------
Calming herself down, Gwendolyn wanted to slowly assess the situation and the capacity that Frank possessed.
"So this spell… when did you get it?" asked Gwendolyn.
"(I can't simply get it that I got it after maxing the level of my Farmer Job… Although Hilvera, Asterion, and Annabelle share the system with me, they are also quite clueless about it yet, so I can't hope for them to bring it to the table either. I will simply keep it a secret for now…)" thought Frank.
"I learned it this morning, when I was attending the crops, I felt as if some power appeared inside of my Mana Core while I glanced and touched the plants. Afterward, I began to be capable of 'hearing' the plants or something. Afterward, I tried to feed one with Mana and Life through my healing spell… and this happened," said Frank.
"I-Is that so…? Well, to be expected of the Hero… You're learning more and more spells naturally… Amazing," said Gwendolyn, a bit overwhelmed, but calming down as she simply thought 'he's a Hero after all'.
"Sigh… Well, it would be better to leave this as a secret, of course. We do not want you to create an army of plants and bring forth a monster wave all on your own… Nor it would be good if you were to make all the plants grow incredibly fast, as it would bring unwanted attention… Until you finally join the Magus Academy, revealing your powers now might prove to be a bad thing, or at least, not all the craziest of them, such as… your ability to create monsters out of plants," said Gwendolyn.
Gwendolyn felt quite bad in pressuring Frank with such a thing, as she knew that prohibiting him from using the abilities that he was gifted with might inhibit his growth as the future Hero, which might one day represent the nation as a whole.
"It's fine, I wasn't going to do anything of that. I had already thought about the consequences and decided to not make a fuss over this spell. I will keep it a secret and only use it while I experiment with it and a few plants that I can easily kill afterward," said Frank.
"Phew. I guess it is good that you understand… Sorry for forcing you to conceal this," said Gwendolyn.
"Ah, don't worry about that, miss. It is not only because you are asking me. I have considered things out," said Frank waving his hand with a gentle smile.
Gwendolyn could not help but smile warmly at Frank's mature personality, as she grew a bit more of admiration over the mysterious boy.
"Phew, it seems that I won't lose my job yet…" said Cathyl, resting her hand on her wide hips.
"Losing your Job?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Well… if the boy were to use his spell to simply make every plant mature instantaneously… Wouldn't that make my work obsolete? I mean, there wouldn't even be the need to have a farm, he could simply produce vegetables, fruits, and trees ready to be eaten!" said Cathyl.
"O-Oh…! Yeah, I suppose we should not try doing that… for now," said Gwendolyn, as her emerald eyes suddenly flashed with an eerie light, giving away a slight greedy smile.
When things were finally done talking, Frank resumed his work until one hour later, where most things were done for and he was finally able to relax a bit.
Because of having woken up near 5 am, Frank only worked up to 4 pm, which was the time when he decided to go with Hilvera, Asterion, and Annabelle towards the Guild in town, to finally pick up a quest for everyone to do near the dungeon named 'Dark Lair'.
"We are finally going into an adventure!" said Annabelle.
"It is not an adventure but a small trip through the dungeon for you to get a bit used to real-time combat!" said Gwendolyn.
"Okaaay… But do I have to wear this annoying leather armor?" asked Annabelle, trying to accommodate the leather armor covering her torso and her shoulders, which was nicely made and painted pink, having several lady-like decorations.
Before going to any adventuring, the mothers decided to arm their children well enough for any threats.
Annabelle was given her mother's leather armor, alongside a pendant that increased her magic power and a wand.
"You have to wear it, of course, you have, young lady! This leather was made by hardened leather of a Demon Boar, a strong Rank 2 monster, it will protect you from attacks of the monsters within the Dark Lair," said Gwendolyn.
"Alright, alright…" said Annabelle.
"Thanks to Miss Gwendolyn, you two are getting some armor too, so be thankful!" said Cathyl, as she made Hilvera and Asterion wear leather armor, whose Gwendolyn had to spare from the one she brought from the army.
"I feel my blood pumping, I can't wait!" said Asterion.
"We'll make sure to explore and learn a lot!" said Hilvera.
"Well said, make sure to not get in the way of Frank, and support him as much as he can… I am counting on you to protect my little angels, alright?" asked Cathyl.
"Leave them at my hands, they're talented, I will make sure to forge them into strong magus and warriors," said Frank.
"Huh… From where did you took that confidence? Ah well, you're the Hero I guess… Though I feel like every day, you mature a lot more, Frank…" said Cathyl.
"A-Ah, is that so? Well, I am in the age where I am maturing very quickly, so it might be that?" asked Frank.
"Hm, maybe?" asked Cathyl.
"Anyways, time to go, let's go everyone," said Frank.
"Let's go!" said Annabelle.
"Good thing we are all registered beforehand, it will make everything smoother," said Hilvera.
"Indeed, even Annabelle, right?" asked Asterion.
"Yeah, I have registered long ago as well!" said Annabelle.
"Take care!" said Cathyl.
"Annabelle, make sure to behave, and don't act rashly, okay?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Okay~!" said Annabelle.
"We'll be careful," said Hilvera.
"I am going to finally use this axe in a mighty foe!" said Asterion.
The three younglings were in very high spirits, making Frank feel a warmth within his heart, their innocence combined with their dreams of adventure made him feel happy to bring them to such experiences, something that they wouldn't naturally be able to do so.
"Alright, follow me!" said Frank, as his party, which included the three younglings and Ruby, walked towards the town.
Making sure to leave Ruby inside of his shirt into a small lizard-size, Frank entered the guild with his friends, walking towards the receptionist.
The moment the party of young kids entered, most people, especially those veteran Adventurers within Rank 2 or even 3 glanced at them with strangeness.
"Is that a party of kids?"
"They'll get wiped out in no time…"
"Hey, someone stops them before they kill themselves! Gahaha!"
"Who are those kids?"
"They just… they're all Rank 1, barely,"
"What? They'll die in any dungeon…"
"Having killed Horned Rabbits doesn't make you true Adventurer, kids! Go back to your parents, they must be concerned about where you could be! Gahahaha!"
"Hey, stop picking up on kids, man! Are you a grown-up?"
"What do you care? Mind your own business!"
"The kid in front seems like of a decent age, but even he gives me the feeling that he's a carefree fool…"
"Poor kids…"
"Poor what? They'll learn a good lesson in the dungeon, dying, of course!"
"You're sick old man, stop saying fucked up shit!"
"Shut up!"
Frank could hear dozens of people discussing all over the guild, some were pitying them, others laughing at them, and some were fighting against the ones laughing at them, while another group was fighting against the ones laughing at them… It was a confusing scene, to be honest.
Frank sighed slightly as he walked towards the front desk.
Thankfully, Hilvera, Asterion, and Annabelle completely ignored the people's words, showing their strong mental fortitude.
"We'll show them that they're wrong! That's why there is no point in telling them anything or confronting them," said Annabelle with a proud smile.
"Hm, we'll bring a big bounty and laugh at them back!" said Asterion.
"That's right, we'll prove them with actions, not words!" said Hilvera.
"You're more mature than I thought…" said Frank with a slight smile.
"Ah, Frank-kun, hi! You came! Did you come to take a quest? Oh! You brought a party too!" said an adorable girl with pale white and green skin, a Frog-kin beast-girl, Clishya.
"Hi, Clishya-san, I've come with my party to register for a quest in the Dark Lair, is there any subjugation one?" asked Frank.
"Ooh! T-There are a few ones…" said Clishya, moving her papers around and bring forth four quests, each one was about the subjugation of a certain monster, only one was needed, but if people were to bring more down more, more money would be paid.
The Subjugation Quests specifically asked for certain body parts of the monsters, and others for their whole meat, except the most precious part, the Mana Core, which the Adventurer could keep.
"Aside from these quests, if you bring proof of the monsters you have defeated, such as the ear of a goblin, you will be given some monetary compensation as well… And of course, you can also sell the Mana Cores to us for some extra money, which you can spend on the second floor in our special Adventurer shop!" said Clishya.
"Amazing, I will take the four then," said Frank.
"Very well then!" said Clishya, asking for the names of all the younglings and registering them all as a party within the Guild archives.
The quests in specific were:
'Defeat a Giant Scorpion and bring me the meaty pincers! They're a top delicacy in my restaurant!'
'I hate Goblins more than anything, kill a Goblin and bring me his corpse, kill more and I give you more money.'
'I heard that Demon Rats have a special kind of fat that can become a delicious oil! Kill one for me, the more the better though! Oh, make sure to bring the fat!'
'I need fresh Mandragoras for a special Potion, bring me one freshly killed Mandragora, the more you bring, the more rewards you'll get.'
Each quest was quite charismatically written, it was clear that such quests were set by the people of this town.
"So we have to kill one Giant Scorpion, a Goblin, a Demon Rat, and a Mandragora! Got it, let's do it!" said Asterion.
"Let's go!" said Hilvera.
"I can't wait!" said Annabelle.
"Calm down you three, don't get ahead of yourselves…!" said Frank, following the three.
Within the tavern, a shady group of adventurers glanced at the kids with annoyed expressions…
"Did you see those leather armors?"
"Are they rich kids? Who they think they are?"
"We should teach them a lesson to be humbler, as their senpais, of course,"
"Yeah! Good idea, we will help them out! Heh…"
The shady group slowly walked out of the tavern, following the group of kids from afar.
-----