* * *
In the following days, Aya acted mostly as Hiroki had instructed her to.
Starting with how their money was managed and how she grew stronger as she took on more quests. Aya's injuries, while mostly light ones, were quick to heal because of the potions that she bought thanks to the saved up money they now had.
But right now, they still had one problem that needed to be solved. And that was the condition of this house. Even if it could be a good hideout for criminals, it would still stand out if the neighbors noticed how a girl was regularly coming in and out of that abandoned place.
One particular day, after both Aya and Hiroki were done with their quests for the day, they headed back to the guild to get their rewards.
"Here you go, Aya. A whole amount of 3 gold coins for all the rare herbs and 10 more gold coins for the mythical bones you brought. Thank you for your hard work." The same receptionist who helped Aya said this as she gave her a bag of coins inside it.
Aya, with a slight and confident smile on her face, took the bag of money and placed it in her personal pouch.
"I'm only doing my job. You don't need to thank me." Aya responded.
Since there weren't many other adventurers at this time, the receptionist leaned on her desk while looking at the young girl in front of her.
"You've changed… Aya." The receptionist said so with puffy cheeks that were lying on the hard desk.
"...Really?" Aya asked with a rather surprised look on her face.
"Yes. How do I say this…. You seem more... mature?"
The receptionist tried guessing in a rather questing way while trying to judge the difference that Aya had compared to her past self.
"Even your hair has changed." The receptionist told the white-haired girl, "You did say it was because of a weird curse that a plant released, but that kind of answer won't reassure many other people. That's why I'm a bit worried about you. Many young girls like you would be very nervous or scared about their hair…"
Aya slightly smiled at the worried look on the receptionist's face.
"I'm not scared because I have you. Even if other people look at me weirdly, I'm fine with it for as long as I can manage on my own. I guess that this might've been the price I paid just so I could become stronger."
The receptionist's eyes widened in surprise before she looked at the way the once introverted girl had turned out.
She understood that Aya had gone through a lot, which is why she only smiled in response to the friendship that Aya confirmed with her. She also knew that Aya's parents were taken as slaves. However, she also wanted the girl to smile, which is why she didn't want to bother her with questions that might take away that smile.
"...Oh, right."
The receptionist suddenly stood straight before pulling up a quest that was lying on her desk.
"The guild finally got the quest that you requested a few days ago."
Aya took the quest and looked at all the information that was written on it.
"This is a recent dungeon that was discovered near Frol town. While it still hasn't posed any danger to the town, there have been a few reports of powerful monsters lurking around." The receptionist carefully explained.
"...Nn."
"Are you still sure you want to go there?"
Aya smiled while looking at the information on the paper before looking back again at the receptionist.
"Yes." And with a confident look, she gave her final answer.
"Haa…. Alright, then once you return, our guild would be glad to buy all of the materials for you at a reasonable price." The receptionist calmly said.
After greeting the receptionist, Aya took the paper containing the dungeon's location and looked at it as if reading it aloud.
"Do you think this will work out for us?" She questioned.
~If it's a real dungeon, then yes, it will help us considerably. ~
Hiroki, who had been possessing Aya the whole time, telepathically responded to her.
"I understand. Then when are we departing?" She continued walking in one direction, trying her best to hide the fact that she was talking to herself.
~Tomorrow, early in the morning, would be our best option. If possible, we should look for a traveling merchant and offer protection in exchange for allowing you to travel to Frol town.~ Hiroki suggested.
"Umu, I understand." Aya nodded in agreement.
'I've killed many monsters and even humans to this point; that's why I've finally come to the conclusion that the only way for me to gain new skills is through completing dungeons.'
Hiroki concluded in his mind.
'On the other hand, Aya seemed to be able to gain many points from killing different monsters during our quests. And thanks to that, I was also able to gain a partial view of her points. If I manage to get more pawns linked to me like her, then it wouldn't take long before my status points would go to sixtuple digits.'
Unaware of the plan the ghost inside her was preparing, she confidently headed back to the house to regroup and gather her belongings.