Footprints were left on the dirt path that Lucian and Fei trod upon. A soft breeze whisked through Fei's messy long hair, causing it to flutter lightly. The scent of grass filled their nostrils, a grassy plain sandwiched the dirt path, and a few rundown houses were scattered on each side as they continued their journey.
"Um… Lucian, where are we going?" Fei asked suddenly after a few more minutes of walking. Their journey had been aimless to her, so far they have been walking for 30 minutes and have gotten to this destination. Lucian even asked a few strangers, who begrudgingly gave them directions.
"We're going to the place of our first request!" Lucian responded in a slightly proud and disappointed tone. He slowed down his walking speed so he and Fei were walking side by side, then he held his arm in front of her while the crumpled request sat in his palm. "I know, it's slightly disappointing but at least we got one!" He exclaimed after seeing Fei's eyebrows furrow upon seeing the request.
"I, I see…"
"Ah, right we won't need your staff for this…"
"Here, let me carry it for you." Lucian offered as he put the request back into his pocket and stuck his arm out again. "C'mon, you've been carrying it for a while."
"Lucian… I can carry it."
"Alright, but don't complain to me if your arms start to hurt."
Lucian shrugged his shoulders. He knew demi-human physical capabilities were lower than that of humans, but Fei was a special case. She can't keep up with his normal walking speed, so he purposely slows down for her.
"I'll be fine…"
'She's definitely lying.' Yet again, Lucian saw through Fei's act. He stuck his palm out and motioned for her to give the staff to him.
"..."
'Should've said so in the first place…' Lucian internally commented as Fei set her staff in his hands while looking away with a disgruntled look. A slight smile could be seen on his face as he stared at the back of Fei's head. Her messy hair, that was white as snow, slightly fluttered in the wind. He muttered a few words under his breath which caused Fei's ears to twitch slightly. "Anyways, we should be, oh I think that's the place!"
Directly to their right, tall grass took over the lawn and a small house could barely be seen behind the front. A mailbox with the number 308 painted onto it stood on guard in the front.
"Yeah…. That's it."
Rereading the address on the request and looking at the mailbox a few times., an ominous feeling took over Lucian, he had hoped it was the wrong address. Choking that feeling down, Lucian pumped himself up as he took his first step towards the home. "This should be… easy right?" He asked while looking back, each blade of grass reached his stomach. The smile that he had completely disappeared, instead his lips twitched in fear. His once lively eyes were filled with despair as he looked at Fei.
"...Right?" He once again asked, yet Fei kept her head locked in the other direction. "Um… I think you shou-" The sound of his foot hitting the ground sent a jolt down Fei's spine.
"Um…"
"What, what, what happened?!" Fei fumbled over her words as she whipped around. Her face was red as a tomato. "Lucian?" Lucian's fear filled face made her heart beat quicker.
"Take… a look."
Lucian pointed towards their destination with his thumb. Her beet red face completely turned white as a ghost as the view left her mouth agape
"Shouldn't this… Be a higher ranking request?!" Lucian cried out as he fell to his knees. "It makes sense why it was covered by everything! I shouldn't have taken it!" He slammed his fist against the earth while cursing his decision to take the request.
After a few more strikes, Lucian fully vented out his frustrations. After a deep breath, patted the dirt off his clothes and rose.
"Maybe, they just need help with the inside."
"C'mon, they might just need help inside… Hopefully." Lucian said to Fei, whispering the last word under his breath, unknowingly jinxing everything.
"But, but what if…" Fei stammered but stopped herself after seeing Lucian's soulless eyes.
"We'd still have to do it."
It would look terrible on them if they quit on their first request.
'Plus, I need to earn money to pay off this." Lucian thought to himself while looking at the staff in his grasp.
"Alright…"
Mentally preparing themselves for the hell they are about to experience, Lucian took the first step. A horrid odor entered Fei's nostrils before she took a step, instantly causing her to cover her nose with her shirt.
"What's wrong?" Lucian asked with a confused tone. But he asked too late as his next step slapped him in the face. "WHAT THE?!" He reeled back while holding his nose.
"What the heck is that smell?!"
A horrendous smell slapped him in the face as soon as he took that step. His eyes widened as he looked at Fei who hadn't taken another step. 'Will we be able to do this? Maybe, it won't be that bad once we get closer…'
Slowly, Lucian waded through the tall grass, his free hand didn't leave his nose. Fei was in toe, covering her nose with her shirt, while holding her nose as well.
As they got closer, the stench that encapsulated the entire lawn did not worsen, nor did it dissipate. Despite it not dissipating, Lucian stayed strong, at first his entire being told him to run away but he gained confidence as he kept going. Fei, on the other hand was struggling to keep up, the odor kept assaulting her mind causing her to become dizzy, nearly tripping a dozen times in their short journey.
"Finally…" Lucian let out a loud sigh as he stepped onto the deck. Their short, yet treacherous journey has met its end. Not daring to take his hand off his nose still, Lucian walked up to the front door of the house.
Instantly, the door flew open and a balding old man flung through it with a pitchfork in his hands.
"WHADDYA TWO PUNKS WANT WITH US?!" His voice boomed as he raised his pitchfork in a threatening manner towards the now frightened Lucian, who jumped as he heard loud thuds coming from inside. "HAH?! ARE YA DEAF?! ANSWER ME!" With each step the old man took, Lucian took a step backwards, eventually tumbling over the unconscious body of Fei, who fell unconscious upon entering the center of the domain of stench.
"W-W-We came here to fu- fulfill the request you submitted at the adventurer's guild!" Lucian exclaimed as he grabbed the crumpled request in his pocket and held it in front of him.
"Request? Ha? What request?" The old man skeptically eyed the paper in front of him. A pondering expression soon took over. "Ahhh! That! I forgot abou' that!" He let out a hearty laugh. "Sorry for the scare, young man." He offered his hand before continuing. "'Bout time ye adventurer's took it."
"It'- It's fine…" Lucian reluctantly accepted his apology. After taking the old man's hand, he was yanked up as if he had weighed nothing. As his 2 feet hit the ground, the old man pointed towards the body of Fei after releasing Lucian from his grasp.
"Is that yer partner?"
"Eh?" Craning his neck, the view of Fei lying on the body with her eyes closed sent Lucian onto his knees. He let out a sigh of relief after seeing her breathing, albeit raggedly. 'The smell must've gotten to her…'
"Ha, ha, I guess so. Come inside, youngster, don't worry your little partner will be fine."
Every cell in his body told him to run away after hearing the old man. If the stench outside was this bad, how much worse would it be inside?
"Don't worry, it only smells like this outside." The old man said to him after seeing the horror on Lucian's face.
"..." Snuffing the fear, Lucian steeled his resolve. Removing the intense grip he had on his nose, he wrapped one arm around Fei's back, his other arm sat beneath Fei's knees. In one swift motion he rose with Fei in his arms.
"Come on! Come on! We don't got all day!" The old man ushered him through the front door.
To his surprise, the inside was completely spotless! Not even a speck of dust could be seen!
'What the heck is this place?! Why does it smell so bad outside?!' He was completely befuddled at the situation. But that was short lived by the loud thuds coming from behind him. Which of course, was the old man aggressively setting the pitchfork down.
"Don't look too shocked, youngster."
'We're really going to clean out there…'
The urge to cry out at their predicament took over Lucian. 'Why was this the only request we could find?! WHY?!'
"HONEY! WE GOT VISITORS!"
His silent curses were cut short by the booming voice coming from beside him, which caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. How the heck does an old man with barely any hair, and looked to be 80 be this loud?!
"Waht?"
"Nothing…"
'What have I gotten us into…' If his hands were free, he'd have facepalmed himself countless times.
"HO-"
"Oh, be quiet you old fart." An old lady shot back after appearing from around the corner. "Welcome to our home, please have a seat over there, and I'll make everyone some tea." She continued while gesturing towards the room to their left. Her tone shift left Lucian bewildered, but he decided to listen as he was afraid he'd get the same treatment. Following the old woman's gesture, a table stood in the middle of the room, on one side 2 rocking chairs stood on guard, meanwhile 2 normal chairs sat on the other side.
"Um… Okay."
Entering the appointed room, Fei, who was in his arms, started to stir. Her face contorted into confusion as she looked around the room, soon it turned cherry red as soon as she realized she was being princess carried.
"U-Um… Lucian, can you put me down…"
'Cute…'
"Ay, you're awake, I thought ya were going to nap a little longer." The voice of the old man rang out behind the two after Fei set foot on the ground. "What? I was just messin' with ya." He shrugged after seeing Fei's frown. "Anyway, have a seat ya two, it'll be a while before the tea comes."
In a swift motion, unbefitting of his age, the old man sat in the rocking chair that was nearest to them and flashed them a small smile. Nodding his head, Lucian turned towards Fei who was shaking a small amount.
"Hey, it'll be okay." Lucian whispered to her. "I don't think these two will try anything." He tried to assure her. His words had truth to them, aside from nearly getting skewered by a pitchfork just moments ago, Lucian felt no ill intentions from the old couple. "I mean, look at him…" Taking a step to the side, the old man rocked back and forth on his chair while his gaze was somewhere else.
"O-Okay…" Fei squeaked out, due to a mixture of her embarrassment and nervousness her heartbeat had not slowed down. Her quivering had ceased after listening to Lucian's words.
"C'mon." Lucian flashed her a smile, he motioned towards the chair with his head.
Upon taking a seat, Lucian tried his best to find a comfortable position, but it was nearly impossible. Parts of the chair poked him, albeit small, it was enough to make sitting normally uncomfortable. Eventually, he gave up and found a position where it poked him the least.
Looking towards his left, Fei sat there looking down at her hands, she was fidgeting with her hands. A slight twinge entered his heart, no words could come to his mind.
"Ay, I got a question for ye youngster."
"Huh? Sorry, what did you say?"
"I got a question."
"O-Oh, what is it?"
"Why did you take my request, the rewards aren' eye candy, so why?"
"It was the only request I could find."
"Eh? I thought the adventurer's guild was a pretty popular place. How long have ye been adventuring for? Seeing yours and hers getup, it seems recent, right?"
"We started today."
"Ye started today?! What the heck! I should've raised the reward on tha' request if I knew ye two were comin'!" The old man exclaimed after hearing Lucian's response.
'Wait, how much is the reward…?' Lucian thought after hearing the old man. Looking at the request once again, he was reminded how legible the handwriting was. "How much is the reward?"
"Did ye even check?"
"I did, but I can't read anything on this." Lucianed waved the paper in front of him. The old man gestured for him to hand it over. Lucian obliged without a moment of hesitation.
"It clearly says it right here!" The old man said as he pointed towards the top of the request.
"Sir, some of this can't be read by normal people." Lucian replied while looking at the old man with a deadpan look. Was it even meant to be read by the average person? Who knows. This question popped into Lucian's mind. His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the old man's frown.
"It clearly says, 10 coppers and a bag of vegetables. Can you even read, boy?"
"Sorry."
"Hmph. And here I thought reading was an important skill all adventurer's should have." The old man commented after tossing the request back.
'How am I supposed to read this fully if no one aside from you can.' Lucian fought the urge to snap back. Just as he was about to shove the request in his pocket, Thran's words flashed inside his mind. "Um, Sir, I will need you to write your signature on this…" Lucian said whilst feeling awkward after their exchange.
"Just set it on the table, I'll give ye my signature if you can show you can do your job." The old man responded while not giving Lucian a glance.
"But-"
"I said what I said, boy."
"Alright… Sorry."
"Hmph."
Silence overtook them, aside from the small grumbling coming from the old man. It lasted until the old woman came in carrying a tray with 4 mugs laying atop of it.
"Here you go, please enjoy the tea." The old woman said after setting the drinks down. A sweet smile was glued onto her face during the process. "Oh, you're awake?" She remarked after seeing Fei sitting on one of the chairs. She didn't get a response as Fei was too focused on fiddling with her hands.
"Thank you…" Lucian thanked her. Grabbing the mug by the handle and holding the side. Peering into the mug, a green liquid filled the entirety, and a few strands of steam flew into the air.
"Oh, please be careful, it'll be hot."
Heeding the old woman's words, Lucian braced himself as he took his first sip. Her words were indeed true, as it felt like someone had lit a fire in his mouth, and it quickly sprinted down his throat.
"What do you think of the tea?" The old man asked while hiding his smile.
"It's… good." Lucian responded, his expression stiffened as he tried to hide the pain he was feeling.
"Good response, boy."
Ignoring his remark, Lucian watched the old woman hand Fei her tea. A smile crept onto his face as the old woman gently took care of Fei.
"Once ye two are done, ye will be taking care of the front lawn." The old man explained after a long silence. He stood up after setting his mug down. "I'll get ye yer tools for the job, come outside when yer done."
Lucian nodded his head in understanding, meanwhile Fei's ear twitched after listening to his words.