Hiring Guards

''How can I help you?'' An old man with a peg leg asked as soon as I entered the guild. I guessed he was a retired adventurer.

With a few tables here and there, men and women sipping their drinks, the only difference of guild from a bar was the quest screen that covered an entire wall.

''I want to create a quest,'' I said to the old man.

He nodded, ''Give me your ID number so I can send you an invitation mail.''

I gave him the number, there was nothing but my first name on my public profile. Since my last name is also the name of a demon clan, I didn't put it on my profile. No photos, no breed, no information.

This might be a little suspicious, but there were others who did so so that their families and friends were not targeted when they made enemies. It didn't take long before I received a mail.

{Fill the form to create a quest for Frozen Drop guild and send it back.

Click here to view the form.}

I clicked the link and filled the form properly. Before I send it back, I read it one last time.

{A quest named [Gathering some stuff from the forest] has been created by the user named Sora ******* for the guild whose information is given below.

Name: Frozen Drop

Grade: D

Founder: Hermes D'abi

Quest: Accompanying and guarding the creator of the quest while obtaining certain plants and materials. The quest may entail fighting demonic bees and some other demonic creatures.

The mission will be deemed complete after all the following materials have been obtained and the creator of the quest returned safely to the town named Snowflake.

1. Frozen saffron (500)

2. Demonic bee honey (1 kilogram)

3. Demonic bee pollen (20 grams)

Rewards: A silver coin. Except for those mentioned, all the materials obtained during the quest will be shared equally.}

I would hardly trust a D graded guild if it hadn't been established just a few months ago. The fact that they were promoted from F to D in just a few months meant they successfully completed every quest they received.

For the recipe, I needed two grams of frozen saffron and two frozen saffron roots. One gram of saffron was obtained from 250 saffron herbs, so I decided to make a quest for 500 saffron. I also needed two roots beside the flowers.

1 kilogram of demonic bee honey and 10 grams of demonic bee pollen would be enough for the recipe, but with the suggestion of the fox, I filled the quest form as 20 grams of demonic bee pollen.

I was satisfied with the quest and sent it back to the user who sent me. The name was Galen D'habi, the same surname as the founder of the guild. Was the old man a relative of the founder?

''I'm done,'' I said to the Galen, the peg-legged old man.

Galen nodded, ''Please, wait for a few minutes. There is a verification process before we publish quests on the main screen,'' He said. ''Why don't you take a seat?''

I sat down and gazed around, the adventurers were minding their own businesses. Some of them felt my gaze and turned to see who was watching them, some didn't.

I gently smiled at those who caught my gaze. After all, a few of them might be a part of my team in the near future. Some smiled back, some frowned. Others looked me over from head to toe, wondering what I was doing in the guild. Clearly, I didn't look like an adventurer right now.

The fox giggled in my mind, ''Might be a part of team, or another saying, a part of your menu.''

''Huh?''

''Who do you intend to eat during your time outside of town?'' The fox pointed to a subject I didn't think of before.

''Miss Sora,'' I turned to see who called out me by name. I was still trying to get used to my new name, so it took me a while to realize that I was being called. It was the same old man with a wooden leg.

''Hermes, ah, I mean the founder and the current leader of guild wants to talk you about the quest,'' He said.

I noticed that the old man called the founder by name. He really must be a relative or someone in high positions in the guild. Maybe he was both. ''I hope there aren't any problems?'' I said.

He shrugged his shoulders, ''Dunno. Go upstairs, Hermes keeps his door open. I'm sure you'll figure out which is his room.''

I headed upstairs, a little nervous. I had done nothing wrong to these people, yet, still being some kind of demonic creature was enough to be the enemy of humanity. If they found out what I was, they wouldn't waste time asking why or how before execution.

I was questioning myself was it really a good idea to keep living among humans as I climb upstairs. It was unlikely that anyone would have the inspect skill, especially for a small town. Still, even if the odds are one in a thousand, I wasn't keen to gamble when it came to my life.

How many people have seen my face since I came to town? 999? Would Hermes D'abi be the 1000th? Was he the one with the skill to inspect? Maybe he would call the warriors downstairs as soon as he saw me and this would be the end of my second life.

No way, I thought, there is no way someone with a high tier skill like inspect prefers a small town to found a guilt. I won't let unwarranted fears make me run away like a coward, I thought.

Anyway, I had no chance to go back and run, because Hermes was not in his room but in the hall where the stairs went up. He called me out before I saw him. ''Here, young lady,'' He said.

I gritted before took the last steps to see him and the hall fully. Normally I would be more careful than this, but the architecture of the building had been designed to give the defenders an advantage in an attack. This was providing an advantage to the person standing on the upper floor against those who went up.

He measured me from hair to toes before he said anything else. ''If I'm not mistaken, should you be Miss Sora?'' He asked in a surprised voice. I nodded but I didn't understand why he was surprised.

''Is there any problem with the quest?'' I asked.

He shook his head, ''Ah, no. It's not exactly a problem, but there are a few points I want to make certain. You want to go into the forest with the adventurers, not have them collect and bring materials for you, right?''

I nodded. I point out that already, why was he asking again? Hermes frowned a little, ''I see, but wouldn't it be better if the adventurers gathered everything for you instead of wasting time and energy to protect you? I'm not highlighting this to humiliate you, but the forest is a dangerous place.''

Ah. So that's the reason. The fox yawned in a bored manner, '''Cause she's a control freak and trusts no one to do her things,'' It said in my mind. I sighed and ignored it.

''I know, I do not look like one right now but I'm actually a healer,'' I used to be at least, I thought.

''Ah,'' Hermes seemed a little relieved. He was definitely reluctant to risk his men to protect a pampered girl. Suddenly his expression turned serious, ''So those ingredients were to make potions?''

''Umm, kinda.''

''Do you sell HP and MP pots?'' He asked in a serious manner, ''Our guilt had established just for a few months ago, we are still dependent on outsiders to get potions for our members. Aside from being expensive, their quality is not as high as I would like them to be. Honestly, it wouldn't be bad to have more options.''

I paused for a few seconds as if thinking, but I was actually trying to hide my excitement. ''I'm not an expert at potions, still, I'd like to discuss this further after the quest completed.''

''Sure,'' He paused for a second to think, ''I'll give the quest a team of three since it can be considered as low level, maybe D ranked. An advanced warrior and two newbies she currently training. They were looking for a quest like this. Gathering herbs shouldn't be a problem. If it weren't for demonic bees, it would be a level F mission,'' He said.

''When can we leave the town?'' I asked.

''When will you be ready to leave?'' I heard a female voice and looked around to find where's the voice coming from. A heavily armored woman was coming out of one of the doors in the hall. ''I'm the advanced tier warrior Hermes just mentioned and seems like will be your teammate from now on. Call me Casey.''

''I'm Sora.'' Hermes coughed for a few times to call attention before saying his farewell and leave the two of us alone.

We looked at each other for a while. Contrary to me, the woman looked like an adventurer in her heavy armor. I was satisfied with her. It was the wear of the armor that proved the woman's experience in fighting, rather than the quality of her armor.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have the same feelings as me. Not because of I glanced at her heart, I already decided to do not this to the ones who seem to have good senses. It was clear in her eyes. ''So, you're a healer?'' She broke the silence.

I looked her in the eye and pondered what I should say now. ''Yeah,'' The fox said in my mind. ''She's definitely not the type that will let you dominate her. I hope two newbies are males. They are easier to seduce and persuade not to care about the rest as long as they get sex.''