Luxen City.
Vivian was walking down the street and heading to the place she was staying; The Silver Wing Inn.
She could feel and see some people glancing at her but she just ignored them.
In her mind, she just came back from a quest so, of course, she looked a bit unpresentable. But most importantly, she was too tired and hungry to care about such things right now.
She raised her head and looked at the sky.
By her estimate, it was around less than 1 hour before the sun finally sets.
She finally reached The Silver Wing Inn and immediately made her way to the entrance. Upon entering, she noticed it was still the same woman behind the counter and the 2 of them made eye contact with each other.
She pulled out her hotel key and waved it nonchalantly before breaking eye contact as she headed for the stairs.
When she reached the second floor and stood in front of the door of her room, she inspected the doorknob.
It's locked…
She inserted the key and twisted it.
It made a clicking sound and she opened the door.
When she closed the door behind her, she immediately went to over her bed where she placed her items.
They didn't seem to be touched…
And nothing seems to be missing…
Before leaving, she arranged them in a very specific order, but not too obvious.
After confirming that nothing was wrong, she went to the corner and untied the small sack on her waist before removing the contents inside.
Tch.
She clicked her tongue.
I forgot to get the piece of cloth that I used for wrapping the tails when I submitted them this morning…
She began separating the hearts and tails with her knife.
There were 15 Treebark hearts and another 15 Bukaroo tails.
Once she was done separating them and placing the hearts back into the sack, she left the tails in a corner.
I hope these won't attract any ants, rats or cockroaches…
She tied the sack back around her waist and then fixed her hair.
Her hair was tied into a ponytail but it was a bit messy from all the running, jumping and fighting she did back at the forest.
As for her weapons, she slid her kitchen knife inside her left boot. Meanwhile, for her whip, she held it on her hand.
She left her room, locked it, slid the hotel key inside her right boot and then headed to the Adventurer's Guild.
***
When she got to the hall of the Adventurer's Guild building, she was surprised to find a lot of people. But it wasn't crowded like this morning where people were pushing and shouting at each other.
Aside from the personnel, there were close to 20 people and almost half of them were forming a line in front of the counter to submit quest items, while the rest were either standing in front of the other counters or standing and sitting at the side chatting with each other.
Vivian counted the people in front of the counter to submit quest items.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…
The counter for submitting quest items had 4 chairs at the side. One was standing in front of the counter, there were 4 sitting at the chairs, and 2 were standing.
Should I eat first or get in line…?
She thought about it for a moment and then decided to get in line in the end.
"Have you heard that Drake of the Firstblood was here today?" a man in front of Vivian said to his companion.
"He was here in the guild?" the other man, his companion asked.
"Yeah, apparently he came here riding on a Draghorn."
"Where is he now?"
"They said he already left."
"Damn, I wish I could've met him and shake his hand."
"You wish."
"Why?"
"As if a Platinum Rank II adventurer would shake our hands. We should be thankful if they'll even acknowledge our presence."
Both of them had a silver-colored pendant around their necks engraved with the initials "I".
"What are you talking about? I even once shook hands with Lady Irinai."
The man rolled his eyes and didn't say anything because he heard that story a million times. In fact, not a day goes by that this person doesn't talk about it. And when they're with other adventurers, especially ones that they've just met, this person would tell the story. And the best of the story, there was no else one to confirm it aside from himself.
"You really don't trust me, do you?"
The man snorted.
"Platinum II are like demi-gods and they're rarely here in the guild because they're always out for some critical mission. The only time we see them is when there's a catastrophe, like a Wave or something. Are you telling me they have the time to go around and shake people's hands?"
"So you're saying that Platinum II Ranks feel like they're too good to interact with people?"
Some people turned their heads and looked in their direction.
"Hey, don't put words in my mouth…! I never said that…! I'm saying they're so busy saving lives so we shouldn't bother and waste their precious time…!" the man said in a harsh whisper.
The pair stopped talking after that and pretended like they were busy checking their own equipment and whatnot.
Vivian took a step back from the two and looked away.
Meanwhile, the person in front of the two who was sitting at the chair near the counter to submit quest items shifted a little bit more to the opposite side.
Some time later…
The person standing in front of the counter received a small bag of coins and then left.
Vivian got up from her seat and went over to the counter.
"Hello, how may I help you?" one of the receptionists asked.
"I've completed my quest and I'm here to submit the quest items."
"May I ask what's your name or the name of your group that was registered on the quest and the quest's name?"
"My name is Vivian, I work alone and the quest was to collect 15 hearts of the Treebark monster," Vivian said and showed the sack.
"Vivian? V-I-V-I-A-N?"
"Yes."
"Last name?"
"None."
"May I ask when was this quest issued?"
"This afternoon."
"And the quest was issued here?"
"Yes."
"Please wait for a moment," the receptionist said and began searching in the logbook.
Vivian didn't sit down like last time because there was already someone else occupying her seat.
"The quest is a Copper Rank Quest, it is registered under the adventurer named Vivian, you were required to gather 15 hearts of the Treebark within 2 days, the reward is 10 copper coins, and the quest was issued this afternoon. Do you agree with the details?"
"Yes."
"Please give it to me," the other receptionist said.
Vivian handed over the sack to her.
The receptionist who received the sack spread the hearts inside the sack on top of a metal rectangular tray on top of the counter and then examined each one.
Meanwhile, the receptionist who was in charge of asking Vivian waited for her companion to finish.
"Everything seems fine," said the receptionist who examined the hearts.
The other receptionist turned to Vivian.
"Please wait for a moment," she said and then left to enter the door behind the counters.
When she came back, she was carrying a silver-colored tray with a cheap-looking coin pouch on top of it.
She placed the tray on top of the counter in front of Vivian.
"Inside this coin pouch is 10 copper coins. Please check it if you want."
"No need," Vivian said and picked up the coin pouch.
"Okay, please touch the Memory Crystal."
Vivian placed her fingers on top of the crystal.
Just like from a while ago, when the receptionist also touched it as well, it emitted a faint white glow and details about the quest being completed flashed inside Vivian's head.
The receptionist pulled her hand away and then presented a pen and the logbook to Vivian.
"Please sign here," she said and pointed at one of the sections.
Vivian grabbed the pen and signed with the same signature she used last time.
"Congratulations on completing the quest. We look forward to seeing you again," the receptionist said and smiled.
"Thanks," Vivian said and then left.
However, as she was about to exit the building, she suddenly remembered something so she turned around and looked at the counter where people can ask about quests.
Vivian sighed in relief because the receptionist was there and there was no one in front of her counter.
She quickly made her way over to that counter.