Chapter 41: Your first murder.

Chapter 41: Your first murder.

Cerion and I stared at the guild leader nervously. He was tapping his fingers against his desk, deep in thought. When we had returned to Reito, we had done as planned and inquired about getting a tier 3 quest. Doran hadn't been willing to help us out, so we had needed to go to the guild leader with our request after all.

He hadn't seemed enthused by the idea, but was at least willing to entertain it. Eventually, he spoke.

"We don't have any good tier 3 quests that I could send you on with confidence, right now."

Cerion and I deflated.

"But, there is a quest that could satisfy your need for experience, though there won't be any monetary reward involved. That being said, this quest could either be less dangerous, or more dangerous for you two."

Cerion and I looked at one another and nodded. We didn't care about any monetary rewards in the first place. Over the past month, my fortune had grown to nearly two platinum, or 193 gold coins. A large part of that had come from the tsuchigumo quest, which had awarded us both 35 gold. That meant that I wouldn't need any source of income for at least several months, considering my current expenses. As for Cerion... well, I didn't think he would ever need a source of income. Because of that, we both agreed.nove(l)bi(n.)com

"That's fine, sir. We need the experience most of all, and we're not scared of a little danger. Why are you willing to send us on a quest that could be more dangerous, though? What do you mean by 'more or less dangerous' in the first place?"

"That's because I'm thinking of letting you participate in a 'low danger' tier 4 quest."

We both gasped, Cerion moving to protest a moment later.

"What?! Tier 4? I don't know if we're ready for that yet, sir!"

"Don't worry, the quest should only involve one tier 4 enemy, and the reason why there's no reward involved is that I was thinking of sending you two along with Emer and Cara on their own quest. The reason why I even considered it at all, is because you two are already somewhat involved in this case."

Already involved? That couldn't be good...

"So what is this quest about?" I asked.

"I think you would better read this for yourself." Andross replied.

Quest: Investigate the bandit compound.

Tier: 4

Danger level: Low

Recommended party size: 1-2

Location: Thalia hills

Suggested arrival time: Undetermined

Quest poster: Witch hunter guild master of Reito branch

Description: Bandits have been found to be involved in smuggling an illegal invasive species into Roa, causing the deaths of thousands of citizens and putting thousands more in danger. Other forces are speculated to be involved as well. Verify these allegations and find proof if true. Defeat the tier 4 bandit lord 'Kazach' and his lieutenants for a larger reward.

Reward: 5 platinum if involvement is verified, 2 platinum for each bit of evidence provided.

Bounty:

Bandit lord Kazach(tier 4): 2 platinum

Lieutenant Bor(Tier 3): 15 gold

Lieutenant Nareo(Tier 3): 13 gold

Lieutenant Ueron(Tier 3): 16 gold.

...

"As you can tell, this could become a very dangerous mission, if Kazach decides to target you two instead of Emer and Cara. That being said, Nareo is an early tier 3, which I believe either of you could defeat on your own. Ueron and Bor are dangerous, however. Stats of tier 3s range from 150 all the way to 900, meaning that a highly levelled tier 3 can be incredibly dangerous to both of you. Fighting two on one, you might be able to win. If you decided to take this quest, plan ahead carefully. I should also warn you that there will be many tier 2 and tier 1 bandits as well, so prepare yourselves."

Emer smiled when he saw me approach and spoke up.

"So you two laddies will be acompanying us then? Well, A' look forward to workin' wit ya."

Cara chimed in on Emer's introduction.

"I do as well."

Cerion put on a bright smile and walked up to introduce himself.

"Hi, my name is Cerion! I am Arthur's partner, we've been questing for about a month now."

I walked up beside him.

"We've already been introduced, so I won't bore you with a repeat. It's nice to work with you two again."

Emer laughed.

"Well, thas' nice of ya! Anyway, 'ave you two done yer preparations for this quest? Me an Cara are rarin' to go!"

With a polite smile, Cerion nodded in affirmative.

"We have, sir. We're ready to go at any time."

A few minutes later we were leaving the city. As we passed the city gates, Emer walked up to me and started whispering.

"Andross 'as informed us o' yer situation, so feel free to use yer mount an' mana."

I nodded in thanks. I thought they had known about it from when they escorted me to the Coldwater palace, but I supposed he just wanted to remind me.

The party summoned their mounts when we were a small distance away from the city. I joined Cerion on Alia for a while, because I wanted to wait until nightfall before I summoned Revan, just in case.

After a few hours of travel, I felt comfortable enough to summon him anyway. Like that, we travelled for a few more hours, until the sun disappeared beneath the horizon.

We set up a simple camp with a few tents and logs around a campfire, which Emer kept active with his fire magic. Cara set up a barrier around the site that would keep intruders out and dissipate the wind that passed through it. The wonders of magic sure made life on the road convenient, huh.

As we sat around the campfire, Cerion asked Emer and Cara the same question he had asked me.

"So, I asked Arthur this before, but I was wondering how you guys dealt with the first time you killed another person? I -I'm a little intimidated by the idea, is all."

Emer hummed.

"Well..., me' first kill certainly wasn't pleasant. A thug was harrassin' me motha', to the point that I was getting scared he would do sometin' to 'er. One time, I found 'im smackin' me mom 'round. I was a kid, still, so I did what A could. I pulled 'is own dagga' from its sheath and stabbed 'im in the back 'fore he could react. He died soon afta'. I puked my guts out, o' course. Spent a few nights cryin', and, eventually, a' pulled myself together again. You learn to live with yer choices, Cerion. That's how I felt, at least."

Cerion turned pensive at his story. It seemed that the sight of his mother getting beaten had affected Emer quite badly. I could understand. If a thug did that to my mother, I would feel like shit, too. Cara spoke up next.

"I killed a party member that I had entered a dungeon with, after he tried to kill me to take my items. My reaction wasn't dissimilar to Emer's. You get used to it, after a while."

She had puked, too? Could she not stand the sight of blood or something? Poor Cara. At least she had grown accustomed to it. Emer turned to me.

"What bout you, Arthur?"

I told them the same story that I had told Cerion earlier in the day. They seemed to sympathise with my frustrations. Both battles had been rather difficult, after all, though the tsuchigumo brood mother had been much stronger. After a moment of silence, Emer spoke up.

"Well, I guess it's good that ya' didn't have a hard time dealin' with ya' first kill. I suppose that's a positive of yer affinity. I still see that bastard's face in my dreams sometimes. Yer lucky."

I didn't really understand what he was talking about. Why would you see a dead man in your dreams? Was he being haunted? Did my affinity keep ghosts away? That would be rather lucky, wouldn't it? Cerion and Cara didn't seem so sure, however. Something about the way Cerion behaved told me I was missing something.

We changed topics and talked some more until we headed to bed.

I had a dreamless sleep.