Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Receptionist's Desk

A seemingly hurriedly Grendel came in and handed his report,
"Here's my quest report!" before taking off towards the quest board.

Spoiler: Report

A headache-inducing pain in the butt.

That was Uzuki’s impression when Grendel took this quest, one which he now agreed wholeheartedly.

[Told you so]

“So, let me confirm it. You guys scammed a mage last week, correct?”

“Yes, mister adventurer, that’s correct,” a scrawny old man answered.

“And you scammed her by selling her some normal grasses, claiming those are lupine grasses, right? Then why would you call her action unfair?”

“Well - no, I mean, It’s not like there are no lupine grasses in that batch at all. There’s only a little bit of them were just mixed in!” He replied with a frown on his face.

Hearing his reply, Grendel sighed deeply while facepalming. He was currently confirming the facts inside the chief’s house, and the man before him is none other than Koy, the village chief and the requester himself. Somehow, even after being cursed by their (doubtedly) latest victim, they aren’t the least bit repentant.

‘*sigh*. Great. Just the kind of people I can’t stand. Well then, how should I finish this quest?’

“You mentioned she was a traveling mage, but do you have any idea where she might go?” Grendel asked the chief again.

Hearing Grendel’s question, Koy thought about it for a bit, before answering him, “Hmm, unfortunately, nothing comes to mind – oh! When she came back to cast the curse, she shouted something about ‘failed spell’ and ‘city riot’ or such.”

Are these people for real? “She came back to curse your village, and the only thing you remember is that?”

Seeing Grendel’s frustrated expression, Koy quickly added, “Sorry if that wasn’t much help. We didn’t take her seriously at first, you see,“ A mocking smile appeared on his face, “At least not until she started casting the damned curse.”

Seeing Koy’s expression, Grendel became more and more cynical towards this quest.
‘Because you didn’t give two sh*ts about your victim, no doubt. *sigh* Now just how can I find someone from that information?’

[Wasn’t it from the other quest? You know, the other one I said you should’ve taken,] Uzuki suddenly chimed in.

‘Oh, right. The one from the association, was it?’

[Yeah, that one. Never could’ve guessed it’s related to this quest, though]

‘I’m with you there. *sigh* At least there’s an actual clue now.’

“Okay then. I think I heard something similar to that, so I’ll go check if I can find her. But first, I need two things from you. Is that acceptable?”

Hearing the positive reply, this time Koy’s face smiled widely, showing his missing teeth. “Yes, Yes! Of course! Anything to help you!”

“Good. So firstly, since you’re a businessman, I’d like to make a formal contract with you,” Grendel took out a paper and started writing, “that you will definitely, and without fail will consider the quest done and give me the required proof for that upon the removal of the… let’s call it the honest-face, shall we? Curse that was cast upon the villagers.”

Koy stared at Grendel in confusion as he is presented with a strange request, “Well, I’m fine with that, but would the guild be? I mean, it kinda shows that you don’t believe them, do you?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be my responsibility if any problems arise since I’m the one asking for this”
‘It’s you that I don’t trust, though.’

“Very well, then.” Koy accepted as he signed the contract and put his fingerprint on it. “What’s the second one?”

“I would like you to give me a copy of your copy of the invoice for the grasses you sold her, along with an apology letter.” Seeing Koy’s expression became increasingly unpleasant, Grendel quickly explained, “The invoice copy is to make sure she remembers about the curse. I mean, it wouldn’t be nice if she were to feign ignorance, right? While the apology letter is to show her your sentiment of regretting what you did to her.”

After hearing his explanation, Koy’s expression softened up, and he nodded in understanding, “I see. Those are a legitimate worry, all right. Wait here, then. I’ll go prepare them,” and entered a room.

As soon as Koy’s out of sight, Uzuki sent his thought to Grendel, [Hey, Grendel. I can see why you need the contract and the apology, but why would you need the invoice? Surely, she wouldn’t forget such a big deal happening here?]

‘Well, the reasoning I gave the chief wasn’t a lie, but it’s not the whole truth, either. Just wait and see, I think you might find it interesting.’

[Hm. I’ll hold you on that word, then]
Not long after, Koy came out of the room and gives Grendel two pieces of paper, “Here’s the invoice and the apology. I also signed both, just in case. Are these satisfactory to you? Or is there anything else I can do to help?”

Checking over both of them, Grendel smiled and stored them in his pouch, “I think that’ll be all, Chief. Thank you for your assistance,” and bowed his head slightly to Koy.

“It’s fine. Just get rid the curse quickly, please.”

*****

After a few days of travel to Doylors, Grendel quickly found out that the city’s atmosphere is very tense, no doubt caused by the activists’ demonstrations. Wanting to avoid any unpleasant disturbances, Grendel quickly makes his way to the association’s tower.

As he arrived, Grendel was greeted by a male receptionist, “Hello, and welcome to the Coastal Tower Association. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes, I was looking for a miss…” Grendel paused, realizing he doesn’t know the mage’s name yet.

[Try asking for the other requester, Gundarm or something.]

‘Nice one, Uzuki.’

“Actually, scratch that. Can I meet someone named er, Gan-Gandorf? Terribly sorry, I didn’t really remember the name.”

“Do you perhaps meant master Gannondorf? I’m afraid that will be difficult, as he is quite busy lately.” The receptionist asked, his eyebrow raised.

“I see, but can you ask anyway? Tell him I’m an adventurer.”

“Very well, then, I’ll see if there’s anything I can do,” the receptionist replied as he turned and vanished behind a door.

A few minutes later, he returned, “Please follow me,” and asked Grendel to come with him. He guided Grendel to a room further inside the building, which he let Grendel enter by himself. The room appears to be an office, as it’s adorned with various corresponding furnitures such as shelves, a table, and sofas. On the back of the room, an old man sat while peering over a paper. As he noticed Grendel, he greeted him,

“Greetings, my name is Gannondorf. Are you perhaps the adventurer who has taken my quest?”

As he stood up and approached Grendel, the first thing he noticed is his amazingly long beard, as white as his hair and dangling down to his knee level. He wore a gray robe, with the tower’s insignia sewn on the upper hand part. On his face sits a monocle, giving him a scholar’s look.

“Hello, Mr. Gannondorf. I am terribly sorry, but I am not here for that quest. But I believe the matter I’m pursuing is not unrelated.”

Gannondorf was crestfallen as heard the first sentence but soon recovered. “Really? And what matter is that? Oh, and please, sit,” he gestured towards the sofa.

Grendel starts explaining the Trustworthy village’s scam towards a mage, and how he came here to find the mage in question. After Grendel finished, Gannondorf nodded, “I see, I see. So, you’ve come here in hope to find her, but since you still don’t know who she exactly is, you asked to meet me?”

“That’s right.”

“Very well, I’ll call her here. As you said, it is certainly related to the city’s current problem, but I shan’t trouble you with that.” As he said that, Gannondorf headed to his desk and pressed a button. A few moments later, the same receptionist from before showed up.

“Did you call, master Gannondorf?”

“Yes, Alec can you please fetch Rena and bring her here? I would like to talk about the potion she made last time.”

“As you wish.”

As the receptionist left, Gannondorf turned towards Grendel and said, “I guess we can only wait now. In the meantime, would you accompany me for tea, Mr. Grendel?”

“Just Grendel is fine, and yes, I’d be delighted to.”

***

Around an hour later, a knock came as Grendel was absorbed in a conversation with Gannondorf over teas. As he heard it, Gannondorf concluded the conversation and told the visitor,

“You may enter, please.”

Then, the receptionist – Alec appeared once again, this time while dragging an unconscious girl by the scruff of her neck.

“I’m terribly sorry for the wait, master Gannondorf. I had to spend some time to capture her, as she immediately attempted to escape when I explained the matter.”

Hearing the unexpected action that took place, Grendel nearly burst into a laugh, while Gannondorf put his hand to his temple.

“I swear, this girl… It’s fine, Alec. Just leave her here.”

Doing as Gannondorf said, Alec put the girl on the sofa opposite of Grendel, right next to Gannondorf before bowing and left the room.

As she was now sitting upright, Grendel could see her features clearly. She seemed to be in her late teens, and she wore the same kind of robe as Gannondorf, only hers is brown. Her black hair was styled in a braid, and on her face was a pair of large round glasses.

[Hoho, not bad looking, for a human girl]

‘Never knew you had preferences for a girl’

[That’s rude, black-horn. Even crows mate, you know.]

“She’s Rena, the girl you’re looking for. I’m terribly sorry for her embarrassing behavior *sigh*. She’s quite the gifted girl, but unfortunately, she tends to be far too rambunctious… Oh, here she is.” Just as Gannondorf started to introduce her, the girl in question started to wake up. As she slowly opens her eyes, she looked dazedly in turn at Grendel and Gannondorf, before suddenly leaping up on surprise.

“Dowah! A-a-an Oni!? And M-m-master Gannondorf! Gasp! Y-you wouldn’t be the torturer he hired to punish me, aren’t you?” she said as she pointed at Grendel.

While Gannondorf only sighed and held his temple once again, Grendel, who found her reaction amusing, decided to humor her a bit. He stood up, put his hands on his waist, and says with a voice as deep as he can make,

“Hoho, I see you’re quick on the uptake, little girl. That’s right, I’m Uzuki, the number one torturer in Ternus!”

[Oi]

“And today, I’ve been hired by mister mage here to make sure you’re punished appropriately! Hahaha!”

Grendel struggled to hold back his growing laughter as her face slowly contorted in fear before she suddenly jumped to the floor and grabbed Gannondorf’s leg in tears,

“M-mwasteeer! Noo! Nod dordure! *sniff* Anyfing but dat, pwease! *sniff* I’ll do anything, even sit down and listen to your lecture for a whole day!”

Taken aback by Rena, Gannondorf stared blankly at her for a moment before Grendel finally roared out with laughter and brought him back to his senses. “*sigh* Calm down, Rena. I’m not here to punish you, not yet at least. Also, Grendel, while I might understand your motive, please don’t tease her too much.”

“Fweh?” hearing Gannondorf’s word, Rena looked confusedly at Grendel, while he burst into another laugh,

“HAHAHA! I’m sor – HAHAHA! I’m sorry, her reaction’s just – HAHAHA! – just priceless! HAHAHA!” Grendel continued to laugh even as Rena slowly understood what’s happening and shot him an angry glare.

***

A few minutes and a kick to the shin later, Grendel and Rena have managed to calm down, and Gannondorf started explaining the situation.

“As you might have surmised, Rena was also the cause for the city’s uproar, albeit indirectly. You see, the potions she made using the ingredients from that village was used in another mages research. Unfortunately, as the potion was defective, it caused the spell he used misfired and affected the whole town instead. While the punishment was handed down immediately, the activists aren’t satisfied with that, but I digress.” He cleared his throat, and then turned to face Rena, “But this is the first time I heard you were scammed. I guess the curse explains where did you go after breaking your room arrest last week, huh? But why didn’t you say anything about the scam?”

“Well, I mean, it was my fault anyway for blowing all my money on the grasses and not realizing some normal ones were mixed. It’s not like that excuse will be acceptable anyway, isn’t it?” she said while pouting, looking like a kid who was unhappy for being lectured.

“You can still say something about it, you know. *sigh* Anyway, thanks to Grendel here, the scam towards you can be proved, so your punishment might be lessened. But another problem still stands: you would need to lift the curse from those villagers.”

Although Rena’s face started to brighten up, she quickly frowned upon hearing the last sentence, “Eeeeh? Why should I? They’re the ones that doing scamming here and there! Besides, the curse shouldn’t be any big problem, right? It just made them more honest!”

“I agree with you, but sadly, they have filed a request to the guild to lift the curse, one which I have accepted. But, I do have an idea on how to complete the quest while still punishing them. Are you interested?”

Hearing his words, Rena perked up, “Of course! Can you explain?”

“Well, it’s simple, really. I’ve made sure that the condition for clearing the quest is the removal of the current curse of showing their honest feeling, so I imagine it’s not my problem if they were hit again with a different curse. For example, a curse that makes them unable to say a lie.” Grendel explained with a smirk.

[THAT’s your plan?]

‘Why not? Surely there’s nothing wrong with scamming a scammer, is there?’

After hearing his explanation, Rena instantly laughed out, while Gannondorf looked at him with amusedly. “You are shrewder than you look, Grendel.”

“Kyahaha! He sure is, isn’t he? Well, I think that’s a good idea, but unfortunately, I don’t know if such a curse exists. Do you, master Gannondorf?” Rena asked Gannondorf.

Hearing her question, Gannondorf thought for a moment before answering, “Hmm, I think I know something similar. Very well, I shall help you with that. It should also serve as a lesson for them to not take the Tower association lightly.” He then turned towards Grendel, “Can I trouble you to escort us there, Grendel?”
“Sure, I don’t mind. I need to collect the completion proof from them too, anyway”

***

A few days later, Grendel came back to the trustworthy village along with Gannondorf and Rena. As soon as they told the villager they’re here to lift the curse, the overjoyed villager quickly offered to prepare everything they needed. On the noon next day, Gannondorf ‘lifted’ the curse and quickly returned to the tower afterward along with Rena, using the excuse of ‘urgent business’.

Grendel also followed suit, leaving the village after collecting the completion proof not half an hour after they left, traveling as fast as he can while hoping Gannondorf’s quest is still untaken.

Spoiler: Notes

• Cleansed the village's curse of showing their truthful feeling through their expression. (hopefully they wouldn't have anything to say about that later, though)
  
• Obtained a sale invoice and an apology letter, both signed by the village chief.

@AliceShiki

 

"Job's done!"

A gourd slapped down the reports, smelling like he's been neck-deep inside a corpse. Well, technically the corpse's inside sprayed on him despite his best attempt warding it off.

Spoiler: Reports

“Ah, there it is.”


A gourd stood atop of a platform, glancing down onto a decaying wurm beneath. After several questioning he found out that the beast tamer’s wurm died a week ago and the client raised it before he could arrange for a proper burial. Now the thing acted mostly like when it’s alive... infuriating both the tamer and the necromancer involved. The creature refused to move away since presumably it had different sensory and thus fail to receive the tamer’s instruction, so it just laze around in the backyard disturbing the rest of the tamed beasts, that the tamer himself was on the verge of putting a request to the guild.


“I can take it, simple enough. It’s not that big.” The gourd calculated his trajectory. “Arcane Armament. Arcane Armament.”


Pleased that it now took only two casts to extend his broken blade, the gourd leapt off his platform and plummet to the unsuspecting wurm.


The undead beast wasn’t the largest kind, its width is about as tall as an average man and ten times that in length. The whole body was covered in carapace that undulated rapidly in order to move it underground. It had four massive pincer surrounding its mouth to break obstacles and meals alike, its mouth basically a circular pit full of teeth that it used to devour its meal. And the gourd considered it not-that-big.


“Dart!”


Tapping into his Brand for a last second adjustment, the arcane-laden blade sliced more than halfway through the wurm right at its midsection. Another application of Dart killed most of his momentum and sent him shooting away from the beast, his innards lurching but in a way better condition than it would be if the wurm smashed him away.


And smash it did, the mountain of rotting flesh and muscle whipping at impressive speed as the beast roared in fury. A blast of foul air exploded from the blade wound, alongside bits of rotten innards and brackish blood. Then, rising its front half high in the air, it lunged straight toward the tiny creature that dared prick its flesh.


“I hate undeads.”


The gourd raised a Hardlight platform to shield himself off the worst of the foul blast, inwardly musing that he’ll need a long bath after this was done. He stepped aside as the wurm smashed down, the ground trembling as its pincers dug spiraling ditched where it passed. His blade went sideways as the beast passed, carving a long line through the rock-hard carapace and expelled more foul matter in the process.


Despite of that, it was barely slowing the wurm. He Darted upward to avoid a tail sweep, then back down as the head turned and tried to snatch him out of the air. He left another cut on the other side of his first, very nearly severing the creature save for its spine, before rolling to the side as it lunged again.


In the end, the state of undeath was both its strength and its weakness. The raised wurm felt no pain and thus had no sense of preservation, in which its wanton attack damaged itself with every thunderous crash. The gourd simply waited for another chance, nicking the beast here and there in the process, before going for the vital and severed the now exposed spine.


Despite of that, the creature wasn’t really dead yet. Its bottom half twitched before going still but the front half wiggled in confusion, attempting to prop itself up with the now detached part. It was beyond simple for the gourd to make some careful cut before finally removing the head from the front part. Then the wurm finally went dark.


“That’s for today.” He looked around, grimacing at the rotten stench lingering all over himself. “Nothing more. I need that bath.”

Spoiler: Notes

-Solas needed to learn some manners.
-Wurm successfully re-killed.
-Cleaning up is not the gourd's job.

@AliceShiki

 

"Spirit's dealt with. Any idea where I could get ahold of a few more glass bottles? Or some medical aid?"

Spoiler: Report

I couldn't help but crack a small smile on my way to the location of the job. I had been itching for a chance to show off my scythe skills for a while and, let's face it, cracking a cultist over the head with the non-business end just wasn't going to cut (hah) it.
While I marched toward the plagued village and supposedly haunted well, my thoughts dwelled on other things. Specifically, the fact that Manakhos had yet to tip his hand and reveal just what payment he required in exchange for his "gift" of a reaper eye. My brow furrowed, and I scowled at the thought. Over the time I'd been the Reaper's puppet, he had never been one for generosity. Often times, he'd give a gift just to enjoy the pleasure of me having to pay back his debts. Often times, the only one who considered what he gave "Gifts" was himself. I shook thoughts of the reaper from my head. No sense putting myself in a bad mood, after all. Besides, this was the first chance I'd had in a while to get a decent meal, and my stomach was growling at the thought. As easy as they are to get, animal souls are pitifully dry and not very filling. I let out a slight shudder as I thought back to the probably thousands of mice I'd had to live on. At least I didn't have to pay for food, though.

I was shaken from my reverie by the sounds of a bustling village, just over the hill. I had arrived, and just in time for the sun to begin sinking over the horizon. I grabbed the polearm from my back and lowered my hood. It was time to get to work.

I figured that the villagers wouldn't take too kindly to a ghastly-pale, soul eating scythebearer considering their struggles with a wraith, So I entered the village under cover of night. It didn't take long to locate the well; the village was pitifully small and didn't have a lot of features. I peered into the murky blackness of the well, confirming my suspicions.

At the bottom of the well, in the water, a small ball of bluish-green flame crackled faintly. A wraith, to be sure. Possibly of someone drowned in the well.

Either way, I would have to draw it from it's resting place and coerce it into appearing. Recognizing this, I immediately turned and made my way to the village tavern.

~ ~ ~

I'd be lying If I said that the villagers greeted me with warmth, kindness, and free ale. I'd also be lying if I said that the villagers greeted me. I was an outsider, and a particularly grim looking one at that, so I was met with suspicious silence upon entering the tavern. I ignored the, frankly, rude patrons and marched up to the barkeep.

"My name is Yane. I'm with the guild, solving your little well problem. Salt, please?"

The barkeep didn't move from where he stood, seeming slightly confused. "S...Salt?"

I cleared my throat before responding. "Yes, Salt. Have you got any? perhaps a handful or so?"

The barkeep stared at me for a moment before coming to his senses and marching into a back room, returning with a small canvas bag filled with salt. I thanked him and turned matter-of-factly towards the door. I opened it, but stopped before I'd stepped outside, turning back towards the semi-drunken patrons.

I flashed a winning smile towards them.
"Do me a favour, gentlemen, and stay inside for just a bit longer. You'll know when things are clear."

~ ~ ~

In one hand I held the bag of salt. In the other hand I held my scythe. I slowly began pouring a small ring of salt around the well, leaving a gap on one side about four or five inches long. Once my circle was mostly complete, I grabbed a small pinch of the salt, and scattered it into the well.

A brittle shriek split the somber night silence, and a bluish-green hellfire blazed up from within the well. As quick as a flash, I closed the gap in the salt circle around the well, sealing the spirit away from it's refuge. I tossed away the bag of salt, and flicked my scythe blade out of the handle.

The spirit, once a blue flame, had taken a solid form. It resembled a small child's poppet, roughly two or three feet in height, and held a small lantern in it's hand-like feet. It's eyes were stitched "X" shapes and it's skin appeared to be made of hauntingly-glowing linen. It let out another sickening shriek in my direction, and with a spark of blue flame it coalesced a spectral scythe to match my own.

I cursed, partially in frustration and partially with sympathy. This was no ordinary wraith. It's doll-like appearance and blue-flame lantern betrayed its nature as the vengeful spirit of a lost child. Regardless, the wraith bayed for blood and seemed perfectly keen on taking mine.

I dove towards the spirit, slashing savagely with my scythe. I swung it over my head before bringing the point of the scythe-blade downward towards the spirit. It managed to flit out of the way, and my scythe sunk into the packed ground below. The creature swung it's own scythe, the blade passing right through my clothing and cutting a deep gash into my shoulder. I yanked my weapon free and turned toward the creature. Feeling bolstered by it's successful hit, it dove for another attack, but this time I was ready. I blocked with my hilt, the black metal stopping the blow, and quickly pushed back, knocking the spirit away. It let out another mournful shriek of rage and dove for me, slashing wildly. I ducked just below it's blows, before spinning on my heel and slamming the edge of my blade into it from above, knocking it to the ground like a swatted fly. I flipped the scythe in my hands, spinning it over my shoulder and slamming the butt of the handle down onto the creature, pinning it to the ground. With one hand, I held it firm. With the other, I dug into my pack for one of the empty glass bottles. I uncorked it and tossed it to the ground near the spirit. I grasped the scythe with both hands and, faster than the creature could flee from my clutches, quickly hurled it skyward. I spun the scythe around myself, building up force and momentum, and cleanly sliced the wraith in two as it plummeted downward. With a pitiful shriek, the beast dispersed into soulstuff and came to rest in the bottle beneath it. I corked the bottle and pocketed it, before collapsing to the ground by the well, my vision fading to black.

~ ~ ~

When I awoke, I found myself not by a salt-ringed well, but lying shirtless on a wooden table in the tavern I'd visited before. Daylight streamed from a nearby window, and I looked over to find my wounded shoulder wrapped in tight linen bandages, with what appeared to be some sort of plant poultice applied underneath. I sat up, looking around, only to be greeted by a lone villager. He introduced himself as Nemo, the questgiver.

"I hate to bother ye so quickly after ye've woken, but are ye sure the problem's been solved?" He asked, somewhat concerned.

I stood from the table, brushing myself off, and cleared my throat. "The spirit was of a deceased child who drowned in the well. I exorcised it, but the best thing you can do to be sure that the sickness is gone is to dredge the body from the well and give it a proper burial. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that some other roving spirit won't latch onto it as an anchor and raise an even worse ruckus."

He thanked me, returned my clothing to me, and I went on my way.

~ ~ ~

As I walked back to the guild, I couldn't help but think about the lost soul of the child in the well. I felt as if we were somewhat kindred spirits, him and I. Both had been rejected a genuine afterlife, and were cursed to stay on this mortal coil. Was my tenure under the reaper more noble, or was I just as feral and heartless as what was left of the child's soul? Either way, I knew one thing for certain. This poor soul deserved some rest.

Spoiler: Notes

Found village, Found spirit in well, drew spirit out, Spirit was of child who drowned, exorcised and contained spirit, urged villagers to dredge up and bury the body. Sustained significant wound on left shoulder.

@AliceShiki

 

"It looks like you got into trouble, but managed to finish the quest regardless. Good job, I suppose, but please - don't be so reckless. That goes to both of you. Anyway, here is the reward. 62 Large Copper Coins, and 16 guild points."

 

"Golem issue's been taken care of! Ehehe~"

Spoiler: A Slab of Rock

“How fast is very fast? Assuming the golem moves at the speed at which a horse gallops, it’ll take it around three days to get here, since dumbass piles of rock don’t get tired. The pigeon got here in one day, so that’s two days left before it gets here.”

Elaine studied the map at the city gates, grumbling. She was about to head off and borrow some kind of transport, maybe with quasi-illegal means, but then---

“Elaine, it seems that you’ll get your wish fulfilled sooner than you think! We have a bit of a tough situation on our hands, and time is of the essence here.”

“Wait...Senpai, that’s you?!”

A wolf that was almost the size of a horse. In addition, it’s mane was orange and flickering like flames, somewhat similar to how her lion looked like. Although, the wolf seemed more regal looking than said lion.

“Well, duh! How many talking wolves have you met before? Hurry and get on, I’ll take you to the Azulean Hills! With any luck, we’ll reach it before midnight!”

“Aren’t the Azulean Hills about two-thirds of the way between Fort Alduin and Nagrand? Why not meet it halfway, at the Solitude River?”

“Because as you’ve pointed out, we don’t know how fast the golem is actually moving! If we run right into it without warning in the middle of nowhere, we’re going to have a lot of issues! It’s better to wait somewhere that it’ll likely be passing, and ambush it there! Plus, the top speed I can maintain for a full day run is only slightly faster than a horse.”

“...Understood, Senpai!”

* * *

The pair stopped at the banks of the Solitude River, which were covered with mist, and Mika reverted to her human form, tumbling across the grass.

“I really hope you made the right choice coming here. I’m tired as hell from all that running, so I doubt I can do much in the subsequent fight. You’re on your own.”

“No problem, senpai. Just rest up and watch the show!”

Elaine helped Mika over to the base of a rather large tree over by the riverbank, and helped her climb up said tree.

A rumbling could be felt in the distance, sending tremors across the floor.

Then Mika shouted from her vantage point.

“Here he comes---Not just a moment too soon! As you’ve requested, I’ll leave the matter of stopping the golem to you! Show me what you’ve learned, Elaine!”

“Understood, Senpai!”

* * *

“Hydro Lash!”

The watery ropes tied the golem’s legs and hands together, causing it to fall flat for a brief moment. It quickly tore the ropes apart with inhuman strength, but that moment of inactivity was more than enough for the young girl.

“Bolt!”

The thunderbolt cleaved off a good chunk of the neck area, which started to minutely regenerate. The golem was using the ground to slowly fix itself.

“Hiyah!”

Elaine did her Knight’s Blitz, charging in with her rapier raised, but this time, as the golem swiped at her with club-like arms, it ended up hitting nothing.

Because while it looked similar, it wasn’t a Knight’s Blitz. It was instead---

“Knight’s Assault!”

*WHAM!*

With considerable force, Elaine drove a metal pole into the golem’s mud frame, chipping a bit of the exposed core. Then, she rolled away.

She was hoping to get down another bolt of lightning, but as she watched on with some surprise, the golem slammed it’s arms into the ground, creating small hairline fractures. Elaine rolled backwards, evading it.

But when she looked back up, the metal pole had been molded into raw metal, and the golem had absorbed it into it’s body. The hole was still steadily closing.

A second bolt of thunder was repelled, the golem taking a firm stance and diverting the elecricity to the ground, resulting in no effect.

If the golem could block attacks made from the front, then all she had to do was to attack from another angle. However, chanting and casting took time, and she couldn’t chant on the move.

So instead...

The third conjured thunderbolt cleaved past the golem, missing it entirely, and then ricocheted off something mid-air.

* * *

Mika’s casual remark during an offhand conversation had made it possible.

“There’s water in the air, by the way.”

“Huh? Senpai, what do you mean?”

“You see, air is the product of…….”

What followed was a lengthy lesson about the air and its unique properties, most of which she managed to forget as Mika had said it---but she did remember the fact that there was water in the air. And she trusted her senpai.

* * *

And so, the stage was set. Her senpai’s running speed had earned her the time that she needed, even though she had asked for them to reach the Solitude River instead of waiting at the Azulean Hills.

The fact that she had precious fifteen minutes to prepare for this spell, and the perfect location to use it, was all thanks to Mika, who had ran at top pace while carrying her.

So, it would only be fair to repay that gift by putting on a beautiful display for her senpai. The opponent could not talk---

“My name is Elaine. I’ll be your opponent.”

---But that was no excuse for rudeness.

* * *

A thin cylindrical shell of water vapour, extending up higher than the golem’s full height. And a single bolt of lightning, travelling through the thin veils of water.

The thunderbolt travelled nature’s path for it; Elaine did not use any magic beyond firing the thunderbolt, and the mist didn’t need to be controlled either. It was like watching the insides of a miniature thundercloud, except that the cloud in question was bigger than the golem.

A spell that required precise conditions and ample preparation, but had very low cost. The name of it was---

“Kaleidoscope!”

The lightning bounced around the cloud, weaving to and fro. The golem, sensing the danger, tried to disperse the artificially created cloud by using it’s arms to fan away the vapour.

It succeeded, but it was a bit too late. The thunderbolt bounced off one more time as the cloud cleared, wrapping itself around the conical blade of her rapier.

“Let’s end this! Glass Hunt!”

* * *

“So...What are you going to do with this thing?”

From the beginning, the main source of a golem’s power was the core. Elaine’s last strike had shattered it, which returned the golem into the material it was made of---mud and stone.

Or at least, those were the parts that did not become glass due to the final lightning strike. The other parts had completely disintegrated into dust.

“I think we can just leave it there. It looks nice, anyway.”

Elaine’s expression said everything; she didn’t want to bother with the outcome. And what a surprise, Mika couldn’t be bothered with it, either. So since that was the case, there’s no need to bother.

“Let’s go home, Elaine!”

The girl blinked, then smiled.

“---Yes, let’s, Mika!”

@AliceShiki

 

Spoiler: Quest Report

Aconter and Arawn meet up in the Guild in the morning. The pair of friends exchange greetings, having not met in quite some time. Aconter stretches his hand towards Arawn and laughs loudly.


"Long time no see, friend. It seems like we always end up on a strange quest. Hunting odd creatures for Caligo in a forest and bringing some infested Goblins back, and now hunting a murderer who sucks the life out of the living."


“It’s good to see you, Aconter. Very little these days seems normal in any way,” Arawn smiles, shaking the older man’s outstretched hand. “But no matter. We should get going soon.”


The two adventurers exit the Guild and make their way towards the town hall, trading interesting stories of their latest adventures as the go.

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

Meeting with the mayor is a surprisingly easy matter. After informing an official of their purpose, the mayor, Grom, is quick to let them into his office. A murder was definitely not something that he would push off to a later time.


Once in his office, Arawn and Aconter ask for any information the mayor may have for their use. Yane, the adventurer who came before them had produced a description of the murderer that could be used.


Grom then introduces Aconter and Arawn to the captain of the guards. He and his men had taken the description Yane gave them and interviewed the citizens of Nagrand to find any possible witnesses or leads. These leads and reports were compiled together and are handed to the two adventurers.


Unfortunately, there are few leads, either the murderer having been skilled enough to avoid detection or the people simply have not noticed anything suspicious. Nonetheless, they ask for a room where they could read through the reports and decide on a plan of action.

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

As Aconter reads through one of the reports, he bursts out into uncontrollable laughter.


"Hey Arawn, listen to this one. ‘Bartley the local Bard stated that he saw red-winged hooded figure that hovered above the corps and then flew away into the heaven’- The guard who interviewed him made a side note too: ‘Bartley the Bard was drunken in the night in question.’ I can’t help laughing... Does this even count as an eyewitness report? It sounds more like a drunken bard’s fanciful tale in an attempt to get more money to buy a drink..."


Arawn looks up from the papers in his hand and at Aconter, saying, "Well, I suppose it’s nice that the guard wrote down that the bard was drunk, at least. It saves us some time and now we can just cross this report as noticed, but not needed. It might’ve led us astray otherwise.”


Aconter smiles at the younger man’s positivity and says, "That’s true. At least we can cross that one out, but this one looks promising: ‘Dale, the local apprentice smith, claims to have spotted a cloaked person moving across rooftops.’ The guard who interviewed him also stated that Dale claimed he heard a wailing voice as the figure passed by. This does sound a lot like our murderer, don’t you think?"


The man hands the report over to Arawn, who reads through it quickly. Among all of the reports, this one is the most promising lead. Among other things, the report states that the figure was believed to have headed southwest out of town.


They decide to follow up on this report. Aconter and Arawn hand the reports back to the guards, requesting that they are kept easily accessible if the adventurers needed them again.

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

Next, they head towards the southwest end of the town and search for clues. After leaving the boundaries of the town, Arawn manages to find a few trails. Luckily, it appears that not many people traveled through this area, so the trails are mostly preserved. Most of the trails appear to be the wrong size or too old to be their killer.


However, Arawn spots two odd trails. One of them was made by someone with a wider stride and heavier steps than the other one. The steps and marks were very far apart, meaning that their creator was either running or abnormally tall.


Arawn decides to follow the more suspicious trail while Aconter would follow the other. The duo decides to follow their respective trails for an hour, then meet up again to decide on a path to follow.

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

Despite being a hunter, Arawn has trouble following the tracks. Even disregarding their degradation, the tracks are irregular and vague in terms of direction. It’s almost as if whoever laid them had tried (and failed) to disguise themselves. The tracks aren’t hidden well enough to be impossible to follow, only making it harder.


After spending far too long trying to track his prey, Arawn discovers that the one hour deadline was almost upon him. At this point, he finds that the tracks led into a forest. Arawn decides to confer with Aconter about what to do before going any further. If the killer is in the forest, then it’s best not to go alone.

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

Aconter follows his trail, discovering that whoever he’s following had a terrible sense of direction. They seemed to have no real sense of direction or purpose, ambling around aimlessly.


Around twenty minutes later, he finally manages to find the one who left this trail behind. It was a homeless person who camped outside of town and was currently sleeping in a makeshift hideout. Aconter quickly discovered that he was not their killer. Disappointed by the fruitless endeavor, Aconter let the man be and quickly returned to his and Arawn’s meeting place.

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

When the two adventurers met up once more, they shared their discoveries with each other.


“A dead end,” Aconter said sourly. “It was just an old beggar who likes to spend time out in the woods instead of in town. Not the murderer.”


“Well, I might have some better news,” Arawn offers with a smile. “My trail turned out to be rather suspicious. It was as if someone had tried to throw off any possible followers, though not well enough. I followed the tracks to a forest around half an hour from here.”


Aconter grins brightly, saying, “That’s good news indeed. We’ll pursue that lead. Hopefully, our killer will be on the other end of that trail.”

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

There’s no killer at the end of the trail. The adventurers follow it through the tightly packed trees and across the uneven ground, only to find that it vanishes suddenly. The trail suddenly stops with no further signs or clues as to the where their creator had gone. The strangest thing is that the trail ends in the middle of the woods. No clearing, no buildings, only trees as far as the eye could see.


Frustrated by this development, Arawn and Aconter split up to try to search for any more clues. But even after nearly twenty minutes of searching, they come up with nothing. Or, well, they did find something. Trees, trees, and more trees. Oh, and some other trees.


“This can’t be possible,” the frustrated hunter cries out, kicking at one of the many roots protruding from the ground. “There’s no way that the trail could just disappear like that!”


“I agree with you,” Aconter nods his head in agreement. “There must be something left behind- Wait. Do you hear that?”


Arawn quiets himself and perks up his ears, the pair straining to hear something in the quiet. There’s a slight noise, louder now, that’s coming from nearby. It almost sounds like a muffled scream. Both of the adventurers look down and speak at the same time.

““That’s it!””


Ears practically to the ground, the adventurers soon identify the source of the sound. Hidden among the tangled and protruding tree roots, there is a small opening leading underground. Aconter takes the lead and drops down into the passage, wielding a lit torch. Arawn follows after him, landing quietly behind him.

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

Aconter hands the torch to Arawn and prepares to act as the scout. Using his ability to move in shadows, he could avoid detection while warning Arawn of any possible threats. As the pair heads deeper into the tunnel, the unearthly wails increase in volume. It appears that the adventurers are closing in on their target.


As the cries get even louder, they reach a corner. Aconter halts Arawn and makes his way around it, only to return a few moments later.


“You won’t believe what’s happening,” he says solemnly. “There’s a man who matches the description we were given. He’s conducting some sort of ritual right now-”


“What sort of ritual?” Arawn interrupts quietly. “What does it do?”


“I’m not sure,” Aconter answers quickly. “There’s a large, white sigil of sorts drawn on the ground, with these strange black crystals- eleven or so- at each of the points on the outside. The strange screams seem to be originating from those things. Every time they wail, the crystals release some sort of gas that gathers in the center of the sigil, where our target stands. He has some sort of spinning ball that sucks up all the gas.”


“That doesn’t sound good” Arawn muses. “I don’t know what it does, but let’s stop the ritual anyways!”

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

The underground chamber is surprisingly large and has a platform of sorts that runs around the circular room. It is connected to a flight of stairs that lead to the ground, where the odd ritual is being conducted. Arawn and Aconter sneak across the platform to take a look at the lower area. They split up and head to opposite sides of the room to attack from both sides.


The target, who appears to be a magician of sorts, has so far not noticed the adventurers. They silently signal to each other and nock an arrow to their bows. They release the projectiles simultaneously, hoping to down him in a single blow.


However, before the arrows can reach their target, they are deflected by some sort of invisible force. The mage looks up, startled, and lets out some sort of incomprehensible cry. He then lobs a large ball of flames in Aconter’s direction.


The assassin tries to evade the fire by shifting through the shadows, only to find that glaring brightness of the fireball has shrunk the shadows too much. Instead, he drops off of the platform onto the ground below as the space above him explodes into flames.


He lands heavily on the ground with a sickening crack, stumbling on his surely injured leg. Nonetheless, Aconter suppresses his cry of pain and ignores the wound as much as he can and continues to move.

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

Seeing his friend being targeted by the mage, Arawn fires another arrow in his direction. The only thing this manages to do is anger him, and the cloaked man launches a second fireball at the young hunter.


However, Arawn is more prepared, having seen what happened to Aconter, and manages to avoid the projectile completely. A portion of the platform where he had previously been cracks and falls away from the walls. It comes crashing down to the ground underneath with a deafening boom. As it touches down on the ground, the enemy mage suddenly releases a sharp screech of pain.

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

Aconter, who had hidden behind one of the pillars supporting the platform, flinches as the mage lets out a pained wail eerily similar to the ones the adventurers had heard earlier. But as far as he can tell, not a single one of their blows had struck the mage, so why would he be hurt?


But then he notices exactly where the platform fell. The rubble covers one of the points of the strange sigil drawn on the ground. Aconter can barely make out the broken pieces of the dark crystal that was placed there. That has to be it!


Aconter fits another arrow to his bow, which he had luckily not lost, and fires it at the closest crystal. When the two objects come into contact, the deceptively fragile crystal shatters almost instantly and the cloaked man screams loudly once more. Aconter’s eyes widen in astonishment.


“Shoot the crystals! All of them!”

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

Arawn hears his friend’s message and acts unquestioningly. He draws and fires an arrow while still avoiding the mage’s attacks. His targeted crystal shatters and their enemy falls to a knee with another cry.


Neither Aconter nor Arawn have absolutely no idea what the crystals are, but they don’t question it. They seem to be the weakness of their enemy, so they target them, firing arrows faster and faster.

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

The mage grows more and more frenzied as the crystals shatter in quick succession. He launches destructive spells at random, damaging the room and objects more than either Arawn or Aconter.


Even so, Arawn launches one final arrow at the very last crystal. It shatters into pieces and the mage collapses limply, lying prone on the ground.

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

Arawn goes over to help Aconter, who is leaning against the wall with a pained expression, trying to catch his breath.


“Gh… Please use less force,” the older man mutters as Arawn helps him move. “I think I may have broken my leg. It hurts like hell…”


“Last time, we had to drag Ryul back this way, and now it’s you,” Arawn laughs. “Seems like we always manage to get into some sort of trouble.”


As Arawn helps Aconter over to a fallen pillar where he can sit down, the mage’s forgotten orb flashes with an ominous light. The fallen mage’s body begins to seize violently and the strange object pulses rhythmically. When his limbs stop flopping around and the mage falls still again, a strange mist of sorts begins to rise from his body. A similar gas rises from the remains of the crystals and floats over to join the rest in the center of the broken sigil.


The gray gas gathers above the body before being dragged into the orb. As it is absorbed, the mist forms an ugly, wretched face contorting into a tortured expression. The agony and pain it depicts is unnerving. The body of the mage rots away at a visible pace until all that is left is an pile of bones and an old rag which was once a cloak.


The floating orb ceases to pulse once the fog is completely absorbed within it, falling to the ground with a quiet clink and laying there without further movement. Arawn and Aconter stare at the odd object speechlessly.


Arawn silently moved over to the ball and poked it with his blade carefully. The swirling smoke within the orb forms the same agonized face and slams into the surface of the orb. Luckily, it appears that whatever is trapped within the orb cannot escape, and it soon dissolves back into a formless fog.


The hunter picks up the orb and places it in his bag quickly, trying to avoid excessive contact with it. Arawn makes his way back towards Aconter but stops when he spots the broken crystals laying on the ground. He picks up a few fragments and places them into his bag as an afterthought, then helps his friend up.


“Let’s get out of here,” Aconter says as they make their way towards the damaged staircase. “I think I’ve had enough for a day. Besides, I’m in need of a good healing...”

Spoiler: Notes

Brought back the Orb in Question and some crystal shards.

Arawn and Aconter make it back to the Guild, Arawn drags Aconter to one ob the bars stools and heads towards the Receptions desk: "We made it back and the Murderer is no more, here is all we found on the Murderer" Arawn places a bag on the Desk, he frowns and says: "Be careful with that orb, i don´t want anyone to get hurt by it"
@AliceShiki

OoC: @FallonCreziato i hope you like what we made out of the Story. ( @jbturkle i hope i did not miss the time limit for the Quest )

 

Task: The Lights Are Spooky! [Taken by @Zero300]
Requester: Nagrand's Gravedigger, Frank
Quest Rank: E-rank
Rewards: 8 Large Copper Coins
Description: The cemetery started having some really really spooky lights appearing in it! It's like some spirits decided to haunt it, but but but... Didn't we have so many priests come by in recent times to clear them? Why are there more!?
This job is already stressful enough as is, I don't need some weird spooky lights wandering across it at each night... Please help...

Spoiler: “The Lights Are Spooky! Quest”

Reading through the quest description, Zinc had his suspicions as well. If there were many priests who had came by recently to clear the spirits floating about in the cemetery, why were there more spooky lights appearing? Could there be more spirits? Not likely…unless someone purposely created more. If so, that would be the worst-case scenario. Hopefully, it did not lead to that. Zinc had hoped that the spooky lights dancing about in the cemetery were something else like a natural phenomenon or at least something much easier to deal with like fireflies or gentle fire sprites.

Nevertheless, the doctor couldn’t make any assumptions here. The best way to find out was for him to pay the cemetery a visit and personally experience the situation. Thus, when night arrived, Zinc headed towards the cemetery to do a stake-out. The hours went by relatively quick, yet the suspicious lights still haven’t shown up. Zinc even had Silver patrol the perimeter in hopes of sniffing out a clue, but there was no luck. Just when he was about to give up and head home for the day, Zinc heard Silver growl followed by the snapping sounds of dead leaves. The dwelf quickly crouched down and held up a hand to calm Silver down. Then, he gazed into the night towards the sounds.

With his innate night vision, Zinc was able to see an old man scurrying nervously towards a medium-sized crypt. As the doctor moved in for a better look, he overheard the old man mutter a few sentences.

“Just a few more days…just a few more days of scaring away them busybodies and I’ll be rich! I just need to put a few more of these up here and there.” The old man murmured as he hung some lanterns up.

The lanterns! They were the cause of the spooky lights! But then…why was the old man doing this? From what he was muttering earlier…did the old man found a way to get rich? Could it be? Graverobbing? How interesting. Zinc looked over at the old man who hoisted a bag over his shoulders and entered the crypt. The doctor motioned Silver to guard the doors as he headed in after the old man. As he tailed the old man, Zinc couldn’t help but marvel at the engravings on the wall. Judging from the pictures, this was a tomb of a small-scale treasure hunter.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. Zinc grimaced and picked up his pace. Soon, he arrived at a long hallway where the old man laid with an arrow embedded deep in his chest. Looking around, Zinc knew that there were hidden traps within the hallway. Zinc examined the body and found that the old man’s lips had changed a hue of dark blue…poison. The doctor did not know whether it was from the arrow or from something else. Zinc covered his mouth and nose and edged away from the body. Quickly, he left the crypt. Treasure or no treasure, it wasn’t worth it to enter alone. Zinc exited the crypt and quickly took down the lanterns. He headed back to the guild to report his findings. Zinc showed the lanterns to the receptionist present and described the possible treasure in the crypt.

Spoiler: Extra Notes

If you do make a quest to search for treasure in the crypt, I assume there will be many poisonous traps, deep pits, and undead (possible lich or necromancer) monsters guarding the treasure.

@Lenaia

 

The construct flickered to life before poring through the report.

"Trapped crypt? That's illegal. Well, graverobbing too although I doubt anyone from around here would want to be buried with their riches instead of inheriting it to someone else. Not our problem though, yes? I'll file a report to the mayor." It stacked some coins on the table. "Your reward, eight large coppers and four guild points!"

((Nagrand isn't that big of a town, there wouldn't be any large crypt in the public graveyard. Not one to warrant a quest, anyway. Besides, nobody would approve putting undead to guard them. Well, we can always make trap clearing quest for it though.))

 

A noticeably bandaged Grendel comes in and approached the desk,
"Sorry for the late report, I was forced to rest up more than I think necessary."

Spoiler: Report

After quickly taking Gannondorf’s quest, Grendel traveled back to Doylors and met him in his office once again.

“Back again, Grendel? Is there anything wrong?”

“Nothing, Mr. Gannondorf.” Grendel answered. “Actually, I came back to do your quest.”

“You do? Why, thank you, though I would like to ask: why?”

“Well, more guild points for me, I guess. Besides, I just thought I might as well finish this whole problem. Just chalk it up as my whim, if you want.”

Hearing his answer, Gannondorf smiled while chuckling, “Is that so? All right then. But please remember, I don't want you to create any unnecessary violence. We don't want them becoming any more hostile than they are.” He continued with a serious face.

"Understood. Oh, and by the way," Grendel quickly took out a piece of paper, “I forgot to give you this. It's the invoice for the villager's sale of the fake grasess. Could you perhaps use it to help Rena?.” Grendel handed the invoice to Gannondorf.

Gannondorf scrutinized the paper for a few seconds, before facing up at Grendel again, “I'm not sure, but I'll see what I can do. Thank you for giving me this.”

“It’s fine. So, can you tell me where the activists’ hideout is?”

***

An hour later, Grendel is walking on the narrow back streets of Doylors, trying to find the hideout’s address he got from Gannondorf when he realized he was being followed.

[Grendel. It’s bad. You’re being surrounded. Two from the back, one up top, and three in front of you]

Currently, three of Uzuki’s crows are acting as a lookout for Grendel from the sky.

‘Got it. They’re not mages, are they?’

[I’m not sure, but probably not, since they have weapons. The two behind you are using a dagger, and a longsword, while the one up here has a bow. I can’t see any weapon on the three, so they might be martial artists. Be careful]

‘All right, thanks.’

Stopping his steps, Grendel turned around and called out, “Get out, you two. I got something to ask you.”

After a few seconds, two people walked out from the corner. As Uzuki said, the smaller man has a pair of daggers on his waist while a sword handle can be seen on the bigger man’s shoulder.

“Are you two an activist?”

Upon hearing his question, the three other guys instantly sprang out of hiding, while the two’s eyes became sharp. “Whassit metter to you?” The big man answered with a slur.

“I got a big info on the mages to bring to your leader. Can you let me meet him?”

“Tell us here. I’mme leader” the man said resolutely.

“Heck no. Why would someone who nearly caused a civil war in Doylors walks around in the daylight mugging strangers anyway? Look, we can either walk together there in peace, or one of us will be there after being beaten up.” Grendel said as he took his poleaxe.

“…” The big man stared at him silently, while the rest readied their themselves in response to Grendel. As expected, the other three are martial artists, as they quickly went into some sort of stance.

Truthfully, Grendel’s not sure he can win against six of them, but he is confident he can at least take down two or three of them with him before he lost. He just hopes they will bite the bluff and escort him quietly.

Unfortunately, they don’t.

“Get ‘im.”

With a single command, four of them shot forward towards Grendel.

‘F*ck. Uzuki, I’m leaving my back to you!’

[Got it!]

“<Thunderclad>!”

Activating his magic, Grendel first focused on the dagger user. He thrust his lightning-clad poleaxe towards the man, fully expecting him to avoid it. As he did, Grendel shot out a bolt of lightning from the shaft of his poleaxe towards the man, paralyzing him as it hits.

“Kuh!”

As he’s unable to move, Grendel closed in and punched him on his solar plexus, sending him towards the wall. The man hit the wall with a small boom, making a small circular crack in the wall before slumping down to the ground.

[Watch out! Arrow!]

“That’s one – whoops!”

Thwack! An arrow landed on the ground.

[Incoming again! The three fighters, from your back!]

Though he managed to disable one of them instantly, he has no time to gloat, as he nearly dodged an arrow aimed at his head, continued with the incoming attack of three martial artists which closed in on him.

The first strike comes from the one in the middle, which Grendel decided to call fighter A. Fighter A closed in low and throws a straight jab to Grendel’s right thigh from behind.

Although Grendel managed to evade to his side, the other two fighters, B and C, launched their attack simultaneously. B managed to latch onto Grendel’s right hand and right leg, ignoring the small lightning strikes and effectively locking his right side, while C used A as stepping and jumped to deliver a spinning kick to Grendel’s head, and A joined B and latched to his left leg.

‘Kh! I can’t dodge!’

[Watch out! The big fella’s also coming!]

‘Damn! Uzuki!’

With Grendel’s command, Uzuki shot out from his body in ghost form while summoning his murder at the same time, creating a makeshift transparent crow curtain.

Uzuki managed to buy Grendel a few seconds, which he used to fully focus on catching C. Grendel twisted his body and stretched his left hand to try to catch C’s extended leg. He managed to catch C’s leg as it nearly hit him and threw him towards the slurring guy.

Next, Grendel punched B’s head, *CRACK!* producing a loud cracking in the process. But strangely, B still didn’t let go.

‘What? How could a dead man not go limp?’

Panicking, Grendel forgot about A until he felt a slight pain from his sides.

“Urgh, you little - !”

As it turns out, A was still able to move one of his arms and used it to stab a dagger to his sides. Fed up with the baggage in his limbs, Grendel punched A’s head this time, making the same cracking his sound, when –

“Grendel!”

*Stab!*
A sword pierced right abdomen, its blade sticking out on his front.

“Khuh!?”

He spat out some blood while looking at his back,

“Been’ innored’s lonely, ya now.”

And found the big guy’s there, holding the longsword that’s currently lodged in his abdomen. As he pulled out the longsword, blood spurted out again from his abdomen and this time,

*Stab**Stab**Stab*

three arrows lodged themselves in him.

Falling to his knees, his <thunderclad> automatically wore off, and surprisingly A and B also let go of his limb. Grendel then closed his eyes and quickly assessed his wounds, ignoring Uzuki’s shouts. The arrows are not fatal, as one hit his pauldron, while the other two only managed to lodge shallowly on his chest. The hole in his abdomen, however, is different. From the angled entrance and upward exit, it seems he managed to hit some of his organs.

‘I got done in real good, huh. Oyaji will surely beat me up if he sees me like this. ‘How dare you lose to only six people!’ perhaps? Hahaha. Classic.'

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and a transparent Uzuki came into his view.

“Grendel! You still alive there!?”

“Nah, I’m dead. I’m just unable to since you’re yapping so noisily.” He threw some sarcasm towards him.

Irritated, Uzuki materialized, landed on his head, and pecked his temple.

“I see you’re still well enough to throw sarcasm, huh?”

“Haha. But seriously, it’s dangerous for me. Uzuki, take my pouch, go back to the tower and call Gannondorf here. Just him, if it’s possible.”

“What!? You still intend to fight that bastard?”

“Well, what can I do? I need to get even, you know. A hole for a hole. ” Grendel said with a weak smile as he tried to stand up.

Seeing there’s no point arguing further, Uzuki gave up. “Sheesh. Fine then. I'll leave a crow here to watch, in case you lost and they brought you somewhere else. Try to not die, eh, master?” before taking Grendel's pouch and flew off, disappearing around the corner.

“How kind of you for not attacking me while I’m down. I thought you’re an opportunist?” Grendel turned to face the big guy.

“Well, last raites’re impr’tnt.”

“Oh, come on, just plainly say you’re underestimating me, lug-head. Anyway, you never fought an oni before?”

“Yer’ mah fast time, so I tred to be gentle! Gwahahaha!”

“Ha, ha. Very funny. <Wrath>.”

Instantly, his mana burst out, and Grendel felt energized again, even with the gaping hole in his abdomen still leaking out blood. As he pulled out the arrow from his body, his skin became slightly more purple, and his sclera turned black. He looked at the slightly taken aback man and flashed him a wide, delighted smile.

“What? Never saw an oni transforming before? Oh wait, it’s ‘mah fast time’, was it? Well, then you just learned something new! Now, entertain me, lughead! RRAHH!”

Grendel roared, shooting forward without waiting for a reply. He held his poleaxe close to his body and swung it towards the slurry guy from below. He managed to block it, but Grendel already followed up with body slam, something he copied from his fight with Rosice.

Although the slurry guy took the body slam head-on, he only budged a little, most likely thanks to his leg stance. Irritated at the guy for not being knocked down, Grendel switched the poleaxe to his left hand, spins around and launched his elbow towards him.

“FALL DOWN, LUGHEAD! I FALL, SO YOU FALL!” Grendel roared.

“What nonsense iss’at!?” he yelled back as he blocked Grendel’s elbow.

Feeling more and more irritated at the slurry guy for not going down, Grendel barraged him with a series of random short poleaxe swings and punches, ignoring anything else, even his new wounds from the increasing number of arrows that landed on his back.

Although the slurry guy somehow managed to block most of Grendel’s barrage of attacks, he’s slowly but surely wearing down. His face becoming more fearful with each second, while Grendel’s smile becomes more delightful at the sight.

After a number of trades of blows, his longsword was the first one to give up and broke. Grendel didn’t miss this and managed to put in a punch to his chest, sending him up a few centimeters before being slammed down with the poleaxe’s axe, embedded on his back.

“HAHAHAHA! YOU DOWN! Now, a hole for a hole!” Grendel picked up both part of the broken longsword and stabbed them on his back.

“Kahhkk! Thas’ not ‘one hole’!?”

“Hmm?” hearing his word, Grendel tilted his head for a second, before deciding it’s not important.

“Bah. You’re noisy. Boring. Return axe.” Grendel continued as he tried to pull his poleaxe from the slurry guy’s body. Suddenly, Grendel’s body felt terribly heavy and like before, he fell down while his <Wrath> wore off.

‘Huh. So it wore off anyway when I’m dying? That’s… good to know…’ He thought as his consciousness fades.

***

When Grendel came to, the first thing he saw is a ceiling.

“I’m inside a room?”

The next thing he noticed is that he’s lying on a bed, and he’s not exactly alone in the room. To his left, a young man with disheveled hair and ragged clothes is sitting down while reading a book. Further behind him, he saw someone familiar: the slurry guy he beat up before, now lying face down on another bed while talking to some people surrounding him.

‘So he survived too, huh.’

Noticing Grendel’s awake, the young man closed his book with a thud and gestured the others to leave. As soon as they closed the door behind them, he greeted Grendel with a smile, “Oh! I see you’re awake, mister oni!”

“Who’re you?” Grendel asked while getting up, wincing from the pain in his abdomen and back.

“*whistle* You’re able to move around even with those wounds? Quite the warrior, I see! My name’s Flecke, the one you called, according to Humbert over there,“ he pointed at the slurry guy, “ ’someone that nearly caused a civil war’. A pleasure to meet you. And in case you're wondering, this is our - the activists' headquarters. We retrieved you and Humbert here," he pointed to the man on the bed, "from the street after you nearly killed each other. Oh, and on that note, I apologize on his behalf for that, he's just too protective of me.”

"Well, I can't jus' let some strenger come 'ere randomly! 'Sides, he's the one all prim'd up an' ready to fight!" the man on the bed - Humbert - answered, half-shouting.

"But it still doesn't warrant you to fight him to the death now, does it? *sigh*. Anyway," he turned back to Grendel, "He said you have information to give us?"

"Yeah, but I have a condition."

“Oh? And what might that be?”

“I would like you to go negotiate whatever you want with the mages and to not fight them. You’ll just die. The mages already know this place, anyway. If you’re going to attack them regardless, you’ll be killed in your own den.”

Upon hearing it, Flecke made a frown, “Well, well, well, well. That’s quite the interesting bonus info there. While I thank you for it, the fact remains that it is a tall price at the moment, mister oni. You see, many of my men are heavily unsatisfied with the mages, so it would be hard to pacify them. Though I can try, are you sure your information is worth their ire on me if it doesn’t work?”

“Well, I think this can be used to divert some of their unsatisfaction, at least.”

“What do you mean?” Flecke closed in, intrigued.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘trustworthy village’?”

“Yeah, they’re the scammer merchant village, right?”

“Yes. I’ll go straight to the point, then.” Grendel smiled. “As it happens, the latest incident, the flu spell, was partly caused by them scamming a mage with fake ingredients.”

“And how would that – ah, I see. You’re saying some of the blame to the mages can be shifted to them, is that it?” Flecke answered.

“Yes, that’s right. Heck, just work out the talk with the mages and say nearly all the widespread damage is partly caused by them scamming the ingredients or something. Not like that’s a hard thing to believe. I’m sure many of your men have had a similar experience with them.”

Hearing Grendel’s suggestion, Flecke was flabbergasted, “Did you just suggest sacrificing a whole village to mediate our two organization?”

“….Huh. I just did, didn’t I?” Grendel tilted his head. “Well, if you want to do damage control, just suggest forcing the villagers to sign a contract or something. The mages already cursed them to be unable to lie, anyway.”

Grendel’s nonchalant attitude astonished Flecke even further, as he stared at Grendel in silence while Humbert suddenly burst out laughing, “AHAHA! Yer’ nuts, man! HAHAHAHA! Yer’ a devil or somthin’?”

“Nah, I’m an oni.”

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Stop it, Humbert. Your wounds are gonna open again, you know.” Flecke warns him after coming back to his senses.

“But – HAHAHA! – but ‘Nah, I’m an oni’, he said! HAHA – ouch, my wounds – HAHAHAHA!”

“*sigh* Well anyway, I’m not sure about sacrificing a whole village, but at the very least I will try to negotiate with the mages. You have my word on that.”

“Thank you. Also, I’d like to – oh, perfect timing.” Grendel suddenly looked towards the ceiling.

“What is?” Flecke asked curiously.

“My pickup. Can you lead to outside? There’s also something I’ll need to give you.”

***

A few minutes later, Grendel exited the building, with Flecke lending him a shoulder and holding his poleaxe. Upon seeing the sun, something silver and brown flew down and landed in front of them.

“Nice timing. Do I need to leave a tip for the crow courier?” Grendel Jokingly asked the crow. While asking him through telepathy, ‘Did you call Gannandorf?’

“A tip of not dying out would be fine, mister customer,” Uzuki replied in same.
[Yeah, he’s waiting at the back street from before.]

“Hahaha. I’ll keep that in mind.” Grendel then turned to Flecke, “Oh, this is my familiar Uzuki, by the way. Uzuki, meet Flecke, the activists’ leader. Can you give the apology letter to him?”

After both of them bowing their head slightly to each other, Uzuki retrieved Koy’s apology letter and handed it to Flecke.

“What’s this?” Flecke asked.

“It’s an apology letter from the village chief for scamming a mage by selling fake ingredients. A piece of evidence, if you need something to convince your men. It even has the village chief’s sign on it.”

Opening the letter and checking it, Flecke let out a sigh when he’s done. “You've really thought this through, haven't you?”

“It just a flash of a wild idea when I heard the scammed mage was a member of the tower, nothing more. Actually, I think it's more surprising hoe easy it is to persuade you. I thought the activists’ leader would be the most proactive one in fighting the mages.”

Flecke shook his head, “Well, I'm not keen on the prospect of fighting the mages, actually. We're far too disadvantageous, and it will only bring more harm to the city. Anyway, can you make it back on your own?”

Removing his arm from Flecke’s shoulder, Grendel retrieved his poleaxe and started walking, albeit unsteadily, “Yeah, I think I can. Thanks for saving me. I’ll pay this favor back, someday.” He said while bowing as deep as he can, before turning back and started walking towards the previous back street to meet up with Gannondorf.

Spoiler: Note

Managed to persuade the activist's leader to try to negotiate things with the Tower Association

@AliceShiki

 

Task: Baron Investigation [Available]
Requester: Baron Kuin
Quest Rank: D-rank
Rewards: 27 Large Copper Coins
Description: Baron Veli, an old friend of mine has been showing some really weird signs... He is more... Eccentric than before, and the guards that are assigned to accompany always get sick for some reason... Then we got a report over very unusual circumstances surrounding him.
I'm worried something really sinister is afflicting my friend, please investigate the matter and find out what it is, and extra reward will be in order in case you solve it.
* The guild highlights that caution should be taken when trying to deal with nobles, you don't want to make them your enemy


"I am back, that was not too hard... I guess?", Cinis said, after thinking about the quest, he hesitated, did he actually succeed the quest?

Spoiler: The fool is laughing.

After taking the quest sheet, the first thing Cinis was going to Mary, for a second time, since he already came once, it was a bit quicker than usual. Pushing the door, a sigh escaped his mouth once her pupils passed over him.
Bowing, the half-elf's voice echoed, his words were meant to amuse her a bit.

"That is me, Cinis Pretium Lorem, I apologize for appearing a second time.", so his tone, albeit being respectful, was sarcastic, probably mocking himself.
Lifting his head, he thought he heard something, like a giggle, nevertheless, Mary's face did not change at all, he wondered if it was an hallucination or she really giggled... oh well.

"That is fine, no need to be so formal, just tell me what do you have... well, you seem to be cursed. Is that the motive of your visit?", she asked after the adventurer's joke. It seemed that she noticed rather quickly.
Shaking his head, he pointed at his shoulder and replied.

"No, that is for my shoulder, it is broken... as for the curse, my funds, while quite heavy, are lacking compared to everything I wish for. I will bear with it... do you mind if you fill me details about what is this curse about though?", bearing with a curse which he did not even know what it was about.
A sigh escaped her mouth, fortunately, it seemed that it was not too bad, proceeding to heal his shoulder, she began to explain.

"I will be rather vague, so you can worry about it a bit more and perhaps hurry to heal yourself.", acting as if he did not understand, Cinis just shrugged and waited for Mary to continue.
"Basically, this curse will slowly destroy you. That's it."

That was really vague, it was oblivious that she was doing it on purpose, if he did not notice it, then the half-elf was really a fool.

"Jokes aside, you already knew this so... it will affect your senses and body."
"Thank you... do ten Large Copper Coins sound good for a broken shoulder?"

Now that he knew what it was about, his attitude changed, and he relaxed a bit, even though that if it messes up with his senses, it might wrong him during his fights. Thinking about Sonberg, in his book, there was part regarding curses, perhaps, if he could bear with it a longer time, he would be able to have some 'materials' and concrete experience when he will read this part of the book?
A plan was quickly established, bearing with the curse to learn and understand better the book once he gets to the paragraphs regarding curses.

"Sure, try not to come back too early.", although no emotions could be seen on her face, Cinis thought that she was exasperated by his careless attitude. A laughter echoed in the room just before leaving the room, of course, he will come back. After all, is he not cursed?

***​

Feeling all better and already walking towards Baron Kuin's mansion, he thought that about how he should investigate on Veli, and a plan was already in his mind. It was as simple as this, meet Baron Veli, nothing else, nothing more. How hard could it be? A few letters to Baron Kuin, a few letters to Baron Veli and the play shall start. As for the topic?
Is that not simple? Who is Cinis? A (albeit former) noble from the Northern Region of the Holy Empire of Man. Do these barons know anything about him? Probably not, do Cinis know about them? No as well.

Nevertheless, the northern region is usually called the harshest due to its proximity with the war against the Beastman Alliance. And these kind of informations don't pass by everyday, don't they? Any noble who would like to sip a bit of power would wish to know a bit more about that, about the continental conflicts. Who knows? It could be interesting and they could win something out of it.
"Alright, time to proceed to this...", having a few letters in his hands, he approached the soldiers guarding the main entrance and he simply presented himself.

"State your ident-!"
"Greetings, my name is Cinis, D-Rank Adventurer, I have a letter regarding Baron Kuin and one of his request. May you please give it to him?", trying to be as polite and gentle as possible, his tone was pleasant to anyone's ears, soothing as well. Such an actor.
"Hmmm... do you have an invitation?"
"I do not, I am but a humble messenger and please, do not open the letter, it is meant to Sir Kuin.", still on the same irritating tone, the guards sighed and thought that they had no choices, or they could do so. Rarely anyone are polite to them, it is unnecessary to respect them after all.

And thus, the first letter was transmitted, leaving, Cinis then walked away, ignoring any possible calls, it did not matter after all. During this time, how should he proceed then?
First, his plan was having a rendezvous with Baron Kuin who might provide him with some additional informations about Baron Veli, when did he change? How was it at the start? Is there something significant that happened before the change started? And such questions.

Beside the mansion, toward the east, there was a small pond of water, that is where the both of them shall meet in some hours if the letter was really received.
Half a day later, when the sun was fading, the half-elf was sleeping, yes, slumbering near the pond of water, awaiting to be awakened. Flickering, torches slowly approached him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Kuin.", standing up and faced with a dozen of people, Baron Kuin and bodyguards, it could be a trap as well, after all, what would guarantee that this letter is true? Plus the fact that he never presented his guild badge.
"Here it is.", presenting his Guild Badge, verifying its authenticity, a sigh of relief could be heard.

"Why?"
"It is simple, I wished you to be as wary as possible, with this, Baron Veli might think that you are getting into troubles. In another case, if you sneaked out alone with no guards, it is more likely that he thinks that something's up, that you are planning something while... if you have your guards and this many people, what would he think?", explaining his point of view with his lack of information, it should hold little to no credibility, however, as long as his actions were understandable, he could calm down the Baron.
"...that I am in trouble, Adventurer, do not play tricks with me, that is a dangerous game, and it would be a shame to discard a pawn.", with some threats, the Baron replied, his tone, angered by Cinis' tricks and letter, unexpectedly pressured the adventurer.
"I considered that your friendship with Baron Veli was more important than your honor, my apologies sir."

There was nothing more to say, it was quite the cheerful introductions.

"So, I have a few questions. When did he start to change? Did something happened just before? Did someone in his circle of comrades was affected by any severe circumstances? How did he specifically change at the start? Did you try to find out what was cold about him? And take your time to reply the questions, I can repeat as much as you wish."
Prepared to everything while Baron Kuin was basically discovering, it could do nothing but irritate him as questions could only be replied.

"Some weeks ago."
"If something happened... he unexpected succeed in one of his trades, thought to be impossible, he still succeed, I will not provide details as for now."
"As far as I know, no."
"Mhmm. He became more standoffish, tried to distance himself from me, nevertheless, he began to visit my mansion way more than before."
"Cold? His attitude I suppose?"
"Any other questions?"

Getting these answers, it was not the end yet.

"Yes indeed, I have some last questions. What is the history of Baron Veli's history? Is it common or uncommon first? As well, do you think you could set up a rendezvous with him for me?", now came the most significant questions to Cinis, to him, these two were the key as for how they will really discover what is up with him.
"Baron Veli is peaceful, his ancestors were slaughterers and rose to power this way, is that enough? As for the rendezvous, explain.", his tone changed, he became curious about what plan did Cinis have.

"I am a former noble, I can still officially act like one, Cinis Pretium Lorem, from the Northern Region of the Holy Empire of Men, an important place you could say.", as he was a Half-Elf, plenty of facts and things he has heard wandered in Kuin's head, a smile appeared on his face. Really, it was interesting.
"That's perfect. I suppose I will need to provide to you some proper clothes for you to look like something instead of that.", and that's how the deal was passed. Until then, Cinis will have to wait.

The fool laughed.

***​

Meeting personally and privately a Baron such Veli might not be the greatest of ideas, it might cost him his life if his identity is betrayed. However, if the coin flipped on the right side, it would be a huge victory. Wearing these sumptuous yet sober clothes felt rather awkward for him, how many years has it been since he has been involved with diplomacy? Once he made that error, or so his father called it, his position was not related to diplomacy but completely involved into military matters instead.
Eight years was it? A bitter smile appeared on his face. Rather ironical.

At ten years old, he received his first mission, at twelve, he began to be involved into diplomacy for years until going back to military and backhanded tricks for around six years. The last two years were too messy to be explained in a few words.

"Mhm.", snapping his fingers a few times, observing the room, the furnitures, the decorations, the quality of these, everything felt familiar yet unknown, this feeling felt ichy, terribly ichy, if he had any weapons at the moment, his fingers would be itching to wield it and--
The door opened and someone entered, Baron Veli, what a good timing, stress was invading Cinis' heart, here he is to distract him from his worries and emotions.

"Sir Pretium Lorem, is it? Pleased to meet you, I wonder how Kuin got to know such an illustrious person, I heard some rumors a few years ago about--", immediately trying to close in, Baron Veli's smile felt fake, nothing new, one hand behind the tilted back, the other stretched toward Cinis Pretium Lorem.
"It is a pleasure as well, Baron Veli, let's not reveal each other's cards as for now. These years are revolted, since two years, I have been wandering as my father decided to let me travel. And hearing about your commercial achievement, I felt interested.", shaking his head while interrupting him, the former noble smiled and then frowned when his hand touched Veli's.

"Oh? Your hand is awfully cold, worse than a corpse, may I ask what did you catch?", indeed, something was off, the moment he touched his hand, his whole body began to shiver, chilliness spread into his whole body, cooling his organs and weakening his immunity system, to support the diseases.

"I am honored. I am indeed sick, however, your analogy is quite insulting, I am well and alive as far as I know."
"My apologies, it was the only comparison that came to mind, it might be because of my experiences."

Meaningless talks, Veli claims to be sick.
"About your sickness... is it magical-related? If yes, I am rather curious, it is one of the subject I less studied during these twenty four years of my life.", if Veli knew a lot about him, he would know that the noble in front of him was forbidden on touching these books, as an half-elf, his father considered that letting him touch these would be too endangering to his current position. As long as it's physical, Cinis has no chances, as for magic... it was unknown.

"Mhmm. I suppose it is not, I called medecins, however, I never called mages nor priests.", was it true? No, it did not matter, the point was that he did not know, but it is the case according to the adventurer who met him, darkness surrounded him according to her when she activated her Magic Eyes.
"I see, might you tell me a bit more about your exceptional trade you achieved weeks ago?"

"Of course, I got my hands on a item from the Empire. Rather the curious one, most people seem to have been tried of it and transmitted it. On top of that, it was easy to bargain, I have gotten several pieces of art for quite the low price. I happened to arrive at the time when the person was mentally unstable. Perfect, don't you think?"
Curious indeed, so it should have been impossible to get what he paid for a low price? Yet he did, rubbing his chin, it seemed as if Cinis was interested into Veli's affair.

"There it is...", taking out a necklace, Veli showed it to Cinis who thought that "It is definitively the cause of this.", it was an instinctive thought.
This necklace seemed to be quite expensive, or so he thought, first, it was in... an odd metal? Nothing like silver or gold, something more... mystical? He did not know how to explain this.
A gray necklace, the lace was basically intertwined miniatury chains, and a gem, a grayish white gem of a great valor and rarity he supposed.

Holding the necklace gem while it was still around Veli's neck, he felt as if his right arm was frozen, loosening his grip on the gem, he let it go back to Veli who smiled and asked.
"How is it?"
"Unique, especially the feeling you get once you touch it. A bit frigid but... there is something symbolic about it, something that characterizes it. Mhmmmmm...", feeling Cinis' confusion and reflexion, Veli laughed out loud.
"Hahaha! There is indeed something to it, impossible to explain for you that is.", quickly putting the necklace back under his shirt, Cinis tried to reunite the factors.

Coldness. The unexplainable coldness was coming from the necklace, then, it affected his mind and body.
Shifting the subject as he needed to clear the suggestions, Cinis asked about Ternus' overall arsenal and sometimes frowned at Veli's replies.

"...isn't that outdated? What about their informants?", these kind of questions, then Cinis shared his experience some examples, the less sensitive and significant ones. Both of them were playing that game, tacitly exchanging informations that might seem worthless.

"Alright, let's get to the point... the conflict."
"Do you know something about Agral?"

Troubled waters, none of them replied to each other's question. After a hour or two, Cinis decided to conclude.

"It was a wonderful talk. I was only curious about the financial aspect due to your trade at first, but then, you shared with me some informations that are way more interesting. Fortunately, Baron Kuin got me in contact with you."
"About Baron Kuin... isn't he acting suspiciously nowadays? He seems to have been rather... attracted to my trade, he was getting a bit too much involved in my business and sometimes wished to prevent me... or as he says, warn me. On top of that, one of my... 'acquaintances' saw him last night leave with some guard, with some words, I learnt that it was about he received."
"Oh?", was Kuin to meddlesome according to Veli? Was it what was bothering him? Plus, it seems that some ties Baron Veli has are rather questionable.

"Hmpf. Next time you wish to talk, let's go to my residence, I shall invite you."
"Of course, I look forward to such an opportunity.

***​

Later, in the night, Baron Kuin and Cinis met up near the pond, still with his many guards.

"Alright-- I shall resume what I have found.

The cause of all of this is really his trade, for now, I assume it's related to his necklace, I touched its... gem, it was cold, as in, did you plunge into snow, once? That's worse.
And yet he is wearing this all day without getting affected, it explains his coldness as for his body, as for why guards become sick when they come close to him... so, on that, we can conclude that the necklace is somehow magical and that its owner is... err... unaffected I suppose?
As for why he is avoiding you, that's because you got too involved into his business, became suspicious, and he used the word 'attracted', as if you wished to get something from him, I suppose he is a bit paranoiac toward you.
Perhaps he was speaking about his necklace? He probably has some spies in your ranks as well, he knows that you went out because of a letter.
Mhmmmm, what else... he got the necklace from someone who was tired of it, apparently, mentally unstable which was why he got out with such an exceptional trade."

After saying this, Cinis concluded on a rather awkward tone.

"Well... I suppose that your interest in his trade made him panic and thought that you wanted his necklace? So, he became paranoiac, which is what you thought to be his eccentric side... then, the magical necklace is rather suspicious, the fact that its previous owner became mentally unstable... it could be a coincidence but still."
After hearing this, Baron Kuin sighed, opened his mouth, stuck his lips together, choked his voice, sighed... he did not know what to do nor to say, he rubbed his forehead, looked at the adventurer in front of him and let out a sigh. It was too exhausting.

"I thank you for what you have done. You can leave, I need to go back to the mansion and think about it."

After bidding good bye, CInis thought it was time to go back to the Guild.

OOC: Oooops, almost forgot to report it~
@Quaesitor
3K words~

 

"Um... is Aria here..? I..I just got my report done."

Spoiler: Garden Cleaning

"Um... h..hello...? Is anyone there..?" I feebly tried to ask in a loud voice, but pretty much failed. Unaccustomed to yelling, I felt somewhat awkward to yell outside a strangers garden. Especially when you don't know if someone is there, while you stand behind a closed fence. While I wondered what to do, I noticed something above me was sticking to a pole and mumbled:

"..There is a bell..." and neutrally went for the attached rope to shook it. The bell ringed loudly and someone came to get me, asking if I was the adventure he hired.
He probably liked to work effectively, for as soon as I nodded, he swiftly led me to where I can change my clothes. When I was done, we then briefly exchanged our names before he settled me to work.

To make it simple for me, he has placed some plants on the table and asked me:
"Your name is Lykke, right? Tell me if recognize any of those plants?"
"Um.. I do know of the dandelions and burning nettles," I said, with a looking at the two plants I mentioned.
"Well, I can guess how you know of those," the man said with a knowing face, "the other two is a bindweed and... something I forgot. Anyways, those plants are all the weeds in my garden, your job is to dig them up, with roots and everything."
"The.. roots too?"
"Especially the roots or else... they will just come again. Fortunately, their roots haven't grown too long yet." Fort told me with some relief, and we began to work in the garden for some days.

On the first two days, we got rid of the weeds and then dumped them into a barrel with water to seal. Apparently, it's how you can make any plants into fertilizer, as long as you remember to use it after two weeks.

At the third day, it was the day we trimmed both the grass and the garden, we also checked up on the herbs afterward. Apart from those a bit eaten or wilted, I think most of the herbs are fine? However, Fort told me that there seem to be some rodents, that have eaten the roots of his plants if that was true, it makes me wonder what he will do about it later.

On the last and fourth day, we have loosened and tilled some of the free soil, it was for Fort to use for the later branch of seedings. In the end, we fixed up the last details in the garden and I was told the work was done. Of cause, I was happy to be done with the job, but I still asked about the rodents out of curiosity.

The response I got, was that the rodents shouldn't be a part of my job. So perhaps, someone else will get that job?

@AliceShiki

 

So... There was someone that created the connection between both forests? Well, it's better than having it being created naturally I suppose, but still quite concerning...

Good job clearing the quest though, you worked hard Cinis-san... Can't believe none of the mages there offered to heal you up though... Seriously...

Oh well, at least you have a good reward to spend with Mary-chan, the reward is of 24 Large Copper Coins and 8 Guild Points~

Take care now~

 

Well, this is definitely not what I was expecting when someone said "shrine"~

Good job finding out about it Grendel-san, nicely done~

The reward will be of 9 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points~

Take care now~

((Sure! PM me about it~))

 

I ought to say you did a wonderful job Grendel-san~

I mean, I'm not really fond of revenge or anything of the sorts, but they deserved what they got~

The reward is of 10 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points~

Take care now~

 

Okay, so... Let this be a lesson to you.

If you are smart enough to know you need a bath, you should also be smart enough to take this bath before going to the guild.
... Oh, and I agree Solas need to learn some manners, but that's neither here nor there... Anyways...

Your reward are 60 Large Copper Coins and 14 Guild Points. Yes, the penalty is all because I'm not forced to smell this kind of thing, dear Gods, I'm almost fainting here, didn't you even consider that the reason everyone opened the path for you when delivering this report was because they thought they could deliver theirs after you were gone!?

Shoo shoo! Go take a bath already!

 

"I did not cause any trouble this time, Good job~ me! *fistpump*"

Spoiler: Report

Maga arrived at Ternus’ loading off area on a normal carriage. He walked the rest down to the southern border. After a few minutes of walking, Maga finally arrived at the village.

“Hmm… I saw this place from over a ship, but I guess it hasn’t changed much?”

Maga haven't really yet visited the village, but the houses as it faced the sea was something he always see when their ship pass the village for a trip to south. Maga did not dally and went to look for the requestor’s house.

“Thank you for taking our request, adventurer. Odd as you look.”

“No need to trouble over it, mate. I myself want to help my fellow fisher. If I may, there’s a chance that I will cause trouble and I hope you can forgive me for it.”

“Very well. I’ll entrust you with dealing with our problems in the village. You can bother the people near the sea and asked what’s the problem. I am just the representative who brought the request towards the guild, so I don’t know the details.”

Maga nodded and went out of the house.
---

Maga arrived and the shore and saw the fishermen staring at the sea with empty faces. One adventurer noticed Maga’s footstep and greeted him out of obligation, emotionlessly...

“Oh, an adventurer? Finally, I hope you can help us deal with our problem.”

“I’d be glad to help. Did you do preliminary inspections on the sea.”

“Umm… we did what we could, but I hope adventurer could help us do that ‘preliminary inspection’ thing you mentioned.”

Maga just meant ‘surveying the sea for anything strange’ when he said preliminary inspection but since they already asked him to do as he does, so Maga went straight at it.

“No problem! Can you lend me a boat? Also, I need an able guide.”

The fisherman stood up and shouted at a house.

“Ruben! Can I ask you to guide the adventurer?”

“Please wait a minute, my kids say they saw some glowing person somewhere. I can’t possibly leave them alone when there’s an unknown person around.”

Ruben, the younger old man in the village, looked out his window and refuted. The fisherman who shouted sighed and replied.

“It’s just childish banter, right? Forget about it, focus on our problem first. We could ran out of fishes to eat anytime.”

"P-please wait a moment."

Ruben hurriedly prepared his stuff. After a minute or two, he went out with a worn out paddle in hand.

“Follow me, adventurer.”

Ruben guided Maga to his boat's destination.

The boat in question looks dirty but was in a perfect condition. Maga and Ruben rode the boat and sailed it towards the sea.
----

“Okay. Stop right here mate.”

The boat arrived at a considerable distance from the coast. Maga put his weight to the side. He reached out for the sea scooped some sea water. He tasted the water to see if there is some strange compound that could somehow caused the fish near the coast to disappear.

“Better not shake much, adventurer. I don’t know what I’ll do if I fall.”

“Don’t worry mate, I’ll save you when you do fall. But can’t you swim?”

“I can. I’m just worried that the ground looks so far away.”

[The boat is here for a reason.]

Maga found himself commenting common sense under his breath. He cannot say it out loud because he knew already that the village is traditionally geared to coast fishing. Also, right now they are in the blue part of the sea which can be considerably scary for people who's been there for the first time.

“Did you find any problems adventurer?”

“Hmm… I guess it’s the right saltiness? I feel lot’s of fish below.”

Heeding Maga's words, Ruben looked at the bottom and definitely did see fish, lots of fish!

“Oh! Too many! Did you summon them adventurer!?”

“HaHa. Of course not, I'm just your ol' adventurer. That said, want to try fishing a bit?”

Maga looked at the overly excited Ruben and handed over his fishing rod.

“My pleasure!”

Ruben had a satisfying face when he fished fish after fish... until Maga said that they’ll go home. Maga also wanted Ruben to stay but they did not bring any fish box so the fish would just go spoil.
---

Maga and Ruben arrived on the coast. Ruben gloat about his large catch which in turn relieved the fishermen from thoughts that the fish went extinct.

“Ohh. That’s a lot of fish. Did you and that adventurer solved it?”

Maga shook his head. He could not see any problem… Apart from the water being somehow cold near the coasts despite the sun being out. Still he felt it wasn't enough to drive fish away.

“No. I figured I’d pass the night here to investigate more.”

“Please do.”

The old fishermen bowed and went towards the other fishermen gathered around Ruben's fish spoils.

"Everyone, let's try boat fishing. There are countless of fish in the sea."

Maga looked Ruben who was just telling his fellow villager to switch from coast fishing to boat fishing. His fellow fisher did not let what Ruben said slide and replied.

“The coast is safe and we don’t have to worry about drowning. Our ships are small and won’t be able to survive long in the sea.”

Ruben was dissatisfied, but he know the feeling of his friends. He also realized he don’t know how to repair the ship in case it gets damaged. He decided to forgot about it and share his spoils with his friends. He called his two children.

“Pedro, Maria, we’ll have a lots of fish for dinner today. Let’s give some to the uncles, okay?”

“It’s okay, papa. Me and sis will be out by dinner, we promised Grand Ma we’ll eat there.”

“Haa~ be safe okay?”

Ruben sighed in resignation and decided to turn dinner into a drinking party.

Ruben looked back to invite Maga but he was nowhere out of sight.
---

Maga look for another space instintively to fish like he always. He found a suitable forest, untouched by the village, with tree curving around the sea.

Maga sat down and sank his feet low. Unlike other days, he just fished without any alcohol. It’s not like he was forbad to drink by his healer but he got some bad memories from it. It probably wasn't a problem for Maga himself but he originally sought medication because he wants to stop blundering because his actions when drunk.

“Still, there really aren't any fish huh. Also, my legs are cold.”

Maga has stayed there for a little over 30 minutes. He heard some splashing and naturally, his eyes were guided to an about 9yr old girl playing on the shallowest part of the sea.

“Hmm…”

Maga rubbed his eyes. The young girl’s pale skin looks like it was glowing. The child had black hair wearing a white summer dress. Maga approached the girl to get a closer look.

“Are you a human?”

The young girl look at Maga and immediately scowled.

“Ah! You man! You are evil!”

The girl jumped backed creating a splash of waves. Maga, faced with the young girl’s hostility, scratched his face. He knew a lot of thing about him that looks intimidating to the others. But he need to specifically know what.

“Why do you think so, young girl? Also what’s your name?”

“I’m Sik. You man is no good! You let flame spirit live in your stomach.”

“Hmm? Now that I look at it.”

He stared closer at the child's atmosphere. He noticed glowing white beads floating here and there.

“That’s right, I’m an Ice Spirit!”

“Figured as much. Anyway why is ‘Sik’ playing in the sea?”

Maga understood. Still, Sik was alone. Even without a spirits common sense, Maga think that a child spirit would be gullible and must be protected by at least an older, stronger spirit.

“I’m not playing I’m performing, I am calling for my comrades in the north.”

[As expected.]

“Want to play with this old man then?”

“I’ll consider it when you throw away the other spirit.”

Sik looked away grumbling. Maga of course don’t know any spirit aside from Sik.

“Awhee~ This is my first time seeing a spirit ya know? Young girl.”

“But it’s in you. Wait!? *Gasps* he stayed inside you without permission!? This is why flame spirits are evil. Do not worry, old man, I’ll save you!”

Sik’s face turned from shock to anger, not towards Maga this time but towards the unknown spirit. Maga, looking at Sik’s liveliness, found Sik adorable.

“I’m fine, Sik girl. Anyway, what does the flame spirit look like?”

“This big. And it’s sleeping-”

[Hmm… I believe Sik is talking about my alcohol dependence, good grief.]

Maga already knew that his drunk state was caused by some sort of strange biology, or as the healer said “innate trait”. Probably, for spirits, it just appears like some sort of fire spirit. Still it can’t hurt to try to “wake” it up (drinking).

[...Wait?]

Maga stared hard at Sik describing the flame spirit. Maga noticed that the surface of the sea below Siq has started freezing. Maga remembered the request, then figured out this is the reason. Maga smiled wryly and decided to ask Sik about it… after, satiating the child’s curiosity, of course.

Maga drink his first and second bottle. Sik was aghast for reasons only she knows.

“It’s growing. Why is it so large!!”

Sik’s overreaction and childishness was more than enough to convince Maga to not use violence. Maga decided to convince Sik.

“Well, Sik can I ask for something a bit?”

“Do speak it old man.”

“Do you know the people who live over there?”

Maga pointed at the village. Sik nodded.

“They can’t fish anymore because the water turn cold. Can you perhaps stop staying in the water?”

“But my ritual-”

“Well, you can change the location to perform the ritual, I will even bring you to a beautiful lake. You don’t want those people’s children being sold and separated from their parents because they can’t be fed, right?”

Silence.

Sik stopped talking as she looked down. Maga was harsh but that was necessary. He reached for his sixth bottle and Sik starter talking.

“You know, old man. I have been performing the ritual for many, many days now. But they still don’t answer me. Maybe the ritual doesn’t work or…”

Sik looks more grim than ever.

“They've abandoned me.”

Seeing the ice spirit sad made Maga sad too. Maga was convinced he loves Sik. Considering that Maga is very empathic it was likely to be just a misconception. However, Maga still need to say it to the sad and lonely girl, for Sik to not be targeted for her traits.

“Want to come with me? I could treat you as my daughter.”

Sik’s eyes widen. Her face glittered in tears looked at Maga who wore a very chaste and kind expression. Sik felt something warm in her heart contrary to her being an ice spirit. She softly smiled and talked,

“Your kind even to spirits, old man. I mean your helping those people despite being an outsider.”

Sik had an convinced expression, she cannot help the old man fulfill his request. Even so, Sik think the old man would still would take her in. The old man blew aways Sik’s sadness and Sik thought it was enough.

“But old man, as you see, I can only make things cold. I can’t do anything to make this hot again.”

Maga looked at the mature Sik. Well, papa Maga still has quite something up his sleeves.

“Then why don’t you leave it to father? Come here, Sik.”

“What are you going to do, old man? I mean... father.”

Sik slowly went over to Maga on land while feeling slightly giddy.

“Hmm… something like this. [Alcoholic Breath (Spark)]”

Maga kept breathing for 3 hours. The was too large to boil but it did heat it up more than enough that the fish will feel more comfortable.

“Sleep tight, father.”

Maga collapsed for breathing for toooooooo long.
---

The next morning, Maga woke up after being overdosed in alcohol. Everyone near Maga, even the animals, ran as fast as they can when they see the Maga. The atmosphere shook from Maga’s stomach furnace cooling off. Maga looked around and see a child presumably afraid.

“S-sik, yeuw awr awhaaek.”

“Hii!”

Maga immediately gestured. ‘Come to papa!’ to Sik which in turn really scared Sik away. Sik ran away as aproached by the zombie-like Maga, Maga stumbled upon a tree root and went headfirst to the sea.

[Why it turned out this way…]

Maga contemplated in the sea. He had his mind refreshed and sobered as if triggered by the loss of his newfound daughter.

The villagers arrived guided by the kids, who presumably saw Sik’s location.

“Over there!”

Maga stood up all drenched. Maga turned sober this time before causing an incident this time, still he looked sad. He was in the dumps even after he returned to the village. The villagers were anxious to hear about the status. Until one finally managed to ask.

“How’s your investigation?”

“It’s fine already, see?” Maga replied and pointed.

The villagers head followed the direction of the Maga’s finger. The villager stared hard at the water until a bunch of flying fishes jumped out of water... as though they were called magically by Maga. The village were impressed and started running outside to go fishing.

Maga received an old axe from Ruben who was planning to go to the city to learn about sailing. He told that the villagers were already warned that he might cause trouble and understood that the scaring out of the animals were part of the plan to chase away the intruder mentioned by the children.

Maga walked out of the village.

---

“I’m sorry I ran away, father.” Sik’s voice got carried away by the wind.

Spoiler: Notes

Maga activated his passive skill "Mind Recharge".

@Lenaia

((OOC: Sooooorryyyy!!!))

 

"Are you sleeping again?" Lykke asked, trying to poke up the man who surely match the sin of sloth...

Spoiler: Sewing Children Clothes

"This is the room where you will work in, everything you needed will be here too," a polite girl told me as she guided me inside the room. "I'm sorry if it's a bit cramped but we need all the big rooms for the children."
I nodded to her words, as I saw the large number of kids earlier.

"Well, then you are done later on and I don't mind if you leave by yourself, just get one of the children to inform me if you do so." After the lady told what she needed, I was left in the sewing room. I judged it was so she won't disturb me while I work.
The first thing I started with, it was to check out where the tools are in this room, which will make the things easier to find when I sew.
The most noticeable thing in this room, was the huge pile of clothes, all damaged with holes and such. Just beside lie another but a smaller pile of cloth, all which looks like they have been used as clothes before...

"Well... this can still be used for patchwork..." I muttered and started to find the basic stuff I needed, things like a needle, some stings, and one scissor. With some experience from patching my sibling clothes, the job wasn't too hard.

As time goes by I easily got 10 clothes done and was about to start on the 11th one, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Thinking it was Shiori, I told the person could just come in. Unexpectedly, it wasn't the caretaker from earlier, but the children of this orphanage.
"Um... what can I help you with?" I asked, still feeling surprised by this situation. The kid looked to each other, probably deciding on who to speak up, and a tan skinned boy was chosen.

"We..we want to ask you for a favor..."
"And that is....?"
"Sewing."
"W..what?"
"Teach us sewing, please!" The boy yelled and they suddenly bowed to me, made me feel confused about how this event came to be.

"E..em.. I don't mind to teach you, so please don't bow like this..."
"R..really! Wouldn't it trouble you?"
"Right now... I'm just troubled om how you guys are acting..."

After that, the kids began to yell in joy. So I ended up with teaching the children, how to sew the rest of the day and next day too. What I never told them, was that I probably ended up with lesser pay, than I could have if I just kept sewing instead of teaching.

I got only 14 clothes patched up, but the children's smile was definitely worth it.

@Naraku

 

Spoiler: Prologue

--Michellin.

The blacksmith who mastered the arts of swordsmanship, a legend faded long in the annals of time, buried in the passage of history. Few remains of his recollection, scarce and scattered throughout the continent.

From the ballads and narratives, Michellin’s character was depicted -- a vagrant man who was trailed by a caravan of different swords. In that arsenal, he would use a different style of weapon each day, adapting an evolving swordsmanship.

Unparalleled and unorthodox, such were his many praises. But before that, Michellin was also a talented blacksmith. At his prime, he created a vastly powerful sword, one which landed in the hands of a Dragonslayer that aided the hero in the subjugation of several dragons.

That sword, strangely, was named after a mythical blade whose wielder bore the same name to whom the weapon was given, Excalibur. A sword that radiated blinding light and a hero that gleamed of hope, a perfect match.

Despite numerous accounts of such legendary figures, the world never grew tired of constant turmoil, in fact back then discord was in order.

The tragedy that was Therese’s village succumbing to the viciousness of monster, without aid and so much as power, becoming ruined without a fight was only one of many casualties already forgotten.

But more than belongings, friends, and anything else Therese dreaded more for his only family.

As misfortune would have it, the propagation of news spreaded too late.

It was for that reason, yes, and nothing else...

But actually, while Therese was certainly able to arrive in time to help, a crossroad of selection opened up ahead of him.

To begin with, the reason why Therese was absent in his hometown was to aid his beloved.

Unable to weigh one option over the other, in the end, none was he able to save. A foolish choice, one might say.

However, such reality was he unable to accept.

Clinging to false hope or believing in a sliver of chance, there was nothing he feared to tread.

For the sake of achieving his ultimate goal was to meet Michellin, a man who has also withstood age.

Spoiler: Actual Report

Crackling sound of burnt wood whispered throughout the night within the densely-packed forest. The embers which still persisted gave a vague outline of one man leaning in front of a tree, coupled by the starry night sky dotted by innumerable stars, combined to form a very surreal scene.

However the center of it all was Therese, wearing a melancholic expression and a mocking smile. He was staring blankly with cold eyes at the quenched campfire, deeply riddled with thought.

The nightmare, or the curse as he would put it, had once again resurfaced as his haunting reminder.

That as a man, a brother, and above everything else, the supposedly protector who failed to guard anyone important to him.

Soon, the silence which had seemingly dominated the world was curbed by penetrating howls coming from the inner depths of the forest. As the sound grew in intensity, it became more apparent that several footsteps was behind it.

Not long after his prediction, several silhouettes solidified in the dark. However, something in those shadows perturbed Therese.

From it, came from what was expected, a quadrupedal beast which was usually seen in packs. A staple as much a goblin would be in medieval settings, a wolf. But speaking of the hideous goblin, humanoid figures were seemingly mounted at the wolfs.

If his imagination was right, then misfortune had struck.

Therese inconspicuously backed away, but realized he was a beat too late. In every direction similar profile surrounded him in a circle.

Escape was a pipe dream, but that didn’t mean victory eludes him. Thus, without any hesitation, Therese prepared himself for an inevitable fight.

He readied his stance, his foot planted in front, sword pointed forward, and a wooden stave held in left hand.

And so, seconds have passed, but each moment felt excruciatingly longer than that. No movement was made, everything grew unmoving in this cycle of deadlock.

Of course, this brief moment of respite wouldn’t last forever.

It wasn’t exactly known which came first, something launched itself right at him. Instinctively he tried to block with his sword, but as if predicted, the monster spun narrowly avoiding the strike. Instead, Therese opted to use the wooden stave, but that, too, got denied as it was immediately caught by the wolf’s jaws and mercilessly snapped in half.

Unexpectedly, as his mind was occupied by guarding himself with the immediate danger, Therese made the blunder of forgetting another enemy.

That was its rider, who had cleverly jumped from its mount mid-air, now in preparation to bash the foolish human unguarded in front of him.

Sensing the pressure from something above, Therese luckily sidestepped, managing not getting knocked out in one blow. But evading meant he needed to sacrifice his left shoulder, and the shock he received was by no means light.

The trauma he received made his left hand numb, making it virtually useless in the span of the fight.

Although he had adopted many forms of battle styles, Therese’s unique way of fighting heavily relied in dual-wielding.

A normal human can be versatile, but not a master of all fields.

He may had stood with resolve and successfully parried the numerous attempts of the goblin riders, but at this rate, the tide of battle would tip heavily on the other side.

Meaning, Therese was about to lose.

Each strike he blocked, there would be an equivalent wound that would appear in his body. The injuries would pile up and the fatigue would take over, that where would be the end.

The lack of a decisive moment only stalled the encounter for a bit longer, but the outcome was still the same regardless.

“This.. is… it, huh?”

Before his consciousness faded, a girl stood next to him. Perhaps a byproduct of hallucination, but Therese could swear that it looked like his younger sister.

“I-..ris?”

And thus, fainted along with his mutter.

Morning came, the tranquil night retreating at the wake of sun. Slowly the city would be enveloped by bustling activities and another day would start, filling the city with recontinued vigor.

Somehow, Therese found himself trudging at the central square.

The small dents, stains, and gashes on his armor proved that the danger from yesterday was all real; the sorry-state of his sword which was chipped and dulled beyond repair proved he had fought. But anything beyond from seeing the mirage of his sister, he honestly couldn’t remember anything at all, not even a vague recollection.

He was entirely clueless.

“Mister! Are you alright?!”

At the sudden cry of a bystander, Therese was snapped out of his dream-like stupor. Now sober, he had also realized the beating his body had endured, and the broken half of his stave alarmingly impaled at his side, albeit moderately shallow.

This only made the confusion brewing within his mind grow stronger.

In the end, most of the week was spent recuperating, and it was only a few days left until Therese resumed on with his quest, that he had chanced with what he deemed the missing gold coin.

It was found near the outskirt of the town, just before the entrance of the forest. Perhaps the child had lost it here when the little boy decided some of his time spent at someplace quiet.

Although it still carried the same risk, Therese didn’t need to enter the forest after all.

Strangely, it wasn’t from a currency that any country this continent offered. Rather, it was more akin to a badge that was made of pure gold.

The intricate symbol that was etched matched a similar marking.

It was that of Michellin’s.

@AliceShiki

OCC: I'm not late, right?

 

Welcome back Yane-san, glad to see you are still alive... Or as close to alive as you can be.

A shame the spirit couldn't be saved though, I was hoping it was a benevolent spirit...

Regardless, you've earned your reward, 8 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points.

As for medical aid... You can try talking to Mary for some treatment, or you can visit Ophelia's temple for it. Hopefully one of them can heal your wound... Glass bottles on the other hand should be easily available in the market district I think? I believe they aren't too expensive.

Be careful now~

 

Alright, you got a job well done Elaine-san~

Since Mika-san didn't have the necessary requirements to take the quest, she will, of course, not be rewarded for it.

You get 42 Large Copper Coins and 16 Guild Points.

Take care now~