Quest Completion

This time, the guild was packed. Wherever I was looking, there were adventurers of all kinds: Newbies in basic gear. Veterans donned into armor that could tell you a story by itself. Showoffs in over-the-top impractical gear.

'Wow. There are a lot of people right now.'

[It's just past lunchtime, master. Lots of adventurers are either picking or finishing their quests. Parties that planned to meet with their customers. Normal people who came to register their own quests.]

I looked around. Yeah, Hestia was right. Almost all reception booths had queues lined up.

'Ugh. Seems like I will be stuck here for a while.'

[Master, there is a free reception desk. The far-right corner one.]

I looked at the location that Hestia told me and, indeed, there was a free receptionist. It was a huge bald old man with a scarred face.

'Hahaha. No wonder no one goes to that desk.'

Since it was a choice between quickly finishing my quest with that bald old man and waiting in a huge-ass line, my choice was obvious. Still, something felt off, since it was a strange choice to put someone like that for front-end work. All the other receptionists were quite attractive after all.

Seeing me approaching his desk, the old man raised his eyebrow in mock surprise.

"Oh, a youngster who isn't afraid of me?"

"Sorry for disappointing you, but I know a much scarier old man." Yeah, Grandpa could be much much scarier than this wannabe. It's like comparing a tiger and a housecat.

"Huh. Still, why choose this uncle, when you could've just lined up to try and impress a beauty? Like every one of those fools, no doubt, are trying to do."

"Well, let's just say that I'm not that desperate. And even if I did, do you think any of those ladies would appreciate me wasting their time and adding to their workload right now?"

The scary uncle raised his eyebrow again. And then laughed boisterously.

"You have a point here. Just don't tell it to anyone else, I don't wanna have more work, hahaha."

Maybe I should rethink and go line up to someone else?

"So what are you here for?"

"I'm here to complete the Silver Cat Wolf horn quest."

"And where are you hiding those horns?"

Damn! The horns were inside the ring. Between the landlady's teasing and how delicious lunch was, I totally forgot to take them out... Wait, I don't have a backpack either... Well, it seems like there is not much of a choice left for me, let's hope that this old man won't make a scene out of it. I don't need some weird rumors going around about me.

I waved my hand and a hundred silver horns appeared on the table. Another gesture and a quest form that Kiara stamped for me this morning appeared as well.

Scarred baldy looked at me for a few moments and just said:

"Huh. Spatial artifact? And high-quality ones as well. Are you a prince, boy? Though I feel like I've seen a ring-like yours somewhere before."

"I'm just an ordinary adventurer."

"Who are you trying to trick, boy? Ordinary adventurers don't go around with high-quality spatial artifacts. They also don't wear clothes made out of materials that I can't recognize."

I just shrugged. Well, he really got me there. What can I say?

"Well. As long as you don't do anything against Guild's rules, I can't care less about who you are. Just listen to this uncle's advice. Or a few, I guess."

I decided that whatever he wants to say would be good enough for me to listen.

"First - buy yourself a storage bag. They are pretty cheap since they have much smaller space storage, so pretty much every serious adventurer has one. It will help you to camouflage your ring's existence." Sounds like good advice to me.

"And a second advice - if you don't want unneeded attention, don't overdo your quests like that." He pointed to a pile of horns.

"Even twenty of them would've been quite an astonishing result for a rookie adventurer like you."

"Hm. Storage bag and "don't overdo it". Thank you for this piece of wisdom, oh wise uncle." Since he liked to call himself "uncle", I decided to adopt this form as well.

"No problem, my foolish nephew. By the way, what are you trying to accomplish? Why did someone like you decide to play adventurer?"

"Hmm, what do you mean "someone like me", uncle? I'm just your normal everyday adventurer."

I tried to joke my way out of this question, but his unimpressed look told me that I better just tell him the truth. "A friend of mine told me that by joining this guild, I would have a chance to learn more about magic."

"Learning about magic? Why not try Royal Academy or Mage Tower then?"

"I only have one attribute. I doubt either of those places would accept a nobody without an aptitude."

"I see. Well, work harder and we will see if I just so happen to get a magic book or two for you."

"Thanks, uncle. I would appreciate this."

"No need to thank me, boy. You will pay for it with your work, hahaha."

With those very ominous words, the reception uncle picked silver horns and started counting them.

"One hundred silver horns total. One silver coin per horn, as per quest conditions. Here is your reward"

The old man put a hundred silver coins on the table and stamped the quest paper.

"Where are your guild card?"

"Ohh, I almost forgot, here"

I gave the old man my guild card and he also stamped it as well. Hmm, isn't his stamp quite a bit different from Kiara's? Is he some kind of Senior Receptionist or something?

"Quest completion has been recorded and an amount of guild contribution points was added to your card. Work hard and your promotion would be swift, nephew."

The old man gave me back my guild card.

"Thank you, uncle."

The old man silently nodded in acceptance.

"What are you gonna do now, boy? Are you going to get another quest?"

"No, I have plans for later already. Maybe I will get a new quest again tomorrow morning."

"Alright then. Good luck."

I nodded and exited the guild deep in my thoughts.

'What to do next? Should I search for ingredients now? Nah, let's check with the landlord first. Maybe he already has everything. But he is, most likely, busy with preparing for dinner now, so it's better not to disturb him. Hmm, what to do then? Yeah, I should look for a storage bag first."

'Hestia, can you mark nearby shops where I can buy a storage bag, please?'

[Done, Master]

A magical map of Guild District appeared before my eyes. A few buildings were marked by Hestia.

'This map is really convenient. Though I should've just asked the reception-uncle to recommend a shop to me.'

I started my leisure stroll toward the nearest shop. I had all the time in the world right now. Or at least till the sunset. I looked around, taking in new sights.

The buildings around me varied a lot. It was as if each craftsman tried to outdo his or her neighbors. I was pretty sure that some of them were absolutely impossible without quite a bit of magic as well.

Guild District was a very busy place. All kinds of people were busily doing something. This one, who looked like a pompous noble, was talking with his subordinate. A dog-headed beastman carried a big backpack, hurrying somewhere. Few strong-looking beastwomen armed with various weapons, most likely an adventuring party, argued, or maybe haggled, with a blacksmith.

The chaos of life boiled around me, taking the form of normal busy city life. And then there was I. Walking alone in this strange city, in this strange world. Strangers all around me. If I were to disappear right now, would anyone even notice?

I stopped in my tracks and looked into the blue sky above. 'I wonder how my father is doing right now. It has been fourteen years since then. Is he still grieving? Is he doing fine? Did he accept it as fact and move on? I hope so. If you somehow hear me, father, know I always loved you and I'm sorry that I left you first.'

Someone put a hand on my shoulder. Trying not to act on an instinct and break said appendage, I turned around.

"Hello again." There, with a gentle smile on her face, stood Esri.