Walking down the muddy road, probably from last night's rain if there was any, both of us were traversing the road while having our fancy boots splashing the mud on the ground.
At this moment, I wished I had worn something more appropriate than boots to be used for the conference. Well, better than no shoes, I guess?
From afar, I couldn't see any people in the village, nor I could see anyone in the field. No wheat, corn, or any crops in the field. The only thing growing there was wild grass that didn't serve any nutritional value.
I didn't see any cows, sheep, or any other livestock either. The village might be used to be a military outpost. I didn't see any way how a village didn't have any basic necessities to support its economy.
The road to the village was eventually paved as it got closer to it. We walked to the middle of the village. The middle of the village was a circular road, similar to a large roundabout, but larger and had a well in the middle of it.
In the village center was only one building. The building was a two-floor building located on the right side of the well. A "GUILD" plank was hanging on the door of the building itself. Behind the guild building were houses, probably where the villager lived.
"Dead village?" Sawyer commented.
"Possibly?" A random passerby suddenly appeared outside of the guild building. "Nah, I don't think so."
The random passerby was a woman, wearing some sort of formal uniform. Something similar to a suit, but for a woman. The style was receptionist-ish. The guild receptionist came out just to greet us? Impossible
The woman was also a demon, as indicated by the horns on her head. She had red hair alongside with wearing glasses, similar to mine. I walked in her direction and greeted her, "Excuse me, but may I ask for help?"
"Sure?"
"Where are we?"
"Olbora Village, my name is Sumia, I'm the guild master and receptionist of this guild branch, nice to meet you, hmm?"
"Alfie, my name's Alfie," I replied.
"Alfie, sure, I'll remember that name. By the way, what brings you to this village? I am really curious, no one has visited us before," Sumia said.
Well, yeah. Who wanted to visit a village in the middle of nowhere? My goal is to develop this village, but I am not sure where I should start first, too many things to be fixed. However, it was not like I had any deep pocket in the currency that this world used.
"I'm just here on the behalf of someone to help the village, but I'm not sure where to start," I answered blatantly.
"Ah? A mysterious stranger, eh? Well, for starter, it'll be great if you can fix the damn pump," Sumia commented.
"Pump? You have a well, don't you?" I asked.
"Yes, but watering the field with a well? Please, most of these people are from the colony program. I'm not sure that they are fit for such physical task, no offense to them, but we simply lack the manpower," Sumia commented.
Sawyer walked closer to me. He immediately pulled his multitool from his pocket. What? You also could fix a well? What kind of engineer are you, Sawyer?
"Show me the well, I'll try my best," Sawyer added.
"Follow me," Sumia said.
Sawyer followed Sumia from behind. They went to the back of the guild building. Behind the guild building, there was a water pump, not the electronic variant, obviously. It was a regular mechanical pump.
The handle was rusted, and the ground beneath the tap was obviously dry. Nobody had used that pump for quite a while, that was for sure. Sawyer immediately tinkered with the pump with his hands. I didn't know what he did, he took off several screws, and placed them in different places.
He pulled the pump up and down. The water eventually came out of the end of the tap, dirty water mixed with rust from the pump itself. What did he even do to that pump? I absolutely had no idea whatsoever.
"Alright, that should do it," Sawyer stood up and put his multitool back into his pocket.
"Woah..." Sumia didn't say anything. She immediately walked to the pump and push it up and down to pump more water until it became clear. "How did you do that?" She was really amazed by the skill.
"I want to ask the same question, Sawyer."
"Well, someone definitely sabotaged your pump. A missing bolt jammed the pump, making it unusable," Sawyer said while being smug about it.
"Sabotage? Shit, I should have stood by on guard duty more. Thanks for the assist though... Sawyer, right?" Sumia confirmed.
"Yeah, the name's Sawyer, and my friend's Alfie."
"Thank you, you both. Sadly, I really can't give you anything out of my own empty pocket. The guild treasury is for the guild only, I'm sure you understand. Come by the guild, I'm sure there's a job or two for you two," Sumia said.
"Thanks. We'll come by, sooner or later. Still, Sumia, what's a guild?" I asked.
"Oh, you two aren't from around here?"
"Yeah."
Guild would be a place for adventurers, right? Judging from the strategic placement, it could be a government office as well. People might also stay in the building due to its being the only two floors building in the entire area.
Fantasy world-wise, this would be a good place to make money from completing assignments from odd jobs to the assassination. Still, I didn't have any idea how the regulation in this world worked. The agency only authorized bounty hunting on a secret task force, not publicly unless absolutely necessary.
"Hmm, where should I start? Would you kindly come inside, though?" Sumia asked.
"No problem, I'll come inside," I nodded.
We entered the guild office from the backdoor. The first floor was a combination of a receptionist, a restaurant, and a bar. However, most of the chairs were on top of the table alongside most of the bottles being empty.
The first floor was clean, but nobody had entered this room for a very long time. The floor was squeaky clean, too clean. The floor might be waxed all day long. I could see my reflection on the floor.
Sumia went to the receptionist's table. It was a wooden table, an ordinary four-legged wooden table, with three boards on the far side of the table alongside a door located right behind the receptionist.
"Sorry for the bad setup, this used to be a restaurant before it became a guild office," Sumia said as she sat down right in front of the table.
"Well, quite a setup you got there, when does this open?" Sawyer asked as he peeked into the bar.
"Never. I don't have enough staff to do everything. It's exhausting enough to be a guild master and a receptionist, much less a chef, a bartender, and a guard," Sumia answered.
"I see. So, tell me, how does the guild work? I see several pieces of papers on the job board, how does that work?"
"Simple, really. You take the paper, show it to me, and I'll mark it on your guild membership card. If you don't finish the job, you'll either have to pay a penalty. Of course, that's me simplifying it, the real work is much more complex than that. Still, I'll lead you later," Sumia said.
"How about guild registration?" I asked.
"Well, you just fill out a form, and I'll take care of the rest. Simple, right?"
"How about the reward?" I asked.
Sumia smiled, "Ha, a newbie question. It depends on the quest, of course. I'm just here to give you a reward. Other than that, you're on your own, Alfie," Sumia said.
"May I see the quest board?" I asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
I approached the quest board as Sawyer walked around the first floor, observing the interior. Heck, he even ventured to the kitchen, wouldn't it piss Sumia?
In front of me, several pieces of paper were scattered across the board. Most of them were stuck by a mere simple needle. Something didn't connect, though. In this quiet town, who the hell would take this large amount of quest?
"Sumia, how the guild retrieves this much quest for this remote village?"
"Each guild has its own quest quota. In my case, this guild has a quota of 40 quests that I randomly picked. Of course, if you want a specific type of quest, I can fetch it for you, for a small fee," Sumia smiled.
"Isn't that bribing?" Sawyer intervened.
"Nah, let's just call it, a tip," Sumia replied.
"A tip, eh? A bonus? Well, as long as you do your job, to be honest. Is it legal, though?"
"Any guild personnel is authorized to ask for a certain amount of commission no more than 2% of the fetched quest as per the request of the guild member. Guild Guidelines, 4:12, customer service."
"Damn, ok, I get the point."
Sawyer stood up quietly. He put his hand right on his ear. "Do you hear that?"
From my right ear, a bunch of steps entered. Not footsteps from humans, more like someone who was running. Horses. The voices came from horses. Peeking outside of the window, a group consisting of six horses came to this village.
"Fucking bandits!" Sumia shouted as she stood up from her chair and headed upstairs.