second quest and second encounter

After a tiring day. I searched for a nice Inn to some rest.And I got a room at an inn for the night.

In the morning, I headed towards the Adventurer's Guild again, as soon as I finished breakfast.

There the same macho guy was at the counter. I wondered if he is the only one here, or if he just worked a lot.

"Hello."

"Ah, you again."

(It seems he remembers me. Well I am probably conspicuous here. I've seen elves and a dwarf and even beast people, and yet all of them are Western-looking.)

"I'd like the same medicinal herb gathering quest as yesterday."

"OK, bring them back here when you're done."

"Also, can I check how those herbs look like."

"Eh? You don't know how they look like?"

"No, I just want to make sure I'm getting the right kind."

"Really, you're really weird."

While mumbling something, he took a folded leather from a shelf behind the counter, and took some pages out of it.

"You can collect any of these three, and we'll buy them."

"I see."

The sheets he put on the counter had some pictures of grass and flowers. The drawings were quite good. I tried to memorize the plants on them.

"Thank you very much."

"Ok no problem."

"Sorry about the trouble."

I left the guild building and headed towards the forest again.After a straightforward and short conversation . I decided to stay along the road or stream so I wouldn't get lost.

°°°

I reached the stream and walked along it until I entered the forest. after a little while, I saw a familiar figure from the other day.

"Oh, are you the goblin from yesterday?"John

"Human..." goblin

It was the friendly goblin again!

It stood by the stream, staring at me. Looking at it more closely, there was a smaller goblin clinging to its arm. The smaller goblin was breathing roughly and had an arrow in its arm. It looked like it had been hit some time ago. The area around the arrow was very swollen.

"What happened?"John

"Sizter...dying..."goblin

"Yes, I see, your sister."John

"...human, thiz, heal."goblin

"Yes, OK. Leave it to me."John

I used my recovery magic on the goblin's sister. The arrow got expelled from her arm, and not long after, the skin healed. The swelling went away, and the skin around the wound went from reddish to green.

Altogether, that took a few seconds.

(That's fast! There's no way this kind of skill isn't valuable.) John thought

"Oh..."

The goblin was staring at me in wonder.

(It was something I received, though. I wonder what that god I met is doing now.)

"Brother, hurt...gone. Gone!"little goblin

They spent a little while just hugging each other.

(Good for them.)

I was actually a little touched, but I couldn't entirely understand their joy, never having had to face life-or-death hardships.

"....human, saved us. Thank you."goblin

"Ah, don't worry about it."John

"Thank you."goblin

The goblin's younger sister stared at me while holding onto his arm.

(Well, that's normal for a goblin.)

(I wouldn't even have known she was female. I guess that's how species differences are.)

"I have work to do, so I'll be going now."John said while turning to go.

I still had to find some medicinal herbs.

The goblin stopped me. "Today, also, herbs?"

"Oh? Yes, that's right."John

(Those who don't work can't eat, after all.)

In my previous life, even if you did no actual work for a day or two, the company would still pay you. You could just look at some random websites, say you were studying the industry or developing your skills, and everything would be fine.

But now, only having a sack and the clothes I was wearing to my name, I couldn't stop worrying.

(If I didn't have my recovery magic, I'd probably be going crazy right about now.)

"Then, wait. I'll go get."goblin

"Eh, really?"John

"Going out. But, wait. Stay here."goblin

"OK, I'll stay here."John

(It would be really helpful if he gathered those for me again.)

°°°

(I'll just wait a little while, then.)

Around when I was about to give up on waiting, the goblin returned. He was carrying a large leather bag with both hands. His sister was with him, carrying another leather bag.

"Oh, those are some large bags you have."

"These, have herbs."

They left the bags at my feet with a plop. Looking inside one, it was full of various grasses.

(How much did they collect?!)

"You're giving me all of this?"John said in amazement

"More. Little more, wait."goblin

"No, no, this is enough. This is plenty."John

(I'm not even sure if I can carry all of this back.)

"...enoff?"Goblin

"Definitely. I don't need more than this. "John

"I shee..."goblin

He actually looked kind of disappointed.

(This goblin is such a nice guy!)

"Goblin, can't go to town. Here iz OK?"goblin

"Yes, this is fine. Thank you very much."John

"This iz thanks for healing sister."goblin

"Yes, right. I understand. This is fine."John

"Thank you. Yoo saved her."Goblin

"Ah, by the way, I have a sort of warning, or situation advice..."John

"... advize?"goblin

"In the town along the stream, humans pay money for hunting goblins here. So, being in this forest is dangerous. If you can, it would be good to leave."John

"...yoo alzo, going to kill uz?"goblin

"No, no, no. You saved me life before. I wouldn't do something like that."John

"I shee."goblin

"If you want to keep your sister safe, you should move somewhere else."John

"...I undershtand."Goblin

"But I won't say it's impossible to stay here." John

"Mmm, yez."goblin

(This goblin is actually kind of cute.)

"Brozher?"little goblin

The goblin's little sister was looking at the faces of me and her brother with concern.

(Well, they would be cute if they weren't so ugly.)

(The sound of the sister's voice isn't bad, though.)

"Undershtand, then, this foresht, leaving." Goblin

"I think that's a good idea." John

"...good baaye." Goblin

"Yeah, goodbye. Maybe we'll meet again someday." John

"Yez. Meet again, someday." Goblin

The two goblin siblings then left, heading deeper into the forest, leaving me with a large amount of medicinal herbs.

°°°

I headed back, carrying the two large leather bags. Because of that, returning to the town took twice as long. Being full of grass they weren't too heavy, but the bulk was awkward.

From the town's entrance, I headed straight to the Adventurer's Guild.

I pushed through the wooden doors.

"Excuse me, I'd like to turn in these."

I put the two bags on the counter with a "dosan" noise, and the same macho guy came out to the counter.

"...what is this?"

"These should be medicinal herbs..."

I opened one of the bags and started sorting the grasses into piles. There really were a lot of different kinds. Honestly, I didn't know what was what.

"You got a lot, huh..."

"There was a lot where I went."

He looked amazed. I was amazed when I got them, myself.

"Well, that's fine, you can sit down over there while I sort this out."

"OK."

I sat down where he'd pointed.

The time was a little after noon. The guild building was something of a gathering point for adventurers, so there were several around. I'd seen some in their teens, but most of the adventurers seemed to be 20 to 30 years old.

"..."

I could feel someone staring at me.

(I seem to have attracted a little attention. Probably because I have black hair. If a white guy went shopping in my hometown, they'd get stared at too.)

(But not in a bad way.)

"......"

I was starting to feel very uncomfortable.

(If I somehow get back to Japan, I swear not to stare at westerners.)

(And I'm bored.)

Looking for something to do, I noticed the bulletin board. The notes were written on parchment in characters that I couldn't read, and held up by pins.

(I wonder what's written on them.)

As I was wondering that, I realized something.

(That's what skills are for. Skills! I think I still have one point remaining.)

"Letters, letters, letters. Reading, writing, literacy skill. Letters, letters, whatever it is, I want to be able to read and write here! Come on!"

I mumbled to myself like a Buddhist monk reciting a prayer.

And then, I felt a "bikun" in my heart, and a ringing in my brain.

(...there it is!)

passive:

magic recovery: Lv.Max

magic efficiency: Lv.Max

language skill: Lv.1

active:

recovery magic: Lv.Max

fire magic: Lv.1

remaining skill points: 0

After checking my skills, I looked at the bulletin board again.

(...amazing, I can read it normally.)

The notes posted on the board were basically job offers. The recruitment notices were carefully lined up in the center.

[Party Member Recruitment]

class: rear guard | (recovery)

rank: C or higher

notes: experience with the Valley of lowliness a plus

organization: Winged Dragon (party)

[Guild Member Recruitment]

class: rear guard | (recovery)

rank: C or higher

notes: none

organization: Daybreak Company (guild)

[Party Member Recruitment]

class: advance guard | (knight)

rank: B or higher

notes: should have 3-element protection

organization: Endless Spear (party)

[Party Member Recruitment]

class: rear guard | (recovery)

rank: E or higher

notes: young party

organization: White Rain

[Looking for Party]

class: advance guard | (swordsman)

rank: C

notes: 10 years of experience, sword specialist

name: Ray Yard

[Looking for Party]

class: advance guard | (ranger)

rank: B

notes: 15 years of experience

name: Jon

[Party Member Recruitment]

class: rear guard | (druid)

rank: C or higher

notes: none

organization: Metal Goblin (platinum)

There were about 15 such notes lined up.

(I see, so this is how recruitment is done.)

(...there are a lot of requests for healers.)

About half the requests were for users of recovery magic, while there seemed to be an excess of advance guards. Supply and demand were unbalanced.

(If that's the situation, then maybe even a guy like me could get into a party.)

So, I decided to write a note for myself.

(Two is better than one, and three is better than two. When it comes to violence, numbers are vital.)

I stood up and went to the board, where there was a small piece of parchment and a charcoal-like writing implement.

[Looking for Party]

class: rear guard | (recovery)

rank: F

notes: beginner

name: John

(That should do it.)

I put my note up on the board.

I went back to my seat by the counter.

I decided to rest my head on the counter like I was napping while I waited. This was a skill I had raised to max level during my life .

After about 20 minutes, the man at the counter finally called me.

"Hey, sorry about the wait."

"Ah, it's OK."

When I raised my head, he was right in front of me.

(Gah, scary!)

"You had various things in there, but putting it all together, it would be about 105 silver."

"Eh, really?"

"You have a complaint?"

"No, no complaint."

That was a huge amount of money, much more than I'd expected.

"Here's your payment."

He put a leather bag on the counter.

"Thanks."

Looking inside, it was full of silver coins.

(It's heavy.)

"You should count it now if you want to. There's no point saying I underpayed you later."

"I understand."

I counted them as suggested.

(What a pain.)

There were indeed exactly 105 silver coins there.

"I've verified the amount."

"It's all yours, then."

"Thanks."

"Also, I'll return your leather bags."

"Ah, OK."

He put the two empty leather bags on the counter.

I could smell grass as I took them.

"That's all, then."

"Thank you very much."

I left the Adventurer's Guild once more.