The stubborn boy

The adventurer's guild was busy as ever in the morning. As usual, there were people from surrounding villages that came of age waiting in line to register as adventurers, people requesting a quest creation, the adventurers looking at the quest board in search of well-paid adventuring quests or new System Quests, as well as veteran hunters willing to share their knowledge and give useful tips to the newbies that were still kind of nervous about their new life.

It was kind of hectic, but for the people used to it, that kind of atmosphere had an irreplaceable place in their hearts.

"...?"

That very kind of atmosphere was disturbed by an appearance of a young monk with a dark red staff that lacked the catalyst.

Not that monks or staff users weren't welcomed – it was just that this very person showed up a couple of days prior together with a fire magician trying to sell low-quality monster corpses without registering in the guild.

At first, only one or two people recognized him, but soon the kid had the eyes of the entire guild focused on him as he lined up – coincidentally or not – to the same receptionist that chased him and his friend off the last time.

"..."

"...!"

The bespectacled receptionist noticed the boy, too, and her expression soured so suddenly that the man placing a quest creation request flinched and lowered his head apologetically.

Nonetheless, the black-haired monk seemed to either be clueless or very mentally resilient as neither the atmosphere nor the glares seemed to bother him in the slightest as he patiently waited his turn.

*****

"Good morning!"

"...welcome to the adventurer's guild; what can I help you with...?"

Zorey nodded his head and cheerfully greeted the bespectacled receptionist, who appeared to be a step away from gritting her teeth so hard they would break.

"I've heard it is possible for people who aren't adventurers to take one quest. Is that just right, or is there a catch like saying you will pay 50% of the monster corpses worth but try to get it for 30%?"

"...!"

The black-haired boy placed one end of his staff on the ground and leaned against it before looking the receptionist straight in the eyes and asking loud enough for everyone else in the guild to hear.

"...the catch is that the only quests someone who isn't an adventurer can accept are the System quests..."

The receptionist straightened her back and took a deep breath as the eyes of the adventurers and clients focused on her because of the boy's words. Funnily enough, Zorey wasn't looking for a fight or anything – he just had a hard time with keeping his mouth shut when he was angry at someone or something.

"As the name suggests, System quests are tasks officially bestowed for players to complete; the rewards are also issued by the System, being bonus stats, skills, and sometimes even titles. The people who aren't registered in the guild are adventuring quests – those are the ones issued by the paying customers. The latter ones are actually more dangerous because, with the System quests, the probability of unexpected situations occurring is close to zero, while with the adventuring quests, there is always a chance that the person requesting to put it up was mistaken, unaware of the full picture, or simply lying."

The bespectacled receptionist was slowly calming down, and her professionalism returned as she gave a proper explanation.

"Where can I check the System quests?"

Zorey leaned his head against the dark red staff of his and asked, deep in thought.

"If you turn to your right, you will see the quest board. We, the guild's staff, are keeping it updated so double booking will not occur."

The woman pointed her hand to the side and the black-haired boy.

"Once you find something that interests you, come back to the counter so one of the guildmembers will complete the quest assignment process."

"I understand. Thank you very much, young Miss!"

The bespectacled woman added, which prompted Zorey to bow his head to her and trot away cheerfully.

"..."

The woman didn't say anything more, but the positive impact of being politely called – young Miss - by someone who could easily be her son made her impression of the boy improve immensely.

Zorey weaved his way through the adventurers, and soon enough, he was reading through the available quests neatly handwritten and put on display on the quest board.

Most of them were either hunting or gathering types with a good dose of escort quests mixed in...

Of course, most of them were the adventuring quests and not the ones that Zorey could take.

"...reward, skill, gemstone cre-a-tion...?"

The black-haired boy was squinting his eyes while reading – he had improved since the last time, but he was a far cry from being fluent in understanding the written language that wasn't within his status window.

"Huh? Gemstone creation?!"

The boy flinched and leaned even closer, staring in disbelief at the note explaining the quest and describing the reward that the player would be given upon its completion.

{Name: Cursed house

Description: At the outskirts of Grand Herbal stands a ruined building that just a few years ago was a splendid house – a home for the bastard of one of the noble families ruling the city. It was a present from his father, who could not give him any other inheritance. The bastard who was unable to appreciate the gesture and could not accept his fate, thinking his rightful fortune was taken away from him, took his own life within the very walls of the building given to him in good faith. At the moment of his death, the bastard cursed the world, cursed his fate, cursed his family, and cursed his house...

Objective: Break the curse that causes the bastard's home to be haunted

Reward: Skill: Gemstone creation}

"!!!"

There was no room for hesitation.

Reading it again to make sure that he wasn't mistaken, Zorey hurriedly snatched the note and queued back to the counter, holding the piece of paper with both hands while his eyes shone with excitement.

"Young Miss! This one, please!"

When it was his turn, Zorey – who lined up to the bespectacled receptionist without fail – put the note with the System quest forward and cheered out.

"Let's see... oh, this one."

The woman did her best to not smile, trying to still be annoyed at the boy – and failing at it – and took the piece of paper out of the boy's hand and nodded after taking a glance at its name.

"This one is good because even if you fail, there is no penalty. It's also relatively safe... if it was adventuring quest, it would be for E or even F ranks."

The receptionist said, acting as if she was talking to herself while, in fact, she was being nice,

"Even if you and your fire magician friend will fail, as long as you will keep your wits about you and get out of there at the right moment, you will be fine."

She added, closing one eye and placing the note in her mouth.

"Hmm? Oh, you got it wrong, young Miss. I want to do it alone because Kaipo has some other business.

" Shouldn't you wait then and attempt it together...?"

Zorey tilted his head before shaking it and explaining, to which the receptionist asked suggestively.

"..."

"...?"

The black-haired boy's expression darkened, and he looked to the side, making the bespectacled woman raise her brows.

"...we had a bit of a fight yesterday, and Kaipo said that a country bumpkin like I can't get a hint – so I will not get this hint either..."

Zorey pouted and declared, clenching both hands on the dark red staff he was leaning against.

"Wait... you aren't nobles...?"

The guild receptionist furrowed her brows in surprise and asked.

"I am not quite sure about Kaipo – it kind of looks that way to me. But I'm just a commoner."

Zorey shrugged his shoulders and answered with a sigh.

"Hoo... is that so? Activate."

The receptionist let out an intrigued gap but then closed her other eye too and used her Skill while her lips were pressing against the piece of paper.

*TA-DING*

[You received a quest: Cursed house]

[Follow the quest compass]

The next moment a ping, a System notification, and an arrow at the very top of Zorey's vision appeared one after the other.

At first, the arrow spun around and then stopped all of a sudden, pointing in a seemingly random direction in an attempt to lead the black-haired boy to the new destination.

"Wow!"

Zorey gasped, perking up, focused on the new mechanic augmenting his vision and marveling at it.

"Thank you, young Miss!"

The black-haired boy didn't forget about politeness and bowed his head to the bespectacled receptionist, whose mood was improving by the second.

"Ah, a moment, please. If you are a commoner, then why don't you just register as an adventurer? It's not like a monk is some sort of exclusive Class or anything."

Zorey was clearly going to leave, but the woman reached out her hand – in which she still held the note with the quest description – and inquired.

"Because I'm only twelve. My parents back in the village didn't give me permission to sign up, and my master is busy with a request, so he also can't speak for me."

"...eh...?"

Zorey shrugged his shoulders again and turned around, leaving the flabbergasted woman behind.