NOVEL WEB Chapter 56: Ice-Rime, Frosted Hills and Knolls
Suddenly a sweet female voice cut into their conversation. “Wait! We want that mission!”
Jier and Feng Wu turned around to find a group of four, two males and two females, approach.
The two girls in the group noticed Feng Wu right away. Alan Duo and Ai Li[notes] could never forget Feng Wu. Both hated her bitterly.
There was never a shortage of people looking for trouble. The clerk had been working at the guild long enough to recognize troublemakers when they came. She kept her face neutral as she clearly stated the policy. “My apologies, but I must regretfully inform you that the Adventurers' guild only allow one team per mission. Should the engaged team fail, then the mission will be reposted. Multiple teams per mission is only permissible if it is the express wish of the requestor, however it is not the case in this instance.”
“They haven’t paid the fee yet!” Ai Li shouted as she glared at Feng Wu. She hated Feng Wu with a passion. She still had a grudge to settle. Feng Wu had used some strange trick to freeze her in their duel. She had nearly been molested by the lechers and perverts in the streets that day! She had suffered through so much because of it. There was no way she was going to let a bully as bad as Feng Wu get away unpunished.
“Here. The fee.” Jier said as he put several coins on the table.
The clerk counted out the amount and accepted the payment in full. Under guild rules, missions could be picked up by individuals or teams. To qualify as a team a group needed at least three members though. Since it was only Feng Wu and Jier, the clerk logged it as an individual request pick up under Jier’s name. The mission was officially his after she counted the money and logged it in. She handed him back his school ID.
“Ai Li, don’t worry about it.” Alan Duo tried to soothe her cousin. She wanted Feng Wu dead as well but she was aware of where they stood. Making trouble in the guild was not wise. She didn’t want to alienate the staff so she grabbed Ai Li and brought her to the desk when she saw her cousin about to open her mouth again.
To the clerk she said, “Our team would like to register for this mission please.” She handed over ten gold coins.
The clerk accepted the request and fee before logging it into the system. She didn’t utter a single word of pleasantry the entire time, focused solely on entering the data.
Alan Duo’s team of four were quickly registered. They also took a level “C” mission, only theirs dealt with strength, it didn’t involve any kind of investigation. Their mission was to go outside the city and deal with some magical beasts.
Ai Li stood to the side with her male squad members fuming as she glared daggers at Feng Wu. The guys were both sword users from the Sword division. This was a common combination as a group consisting of only magicians[notes] or sword users was rare. The only reason they teamed up with Alan Duo and Ai Li was to complete the mission. They had no interest in the drama.
“Your registration is complete. Good luck with your mission,” said the clerk once she finished. Now that the task was complete, the clerk finally smiled as she handed Alan Duo her school ID back.
Alan Duo didn’t behave in a haughty manner simply because the other person was a receptionist. Instead she said “Thank you,” and returned the smile.
Once they received their mission, the group of four left without further interactions with Feng Wu.
Jier frowned as he said, “Don’t let them get to you. Go and pick out a mission we can do together.” He reached over and ruffled her hair as he spoke. It was a pleasant feeling, ruffling her hair.
Feng Wu had gotten used to him messing her hair so she didn’t mind. She obediently went over and looked at the mission board. She randomly picked a “C” level assignment from a mountain village in the small nation-state of Frosted Hills and Knolls.[notes] Despite its proximity to Zhongyong, it was independent and didn’t fall under Zhongyong’s governance.
The request was issued by the village chief; the note read:
Young girls from all over the village have disappeared. We have canvased the area but haven’t found a single trace of the missing girls or the deviant who kidnapped them. We don’t know if the girls are alive or dead. This uncertainty has weighed heavily on all of us, especially the parents of those missing. They have been wailing lamentation day and night since.
The villagers had pooled their money together and issued the request, with a reward of 200 gold, in the hopes that an adventurer would help them. It was a recent request so no one had picked it up yet. However even if it was an older request, the odds of it being picked up were slim. Two hundred gold for a “C” level mission was simply too low. Adventurers could get far more gold for easier tasks.
For Feng Wu, the reward didn’t matter. What appealed to her was the convenience. It was in the same place as Jier’s mission.
Since both missions were outside Zhongyong’s city limits, there was no way for them to investigate and still make it to class on time. This meant they needed a leave of absence. Fortunately the teacher they requested the leave from was supportive, readily excusing them from class.
Jier and Feng Wu immediately went to their respective dorms to pack for the trip.
Feng Wu decided to bring Little White and Little Bun along since the missions would take some time to complete. She couldn’t leave them alone in the dorms for so long. To save time and space, she put Little White in Little Bun’s spiritual aura, then put Little Bun inside her dimensional storage ring.
Jier and Feng Wu opted to use a transportation array to travel to their mission site. It was an uncommon method to travel for two reasons: cost and size limitations. It cost 200 gold per head. Additionally, each array transport required ten passengers, with all ten being present at the array before operators would be willing to start it.
They stood out quite a bit as they waited for more passengers to show, Feng Wu in her long white dress and Jier, clearly a magician, in his red robe. Fortunately it only took half an hour before enough people queued up for the array. Feng Wu and Jier were the youngest of the group. Because of their age, the other passengers wondered if they were rich aristocratic children sneaking out to play. They would glance over at Feng Wu and Jier every once in awhile in their curiosity. The kids didn’t pay it any mind and continued ignoring everyone there.