Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Don’t underestimate goblins, please! part

“Welcome back, master”

Mia greeted me at the door, Sera saw this and frowned inmediately.

“What are you doing? it’s not your place to greet mister Ryu at the entrance”

Mochi’s tails were lifted in a stiff position and the amarok was wagging his tail rapidly, both were standing next to Mia.

“Actually miss Sera, it is”

“You! Mister Ryu, you should get rid of this thing before it causes more trouble”

“Please Sera, I’m too tired to deal with this right now. I just want to take a bath and rest”

.....

“Of course mister Ryu, I’ll fetch the water for you”

Bob hurried inside to look for Veronika, he was eager to tell her about his success, they’ll move out today after dinner so we won’t be seeing each other as often as I would like to.

Today’s dinner was a lot more lively than usual, everyone was boasting their performance at the table and laughing heartedly at their own failures, but I was feeling a bit down.

“What’s the matter Ryu, you’ve been awfully quiet today”

Luke asked blatantly and I couldn’t avoid looking at Bob. Everyone fell silent, Claire and Sera stood up to clean up the dishes while Veronika, Mia and Taffy followed them to the kitchen, but Luke himself didn’t take the hint.

I tried faking a cough to let him know I wanted to speak alone with Bob but he remained at the table, then I tried staring at Luke right in the eye and then looking at the door but he remained unfazed.

“I have something to discuss with Bob”

“That’s ok, we’re all friends, you can say anything in fron of me”

Luke said shamelessly.

“uhm, so, how do I say this. Bob, are you still mad at me for what happened at the hill?”

“Oh! it’s about the time you let people die in front of Bob and he was so traumatized he couldn’t even get out of bed without Veronika’s help?”

Luke sneered.

“What? did that happen?”

“Yeah”

Bob scartched his cheek.

“I’m sorry Bob, but...”

“Before you say anything else, that’s in the past. I’m actually glad things turned out this way. It’s sad that so many people died but...”

“Ok you guys are being stupid and I’m here to settle things”

Luke proclaimed.

“This doesn’t concern you Luke”

Bob tried to quiet him down but Luke continued.

“You’ve been moping about this for way too long. Bob feels bad whenever you’re around because he never apologized properly for the way he treated you but he still feels you let people die on purpose to profit, and Ryu is awkward around Bob everytime they see each other because he misses him. If you pull your heads out of your asses you’ll realize the truth”

Luke said with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

“And what truth would that be?”

I ask him fearing he may say something stupid.

“We are all just horny teenagers in a world we don’t understand. We were forcibly transported in here without a say, we’ve been doing our best just to survive and I’d say we have been doing a good job at that. But to think we have a huge responsibility on our shoulders, to save mankind and protect everyone is just too much.”

“That actually makes sense, except for the horny part”

“No, especially the horny part. What else did you expect from people our age with no experience with girls after being sent into such an enabling world, when I first arrived at the brothel I even thought I wouldn’t mind living a depraved life like that. And you guys are not better than me, Ryu, you always look down on me for falling to my lower desires but I’ve heard from Helena that you were going at it like rabbits in heat. Now, lets focus on the real important thing, we need to rise up in the adventurer’s guild rank as fast as we can and you’re the only one who can help us. So stop being stupid and do your job properly, party leader”

To say im shocked would be an understatement.

“Since when you’re so mature Luke?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that”

Bob laughed, but then became serious again.

“After seeing that hellish picture at the hill masacre I was about to give up, if it wasn’t for Veronika I don’t know what would have happened to me. I was in a really dark place and blamed it on everyone, but now I understand that it was all due to my own weakness and I won’t let something like that happen again”

After settling things up we discussed for a while our future plans and wished for the other heroes to be here with us. It wasn’t just so we can all become adventurers and finish our mission, we were all feeling a bit nostalgic. Bob then picked up his belongings and headed out to the inn Veronika had chosen, but not before making it clear that it was just so they can have the much needed privacy they longed for.

The next day I woke up feeling renewed and, although Bob had left to live with Veronika somewhere else, he came early in the morning to go to the adventurer’s guild together.

Instructor Lorenzo was already waiting for us with a displeased expression on his face.

“Well now, look who decided to show up”

“Are we late?”

“And you have the guts to ask, didn’t Ebi explain you guys that you are supposed to be in here at dawn break everyday for the following month while you’re on your trial period?”

We shook our heads at the same time and Lorenzo covered his face with a hand.

“Anyways, it doesn’t matter the reason, since you’re late you’re up for a punishment so I took the liberty of choosing the first quest you’re taking. It’s a goblin hunt”

He said in a solemn tone of voice wich contrasted heavily with Bob’s and Lukes cheerful celebration.

“Yes! finally!”

They even high fived. Sera and I were completely in the dark so we just stood awkwardly next to the merry duo.

“You shouldn’t celebrate, this is going to be a dangerous quest, more so considering it’s the first time you do this. I’ll be going just as precaution but you are the ones doing the job”

They seemed to be even more happy, it didn’t matter what did Lorenzo tried to say to lower their mood, they became even more excited. Especially when he mentioned the money reward would be low, instead the reputation reward would be higher than usual.

In the end he gave up in trying to make them feel punished and just headed out of the guild.

He was carrying a backpack that looked heavy and walked ahead of us, since I’ve spent most of the time indoors ever since I came to Celarent I took the chance to sightsee.

We were fully geared but only carried light equipment so we were able to keep up with Lorenzo even after leaving the city.

We headed towards a forest close by, as soon as we entered he took a rear position, Sera walked next to me and Bob and Like were on the front.

This is actually a pretty safe formation, the forest wasn’t as dense as the one we came from initially so it wasn’t hard for us to follow the path.

Lorenzo didn’t gave us even a single hint about what are we supposed to do, he simply said that if we saw a goblin we should kill it. Leaving aside the rewards, it seems like another test.

As hours passed I realized we weren’t going to find any goblin in the forest so I adressed the party.

“I don’t think there’s any goblins around, so I think we will need to spend the night in here”

“That’s actually correct kid, the first adventure is always to teach adventurers the same lesson. Whenever you take on a quest you should be prepared for everything, that’s why I brought food, water and a tent. This quest can’t be completed in a single day since goblins are far away from the city, I hope the hunger and the cold night will engrave the lesson on your hearts... hey, what are you guys doing?”

Lorenzo asked after seeing everyone had bright smiles on their faces and looked at me with glimmering eyes.

“Fine, I’ll do some cooking. Bob, Luke you know what to do, Sera come with me to gather ingredients”

Without further adue everyone started their tasks. Bob gathered enough materials to make a shelter, Luke made quick use of evereything Bob brought and prepared a small shack that was big enough for us four to fit in without problems. Sera and I grabbed many fruits, vegetables and I even managed to kill a few birds.

Sera skillfuly prepared the birds for cooking while I made the vegetable soup, I took the chance to mix some herbs and spices I always bring with me and used them to cook the birds on the campfire.