"Kyaaa!"
As I'm walking with Yuna-san in search of stores that sell sewing tools, a stranger suddenly bumps into me from behind, nearly making me fall. Fortunately, Yuna-san is there to support me. She wraps my waist with her hand while I'm leaning on her arm.
My cheeks feel a little bit hot while my heart skips a beat a little bit there.
Is it because I nearly fell or something else? I don't know which or which at the moment.
"Oh, t-thank you."
"Don't mind, don't mind."
She brushes my awkwardness with a casual reply while grinning at me.
Hmmm, cheeky, ain't she?
Anyway, who in the world bumped into me?
The middle-aged man, who must have fallen on his back after bumping into me, suddenly jumps up and shouts.
"Damn it! Don't get in my way, you brat!"
I'm stunned a bit due to his outburst. This is the first time I've been yelled at my face by a stranger.
Just as he is about to run past me after scolding us rudely, Yuna-san quickly reacts and catches his arm, preventing him from escaping.
"Hey, hey. Wait a minute. No matter how you look at this, we're the victims, right? The one who was nearly knocked down was my friend here, right? We were just walking and minding our business, and you suddenly bumped into her. It was obviously your fault, right?"
Yuna-san seems to lose her temper and shouts back at the suspicious man. For a carefree person like Yuna-san is getting angry for my sake, I can't help but feel a little bit happy inside.
"Ugh, shut up! I don't care about that! Just let go of my arm and get on with it!"
The suspicious man screams in anger and immediately turns violent, but Yuna-san doesn't even flinch at his forceful attempt and persistently won't let go of his hand.
Is an Archer always this strong, I wonder?
"Hey! Don't let that guy away!"
While the uncle and Yuna-san are entangled with each other, a loud voice calls out to us from the distance.
Three people in uniform come rushing in our direction.
"Oh, so that's what's going on."
Yuna-san suddenly realizes something.
The three people came straight over, and after a short conversation with Yuna-san, they take the man away. The man, who was still trying to resist, immediately falls into silence after one of the men in uniform knocks him out.
After they leave, I turn my head to Yuna-san, staring at her with an inquisitive gaze.
"Oh, that's just a quest."
Yuna-san says, shrugging her shoulder. She motions for me to continue walking while she continues her explanation.
"I think it's probably a runaway criminal or a thief, but most of them are caught and chased by the city's security. If you run into them, the quest will start. If you catch them until the guards arrive, you'll be successful, and if they escape, you'll fail. It's a quest that will reward you with a small amount of money."
Is that so?
I take a peek at the quest log, and sure enough, there's a notification for clearing a quest.
The quest is called "Don't Let the Thief Escape."
So, there's also a quest that automatically becomes active like this?
You wouldn't notice something like this, would you?
"Many people missed it before because they didn't know of a mechanism like this before. It's a popular topic on the bulletin board in the early period of this game, so they quickly devised a way to deal with such quests."
"So, isn't it better to catch every person who bumps into us?"
"That's not the case. There are cases of false accusations, too. You can only distinguish whether it's a quest or not by watching the offender's reaction. If the person is being unreasonable like that guy before, most likely he is a criminal. But, if they are polite, they are most likely innocent people. Well, it's not a sure thing, so the safest thing to do is to avoid bumping into them."
I initially thought about taking a shot at a quick fortune with this, but it's not that good of a deal, it seems.
By the way, I get 1,000 crown as a reward unknowingly. Maybe there will be many more small quests like this in the future.
After strolling along the main road of South Avenue for a while, we stop in front of one of the shops.
"This is the store that sells various miscellaneous goods. They might sell some sewing tools inside, I think?" Yuna-san's voice is a little bit doubtful. "I've never bought one myself, so I'm not sure."
"No, no, no. Thanks for agreeing to my unreasonable demand."
I shake my head immediately, urging her to not mind too much. After all, no one will bother to remember something that they're not interested in in the first place.
As we enter the store, my eyes are instantly attracted by a rack of handmade accessories near the entrance. Various colourful trinkets and accessories—rings, bracelets, earrings, and even collars— with a unique designs and shapes on display.
On the other side, I see a considerable amount of room furniture and stuff like wooden shelves, chairs, plates, and so on.
This store provides a wide range of practical goods.
"Oh, welcome!"
From behind the counter, the storekeeper greets us politely.
"Yahooo, long time no see~"
I don't even get surprised that Yuna-san is acquainted with Storekeeper-san.
She is someone who is very friendly and has a wide circle of friends. It was also like this when she introduced me to Iris-san.
"Eve, this is Lucia. She is the manager here. Lucia, this is Eve. This is the girl with whom I'm partying right now."
Without a delay, Yuna-san introduces us to each other.
I give Lucia-san a small bow, to which she immediately replies with another bow.
I'm Japanese, after all, so bowing when we first meet is a matter-of-course.
Lucia-san looks like someone who is in her early 40s, but I can tell that she must have been popular when she was still young. Even at this age, she is quite a beauty. Furthermore, she has this kind of warm and gentle aura around here that can heal people just by being together with her.
As they have a small talk, I come to know that both of them sometimes partied together in the past, and the bow that Yuna-san used now was actually a bespoke weapon made by Lucia-san.
However, I don't see any bows or arrows displayed in the store.
When I asked about it, Lucia-san replies with a grumble.
"Selling weapons is troublesome. There are some pesky people who'll make a fuss while, in fact, we're free to do so."
"Pesky people?" I tilt my head, puzzled.
"The Thieves' guild." Instead of Lucia-san, Yuna-san answers my confusion.
I'm quite surprised at the extent of their influence.
It looks like that guild also has a hand in this matter.
They somehow prohibit anyone other than a weapon store from selling weapons.
Well, it's actually not a problem, but I feel irritated somehow. It feels like they're always going against me no matter what.
First it's underwear, and now weapons.
They're really a nasty bunch!
Well, thinking about them is driving me mad, so let's stop and move on to my actual business here.
"Excuse me, do you have yarn and sticks for knitting?"