Chapter 61: The overqualified rookie, part 3
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
「I wanna do quests with good rewards so that I can become self-sufficient as soon as possible!」, declared Dee while we ate breakfast.
I had been wondering whether a vampire would be able to cope with the morning light, but she seemed perfectly fine. She had gotten used to a normal sleep cycle during her long tenure in the Demon King’s army, apparently.
「Otherwise, she does what you humans call a ‘graveyard shift’」, added Lyla.
「My ‘Fireguard’ shields me from most of the sun’s rays, but I still avoid direct sunlight whenever possible.」
‘Fireguard’ is a defense spell that weakens the effect of fire magic. I guess it works on heat and sunlight too.
「Anyway, rookies always start with F-rank quests and receive their rewards accordingly.」
「Man, what did I expect…」
「Didn’t I explain this yesterday?」
「For the immensely capable and otherworldly beautiful Dee to have been relegated to an F-rank adventurer」, snickered Lyla with a shrug. 「Oh, and a former soldier of my army too, kufufu.」
As I got up to leave, Lyla followed me to the door. She put her hands on her hips and puffed up her chest.
「I’ll do my best today, as always!」
Dee waved politely from behind her.
「Alright, see you both later.」
And thus I started another workday. My male colleagues bombarded me with questions about Dee before morning assembly, but I parried each one as I saw fit. We commenced our regular duties once Iris finished her routine instructions.
Shortly after I took a seat, the branch chief handed me a letter.
「Here, a letter for you. It actually came, huh…」, she said, immediately turning around to leave.
Putting away the envelope, I glanced at the stack of paper Milia had brought over.
「What shall we do with these?」
These were quest slips detailing leftover quests. While monster hunting, foraging, escorting, security and errand-running quests usually sold like hotcakes, quests not falling under any of those categories, including those with poor risk-to-reward and tedium-to-reward ratios, simply accumulate over time with few takers.
Employees will describe those quests according to protocol, but since we have to adhere to our clients’ requirements, it naturally becomes known to them that such quests are unpopular. If requests actually become quests, it means that the guild has deemed that we can fulfil the conditions — or at least, we think we can. It goes without saying that being unable to do so leaves the requestor hugely dissatisfied.
Milia showed me the assortment of quests.
「What’s the standard operating procedure for these?」
「After enough time has passed, we classify them as having had no takers. We explain this to our clients, then adjust the rank and the rewards… if they still have no takers, then we discard them. That’s the worst case scenario though — I’d much rather find a way to clear them.」
Leafing through the stack of quest slips, I noticed they had something in common.
「Catching a Leid butterfly… twenty thousand rin. Night patrol of a warehouse… three nights… thirty thousand rin. Fake prostitute… one night, females only, interview required… three thousand rin, huh…」
All of them required the adventurer to work at night.
「The problem with the Leid butterfly is that there’s no guarantee you’ll find that thing. You have to search in forests or on mountains — not to mention at night — and still get paid peanuts…」
She’s right — the reward wasn’t worth the trouble.
「For the warehouse one, not only will you be confined there for three days, but night patrol is always a dangerous thing to do. Again, it’s the commission.」
「No adventurer will take up a quest that doesn’t pay accordingly.」
Due to the unconventional nature of the fake prostitute quest, I wondered who had requested it, and who the employee that actually approved it was.
Hearing the ambient noise suddenly get louder, I looked up and saw that Dee had arrived.
「What’s good?」
Waving, she flashed the men a smile, causing them to literally fall to their knees.
「She’s so prim and proper, but so sexy somehow…」
「That’s an erotic aura she has…」
「She can rest her head on my thighs any day…」
Unlike the other men, I was completely impervious to her charms.
「Hm? Eh, whatever.」
Did they think she had no standards just because she mainly worked at night?
「Roland-sama, I’m here for a quest!」
As soon as Dee saw me, she waved, causing Milia to shake like a leaf.
「Eh, that hot girl is also an acquaintance of Roland-sama’s…!? Do we have yet another flower in the meadow of Roland’s (female) fan club…!?」
I walked over to my reserved seat, and Dee sat on the opposite side of the counter.
「Just to confirm, Dee, are you okay with working at night?」
「Those are my original working hours, y’know? I usually do what you humans call ‘burning the midnight oil’, anyway.」
「Perfect. I have a few quests that’ll suit you well.」
I walked her through each of the quests I had set aside earlier.
「Pfft, even I can do something like this. But Roland-sama?」
「What’s wrong?」
「Both the Leid butterfly and patrol quests are D-rank, while this fake prostitute one is C-rank…」
This being her first day on the job, she was a complete rookie. And yet, I knew just how capable she was.
「Taking up quests that match your current rank is simply protocol. However, if an employee sees that you’re qualified for higher-ranked ones, then he’ll let you take them. In your case, you were a night operations specialist in the Demon King’s army.」
Her little smile suddenly morphed into a voluptuous one.
Come to think of it, our requestor wouldn’t be pleased if we just sent him an F-rank adventurer, so I decided to tag along in order to explain.
「If you do these two today, then the three-day night patrol one afterwards, that’s eighty thousand rin in the bag.」
「Sounds like a plan. Let’s do this!」
「Great. I’ll proceed with the paperwork.」
Three quests had been cleared at once, and Dee would be able to work at night. The requestors won’t have to increase the commission, and the guild will get its fair share of the payout too.
Two… no, four birds with one stone.
Dee was strong enough that I didn’t need to worry about her at all. That alone was a big help.
Leaving Milia to man the counter, I left with Dee. We decided to leave the butterfly quest for later and talk to the people in charge of the other two quests first.
「There’s a brothel in this town?」
「It’s in a neighbouring one.」
Letting her ride pillion, we rode a horse towards our destination.
「So Roland-sama knows how strong I am… even though I couldn’t do anything during that practical test yesterday.」
「It’s no small feat to wipe out an entire battalion overnight — not to mention that you did it alone. You’d be a formidable opponent on the other side, though –」
「Ufufufu, that’s my line」, interrupted Dee, hugging me from behind.
As I was enjoying the feel of her chest pressed against my back, we arrived at the post-town. Despite its small size, it housed three brothels. I knocked on the back door of one of them.
[T/N Note: A post-town, shukuba in Japanese, is a small settlement for travellers to rest and relax before resuming their journey.]
A middle-aged lady who I had seen many times by now poked her head out.
「Ah, it’s the guildie Roland-kun.」
「Good afternoon. This is the adventurer who took up that quest from a while ago.」
「Ah. Ahhhh, this girl, eh?」
Her eyes almost popping out of their sockets, she stared at Dee fixatedly.
「Yes. I am aware that it’s a C-rank quest, and that this girl is F-rank, but I brought her here for the interview anyway.」
「Ranks are just a formality anyway. With that face, you’re more than qualified. Especially since Roland-kun brought you here! I look forward to working with you tonight!」, the lady exclaimed, looking at Dee, who bowed with a smile.
「Please take good care of me!」
「Roland-kun is always willing to sit down for long discussions. He always pays attention to the smallest of details, too!」, laughed the lady.
Once our little meeting was over, we got onto the horse again.
「People really trust you, huh?」
「Really? People are just good-natured, I guess?」
「No, silly, it’s because of your track record and how reliable you always are!」, chuckled Dee from behind me.
The requestor for the night patrol also readily accepted Dee, simply because I had recommended her.
「Weren’t you once the Heroine’s private tutor, Roland-kun? If someone like that says she’s good, then she’s good! F-rank is nothing but a label!」, he said.
「I will do my best to meet expectations, so as not to tarnish Roland-sama’s image…!」
「Don’t worry. Even if there are things you’re not familiar with yet, just do your best.」
The Leid butterfly quest could be done any time, so I sent Dee home first. As we pulled up at our house, we heard a din from within.
「Look at this, Lylael-sama! I found this in the demon realm!」
「Hoho, that’s not something you see everyday.」
「This butterfly lights up at night. It’s something you almost never find in this human realm.」
「Hm? Is it for me, then?」
「Yes! I, Rodje Sandsong, caught it for Lylael-sama! When night falls, it glows with a faint, dreamlike hue. I thought Lylael-sama would like it…!」
「Oh… I don’t really care for insects, but…」
We walked in on Rodje insisting that Lyla take the butterfly cage and Lyla trying her best not to show disgust. It was indeed an honest-to-goodness Leid butterfly.
「Hey, you! How dare you leave Lylael-sama alone at home while you go to work! Have you ever thought how lonely she gets as she waits for you to –」
Ignoring her preaching, I asked Lyla for the butterfly.
「She gave this to you?」
「Mhm… I don’t know what to do with it, though…」
「Can I have it?」
「Yes! Take it!」
I received the Leid butterfly from Lyla, and thus ended one of Dee’s quests.
「Oh, for goodness’ sake…」, lamented Rodje, sobbing as she fell to her knees.
Dee patted her back gently to console her.
I returned to the guild with butterfly cage in hand and handed the butterfly over. I also made a mental note to give Rodje some of the commission.
「Where did you find something like a Leid butterfly, Roland-san?」, inquired Milia.
「The Demon Realm, apparently.」
「De-mon-realm… so there’s a bug-catching spot there, huh…」, she replied, not having fully understood.
The following day, Dee completed the fake prostitute quest. A few days after that, she wrapped up the night patrol as well.
「Oh? All the leftover quests have been cleared?」
「Yeah, apparently Roland-kun helped to clear them all.」
「Wow, seriously? Now we can get our share of the money… as expected of the Ace of the Lahati branch!」
It wasn’t just Dee who felt grateful to me now.
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