As Liam and the two girls walked out of the mansion, the neighboring farmers came rushing in with scared faces and pitchforks in hand. They stared at them for a while as if they were seeing ghosts. "You've come back?" one of them gasped, his eyes opening wide.
"We thought you were dead." A woman mumbled, looking away.
"That explosion earlier, we thought the spirit was coming out so we…" He dropped his pitchfork, "Is it over?"
"It can't be! It's been years!" An old man growled. "What did you three do? Did you anger the spirit?!" He approached Liam, lifting his cane up, ready to swing.
"The spirit is dealt with. The guild should clean…" The old man smacked Liam as he was speaking to the head with his cane. "Shut up! You lying bastard…That spirit is still there, it'll kill us all because of you."
Liam immediately threw his fist forward without putting his weight behind it, smacking the old man in the nose with a punch strong enough to drop him to the ground. Melany and Alice cried, rushing to grab Liam and pull him backward.
"You-you idiot! Why did you punch him he's old!" Alice yelled at him, almost stuttering.
"You don't need to waste your effort, he'll die soon anyway," Melany said with a passive, cold stare directed toward the old man. If she were to choose between the two, Liam would have saved her life and pulled her out of the demon Lord Oni's grasp, this old man on the other hand means nothing.
"He hit me first." Liam glared at the farmers with a hint of anger in his eyes. "I don't care what any of you think or want, that's your damn problem. My job is to fix the spirit's problem. All of you can die for all I care."
"It's our job to protect the people," Alice growled at him.
"Our job is to finish quests for the guild's clients. If they want to be helped, they can post a quest. It's their problem to protect themselves." He turned his face to Alice.
"They can pay us to protect them. That would do it." Melany smiled.
Liam surprisingly nodded. "Effort is effort. They can spend it training then kill monsters themselves, or spend it farming, earn money, and then pay us to kill monsters." His eyes shifted back to the wheezing old man.
"The spirit is done, get over it. Otherwise, life won't be kind to you. Those who don't want to learn never survive for long." He then shifted toward the other farmers
"Don't step into the house until the guild people come here to inspect and clean the area. Residual magic might harm you. Got it?"
"Yeah…we'll make sure none of the children slips inside." A man replied with a shivering, terrified face.
Liam started walking away and so did Alice and Melany after him. Upon reaching the guild, Selena approached them with a sad face. "It was hard, wasn't it? I'm happy you've returned alive at least. Most adventurers either camp outside the mansion and return, or they never come back. You've made a smart decision, no need to feel bad about it." She patted Liam's shoulder.
She then quickly turned toward Melany. "And, who is the girl?" She smiled. "I've never seen her face around, is she from outside the city?"
"We've finished the quest," Liam said with a passive face.
"Don't worry, you won't be charged for failures… wait what?" She gasped, and her expression changed quickly.
"It was a spirit. Here are the details of the family, please have them all buried in one place to set the spirit at peace. She shouldn't be dangerous anymore, but inform the men to maintain some respect toward the place." Liam handed the quest paper to her.
"You've finished it? Are you serious?"
"Yes, that's what I said." Liam put his hand on his waist. "I do need the money… if you can process the quest for us."
"Ah, yes. But you can't get paid today." She looked left and right with a worried face, "Please follow me. I'll explain in the private room."
The four headed toward a closed room in the back of the guild. This was the place where private conversations and transactions were made when the guild or its customers needed privacy.
"You really didn't expect anyone to finish the quest?" Alice approached Selina as they walked.
"It was taken over fifty times and all failed." Selena gave her a worried smiley face. "This is quite the problem."
"What problem?" Liam asked.
"We'll talk inside."
They all walked into the room and Selena locked the door.
"So first, the reason I brought you here." She looked away with a worried and scared face… "Actually… the guild doesn't have the money for this quest at hand…"
"What?"
"Sorry! I know you've asked for it for the money, but since this quest never gets finished. Its funds are still locked in the main branch until a valid finish is confirmed." She couldn't look him in the eyes.
"How long will the money take to arrive?" Alice turned toward Liam. "We can wait a bit."
"Today and tomorrow to confirm the quest being finished and to write a report to the main branch of the guild, I'll send the letter with a pigeon so it'll take three days with nice weather. Then the payment will take longer to arrive." She rapidly explained…
"So at least two weeks. Three at worst." Liam mumbled, rubbing his chin.
"Sorry! It's my fault. I should've told you beforehand."
"Don't worry about it." Alice smiled. "We won't have a problem. We aren't pressed for money and we can take other quests in the meantime."
"So you brought us here to save the guild's face." Liam sighed. "I expect something in return for this later."
"You're putting her in a hard spot." Alice stared at him.
"I'm not." Liam smiled and turned toward Selena, "And I have just the right request for her."
"What is it?" Selena looked at him with a stern serious face, a drop of sweat trailing down her face.
"Melany, show it to her," Liam said.
Melany slowly took her jacket off and revealed the slave collar on her neck. "I need her signed in the guild."
Selena's face quickly changed. "A slave? Where did you get her?" If he's asking like this, she must be an illegal slave, and this was a massive problem.
"You're completely free, tell her everything." Liam let Melany do the speaking while out of his control. This would clear any suspicion between them and Selena.
"I see. That's troubling indeed." She turned toward Liam. "You can tamper with slave collars?"
"Just a bit. I only know a thing or two." He leaned back. "I want her registered into a party with us for the time being.