ALL NOVEL Chapter 6: Enter: Darkness
"Alright, everything is in order. I have confirmed that your team had finished the mission to defeat 5 giant toads in 3 days, twice. Good work."
After reporting in at the guild's counter, I received double the promised reward.
As for Aqua and Megumin who were covered in slime, they will be too smelly if they don't wash up. It might cause misunderstanding for me, so I shooed them off to the bath house.
Five of the toads we defeated was wiped from the face of the earth so I'm afraid we won't get any bounty for it. But the type and number of monsters defeated were recorded on the adventurer card, so there were no problems.
I handed in mine and Megumin's card to the counter lady, which she put in a strange box like machine. The confirmation was done just like that.
The things that were developed were magic instead of science, so the technology level of this world was quite advance.
I looked at my card again and saw that I am at level 3. I heard that those toads were great for novice adventurers to grind levels. I defeated 5 toads by myself and only raised my level to 3.
I really hate this curse…
All the stats on the card increased slightly, but I don't feel myself turning any stronger.
"… But, I can really get stronger just by killing monsters…" I mumbled to myself.
The counter lady did mention that when she explained in the beginning. All things in the world have souls. No matter what form it takes, if you eat or kill a being, you can absorb a part of the memory of the soul. That's what she said.
Looking closely, there is something called Skill Points on it, which showed the number 5. Just by spending these points, I could learn skills.
"Well then, turning in 8 giant toads and the bounty for completing the mission is a total of 240.000 Eris. Please take this."
240,000.
These giant toads yield 5000 Eris after deducting transport fees.
So the bounty for the 5 toads is 100,000 Eris.
Aqua said that missions are done by a team of 4 to 6 adventurers. So for normal adventurers, risking your life to fight 5 toads for a couple of days will yield about 125,000 Eris. For a 5 men team, that would be 25,000 Eris each.
Finishing the mission in one day means a daily salary of 25,000.
That's a quarter of my maximum wealth a day…
For medieval standards, I think it's worth it. I mean, you risk your life all the time. Crossing roads, using a subway, driving a car, you're actually risking your life in the hands of professionals your entire life and accidents DO happen.
So yeah, I think it's worth it…
I took a look at the other missions, the ones on the bulletin board were.
— Cut down the Evil trees corrupting the forest, bounty are dependent on the amount turned in
— Help me look for my pet white wolf
— My son's swordsmanship lesson *Requirement: Rune Knight or Sword master.
— Recruiting subject for magic practice * Requirement: High HP or strong magic resistance…
Even good old grinding isn't gonna cut it. With the EXP penalty, I'm just gonna waste my time. Yeah, forget the poverty, I need to get strong ASAP!
I sat down on the table and looked down in deep thought. How the hell am I going to find demon king general anyway? It's not like one is going to pop out any time soon. I'd have to be actively searching for them right?
This is the beginners town!!!
"… Excuse me, may I ask…?"
Just when I was planning up an expedition trip in my head, a person came to me.
"Is something the… matter…"
I was speechless when I saw her. She was a female knight and a super beauty. She gave off the vibe of a cool beauty at first sight as she looked at me expressionlessly. She was a bit taller than I am. She was wearing solid metal armor all over her body, a beauty with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Probably a year or two older than me. I can't tell her body shape from her armor, but I felt that she was very feminine. Her face seemed rather cold… How should I put this, it picked on your masochistic side…
… Ah, that's not good, beautiful girls hate me and she is definitely a beautiful girl.
"Ah, eh– What is the matter?" I asked her.
Facing Aqua who was about my age and Megumin who was younger than me was fine. But this beauty slightly older than me made me stutter.
That was the bad point about living the life of a shut in for extended period of time.
"Erm… You are Kazuma san right? The one who created," That female knight looked at the piece of paper in her hands. "Fantastic Dreamer?"
That's right, we didn't tear away that notice after Megumin joined our party. "Is there something wrong?"
"Please pick me! Please let me join your party!"
… Eh? She's interested? Aren't I supposed to be hated by beautiful girls or something?
"Are you sure? Those two girls covered in toad juice are my teammates. Since our mission is to fight the demon king, I'm sure it will get much, much worse in the long run," I told her.
"Even better!"
I'm sorry what?
"What do you mean even better?"
The knight shook her head. "I-I mean, for the two young girls to experience that at such a tender age, I can't watch idly as a knight. My job is the top tier cross knight. It should fit your recruitment criteria," she said.
Ah, so it's her sense of justice that cannot let girls getting hurt… right? And a crusader? I can definitely use a tank!
Though, my gut feeling is screaming bloody murder that there's something very, very wrong with her.
"Ma'am, I don't think you need to feel obligated to save my partners. They've all signed up for this and they're fine with it, please don't force yourself."
The girl bit her lip in slight frustration, as if I just misunderstood something crucial.
"I-I'm not!"
"You're a crusader, basically a knight in shining armor," I pointed out loud. "I'm sure you have this inherent sense of justice that couldn't let you see others get hurt. But here in Fantastic Dreamer, we've already signed up for the job and all the risk it entails. You can ask my two teammates if you want."
"Haah… Haah…" her face reddens and she started breathing heavily. "Y-you're going to force it out of me huh?" she whispered. "Are you doing this intentionally Kazuma san? What a devious mind trick… Manipulating me in my own web of lies to shame myself in public…"
Hold up! Hold the double F on a stick up! The hell is she saying!?
I have a bad feeling about this. Not that bad feeling of, 'I think something's bad is about to happen', more like, 'SKIP TOWN AND GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THIS CRAZY BITCH!' kind of feeling.
"I understand… I will stop lying to you…" Darkness looked at me with a very, very dangerous look on her face. "I am Darkness, I'm a Crusader, I am confident in my strength and durability, I am not too agile with my hands… So… I can't hit the enemy…"
Okay, that's bad enough, but my danger senses are telling me that's not just it.
"I… Even so… I will become your shield… Please abuse me, toy around with me like you're doing to me right now," her heavy breathing becomes panting. "Please treat me like a shield and discard me when you don't need me anymore…" her face gets closer to mine. "F-feel free to use me as you so desire… Leader sama…"
Nope, Nope, oh hell no, hell to the fuck and a no! NOPE!!!
"Sorry, I cannot conduct an interview by myself, my teammate's not around," I told her before hurriedly rushing out of the guild.