Turning in the quests

"And don't get me wrong! Level 24 is very commendable! Very! But getting there without putting an ounce of work will come back to bite her later, and I hope it will bite her hard!"

The receptionist after his working hours, declared, slamming an empty jug against the tabletop, and this time, the advenuters seating with him agreed, nodding their heads vigorously.

"Haaaaaah… Damn, that's a good ale! Another one, please!"

Terry called out, raising his hand and waving it toward the barmaid.

"Mister Terry, are you sure? You look like you've had enough."

"I'm fine. Really, it's just that this world is full of idiots who underestimate themselves and make my blood boil."

The barmaid that walked over to their table pointed out while taking the empty jug, but Terry merely scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.

While they were talking, another member of the guild staff poked his head out from behind the back door and looked around clearly in search of something or someone very specific.

"Hey, can we get someone to the back to look over the parts being handed in? We got a lot, and I believe most of them are from quests."

Unable to localize his target, the guild staff member gave up and called out before closed the door, returning to his duties.

"...!"

A brand-new hire, the young receptionist who dropped the last batch of fresh quest notes and was picking them up on all fours, tensed up. She stood up and tired to rush over but ended up stumbling over her own feet on the way to the counter, and almost dropped the graphite plate she hurriedly took out from behind it...

"...oh... ummm... hnn... umm..."

While it looked as if the receptionist girl pulled herself together, she froze up, unsure whether she should leave the counter empty like that...

"Haaa… Let's hold on to that beer after all…"

"Sure~"

Seeing the troubled young colleague, Terry sighed and called out to the barmaid while standing up.

"Lena. Go. I'll man the counter, so don't worry. Take your time. Make sure to mark everything properly. You can always run back and ask me if there is something you are unsure of."

"Mister Terry…! Thank you!"

The man approached the counter and waved his hand encouragingly at the girl, making her repeatedly bow her head to him as he sat down heavily on the chair at the back.

"Sure, sure. Don't get intimidated over there. If our guys back there will tell you the quality of the monster parts is subpar, and if those parts were necessary for the quest completion, do not mark the quest as completed no matter what the adventurers will say. You might get in trouble for that, so keep it in mind."

"I understand! I'll do my best!"

Terry added, and girl cheered out in a spirited voice before hurrying through the door in the back while clenching the graphite plate.

"Ugh… working overtime… at least the kid is gaining on the job experience."

Terry grumbled to himself while rubbing his temple and looking over the guild's floor.

"...umm…"

Not even two full minutes had passed when the young receptionist returned, approaching Terry with a troubled expression.

"Yes? Did you forget something…?"

The man asked, raising his brow in confusion.

"Mister Terry… the adventurer handing in the monster parts saw me and said - not you… She said that it has to be the receptionist from the morning…"

The girl, Lana, gulped down her saliva and explained, fidgeting awkwardly, nervously clenching the graphite plate to her chest.

"What? What nonsense is that adventurer spouting? This isn't the kind of place where you can pick and choose who works with you! Lena, you must be stern and direct with people like that, or they will walk all over you."

Terry scoffed, straightening his back and getting into a lecturer mode.

"B-but… Mister Terry… she and her party have really a lot of monster parts to turn in…"

"That doesn't give them any power. They are getting paid for it. If they were selfless heroes, then it would be a different talk. We all are paid workers and deserve equal respect."

The girl fidgetted even more nervously and pointed out. Still, the man shook his head decisively and declared.

"I understand, but… they really, really have a lot of monster corpses to turn in… they are blocking the entire street. They said they would not move unless the receptionist from the morning showed up…"

"...the entire street…?"

Lana made a pitiful expression. She tried to convince her older colleague again, this time making him furrow his brows and lean back in disbelief.

"By any chance, is one of them a very large man with black hair with white roots, and triangular teeth… and the other a stuck-up gold-haired girl?"

"Y-yes."

Terry's head perked up as he asked in realization, to which Lana nodded, relieved at the progress.

"Oh, I'll definitively have a word or two to say to her anyway. I'll leave the door open so you can listen and get an example of how to deal with people like that. After all, I'll not be here all the time to help out."

Terry added, getting up from the chair and raking the graphite plate off the girl's hand as he stumbled his way to the backdoor and then the staff room to finally get to the area where the adventurers would turn in the monster corpses or parts.

"Gbuagh...!?"

…and instantly got choked up at the sheer volume of the monster corpses being stacked right there on the street, completely taking over the place.

"There he is! My good man, please, do come over to acknowledge it all so we can stop causing trouble for the public!"

"!!!"

A gold-haired girl standing in front of another guild staff member opened her arms, calling jovially to Terry, but the rotten glare in her eyes made him shiver and freeze up.

"I have some quests to turn in, if you would be so kind."

The slick-haired girl in the black suit pants and male white shirt pulled out a whole stack of quest notes and waved them lightly next to her head without taking her sharp golden eyes away from the receptionist.