Chapter 39: All In a Day's Work
The rest of the day goes by fast without a hitch.
Even though Sam and I have a new tagalong companion in the form of our petite Black Mage, we quickly settle into our familiar, practiced groove and complete quests one after another. Now that we have the backup we're able to run two consecutive kill quests at the same time. No use having both girls working on the same five slimes after all. The abundance of monsters is plentiful within this meadow and we never seem to run out of unwitting prey to hunt, no matter how many are taken down.
Sam avoids all damage under my supervision, but Zutiria is less fortunate regarding her slimy attackers. She's struck now and then by lucky Slimes who slip past her weak guard. Just as I assumed, Zutiria is not reliably able to get her incantations out every time and still has to fall back on the non-verbal forms of her spells, but it's obviously a lot better than nothing.
After getting tired of genociding endless unfortunate Slimes who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the girls move on to Living Fungi kill quests. Zutiria doesn't have the same problems that Sam did when she first took on this enemy, since Black Mages are much better suited to fighting from a distance than a Great Blader could hope for. We get by mostly without incident and cut off a number of the dead mushroom people's left hands to serve as proof of kill.
I'll admit, it'll be nice when Zutiria is comfortable enough to use teleportation magic on small items. Warping a group of people is incredibly difficult, hence why typically only mages can use Karnalle's warp stone network, but small items are a lot easier from what I've been told.
Eventually we could set up a personal warp deposit box for our Guild and then Zutiria would be able to transfer our kill quests paperwork and proof of kills directly to the Association of Adventurers HQ and essentially get paid the same day for quests like these. HQ would then teleport our gold right on back after verification with no need to go through the proper mail mage channels. I assume we might already have a warp deposit box since there was no shortage of Mages in my Grandpa's time, though needless to say if we DO have one then it hasn't been used in a very long time.
Both Sam and Zutiria are worn out after all of the constant battling. Even if the enemies were weak and easy to handle it still takes a toll after so many rounds. Sam is covered in sweat, and Zutiria looks on the verge of dozing off.
"Come on, the day's not over yet, Girls! There's still a big stack of fetch quests ready to go." I do my best to pump Sam and Zutiria up and raise their lagging spirits.
Stamina, routine and the right mindset are every bit as important as ability on the battlefield. I can't afford to be soft with them even though it's Zutiria's first day and even though we're moving on to the easy part of today's quests.
"This is nothing... Boss! I'm still raring to go. I'll even work on more kill quests if you want!" Her Highness is still motivated, as I'd expect from her. "Though I guess if Zuzu needs a break, we can stop for a while..."
Sam can handle more quests in a single grinding session now thanks to her improving abilities, so she's getting more tired than usual. This IS her fourth day in a row of questing after all. I think I'll need to give the young Princess a day off soon, although knowing Sam she'll probably still insist on working somehow.
Perhaps a day doing simple quests that don't involve any physical activity?
'Good to see you're as energetic as ever, Sammy. I however am not.' Zutiria pants and collapses down below onto the soft and grassy meadow beneath her. 'Give me a few moments to catch breath. I don't think I've spent this much energy on anything ever before... Sex notwithstanding, of course.'
"No rush. You're doing great, Zutiria. Hard to believe it's your first day on the job." I smile reassuringly at her, and it seems to perk up her weary spirit enough for her to return the favor in the form of a soft smile of her own.
Just now it occurs to me that since we've been doing local quests I haven't been prepping the girls with any supplies. Starting tomorrow I'll remember to fill up some canteens at the very least for them to use from now on. Sam's never complained about it but the little lady could use herself a drink right about now by the looks of it. Some light snacks would be good too, it'd be nice to eat out in the pleasant meadows instead of the dirty-ass guild for a change.
After Zutiria has her brief rest, the girls are both ready and willing to get on with the day's activities.
We head out in search of medicinal herbs and the rest of the typical fetch quest agenda, along with some brand new item requests from Dewhurst. None of them were outright illegal, per se, but I certainly know what most of these items were going to be used for...
Steezweed, Excite Rock, Black Brain Root, Nerve Pepper...
Yes, the list of requested items was clearly a back alley alchemist's wet dream. Gathering the ingredients to brew illicit potions wasn't against the law though, as these ingredients have plenty of non drug related applications. I'm sure the Association of Adventurers wouldn't be too happy about it if they found out but there's really nothing they can do other than chastise and wag a finger at me.
Not to mention the quests paid much higher than your typical issued daily fetch quests from HQ- I'd be a fool not to take the money on offer.
Look at me now, Grandpa... Supporting our local businesses and providing for the upcoming generation of Dewhurstian alchemists.
Zutiria is a scholarly mage and I'm sure she's had some dabblings in alchemy so there's no way she doesn't know what we're gathering, but she remains quiet on the matter. She's a smart woman so I'm confident she's jumped to the same conclusion that I did and figured we might as well.
Sam, however, is totally innocent on what any of these weird things were or what they were used for. Seems like drugs were not one of the traumatic things that the King exposed her to. Knowing our ruler is sober came as a very comforting thought, at least... considering all the things I've been hearing about his Highness as of late.
The three of us spend the rest of our shared afternoon gathering up every last requested item we can get our hands on and filling up our collection bags with as much as we can carry.
We return to the Guild after a quick jaunt through the streets of Dewhurst. As usual, it's far from uneventful. I grow slightly concerned after witnessing a twisted man wearing a blood-caked apron and brandishing a butcher's cleaver running after Milly, but we're all too dog tired to do anything about it. He was running a lot faster than the butcher, so... I think the little catboy will be fine. Probably.
We take out everything we've gathered onto one of the many wooden tables of the Guild hall and now that I'm seeing it all splayed out like this, I can't help but find pride in what an amazing haul we brought in.
When all of this is properly sorted, filed, and submitted through the proper channels we'll easily be making three to four thousand gold from the day's work. Not only did a second adventurer double the output, but the quests from Dewhurst's 'potion enthusiast' community paid a hefty sum for their ingredients.
Zutiria, same as Sam before her, isn't requesting any of the gold for herself. Instead she asks that I just buy her whatever magical trinket or book she has her eye every now and then, and I'm not about to argue with a deal like that.
Honestly this progress feels amazing, and I can't wait to expand the Guild further with their help.
I can see it now... girls of every adventurer class flooding the guild as they all lining up at the packed quest board to pick and choose their quests, only to come to me and ask what I'd recommend anyway. The hall would be packed and my attention split between many who need it, but I'd as always be working my absolute hardest to accommodate them all.
Suddenly I'm snapped back to reality as soon as Sam rests her arm over my shoulder from behind my back. "I don't know about you two but fuck, am I sweaty. We didn't bathe together like normal this morning, either. A certain pair of 'grown ups' kicked me out of the room before I could bring it up..."
'I could go for a bath.' Confirms Zutiria as she brushes aside the playful jab. 'I bet the three of us could all fit in your tub, by the looks of it... but there wouldn't be much room to spare.'
"Definitely not enough room for any shenanigans. But it could still be fun." I begin to undo my bowstring and strip off my vest. Sam raises an eyebrow and wolf whistles suggestively, but I just laugh her off.
'Behave yourself.' The little mage pokes the tip of her staff into the side of Sam's barely covered butt causing the Princess to blush.
The three of us then agree to settle in for the night and start off with a refreshing bath. Paperwork can come later. We deserve a quick break, myself included.
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