Verdant plains, a clear blue sky, and a fresh breeze, it was yet another quiet and peaceful dayー or so how it should have been, but across the horizon, dust clouds could be seen forming one after another.
The source of the dust clouds were none other than Grey and Yuna who are on their way on clearing their first batch of quests. F-rank quests which are of the highest difficulty.
In order to get promoted, one would need to earn the required amount of points and pass a rank-up exam. Points are rewarded on completed quests and depending on their difficulty, the value will vary. Even if the quests fall into the same rank, the points awarded will differ.
Of course, as points can be accumulated, one could also have their points reduced if they failed their quests. What's worse, if the quests was failed completely due to the adventurer's incompetence, they will need to pay a reparation fee. A fee which will cover the amount of time wasted when other adventurers could have completed it.
After accumulating enough points, the adventurer will be tested in a rank-up exam, where their abilities will be tested. And if one fails the rank-up exam, they would only need to earn only half the required amount of points in order to retake.
As F-rankers, Grey and Yuna would need 600 points each to qualify for a rank-up exam. The easiest F-rank quests rewards 15 points, while the hardest quests will earn them 130 points. Also, since the two are in a party, the points earned will be distributed amongst the two of them.
In order to make sure that each adventurer can complete at least one quest a day, the guild imposed a system wherein an adventurer can take on up to 2 quests a day, while a party can do at most 5 quests a day.
Keeping that in mind, Yuna and Grey picked the quests that would earn them the most points. In the end, they picked quests which would reward at least 35 points upon completion, the hardest ones in the F-rank quest board.
"Oh, is that it?" ［Yuna］
Grey and Yuna ran for about a few minutes until a village appeared on the horizon. It was the village which posted the request to the Adventurer's Guild.
Unlike the city, it didn't have any sort of stone walls and only large wooden fences were defending it. And in front, there were only 3 soldiers, acting as guards with their simple spears.
"Hm? What's that?" ［Guard 1］
The guard asked his colleagues as he saw a cloud of dust rising in the air, prompting the other 2 guards to look in the same direction.
"M-monsters!" ［Guard 1］
"R-Ring the bells immediately!" ［Guard 2］
Struck by fear, the guards panicked as they saw the dust clouds heading towards the direction of the village. One of the guards ran quickly in an attempt to ring the bell, while the other two readied their spears for combat.
In the guards' eyes, although they could see humanoid figures, they couldn't tell whether they were humans. And even if they were humans, they could have been bandits. All they could do was prepare themselves for whatever was coming.
Donggg Donggg Donggg
The moment the bell rang, panic immediately ensued in the village. The other guards which were on patrol came quickly to the gates with all their might, telling the villagers to hide along the way.
But as the bell rang, the cloud of dust eventually died down, revealing two figures who seemed to be still in their teenage years. Of course, those figures were Grey and Yuna.
"Wh-Who goes there?!" ［Guard 1］
Pointing their spears to the youths in front of him, the guard gathered his courage to ask those figures about their identity.
As for the ones receiving such a "warm" welcome, Grey and Yuna were confused out of their minds as to why the guards were acting that way.
"Ah... We're the adventurers who came here for an ogre extermination quest. This is the right village, right?" ［Grey］
Hearing Grey's words, the guards loosened up a bit, but they still looked at Grey and Yuna with suspicious eyes.
"Th... Then, could I have your guild cards?" ［Guard 1］
Following the guard's request, Grey and Yuna showed their cards to him. It was only then that the guards finally loosened up and breathed out a sigh of relief.
"What happened, where are the enemies?!" ［Guard 4］
Shortly after handing out the cards, the other guards finally arrived at the gate, only to see a couple of youths talking to their colleagues. There was no monster, beast, nor bandits to be seen.
Thankfully, the two guards were able to explain the situation to their colleges, calming down their racing hearts and placating their puzzled minds.
The guards also rang the bell once again, signaling the villagers that the "crisis" had been averted. Soon after, the villagers came out of their houses and carried on with their daily lives.
"Next time, please should slow down when approaching settlements, I thought some monsters were coming towards the village." ［Guard 1］
"That's right. Even now, my legs are still trembling at the thought of monsters charging straight towards our village." ［Guard 2］
""We're really sorry!"" ［Grey and Yuna］
Having lived in the forest for 3 years with no interaction from the outside world, Grey and Yuna had already made it a habit to run at high speeds when traveling long distances. And having only reentered a community for about 2 days, they have yet to get rid of their habit.
It had totally slipped their minds that other people might get scared when they dash at speeds which had already become normal to the both of them. Even after they left a certain distance from the gate, they immediately kicked up the speed and started running, which of course had scared the people who were nearby.
Thankfully, the witnesses knew there were high-ranked adventurers in Galderia, making them believe that an urgent matter had occurred and didn't mind it any further.
"Then, I'll bring you to the chief's house." ［Guard 1］
With everything resolved, Grey and Yuna headed to the village chief's house.
Along the way, the two were greeted by the curious eyes of the villagers who were wondering what was the cause of the previous commotion.
Knock Knock
"Chief, this is Marlon. I've brought some guests." ［Marlon］
"Oh, come in, come in." ［Chief］
Having received permission from the chief, Marlon led Grey and Yuna inside. There, they were welcomed by an elderly man who was the source of the replying voice. It was the chief.
"Take a seat." ［Chief］
As Grey and Yuna took their seats, Marlon went to the chief to explain the recent commotion.
Surprisingly, the chief wasn't shocked in the slightest and just nodded his head slightly. It seemed like he had already pieced the puzzle together and thought it had something to do with his guests.
"We're really sorry about what happened. We'll be more careful next time." ［Grey］
"Sorry for the trouble." ［Yuna］
"Hahaha... It's fine, it's fine. Thanks to that, something interesting finally happened. It's been a long time since I've had a little adrenaline rush to make me feel alive. Hahahaha!" ［Chief］
Grey and Yuna had expected the chief to become angry, but unexpectedly, it seemed like he had fun with what happened instead.
"Oh, how rude of me. Would you young'uns like some tea?" ［Chief］
"No, it's alright. We still have other quests after this, after all. But thank you for the offer." ［Grey］
"Oh... That's a shame." ［Chief］
The chief was about to ask Marlon to brew some tea, but before he could do so, Grey had shot down his invitation. Thankfully, he was an understanding man and didn't push things any further.
The chief then explained the quest in greater detail to Grey and Yuna. Like the quest form has stated, Grey and Yuna were tasked to kill the ogres roaming nearby the village.
While the villagers don't know the exact number, about 5 ogres had spawned a few hundred meters from the village about 3 days ago. They have yet to receive any damages, but knowing the nature of monsters, it will just be a matter of time until then. With that in mind, they requested the Adventurer's Guild to eliminate the said ogres as the village guards cannot handle them.
The reward for the quest was 1,200 kiels and 60 points. And as proof of subjugation, Grey and Yuna need to present the mana crystals of the ogre to the chieftain. Of course, as soon as the completion had been proven, Grey and Yuna can keep the mana crystals and all the drops they had collected.
"Then, we'll be going now." ［Grey］
"Hahaha, such hot-blooded youth. Then, I'll be praying for your safety. Good luck on your quest." ［Chief］
"Bye～." ［Yuna］
Ending with a wave of their hands, Grey and Yuna exited the village and started heading towards the location of the ogres.
Utilizing the ability of "Heaven's Eye" to view everything in bird's eye view, Grey scouted the surrounding area for any monsters roaming about. It only took a couple of minutes when...
"Oh, I've found them." ［Grey］
.... Grey had detected a few monsters "Heaven's Eye", when they arrived at where the signal came from, 6 ogres were roaming around freely.
"Looks like they still haven't noticed us." ［Yuna］
"Should we end this quickly?" ［Grey］
"Un." ［Yuna］
Like a bolt of lightning striking the earth, Grey's fist came crashing towards one of the ogres, instantly annihilating its face in the process.
Soon after the hit ogre turned back into mana and dissipated into the surroundings. The only proof left of its existence were a couple of horns and a mana crystal which served as its drops.
Guaaarggghhh
Seeing one of their kin die, one ogre reacted violently and tried to rush at him, but before he could do so, somehow, it was as if the world had suddenly spun around.
Unfortunately for it, Its head had already been cut by Yuna, leaving it spinning mid air. Not only that, the ogres near it also suffered the same fate at the hands of Yuna. They also had their heads cut before they could fight back.
Four ogres had already been dealt with, leaving two behind. But as monsters which don't possess real intelligence, rather than running away from their overwhelming opponents, they chose to rush at them like savage beasts instead.
"Oh, no, you don't. ⟨⟨Air Bullet⟩⟩."［Grey］
One of the ogres tried to rush towards Yuna, but it hadn't even reached 5 meters away from her when a sharp pain hit its head. Less than a fraction of a second later, it fell to the ground with its life already forfeited.
As for the other ogre, it tried to swing its crude blade towards Grey as he fired off an "Air Bullet". Unluckily for it, Grey could see everything in his vicinity with "Heaven's Eye."
Grey caught the blade before it was even swung, and with his other hand, he released yet another strong punch towards the ogre trying to attack him. The moment his punch connected to the ogre's body, a large hole formed in the spot where the ogre's chest was once located.
With Grey's final strike, all the ogres were down for the count and the quest was now practically called. A battle which didn't even last one minute after it started. The difference of power between the adventurers and monsters was simply too large.
"That was easier than I expected..." ［Grey］
"Un... I didn't even get to warm up,.." ［Yuna］
Although Grey and Yuna had expected the quest would be too easy for them, seeing it with their own eyes was still depressing. It seems like they would need to rank up a couple of times before they could receive a quest, worthy of being called a "quest".
Unexpectedly, Yuna was the one openly showing her disappointment. A statement which made Grey think for a moment that Yuna was actually a battle junky despite being so meek.
"Hm? Didn't you break this, Grey?" ［Yuna］
Yuna asked as she held a blade in her hand. It was the blade of the very ogre who tried to attack Grey.
"Well... From what I know, no matter how much you damage a monster's equipment, it will always drop at its peak condition. I don't know why, but that's just the way it is." ［Grey］
"Oh, I see..." ［Yuna］
Hearing Grey's explanation, Yuna swung around the blade a couple of times as if testing if it was really fine.
As Grey had said, no matter how much damage a monster's equipment had sustained, it would always drop with full durability at peak performance. It was common knowledge all experienced adventurers know about
As the monsters are only made of mana, it was natural that their equipment was also made of mana. The moment the monster is defeated, everything consisting it will turn back to mana, and crystalize into mana crystals. But not only mana crystals, the remaining mana will also turn into other drops such as the body parts of the monsters, and rarely, their equipment.
Although equipment could be sold at a higher price than common drops, it only drops in rare instances. It just so happened that Grey and Yuna were lucky and got a rare drop by defeating only 6 monsters.
After storing things in the "Inventory", Grey and Yuna then return to the village so that they can officially finish their quest. There, they were once again greeted by the sight of the gate at the village's entrance.
"Oh, you're already back?!" ［Marlon］
The first one to notice the two was Marlon who was standing guard once again. And seeing the two youth finish the quest in less than half an hour, his mouth hung wide open in agape.
"Yeah, could we meet the chief once again?" ［Grey］
"A-Ah, y-yes!" ［Marlon］
Marlon initially thought that he was just hearing things, but after seeing the undeniable proof with his eyes, he was left with no other choice but to believe it.
Once again, Grey and Yuna were led to the chief's house, and like before, the chief showed no sign of surprise even when seeing the mana crystals of the ogres Grey and Yuna had recently defeated.
"So there were 6 of them, huh..." ［Chief］
"Chief, aren't you even a little bit surprised by this?" ［Marlon］
"Hahahaha... At this age, I've already seen a lot of things. It would take more than this to surprise me." ［Chief］
In contrast to Marlon who was frowning by the thought of Grey and Yuna's feat, the chief was just smiling calmly as he inspected the mana crystals.
After the chief inspected the mana crystals, then came the signing of the quest form. It was proof that Grey and Yuna had completed their quest. And carefree as he is, the chief was humming as he signed the forms.
It was also worth mentioning that the chief once again invited Grey and Yuna to tea as he was signing the form. It was a gesture which made Grey think there were too many friendly people in this world.
"Alrighty, that should be it." ［Chief］
"Well then, we'll be going now." ［Grey］
"Are you sure you won't be having any tea?" ［Chief］
The chief persisted once again. It was the third time he had invited Grey and Yuna for tea. It seems like he really wanted to share his tea with others.
"Hahaha, maybe next time." ［Grey］
"It really is a shame... Then I should probably post more requests at the Adventurer's Guild. That way, I'll have an excuse to invite you over for tea." ［Chief］
Grey and Yuna shivered at the words of the chief. Although no normal person would waste money just to invite some people over for tea, with the chief's carefree attitude, he would probably do so.
Of course, Grey wasn't the only one who shivered at the thought. Marlon who was standing besides the chief had a bigger reaction as cold sweat traveled down his spine.
"T-Then, how about we have tea over lunch? You're also fine with it, right, Yuna?" ［Grey］
"U-Un... sure." ［Yuna］
"Oh, you should have said so earlier! Marlon, brew some tea!" ［Chief］
Fearing that the chief might actually spend all the money in the village, Grey and Yuna were left with no choice but to accept the invitation, making the chief smile from ear to ear.
As it was almost noon, Grey had suggested that they also have lunch along with the tea. It was also so that they could finish up the other quests one after another, without needing to stop for lunch.
With permission from the chief, Grey was able to use the kitchen to prepare a quick lunch, but as he was doing so, one particular root crop over the kitchen's counter caught his attention.
"It's..." ［Grey］
While there were many edible plants in the forest, there were still ingredients which were hard to find. And during his date with the day before, Grey had searched the market for ingredients he wanted to buy.
From spices to vegetables, Grey was able to find a lot of ingredients in the market, but for some reason, there was one which was missing in other stores.
He had already known from his knowledge that people in Merusia do not usually buy them because of belief that they cause food poisoning, but seeing how they were selling other root crops such as sweet potatoes and carrots, he had some glimmer of hope. Hope which was crushed immediately by cruel fate.
But now, as he was cooking in a village which just happened to be the client of their first quest, he had stumbled upon it. That root crop was...
"Potatoes!" ［Grey］
CHAPTER 13 END