When they left the office, Luke let go of the girl's hand. "Let's go?"
It was still less than three in the afternoon, so they had the entire afternoon ahead of them.
Although the elf was a little embarrassed, she regained her posture and, not wanting to be rude, said, "Are you going like this? I mean, this isn't even armor, is it?"
The girl talked about Luke's outfit, and she was completely correct. The boy's clothes were more than old, yet they were his best clothes; in Oukiwa there's not much money left for him after buying food and paying rent.
"I'm fine like this. Don't worry about it. Focus on your sword and your clothes." Luke said and left towards the stairs.
Nathalia realized that she had misunderstood the touch on the hand she received. They'd only known each other for a few hours, and there's no way they'd ever become friends, at least not yet.
As they passed the balcony, both pulled out their adventurers' licenses.
The simple license was just a cheap metal pendant with the first name and current Class engraved on the front. On the back was a sentence the half-wolf couldn't read, but Nathalia could.
"A sharp blade. A healing potion. A Return Stone…" The girl read aloud as the two left the guild through the front door. "This was supposed to be something emblematic, wasn't it? Why is it so bad?"
Although this carving made no sense to Nathalia, Luke interpreted it as a shortlist of essential items to enter a dungeon.
A sharp blade will serve to deal with the creatures. The healing potion, in case you're hurt. The Return Stone, in case you get lost.
When Luke explained this essential thing to the girl, she felt pathetic for not having understanding, and she also reminded not having a Return Stone.
"Do you have a Return Stone, Luke?"
"No, they are a little expensive."
Gradually, Nathalia was beginning to understand the financial situation the half-wolf was in. Old rags, a plain sword, and no money, this could only mean that, for some reason, he was keeping the advance the Matriarch had given him.
The boy gave most of the money to his companions in the act of condolence.
"Come on, there must be a store that sells nearby. I'll give you one as a gift."
The half-wolf nodded since he had no reason to deny a gift, just regretted that he couldn't reciprocate, as he would steal from the girl's family next month.
"Before that, we'll take another mission," said Luke.
"Why?" The elf questioned; after all, they already had one to accomplish.
He turned and said with a grim smile, "The Guildmaster's quest will be our secondary objective. Our priority is to raise you in Class, and that's only done by fulfilling official quests."
Many missions were on the board, and the best ones had already been taken this morning. The options for Class-F were:
Mission 1 - Whoever is strong enough to defeat Steel Fist, must attend the Leather Sturgeon; the reward will be fifty silver coins.
"What do you think?" Nathalia questioned after reading to the half-wolf.
Beating some drunk in a bar for fifty coins was tempting. "Although it's worth taking some bucks with fights, this shouldn't be an official mission." Luke walked over and pointed to the mission paper. "What is missing from this paper?"
Nathalia studied the grease-stained paper for a few seconds, and among so many handprints and scrawled letters, she couldn't answer the boy's question.
"There is no guild stamp. Come on, compare with the other ads on the board." He spoke and pointed to the board ahead.
Comparing the paper in her hands and those from other missions, she realized some had a stamp. A red circle and knife, this was the official symbol.
'How did I not notice that?' thought the girl.
She dropped the paper from the first mission on the floor and picked up another one, this one that had the guild seal on it.
Mission 2 - Honorary knights and ladies, there is a powerful beast around the second floor. It is believed to be a Gorgko, and it shall not be difficult to identify as its skin glows red. Whoever is brave enough to fight it must bring the monster's head to the guild. Exclusive E-Class, reward worth fifty silver coins."
"E-class, dammit..." Nathalia mumbled and crumpled the paper into a ball.
The half-wolf approached and touched the girl's shoulder. "Calm down, there are still many missions."
Sniffing at the one that had been touched one more time, Luke took a well-worn paper from the poster and calmly asked the elf: "Can you read it, please?"
"You can't read, can you?" Without being rude, she asked.
The boy just shook his head. Nathalia just nodded afterward.
It wasn't such an uncommon thing not to be able to read and write, which is why jobs that required these skills were well paid and secure.
Mission 3 - Honorary knights and ladies, the apothecary of 'Primor and Potions' shop is in urgent need of Jade Vine, a rare flower that frequently grew on the first floor last year. With several cases of urticaria in a neighborhood close to the port, the flower is needed to make medicines.
Nathalia would crumple this role too, frustrated that it wasn't an exciting quest; however, Luke stopped her before doing so.
"Can you finish reading please?"
"The reward is twenty silver coins for each flower. If you don't know what a Jade Vine is, please put this paper on the board again..."
Luckily, the half-wolf knew very well about plants since he used to steal a lot from a flower shop when he learned the real value of flowers. Jade Vine is a beautifully shaped, claw-like flower whose stems are purple, and the petals are blue-green.
"I would accept this mission. Jade Vine can reach up to twenty meters, and there may be dozens of flowers."
The girl surprised that the half-wolf understood about this matter, considered giving in to it. "I know, it's just that… I expect something more…exciting? I trained for nearly twenty years to become an adventurer, and now I have to start looking for flowers?"
The half-wolf kept quiet as he didn't understand how a person could crave a risky profession. If Luke had a choice, he could easily be a farmer or remain a thief, since he thought it was part of him.
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