Chapter 9

¡knock, knock!

Who could be knocking on the door so early? I thought to myself as I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

I felt my body heavy and a lump under my blanket. I got excited for a moment, thinking it was the cliché of finding a naked woman. But when I lifted the blanket, it was just Sacha sleeping on top of me.

After rubbing my eyes a bit, I got out of bed and opened the door.

Only to see Frex and the girls fully dressed.

"Good morning, Dylan. Let's go on our first guild mission," Frex said, looking very excited.

"But why did you come so early in the morning?" I asked after noticing that the sun was just starting to rise through the wooden window.

"It's the first mission we'll undertake. Yesterday, when we tried to register, we spent the whole day with paperwork and checks. Before we knew it, it was already night," Alexa replied.

"Yes. The guild is usually very strict when registering adventurers." I remember that to register, you had to read many clauses in front of a receptionist and memorize the guild's basic rules, along with combat tests and an exam asking about decisions in different situations, as well as a background check and finally, a combat skills test. Although, if one is illiterate, they must receive basic education from the guild using their own money for three months before being able to register.

In my case, it was easier because I was considered an apprentice in a group until I turned 16 years old.

"Well, we should also register as a group and assign the reward division. But you must have already done that, so we just have to slightly adjust the established contract and assign roles, so we won't have to wait long." When they heard me, they looked at each other with confused expressions.

"You didn't register as a group, apart from registering as adventurers?" I asked, seeing their expressions.

"We had to leave as soon as we finished our adventurer registration because we needed to explore the town and find an inn." Upon hearing Frex's answer, I felt the urge to bang my head against the wall. My mood is not very good after getting up early in the morning.

"Of course, you have to do that, or you won't be able to accept group missions. Wait for me a moment, I'll change clothes." That's what I told them before closing the door and starting to put on my adventure clothes with my knives and backpack.

When I came down, I saw they were waiting for me to have breakfast, and I sat down with them while Sacha followed me, waiting for Brack to feed her.

After all this, we went together to the guild.

We saw how the guild was completely packed with adventurers, and many were surrounding the board where mission posters were displayed.

"Why is it so crowded? Yesterday, there weren't even half as many adventurers as there are now," Alexa asked.

"Because they only post new missions every day at sunrise, and many adventurers either wait or come very early to choose missions with better rewards, safer ones, and that can be completed quickly," I explained as we approached the counter where Leidy was.

"Good morning, Leidy, we've come to register as a group."

"Wow, it's surprising that you want to form a group," she said while examining our group.

"You are the new adventurers who came yesterday; I must say you two are very cute." She began examining our group and then gave me a look as if she knew what I was planning.

"They are Frex, Alexa, and Lina." She started writing down our names on a form she took from the counter when she heard me mention them and began asking questions.

"Occupations?"

"Private."

"Ages?"

I looked at my companions, and Frex said, "The three of us are 16 years old."

"Roles?"

I waited for them to remember at least. "Vanguard, rear guard, rear guard," they each said one by one.

"Rewards?"

"Equal shares."

"Leader?"

"Frex."

"Signatures." After she said that, I put my signature in the column where my name was, and they did the same.

"That would be all for now. The process would be more complicated, but I'll help you a bit with the rest since you're Dylan's group, and I know he finds this kind of paperwork very annoying. By the way, you should be aware that if anyone in the group dies, the entire reward will be assigned to the family or families of the deceased. I only mentioned the latter because it's mandatory to remind it every time a group is formed." When she finished explaining, I turned to my group, and they couldn't stop staring at me.

"Why didn't you consult us about some decisions?" Frex asked me.

"Sorry, but I don't like these kinds of procedures, so I tried to do it as quickly as possible. And if we had done it normally, it would have taken quite a while," I replied to Frex.

"By the way, why did you choose Frex as the leader instead of proclaiming yourself?" Alexa asked me, seeming a bit curious about what I did.

"Because you know each other better than a stranger like me, and after the group ranks up, this type of paperwork and decisions will be the leader's responsibility."

"You and that woman seem very close," Lina said, surprising both Frex, Alexa, and me with that statement. I hope she didn't realize our relationship, or at least she keeps it a secret.

"Well, she is my designated receptionist, so whenever she is in the guild, I have to prioritize mission delivery and selection to her. Besides, we've known each other for years, so it's natural for us to be close." I hope they don't suspect our relationship, although I doubt that Frex and Alexa would question anything.

When we reached the mission board, where there were fewer adventurers each time.

"I am rank D, but the group's rank is determined by the average rank of its members. You can choose any mission within the E rank, and I'll give you a brief explanation of the disadvantages and advantages of the mission you choose."

Each adventurer starts with rank E, then comes ranks D, C, B-, B+, A-, A+, and finally, S rank. I am rank D, and when an adventurer reaches rank C, other sub-ranks such as combat rank, survival rank, collection rank, knowledge rank, among others, are assigned, but they are only assigned when an adventurer reaches rank C to not overwhelm those who have been in the guild for a few years.

"What about caravan protection?" Frex asked when he saw several caravan missions requesting adventurers of rank E.

"They will pay us very little as an E-rank group because we'll only be used by merchants to increase the number of adventurers, making those attempting to assault the caravan distrustful and cancel their attack. It's very popular among stingy merchants to hire E-ranks." I explained to the group, hoping they would choose another mission.

"Herb collection?" Alexa asked and pointed to a mission that required E rank or higher to collect 1 Kald (800 g) or more of solar grass, a rare plant that grows in the Lertil plains to the south and pays 85 copper coins for each Kald. It's worth noting that the rewards shown are the total given to the adventurer because the guild subtracts a percentage as an intermediary and another for taxes before putting the missions on the board.

"Do any of you know how to recognize herbs?" Even if the details and appearance of the herbs are shown, if you don't have very good observation or knowledge, even if you find them, it won't be noticeable at all.

"My father taught me to recognize and collect many wild herbs to make poisons for special occasions or use them as emergency medicine." Hearing Alexa, I felt a bit happy. I can recognize many herbs, but I don't know how to collect them because the game didn't mention how to collect them, and the option to collect wild herbs only appeared when using an apothecary on the expedition. So, until now, I never knew that Alexa could collect herbs.

"That's good because herb collection missions request specific herbs due to orders from other places when there's a shortage. So, the reward is good, but you have to bring them in good condition, or they'll be rejected. Also, if we find other types of herbs, we can use them ourselves or sell them to other shops." I felt excited because with her, we can earn a bit more money. But I noticed that I had gotten too close to her, and she became a bit nervous.

"I'm sorry; I think I got carried away. I'll keep a bit of distance from now on," I said a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry, it's the first time someone takes my botany knowledge so seriously." She responded with a cheerful tone.

"I didn't think you could show many expressions; since we saw you, you always kept a serious face," Frex said, seeing our interaction.

"I don't like showing my emotions in front of people I don't know well, but you don't seem like bad people." I hope to gain more of their trust.

"That's the spirit! From now on, we're a team," Frex said with a smile.

"Will you choose the herb collection mission?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

They began to talk and give their opinions until Frex said, "Alright, we'll choose the herb collection mission because subjugation missions are only available at D rank, and we don't have much knowledge about the other missions. And there are very few missions available for our rank, so it's better to start with something within our reach."

After this, we handed the mission poster to Leidy and started preparing to go to the Lertil plains, which was quite a distance from this town.