On his way home, Locus couldn't help but always look at his new acquisition, the katana in its matte black sheath. Daren said the sheath was designed specifically for this katana and stopped its vibrations, as long as the katana was fully sheathed.
Locus liked the feeling of the katana in his hand, but it was nice to know a way to stop that feeling. Also, Locus thought that this way, enemies wouldn't know that his weapon was enchanted, which could prove to be an advantageous factor in battle.
After eating dinner, Locus went straight to bed. He had high ambitions, so he was planning on already beginning his adventurer life when he'd get his license tomorrow. Having a plan and a way to reach his goal of becoming stronger to get revenge on the Mastermind, Locus had gained some new hope. With his goal in mind and a lot of sleep missing, Locus placed his katana on the holder that Daren provided for it and fell asleep.
The first thing Locus did when leaving the inn, fully equipped, in the morning was go to the guild, this time on the back of one of the two horses that were carrying Mr. Andersson's wagon.
The saddles were in the back of said wagon for situations like this, when one was planning on going somewhere without carrying the wagon around with him.
Upon arrival at the guild, Locus unsaddled and, after leashing the horse, entered.
It was just as crowded as the last time he had entered, if not even more.
Without further ado, Locus joined the queue. While he was waiting in line, a rather short woman with beautiful blonde hair came barging into the guild, which, as Locus had deduced by now, wasn't that unusual.
"Help! My son has gone missing! I need someone to find him!"
Even though most of the people present noticed her, no one seemed to show any signs of interest in helping her.
"Next please."
It was Locus turn at the counter. He stepped forward and was welcomed by a young man.
"Hello, I was told to pick up my adventurer card today."
"Your name, please?"
"Locus"
"Last name?"
When Locus had filled out the form, he decided against putting his last name. After all, he still didn't know the motive of the attack on his village and, subsequently, his family. He thought that hiding it would be the wiser choice.
"I didn't put one."
"Did you use our express service?"
"Yes."
"One moment, please."
The man disappeared into a back room and reappeared a few seconds later with a thick piece of paper.
"Here you go, sir."
"Thank you very much."
Locus took the card and sat down in the corner for a second. That was easier than expected.
As he had found out the day before, to take a job, an adventurer would take one of the assignments that were hanging from a billboard at the entrance.
Then, they would bring it to the counter and officially mark it as "accepted" by talking to one of the staff.
Then, the mission would not be on display anymore and could only be accepted by someone else under certain conditions.
When accepting an unregistered quest, the guild provides you with a provisional form where the adventurer and the client can determine a sum of money and seal it as a contract.
The billboard was on the other side of the room. When Locus stood up and headed towards it, the woman who had come barging in before directly addressed him.
"You're an adventurer, right? Can you please help me find my son?"
She held out a hand with a provisional request form. Locus paused. He was about to go on his first quest and he'd like for it to be rather ordinary. Starting with a spontaneous quest was rather unusual. But how could he decline a request like this when it looked like he was her only hope?
He knew how it felt to lose the people dear to you, and he didn't want anyone else to feel that pain.
"Alright, but it would be my first mission."
"I don't care, as long as you find him and bring him back to me. I'll give you everything I have."
Locus thought for a second. From what he had seen, one quest took about a day on average. Locus estimated that this mission might take him about two days, so he thought that two times his daily expenses would be a fair price.
After all, he bought the equipment for himself, not for adventuring alone.
"Would you pay me four gold?"
The woman looked confused.
"You mean in advance?"
"No, as a reward."
The woman was shocked.
"But that can't be enough, not for a request like mine."
Locus wasn't surprised that the requested reward for his duties was considered cheap. Most adventurers are said to charge a lot of money for their help. But strength was enough of a reward for Locus.
"It'll be fine."
After both of them signed the contract, the Locus asked the woman some basic questions, like
"Where was he last seen?"
"How does he look?"
"Do you have any idea where he could be?"
Apparently, he was looking for a 9-year-old boy called Carl with short, brown hair who went missing while collecting mushrooms in the forest.
That wasn't much information, but it had to suffice, because when Locus and the woman whose name turned out to be Noelle arrived at her house, Noelle's husband was already waiting for her with a letter in his hand.
"It's a note from a guy who claims to have kidnapped Carl and now demands money from us. But we can't possibly pay that preposterous amount."
Locus didn't know if it was the smartest move, but in that moment, he didn't really care. He immediately saw an opportunity to improve his fighting skills.
"I'll just go the meeting point and try to overwhelm the culprit."
"Do you think you can do that?"
"I'll try my best."