Read Novel Full Chapter 1972: Quest Board
Chapter 1972: Quest Board
Quinlan followed Vex to the contract boards in Sarthal’s Adventurer’s Guild, where his new badge entitled him to pick weeds.
Quite a selection of weeds, admittedly.
Much of the Grade One board was covered in requests from herbalists and apothecaries. Some wanted roots dug up, others berries or flowers gathered, with drawings showing which plants to look for.
Aurora was studying those illustrations when Quinlan stopped beside a request for leaves.
[FIELDLEAF COLLECTION]
[Issuer: South Quay Apothecary]
[Location: Meadows beside the south road, outside Sarthal]
[Objective: Deliver one basket of fresh, undamaged fieldleaf. Collection baskets supplied.]
[Reward: 3 crowns per accepted basket]
[Suggested party size: 2-3]
[Required grade: One]
"At least they supply the basket," Aurora remarked.
Her eyes moved from the fieldleaf drawing to the roots pictured on the neighbouring notice.
"> <I don’t recognize the plants on these collection quests. I’d like to get some samples while we’re here.>
Blossom tapped the drawing of pale leaves beneath the fieldleaf contract.
"> <Blossom recognizes this one!>
Quinlan glanced past her at the adventurers nearby. Any of those plants might be familiar to every child in Thalorind. They had to conduct most of the conversation using [Master’s Link]. But such a large group standing around completely mute would perhaps draw even more attention.
They had to strike a balance.
"That was in Master’s lunch!"
Aurora leaned closer to read the apothecary’s note beneath the drawing, which described the leaves’ uses in cooking and medicine.
she said through the link, smiling."> <Apparently it also goes into a poultice for swollen feet,> she said through the link, smiling.
"It was a great meal," Quinlan replied, stroking Blossom’s long blonde hair.
Kitsara leaned past her to study the reward.
"We could buy a basket of fieldleaf, hand it in for the three crowns, and become accomplished adventurers without leaving the city."
"You could," Lilith replied from the next board. "I wouldn’t be shocked if some rich loser tried that."
"You’re right!" one of the women who had just cursed the three harassers out of this world said with a smile. "There are some who do stuff like that. But the Guild is quite competent."
Another woman joined the conversation. "The apothecary will pay for good leaves however you got them. But if you claim you gathered them yourself, the Guild might ask where you went."
"They check up on completed jobs," the first added. "Both the clients and the adventurers. Buying a basket of weeds won’t convince them you can survive the hills. Rich snobs don’t get far on their money alone."
As the women were talking, Lilith grinned. She knew exactly what she was doing, speaking her sentence loud enough for the bored bystander chicks to overhear.
Having these women carry the conversation for them allowed the gang to appear a lot more natural despite speaking less.
Quinlan looked farther along the wall. Road inspections, missing livestock, deliveries to outlying farms... Several sounded pleasant enough, but he had crossed an ocean with women who could tear armies apart.
Mere fetch quests, while potentially ideal for gathering some information, overall felt quite wasteful as their first adventuring job in Thalorind.
But as Grade One adventurers...
Serika had found a notice featuring a sketch of a heavily armoured creature.
"That looks fun," Serika said, pointing at the armoured creature on her notice.
Ayame followed her finger down to the eligibility line.
"Grade Four."
"Aw. Knew it was too good to be true."
Farther down, a sheet bearing an enormous tusked head had caught Blossom’s attention.
[RAVENOUS BOARS: ORCHARD CLEARANCE]
[Issuer: South Road Orchard Growers]
[Location: Orchards half a day’s walk south of Sarthal]
[Objective: Eliminate the reported boars and locate their nesting grounds. Completion subject to inspection.]
[Reward: 45 crowns]
[Suggested party size: 4–6]
[Required grade: Two]
Aurora suggested.
"How far out is that one?" Lucille asked aloud, leaning toward the board.
The women who didn’t seem to have anything better to do than yap all day were more than happy to entertain her, going on and on about their experiences regarding the route.
Quinlan started wondering if adventurers came to the guild on their days off just to show their faces. Not that he had a problem with that.
’They’ve got quite the colorful community here...’ he noted, chuckling.
"> Ayame followed the route one of the women traced with her finger while the mental conversation continued. <I’d like to research more about the creatures we might face before we volunteer for such a thing. We hardly know any of the creatures on these sheets.>
"> <Blossom thinks the Ravenous Boar slaying quest is the best!!>
Lucille giggled inwardly."> <Let me guess. They sound tasty?> Lucille giggled inwardly.
"> Blossom’s eyes widened, shocked to the core. <Blossom was seen through!!>
Lucille stroked Blossom’s wagging tail while answering the woman beside her. "She certainly seems interested in the boars."
"> <Even after all this time... How can you surprise me with how adorable you are?>
Quinlan was reading a survey contract when someone tugged his coat.
He turned, expecting Ayame.
Black Fang stood beside him with a fold of his clothing held between her fingers.
His gaze travelled from her hand to her face. She stared up at him, violet eyes fixed on his, and gave the cloth another small pull.
"Hmm?"
"My stomach hurts."
’Huh?’
Black Fang glanced toward the women beside the board, then added, rather stiffly, "The meal at the inn. It was troublesome."
And just like that, Quinlan instantly knew something was up.
The fucking queen of poison simply did not get defeated by lunch. It was a possibility his mind could not even begin to entertain.
The same was true for the rest of the gang as well, evidenced by the many gazes sent Black Fang’s way.
Ayame followed her sister’s hand to Quinlan’s coat, then turned back to the women beside the board, instantly activating cover up mode.
"Sorry, where did you say the road branches? I’d hate to take the wrong turning."
The nearest adventurer leaned toward the map again. Quinlan’s companions gathered closer to read it, all of them in on it now, their bodies screening Black Fang from the tables without shutting her away from the group.
Lucille made room for Seraphiel and gave the curious woman beside her a reassuring smile.
"Our healer will take care of her. Don’t worry. She just can’t deal with spicy food."
"Oh, I totally get that! The last time I ate chili beans..." and the yapping went on and on.
"..." Black Fang was nearly growling.
Seraphiel, gang boss of the cover up mission, stepped beside the Venomborne Terror.
"Oh, a stomachache. That’s terrible. Let me check. May I?"
Black Fang gave Seraphiel an awkward nod, permitting the elf’s hand to settle against her stomach. Sera pressed gently through the fabric, moving her fingers from one side to the other while Quinlan tried very hard to keep his mouth straight.
"[Healing Light]."
Seraphiel traced a shining pattern over Black Fang’s stomach, speaking the spell clearly enough for the nearby adventurers to hear. Her light spread beneath her palm as she began the unnecessary treatment.
Quinlan watched her free hand move beside the glowing one. She was making the casting obvious, giving anyone who noticed magic gathering around Black Fang a perfectly ordinary explanation for it.
"Here? Or a little higher?"
"Higher."
Black Fang said it without looking at her. Her violet eyes remained fixed on his, and the fingers holding his coat gave another impatient pull.
She glanced toward Ayame and the rest, who up until her proclamation were deeply engaged in their mental conversation, then returned her attention to Quinlan.
He began to understand her annoyance. His companions were keeping their public conversation harmless, and Black Fang knew them well enough to recognize how much they were leaving unsaid.
Where they wanted to go, what they could handle, which risks were worth taking... She belonged in those discussions. Instead, she was listening to directions from strangers while the people she had crossed an ocean with made their decisions privately.
She could hear a heartbeat through a wall, yet standing beside her own sister apparently entitled her to half a conversation.
Black Fang utterly detested this.
Her eyes narrowed at Quinlan.
She had already heard enough of their remarks about roads and prices. The irritation in her stare demanded access to the conversation they were actually having.
He looked at her hand on his coat again.
She wanted into [Master’s Link].
That required [Subjugation].