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Start of an adventure,
In this life and in this juncture,
They take their first steps towards becoming mature.
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They returned the pass they received from the guard as they entered the city.
Seeing that it only took them around a couple of hours to finish their quest, they decided to stroll nearby for a while to look for a merchant shop at a relaxed pace.
Aisia pointed at the first shop they saw, but Kairo stopped her from entering so hastily. Instead, he made them wander around a bit more as he looked for something.
They passed by a few more shops before coming upon a certain shop that Kairo finally took interest in. It was situated in a less busy area compared to the ones before. Unlike the others, this shop did not encounter a lot of traffic, as its displays were still filled with goods.
They checked out the items available on the displays, weighing their options and deliberating whether they could save more with their budget.
They found that the quality of the items in the shop was average. They saw nothing amiss but also nothing exceptional. The prices were cheap and reasonable, and so, they bought larger bags and cheap leather armor such as knee and elbow protectors to protect their exposed limbs.
They reserved most of their budget for shops that specifically sold weapons and medicine, such as a weapons shop and an apothecary respectively. Apart from those, they already kept some money away for renting a room in an inn. Their plan was to rent a single room.
While the shopkeeper was counting the change, Kairo killed time by checking their situation. They were good on containers, but they needed to buy their own weapons. As for armor, they should be able to withstand damage from basic quests with their defensive ki alone. For miscellaneous items such as throwables and tools, he planned to buy them when they received their next quest.
For medicine and first aid kits, he supposed that he'll get them later. But he suddenly had a frighteningly accurate image of Esmeralda in his head nagging him that it's better to be safe than sorry. And so, with a sigh, he was convinced in that eccentric manner to visit an apothecary or a shop that sold first aid kit for adventurers later.
As they were finishing up their purchase of goods, Aisia wondered why Kairo didn't even try to haggle with the shopkeeper. She thought that as a merchant, he would be trying to save money as much as possible and try to sweet talk the old man.
Kairo confidently lectured that helping the business they would frequent to would help them back in the long run. He called it an investment, a word that she heard Grisia use when talking to Kairo in the past.
"So, if we give them more coins, we'll be given more coins back?" She said, confusing herself even more with her oversimplification.
Kairo shook his head.
"Not necessarily. It's not always going to be about money. With trust and a good relationship, we'll get value from other perks such as getting reservations or being presented with hidden stock."
"You certainly know your stuff, young boy." The old shopkeeper interjected. "He's right, missy. Though, I wonder how you would be able to maintain that trust." He said with a testing tone as he caressed his graying mustache.
Unfortunately for him, Kairo sneaked a nasty smile that mildly irked Aisia. This was what he was waiting for and Aisia was the perfect person he could have brought here. Anyone else wouldn't have bothered asking unprompted. If he were to tell another person to ask this question for him, it might be too obvious.
Sensing that Kairo was about to work his magic, Aisia worked to not reveal her desire to sigh and let him do his thing.
"You do have a point, sir." He said. "A continued patronage would be necessary, but depending on the circumstance, we may be attracted to other shops in the city."
He was right. The shopkeeper saw the tables turn right before his eyes. Even though the shopkeeper identified Kairo's sly tone, his intuition told him that he couldn't lose out on such a young, yet knowledgeable customer. He sensed that the kid was a gem in the rough. He thought that if he gained this impressionable kid's trust now, when he becomes a notable person in the future, they would already have a good relationship that he could exploit.
In any case, he didn't have a choice. He already made an unwise decision purchasing the land and the building that stood on it in this secluded area for a deceptively cheap price. Gaining a traction of regular customers, even if it was a single person, would definitely help him a lot.
"Fine, if you promise to purchase another item now and continue to purchase from my shop for the foreseeable future, I shall give you a discount on all the merchandise you'll be purchasing today."
Kairo shook the shopkeeper's hands with a devious attitude behind his grin.
"It's a deal."
Once they exited the store with their goods, Aisia finally voiced her thoughts.
"You're pretty nifty, knowing how to talk the talk and walk the walk." She said, fixing her leather elbow protector and storing her collected mushrooms in her new bag as they headed back to the guild.
"Well, my mother..." Kairo felt like he had more to say, yet he couldn't find the words to. It's as if the memories escaped from his head right when he was about to recall it. "My mother..."
As he tried harder to recall his memories, a piercing ache struck his head, making him grunt and hold his head. Though, time passed and it was as if the pain never occurred at all.
"Woah, you alright, Kairo?" asked Aisia.
"Yes. My mother, she taught me... how to read and write. I think. Right?" He turned to Aisia, who looked confused, but somehow less than himself.
"Don't ask me, I don't know."
"Well, after receiving education from her, I had the opportunity to become a merchant, and got used to being one in my... travels."
"You traveled when you were a kid? You were already a merchant?!"
"I think so. I remember doing so, but I'm not exactly sure." As Kairo rambled, Aisia saw how he looked longingly into a faraway place. "We were on the road for so long."
"We?"
"Huh? I don't know. I guess I was too young that the details are all sorta blurry now." He chuckled.
"What a liar." She replied. It was the only way Kairo's story would make sense. But she failed to comprehend why he would lie. She didn't dig any deeper as she didn't deem it too important.
"I'm not lying! At least I don't think I am."
"You just don't want to admit that you're a thief like me- err, was. That's why you had to make up a shaky story on the fly."
"Yeah, yeah. Well, like I said, it's likely when I was still very small that it happened, that's why my memories are hazy."
Kairo said that, though it as though he was trying to convince himself rather than Aisia.
"Uhuh. You were a merchant when you were small." she replied.
He did recognize Aisia's point, his story was pretty much dotted with holes. Maybe this had something to do with repeatedly getting bonked in the head, either by that recent fall in front of Esmeralda or due to Tiraga's occasional head chops.
Meanwhile, as Kairo was trying to narrow down the cause of his jumbled memories, Aisia saw that he was once again lost in thought, pulling him by the arm right before he crashed into another person.
"Sorry. Thanks." Kairo said, bring himself back to his senses.
"Are you well?"
"Yes. Apologies. Was just lost in thought for a moment there."
"Focus, Kairo! You're the team leader for crying out loud!"
"Why am I the team leader? Don't you want to be the leader?"
"W-Well, I don't want to hog the spotlight!" She turned her face away from him because she knew that he would be able to see through her lies. Though, Kairo already knew she was lying. "I'm merely giving you an opportunity to prove yourself. Yes, that's it!"
"Well, make sure to observe closely how well I lead us to the highest of ranks in the adventurer's guild!" Kairo declared confidently.
Aisia poked his face. "Says the guy who probably doesn't even know much about magic scrolls."
"Well, you probably don't either!" he retorted.
"The thing is, I do." she smugly huffed. "They're expensive, but they let you use spells on-the-go. You don't even need to know magic to be able to use them, they're that nifty! They can be bought in a magic shop, but most of the things in a magic shop are expensive. And peculiar. I've heard that this city's magic shop already had explosive accidents twice."
"So, we can't really use them as beginner adventurers because we're poor?" Kairo asked.
"Yes, and because I don't think we have much need for it yet. And besides, we're going to eventually learn magic ourselves, no? Making magic scrolls ourselves might be something to consider."
"To sell!" He blurted out the idea that immediately sprung from his mind.
"I was thinking for our own use, but I guess so."
"How did you find out about magic scrolls?"
"I listen to the mercenaries' stories here and there. They've been saved by magic scrolls and artifacts before. I've also visited a magic shop out of curiosity, that's why I know they're expensive. Our entire budget may not be enough to even buy a single useful thing there."
"Oh?" Kairo made a mental note to be like Aisia and be more observant with his surroundings. Information like these are essential for travelling, especially for mercantile affairs.
"Speaking of spells... we still don't know how to use magic, do we? Unless you do?" Kairo asked. Aisia shook her head. "We should ask Grisia the next time we meet him."
When they returned to the guild, they presented their haul.
"You're back! Faster than expected." The lady said as she tidied her area at the long counter.
"Yes, we've acquired enough chanterelle mushrooms and some more just in case, as you've instructed us, miss— uh...?"
"Oh, just call me Mary, kids." Mary smiled.
"Miss Mary."
"I see, then kindly present to me your haul and I shall examine the goods myself." She tapped on the table, beckoning them to place the quest items there.
"You're also a mushroom expert, Miss Mary?" Aisia asked as she and Kairo placed what they had gathered on the table.
"Oh, no." She chuckled. "Far from it. In my job, it is required to have the ability to appraise. Also, I've been in this job long enough to know the requirements for the five basic quests. These are merely chanterelle mushrooms anyway. A basic cooking ingredient that even I— who's not that good at cooking— can do something with."
It didn't take long for Mary to inspect their find. After inspecting, she took them and placed them in a sack for future use.
"Wonderful! Congratulations, you two. You've finished the first basic quest. Here is your reward. A silver coin for each of you."
Kairo raised his eyebrow. He started to wonder if his memories were more unreliable than he thought, but that self-doubt was somewhat quelled when he saw Aisia react the same way.
"Miss Mary, don't you mean three bronze coins each?" Kairo clarified.
"Oh, you don't know? Then this is a great chance to tell you about bonuses." She pulled out one of the bigger chanterelle mushrooms they gathered. "See this big one?"
The two nodded.
"Why do you think it's bigger than the other mushrooms that you didn't pick?"
Kairo scratched his head. He wasn't entirely sure, but he answered anyway, "Because it got its hands on more nutrients?"
Mary wagged her finger. "Sure, that's one reason, but the main reason is because it grew with the help of mana. Therefore, this little thing right here is a viable ingredient for potions. It's not merely for cooking anymore. Though, you can still use it for cooking, but it'll be a waste not to use it for potions instead."
"So that's why we received a better reward?" Asked Aisia.
"Precisely. As someone who receives and inspects the quest items given, I have the required ability to appraise, and with this ability, I sense that some of the mushrooms you've gathered possess mana. As such, I've already applied the bonus to your reward accordingly."
"But just to let you know, Miss Mary, we didn't intentionally pick these certain ones. I mean, we did have the intention, but we do not know how to detect mana, so these were coincidentally filled with mana."
"I see, that does make sense as to why only some of them have mana, but to have harvested a pretty considerable ratio with mana, you may have some sort of other sense working behind the scenes. Or maybe it really was just a coincidence. Mayhaps you simply picked the bigger ones, that would explain why not all of the big ones possess mana."
"That was precisely Aisia's plan at the beginning before we talked more about it and eventually just circled back to it anyway." Kairo chuckled.
"So, I was a genius after all." Aisia smirked.
"Well, I suppose you'll learn more about mana and magic the more you do these quests, or if you know an arcanist, you could ask them to teach you. I don't fully understand the ability to appraise, I naturally have it, so I won't be of much help to you unfortunately." Mary said with a sorry expression.
"That's fine, Miss Mary." Aisia said. "The information you gave us was helpful enough!"
Kairo nodded audibly to that sentiment.
"I'm glad to be of help, you two." Mary beamed a smile. "Now, would you like to move on to your second basic quest? Or would you like more time to prepare?"
Aisia looked at Kairo for an answer. Kairo thought that they must first figure out their basic necessities. He didn't want to be caught off guard again, like how they didn't have enough storage to gather mushrooms earlier.
In the idle time, Mary spoke, "You did finish that quest remarkably fast. I don't think there are any sources of chanterelle nearby, so you must have traveled a bit outside of the kingdom walls."
They may have finished it sooner than expected— with enough time to peruse a shop— but that made Kairo think about the chance that they took too long instead. They would need a place to rest, and so he wanted to confirm that first before doing anything else.
He responded, "We'll come back tomorrow for the second basic quest, Miss Mary. For now, I'd like to set up our resting area."
"If you're looking for an inn, there are two near the guild. One in front, and another three streets away. I recommend the one farther away, the inn in front of the guild is probably already full of the regular adventurers."
"I see, thank you Miss Mary." Kairo replied. "We'll look into it. Farewell."
"Farewell, you two!" She waved them goodbye.
When they left the guild building, the two of them faced each other.
Kairo started, extending his fist to Aisia, "First quest..."
"...done!" She finished as the two of them bumped their fists together triumphantly.