Most of them require gathering herbs and some materials in the surrounding forest. Which I think might be as easy as it was simple, though the reward is not much either.
After a while of checking the quests, I simply take the request which involves me getting rid of pests in a farm.
The reward is good and I guess Helmy could assist me easily with the pest issue. And the quest would probably finish quickly with how Helmy enhances all of my stats.
So right away, I leave the guild building.
Of course, the first thing was to buy a weapon since my sword had already broken in the dungeon. I decided to just get a cheap iron sword as it would save up some money. Plus I am aware that it's not like it's going to be my main weapon.
As if things get serious, the one that I will be relying on dealing damage is the helmet.
With the budget that I have left, I can't buy any good armor as it costs a lot. However, it should not be a problem since the quest that I had accepted wasn't that dangerous. So I should be fine at least.
Without delaying anything further, I proceeded to the given location of the farmer, which was quite a distance outside of the settlement.
But when I arrived there, I saw the farmer sitting in front of the farmhouse. So I greeted him immediately, "I'm here for the request..."
And the farmer looks at me, and upon noticing me. He smiled and approached right away.
"Finally, the adventurer comes, the pest has been bothering me for weeks now."
"Is it wolves or goblins?" I asked right away and the farmer shook his head. "No, it is rats that have been destroying my crop."
Rat? Well, that's easy…
"Don't worry I would take care of them right away."
"Thanks, adventurer, they are in the barn right now," The farmer says and I proceed to do my job right away.
I enter the barn and find the rats right away. There are a lot of them yet I feel confident in my abilities. Even without relying upon the Helmy buff, I think I could managed this task easily. I mean my stats have increased ever since I left the dungeon.
Also, rats are weaker compared to wolves and goblins.
With my agility, I can easily catch them alive or kill them fast with my blade. This is why, with no delaying anything further, I begin hunting the pests one by one.
Catching the rats is a piece of cake and the killing is even easier. And after a while, I finished the task right away. But then when I discover that under the barn, there's a hidden basement.
It probably belonged to the farmer but I couldn't help to notice that there was a sound of rat squeaking coming from inside.
Even though I am quite curious, my job was simply to clear the rats inside of the barn and not the basement.
However, I should inform the farmer about this as he might appreciate it.
And without delaying anything any further, I approached the farmer and informed him right away.
"Your barn is clear from rats, however... underneath the basement, I think there are some rats still left. It would be nice if you could take care of them. But it's not a part of my request."
"Oh... I see, though you can check down there if you want as the basement belongs to me." The farmer said that.
I was quite hesitant to do so as it's part of the request and ask whether there would be an extra payment.
And the farmer nods right away. "Sure, if you managed to take care of the remaining rats. I would double the reward."
"In that case, I would gladly finish the job." With that incentive, I proceed to check down the basement immediately.
The farmer then gave me the key to the basement and some torches as he mentioned that it was dark inside.
With the information, I immediately entered the basement and lit up the torch and I proceeded...
I descend the staircase that leads underground. And as I have expected, the rats are all over the place. However there were also rats and corpses all over the basement.
The farmer might be a crazy one since he lets the rats live here and even collects the dead bodies of his dead rats.
Well, whatever…
Since he doubled my rewards, I doubt that the farmer had an ulterior motive. And with the torch illuminating the place, I begin exterminating the rats once again.
Though it's quite surprising as the basement is quite large, even larger than I had imagined. Within a few minutes, I managed to slay all of the rats in the basement. But while slaying, I do notice that there's a pathway in the basement. Probably leads to the rat's nest.
Well, I do want the double reward so I proceed to clear the rat's nest as well. It would be easy to get rid of those remaining rats anyway as the torch helps me navigate around easily.
Though while proceeding through the basement. The awful stench that I had been smelling the entire time became worse and worse as I progressed. But regardless of the smell, I should proceed to find the rat's nest.
After a few minutes of navigating through the basement, I arrived at the nest and found the rat's nest. But before I could proceed to hunt it, I discovered something disgusting.
Corpses that have been devoured and are lying around. And among the corpses are human corpses.
It shocked me for a bit as the farmer never said anything about this matter. Also makes me wonder why would there be human corpses inside his basement.
Were these corpses killed by the rats or killed by the farmer himself?
My guts are telling me that the latter is true and not far-fetched. Especially as I notice that there's no clothing on any of the corpses.
This makes me speculate that these people were abducted and used as rats' food. I mean that could explain why there are so many rats living underground here.