When he woke up, it was already dusk. Field admired his own internal clock as he looked out at the orange sky. "Waking up whenever I want, feels great~" Then he glanced down and, as expected, Kiki was curled up on his stomach, hugging her big tail.
"Do all cats do this?" Field wondered aloud. Back in the team in his past life, the hacker had a cat that did the same thing—either lying on his chest or on his stomach when he woke up. Sometimes, it would even sprawl across his face, making him feel like he was being smothered in his sleep. Thankfully, he was in top shape this time around, so a little cat weighing less than a hundred pounds lying on his stomach didn't bother him at all.
Field picked up Kiki, who was still deeply asleep, and chuckled to himself. "As a scout, having such low alertness won't do. Looks like I'll have to train you more."
Little did he know, Kiki only behaved like this when she slept on Field. It was because she felt completely safe and warm.
"Time to wake up, little kitty. We have a mission," Field said, gently shaking Kiki awake.
"Mew~" Kiki let out a soft, sleepy meow as she opened her eyes.
After packing up their gear, they headed downstairs. Nighttime in Haidou was still bustling with activity. Unlike other cities, where the streets would be deserted by eight or nine in the evening, Haidou kept its gates open, and the streets were still busy even late into the night. Even the taverns remained lively—a city like this was where Field felt most at home.
"Awake?" The landlady leaned against the bar, her figure alluring as she tossed a silver mercenary identity card towards Field. "Don't forget to activate it with your blood."
Field caught the card between two fingers, activated it, and stowed it away. "Is the tavern ever closed?" he asked with a smile.
"As long as the Mercenary Guild is open, the tavern never closes," Eveline replied with a grin.
"You're quite dedicated," Field chuckled, then ordered a glass of rum and four legs of lamb for the road. With Kiki in tow, he headed out.
"Keep an eye on my things, landlady," he called back as they left.
"I got it," Eveline replied, propping her chin on her hand as she watched Kiki bouncing along behind Field. She smirked and muttered to herself, "That cat's quite big. Can she handle it?"
...
The rest of the night was spent gathering materials. There were beasts, herbs, plants, and even some bugs to collect, nothing too difficult but a bit of a hassle nonetheless. Despite that, Field and Kiki managed to finish everything before dawn.
Kiki completed six bronze-tier material collection tasks, while Field completed four silver-tier ones. Looking at the basin-sized scorpions in the cage, Field couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated. At this point, he suspected that Kiki had some kind of unlucky attribute.
In their last mission, they were catching birds, and Kiki managed to smack her hand right into a hidden red velvet wasp nest in the bushes. Those nests were pretty well concealed, and Field had searched for them for quite a while without success, only for Kiki to accidentally uncover it. As a result, she ended up with a swollen hand from the stings.
And now, during this mission, while Field was searching under rocks for their target, the Red-Tailed Scorpion, Kiki was playfully chasing fireflies nearby. Whenever she was with Field, she seemed to relax a lot, her vigilance dropping significantly. As luck would have it, as they passed by a fallen hollow tree, a Red-Tailed Scorpion hiding inside stung her on the leg as she walked past.
If Field hadn't been prepared with the corresponding antidote and acted quickly, Kiki's leg would have been crippled. Despite being just a bronze-tier creature, the Red-Tailed Scorpion's poison was potent enough to paralyze a silver-tier Razorback Boar.
Hence, this was classified as a silver-tier task.
"Big guy…" Kiki sat on the ground with droopy ears, one slender leg resting on a rock, the wound on her calf swollen and inflamed. Field couldn't help but wonder if Kiki had some sort of unlucky trait.
Field's warning from earlier echoed in her mind. She knew she had to take tasks seriously and not be reckless just because Field was there to protect her.
"Understood," Kiki said softly, accepting Field's reprimand.
"Do you understand?" Field asked.
"Yes, no more next time!" Kiki immediately replied, her ears perking up again.
"Really?" Field turned to look at Kiki, noticing her smooth, bare thighs. She was wearing shorts, after all.
Kiki nodded vigorously. "I won't lag behind anymore, meow! I promise!"
"I believe you," Field smiled. As long as Kiki could learn from her mistakes, it was fine. It wasn't a big deal, really. Despite her bad luck, she helped him complete the missions quickly. Without her, they would have spent a lot more time looking for beehives and Red-Tailed Scorpions. Although these tasks were simple, they were troublesome.
Field just hoped that Kiki wouldn't rely too much on him. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to walk together until the end and become legendary mercenaries.
Back at the tavern, it was just starting to get light out, and there weren't many people around—most of the mercenaries were still sleeping soundly at their tables.
"Landlady, we're turning in our mission," Field announced loudly, waking up several people.
Some of them were a bit grumpy, ready to complain, but when they saw it was Field, they shut their mouths immediately.
Field had to thank Krakhon for establishing his dominance; it really worked wonders.
However, Eveline wasn't intimidated like the other mercenaries.
"Hey, you! Can't you keep it down?!" She raised her hand and smacked Field's chest, venting her frustration.
It didn't hurt at all…yeah, right!
Field grinned, unfazed. "Just in a hurry, that's all."
"Go to the back!" Eveline ordered sternly.
"Sure thing!" Field replied cheerfully.
This time the total commission was 2,500 gold coins. Five hundred of them were from the six copper-level tasks completed by Qiqi.
Receiving the five hundred gold coins, Qiqi's eyes sparkled as she held the coins in her hands and joyfully jumped up and down, as if the sense of weakness brought by the toxin had disappeared.
"So much money, meow!"
"It turns out being a mercenary earns money like this, meow!"
In the escort squad, she only got a minimum of fifty gold coins for each escort task, and with the cut from the value of the goods, she usually earned just over a hundred gold coins. It took her more than a month to save enough to buy that short sword she had been eyeing.
"Hehehe, you're just scratching the surface," Phil said with a smile.
Indeed, mercenaries earn money quickly, but it's also very dangerous.
If an ordinary silver-level mercenary were to do Phil's tasks, it would take at least a few days, and they might even get injured. After all, the forest was not a place for a stroll, there were many magical beasts inside.
On the way, Phil and Qiqi encountered several silver-level magical beasts, but after being struck by Phil's hammer, they ran away grumblingly.
"Don't be too happy, eat and then take a nap, adjust your jet lag. We'll set off tonight," Phil said.
Excellent mercenaries can adjust their jet lag at any time, but Phil also needed to adjust a bit. The next two tasks were a bit tricky, as they had to run to a distant place to collect herbs, so they needed to sleep at night.
But Phil was energetic. After a night of tasks, he was still full of energy. Even if he slept on the carriage tonight, it wouldn't matter. But Qiqi obviously hadn't adapted yet.
Upon hearing this, Qiqi nodded obediently and went to bed after finishing her meal.
Phil, on the other hand, sat at the bar, frowning as he looked at the briefs on the task list, drinking his liquor.
"What's wrong? Encountered some difficulties?" Ivana, who had already woken up, approached and asked.
She was a bit close, and Phil could smell the scent of her perfume. She leaned against the bar with her upper body tilted, revealing her deep cleavage if Phil were to look up at her.
But Phil didn't look up.
He stared at the task list and said, "Not exactly, I just remembered, isn't this high-mountain white peach blossom located in the Aronas Mountains west of Grela City?"
He had memorized the map of this area, including the nearby towns and regions.
"Yeah," Ivana nodded. "It's only thirty-six miles from Grela City. What's the matter?"
"I just feel like this part of the journey is a bit time-consuming. We need to make use of it. So when the time comes, I plan to deliver directly to the mercenary tavern in Grela City..."
He only said half of it, but Ivana grabbed his collar in excitement.
"What?! You're not coming back to deliver the task?!"
Phil blinked and looked at the wide-eyed Ivana, then continued.
"It's too much trouble to come back and deliver the task. The last silver-level task is forty miles south of Grela City. The two task locations are more than a hundred and fifty kilometers apart. So if I come back to Hai Du to deliver the task and then go back, it'll take another day."
"It'll take at least three days to complete both tasks."
"Remember, I only have a month."
"So delivering the task directly to the mercenary tavern in Grela City is the most efficient. Besides, this is a guild task, not a commissioned task, so it doesn't matter which tavern I deliver it to."
Guild tasks, as the name suggests, are tasks arranged by the guild, mostly for various materials needed by the guild.
If it were a commissioned task, it would have to be delivered to the tavern where the task was received because the task materials had to be delivered from the tavern to the client.
"That's true," Ivana nodded. "If you received the gold task from me, you'll only deliver it to me here, and you won't count it towards other taverns. Why are you so excited? Afraid I'll run away?"
Phil's tone was playful, and Ivana couldn't help but be surprised by his boldness. She grabbed his collar and shook him, but he didn't react at all.
This guy is really brave, daring to tease the barmaid! All the mercenaries were prepared for a show.
Unexpectedly, Phil's laughter was heard from a distance, and Ivana was both angry and amused. Finally, she shook her head and went back to the tavern.
All the mercenaries were watching.
Ivana snorted and hoisted the frying pan, saying, "What are you looking at? Haven't seen a beautiful woman hit someone before?"
A group of mercenaries quickly averted their gaze, but there were a few suppressed laughs.
The guy who dared to tease the barmaid twice, it's really rare.
However, what Ivana didn't expect was that when she had just returned to the bar and finished cleaning up the dishes Phil had finished, he pushed open the door and walked back in.
The group of mercenaries looked at him with admiration.
This guy was really brave. After teasing the barmaid, he ran away, but before he even had a sip of his drink, he came back.
Ivana's eyes widened as she looked at Phil in disbelief. What had happened?
So she quickly recalled, "It seems... it was... to collect thirty Mona Red Flowers. What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Phil had a look of urgency on his face, and Ivana couldn't help but be surprised. What had happened?
So she quickly recalled, "It seems... it was... to collect thirty Mona Red Flowers. What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Phil, on the other hand, had a mysterious smile on his face. He beckoned with his hand and looked around as if he couldn't speak openly.
So Ivana leaned in, but couldn't hear what Phil was saying. She saw Phil take out a Mona Red Flower and gently tuck it behind her ear.
Ivana was stunned, as were all the others present.
Phil, on the other hand, grinned, "I thought I'd forgotten to deliver one, but it turns out I collected one too many."
"Barmaid, the Mona Red Flower suits you very well~"
With that, he ran out like the wind, grabbing a few more task lists on the way.
"Oh~"
There were teasing voices inside the tavern, and Ivana blushed even more.
The mercenaries swallowed nervously, preparing for the barmaid's roar.
But to their surprise, after waiting for a while, the barmaid didn't roar or rush out with a frying pan. Instead, she quietly wiped her face with water.
The female employee in the kitchen looked at Ivana, who was pouring water on her face, with a puzzled expression.
At this moment, Ivana felt her cheeks burning.
In such a short time, she had been teased by the same person twice!
Strange enough, this time, embarrassment outweighed anger.
"That little brat..." she muttered through gritted teeth. But then she took off the Mona Red Flower from her temple, looked at the bright red flower, and glanced at her red dress. She couldn't help but smile.
It did seem... a bit matching.