Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Receptionist's Desk

"I'm back."

Spoiler: Report

Fen knocked on the door before entering the workshop he often visits.

“Hm? Oh, it’s you. Are you here to request a weird weapon again?” *snorts*

“I’m here for your request that you put up. And before you say my weapon is weird, it just a normal steel cane, you know?”

“Does a cane usually forged?”

*thonking* “Maybe. About the slinger, I think you should slow down to speed when retrieving the rope.” Fen placed an arm-guard on the table.

“Ya Ya. I’ll think about it. So how’re you gonna solving his problem?”

“ I have to confirm if those guys you saw are real goblins or not. Perhaps you were hallucinating.”

__________

In the night where the light only came from the lamp, Three figures sneaked through the gap between buildings approaching the shop. Fen dropped down from the roof, unsheathing his weapon. The skirmish broke out in the back alley behind the store.

At one point, fen swung down the cane reaching the goblin's ear but the cane passed through its ear as there were nothing at the beginning.

((Illusion?... Klok...)) Fen beware that these culprits might be residents in this town so he decided to chase them away instead of killing them. The black aura surrounded his body forming a bulky humanoid monster. He grabbed one of the intruder’s neck and lifted him up.

“I’ll give you one more chance to treat your own life previously. So don’t come here for the third time. If you do, I’ll make sure that you, your family, and everyone you care about go down my stomach. Now go.”

The intruders desperately ran away, some of them left their weapon behind. Fen examined all the weapons that are left behind. Surprisingly, the culprits’ weapons are similar to products made by other blacksmiths in Nagrand. He sat down and mumbled about the incident.

((What do they want? Is it because the old man was working on this prototype and didn’t announce to the public so they want to steal his work and make their own? His workshop is starting to be filled with some new kind for tools recently. No, that couldn’t be the only factor...))

*sigh* “Do I have to find the illusionist who assisted them too?” He went back to the guild and report about the intruders using illusion.

@AliceShiki

 

Well... Now this is troublesome... Luckily, there couldn't be that many illusionists in town, so they can't hide for long... Thanks for reporting this, Fen-san.

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

Take care now~

 

"Space-time magical bubble? Surely you jest, something like that require enough mana to disintegrate the whole continent. Perhaps it's illusion, yes? I'll inquire to Lyra after she researches the stuff."

The construct scribbled some note and stamped the quest for completion.

"Your reward, eleven large coppers and four guild points. Congratulations on completing your first job!"

 

@Lenaia
Task: Protect the Local Wildlife!
Requester: Canare, Monster Care Association's Leader
Quest Rank: E-rank
Rewards: 10 Large Copper Coins
Description: After we got word of how bullied a local manticore was last week, we decided it was time we took action and protected the local wildlife from those evil adventurers with no love towards the poor innocent monsters!
We want an adventurer to help us brainstorm ways of regulating the exploitable practices of continuously harassing the monsters, they will no longer suffer under unregulated abuse!
* The guild thinks this request is completely absurd, but anyone that is willing to try, should be aware that whatever they decide on will probably be completely ignored by both the guild and other adventurers.

Spoiler: Report #1

Helping the Local Wildlife​

14th of Growth, 219 ME​

After getting himself a place to live, Raph set out to complete his quest. He understood that it would be impossible to get either sides to stop fighting one another so he needed a compromise.
Once he was outside the city, he quickly made his way towards the place the manticore often resided. He was not sure how was he going to communicate with the manticore but he just decided to come again with a better method if this time he failed to do so.
Nearing his destination, he smelled three blood of three different targets. One seemed human, second seemed orc-ish while the third was unknown to him. Quickly he made his way towards them and saw two adventurers fighting a manticore. All were hurt but the wounds were rather shallow and only bleeding a bit.
The three stopped for a second sensing a new person has arrived but they were already lunging at one another. There was a flameneck crow on the side of manticore too which appeared to be unhurt. Raph summoned a water wall to seperate the two groups.
The groups stopped fighting and observed him. They appeared to be intimidated by his looks but the orc finally asked as to why was Raph interrupting there sparring match.
"Sparring match?" Raph thought, confused. He then asked them to spar reasonably and explained how he was here to investigate whether adventurers were bullying the wildlife here. The crow, being a flameneck, was intelligent and could talk in limited fashion. It served as a translator for manticore. While explaining Raph healed all their wounds till they stopped bleeding and only looked like minor bruises.
"It appears to have been a misunderstanding then," Raph concluded. The manticore had replied he was sparing with the adventurers because it was fun and he felt he was close to learning a breath attack which sparing would help in learning. On the other hand, adventurers teplied they were sparing to become stronger. The crow was there to even out the numbers and for shiny stones he was going to get as a reward for participating. Apparently there was a betting ring amongst the local birds for the sparring matches. The crow also said the betting ring was open for everyone to participate although mostly the birds partcipated.
Raph apologized for coming in between the match. He got the crow to remember his current living place and said that incase anyone got hurt a lot, they could contact him there and he would heal them for some coins/shiny stones/local herbs and flowers.
Raph then quickly returned to the city and reported the incident.

Spoiler: Tl;dr

• Crows have a betting ring open for everyone to participate
• Adventures and wildlife often spar with one another.
• Raph would heal them in case they are too injured to "protect" the local wildlife (and adventurers).

 

"How did this even..? Are you on drugs..? Eeh, after a talking bear and dogs it's not that unlikely anymore." The construct mumbled something. "Well, dubious things aside, you completely failed to do what the quest asked you. You didn't even meet the client, who asked help brainstorming a solution to his problem. Sorry, but I can't pass you on this. Better luck next time, yes?"

 

"Hm I guess the truth is not what is valued in this guild but just what the client wants. Which does not sit well with me but oh well. I believe it was never mentioned that the client wants to meet and brainstorm ways of "regulation". Besides the requester clearly wants to cause "regulated abuse" under their hands instead of the current so called unregulated abuse.
I brought the reality to the guild hoping to showcase the problems with the whole quest but I guess that is not appreciated.
Also are you on drugs, construct? Flamenecks can always talk, albeit they aint great at it." saying that Raph walks away dissapointed.

 

Task: Hunt the Giant Bird
Requester: Lorelei, Rare Animals Collector
Quest Rank: D-rank
Rewards: 23 Large Copper Coins
Description: After a surprising discovery that a not-so-mad man found a giant bird that stole cows from a village that seems to praise the marvelous Ton-sama, I decided I want that bird for me! Hunt it down!
... Well, I want at least the body, alright? I need to ask a necromancer to revive it in case the bird dies... It's better if you can capture it alive though, I'll even pay extra!

Spoiler: “Hunt the Giant Bird Quest”

After confirming the existence of the giant bird, Lorelei the rare animal collector requested the capturing of the winged monster dead or alive…preferably alive though. Thinking that the giant bird’s nest might contain some treasure, Zinc decided to choose this quest as his debut into the D rankings.

From the reports of a previous adventurer, the giant bird was about 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide…presumably not including the wingspan. The giant bird was known to have a large appetite, having devoured three cows in a sitting. According to the adventurer, the monstrosity was spotted near a grassy plain where villagers roam about while herding their cows and sheep. The only thing that Zinc could not believe, from the report, was that the giant bird emerged from a giant hole that appeared to be of the same color as the sky. How is that possible? Maybe the previous adventurer was high on something or maybe she was still half-asleep when she took the quest. Either way, the doctor decided to confirm this once and for all with his own two eyes.

After the necessary preparations, Zinc confirmed the location and schedule of the villagers who herd their livestock each day and followed them to a grassy area. Setting up camp, he proceeded to lie in wait. As hours went by, Zinc thought that the giant bird wouldn’t come today and decided to head home. Just as he stood up, he noticed the ground began to tremor slightly. Looking up, Zinc saw a tear appearing on the ground. From the opening, a gigantic shadow darted out. With a sharp swoop, the giant figure dove towards the nearest cow.

Reacting with the skills of a warrior and the dexterity of a doctor, Zinc threw out two footlong pitons, one after the other. As if sensing the danger of the first piton, the bird straightened its back and knocked back the piton with its wing. However, it did not notice the second piton as the metal spike nailed itself into the bird’s fleshy throat. The piton dug deeply into the Vagus nerve of the bird, which was located right under the bird’s head. Normally, just applying some brute force to the nerve would cause knock out to most humanoids and piercing that nerve could potentially killed said most humanoids. However, proportionally-wise, the giant bird would at most be stunned for a brief moment.

And stunned it was. At this time, Zinc finally had a clear view of what the giant bird was. It looked like a giant bald eagle with brown feathers and a white head. Its curved beak dripped with blood from its recent kill. Its eyes glared red from anger and pain. With a slight shook, the giant eagle broke free from its stun. Zinc rushed in while swinging his Horse-Slaying Blade only to be sent flying by a powerful wing. As Zinc rose up unsteadily, the giant eagle flew towards him. Before the bird monster could reach him, it started to wobble. It stopped just before the doctor and began shaking its head. What happened?

What happened was just as Zinc was hit by the wing, he managed to plant Cerium on the wing. The hallucinogenic worm made its way towards the giant eagle’s head and breathed fumes into the giant eagle. Seeing many hallucinations, the monster stopped its movement and tried to regain control of its body. However, before that could happen, Zinc stabbed his blade into the giant eagle’s heart and twisted the blade sharp enough to tear the heart into pieces. Without a heart, the giant eagle stumbled a few steps before spewing out a mouthful of blood. The giant eagle squawked one last time before collapsing motionlessly.

After confirming the death of the monster, Zinc headed over to the slowly closing tear in the ground. As what the previous adventurer had confirmed, the other end of the opening was blue like the sky. Was this a portal to another location? Zinc didn’t want to take a chance and jump into the portal for fear of being stranded in an unknown place. Instead, he decided to head back with the corpse. After getting a few villagers to help out, the doctor dragged the corpse back to the city.

@AliceShiki

 

"Horsie probably will get better once his back heals."

Spoiler: Horse Cruelty

“This is the horse I’m talking about. Looks fine, until you try to ride him. Then he starts acting up. Just remembering it makes my rump sore.”

The middle aged farmer complained, rubbing his behind.

"Then, please allow me to take a closer look at it."

"Go ahead, lass. You find anything, tell it to me."

The farmer left to make his rounds around the fields, and Elaine stood near the quiet horse.

"Let's see, what can I do for you…?"

After a careful thirty minute inspection, Elaine arrived at a conclusion: the horse's legs were perfectly fine, and could definitely handle a person's weight. On the other hand, the moment she placed a hand on the horse's saddle, she could already feel it start freaking out.

It doesn't want to be ridden for some reason.

Elaine was mystified. The horse seemed well enough to be about, even breaking into a gallop every now and then, but it would freak out as soon as someone approached. No one was an exception to that rule, not even the owner.

Puzzled, until she spent an hour more and noticed another thing; the horse freaked out considerably lesser when there were fewer people around. When it was only her around, it allowed her to go as far as nuzzling it's face before it started freaking out.

Hmm…

She placed her hands experimentally on the horse's chin. No reaction.

Slowly, she moved it closer to the horse's nose. No reaction.

Then towards it's eyes slowly...there! She felt the horse tremble just a little bit. So she was on the right track, at least.

So close, big guy. Don't be scared, tell me what ails you.

With a couple of reassuring pats, Elaine managed to get the horse to trust her a bit more, allowing her to scratch its ears gently. That was when she felt it; a dried welt the size of her fingers.

Wait, this is…

Rubbing the welt gently as the horse buckled nervously, Elaine soon realised what it really was; an old scar from a riding crop.

This is…

Now that she had a clue on what she was looking for, Elaine quickly spotted more scars all over the horse, especially around the flank region. Then she noticed one more thing; an overpowering sweetness in the air, and it was coming from the saddle.

Furthermore, the saddle was reinforced with iron chains wrapping around the horse's stomach.

Why was there a need to make the saddle smell nice? Unless...

Unfastening and removing the suspiciously secure saddle with a sharp knife, Elaine nearly died of anger. Underneath the saddle was dried, festering wounds, still caked with dried blood and pus.

That bastard!

Thankfully, reason managed to hold her back long enough for her to realise that the horse was only a recent acquisition by the requestor, else she would have probably burnt his house down.

"We're going to give you a bath later. For now, come along. No wonder you shake off anyone who tries to ride you."

******

"No, I had no idea about this. The horse was already wearing this saddle when it was sold to me. Now that I think about it, the price was a real bargain considering how rich it's coat was."

"Is it possible that the previous owner…?"

"I doubt it very much, lass. He was the one who sold the horse to me after about two days of procuring it, at a loss too. It seems that he had gotten it for cheap from a relative, so it wasn't too much of a loss."

Damn. Guess that lead's closed.

Elaine bit her lip, dissatisfied with the knowledge that someone had gotten away with such a messed up act, but at the very least she was relieved by the farmer, who promised to take care of the horse's injuries until he was better.

@Lenaia

 

So apparently the bird comes flying from a portal of sorts? Dear Gods, this is messy...

Thanks for the report Zinc-san, the reward will be of 23 Large Copper Coins and 8 Guild Points.

Take care now~

 

"Well, that's one robust horse. Those are normally fragile creature, yes? They'd catch fever and maybe dies from festering wound. Anyway! I'm rambling again. Job's complete, nine large coppers and four guild points reward for you!"

 

Spoiler: Will-O'-the-Wisp

The strange haze ball of light was, well, strange. The will-o’-the-wisp, as it was called, was pale blue and glowing. It floated several feet off of the ground and seemed to be spinning around randomly. As far as Arawn could tell, which wasn’t much, it was indeed confused.


He was watching the wisp from a distance away, having heard of the dangers they brought. While a wisp never harmed you itself, it could either lead you astray or lead you to your goal. Luckily for Arawn, the sun hadn’t set yet and there was no fog to obscure his sight. There was no danger of falling into the lake or getting lost.


But even knowing the danger, Arawn felt intensely attracted to the wisp. There was a mysterious, almost ethereal quality to it that seemed to ensnare his gaze. He steeled his nerves and approached the will-o’-the-wisp quickly. Stopping a few feet away, he tried to speak but fell silent. As the wisp neared him. It floated towards Arawn and circled him slowly, bobbing up and down the entire time.


The wisp floated back to Arawn’s front and hovered silently a foot or so away from his chest. Arawn tried to communicate with it hesitantly.


“H-Hello...I’m Arawn. I-It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he stuttered nervously. He waited silently, as if expecting the wisp to respond. When it continued to simply float in place, he continued on.


“Who are you?” he asked. “Why are you here? Are you lost?”


The will-o’-the-wisp was unresponsive. Impulsively, Arawn reached out to touch the wisp, only for it to float out of arm’s reach. His eyes narrowed and he stepped forward with his arm still outstretched. The wisp vanishes suddenly as his hand neared it. He Arawn spun around in surprise and scanned his surroundings to try and see where the wisp had gone.


There it was. The wisp had reappeared around ten feet to Arawn’s right without any noise. He closed in on it immediately but was unsuccessful. The wisp once again disappeared and reappeared several feet away. Arawn chased it with cries for it to halt, but it was always one step ahead of him.


Arawn followed the wisp through the sparse woods as it continued to elude him. Strangely, the wisp never actually left him behind. It always was close enough for him to chase, but no close enough to catch. Arawn thought that it might be trying to lead him somewhere. Soon, they broke out of the woods to the sight of a large, glistening pond. Arawn stopped at this and confirmed his position. This was the pond that Sik, the ice spirit had spoken of.


Arawn refocused his gaze and searched for the wisp. It was floating above the surface of the water near the center of the pond. Arawn walked towards the shore of the pond hesitantly. Despite his haste, Arawn didn’t forget the fact that will-o’-the-wisps may not be harmless. They were often tricksters and harmed as much as they helped. But even so, he had a gut feeling about this. This one didn’t seem to mean him harm.


“Why’d you bring me here?” he asked the wisp, not really expecting it to respond. The wisp simply continued to float in place. Arawn sighed in disappointment and made his decision. He quickly undressed and strode into the pond until the water was at his knees. As far as he could tell, the pond wasn’t very deep, but it was rather wide. He continued into the water and dove deeper once the water reached a sufficient height.


Underwater, Arawn peered through his murky surroundings. The depth was around twelve to fifteen feet, and still well lit from the sun’s light. He spotted a glimmer of blue in the water in front of him. The wisp had reappeared underwater. Arawn swam after the wisp, towards the bottom of the pond.


The pair came to a stop at the muddy pond bottom, with the wisp floating in place once more. Arawn looked at the wisp, then at the mud, then back at the wisp. Was it trying to tell him something? Trusting his instincts, Arawn thrust his hands into the soft mud and pulled it away in handfuls.


His hands scraped against the surface of something hard, and he dug it out of the ground. A human skull rested between his hands. He cried out in shock, releasing his remaining breath and inhaling copious amounts of water. Choking on the water, Arawn struggled back up to the surface, skull in tow.


Arawn broke through the surface and swam to a shallower area, where he could stand. Having done so, Arawn examined the skull he still held. It was a small skull the length of Arawn’s palm, likely one from a child. It had long since been stripped of flesh, leaving only old bone behind. He frowned at this, wondering why it was in the lake.


Looking around, Arawn spotted the wisp. It had risen back to above the surface of the pond, where it had floated originally. Arawn gulped nervously as another thought came to mind. If there was a skull, it wasn’t too far of a stretch to assume that there might be more bones. Did the wisp want him to retrieve all the bones?


No matter. He’d gone this far. It didn’t sit right with him to leave the remains of a child at the bottom of a pond. With this in mind, Arawn dove back into the water.

_______________


It took quite the lengthy endeavor to find all of the bones. While, fortunately, the skeleton had been almost completely preserved by the mud and surrounding layers, Arawn’s limited lung capacity made digging them out a long process. He had to shuttle them to the surface and back regularly to avoid too large loads or running out of breath.


Eventually, though, Arawn finally managed to extract the skeleton. Well, it didn’t exactly look like a skeleton, given that it was a large heap of bones. Arawn was also sure that he’d likely left some bones behind. Hopefully, that wouldn’t matter much, as there was really no way to find them. Especially not now, when the sun had begun to set.


The wisp drew near as if attracted by the pile of bones. It circled them, then came to a stop over the heap. The will-o’-the-wisp stayed completely still, and Arawn had the strangest feeling that it was watching him. Impulsively, Arawn took out his flint and steel and struck them.


A small spark fell from his hands, but that was more than enough. Despite being wet and old, the bones practically exploded into flames immediately. Rather than just being burnt, the bones seemed to be turned to ash. As quickly as the fire was lit, it burned out, leaving nothing behind, the ashes being scattered by the winds.


Arawn looked up and away from the fire, searching for the wisp. Nothing. For the first time since seeing it, the wisp was nowhere in Arawn’s sight. He sighed and turned around. Arawn wasn’t sure what happened to the wisp, but if it had left, then that meant his job was done.

@AliceShiki
OOC: I hope this is okay. I used the traditional origin of the wisps as restless spirits unable to pass away, and had the disposal of the body help with that.

 

Spoiler: baaaaaaatssss!

Dantia wouldn't expect the client to be someone wealthy as she heard the client went to commission a request not by servants or proxies but by herself. Yet, when Dantia came to the client's house, it was quite huge.

The family isn't a noble family, they are simply merchants who had been residing in that land for generations. It started small, but with each generation adding upgrades and renovations, the house gets so big.

"Mama and papa aren't always at home, though. They left me with my caretaker." Yinia said.
"Most of the rooms aren't even touched for years, so even that many bats were only found after they ate our fruits!"

Yinia then guided Dantia to the said room, along with the caretaker who was a middle aged woman. She was... Quite unique. She held a pot lid as a shield, a broom as a sword, and the pot which lid was used as a shield sat on her head as a helmet. The armor was made of spoons and forks knitted by simple threads, they were quite jingly with each of her steps.

The room was located on the far end of the third floor. It was apparent that the whole floor wasn't used for so long, piled up dust and spider webs were so thick it. Add the fact that the lightings on the third floor wasn't lit, it was quite a horror inducing environment.

"It's here," Yinia said, "I won't dare to enter though."

Braced herself, she did her prelude dance: Taika to lit the room and to give her buffs. Finally, she entered.

*Click*

Surprising for a door that hasn't been used for a long time, there wasn't any wear seen. The hinges were in a good shape, and the handles look new, save for the layer of dust.

Inside, the room was totally empty. No furnitures, no boxes, nothing. Not even bat droppings. But when Dantia looked up at the ceiling, she couldn't look at it.

The ceiling was packed with bats.

"...!"

She was surprised by the sight that she reflexively took her battle stance. But then something happened.

The bats were rustling wildly, then one by one they flew inside the room. Strangely, not one of them flew even nearby Dantia. They flew in circles a bit far from her, eventually formed a ball of packed bats.

"Wait a second please, it takes me a bit to combine perfectly."

"Nya!? Who!?"

The voice came from somewhere inside the room, or to be precise, from the ball of bats.
It really took a while until the flying ball finally took a different shape; from an unorganized flock to a cigar-shaped moving blob, until eventually limbs came out and even clothes.

What came out of it was...

"A vampire?"

"Yes yes~! I'm a vampire! A true vampire if you would. Now, I know you have many questions. I'll answer before you ask!

"Why am I here? Well~ it's because my house is boring so I went out to play. Why this house? Because it's perfect! Unused room without ghosts. Ghosts are scary! I don't like! Aaand lastly, before you accuse me for those fruity trees, no, it wasn't me. I don't eat fruits, I'm a vampire~! It was mostly the kids around here sneakily climbing or shooting the fruits and ate them on the spot. I did try to scare them, but that maybe the reason the girl outside the room misunderstood. Not that I said anything or showed myself, though.

"Hmm? How did I know about your questions? Well duh, I'm a true vampire. I read minds. It's one of the basic skills we have~

"Oh, by the way, I'm still young. I haven't mastered shapeshifting yet. It's quite difficult~! That's why you had to wait. Ehehe~

"Now, since I'm already a nuisance, I'll excuse myself. If fate allows, we'll see each other again. Until then~"

...
.....

.......



At least give the narrator time oi! I also want to be in the screen!

*Cough*

With the vampire words, she turned into bats again. And yes, it took a bit of time like how she shapeshifted into a loli.

Yes, loli. I know I'm late to describe. She stole my time, alright? Her appearance? Typical loli vampire, really. Long blonde hair, red eyes, black and white gothic loli dress. Satisfied? Now I'll go back to the usual narrator mode. *Sigh*

Dantia explained to the client about the weird event and Yinia struck her palm with her hand.

"I know who she meant! Those bunch... Grrr. Anyways, now that I know the real culprit and the bats gone, no more problems! Thank you!"

Yinia and her caretaker then saw Dantia off with plenty of noises from the tableware armor.

"....nya."

@Lenaia

 

Well, I don't believe that is what Sik-san wanted, but... The Wisp is probably happier this way.

Good job Arawn-san, the reward is of 4 Guild Points and the Ice Sculpture Sik-san made. Take good care of it, alright?

Rest well, you've earned it~

 

A girl comes in the guild just before the time out, she looked right and left for the receptionist she had last time.
"Um... I got a report," she said, and placed a paper on the counter.

Spoiler: Costume For Masked Ball

Today, I went to the shopping streets, looking at fancy clothes and other stuff for some inspiration.

The reason behind my trip is because I have to attend a masked ball soon, the invitation was actually for my client who didn't want to go, so he requested for an adventure to go in his stead. I, who at that time thought the quest seemed interesting, took the job only to find out that the costume for a ball could be much more expensive than I expected.

Even so, I planned to make the costume by myself in the first place, by using materials that wouldn't cost too much for me but.. as expected, I have no idea how a set of ball clothes should look like. Following someone's advice, I've been in some higher quality shops to look. Though... I felt quite guilty to do that, knowing that I wouldn't buy anything.

Despite my guilty conscience, I noticed some clothes that catch my eyes. With my hood on because of the little drizzle of rain from earlier, I stepped closer to the display behind the window and took in the details of the craftsmanship.

However, a loud voice interrupted me and a young noble lady angrily left the shop, she got into the carriage and left rather dramatic with her guards in tow.

"Ah, this happened again," a young man sighed helplessly by the door opening.
"Umm.. are you alright?" I asked, wondering what just happened.

The man turned in surprise to me, probably didn't notice me, until I said something. He smiles wryly and told me he was fine.
Apparently, this happens often as he was already used to it when I tried to probe further, I was invited inside to talk.

"Em... I'm not a customer though..." I unconfidently told him, as I glanced at my old garments before I looked back to the high-class store. The man smiles and said, "I didn't expect you to be one miss, but I hoped we could have a pleasant chat if you don't mind?"

Since I was still curious, I agreed and got heard the situation with a cup of tea.

The tailor and owner of this shop have suddenly disappeared about 2 months ago, leaving a single note behind that says he will look for 'true beauty'. It would have been fine if he had told them how long he will be gone for, and at least done the orders that have yet to be finished.

Without much of a choice, his apprentices have to not only take care of the store but also work on the orders he didn't touch. The result usually ends up with what I just saw, since their techniques can't really be compared to the owner. And soon enough the business has taken a nosedive, well if nothing was to be done soon, there wouldn't be a shop when their master is back.
One of the apprentices was apparently the man in front of me.

To be honest, their clothes weren't that bad to be angry about, it's probably the customers expectations that were betrayed by the difference in em...? Sewing style?
Anyways, I told him that I could actually advertise their clothes in a ball if they will make a costume for me, but since I don't have money, it's really a lose or win situation. The man said he needs to tell the others first before he can decide anything.
________________________

One week later, I nervously attended the ball in male clothes, dressed in white with silver embroideries of leaves and a red cape on my shoulders. My white hair was tied in a low ponytail and the costume was more eye-catching than I thought. Fake wing was placed on my back, making it clear that I should play as something like a male fairy.

I seem to have caught some attention, for sometimes peoples would come to ask me something, I would just honestly answer who made my clothes and tell my identity is a secret. Afterall... I don't think, I'm the best lier here and I'm supposed to be Sir Sirius. But all in all, I did enjoy the ball for a bit.

@Lenaia

 

"A true vampire? I thought they're all gone, yes? Well, one appeared recently so maybe they're making a comeback after all? I'd like to capture another if it's possible." The construct uncharacteristically began tapping its fingers on the table. "Well, it's got nothing to do with you, yes? Your reward, seven large coppers and four guild points. Do take care, Dantia."

 

"Why did you keep your identity secret? It's not like his name isn't written on the invitation, yes? Anyway, you did as asked so reward is eleven copper coins and four guild points. We'll inform the client that you're done."

 

Spoiler: village chief's misconducts?

After Dantia listened to the client's angry rant, she thought hard on how to do what the client asked. There was a strange thing, though, that the client met her outside the village.

"I don't want this to be leaked. The chief has many ears with his position!" He said.

But as the concerned village was spread upon her eyes, it was unlike the other villages she has been to; it was small, fences are simply stakes made of branches and dried vines. Only so few small wooden huts as houses and almost no cattles in sight. Even the farms villagers worked on were too small to be considered.

Nevertheless, the villagers look healthy enough, small kids were laughing and helping their parents with whatever work there was. Some adults could be seen walking towards the nearby hill bringing their kids and some crude weapons.

"Nya...? The report looks inaccurate now... Hm. Maybe I'll go greet some people nyao."

Like that, she quickly had small conversations with the villagers. What she found was similar to her preliminary assessment, that the village was doing OK even if it looked poor. The main trade for the village wasn't grains or vegetables, they were pelts and dried meats. Most villagers were hunters.

"The settlement here looks pretty empty, eh? We have huts spread in those hills and woods to allow us some rest and butcher our games as soon as possible. This here isn't really used much! Hahahaa!" Said an elderly villager with muscles still visible from his arms.
"I don't know why you're here, miss. But I don't think we can welcome you lavishly. If you're ok with boar jerky without salt and simple boiled veggies, we'd be grateful."

That elder was the chief of the village. She only found out after she was invited to his house. Even the chief house wasn't any different than the rest of the houses, it was more like a hut but with a very humble kitchen in the corner. There were no bed, they used thick cloth as futon.

After a humble dinner she excused herself, "gonna try hunting around here!" She said.

She didn't. She only took a good distance to observe the village once again in the dark, looking for any movements she could use as reasons to make the client's claim justified.

"But this is boooring... Nothing else but annoying bugs! Sheesh, this village is like a gathering of hermits, not a single sound after the sun set."

Out of boredom and annoyed by bugs, she climbed a tree. It was then she saw someone exited the village.

"Hmm... Too dark to see who that is. Guess I'll have to tail him a bit."

The figure walked towards opposite direction the hunters took in the day, "but maybe there's a nice catch lurking there?" She thought.

Dantia followed him for about half an hour, passed some big trees and small dunes until she saw the figure stopped.

The visibility was good since there were torches and a small fire acting as a stove surrounded by dirt blocks. There were 3 people, each with weapons.

Dantia tried to get near without being spotted to eavesdrop them.

"I requested adventurers today, but it was a single girl. She looks very peaceful..."
"Idiot. You requested it in the guild? Of course this is what we got!"
"Should've tried in slums or alleys."
"What's done is done. Now what do we do?"
"You lead that adventurer to our favor."
"How?"
"You think it, do I look like a scholar?"
"You mean tactician. But yeah you look dumb no matter what."
"Exactly! I'm good with making people fear me but I don't wanna think hard!"
"...so why hiring an adventurer if we can just use your face instead? It's free and easier that way."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Stuuuuuuupid people! Me too!"
"Then what now? Still go with leading that adventurer?"
"Yea sure. I can't think of anything better."
"Then I'll find her tomorrow morning."

The figure Dantia tailed was the client, Goel. He walked back to the village, mumbled about his plan to deceive Dantia to their favor along the way.

Of course Dantia didn't take that well. When they arrived halfway through the distance, Dantia showed up behind him.

"Any last words?"
With flames floating around her and both swords ready, Dantia took her stance.

"You...! Wait I can explain!" He hurriedly said, "please!"

"Then hurry and say it!" Dantia barked.
"Hiii! Yes!" Then he proceed to kneel before her.

He explained about their goal. They were a small time bandit group aiming for an easy living. They weren't from the area and they found the village by chance. At first they thought of raiding the village but they learned that the villagers were more than capable to drive off bandits. Then they devised a plan to overthrow the chief to change the way the villagers live and allowing them to profit. That plan included deceiving a third party to start disputes in the village. If lucky, the village chief will be killed without the bandits doing anything.

Of course the plan has failed with Dantia being a naturally peaceful person.

"That's all! Please let me go!" He plead.
"Nope, you're going with me to the village. Maybe to Nagrand as well." Dantia firmly said as she prepared a hard vine she cut along her way back to tie him up.

Suddenly Goel lunged towards her, holding a dagger that was pointed to her stomach.
"Not if you die!"

Dantia was prepared for his retaliation, and in her hands were already a long vine instead of her weapons. She sidestepped, stretched her hands to the spot she were before, and just like that Goel was wrapped up with the vine.

To make sure he didn't struggle along the way, she knocked him down.

He immediately brought to the chief, while Dantia witnessed how the village handled the problem.

"Take him to the knights!" They said, "and find the rest of them!"

With Dantia's cooperation, she led the chief and a group of armed villagers to where she saw the rest of the bandits and apprehended them safely.

In the next morning, Dantia rode a carriage for transporting meats. the tied up culprits were kind of buried beneath bags of pelts and meats so that they could not escape.

"Hahahaa! Thanks to you we get extra coins for handing them to the knights!" The chief heartily laughed.
"Here's your share, missy. Thanks again!"
He gave Dantia a small pouch, of which she could hear jiggling sounds of metal coins inside.

"It's not the chief. Well I got some bonyus anyways~"

Spoiler: notes

Got a small pouch of coins, a share of the bandit apprehension reward from the knights
[[Please give me the number of coins she got, I don't know how much is appropriate]]

@AliceShiki

 

((Go with some 5-15ish Large Copper Coins I guess? Depends on how big is your share of it.))

Well... This is a troublesome Report... You definitely did not clear the request, but you did solve all problems related to it...

Mmmmmmmmmmm, I guess this is fine, much better than having you make things worse by playing along with their plan for sure. The reward will be of 4 Guild Points and 9 Large Copper Coins.

Take care now Dantia-san~

 

Spoiler: fishy fishes met fits and fists

"Yes, yes. That would be 10 large copper coins, now go in for instructions. Next!"

The situation on the recruitment site as the guard captain told Dantia was crowded with people.

"A girl... Now this is tough. Well, 20 large coppers for you, miss."

Dantia flinched when she heard the amount.
"What the hell? It's twice as the others!"

The recruiter didn't seem too concerned about her protest, instead he said, "girls ain't really suitable for the job, ma'am. Insurances and medical fees are one thing, but, you know, girls have more things to keep... Like keeping the belly empty of kids..."

As she understood that, her face went red in shame and anger. But she also understood that the words hold truth. After all, her butts and boobs have experienced rough hands and fingers having walked only this queue alone.

"Forget it. I won't pay more, I can handle myself with the risks. 10 large coppers nya!"
"No can do girlie, it's administration. 20 or go home."
"Fine. Go home then!"
"Next!"

As she walked off, jeers were raised and hands were extended. Unlike her entrance, her exit of the site was less prudent. She slapped hands, slipped between crowds, even bit some lewd fingers.

As she reported her current findings to Hogger the client, he made a remark.
"Fishier than I thought. Recruiting guards never has been asking for that much coins. At most we would ask for 5 small coppers to cover the numbered tags fee and that's it."

Scratching his head, he looked at Dantia with troubled face.
"Sorry, can you go deeper? We guards can't really move without reports or proofs and somehow there hasn't been any. Get us something so we can make our move."

The guard captain advised her to sneak in their rented building after the activities died down, sometimes around dusk. "If my hunch is right, they'll drink and spill the beans themselves." He said, "on my way patrolling I saw them bunch, really oozing that smell of that type of guys if you know what I mean."

Sunset. Dantia prepared to sneak around. As Hogger said, the activities died down and the applicants have gone to the nearby tavern.

"Should be here," she faced the building, "maybe from a window?"
Then she circled around for windows with no people around it.

When she found one such window, she heard people talking with voices loud enough to be heard from her position. The voice was from a room right above the window she was about to enter. She decided to go there, and luckily the wall has a small protrusion just above the window. She could climb up and eavesdrop without entering the building and that would make her escape easy and quick should she need it.

And so she climbed up and spied. There were a number of people and sacks of coins in front of them.
"Maan, it's almost a week and people still believing us."
"Right. I can't believe it either, usually in 3 days we'd get reported and we had to flee. This place is soo good!"
"Either way we stayed too long already, make a plan to go out of the city, we already have more than enough."
"What about the people in the basement though? Are we still going to sell them?"
"Of course... More coins for us. Not like anyone here's lusting for fellow men."
"Heh. They acted smart but they cried after I gave them lessons. Pussies."

They didn't realize that there was a pair of eyes and ears just outside their window, scanning their crimes. The girl properly memorized the content of their talks as well as caught a glance of some papers nearby the window, near enough for her to read the content briefly.

She went back to the guard HQ and found Hogger.
"I'll explain my finding, but do you have something to write on?" She asked.
She then wrote them down while explaining briefly for Hogger:
-pretty much a scam, experienced and organized group
-also a slave trader, there were documents of slave trading and their clients
-applicants who doubted them were pitted against their henchmen, silenced and enslaved
-they keep the slaves in the basement.

"Thank you, with this we can finally regard it as a proper report of a crime. I'll properly settle the request on the guild after I subdue them. MEN! WE'RE MOVING OUT!"

With the Captain's roar, guards were assembled and moved to the site.

"Is Hogger done...?" Said Dantia with a bored look on her face.

@Quaesitor

 

"Yes, you did well. I think the guards caught everyone, although there was some fighting. Here is your reward, 10 Large Copper Coins, and 4 Guild Points."