"Her name is Emily? And she is supposed to be what now?"
"A Knight-Captain in the Archer squad.
I am explaining to them the candidate for our Guild Territory quest. They have read the same message Richest Asian sent me that is why it took only little convincing to do. Although I am not entirely sure if we got the person right yet, all information leads to her.
"Our leader didn't say anything about her being an archer or a captain in a matter of fact. How do you know all of these?"
"A little bird told me."
"Now you're hiding secrets with us, Cherry. Bohoho~"
Michelle is annoying as usual, good to know. And even though they have lots of doubts, they still went with me to the Twilight's army barracks.
The last time I have been here was a failure and I was not able to learn any archer related skills. Captain Emily at that time was absent maybe because it was already too late at night. So today there should be no problem because it is still early in the afternoon.
Every one of us went together looking for Captain Emily through the help of the NPCs stationed in this place. Aria went to the east while Michelle went to the west.
I know their purpose for separating unusually, and it is because they were going to their respective captains to check again some skills they can learn in the nearby future. I did not mind it though because I am also doing the same thing when I meet Captain Emily.
"Captain Emily, you say… She is currently outside teaching her assigned garrison."
"Thank you for that."
Luckily, many NPCs know where she is. I asked many maids cleaning the place and everyone answered the same thing.
I should really befriend any NPC I can encounter if opportunity gives so because they might come in handy in a long run like how Luna become my friend. But for the meantime, I am focusing our Guild Territory Quest.
Seems like every active knight present have their drills today because when I went to their training grounds, loud marching and clashing of weapons can be heard.
'This is troublesome. How can I look for Emily amidst thousands of armoured knight?'
Our timing seems to be pretty bad because everyone was focused on their drills. No one in Twilight City will be able to learn any skills from the NPCs in the meantime because everyone was here.
With no other choice, I message Aria and Michelle to meet me on the training grounds.
"Ooh~ So this is where Captain Romford was. And I thought I found this place to be less busy than usual."
"Can we even go to them? They're only NPC right, so they should still accommodate the players."
"I don't suggest it. I prefer if we wait since it would be impossible to look for her here. Also, look over there. Some idiots are trying to run in the middle of the drills only to be thrown by the knights. There is a certain limit for us, players."
"Ok, if you say so, Cherry. But I prefer if they ended sooner so that we will be able to hunt asap."
Aria has a point when she said that, but I find disturbing the army's serious training is quite disrespectful if you ask. I am not going to say that out loud because I do not want some petty arguments now.
Unfortunately for us, the whole drills lasted an hour more before we can see the knights returning to their assigned position.
"The maids have said Captain Emily should be heading here after their training."
We waited again for Captain Emily here in their lobby, but this time it did not take long before we saw the bright scarlet red hair Captain Emily is known for in the forums of New World and NPCs.
Her sweating figure is a sight to remember that every person in this room have turned to look at her when she entered the room. The boys, especially players, are being obvious with their eyes, but I could not care less about that.
I am more interested in how she was able to maintain that healthy figure. She was wearing a cropped tanked showing her well-developed abs and smooth white skin. It was well-toned, but not too much that it affected her attractiveness.
"This is it. This is the body I want to have when I am a fully-fledged adult."
"Stop daydreaming, Michi. We still need to go to her to ask her about the doll."
Despite Michi drooling over her, we ignore everything and went forward to her. Of course, this action has attracted everyone since it is somewhat a rule to never pointlessly disturbed a Captain, player or NPC alike.
"What do you young kittens like. You may be Travellers, but as long as you're here, you should know the rules."
"woah~ What sexy voice."
"Shh, quiet Michi… Sorry about that Captain Emily. We're here to ask you if you know something about this."
A straightforward move. Aria showed her the doll without any hesitation. Now that I realize what we are doing, it would be embarrassing if Captain Emily is not the one we are looking for.
"How nostalgic…"
Thankfully, it was not the case.
"Where did you get this. Actually, I already know. So, what's you're purpose for showing me this."
This should be the continuation of the quest. Aria who represents the talking gave me the eyes of help since she does not know what to say next. It is understandable because she barely accepts any quest and barely interacts with NPCs. So I took the floor.
"If possible, may Captain Emily share what happened in Estro and it became that ruined. We don't have any bad intention or anything, we just want to restore what once was a beautiful village."
'Good job' is what Aria and Michelle silently gestured at me.
"WHAT?!?!"
But the person involved does not say so.
The crowd whose gaze was already on us, focused more when Emily suddenly burst out in anger. If there was a sound to indicate you have started capturing a video in New World, we would probably hear a lot right now.
"How do you think you are to meddle in that place! Since you got that doll, you have already seen what disaster has fallen in my village and you dare say at me you're going to recover that place. I know you're Travellers, but please leave."
"We're just trying to-"
"I said LEAVE!!!"
[Prohibited to enter: 03:59:12]
We got kicked out of the barracks.
I am already hearing many people tapping their screens to write in the forums and post videos on what just happened to us. We are going to be popular for a while.
But that problem is my least concern. That sequence of event is not what any of us expected or wanted. She has confirmed it herself that we have met the right person for our Guild Territory quest. However, it looks like it will not be finishing anytime soon.
And to make matter worse, I have not yet learnt any skill with her. My character identity is hanging by a thread and I may be forced to change weapons if I only have these many skills.
I can wait for skill books to drop, but ever since the beginning, I never saw one. Not to mention, it is totally random. Quests and market are also an option, but god damn everything is expensive except for the skills I already have. The last option is quests, but quests that give skills seems also to be non-existent base on the lack of discussion in NWF.
My mind was swaying here and there, but thankfully I am with my friends.
"That just happened—It's not your fault, Cherry. We're not blaming you or anything."
"I might also fumble it up if it were me. Also, showing the doll right away was probably a big mistake on my part."
They tried their best to cheer me up which I am thankful for. Although my spirit dropped when I saw a message notification on my interface.
[Something went wrong with the quest?]
Videos or forum post have already reached Richest Asian so quickly. The benefit of technology this time did not help me think about it for a moment and explain to our guild leader what just happened.
I do not know if Richest Asian is angry, disappointed, or understanding through the single sentence he sent me. Replying wrongly may drop me a rank, so I ask both my friends how to do it.
"Is it best just to ignore it?"
"I think that would be the worst we can do. He's a straightforward person, it's better to explain than ignore as nothing happened."
"But damn, it's my first time to experience being prohibited to enter a place for a certain amount of time. We should be given by the system some rewards for being the first."
Michelle was still able to find time to joke around, but I appreciate it more than ever. Aria was right and I should just explain it detail by detail what happened and why we mess up probably.
'I wonder how much money Richest Asian used to get all information. Damn, thinking about it makes me more depressed.'
"Is the Guild Territory quest gone now?"
"Wait, I have not checked it yet. I was so scared to see the reality."
[Estro Village]
Difficulty: Guild Territory Quest
"Emily Gill, the lone survivor of Estro Village wants to forget everything that happened in what once was her home. As much as she hates any mentions about her village, she always comes back to visit the grave of her parents. There is a part of her that wants to fight back, but the incident had scarred her deeply. It would be difficult for a scared girl to open about her past to other people."
Requirement: Befriend Captain Emily
Quest Rewards: Estro will be the territory of Gold Paradise
"It actually updated!"
"What does it say now. And don't forget to message our guild leader that we have not failed yet."
I sent them the quest details on our group chat while I also sent it to Richest Asian privately. He replied with a simple thumbs-up emoji which means approval for me, I think. It is already difficult to understand Richest Asian face to face what more in messages. I only interpret it positively for my own sake.
"So where do we begin with befriending Emily?"
"If there are parameters like in a dating game, this would be easy. But unfortunately, there nothing of that thing here."
"What's a dating game, Cherry. That sounds interesting, Introduce it to me."
Michelle began demanding an unnecessary topic right now, but I still gave her some game titles that would be easy to follow for a beginner like her.
Back to our main discussion, we decided nothing can be done as long as we cannot enter the barracks. So, we went outside to hunt for monsters and come back later at night when the timer is done.
Fifty was offline now and ChickB seems to be accompanying his classmates and friends to their own hunt. Supposedly, he should be the strongest among their group that is why they asked for his help.
"Are you sure we can do it with only three of us? I can invite some randoms within 5 minutes."
"No need. We won't be hunting far away since it will take time and we might lose our opportunity to visit Captain Emily again. Let's look at our daily guild quests and see if something can be finished quickly."
Passing by our guild base, we accepted two guild quest that should be doable in the same area. The monsters required for it is somewhere on the South of Twilight City which is the opposite way of what we usually travel into.
With the help of the forums, it was easy to locate our targets.
The only problem we have is that these monsters are Lv. 18 and nowhere near to be enough to give us any significant experience. So, we lifelessly finish the required monsters to kill.