Vol 2 Chapter 4: The Joy of Grinding Quests

And there they went. Really, what a bunch of adorable kids. Hope they’ve learned their lesson on not underestimating their enemies.

But why would that boar be here in the first place? It’s a C-rank monster. If its habitat is really around here, then the quest to gather materials from those E-rank monsters shouldn’t be classified as E-rank quests in the first place.

Hmm, maybe it just so happens that the boar wanders off on its own all the way here?

I watched as they slowly faded to the distance. They should make it to the city safely on their own. I didn’t really see any other dire boards around when I walked through the area.

“Well…” I turned to my fairy summon, which still hadn’t left yet by the way, “It’s just you and me now.” I gave her a wry smile.

“Maaasterrrr!”

Before I could do anything, I was assaulted by softness, as she threw herself onto me, pressing her breasts into my face. I was lucky that she was floating with her wings, or else I might have been knocked down by her weight.

“U-umphhh...umpphhhhhh!”

Her two mounds weren’t that big, but thanks to her grabbing the back of my head so tightly, I could barely breathe. At the very least she smelled really good up this close. It was a fresh and pleasant smell that reminded me of that clean air you could breathe in in the middle of a forest right when the sun just went up.

I would enjoy the sensation, if not for the fact that I was slowly suffocating in the process.

“C-can’t breathe…”

“A-ah, s-sorry!” She quickly released me. “I-I just got carried away! I was so grateful to see that you’re still alive! The last time you summoned me, I couldn’t protect you at all from that spell! I thought you had died from it!” she said, tears starting to pool in her eyes.

“Couldn’t summons feel when their master is dead though? Since their bond would be severed and all?”

“...N-now that you mention it, t-that’s right! I would feel it if you actually have died! Ehe...ehehehehehe!”

...This fairy really isn’t too bright, is she?

“Well, I guess I have to apologize to you, don’t I? I summoned you twice without paying for the cost.”

“...Oh, that’s right! I’ve totally forgot about that!”

“Welp, guess that means you don’t really care whether I do it or—”

“N-nonononono! I want the headpat, Master! The headpat and the praise!” She promptly interrupted me.

“Alright, alright.” I chuckled. I’m having too much fun teasing this fairy. Though it felt weird though, now that she’s actually bigger than me. And now, I actually can see her as a normal girl.

Yeah, those boobs are pretty soft… Maybe I should ask her to let me grope them.

...N-no, I can’t do that! That’s abusing her summoning contract, isn’t it? Sexual favors certainly aren't part of the package!

I quickly threw the idea out of the window. Not only that I didn’t want her to see me as a pervert, I remembered the folktales from my old world, about how it’s dangerous to fall in love with the Fair Folk. Though I have to question whether that applies here, especially since this Fey is nowhere near as cunning or tricky as the Fey I’ve read in those old books.

“There, there. You’ve done a good job. Without you, I’d already be dead. Twice.” I said as I patted her head.

“Hehe, thank you, Master!” Her wings fluttered faster, showing her excitement. “Oh, that reminds me, how about Earth Sprite? You haven’t paid her either, have you?”

Oh right. I completely forgot.

“Earth Sprite! Come out!” I ordered. She immediately manifested in front of me.

“Hmph.” She huffed, throwing her head to the side.

Oh crap, she’s mad, isn’t she?

Well, might as well do it right away.

“Hep!”

“Kyah!”

I lifted her up from behind and hugged her tightly. Whispering to her ear, I said, “Thank you for saving me back then from the snake. I really would’ve died with you, you know.”

And then, she suddenly disappeared.

H-huh? What just—

“Hehe, I think she’s just shy, Master!” The other fairy giggled. “She’s blushing terribly, you know, when you did that!”

Ooh, really? Damn it, I want to see that!

“Well, Master, if you got nothing else for me to do, I’ll take my exit!”

She vanished as well, but not before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I smiled.

Even if I got no one else, I still have my summons with me, I suppose.

----------

Afterwards, I extracted the meat from the still dead boar, knowing that I could use it as food for quite a good while. Would have to buy some salt later though, to preserve them. 

As I cut through its thick skin however, I started to reminisce how Father taught me to do it for what seemed like an eternity ago.

"That's not how you do it, Hugo! You have to cut it horizontally, like this!"

...

"Good! Good! That's how you do it! You're now one step closer to becoming a real adventurer!"

...

Drip...

...Oh…

Goddamnit, I'm crying again. 

Heh, glad that no one is around to see me being uncool like this yet again.

I soon finished, and continued my journey onward to gather those horns. As for the remaining carcass, I burned them, just so there wouldn't be an unsightly and smelly corpse left around.

I got as many horns as I could from the rabbits. The quest said that the more I got, the more I would get paid. And after a certain amount, it would count as two quests. And then three. And then four. And so on.

I burned their corpses too once I extracted the horn. Their meat was inedible unfortunately. Supposedly, from the monster encyclopedia I had read, it tasted really, really bad.

And then, when night fell, I returned back to the port town.

---------

My client was apparently some alchemist with his own shop in the city, so I headed there straight away. I needed the money. Bad. My stomach was grumbling and I hadn't gotten an inn yet either.

It was a decently sized building in the middle of the city. I immediately could tell it was an alchemist's laboratory, thanks to the large sign the owner had put outside.

Heh, Ravan's Alchemic Atelier, huh? The client really did state his name was Ravan.

I knocked on the front door, patiently waiting until the person inside to respond.

"Hello?"

The one to open the door was a middle-aged man, perhaps on the older side. He had a white goatee and a monocle, and he wore a long grey robe.

"Sir Ravan?" I asked

"That is me, child," he replied.

"I brought you the horns you want, Sir." I gave him a smile.

"Hmm?" He adjusted his monocle. "You're an adventurer? You brought me horned rabbit's horns?"

"Yes, Sir!" I continued my smile. "A lot of them in fact."

"Good, good." He smiled in response, stroking his goatee. "Come in. I'll fetch you some tea."

I followed him inside.

Whoa, so this is how an alchemist's workshop looks…

First impression? It was messy. Really messy. Even worse than my own room.

Second impression? It looked like the laboratory I used in high school as part of my chemistry lessons. Only far more disorganized.

Third impression? The strange smell in the stale air overwhelmed me, nearly making me gag. Urgh, this must be the combination of all the smells of his potions and drugs. Can he even work in a place like this?

"Come, come. Here. Sit here."

He shoved an entire pile of books off the corner of one of the tables before gesturing for me to sit down on the chair near it.

"Umm, sorry, Sir. But I'm in a hurry right now so I can't stay and chat." I explained to him. I didn't hold anything against him, only that I seriously wasn't comfortable taking any drinks from an alchemist I knew nothing about, especially since he seemed to be living alone. What if he was the mad scientist type and he ended up drugging my tea with some sleeping or paralyzing poison, just so he could test his experimental drugs on me? Brr, I shivered just thinking about it.

"A-alright then… now come… show me the horns…"

One by one, I took the horns from my Bag of Holding. It took quite some time, since I managed to get around a hundred of them.

When I finished, there was an entire pile of them on the table. And the alchemist was looking at me with awe.

"S-so many… Let me count them first.”

I watched worriedly as he did his own count of the horns. Uh oh, if he doesn't have enough money to pay for all of them...

"Exactly 100 horns. And I believe my rate was 20 copper coins for 10 horns. Which means you have earned 200 copper coins. Or would you rather have that in silver instead?”

“In silver please!” I smiled, sighing internally in the process. He could pay after all…

He then gave me two silver coins, which was the equivalent of two hundred copper coins. I put it inside my purse before putting that inside my bag.

“Thank you, Sir!” I replied, turning around to leave.

“Wait, you forgot this."

I turned around again to see him holding a metallic card, quite similar in size with my own Adventurer Card.

"You need this to confirm the quest's completion, right?"

"Oh, r-right." I completely forgot.

"Quest confirmation. Adventurer has supplied 100 horns." He spoke. It responded by brightening up for a bit before dimming again.

"There. That should be enough, right?" He gave it to me with a smile.

"R-right…" I took it from him.

"Thank you again, young man. These horns will help me greatly in making my potions."

And with that, my first quest was complete.

---------

I decided to report the completion tomorrow. For now, I needed some food, an inn, and a bath as well, if possible. I hadn't taken the latter since forever.

In the end, I took a cheap inn and ate in a cheap pub. The bath though, I decided to not waste my money on the town's public baths. I could just use my water magic in my room, cleaning it up afterwards with the same magic. Ah, isn't magic just convenient?

One night at the inn made me spend 20 copper coins, and the food at the pub in total took 5 copper coins. So I now only had 1 silver coin, 7 large copper coins, and 5 copper coins.

I wouldn't waste money needlessly. I would save in case of rainy days in the future.

Or so I thought, until I realized just how bad the stuff you could get from going cheap like this.

First of all, the food at the pub was just hard bread and water. And they both tasted terrible.

Second, the inn I stayed in was barely holding itself intact, with bits and pieces of the ceiling missing, and moss growing in the walls here and there. There were no windows, and the bed was as hard as it could be. And you didn’t even have any locks in the door, which made my paranoid self barely able to sleep.

And that paranoia was well-justified, as in the middle of the night, this burly man sneaked into my room. He’s either here to steal my stuff or to just kill me and rob me while I’m asleep. 

It didn’t matter, as I knocked him out with just a single Wind spell to the head.

I reported the incident to the inn owner immediately, but the old man just shrugged, and told me that he would tell the town guard to come and arrest him the next morning, as if this was a common occurrence.

That’s it! I’m never going to be a cheapskate ever again! Not only is it unpleasant, it’s dangerous as well!

---------

The next morning, I hurriedly left that wretched inn to go back to the Guild.

Nice, she’s free! I thanked my good fortunes that the beautiful receptionist from yesterday wasn’t occupied by another adventurer.

“Miss! I want to report a quest completion!” I cheerfully said to her, taking out the card that alchemist had given me and putting it on the counter.

“Congratulations on completing your first quest, Sir Charles!” Ooh, her lovely voice and smile send tingles all over my body. “Let me look at that card first for a sec.”

…

“O-oh my, this is... “

“Hmm? What’s the matter, Miss?”

"N-nothing!" She flashed a nervous smile. "I just didn't expect for a new adventurer to be able to do this in just a day! 100 horned rabbits? That's amazing!"

"Thank you, Miss!" I brightly smiled. Internally however, I was screaming in delight. Yes, Miss! Praise me more! You can pay my head if you want! Or even better, you can give me a hug and bury my face in those two lovely breasts of yours!

"And with that, I have to congratulate you once again! You’ve been promoted to E-rank!”

“R-really? Just from one quest?”

“Yes, really! It’s not just from one quest. The client’s minimal amount of horns were just ten after all! And since you got one hundred, it’s similar to if you have completed 10 E-rank quests, which are more than enough to make you rise up in the ranks!”

I then surrendered my adventurer card for a short while so that the rank part could be updated.

“There! Now you can take D-rank quests if you want! Don’t rush them though, if you feel you can’t handle them yet!”

“Don’t worry, Miss! I think I can handle them just fine.” I smiled smugly. Heh, she didn’t know that I was already a Master-level mage after all.

---------

Afterwards, I decided to stay for a good while in the port town, taking quests while staying at the cheapest inn to gather money for my journey ahead. There would be no point going ahead to the countryside, only to run out of money halfway since little villages wouldn’t have any Adventurer Guilds that could give me any jobs. Just like in my previous world, you had to go to the cities to get the most amount of jobs.

I wasn’t in any rush to get to the Demon Continent, especially since I realized that there might be a chance of Sherry not being in her village anymore. After all, the promise we made said that she would return once Marina finished her education, which would be one year from now. She might already be in the process of traveling back to Marchen.

Which was why I would occasionally ask the receptionists in the Guild for her description—a girl around twelve years old, a sword user, unexpectedly strong physically, and probably have a violent temper (I kinda doubt she would be able to overcome that part of her, even after she grows up).

They never saw her though, which was fine by me. I didn’t expect them to. If she already left, she probably would still be in the Demon Continent by now.

Speaking of not seeing someone, I didn’t see those trio for a good while afterwards. Seeing how they would have to go to the Guild to take and report their own quests, I might just be unlucky in the matter.

The D-rank quests I took sent me further away from the city. There were quests of me going along to the seas with a fisherman’s boat, acting as their bodyguards. One of them however actually tricked me, using me to go hunt a sea monster instead. That sea monster was Lightning Shark, a C-rank monster. And he hired an E-rank to do it, just because he didn't want to spend the money. He took me outside of the normal region where fishermen would fish, right into the territory of the Lightning Sharks. He wanted their fins, as it would fetch him a nice amount of money. He planned for me to protect the ship from the shark’s attack as part of my escort duty, thus “technically” not lying to me. He probably thought I was just an idiot kid who could easily be fooled.

Of course, I had no problem killing it. And I took the fins afterwards for my own, not caring in the slightest of his protests and intimidations. In fact, I ended up scaring him back, as I stated I could just kill him if I wanted to, after I knocked out his pair of bodyguards with my magic. The rest of the crew quickly followed suit. They probably had no love for their greedy captain in the first place. Or they decided it really wasn’t worth their lives to risk opposing me.

After what I did to those mages back at that icy mountain, I really felt I could kill other humans if I chose to. And perhaps that showed in my eyes, which made them so afraid of me in the first place.

Afterwards, I gave a formal complaint to the Guild afterwards. As an adventurer, you could do that if the quest giver lied in their quest description. Imagine if I was actually an ordinary E-rank adventurer. I could’ve ended up dead.

Other than that quest, I also took trips to the west and east of the city, to the beaches. I still got D-rank quests asking for monster parts or herbs that only grew near the ocean. Examples were Sand Tortoises, which armorsmiths wanted for their shells, and Amphibious Sharks, which weaponsmiths wanted for their teeth. Now that I think about it, I don’t really know how weapons and armors are made in this world. How would they even use those? Maybe just slip them in with the usual steel to make a better alloy?

And thus, before I knew it, I reached D-rank at last. Quite ironic how I reached E-rank in just a single day, yet I needed around a month to do the same for the next step. Well, it couldn’t be helped. The fisherman escort quests would require a couple of days, even if the sea monsters I encountered were just D-rank weaklings. And sometimes you couldn’t find enough monsters or herbs to gather in the wild, so you had to spend the night there to try again next morning. Thankfully, I had bought camping equipment for that exact purpose, though I had to spend quite a good chunk of my money to do so.

And I decided that it was time for me to move on. Deeper into the Holy Empire’s territory.