Chapter 26 - Lost

The party of three had decided to go directly to Leo's inn, so the kid could recuperate.

"Lola, we're back!" Leo shouted, excited to see his grandma.

Soon, a hunchback old woman walked out of the kitchen.

"What happened to you?" Grandma exclaimed in worry and hurriedly walked closer to inspect her grandchild. "Why are you in this condition?"

Leo grinned from ear to ear and spoke. "Hihi, don't worry, Lola, this is the badge of our success."

Grandma hit Leo on the back and reprimanded him. "Why are you smiling? Look at yourself. How can I stay put when I know you can end up like this when you go to a Dungeon!"

"I'm sorry, Lola; we should have been more careful." Loki bowed his head and elbowed Leo to do the same.

Seeing her member apologize to the old woman, Pandora copied them, as she had no idea what to do.

"All of you stand straight. Why don't you introduce me to the young lady first?"

Loki raised his head and gestured to Pandora with his open palm. "Ah, this is Pandora, our third party member."

"I-I'm Pandora!" Pandora bit her tongue as she spoke.

"Polite kid. Please take care of my dumb grandchild."

"Y-yes, of course."

"Stop standing and go to the kitchen; I will prepare something to eat," Grandma commanded.

"I will help you," Loki offered.

"No need, just sit and wait for the food. I know all of you are tired."

Soon, the trio each had a vegetable soup before them, steaming and seducing them with its appetizing aroma. Without further delay, Leo, Loki, and even Pandora wolfed the hot food like hungry pigs.

A moment later, their faces were painted with smiles and satisfaction.

"Ahh, Lola's cooking is the best!" Leo exclaimed in happiness.

Granma walked in, and upon seeing the contented faces of the three children, she smiled and said, "If you are all done eating, go to the room and rest; I will clean up."

Hearing this, Loki sat straight and offered again. "No, Lola, let me clean the dishes."

"Just do what I say."

"Let's just go, Loki; no one can change my Lola's mind when she begins," Leo advised.

Loki couldn't do anything but nod his head. Still, he stood up and bowed to Grandma. "Thank you for the meal; it was delicious!"

Pandora followed. "T-thank you."

Grandma's smile widened. "Just go."

After that, the trio went to Loki's room, as it was the closest.

Loki laid Leo on the bed while he and Pandora sat on the floor.

"Okay, I will go to the guild and get our reward. Leo, stay put and don't do anything. Pandora, can you take care of him while I'm gone?"

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Leo complained.

"L-let me go; you're injured too."

"Don't worry, my wounds are already healing; just stay with him until I come back. Make sure he won't do something stupid."

With that, Loki took the Azure Flowers and Sunshine Petals from Pandora and made his way towards the guild.

It was in the middle of the day, so the sun was at its peak, making the world scorching hot. Yet, the weather didn't bother Loki, as he enjoyed his walk without worrying about the dangers in the surroundings.

The way to the guild was noisy and lively as the bustling people did their own sets of activities. However, there was one thing that Loki never got used to. He barely saw any children playing around. That was also the case in his hometown, as there were only 5 children there, including him.

He thought a city as big as Vestia would be full of them, but he was wrong. At first, he reasoned that maybe they were in the school, studying. Yet, he had already lived in Vestia for almost 3 months, and he could still barely find them.

He didn't really care about children; he just found it odd.

After a while, Loki arrived at the guild and walked straight to Cassandra.

"Oh, look who is back." Cassandra smiled at Loki. "You look like a real Crawler now. Our little chick is growing too fast."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Good to see you too, Ms. Cassandra."

"Anyway, where are the other two?"

"They are at home resting."

"That's good; I thought they died."

Loki stared at the woman with unamused eyes.

"It's just a joke, geez, can't you take a hint? In any case, what can I do for you?"

"Aren't you going to ask why we're back this soon?"

Cassandra shrugged. "Not really; it's nothing new to begin with."

"I see, I'm here to complete our Quest." Loki took his bag from his CC and gave Cassandra the Quest paper with the small bag.

The red-haired woman accepted the items and inspected them. She smiled when she saw the contents of the small bag.

"I didn't expect your party to get this many on your first Quest. I guess you guys do have some potential."

"Yeah, yeah, thank you very much."

"I miss that sarcastic tone of yours." After saying that, Cassandra began doing paperwork. Soon, she placed a pouch on the receptionist's table. "Here's your reward: 26 silver.

Loki excitedly grabbed the coin pouch and counted the coins inside. A wide smile grew on his face upon finishing his counting.

"Thank you, until next time." Loki eagerly said his goodbye and was about to leave, but Cassandra stopped him.

"Wait, I need you to place your CC on this crystal before you leave." Cassandra pointed to the same crystal as before.

Loki tilted his head. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why? To receive your Guild Points. Did no one tell you about this?"

"What? No!"

Cassandra lingered as if she realized something. "Oh, yeah, I'm the one who is supposed to inform you about that. My bad, I guess."

Loki rolled his eyes again; he just couldn't figure the receptionist out. Sometimes she cared, and other times she acted like a professional, but most of the time, she was nonchalant. He had no clue what her deal was.

"Can you explain it to me now? What are these Guild Points and what can I do with them?"

"Fine. Guild Points can be earned by completing a Quest. The Guild Points you will earn in every Quest will vary depending on the Quest Rank. F Rank is equivalent to 5 Guild Points, E is 40, D is 100, C is 500, B is 1,500, and A is 5,000.

"Guild Points can be exchanged in the guild with all sorts of benefits: information, items, lessons, knowledge, and more. Do you understand? If you don't ask Pandora, I don't want to repeat all that."

Loki nodded in understanding. "Am I the only one who will receive the Guild Points? What about my members?"

"Each of you will receive Guild Points. You don't have to worry about your members; the Guild Points have been recorded under their names. I just need one of you to confirm the transaction.

"I see. Thank you, I guess." Loki passed Cassandra his CC absentmindedly.

So, there are more benefits to accepting Quest. Should I check what kind of things I can get with Guild Points? Nah, I will check another time, as I need to visit the merchant to pay our debt. Perhaps I will sell the material we have to him too.

"Hey chick, here's your card."

Loki woke up from his deep thoughts and accepted his CC.

"Would you like to know what you can exchange with your Guild Points? Not that you can afford anything with 5 Points."

Loki shook his head. "No, maybe some other time, I have somewhere to be with. Anyway, see ya."

Loki didn't linger in the guild and went on his way.

While walking, Loki observed the houses he passed by, wondering if he should help Leo renovate the inn. It was old and on the brink of its life; if it wasn't taken care of, who knew how long it would last? But then, after walking for almost 10 minutes, he realized he didn't remember the way to the merchant shop.

"I'm sure it's on the right," Loki muttered while looking at the fork road. "Yeah, I better trust my instinct."

He resumed his journey, yet, upon walking for another 20 minutes, another fork road challenged his intuition. This time, he chose the road on the left, confident that he was on the right path. But then, after another 20 minutes, another fork road stopped him.

"Wait a minute, I don't remember walking this long when Leo guided us to the shop. Am I lost?"

In denial, Loki walked to the right with a hastened footstep. The sequence of choosing left or right continued for hours, not realizing he was walking in a circle.

However, perhaps the Goddess pitied him, but after a few more hours, he miraculously arrived in front of the merchant shop.

The day was at its end when he reached his destination. His whole body was full of sweat, his eyes half open, and his hair disheveled.

"I will never travel alone in this city!"