Chapter 36: Behind the scenes of questing, part 1
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
At work, I asked Milia about the ‘warmth’ that I had felt previously.
「About a friend of mine…」
「Hm?」
I told her about my current relationship with Lyla, but with every instance of her name substituted for ‘a friend’.
「What your friend said… is what a lover would say. She said she’d be happy if you bore children together, right?」
「Yes. At that moment, I felt a sudden surge of something that felt like ‘warmth’. After that, I was overcome with an urge to hug her…」
「Fumufumu. It’s that, isn’t it?」
She raised a finger.
「That’s ‘joy’ blossoming into ‘love’! Both at the same time — a lovely combo!」
In that order, huh?
「You look so happy… that’s great!」, said Milia ecstatically.
‘Joy’ and ‘love’… I see. So that’s what you call that feeling…?
I looked at the stack of requests that had been submitted to the guild. Once the details were finalised, they would be officially written down on quest slips. Milia squinted at the request slips she had on hand the same way as I did.
「There’s no way we have so many…」
「Out of the many requests, some are personal. Some are trivial and can easily be settled by just a discussion.」
After a round of filtering, those which we selected to become quests would be personally vetted by Iris. Once we had permission to go ahead, we would seek clarification with the requestor and conduct an on-site inspection. We would also negotiate the reward, which did not necessarily have to be money — it could be anything as long as it benefited the adventurer. The quest rank would then be determined. With all the details intact, Iris’s approval would be sought a final time.
All requests went through this long process before they saw the light of day.
「Oh, this one looks okay.」
Milia showed one of the requests. In short, it was about someone ravaging an orchard.
「Seeing that a confrontation has to happen at some point, you seem suitable for this one.」
「Indeed.」
「I’m better with daily life-related quests, so I can leave this one to you?」
「Okay, I’ll run it through the branch chief.」
I took the request slip to Iris’s office and promptly received clearance, no questions asked.
「I see, this orchard cultivates a species of tangerine known as the O-natsu. Okay, you know what to do. Stay safe out there.」, Iris said while returning the stamped request slip to me.
The local rental stable had two horses reserved for guild usage — I took one and rode off. As usual, I went empty-handed. Lyla, in cat form, had followed me to work today, so she tagged along for the negotiation.
「O-natsu? They’re yellow, right? Ever so slightly sweet, and yet a tad bitter?」, asked Lyla, perched on my shoulder with her eyes lit up.
「Yep. You see them at the marketplace often?」
「The gall of that villain to plunder those!」
Even the Demon King wouldn’t stand for it.
「The culprit could be a human — let’s not jump to conclusions before hearing what our client has to say.」
「I will bring him to justice…!」
That’s the role of the adventurer, though.
The client’s house wasn’t too far away. About thirty minutes after leaving the city, a large orchard came into view. Numerous trees stood within the perimeter of a fence high enough to stop the average human.
「Whoa, so the O-natsu fruits grow there.」
Her nose twitching, Lyla licked her lips.
There was a small cottage beside the orchard, no doubt the client’s residence. We dismounted and tied the horse to the fence.
「To have the nerve to stride in and pilfer those oranges! I will not allow it…!」, snarled Lyla, waving her claws in the air, as if striking a battle stance.
As we approached the house, there was no sign of human life in the area.
「He lives around here, eh? Let us make haste!」, pressed Lyla, full of energy.
「The client has to painstakingly cultivate the O-natsu fruits and then sell them — a professional undertaking. If someone dares to disrupt his workflow, I won’t stand for it either.」
We spotted several ape-like monsters known as giant hee-hees.
「Whew, who could’ve done that… anyway, I’m sure that thief secretly purloins the fruits and sells them somewhere else.」
「That is entirely plausible.」
The giant hee-hees were in the way, so I dealt with them in an instant. I got rid of them so quickly that I didn’t count how many there were.
「I like O-natsu pies.」
「Yeah, you see them a lot at the market.」
She insisted on buying some whenever she visited the market.
「But, if the supply of O-natsu fruits dwindles, then I won’t be able to enjoy those pies anymore…」, she sighed, ears drooping.
「Their price will skyrocket too. Anyone who uses them for any purpose will be affected.」
I had to deal with Lyla’s indignation the entire way. Now I fully understood the meaning of the word ‘hangry’. Oh, and we ran into some more giant hee-hees. Guess what I did?
Finally, we arrived at a quaint little solitary house. I knocked.
「Good afternoon. I am a representative of the adventurers’ guild, Lahati branch — Roland Argan.」
Something stirred inside the house, and the door opened. A healthy-looking middle aged man appeared in the doorway.
「Ah, you’re from the guild.」
This was the client, Hogan.
「We’re here to take stock of the situation and conduct an on-site investigation.」
「I see. Come on in. This way.」
He brought us to a table in a dining room connected to the kitchen.
Hogan lived with his wife. Together, they made a living off their O-natsu plantation.
「I’m hating this poacher more and more.」
After all, he had disrupted their ordinary lives.
「Even if we could catch him red-handed, he’s a dangerous character, and we can’t do anything to stop him…」
「Worry not, for that’s our job as adventurers. If you end up getting injured, you’ll lose your livelihood.」
「Indeed.」, sighed Hogan.
「Citrus fruits are bad for kitties, right?」, said his wife, bringing a plate of sliced O-natsu fruits to the table.
「Not for this one — in fact, she loves them.」
「Nya～～」
「Ara-ara. That’s great!」
Lyla sat down obediently, allowing Hogan’s wife to place a plate of diced O-natsu in front of her. She then wolfed them down. After all, she was a demon, in spite of her feline appearance.
「Do you have any impression of the burglars? Perhaps you’ve seen them lurking around before? Anything, really.」
「Nope, we’ve never seen anything like it. Even though the oranges are a prime target for looters, our fence is quite high. The lock we installed is still intact — in fact, it hasn’t even been tampered with.」
「Oh, is that so?」
「However, we have found footprints on multiple occasions.」
Hogan looked up, trying to recall. He then made a gesture.
「They were ‘bout this big. Lots of them too. I’d say a pretty big guy left them.」
「About 30 centimetres… anything else?」
Could it have been a man large enough to scale the fence easily, I wondered.
「We found this strange liquid on the ground and on some trees. Kind of like saliva.」
「Saliva, huh?」
If it had been left by a human, it should have dried up long ago. And the footprints were the size of an adult’s. An adult, drooling…?
「…」
「Employee-san. About the rewards…」
「Eh? Oh, that will change with the quest rank…」
I took out a reference sheet from my pocket. Guidelines on the commission rates for the respective quest rank were written on it. I explained to Hogan that a higher quest rank meant more qualified adventurers taking up the job, and thus higher commission rates.
「It will involve dealing with humans or monsters, so it should be around D-rank. If detailed strategy is required, then it’ll be a little higher, about C-rank.」
「Okay, for C-rank… the commission and rewards are…」
Hogan peered at the reference sheet, creasing his forehead.
…
Wait. None of that might be necessary after all.
「Oi Roland, you don’t think…?」
「Hm?」
Lyla glanced out of the window. There were many giant hee-hee carcasses lying around, too many to count even with both hands.
Giant hee-hees are smaller than the average human, but have larger limbs. They also have more raw strength. In fact, their physique allows them to scale fences easily.
「…」
…I think our job is done here.
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