Violent And Angry Mage

At the mention of the "damn bird", Nikolas felt his eyes pop out. Sven had stood up from where he was eating. His feathers were ruffled, and his gaze was locked toward the unsuspecting Axe Warrior. A low, dangerous sound rumbled from his beak. Thinking fast, Nikolas started reaching deep into his own pockets.

"N-Now, sir..." Magni had to physically hold Sven back from just mauling the poor bastard. "You must watch your words. Seriously!"

"Hah! Or what?" Gaius showed teeth. "What's it gonna do? Peck me to—!"

Nikolas raised his hand. "I'll buy it!"

Everyone looked at him.

And then at the shiny, gleaming coin in his palm.

Silence.

"And sold~!"

It happened in a blink: Magni yoink'd it off his hand, and the papers took its place. By the time Nikolas processed what happened, the Merchant was already going. She was dragging Sven by the reins down through Bard Street, her tail swaying like she had just gotten away with the greatest crime of her life.

"Pleasure doing business with you~!"

There was an indignant squawk.

"I-I'll make it up to you, Sven! I promise!"

She turned a corner, and then she was gone.

Nikolas had done it in the moment. He thought if he just paid instead of Gaius, it would make Magni go away and stop causing trouble. So why did it suddenly feel like he had been scammed like a complete idiot?

One of the lackeys slapped his back. "Bwhahaha! Wow! The fresh meat might actually be a Rustie! You could buy a full potion with that kind of money! No wonder you look so green!"

"Hey, Rustie," the other said, "if you had so much money to throw around, ya should've bought us a few beers! It's the least you could do for us letting you in to be carried by our party, haha!"

Gaius narrowed his eyes. "Always with the stupid Rusties," he muttered. "Think money solves everything? People like you don't live for long. Whatever, get a move on, everyone. We don't have all day."

"Yeah, yeah, boss."

"Whatever you say."

Nikolas swallowed, trying his best not to shake. It seemed that now there was some sort of misunderstanding. But, at least, no one got hurt. It was for the better, right? Slowly, he eased his shoulders and looked at the parchment in his hands.

Claire, though, had not gone ahead yet. She looked over his shoulders, curious.

"What does it say?" she asked.

"Huh? O-Oh, uh..."

She was a bit too close. Feeling his face heat up, he tried to ignore it and started flipping through the papers.

From what little Nikolas could see, the notes were neatly written within the margins, and where there wasn't enough room, more were in the additional pieces of paper with headers and everything. Migration patterns, possible hunting spots, common behaviors specific to Risadel terrain... Besides the strange terms like Boss Arena, Kill Box, and Corridors, the detail was incredible.

Uncle Markus had lectured more than once on the importance of information. The problem was finding a reliable source. The Dragon Tale guild and its information network were lauded for their timeliness and accuracy, but places like the Risadel branch could only do so much, lacking manpower to update the maps.

Nikolas could hardly believe it. Shouldn't this be shared with the entire guild?

"Oh..." Claire blinked. "One of Willow's maps."

"Willow's?"

"Every adventurer keeps their own set of maps. It just so happened that Willow had gone on enough quests to cover almost half the entire domain of Risadel. The guild usually uses her written reports because they're so broad and detailed."

"So why hadn't the guild...?"

Claire smiled bitterly. "Ink is expensive. We don't have enough this month to make and replace all the old ones."

"Oh."

Nikolas had overheard the guild attendants complain about that. Something about how they literally couldn't afford any mistakes, getting price-gouged by the Dream Ink company. Things behind the guild administration must be rough if even their necessities were scarce.

As he thumbed through the rest of pages, he found something different from the rest of the map notes.

"...What's this?"

Underneath, hidden between the pages, was a certain scroll. The power of the Return Scroll, the real deal, buzzed between Nikolas's fingers.

The Shielder felt his jaw drop. He jerked his head toward where Magni disappeared, having half a mind to chase her down and return it, but he knew it was too late.

"Oh, Willow..." Claire whispered. "She pulled through."

Nikolas looked at her. "Pulled through? What do you mean?"

"Um," the Cleric worked up her lips, "it's...an arrangement we had. We share the same Return Scroll, passing it on to whoever had the most dangerous or most urgent mission. We try not to use it, but it's very reassuring to have. I just never thought she could get another so soon..."

If Gaius had realized how valuable the things in his hands were, he would've monopolized them for himself. Now, with this, Nikolas and Claire had an edge. Realistically, they shouldn't need so much for a simple extermination quest, but after an encounter with a Wild Hunt, Nikolas felt his anxieties ebb away from the warmth of the Return Scroll. The certainty of knowing there was a way out, that their fates were still in their own hands...

Magni. Willow...

Even now, he was being spoiled rotten.

"Quickly, now," Claire urged. "We'll be left behind."

"Right!"

His fingers tightened around the scroll. He refused to let it go to waste. This quest must only end with a resounding success!

Luck Leveled Up!

...Huh?

If everything went well, then Magni had delivered everything.

Maybe it was a bit excessive on her part, but one could never tell with anything involving the protagonist. Besides, that party of his just screamed trouble: face-slapping shenanigans or a wild encounter with a high-level monster or both. Worst case scenario, Claire was one of the heroines of this JRPG world, and Nikolas's plot armor should handle the rest.

Willow wouldn't be around, but at least the Return Scroll and notes she gave them should tip the scales a little more in their favor.

For now, Willow must give the mission her full undivided attention.

Quest: River Slime Extermination

Requirements: a party of three, minimum rank of Silver.

Objectives: clear the Risadel river of slime monsters from the First Wall up to the Second Wall, report any anomalies.

Reward: 1250 gald.

How nostalgic. This used to be one of her first quests when she reached Silver.

The road from Bronze to Silver required the completion of a certain number of quests at certain difficulties. Search and extermination quests were the quickest way to meet all the criteria. After that, there were rank-up exams held once every month—at least for other guild branches. Risadel was small enough that the silver badge was just handed to you as a matter of professional trust. Though, with more adventurers coming in with prospects of money and glory, the monthly exams might be coming back.

Silvers were expected to have proficiency in combat. And these two Rusties?

They were good.

Water Slimes the size of watermelons were climbing out of the river in a swarm. When they touched land, the grass submerged inside them dissolved into bubbles as they rolled and hopped and slid.

The Magic Fencer was already in the fray. The overwhelming wave of monster slimes seemed too chaotic to navigate, but she ducked and weaved where she could and backed off no more than two steps to keep herself from being surrounded. With her hand firm under the swirling, wave-like hilt of her rapier, she slashed with her blade coated in an orange light.

The hood of her cloak had fallen away during the fight. Bright ginger hair as blazing as the sun, woven into a side braid, swayed with her movements. Calm, blue eyes tracked the slimes, reading the most efficient path for her blade, then executing each swing which shredded more than four slimes at a time. Her armor remained light to match her quick and fast fighting style, but if a slime got too close, she wasn't afraid to use her arm guards to punch it away.

Still, it was a lot of slimes. That was when the girl beside Willow raised a wooden staff and cast a spell.

"[Wind Wall]!"

She raised layers of wind on each of the Magic Fencer's sides. Any slimes that tried to pass through were blown back into the swarm, forcing them into the middle, where the Magic Fencer ripped through them with ease.