Fresh Air

Clink clink clink TANG!

"With this much iron ores, this should be enough for the whole party, don't you think Aima?" Sebastian placed his pickaxe down as he gathered the freshly mined iron ore into his rucksack. It audibly stretched under the sheer weight of the ores.

"Yup, that should do it. We don't have any more space in our rucksacks anyway." Aima also stuffed the other iron ores into her rucksack.

"That should conclude our excursion here in Korinne Cave and for our quest as well. Let's head back to the city to sell our loot and register this quest as a success." Jin also picked up his rucksack as he headed towards the stairs leading up.

"If we keep going we should be able to exit this cave within a day. I feel like I'll suffocate if we stay underground longer." Mel also added her thoughts to their plan although Sebastian knew her ulterior motives.

"Let's exit this cave today and camp outside in the fresh air, would that be alright with everyone?" Sebastian subtlely supported Mel's idea as he didn't want her to have any more panic attacks. Their duration and interval became severe the longer they stayed in the cave. He made a mental note that Mel's arrows also ran out at this point.

"I don't mind if you all are up to it. There are vent shafts here but it still doesn't compare to the fresh air outside." Becky pointed to the narrow man-made shaft above them. It allowed air to circulate between the cave and the outside environment, but as Becky and Mel pointed out, it was entirely different from being outside.

"Ho, everyone's excited to go home. I know that everyone feels stifled at this point, but thanks for sticking out with me... Though I'll only give each and everyone minimal discounts. Don't get any weird ideas." Aima started becoming sentimental before ruining the mood she set up herself.

Aside from Becky and Mel, the rest joked around as they walked back to the main entrance of the cave. Going back seemed much quicker compared to going down. Then again they didn't have to deal with poison spiders and they never encountered rat imps all through their round trip in the cave.

"Haaa... Fresh air never felt so good. This was a good idea Mel." Jin stretched his arms as he finally stepped out of Korinne Cave and into a clearing.

"We're halfway home, keep your guards up. Everyone set up for camp here, I'll scout the area." Becky reminded them again, however she was glad to be able to use her beastkin senses and it showed.

Sebastian placed his rucksack down as he carefully sifted through his belongings for their utensils and dried meats. After dinner, they decided again regarding the guard duty order. Under the starry sky, with the fresh wind around them, everyone quickly fell into a deep sleep.

***

"Here's my adventurer tag. We've come here to report that the quest has been declared as finished by the person that posted it." Sebastian handed it to the guild receptionist as he looked around. The rest of his party was also dealing with their own receptionists as they updated their adventurer tags. The guild looked extremely busy and lively as adventurers came to look for quests, party members, and report their quest statuses.

"Here you go Sebastian, it's already been updated. You can check the status if you want. There's also a message for you."

Before Sebastian could check his adventurer tag status, he froze in his spot. The eerie feeling of deja vu caused goosebumps at the back of his neck. "From who?" Memories of almost being arrested by guild guardsmen came flooding back in.

"It's from Leo, the adventurer guild guildmaster. He wanted to talk to you the soonest you came back to the city. He should be in his office upstairs."

With a sigh of relief, Sebastian gathered his belongings before going up to Leo's office. He smiled as he realised he never took this way, he was ushered from the backyard to avoid overwhelming him when he first came. Even when he registered for his adventurer's tag, he also came inconspicuously in the back door.

Knock knock knock

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Sebastian. You sent for me, Leo?"

"Come in, have a seat."

Sebastian entered Leo's office as his secretary came out. She was a young female beastkin who managed the guild's affairs when Leo wasn't there. They met on a few occasions before although they only exchanged greetings then.

"You don't look as surprised when you see a beastkin now. You're slowly getting used to this world then." Leo beckoned Sebastian to sit down in front of the tea and fruit on the table.

"This isn't laced with calming spells is it?" Sebastian carefully studied the fruits as he picked them up slowly and turned them over in his hand.

"You learned well. I did that to stop you from creating a fuss. Should I place calming spells on it? For old time's sake?"

"You actually do have a sense of humour. I never thought I get to see the day the serious guildmaster Leo joke around with me."

"I'm just relieved that the wolf quest was finished. Although the city is still reeling from that, it's been a steady recovery."

"Do you need any help with anything? Why did you summon for me?"

Leo picked up a piece of parchment from his desk as he handed it over to Sebastian. Sebastian noticed that it was a quest posting, although it was dated weeks ago.

"This is a quest to check on a nearby village? Is there something wrong with this? It was posted a while back."

"The party that went to check it hasn't come back. This was after the mutated wolves attacked the city. The coincidence is too uncanny."

"Do you want us to check the village and the adventurers as well?"

"Yes and no. Just scout the surroundings. Check if there are survivors from that place. If there are, find out what happened to the adventurers. If there are any dangers or anything out of the ordinary, come back and report immediately."

"I understand what you want us to do. Why us, or specifically why me?" Sebastian took a sip of the tea as he waited for Leo to answer. He felt the familiar gaze of Leo's calculating stare burn into his face.

"From what I remember, your previous work back in Earth was similar to this was it not? You went into remote villages to set up something like a healthcare system and got them back on their feet. Here you might be an adventurer ranked E, but you still have a wealth of experience from your previous life."

It was Sebastian's turn to think deeply as he looked at the quest posting in his hand. He slowly went through the basic guidelines and protocols for rural nursing in his mind. He thought about what to bring, and how to deal with the local community. He didn't notice how long Leo was staring at his blank face. With a jolt, he remembered that he was in Leo's office in the adventurer's guild.

"I think I get what you're trying to have me accomplish here Leo. I'll discuss this with my other party members, although I think they won't mind doing this."

"In some aspects, you're still a bit of a rookie and it shows. Leo stood up as he picked up another parchment of paper from his desk. He handed it over to the dumbfounded Sebastian who looked over it with wide-eyed wonder."

"Is this a quest posting for your request?"

"Yes. When you get a request from someone whether that person is influential or not, you should always ask for remuneration in some form. Don't you think the guildmaster would have something interesting to offer in exchange? Or did you also work for free even before you came to this world?"

"Ah-"

"I'll cut to the chase then. Sebastian, I have some weapons in my collection that would be beneficial for your adventures. For the rest of your party members, I can give them the usual reward of coin and adventure accomplishments. For your case, I can only give you an outstanding weapon. I'll even give you the liberty to choose from a few options."

"I got it. Thank you for the lesson even now." Sebastian stuffed the quest posting in his pocket before standing up to leave.

After bidding farewell to Leo, Sebastian went down back to the first floor of the adventurer's guild where his party members were waiting.

"Why did the guildmaster ask for you specifically?" Jin asked with a concerned tone. He also remembered when Sebastian accidentally used a skill inside the guild, setting off a number of alarms in the process.

"Don't worry Jin, it's nothing like that. I just received a specific quest posting from Leo." He handed the quest posting to the group for them to read through. "He took into account my experiences before as a - er, country bumpkin, and thought that this is perfect for me. What do you think?"

"It does sound good and the quest rank is even D. This is a very well-rewarded quest. So you have connections of some sort don't you?" Aima sided with Sebastian as she hooked her arms with his. She acted shy as she drew him near.

"It's strange how I don't feel anything at all. Please let me go Aima." Sebastian responded with a flat tone, it was almost cold. With her frequent teasing, it was only a matter of time before he got used to her and started responding in kind.

"Tch. You're too young for my tastes anyway."

The rest of the party agreed that the rewards for the quest posting were too good to pass up, while they considered it an easy quest. They merely needed to check on the status of the village and the adventurers sent there. If there was anything they deemed dangerous, they could just head back without doing anything and give a report to the adventurer's guild.

"Let's prepare for a few days for this then. I feel that after the suffocating cave back then, I need to rest my body and mind." Mel gave her rare input for the group as they were parting ways.

"Then should four days suffice for your rest? The rest of us can do training in the meantime. Also, Aima can process the iron ores for our equipment." Becky suggested a compromise as she took Mel's input seriously. Without bickering, they both sounded very mature.

"Four days sound good enough for me, thanks Becky."

"Before you and the rest decide to go on a short break, everyone can meet me tomorrow. We can decide then which equipment you want to repair, enhance, or I can even smith a new one for you." Aima didn't seem to rest when it came to making money.

"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow." As Sebastian started to head towards his inn, Mel pulled him aside. When she ascertained that the others were out of earshot - even for Becky's beastkin senses, she reminded Sebastian about his promise in the cave.

"Sebastian, you mentioned something about a mental trauma from the mutated wolves. You also said that you can help me with some sort of treatment?"

"Ah, that's right. Thank you for reminding me. Is that why you wanted a few days of break in between?"

"That's correct. Also, it was too stuffy in the cave, I felt that I was going to go mad."

"I got it. Where can I meet you that's private? Do you have a house or a private room Mel? I'm only renting a room in an inn." Sebastian realised that he didn't know Mel's living conditions. Then again, it was his habit to respect the private lives of the others. When dealing with patients' medical conditions, breaking confidentiality was paramount to throwing your career away.

"After we meet Aima tomorrow for our equipment issue, we can then proceed to my house near the market district."

Once they decided the time and details regarding the session, they both parted ways as well. When Sebastian came back to his room, he immediately browsed the journals he had written so far. He wanted to brush up on basic psychology he learned in his nursing days. It wasn't as detailed as the medical textbooks, but it served as a good reminder for him, lest he forget the longer he stayed in Kalonia. He stayed up late that night with his nightly skill training, journal writing, and reviewing basic psychology.