Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Avoid fatigue during quests, please!

“This is the same road I took when I came from Ironwoods!”

Sera had a huge smile on her face as a mild evening breeze played with her long blond hair.

“Yeah, we came from this road too. I heard from the villagers on mountainside there was a shortcut somewhere that leads to the forest in the west, but this road seemed to be easier”

Ryu was excited to be closer to Rina, even if just a little.

“Easier? we encountered bears, wasps and other nasty creatures on the way here”

“That’s not uncommon, but this road is actually a lot safer than the one you just mentioned. Whoever that villager was, he surely didn’t have good intentions. Sending people through the forest road is really dangerous”

Risa explained.

.....

“Is it? We went to the forest to take a goblin subjugation quest and it was pretty safe”

Ryu asked amidst pants, he was already tired, even walking normally was difficult for him because of the curse that drained his energy.

“It’s all thanks to goblins, those pesky things are annoying, but they clean the forest of most beasts. It’s pretty funny to watch, they die by the hundreds trying to kill even the weakest E rank beast, but they always end up winning just because of their numbers. If you ever encounter something like that make sure to hide until the end of the battle, you’ll be able to get the spoils without lifting a finger. Anyway, if someone travels from mountainside to Celarent through the forest they’ll encounter lizards, skitters, thorny lizards, any sort of dangerous beasts. The road is shorter, but even if an adventurer is strong enough to deal with those beasts it’ll take them two or three times longer to get here. I’ve taken that path a couple times, but only to hunt beasts, never to actually go to mountainside, and let me tell you, it’s no walk in the park at all”

“Miss Risa sure knows a lot”

Thea blatantly sucked up to her but she was completely ignored and they kept walking the road.

After about an hour or so after leaving Celarent’s city gates the group arrived at the location pinpointed in the quest map. Risa’s soulbound card had a feature that allowed her to see a map and tag locations, which wasn’t a surprise because she was a C rank adventurer. The only problem with it is that it doesn’t point the personal location, it was as good as a map but it still required some basic knowledge on geography to avoid getting lost.

“Hey! over here!”

A small girl, about eleven years old with twin braids waved at the group.

“Good day missy, did you post the quest?”

“Of course not, I don’t even have a soulbound card. My dad did!”

“That’s great news, do you mind taking us to him?”

“He’s currently out looking for firewood, but he’ll come back soon. He asked me to wait for you in the road”

“Such a good girl, well then, lead the way”

Risa’s exchange with the little girl left them wondering if it was the same woman that just earlier knocked out cold a boy the same age.

The farmer’s daughter lived alone with her father, her mother had passed away a couple years ago from a sickness caused by a beast attack.

The farmhouse was pretty big considering only two people lived there and they looked to be somewhat wealthy. They had so many animals it was difficult for them to tend to them, but they provided enough goods to make a good living.

The barn was located in front of the house and the place was surrounded by a shabby wooden fence broken in many places.

“I’m sorry we don’t have enough beds for everyone, but you’re free to stay wherever you like”

“There’s no need for that missy, we’re going to be staying at the barn. Kinta and Thea, you guys go check the surroundings, don’t let anything escape your eyes; Shortie and Fena you guys fix the fence; Ryu and Sera, get everything ready for our stay and help fixing the fence when you finish”

“Yes ma’am”

Everyone said in unison and went on to perform their duties.

The farm had a little plot of land with crops, surrounded by a sturdy fence to keep animals from eating them, but other than that it was just pastures. Since the view wasn’t obstructed, Kinta and Thea got bored easily and soon stopped walking and, instead of standing watch, they started chatting as they made fun of the others.

“Why do you think miss Risa assigned us to stand watch?”

“Isn’t it obvious, we’re the most promising adventurers from our group, it’s only natural she picked us for the most important tasks. Look at them getting all sweaty after fixing a single wooden pole”

“There’s no need to mock them Kinta, everyone has their job and fixing a fence is an important task too”

“You’re right, It’s no wonder they get sweaty since they are the weaker ones, if they were stronger they would have been assigned to stand watch like us. But they sure are noisy, why don’t we go over there to get away from those nuisances”

“That’s fine, I guess... they’re fixing the fence but that should count as guarding the place too. I don’t think they’ll be so incompetent as to miss any incoming threat with such a clear view”

Without realizing it, in their minds their orders shifted from making rounds to see everything was fine, to stand watch. They may not seem that different, but in reality it was.

When they stopped circling the farmland it was unavoidable to have a blindspot right behind the buildings, but they didn’t even consider the possibility that something may be lurking in the distance.

Fena and Shortie were working hard on fixing the fence. Fena was a shy girl with long hair and a scholarly look, but despite appearances she was a lot stronger than Shortie. He had a hard time accepting this fact and worked twice as hard as he would have done any other day.

“Ouch!”

He yelped as he reclined forward and put his hand on his back

“Are you ok Shortie?”

“I think I pulled a muscle”

“Should I call the instructor?”

“No! don’t worry, I just need a short rest and I’ll be fit as a fiddle!”

“Can you lie down?”

She said as she tried to help him lie on the ground, but the muscles on his back were clenched and didn’t allow such movements.

Meanwhile Ryu and Sera were doing their chores swiftly.

“Why are you in such a hurry mister Ryu?”

“Didn’t you hear the instructor? when we finish we’re supposed to help Shortie and the other girl, which means when they finish their task she’ll ask them to stand guard. If we don’t finish soon we may be left behind”

“I didn’t think of that. Do you think this is another test?”

“Of course not, Risa was awkwardly polite towards the girl and she’s taking things seriously”

“That’s correct”

Risa said after walking into the barn.

“While I’m not really good around people, I learned it’s best to have a good relationship with employers. If you do a good job and treat them well they may post quests requiring you specifically. This quest is low rank, but it has an unusually high reward. From what the little girl told me, losing cattle is no big deal, but the farmer is concerned about the safety of his daughter. That’s why he asked for a party to investigate and lend a hand fixing the fences”

“Is everything alright miss Risa?”

Sera asked after noticing something off in her attitude.

“To be honest, I don’t think so. The farmer was taking his sweet time coming back so I asked her when did he leave to look for firewood. Turns out he left this morning and hasn’t come back since. This quest objective has just changed, we need to find the farmer”