18 18

"Of course!" Arthur was excited to go on his first actual adventure and he couldn't have asked for a better partner. He had learned plenty of things on his short quest with Felicia and Billy. With no disrespect to the latter, the truth was that he had learned most of those things with guidance from Felicia.

"That's the spirit," Felicia smiled. "Let's see what new quests the notice board has in store for us."

Felicia walked to the wooden board posted inside the inn and Arthur moved away from the bar counter to join her.

They looked through the list of quests available and unfortunately nothing jumped out at them. None of the quests seemed particularly exciting. Majority of the quests was for level E adventurers, which was understandable since they were at a small village where most of the adventurers wouldn't be high-ranking adventurers.

Even though Arthur was on paper a level E adventurer, Felicia knew he was at the very least a level D adventurer so she denied Arthur's suggestion to just take any random E level request. "We're not going to use a warrior's sword to chop vegetables in the kitchen, Arthur, I'm not going to allow you to waste your time on these unworthy quests."

However, there was no better choice in sight. There were already so little high level quests to begin with and most of them required more than 2 adventurers in the party. Honestly, if there was a quest that fitted their criteria, Billy and Felicia would have taken it already.

After making sure there was no available option for them on the notice board, Felicia turned to the counter and hollered, "Ol' Smith, do you have any new quests that you've not posted on the board?"

Ol' Smith served the table their order and turned back to address Felicia, "As a matter of fact, I do. They just came in earlier today, when you guys were off adventuring. There has been so many things happening today that I just forgot to put them on the notice board."

Ol' Smith walked back to the counter. He rummaged through the cupboards that were behind the counter, "Let me see where I've put them." Eventually, he pulled out a stack of papers, announcing, "Found them!"

"Here," Ol' Smith handed the stack over to Felicia and Arthur who had wandered back to the counter. "Sorry, work's calling." Ol' Smith saw out from the corner of his eyes, one of his customers asking for service. He apologized and left Felicia and Arthur to their work.

Felicia sifted through the stack and most of them were level E quests. Just as she thought there was no hope, she found a level D quest at the bottom of the stack. She pulled it out and read through it, "The request is made by a grief-stricken mother from the neighboring village. Apparently her son has gone missing and she needs our help finding him." Felicia put the paper down and asked Arthur, "The quest states that it needs a party of two and is a level D quest. So what do you think, Arthur, shall we take this quest?"

Arthur had a deep frown between his eyes. "So we're tasked to find a missing child? But that doesn't sound like a level D quest. If anything, it sounds like another level E quest, are you sure the information is not printed wrongly?"

Felicia also frowned when he said that. "You know what, you have a point." She picked up the paper to take a closer look. Then she added with a tone that was close to amusement, "It says here that according to local legend, a spectre might have been involved with the child's disappearance and this might not be the only child that has gone missing from the village in question."

"A spectre that steals children? And what does it mean by this 'might' not be the only child that has gone missing? Couldn't they have confirmed that with the villagers? If their children have been captured, why didn't the other parents say anything?" Arthur mused.

"See, now you're thinking like a real adventurer. This quest does sound quite interesting and we should be saving those children if they're in need of help before it's too late." Felicia commented.

"I agree," Arthur nodded. "Alright, let's accept this quest."

"Okay!" Felicia then turned to inform Ol' Smith who was still busy working, "Ol' Smith, Arthur and I will accept this quest. Thank you for your help!"

Ol' Smith yelled back as the two exited the door, "Be careful out there! Especially you, Arthur!"

...

At the door, Felicia told Arthur, "Arthur, I suggest you use the money to buy some items and equipment before we start this journey. I also have some preparation to be completed. I'll see you at the village entrance in an hour?"

"Okay." Arthur waved farewell to Felicia.

Arthur agreed with Felicia's suggestion, it was always better to be prepared. However, instead of heading to the local smith or doctor, Arthur took the trail that led back to his home.

After getting everything he would need inside the house, Arthur walked around the house and up the small hill that was at the back of his home. At the top of the hill was a mound with a tombstone in front of it. Arthur laid down the flowers that he had picked up along the way to pay respect to his mother.

Arthur allowed himself a private moment with his mother. He closed his eyes and the way the wind caressed his face reminded him of his mother's gentle touch. Arthur sighed and made a solemn promise to his mother's grave, "Mom, I promise you I will never let you down... like father did."

After he said his farewell, Arthur went down the hill to the village smith and doctor to get the equipment that he needed. Arthur bought a shirt and pants that were made of a sturdier material and some vials of restorative potion.

When he was done, Arthur went to the village entrance where Felicia already stood waiting.