if it helped them… well I wasn't going to complain where they could hear me.
"It seems… that while my close brush with death just confirmed that I needed to be stronger… they both decided it meant they weren't meant to be adventurers. No matter how much I pointed out that they could train now. That they could learn to properly use their weapons. That they could take easier missions until they were ready…
"The pair were adamant that they'd only been dragging me down. Which, admittedly, isn't something I could deny because it was very true and they knew it. Never before had the difference in combat ability been so apparent to them. Normally we'd take on easy stuff you know? The fact I was much better wasn't notice because I'd finish quickly, then watch them, and they just assumed they only took a bit longer, or that my weapon was particularly suitable.
"In the end though… that was how their dream died. It was super embarrassing when, as they were getting ready to leave town, Alice tried to hand off her gloves to me because I could make better use of them. I tried to more politely talk around the issue 'you spent a lot of money on them' or 'they can still be useful on the farm' or 'they are nice gloves but not my style' well she kept insisting and well…"
March pulled up Marigolds hand and lay her own on top of it completely engulfing Marigolds much smaller hand. "As hopefully you can all work out the gloves were MUCH too small for me, but it felt rude to point out the obvious when Alice was trying to hard to find an excuse to hand them off to me, perhaps out of guilt or obligation,"
Kat winced. That really was an awkward situation. March continued though, with, "She actually still handed off the gloves even when I finally pointed that out. I ended up leaving them with my parents. For the memories mostly, but I did let Alice know where I was keeping them. In a nice glass case in the drawer to my old room. Just in case she ever wanted them back,"
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