Fragrant

Finding another few stray rats on the way out of the sewers, Leo managed to collect enough tails to complete his quest. Michael simply followed behind him mutely, seemingly broken mentally.

Leo guided them back to the entrance on his map, and pointed up the ladder to Michael. The two slowly climbed out of the manhole and replaced it. The town was lit with lanterns, the moon low in the sky. A few stars could be seen shining between the gutters of the houses nearby.

"Thanks for, you know, not leaving me down their to deal with those rats alone," Michael said after a moment.

"Well, considering how many times you've beaten the crap out of me, it's the least I could do," replied Leo with a smile.

"I would've died if you hadn't."

"I seriously considered it for a moment, not gonna lie. But I figured that'd make me just like the people who left me to rot. So you're welcome."

Michael stood silently for a moment. He pulled out a small bag and threw it towards Leo. "This doesn't change anything. You're still a useless street rat," he said, turning and walking away.

Leo picked up the pouch and heard the jingling of a few coins. Smiling to himself, he pocketed the pouch headed towards the guild, fully intent on claiming his reward for the rat tails.

-

A sudden stench began to permeate the entire guild hall's main floor. Adventurers nearby felt their eyes watering, and began looking around for the source.

Leo, smiling brightly, stood at the back of the small queue. "I'll be in line here until I claim my reward," he grinned maliciously.

He was promptly allowed to cut the line by everyone ahead.

"Claiming a que-My goddess what is that foul odor?!?!" the receptionist gasped. Gagging from the smell of the sewers, he immediately began retching. Several adventurers nearby began to laugh at the sight.

"Excuse me sir? Would you mind stepping outside for a moment?" Turning, Leo saw a thin, bespectacled man with deep blue eyes next to him. "My friend will hold your place in line, but you really need to let me wash that smell off you."

Leo chuckled and followed the man outside the guild to a gutter next to the street. "So you have a rain barrel nearby or-"

Without warning, a torrential downpour of ice cold water surrounded Leo, as if an entire tub of water was being dumped over him, flooring him. The water continued for several moments, until the man with blue eyes determined the smell was dealt with.

"Much better. Let's go back in." He turned around without aplomb, leaving Leo sputtering on the street, chattering his teeth.

-

Back at reception, a different guild agent processed Leo's return claim, taking the thirty tails from his bag as proof, placing down 10 coins as a reward.

"Was there anything else you'd like to report on your quest?" she asked politely.

"Yeah two things. I found a body in the sewers. From the state the girl was in, she'd been there for a few hours. Looks like the rats got her. She had this bangle on her wrist." Presenting the stained and dirty bangle, the guild receptionist took it carefully from his hands and set it aside.

"Let me check our rosters for any missing persons requests... How old was the woman?"

"She was a girl. Maybe around my age or a little younger. Pale skinned. clothing was common, but in tatters."

The guild agent stopped for a moment. cleaning the bangle and reading the inscription, she looked back at Leo for a moment. "Here's the reward for the missing girl. Her parents offered it up when they commissioned the request." The woman stepped away for a moment, returning with a small, red mana stone.

"Though you hadn't taken the relevant quest, I processed it for you as accepted, and then completed it as you found the girl's remains. Her parents can at least have some closure now. She'd been missing for a few weeks. Runaways." The receptionist shook her head sadly for a moment. "And the second thing?"

"A monstrous sized rat was in the sewer. As big as a horse. It was eating two guys when I saw it. Blessed, judging from the tattoos," Leo reported.

The receptionists nodded with a frown. "Another mana monster report?" she mumbled to herself. "Third one this week. Never good when it happens in town." The woman spent several minutes questioning Leo on it's size, appearance, attributes and abilities.

"For reporting it's presence and tracking it's baseline location, you're entitled to a portion of the reward money offered by the guild for it." She placed several more coins onto the counter.

"Seriously? I get money for running away from a monster?" Leo replied, a bit shocked.

"Of course. We sent you into a dangerous location without proper knowledge, and you scouted and reported back the location of a dangerous beast. What's more, we can post the information on it now, it's general whereabouts, and offer a reward for collecting it's mana stone."

Leo was a bit stunned at the efficiency and care the guild put forward towards it's members. Thinking on it, it made a certain sort of sense. Since there were no laws in the dungeons and wilds of the world, an adventurers, merchants and Blessed behaved atrociously, taking whatever they felt they could. If the guild was not scrupulously fair in all it's dealings with it's members, most Blessed would simply go into business for themselves and the guild would become redundant.

Taking his reward money, and the small mana stone, Leo headed out of the guild to find himself a cheap place to stay for his remaining time in town.