Fortio, being the neighbor of the adventuring town Furian, is naturally quite well-known across Salis. Furian and Fortio has some quests that differ from one another, but the amount that they get is still the same.
The only difference of Fortio from Furian are the rank of the quests.
That's why the adventurer was surprised by the sheer amount of higher ranked quests the board of the guild had.
"Why are there so many B ranked quests…?" the adventurer asked himself in awe. The old man answered, hearing that awe himself.
It's been a day since he woke up, and the rain cleared itself up. It was a good day to have some quests before leaving.
"Unlike Furian, this town ain't got a bad deal," the old man said. "If we're talkin' about popularity, then sure, Furian takes the lead. However, if it comes to efficiency, then pretty much every single other one except Furian takes that."
"I thought Furian was the adventuring town? Since that's the case, wouldn't it make sense that Furian should be the one having more higher ranked quests than any of the other towns that have a guild?"
"Furian's only called like that because it has the oldest known guild in the world; much older than good ol' me, even. That ain't matterin' when it comes to the quests it offers."
Putting it like that, it made sense to the adventurer, even if just a little.
Most things that are old are sometimes considered valuable. Most of these are called vintages or antiques. Since Furian had the oldest known adventuring guild in the world, then it could be considered in the vintage zone.
"Since most guild masters found more people in other places, they'd naturally go there to raise their stocks up. Ain't gonna matter if no people ain't gonna post and accept quests."
It was as necessary for the guild masters to have quests posted on the board as much as the adventurers do. That's their only source of income, after all.
"I get that, but it's kind of unfair how Furian is the only place that gets the C ranked ones. Kind of feels like I just wasted my entire life by living there."
"Says the one who said he's given up on life," Poppy interjects.
"Please do not mention that."
The adventurer felt kind of indifferent towards their previous conversation about this, but he'd like if it was only kept between themselves.
"Meh, you get used to it," the old man said. "Good ol' me's been in your shoes. It ain't the quests you're going for in Furian; it's those good memories you spend with people, ya hear?"
"Wish I could've left there with Talia not being so angry at me."
Without even knowing why, he left Furian to do this quest while Talia just full-on ignores him. He wants to go back to the way they both interacted with each other, but with the way Talia's been acting, the adventurer hasn't had a chance to do so.
And in the past six months, that left him quite lonely.
"I'm sure she's just shy from somethin'," the old man said. "Whaddya' say we both rack up some quests like we did back then?"
"Now you're speaking my language," the adventurer said with a grin.
It's been a long time since they both did a quest together. It wasn't the adventurer that was happy about this moment coming back; the old man was enjoying this time as well.
It's both a fun challenge for the both of them and a good source of income.
Without any signs of something starting, they began racking up quests.
The reason they were doing this was because they both needed some quick cash, but mostly because they wanted to have fun together. They both did this occasionally back then in Furian, the only difference being the rank of the quests.
The old man racks up his quests every day, getting around fifteen quests or more. The adventurer, on the other hand, only gets to around ten or more; this was mostly due to his lazy nature.
At first, they both did this to challenge each other—at least, that's what the adventurer told to the old man. The latter just thought it was going to be a good motivator for him to do more quests than what he was initially doing.
After a few years of doing so, it became an occasion for them whenever it was time for them to harvest up some quests. It happens every two months, and it's technically became a tradition for the both of them.
Nowadays, they just treat it as something that was fun to do.
While that is the case, you wouldn't exactly be able to tell if the adventurer is thinking of the same thing.
After around six hours of grinding, they both went at a stop and decided to meet up at the previous table they both ate breakfast in earlier. By the way, they started grinding for quests immediately after they both finished eating breakfast.
"Time for the big reveal!" the adventurer declared.
He placed a small paper onto the table.
"…Hmm, not bad I guess," the old man said.
"It certainly is more than what I had anticipated," Poppy said.
The adventurer completed fifteen quests in total; almost on par with his personal record of seventeen.
"Practice makes perfect, you old hag!" the adventurer said towards the old man. "You don't need to show yours because I'm pretty sure it's just twelve or something."
"Ya talkin' to me like a piece of fish, you brat?! Well, I'd do that then! Besides, it's not good to spoil the good parts. Why don't we have the li'l fella show hers first?"
"Um, understood," Poppy said.
She presented a small paper just beside the one the adventurer placed.
Poppy's initial plan on spending her free time while the boys did their quests was just studying more about magic from a book that she got from the library in the town where she first learned it. Unbeknownst to her though, the old man insisted that she move her body a bit more because it was looking a bit too skinny. At least, that was his reason for making her do quests.
Which is why she was also added in to the fun challenge.
"Hm, I see, I see~" the old man said after seeing the paper.
"Well, I guess it's only natural for you to get that number. Don't mind it," the adventurer said afterwards.
"Indeed. It was quite the experience for me, so I might consider doing it again."
While it is only mainly adventurers that take quests, it's actually almost everyone. The reason for this was to balance out the fact that everyone can also posts quests on the quest board.
Poppy only managed to complete two quests, not to mention they were all just C ranked quests.
It was expected. Her petite and fragile figure wasn't suited for doing the workload adventurers did. It was also just a fine number for a beginner (not like Poppy was an adventurer to begin with).
"Time for the big reveal, then!"
The old man placed his own small paper in the middle of the table, on top of both Poppy's and the adventurer's, and crossed his arms.
When the adventurer saw what the number on the paper, he was more or less surprised. Actually, that's just an exaggeration. He was incredibly taken aback by the amount.
"T-Twenty-seven freaking quests?!" he shouted, with none paying him any mind. "How the heck?!"
"Gahaha! That's what happens when good ol' me gets serious! Well, not like I wasn't holdin' back."
"You were holding back?!"
"Though I must say," Poppy said. "I've never seen such a thing happen before. Finishing this amount of quests is incredibly impressive."
"You see 'em every so often, li'l fella. I've got a few buddies back at town who can do twenty or so quests. Guess this brat still can't get to my level," the old man said as he messed up the adventurer's hair.
"S-Shut up! It's just that I've been slacking off and haven't had a chance to psych myself up!"
"Then you're probably the reason why you're so bad the last time I saw ya!"
"Ahh, shut up!!"
Despite losing a lot of bets with the old man, the adventurer still wasn't used to it. He accepted the fact that he probably won't be beating him, but that thought just pushes himself more to challenge the old man. The adventurer couldn't help it.
After the declaration of the winners, with the old man being the first, they all went to the guild manager to withdraw their cash.
The good thing about being an adventurer is that you can have your personal bank that can be accessed at almost every adventurer guild. The information is shared automatically and instantaneously towards other guilds.
Unfortunately, the only ones that have access to the accounts are adventurers. People like Poppy or any other ones that aren't an adventurer won't get their own accounts. They can still deposit the money, but since they don't have an account, the information won't get transferred to other guilds. Think of it as an exclusive bank.
After they got their deposits, Poppy went back to the room where they were staying.
"I'll just go get my belongings. You two can wait for me by the crates."
And that's what the adventurer and the old man did.
Having nothing to do, the adventurer decided to start a conversation.
"It still is surprising," the adventurer said. "You helping us up, I mean."
"Ain't nothin' surprisin' there, kid. Just thought y'all need the help from good ol' me."
"I was initially planning on just doing it alone, though."
"Hah! All the more reason, then!"
The old man knew a lot about the adventurer—his strengths, his weaknesses, how he spends his day, what food he likes to eat; the list just goes on and on. That just goes to show how much years they've spent together.
So naturally, when he sees his good student in trouble, he'll try to help him out.
"What's more surprisin' is you, kid," the old man said.
"Me?"
"Ya got that right. Thought for sure you'd be spendin' your damn life locked up in Furian, wastin' all of the gifts I spent so hard to teach ya."
Ever since he's been a child, the old man was the only person who looked after the adventurer. Up to the point of how to read and fighting, despite being bad at it, the old man still managed to teach this things to the adventurer.
"It's not like I'm wasting it though. I'm using it to help the people from Furian."
"And that's exactly what I'm talkin' about."
They fell silent for a moment.
The adventurer didn't understand a word the old man was saying to him.
When he mentioned "gifts", the old man was talking about the things that he taught to the adventurer. Fighting is one of the main things he gifted to him.
"Y'know, me and the li'l fella had a chat while you were sleepin' soundly."
"About you trying to help us out?"
"Nah, the chat I'm talkin' 'bout was ages ago, right after you went to sleep and I had to transport you to an inn. It was about you givin' up, or somethin'."
"Ah."
The adventurer didn't feel particularly embarrassed about it, but it still made him a bit uneasy. Since it was the old man though, he thought it would be okay.
"…I had the same experience ya had as well, just so you know."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I was miserable, but not in the way you're miserable. Let's see, how do I put this in comparison… Oh, A good example would be height."
"Height?"
"Can't think of anythin' else. Anyway, let's use yours and the li'l fella's as references. You're miserable level is only about the li'l fella's height, while good ol' me's miserable life is just the same as your height."
"I think I already got it without you using heights or whatever…"
"Gahaha! Well, it was useless in the end, huh?" The old man laughed for a bit before stopping to continue his statement. "Well, it is still true that I was in a miserable place back in the day. Thought I'd kill myself, y'know?"
It was when he was still living on his hometown Portigon, back when he wasn't just an old man and instead just a simple adventurer.
He had a loving wife and was a father of three children. Every day, when he came home from doing quests, he'd always find himself embracing this family of his. It was a happy and fulfilling life for the old man.
One day, while the old man was out of town for a delivery quest all the way to Furian, Portigon was suddenly attacked by a mysterious group who calls themselves the Dim Force. In that attack, almost every single person on Portigon died without much of a fight. Even the adventurers were of no match for them.
Once the old man arrived back at his hometown, he saw construction everywhere. The whole town was being rebuilt due to the effects the Dim Force caused to it.
He desperately tried to find his family, but to no avail.
With no family to return to and his hometown still being rebuilt, he walked all the way towards Furian all the while feeling depressed.
It was at that time that he hit rock bottom.
In the end, all he thought to do was to just end it all. After all, he didn't have anyone else anymore.
But all of that soon changed.
While on a salvaging quest, he happened to find a group of people running away from something while he was on his way. When he went to check it out, he couldn't believe what he saw.
It was a baby, abandoned by the very people who gave birth to her.
When he tried catching up to the people running away, presumably its parents, they were nowhere to be seen. In the end, he decided to cancel the quest and take care of this little specimen.
"And I named that baby Talia," the old man said, finishing his story. "After my late wife's name, Natalia Hiden."
So that's why you call her Natalia, huh, the adventurer thought to himself.
He knew about Talia being the old man's adoptive daughter (he doubts Talia does, though), but he didn't know the story behind it.
So after hearing all of that, the adventurer saw the old man differently.
"…Sorry I've been calling you old geezer or old hag every time I challenge you to something," the adventurer said.
"Don't be! In fact, I quite enjoy it. It's like good ol' me's experiencin' my late son's rebellious phase, and it's quite amusin'. 'Sides, I get to have some fun every now and then, y'know?"
The adventurer smiled.
"If you say so."
The old man could experience something that he couldn't with his own son. The adventurer appreciated that the old man saw him as his child, even if it's just a replacement. He didn't just appreciate it, he felt glad about it.
The adventurer never got this type of treatment back when he was still in his hometown living with his parents, so experiencing something like this was a treasured moment for him. He also saw the old man as his father.
"Sorry for the wait," someone said behind them.
When they both faced the direction of the voice, the old man and the adventurer saw the signature look of a lab coat that Poppy always wore. In fact, it was actually her. She was holding a suitcase on one hand and a person on the other.
An actual person.
"Never knew you had a person for a belonging." The old man was the first to say something to this unusual scene.
Poppy was holding what looked to be a girl who was wearing a light clothing; a shirt that has its collar up and some pants that was neither too short nor too long. She had a short bob that reflected the sun, and it had a really light shade of light green. It was both reflective and transparent at the same time.
"M-Master, can't you just leave me off the hook this time?" the light green-haired girl said, looking towards Poppy with puppy-eyes.
"No chance."
All the light green-haired girl could do was grumble as she was held in her back collar by Poppy, like a lost little cat.
"Who's she, li'l fella?" the old man asked.
The adventurer was going to be the one to ask her about it, but the old man's curiosity got the better of him. Still, it was fine for him.
"She's a familiar of mine," Poppy responded. "I made her back then."
"Made her?" the adventurer asked.
Familiars are creatures that form a bond towards other people. In other words, familiars are servants towards their masters, much like how Poppy and the light green-haired girl acted right now.
There are many creatures that can become familiars with other creatures. Monsters—such as slimes, orcs, dragons, anything that fits the description—can become familiars with humans, demons, or even their own kind.
Humans are a bit more complicated, though. If a monster or a demon decided to make a human their familiar, the human has to be willing to do it. Otherwise, breaking their mind is also another option. So far, there hasn't been a human-to-human familiar ever since the ancient times.
Demons are similar to those of humans. If a human or a monster decided to make a demon their familiar, then they'd either have to be willing to or break their mind. Unlike humans, most demons have familiars that are also demons.
The reason most monsters are easily made to be a familiar is because they're mostly mindless.
"I made her back when I was a Royal Scientist in Eldoria. I mixed a bit of my magic and mind into some slime, and that's when this creature emerged," Poppy explained.
"Don't just call me a creature! Call me Sylvie!"
"Yes, I created Sylvie in Eldoria."
Both the adventurer and the old man stared at the at the creature called Sylvie, who was apparently created from the magic and the mind of Poppy, and is a slime.
That's what they'd both like to think, though.
"Yeah, but isn't this just a little girl…?" the adventurer said.
"Ain't gonna believe ya unless ya show us somethin' only slimes can do," the old man followed.
"Very well, then," Poppy said. "Sylvie, do something."
She let go of Sylvie's collar, making her fall to the ground with a thump.
"That's not a very specific order, Master…"
"Just do something only slimes can do."
"Hmm, fine."
She plucked out one of her light green hair from her head and then just held it in her palm. The adventurer and the old man paid close attention to this single strand of hair.
"Touch it," Sylvie said to the adventurer.
'Um, sure."
The moment the adventurer's fingers touched that strand of hair, it suddenly became gooey—it even felt wet—and whenever he pulled back his finger, a string formed from it. It was, without a doubt, some sort of slime substance.
"This feels weird," the adventurer said.
"You don't get to touch slime every day, after all. Mostly, you'd just kill it," Sylvie said.
"You're making it sound like I'm the bad guy here."
"Am I wrong?"
"…You're not wrong, I guess."
The adventurer is, as you've guessed, an adventurer, so killing all sorts of monsters is quite the norm when it came to this profession. He's killed his fair share of slimes back in the day.
After a few seconds of touching it, the adventurer finished and then wiped it off.
"Well, I guess it is weird to touch something you've killed."
Unless it's food or something, he added silently.
Sylvie slurped that strand of hair as if it was some sort of spaghetti and wiped off her hand. It all happened so suddenly like Sylvie expected it to be the most normal thing to do in this world.
Not wanting things to get even more weird, the adventurer and the old man decided to refrain from asking any more questions about it.
Poppy clapped her hand in order to get the others' attention.
"It would be much appreciated if all of us could pay attention to our objective for now," Poppy declared. "The border is still months away until we reach it, so the most viable option is to leave right now. How does that sound?"
"Fine by me," the adventurer said.
"Let's get to it!" the old man said.
"Understood!" Sylvie said enthusiastically.
The adventurer wasn't sure when Sylvie became part of the expedition, but seeing as she was Poppy's familiar, it didn't hurt to have another companion.
After their declaration, they all started going out.
For the adventurer, it was a grand time. As a child—heck, even when he became and adventurer—he never considered leaving Furian. It was his hometown, one that he'll always protect no matter what happened.
But as he proceeded with this expedition of his, he learned that there was something else that life offered to him that he never accepted.
Weeks passed by. After going through a town, they went again. This kept going for four months now, having passed four towns while on the way each month. The adventurer learned something in that span of time.
Ever since he's been abandoned by his family—his hometown—he felt as if he's been abandoned by the world. Ever since that day, he thought of the world as an enemy of his. It didn't matter who or where.
But ever since he arrived in Furian, he learned that there were also things to protect. Slowly and slowly, he started to change.
The old man taught him that the world wasn't such a bad place to be in, and that it was worth protecting. Talia and Jean gave him a reason why the world was worth protecting. That was when Furian became his whole world.
That was all he ever needed. He didn't ask for anything else.
He didn't need anything else.
All he knew is that if he stayed in Furian, then everything would be okay.
At least, that's what he thought.
But ever since he accepted this quest, he learned that it wasn't only Furian that was worth protecting. And he wasn't just doing it because the quest's reward was five gold coins. It was because it was something similar to what he experienced back then.
It's because the old man was with him.
The adventurer was being taught all over again that the world was also worth protecting—not just Furian, in which his world still resided.
He felt like he could start again.
"Guess we're partin' ways now, huh?" the old man said.
After six months of continuously walking and resting, stopping by towns and doing quests along the way, they were going to part ways now.
"I know it wasn't long, but I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us along the way." Poppy said, bowing down her head. "Without you, I doubt we would've made it this far."
I feel she's making it sound like I might've been a burden if the old man hadn't been here, the adventurer thought.
"Yeah!" Sylvie interjected. "And thanks to all the enemies you killed as well! They were delicious as heck!"
Sylvie, being a slime, tend to suck things up in order to survive. Whenever there were enemies along the way, both the adventurer and the old man acted as the defense. Sylvie was the one who cleans things up afterwards.
They were standing at a crossroad. To the left is where the borders stand between Cogitatio and Salis, and to the right is where Portio is located. It's where the old man once resided before the Dim Force infiltrated the town.
The old man was already nearing his destination. As promised, he stayed with them while on the way to the border.
"Take good care of them in my stead, kid." the old man said.
"…Yeah," the adventurer said.
Once again, he needed to part ways with the one person that he enjoyed with the most. They made up the lost time they had for four months, but now it's all going to happen again. Despite it not showing, the adventurer felt sad about it.
For him, the time they both spent together were precious.
"What, gonna miss me or somethin'?" the old man asked, sensing the sadness in the adventurer's eyes.
"…Something like that."
"Gahaha! You better get used to it, then!"
Seeing the old man act so smug, the adventurer couldn't help but feel pissed about it.
"Grr, shut up! You know what, I ain't sad of you partin' ways with us! Get the hell outta here!" the adventurer said.
"Just so you know, you're speaking just like him," Poppy said.
"It doesn't suit you!" Sylvie added.
He couldn't help it though.
"Anyway, with good ol' me bein' away, I assume the road later on ain't gonna be as easy as we had. For that," The old man started walking towards the adventurer, and patted him on the shoulder. "I trust ya for their safety, got it?"
Seeing the smug look disappear on his face, the adventurer couldn't keep his angry façade any longer. In these moments, he knew that the old man was being serious. It was only proper that he responded as the same.
"…Right," the adventurer answered. "Don't worry, you've got my back on that one. After all, she's my employer."
He smiled as he said that.
"Well, I guess that too."
They reunited, stayed, and said farewell to each other all over again. One day, they'll both meet again, and the cycle will continue.
And each time that happened, they'd still have the fun that they'll want.
After waving goodbye to the old man, the rest of them went towards the path where the border was located. From now on, it was going to be them to venture on, the old man's company already residing.
There was about a week left before they'll reach the border. Thanks to some people on the way, they managed to cut the eight months of travelling to four months. There was only a week left before the fifth month would come.
"So just asking, are you actually sad the ol' man is leaving?" Sylvie asked the adventurer while wrapping her entire body to Poppy's.
The adventurer was now the one pulling the crates. Unlike the last four months of pulling, it now felt quite lighter. That was because of the old man's carriage.
Along with pulling the crates, the carriage was also included to the equation. This made the adventurer's load more, but with the old man switching places with him most of the time, it was all fine. And besides, it was good training.
"Shouldn't you be asking that to yourself?" the adventurer said back to Sylvie. "Without him, you won't have any food anymore."
Sylvie has only been relying on both the old man and the adventurer for nutrients. She was mostly just relying on the old man, which prompted the adventurer to ask the question back.
"Slimes can survive just from the moisture of the air alone," Poppy said. "It's completely unnecessary for Sylvie to consume other living things."
"…So what was the point of feeding her those creatures?"
"She can still get the nutrients the creatures have, and it's most efficient way of survival aside from the moisture."
There's not much nutrients to get from the air, after all.
"And because it's delicious!" Sylvie added.
The adventurer got intrigued by the discovery.
"But I am wondering about Sylvie's question, too," Poppy said.
"Why do you even want to ask that?"
"Well, isn't it obvious? It's because the both of you really enjoy each other's company!" Sylvie said cheerfully. "It makes things fun!"
"Like she said," Poppy added. "Now that he's gone, it's pretty quiet now."
"Well, sorry about that."
"Yeah, you're really boring," Sylvie said.
She earned a chop on the head for that one.
"…I am."
And he wasn't kidding, either. He wanted the old man to stay with them for a while longer despite those four months.
Time and time, he wished that they could just have fun together.
"I would've given you the reward for the quest earlier," Poppy said. "Seeing as Sylvie is here with me, I'd have enough manpower to last me the entire road onwards. If you had asked, I would've given it to you."
"That would defeat the entire purpose of the quest, then."
"It would, but it's the employer's decision on whether or not their quest has been completed. There's only a week left of travelling, so it wouldn't be much of a problem, especially with Sylvie being here."
The adventurer didn't know much about slimes; only the fact that even an amateur adventurer would be able to handle them just fine when it came to fighting. The same couldn't be said for Sylvie since she's Poppy's familiar.
One more thing is that Poppy created Sylvie herself, so he didn't know the limits of her strength yet.
There was one thing that he knew for certain, though.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll just to the path I chose myself," the adventurer said firmly. "I know that I'd rather want to be with the old man, but if I did so, then nothing would change from before. I'd still be the same person."
The one who'd just slack his days off, at least, he thought.
"…I see."
That was the only response he got from Poppy.
Seeing as his choice was something that he decided himself, Poppy saw no problems with it. It's the adventurer's decision on whether or not he's accept her offer or not. Anything else that comes after that was all the adventurer's choices onwards.
That's why he didn't try to fight his decision, and instead respected it.
"Thank goodness!" Sylvie said with relief. "For a moment, I thought Master was going to be a slave driver once again!"
Poppy pinched Sylvie's cheek.
"That is unnecessary information."
"Bhut ish thruee…!"
She was speaking like that, but she wasn't even trying to resist.
Poppy sighed before letting go of her cheek.
"Well, I do appreciate you sticking with us for a little bit longer," she said. "I'm looking forward to working with you."
"Same here."
And with that, they all kept on with their expedition. Only a week remained until they reached their destination; in other words, until they part ways.