Thapira's Supervisor

Thapira's POV:

After I made that statement, I felt I couldn't decline their offer anymroe. Keith and his party seemed decent after they acknowledged their wrongdoing, but being wrongly accused still slightly wounded my pride. The exploration is set for tomorrow, and Keith and his team mentioned they were preparing some materials and supplies. Perhaps I should ask Via about it; after all, I would appreciate having the supervisor that Via mentioned yesterday.

After Keith and his party departed, I headed to the adventurer's guild. It was early, yet the guild was bustling, a stark contrast to the previous day. Adventurers were already queuing at the counter, eager to pick their quests for the day.

I slowly made my way to Via's line and waited for my turn. The atmosphere in the guild was vibrant and electric as I surveyed the surroundings. I suspected that the arrival of a hero at the guild yesterday had boosted the morale of the adventurers; everyone seemed energetic and lively. 

After about 30 minutes of waiting, it was finally my turn.

"Good morning, Ms. Via," I greeted her, accompanying my words with a smile.

"Ah, good morning, Thap! How can I help you today?" Via responded, her usual formal greeting paired with a lovely smile.

"You remember about yesterday?" I asked her, eagerly awaiting her response.

"Yesterday? Oh... yes, absolutely. Give me a second, I'll be right back!" She responded, as if she knew exactly what I was referring to. She asked me to wait while she went to retrieve something for me. 

The noise and chatter inside the guild grew louder and more crowded as I waited for Via. Most adventurers looked fierce and professional, each having their own unique attire and deadly weapons, accompanied by their party members. 

I wished I could earn more money to afford powerful weapons and equipment like theirs. Moreover, I still had much to learn, especially about potions and magic in this world. Indeed, having a supervisor would be a tremendous help with all that.

After a couple of minutes, Via returned with someone I recognized.

"...Is... Ms. Isabelle?!" I shouted in surprise as Via brought Isabelle to her counter. At the same time, Isabelle also looked taken aback upon seeing me there.

"Thap, she will be your new supervisor!" Via announced, giving Isabelle a reassuring pat on the back. I looked at Isabelle, who seemed unable to fully react, clearly surprised by the sudden announcement.

"Hmm... thanks for the offer, but is it okay if I have someone else as my supervisor?" I quickly declined the offer for Isabelle to be my supervisor. It would look really bad if Keith saw this; I had only recently become his friend, and I didn't want him to think poorly of me for working under the girl he liked. 

"...I see... but Isabelle has never supervised anyone before! Why don't you try to be her first?" Via tried to convince me. "Moreover, you two already know each other, so it should go smoothly, right?" she continued. 

I knew having a supervisor would be helpful, but having Isabelle as my supervisor, especially since we live in the same place, might make others, like Keith, think differently about us. I decided to leave the decision up to her, telling Via to ask Isabelle if she wanted to supervise me or not. This way, I might have a better chance of politely declining and finding someone else. Since Isabelle isn't fond of men, she might not want to supervise a male adventurer like me anyway. 

I confidently puffed out my chest, anticipating Isabelle to decline the offer.

".... Ye... Yes, it would be great," Isabelle muttered softly.

"Hehe, see the answer is clearly no—wait, what?!" I thought to myself, taken aback as her answer wasn't what I had expected.

"Ah, I'm glad then... Thap, would you mind making your way to Ms. Isabelle's counter?" Via seemed happy with the outcome as she directed me towards Isabelle. It kind of hurt when she said that, catching me off guard.

Anyway, it's not like I'll never see her again, it was just three counters away, after all. Moreover, she did find a supervisor who would later help and assist me throughout my adventures. 

As I walked away from Via's counter, she gave me a thumbs-up and a reassuring smile, signaling that everything would be fine. However, I couldn't shake off my concerns. Isabelle, known for her dislike of men, might treat me harshly. I didn't want to speak ill of her to Via, but I hoped everything would turn out okay. It was only my third day in this world, and I silently wished for some divine guidance of this world to light my path. 

"...What should I call you?" Isabelle asked me quickly as I reached her counter.

"...Thap, just Thap. You don't have to address me formally," I replied quickly, accompanied by a smile.

"...Okay... then, Thap. Do you want me to explain everything to you?" she asked, looking me directly in the eyes.

It felt a bit awkward being looked in the eye by someone other than my stepsisters and my stepmom, which made me question my existence and wonder what I had been doing with my life all this time taht I should had hang out or talk with more girls.

At the same time, as I looked at her this closely, I could see how beautiful she was. Her long, silky brown hair was tied back in a ponytail with a white ribbon, her eyes were clear, crystal blue, and her face was perfectly framed. 

"...Hey! I'm asking here!" She snapped, pulling me back to reality.

What was I thinking! I quickly responded to her, telling her that I didn't need any explanation, as Ms. Via had already informed me about everything yesterday. 

Then she handed me a contract and asked me to fill in the rest after she had filled in some details. What remained were the signature and the commission fee. 

I asked her what the commission fee section was all about. She explained that the column to be filled was for the percentage of the reward from completed quests that would be divided with the supervisor. The minimum input was 10%. Her explanation was short and concise.

(100% Reward => 10% goes to the supervisor, 90% goes to the adventurer upon completing a quest)

Reflecting on it, since she was only supervising me at the moment, I felt that giving her just 10% might be too little. After pondering for a moment, I made up my mind, filled in the form, and handed it back to her.

"What's with this number? Is it a mistake?" She quickly shouted after skimming the contract, showing it to me and pointing at the number. "50%, that would be half of your reward!"

"Not mine, but ours, don't you think? Since we're going to help each other from now on. I'll do the hard work, and you provide the information," I suggested to her, trying to justify the split. 

"I can't believe this, and your reasoning is a bit ..." Isabelle expressed in disbelief as I explained my thoughts to her. 

"Anyway, give me some quests and I'll prove it to you!" I quickly asked her for recommended quests, eager to demonstrate my capability.

"...Then I will recommend you to start with these," Isabelle said, handing me three quests for goblin subjugation in three different locations close to each other. "You can choose one—wait!"

As she was explaining, I cut her off and told her I would do all of them today. She looked surprised and confused. "You can't, you're a newbie, right?" She tried to confront me, clearly concerned for my safety. I understood she didn't want me to get killed, especially since I was just an F-rank adventurer.

"Don't worry! I will be back" I reassured her, grabbing the quests and heading out of the guild with determination.

"Wait!" Isabelle tried to stop me, but I was already out the door. 

Now, I felt more like an adventurer than before!