"To think we get to see a big shot of the Adventure Guild," Ana exclaimed with a low voice, her tone showing she was feeling great awe at the moment.
"Hahaha! Thanks for the compliment lass but I am not anyone special, just the leader of this small branch," Mr Grul said, stroking his small beard.
"Still, I don't come here to talk about me, I am here to talk about you two," the middle-aged man pointed at Ian and Kell.
"A newbie adventures who had just become adventurers in less than a week somehow managed to fend off more than 100 goblins and 4 hobgoblins. If that is not amazing, I don't know what is," the man complimented both of them.
"Usually, promotions from E to D-ranks are done by the staff. They only sent me the report for me to check and sign it. But both of you can achieve great feats while still being E-rankers.
So, your promotion is sealed at that moment. I am here just to meet with the two people who managed to achieve that," Ian felt there was more to it but he did not have the energy to care.
"So, what about our payment?" Ian asked the more important questions.
"Hhmm, my men already counted the magic cores. There are 103-" "Give 20 to the girls," Ian told the man immediately.
"... Really?" Mr Grul asked.
"Yes, while both Kell and I do the heavy lifting, if not for them helping us, we would have been overwhelmed," Ian spoke truthfully.
Sure, they might come out on top but that is a really big might. Not to mention, they might meet the girls again, and having their help would not be too bad. Not to mention, the girls are pleasing to the eyes, especially Fiona.
"Alright, so 83 goblin's magic cores and 4 hobgoblin's magic cores. For the goblins, one is worth 1 silver coin so there are 83 silver coins plus the 4 hobgoblins which are worth 10 silver coins so all in all for the impromptu goblins slaying, you will get 123 silver coins.
Plus the commissions you did, which if combined are worth 10 silver coins and 45 copper coins.
As for you girls, because you were ambushed by goblins on a road that was not supposed to have goblins, there will be no penalties as we considered it to be an accident but you will not receive the reward.
However, with 20 goblin's magic cores in your name, you will get 20 silver coins," Mr. Grul told them, the girls looked very happy with what they got.
"Thank you," the girls bowed to them both.
"It's not a problem. You girls already killed 5 before we arrived and we don't keep count but you at least took some goblins while we were working together," Ian told them.
The girls nodded, still reeling from the fact they earned so many silver coins. Ian stopped paying attention to them, turning his head towards the head of the branch.
"I would like to talk to you about my deduction regarding the reason goblins appear in an area they are not supposed to,"
-x-
While Kell remained with the girls, Ian followed the branch head to his office. As they entered, Ian eyed one thing in particular.
"Really?" he asked, his eyes on the pictures of a beautiful woman, wearing only bras and panties.
"What, I have my desire," the branch head defended himself.
"At least make sure to cover it. Or better yet, put in your house, or something," Ian countered.
"But my wife is there," this caused Ian to pause.
"That picture is not of your wife," Ian asked, the branch head shook his head.
"Well, if you are forced to sleep on the couch, no it well that it is all your fault," he told the man bluntly.
"I thought we were here to talk about your guess-" "Deduction," "Deduction on why the goblins move out," Mr. Grul said, trying to divert the topic from his questionable wall decoration.
"There are two likely reasons, one, there are more powerful monsters that encroached the goblin's territories but that is unlikely as the land goblins occupied, except for some of the larger tribe would be at an impoverished space.
The second is that they are ordered by a more powerful monster to head out of their territory, which is more likely," Ian told the man.
"Why do you think the second option is more likely?" Me Grul asked.
"It is because the four hobgoblins are traveling together. Either one becomes a chief of a small goblin tribe or they wander around.
So, they must have been ordered to travel together because I don't know any reason why four hobgoblins walked around with each other and not try to pummel the others," Ian explained.
The head of the branch only listened before putting his chin on his palm. After a while, he finally said something.
"I think your deduction is correct but we don't know enough to be sure about it. So, the E-ranks can only stay in the outskirts for now, while D-ranks are allowed in the inner regions.
Above D-ranks are allowed to check the area but informed before engaging the opponent," The head said.
"In that case, I will take my leave," but before he could exit the room, Mr Grul told him, "Because of you telling us important information, another 20 silver coins will be added to your rewards,"
-x-
As he returned the girls looked at him pleadingly while Kell looked anywhere but him.
"Your oaf, what did you do?" Ian asked with narrowed eyes.
"W-well, I asked if they wanted to team up again in the future. Then they said they wanted to join our group, and I said yes," Kell told him.
Ian massaged his temple, thankfully, this is not as bad as the trolley accident, which is at the top spot on what he tried to forget list.
As he thought about it, he began to see the merit of doing it. After all, they will have more members, which if assigned properly, will allow them to complete more commissions more easily.
With the five of them, they could tackle more problems at once. So, they are no reason why he would reject it. Besides, Fiona is there and he could spend more time with her if that is the case.
"Sure," the girl looked at him with joy, "But we will put all of you through the wringer,"
They looked at him like a puppy that had been abandoned by its owner.
"We don't want you to depend on us. In the future, the number of our members, if we become more successful, will increase. So, we need to make sure all of you can stand up to us. Starting by getting your rank up,"