Though the sun has long passed its zenith, and perhaps the time has come to use my excessive funds to procure a single night of safe lodging, instead I make for the guild hall. My task is simply this: I need to once again check the location of that second sorcerer, that one in the reasonably nearby city, who, while perhaps quite unlikely, may be the key to my freedom from this cage of my name.
Through the city I move with ease, at least compared to my first passage through it; considering that this is my third trip straight between the guild hall and the so-called "Sorcerous Solutions" (which, I'd like to remind you, couldn't provide [me] with a solution), so it is not too difficult to find my way there; it also probably helps that the guild hall is one of the bigger buildings in its section of town, but I digress.
When I enter the guild hall, it is my first inclination to go check the advertising board; but, realizing that I never formally closed off my quest to slaughter those orcs, I figure that I better notify the guild of its completion before I take off for another city. After all, this guild relationship is of some significance, I wouldn't want to throw it away because I was in too much of a hurry to check in for a few minutes once in a while to inform them of a mission's success.
So, to the same office as last time I go, to notify the guild of the completion of the orc extermination mission.
The line is once again short, and I have no difficulties in certifying my mission as complete. However, just as I turn to leave, the man says something of a nature both unexpected and unwelcome.
"Anetor, one moment. The guild has assigned you a mission, here." Saying this, he hands me a sealed envelope with my name written plainly in ink upon it, sealed with the seal of the guild.
Before I can retaliate, to reject the mission, to at least make a complaint, the impatient adventurers push by, and again the guild officer is busy. Perhaps still worrying about making a scene, I can do nothing but slowly walk away.
As soon as I am out of the room, I begin a mental tirade against the guild. [Now of all times?! Now?! Right when I am set to take off on a quest to get this issue of mine dealt with, the guild issues me, a B-rank adventurer, a mission?! What rotten luck, usually only A-rank and higher get such tasks! Bah, what a rotten bureaucrat, giving me a task now of all times! Now! I have something to take care of, a looming pressure that is slowly condensing further upon me, a ticking time bomb embedded within, and urgent task which truly must be dealt with, and what is the guilds response other than to delay any potential solution until I have dealt with its inane request!]
For a moment, I consider ignoring the quest in its entirety and just accepting the consequences. And for any other quest, perhaps I would; however, such is not an option for this mission.
[When the guild forcefully assigns a mission, it is almost certainly a sign of higher government involvement. If I were to ignore this job, forget being at odds with the guild, I would be enemies with one of the greatest powers in this world, the whole of the empire may come crashing down on me! Simply put, this is a mission that I must complete; yet, this mission critically delays any action that may be taken to resolve my issues. Gah! Who would have thought that joining the adventurers' guild would, much less than resolve all of my problems, put me into an even tighter situation than I may otherwise be in?
[Seriously, I joined the guild for money and an opportunity to grow in power. For the first, the vast, vast, majority of the money I have made comes from extortion; with how dull that governor was, I could have wandered into his town as a commoner and still made away with his entire fortune! And as for growing in power, that has barely happened since taking on this job, the rate of leveling without proficiencies is simply too slow!
[Well, I suppose there really isn't much to be done now. Gah! This is so ridiculous, what if that sorcerer is in fact the key to the solution for my problem, and this enforced mission will delay our encounter just long enough to witness Lector's return?!]
Suddenly, I am struck with a faint hope. [Well, I better at least read it, who knows, perhaps the deadline is lenient enough that I can at least go meet with that sorcerer before taking it back on.]
Thinking this, I undo the seal on the request, unfolding it such that its message may be unveiled to me. Without delay, the request shatters my faint hope, the following words printed in red ink across the document's head: "Urgent Request, Pursue Immediately."
[Agh… of course it would be this way. Of course… Well, the only thing more dangerous than the lazy pursuits of Lector is the forceful enmity of a nation, I better at least read what the request is.]
I quickly scan through the document, picking out those important details which envelope themselves in words altogether too fancy to warrant their own presence within such a presumably urgent communication as this document would claim itself to be.
[Monsters swarming… mountain… disruption… border… investigate… Of course this couldn't be a simple kill quest.]
The request, or demand, more accurately, tells of abnormally high rates of human-monster conflict on the western frontier. The monsters had been traced back to a certain lone peak, a location from which they have been flowing ceaselessly.
The message says, in no uncertain terms, that this is a mission more fit for an A-rank adventurer or higher; however, there are apparently none available. Thus, my mission is not to resolve the problem, rather, it is to identify its source such that an adventurer of appropriate might may be dispatched to deal with it without having to dedicate his precious time to identifying the issue.
The mission demand is clear that I am not to engage the monsters; apparently some have been spotted to be of A-rank on their own, and that is ignoring the more significant aspect of quantity. No, I am just to investigate the mountain, to see what their source may be, while avoiding detection and conflicts at any cost; that, and report back my findings as well.
[Well, that's just fantastic. Not only do I get handed a message at such a crucial and inconvenient moment, but it is for a task located a good distance away – the mountain is not even within the borders of this nation, after all – with incredible danger that is likely to exceed A-rank; and, beyond the inconveniences of distance and danger, I have the rather difficult and indefinite task of 'identifying the problem' and 'investigating the mountain.' I may as well just file a formal resignation now, and endure the consequences!
[No… no, I can't do that. The enmity of the Empire is not something that I can afford at the moment, and besides, they almost certainly would not accept my resignation until after this task is complete… Well, at least they're paying me five hundred silver a day… After two hundred days, that would equate to the fair and just retributions I extracted from the corrupted governor of that twisted town… of course, by that point it is quite likely that my powers would be gone alongside all of my possessions at the hand of Lector… In fact, the mountain I am tasked with visiting is a good deal in his direction, I will even make his journey shorter by going there… Well, no matter how much I complain, the situation won't be resolved, I'll just have to get out there and solve the issue as fast as I can. Of course, that would leave me with little pay – actually, that leads to the question of what stupid bureaucrat would would formulate this payment method, it should be of a lump-sum nature so as to encourage efficiency, not this method which beneifts those lazy and shiftless individuals who may well stand around for a few years in the mountain's vicinity, insisting all the while that they are still searching; then, when the monsters of the environment stop coming from the mountain, having fully emptied it, they would return, claiming to have solved the problem; of course, I would do just that if I wasn't in such a hurry at the moment, but as it is, this mission is among the worse I could possibly be given!
[Well, I better be on my way, if I want to get done with this as soon as possible, I also better depart shortly.] It is with that thought that I leave the guild hall, having never even accomplished that task for which I had entered.
Perhaps it is abnormal to depart on what may be a several month long mission without even stopping to procure provisions or even general supplies, yet that is just what I do. Really, what would I stop for? I have enough stale bread to subsist upon for months, and I am not averse to hunting; I have a few changes of clothes and the ability to clean them with water and fire elemental manipulation; I am capable of forming a shelter at will; I have all the combat equipment I need in my two swords and magical abilities and methods; and besides, all of my coins are to be dedicated to resolving my situation. It would seem, then, that I already have prepared, I have simply done so without knowing what I was preparing for.
Out the west gate, into the wild field and forests, into the realm of flora and fauna, into the wild I travel again.