One month has pa.s.sed since my apt.i.tude test. Iâve been gathering lulu gra.s.s everyday for gathering quest. Lulu gra.s.s is used for creating recovery potions so the gathering request is always available for me to take.
The gra.s.s grows in the forest where Malik-san first found me, I can easily gather it thanks to [Search] magic. Itâs part of support magic so I can use it easily.
For every 100 gra.s.s I turn in, I get 5000 elk.
My daily routine goes like this.
In the morning, I go to the guild, take the quest and gather the lulu gra.s.s. When itâs time for lunch, I return to the guild and have lunch with Malik-san and the others. After I finish lunch, I practice my swordsmans.h.i.+p and magic with Malik-san in the training ground.
âI wonder when I will be able to improve my combat magic skillâŠâ
I slump my head down on the counter gloomily. Even though Iâve been practicing everyday, my combat magic doesnât improve at all. I donât have any problem with my support magic, in fact Malik-san and the others gave me their stamp of approval for support magic.
But, itâs no use if I canât defend myself..
If I donât have any other combat abilities, I canât take any other request. Aside from gathering lulu gra.s.s, thereâs also baggage carrying quest but the weight is too heavy for me so itâs impossible as well.
So, lulu gra.s.s gathering is all I can do.
Seeing Iâm being down like this, Tord-san asks me.
âRen-san, your support magic is good but you wonât be able to do the quest with support magic alone. You need to join party. Itâs been a month and youâre pretty popular here. I wonder why youâre still alone?â
âIâve been asking around but thereâs no party that Malik-san approves. That party is not strong enough to protect Ren. That party has ulterior motives, Ren chast.i.ty will be in danger. And so on..â
If I join a party, I can take different variety of quest, my rank will also rise. Malik-san is really strict in which party I choose. I heard thereâs some party that requested for me but Malik-san turned them all down.
âWell I agree with Master! Since itâs for Ren-san of course the party has to be a good party! Heck, even if itâs not Ren-san even I wouldnât allow people to join such suspicious party! Ren-san you donât have good eyes at reading people!â
âIs that so? I donât huh.. Well that means I have to keep collecting lulu gra.s.s for now huh..â
Am I that bad at seeing through peopleâs intention?
I wonder if thereâs any simple way to know which one is a good party and which one is not..
But I think all the good party already has support magician in their party anyway.
âRen-san, not only youâre Masterâs son youâre also this guildâs idol you know! Of course we will get protective over you!â
âI-Idol..? Is it because Iâm small so you guys treat me like a child..?â
Recently, not only the guild but also the people in the market they seem to recognize me as Malik-sanâs son. They also know about my age and they always looks so shocked when they saw me for the first time. Now, some of them would even pat my head! No matter whether they are a woman or a man, they treat me like a kid..
âAh, what to do.. Youâre too clueless..â
âEh? What? Anyway, I guess I will go take another lulu gra.s.s request tomorrow.â
Tord-san seems to said something about me but his voice was too low. Maybe Iâm just imagining it.
âAh! Thatâs right! Ren-san have you seen the quest board? Thereâs new request! Apparently thereâs a huge swarm of monster in Calhea Meadow so they requested for ma.s.sive monster subjugation there!â
Monster subjugation?!
Moreover, not just ordinary monster subjugation but thereâs heaps of them?!
I thought I had good relations.h.i.+p with Tord-san but does he hates me afterall? Is he trying to push me to my deathbed?!
âAh.. Tord-san if you truly hates me please say it.. I will stop bothering you if you hate me that much..â
âE-eh? What are you saying Ren-san?? Thereâs no way in h.e.l.l I would hate you!â
âReally? I thought you were trying to kill me off..â
I guess I was wrong. But still let alone a bunch of monster, I donât even think Iâm able to kill one single monster!
âYou see, I donât know why but every year there will be surging of monster in Calhea Meadow. Itâs almost like an annual event.Thereâs no rank limit for this quest so a lot of people will take this quest. So there will be a lot of party there, itâs going to be safe for you!â
âReally Tord, is that all? Youâre bad at explaining things.. Listen, since itâs a huge quest there will be camp near the area where a lot of monster often appear. In the camp,the support magician can offer their a.s.sistance there. Since support magician is rare, most party wonât have one. Your a.s.sistance will be highly requested. You can give your buff magic or recovery magic in the camp for the people that need it. There will be also a group of adventurer guarding the camp so itâs a relatively safe quest to take even for you.â
âHugo-san!â
Hugo-san suddenly appeared before us and explains things more explicitly for me.
But how do they calculate the questâs fee? Since there will be a lot of people, it would be hard to determine the partic.i.p.antâs fee.
âIs that so.. Then I will take the quest. But how do I get my share of questâs fee?â
âAh Ren youâve never take any subjugation quest before so you donât know huh. For subjugation quest, the monster that you kill will be listed on your guild card. If you kill the monster in a party, the monster will be displayed as party kill too. When you settle the prize in the guild, the list will disappear. As for you Ren, since you will be a.s.sisting people with your support magic, that means your guild card will show how many people youâve recovered or youâve given buff to.â
Guild card youâre amazing! To think the guild card is able to track such things!
âEverything listed in the guild card cannot be manipulated in any other way so it can be used as legal prize counting tool. If you partic.i.p.ate in this hunt you might get 20.000 elk!â
âIn other words if I slack off, I will get less money but if I work really hard, I will get better prize too! Wow, guild card is so amazing! I can even get 20.000 elk by just partic.i.p.ating in this quest?!â
I want to do it! I really want it ! This will be my first subjugation quest, yay! And itâs relatively safe too! I wonder such good and easy quest like this will be alright as my first subjugation experience?
âIt will take you 3 days by foot to reach Calhea Meadow and you will be hunting for about 1 week there. Usually most adventure will get around 20.000 elk by hunting the monster but Ren-san you might get more money if you collect lulu gra.s.s you know.â
âUgh back to lulu gra.s.s again. Are you trying to make me reconsider my choice, Tord-san? So cruel.â
It is true I can get 20.000 elk in just 4 days. Usually the normal adventurer in my rank wouldnât be able to get 5000 elk daily but since I have my support magic, lulu gathering is really easy for me to do. But itâs not good if I only take lulu gra.s.s quest even though itâs so profitable! I have to broaden my horizon!
âNo! Of course not! Iâm sorry!â
âWell what you said was true though I really want to take this subjugation quest. I want to experience more things!â
Tord-san seems fl.u.s.tered when I teased him but I actually didnât mind it. Moreover Iâm more excited for my first subjugation quest!
âRight now,Master is handling the request counter. Do you best in convincing him, Ren-san!â
âUgh, convincing him might be harder than doing the actual questâŠBut I will do my best!â
Even if the one manning the counter is not Malik-san, I still have to tell him eventually anyway.
I saw in the map the location of Calhea Meadow. It seems the Calhea Meadow, Pedrell City and the capital is connected in triangle shape like. Since it will take me 3 days to reach Calhea Meadow, one week to finish the quest and another 3 days to come back that means I will be going for at least half a month.
I brace myself and goes to the counter to face Malik-san. Fighting!