Chapter 40: Quest
Inside the Guild’s building, Lumien stood on his tiptoes, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening outside. But his short height made it impossible to see past the saloon doors and the crowd that had gathered at the entrance like ants, their curiosity mirroring his own.
Realizing it was hopeless, he gave up and turned to his sister with a questioning look.
Earlier, just before they entered the building, he had heard someone trying to hit his sister and trash-talking him. But before he could turn to look, Azalea had gently squeezed his hand and shot him a glance. Without a word, she had urged him to keep moving forward.
Now, however, he was starting to regret it a bit. If he had known that street fights were such a common occurrence here, he would’ve at least sent a few fireballs at that guy’s face. How dare that guy call him a little runt and try to hit Azalea!
From the murmurs around him, it was clear that this kind of scene wasn’t anything new.
"Who’s fighting outside this time?"
"It’s... it’s "Giant" Brian! Some poor fool actually had the nerve to say the word ’ugly’ right in front of him. You can guess the rest."
"What an idiot. Doesn’t he know that’s basically a death sentence?"
"Praise the Sun! May his soul be basked in your holy light!"
"He’s still alive, you moron!"
Noticing the questioning look on Lumien’s face, Azalea turned to him and asked, "Are you wondering what happened outside?"
"Not really," Lumien replied. "The people around here already made that pretty clear. I was just wondering—was the commotion outside caused by the same guy who was trying to mess with us earlier?"
"Yes, it was," Azalea confirmed.
"Ah, is that why you told me not to bother with him? Judging by the way people here talk about him, he seems to have quite the infamous reputation."
From Lumien’s perspective, it didn’t quite fit Azalea’s personality to simply ignore the man who had insulted him and blatantly flirted with her. He had expected her to put the guy in his place immediately, yet she chose to walk away instead. That could only mean one thing—he was dangerous.
But Azalea’s response next contradicted his assumption.
"Hmm, not exactly. It’s just a hassle if we respond to him and get into a conflict," Azalea said.
"You know, being an Adventurer has taught me a lot. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that we can’t control what others say or think. In our society, people are reserved, careful with their words, and rarely speak their minds openly. But here, Adventurers have no such restraints—they say whatever they want, however they want, without a second thought."
"When I first registered as and Adventurer, the difference was shocking. But over time, I got used to it. If someone flirts with me, so be it. If someone bad-mouths me, I just ignore it. Of course, I have my limits—so long as they don’t cross the line into physical contact, I don’t bother wasting my time on them. I just treat them like barking dogs." her tone was indifferent.
"So that’s it," Lumien nodded, finally understanding.
Azalea led him toward the front desk, where a beautiful receptionist immediately greeted them.
"Good morning, may I ask if you’re already a registered Adventurer?" the receptionist gave them a standard smile. Her eyes curiously swept over Lumien and Azalea’s appearance.
At the moment, Azalea had pulled her hood back on and wrapped a black scarf around her face, covering everything except her striking crimson eyes. As she had explained to Lumien earlier, this was her usual attire whenever she visited an Adventurer’s Guild in any city.
She also explained to him the reason behind her complicated disguise was that she had learned the hard way that her appearance often caused more trouble than it was worth. The incident earlier, for example, when the wind had knocked her hood down and immediately drawn unwanted attention was proof enough.
"Yes," Azalea placed a silver-colored token on the desk.
The receptionist’s eyes flickered with recognition, and her smile immediately turned warmer, almost flattering. "Ah, a Silver-rank Adventurer. What can I do for you?"
"I just arrived in Arsnova yesterday. Can you fill me in on any major news recently?" Azalea asked.
"Of course! Let’s see... First, there was the fire incident at Marquis Duncaster’s estate..."
"Duke Sauron’s birthday banquet..."
The first two pieces of news were nothing new to Azalea—she had already heard about them firsthand and had even played a part in one of the events. Still, she didn’t interrupt the receptionist and listened patiently.
The following updates were less relevant to her: a string of local crimes, an Adventurer discovering a treasure, rumors of a newly discovered dungeon—common occurrences that held little value to her.
Then, at last, she guided the conversation toward her true objective.
"What about Bantaro Farm?" she asked.
She had chosen Bantaro Farm as Lumien’s training ground for a reason. It was the closest human settlement outside the Arsnova, making it the ideal place for practicing magic on living targets. The closer a location was to the Safe Zone, the weaker its monsters tended to be.
The receptionist tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "Bantaro Farm? Ah, now that you mention it, I remember there’s a One-Star Quest related to it."
She suddenly paused, her expression shifting into something uneasy.
"Strange..." she muttered.
Azalea immediately caught on to the change in her demeanor. "What’s wrong?" she asked.
The receptionist hesitated for a moment before explaining, "The quest was issued a week ago, and a party of three Adventurers accepted it on the same day. However, up until now, the client hasn’t come in to withdraw the request, nor has the party returned to report their completion."
Azalea narrowed her eyes slightly.
Normally, a One-Star Quest would take no more than a day to complete, with a maximum of three days in rare cases. The reason for this short duration was simple, the low difficulty. If a quest extended beyond this timeframe, lasting for a week as in this case, it was a clear indication that something had gone wrong.
What puzzled Azalea even more was the lack of any follow-up. If the quest had turned out to be more difficult than expected, Adventurers typically reported back to the Guild, to request for a reclassification and asked for compensation. Yet, a week had passed, and there had been no word—neither from the Adventurers who took the quest nor from the client who issued it.
"May I see the details of the quest?" Azalea asked.
"Of course," the receptionist replied. She turned and walked to the shelves behind the counter, retrieving a rolled-up parchment. Carefully, she unfurled it on the counter in front of them.
Lumien leaned in closer to read the content.
After a moment, he found the quest to be fairly simple. The client requested Adventurers to investigate the cause behind their livestock’s sudden deaths.
The reward was 1 gold.
Since this was his first time seeing a quest, Lumien wasn’t sure if the reward was appropriate for its difficulty. However, he understood that one gold was a rather significant amount—enough to last most people for weeks, and even months for the frugal.
Another detail caught his eye. According to the date written on the paper scroll, the quest had been posted exactly a week ago, just as the receptionist had stated.
Azalea studied the Quest for a moment before speaking. "There’s no way a Quest like this should take an entire week."
"That’s exactly why I found it odd, too," the receptionist admitted with a wry smile.
After a moment of thought, Azalea made her decision. "We’ll take this quest."
The receptionist appear surprised. "Are you sure?"
"Yes,"
The receptionist hesitated before saying in a cautious tone. "The last party that accepted this quest hasn’t returned yet. I can’t confidently classify this as a One-Star quest anymore. It likely needs reclassification, but for that to happen, a Guild member would have to survey the scene first."
"There’s no need for that," Azalea replied flatly. "I don’t have time to wait."
The receptionist let out a quiet sigh. "If that’s your decision, then I’ll process it."
She proceeded through a brief and quiet administrative process. Once everything was settled, Azalea and Lumien promptly exited the building.
As soon as they stepped outside, Lumien instinctively scanned his surroundings, curious about the so-called "Giant" Brian that people had been chattered about earlier. However, there was no sign of him.
Instead, his eyes were drawn to something else—several broken teeth scattered across the ground. There was also fresh blood that had yet to dry up, mixed with the sand and dirt.
Putting the clues together, Lumien could roughly estimate how intense the fight here must have been.
He couldn’t help but wonder—if he had stayed behind instead of listening to Azalea, would he have ended up like the poor soul who had left their teeth behind?
Then again, on second thought, Azalea had dismissed Brian as nothing to her. If that was true, then perhaps Brian would have been the one losing teeth instead of him?
Azalea’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"
"I was wondering if I could have taken on that Brian guy if I’d stayed behind," Lumien wasn’t ashamed to share his thoughts with Azalea.
Azalea rolled her eyes. "You’re overestimating yourself."
