".....And these are all the commissions that ought to be completed by the end of the week. Yes? Quite a handful it is, but I trust that I can leave these up to your party.," answered a man in a deep, raspy voice.
"..."
Silence filled the room as two adventures opposite him looked at him with disbelief. One, however, looked noticeably more agitated.
"..sigh.. Sir, may I ask if we can receive aid from other guild members with all these..?," inquired a woman, with undeniable distress. "I believe we would need to do a minimum of two a day to get them complete within the deadline."
The man, the two people's current employer, scoffed it off only by continuing with:
" My apologies, but we are currently short-staffed. If you want to complete it by the following week, start with these commissions from today."
The woman, looked at her own colleague with hatred ravaging her whole face, then grimaced.
"Fine. We will." She quickly stood from her place, taking the parchment out of her employer's hands.
Now, with the list in front of them, they scanned through it, but one thing caught their eye. That is-how high ranking they were.
'We aren't even B grade adventurers, yet we have to do these subjugations which are only done by well-seasoned employees?.
He couldn't help but wonder if their boss is really that desperate on getting rid of them.
After all, the list was long. The thing was two pages filled to the brim for higher-ranking members of the guild. Fighting such... things was above their rank.
But skimming through the list only gave them false hope. One after other, it felt, as his theory was correct. They could only help but choose one that was on their level. It read as follows:
'Investigate strange noises heard from the forest near the town.[ E rank]
It is believed to be the work of bandits, since the forest's only habitants are rodents and insects. It is advised to stay alert and if necessary a Knight will be dispatched to help the adventurers.'
"How about this one?" The man pointed towards it, asking for his partner's opinion.
"No, Joan." She muttered through her frustrations. Pure rage was still visible within her eyes, like a war ready to engulf any second.
"Don't you think its best if we complain to the civil servant's department in the city?" Rada hushed.
"We're trying to keep a roof over our head. Do you think they will do anything after filling their pockets with coins?" He replied, in a low tone.
"If you even complain about how tired you are of this ...." paused and took a quick glance of their employer, then continued:
" ...human person, I will sell your carcass to a necromancer for a copper coin..." he threatened in a menacing voice...
It was obvious to the whole company that the man in front of them was not of good character. However, not much could be done to stop the exploitation of his workers.
Things were much more complicated than they looked from the surface, so these poor pitiful guild members' only choice was to comply to his ridiculous requests. There was not much they could do anyway. Nobody wants to end up on the streets, now do they?
"Thank you, sir. We have already chosen our quest for this afternoon. We will be heading out," the man told to his superior.
"Farewell. I shall see you in Wednesday when we have our monthly meeting, correct?"
"Yes," Rada responded and abruptly went for the exit. A very common occurrence for her, indeed. To leave her poor colleague behind, does she not have any manners?
Joan followed her as she made her way through the crowd in the building. As he looked around, everything seemed normal yet that bastard claimed them short-staffed? It was utterly ridiculous!
The scorching sun had hit his face after leaving that suffocating room. As he looked around, there wasn't a soul in sight. The building in the area were far apart, as they didn't cast a shadow to relieve his poor eyes. Putting hands on his forehead, he looked ahead.
There he saw a short lady with ginger hair, tied messily in a bun. Her rosy skin, filled with scars, served as proof of her time as an adventurer.
"What are you looking at?" She asks as she makes her way to sit next to a tree. "Are you going to stand there like a statue and get sunburnt? Get over here!"
"No." he murmured.
"You sure are in a bad mood, hm?" She looked amused.
"You know, yet you still ask that?"
"Totally your fault. I mean," she exclaimed while lying on the ground "who in their right mind would drink on a Sunday?"
"It wasn't my fault," Joan argued back.
"Still. You could've just said no. Miro wouldn't have looked like that had you decided to be the bigger person. Poor Miro looked so awful, I'm surprised he didn't pass out." she chuckled.
The person they mentioned, Miro, couldn't join them on this visit to the company. Poor thing was pressured into drinking more than he could handle.
"Miro looked like an undead. So much so, I don't think any potion will be able to save that kid!" she stated as she scratched her head.
"What about me then?"
"I've seen you plunge in the depths of the abyss, a little alcohol can't hurt you." Rada answered.
He frowned." I thought you'd be on my side."
"Pfft!..." she snorted. "What were you expecting in the first place? Sympathy here is like the snow's chances of survival in the desert."
"So non-existent?"
"Seems like you're finally starting to think your age!" She patted him on the back.
"..."The man's frown deepened.
"..?" She smiled.
"What about you? You looked like you were ready to throw hands with the guild's owner." The man inquired.
"Oh, I was. When I was your age, the guild's owner was a different person and he didn't ask his workers to do such absurd things."
"Huh... The feeling is mutual. I hate that man, too, but the repercussions I'd face if I did that would be a… hassle, to say the least."
"Hey, at least we have one thing in common." she said before clearing her throat. "What are we going to do with the kid anyway?"
"Do I look like I would know?"
"No. Just asking if you do. But... "
The cogs in her head started to formulate a plan or even a simple idea, probably not slacking off for the first time in her life.
'Has this brain of hers finally come to use??' he thought.
"Hey! How about we...