(Book 1 Complete!) Side Quest [Isekai / LitRPG]

"I am," Logan said slowly, answering the woman who had asked his identity. Where had he seen her before?

Senna waggled a finger at her. "If you're trying to get him to settle his debts with you, he still owes me." She turned to Logan. "Seriously, you owe me like fifteen copper pieces by now if we count interest."

Logan looked between the two women and then remembered. This was the woman who had served drinks at the inn and asked them to get rid of the beetle infestation in the cellar.

The serving girl laughed and shook her head. "No, consider your debt settled." She then cleared her throat and sobered. "I don't know if you ever met the innkeeper, but he was a kind man. He… didn't make it through the attack."

Logan hadn't met the man, but his heart sank anyway. "I'm really sorry to hear that." He gestured to the ruined frame of the inn. "We tried to save it. We did actually put the fire out. But that blast from the reaver and—" he caught himself before mentioning Razor's fire burst, remembering the purpose of keeping her involvement secret for now "—uh, yeah, it just, you know…"

She nodded and waved a hand. "Of course. He fell during the first attack, though, not that final blow." She smoothed her apron and stood a little taller. It looked like she was trying to muster confidence, but didn't fully believe she was succeeding. "As I was clearing out rubble, I came across his last testament. He had no heirs and left the inn to me." Her eyes drifted to the charred timber. "I know you never truly accepted the quest to save the inn through guild channels, as we filed it last minute, but even if you did, I don't think I have the money to pay you. The former owner was quite generous, and in truth, I suspect I may have inherited more debt than profitable ventures from him." She shook her head and smiled. "But that's not why I'm here."

She leaned in, eyes hopeful. "I was hoping, if it's not too much trouble, you might help me rebuild it."

Logan blinked, then turned to Bromlin and Senna in quick succession. They each shrugged. "Uh…"

New quest available!
Rebuild the inn! The inn at Gnashridge Heights has fallen after a stray blast from a reaver destroyed the structure. Collect enough wood to rebuild it.
Reward: Variable
Accept?
YES/NO

Well, that sure put him in a pickle. Between saving the world from overpowered reavers, restoring balance to the Kural for the gardener, saving dragonkind, and restoring the gnomish homelands, he already had quite a bit on his plate.

But this woman had sought him out. And the quest wasn't a guild-sanctioned quest, probably because she didn't have the money to offer through it. In fact, of all the quests Logan had completed, he only had 80 copper coins to his name, really. He had plenty of loot he could sell off, just probably not in Gnashridge Heights. Even if it weren't for the entire town being in the middle of recovering from a devastating attack, they probably wouldn't have had enough money to cover the items' worth from even before the attack.

If he said no, she would probably go into debt. Maybe someone else could help her. But she probably wouldn't go through the guild for them either, and anybody else in this town was probably equally down on their luck.

Quest accepted!

Her flood of gratitude left Logan blushing. He explained only vaguely that he couldn't guarantee when it would happen, and that she was more than welcome to keep the quest open for others to help with too if he took too long, but she didn't mind.

"Oh, here you go, by the way." Logan pulled a strawberry tart from Feast's table from his storage. After he had learned Feast and Silence were "adjacent-blessing" priests before they turned all undead and corrupt, he had tested some of the food. It was delicious and surprisingly filling without being cloyingly sweet, but it didn't impart any buffs, having been taken from the banquet table well over 12 hours ago.

She eyed the food with a hunger Logan recognized as someone who hadn't eaten in a while, and her thanks gushed even more profusely.

The flush in his neck was a little exhilarating. It felt good helping. It was one thing saving an entire region from a lurking monstrosity, but another to help someone down on their luck.

And Logan liked that.

The warm feeling didn't died down until they reached the chicken coop. It was unmanned, and Liorna wasn't in sight, so Logan dropped off chicken-Louie over the fence and made sure the gate was shut. He was partly glad she wasn't there, because it would have made that warm buzz linger longer, and if Senna caught on, she would probably tease him for quite some time.

Over the hill, though, a small crowd gathered outside the Adventurers' Guild. Cassandra, Alden, Avalyn, and Mariv spread out, chatting with a few others. Mishki was there too, although he fiddled with his little green hands off to the side, occasionally nodding whenever Cassandra turned to him to say something. Logan recognized the physical distance the goble was trying to create around himself as someone shy, who desperately wanted to be anywhere else. Razor was the only one missing, which Logan knew was because the group hadn't wanted her associated with the reaver business.

Of the guild officers, Logan recognized Thessin, the wood elf who never hid his skepticism about Logan, and a large brawny human, whom he believed was named Brannick, as well as a handful of others he didn't recognize.

Mariv, who was only slightly shorter than Thessin, was patting the sallow-cheeked bespectacled elf on the shoulder. The gnome finished with a couple pats as he beckoned Logan over.

"Wonderful, my boy, you've arrived exactly on time." The gnome was a diviner, so Logan suspected that wasn't a coincidence. "Come," the gnome continued, "let's all head into the guildhall. I have a rare brew that should just be finished steeping."

"I hereby bestow upon you all the title of Rank III Adventurers. Please come forth when I call your name."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Logan had to force himself not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. The pomp and circumstance reminded him of a graduation ceremony, but instead of a huge audience, it was just a handful of them. He waited patiently as each party member was called up. They were all already Rank II adventurers, but he was going to get enough prestige points to bump him straight up to Rank III.

Bromlin went first, jogging up to the makeshift stage on which Thessin stood, holding out a stone tablet. The dwarf placed his hand on the smooth slate slab and it glowed white up around his fingers, as if Bromlin had just placed his palm on a copying machine.

Logan had once seen a similar type of scan when he first woke in the cave. The summoning stone had created a fan-like ray that scanned Logan and identified him as the correct summon. This was different in size, color, plus several other minor points, but it was similar in that it was scanning some type of internal signature.

The others had explained to him that this was a method in which the Adventurers' Guild could promote ranks and upgrade skills like the Quest Board.

Thessin looked up from Bromlin's hand to his face and opened his mouth, but accidentally fumbled over a few words before calling for Senna.

As Bromlin came down from the podium, Logan realized why. He had given the dwarf one of the lemon custards, and there were still yellow flecks stuck in his beard. Logan mimed to clean it up, the dwarf dabbed it with his hand, licked the spare sweets, and clapped Logan on the back without wiping the slobber off his meaty paw.

Logan grinned.

Out of the corner of his eye, he felt someone watching him, and he briefly locked eyes with Cassandra. She had a warm smile on her face from observing Logan with Bromlin, and she quickly redirected her gaze back to the ceremony. Logan could tell she was doing everything in her power not to steal another glance at him. He tried to suppress the smile and not make it clear he had noticed already.

Moodprint.

Yeah, she was all kinds of flustered. After the events with the Devouring Coil, she and he had a brief moment. It wasn't anything outright bold like a kiss, but her hand had lingered by his neck after the events. It really hadn't been all that long since Logan had broken up with Janie back on Earth, despite all the stuff that had happened in the meantime, and he tried to remind himself he probably wasn't ready for a relationship right now, but Cassandra was a lot like him, with her family looking down on her, and it felt nice to have someone understand that pressure.

Thessin relieved Cassandra of her awkwardness by calling her up, followed by Alden, then Logan.

After the recited words, Logan pressed his hand to the stone slab. It was a cool sensation.

Congratulations! You have earned [751] Prestige points!

You are now a Rank II Adventurer!
You will now experience the following benefits:

Access to guild equipment.

Access to the guild-chartered map.

Your Quest Board is now Rank II. Your guild-sanctioned quests will now grant a slight amount of experience as long as you stay in good standing with the guild.

You are now a Rank III Adventurer!
You will now experience the following benefits:

Access to the guild-chartered map.

Access to guild markets, where available.

Your Quest Board is now Rank III. Your guild-sanctioned quests will now grant a moderate amount of experience as long as you stay in good standing with the guild. Non-guild quests will also provide you with a slight amount of experience.

Logan stepped down from the podium.

"Mr. Vitali," Thessin said to him, "I understand your expedited initiation meant you did not benefit from some of the early trainings—"

"Wait," Logan said. "What about Mishki?"

The wood elf stumbled over his words at Logan's interruption and raised a brow, then followed Logan's gaze to the goble sitting in the corner.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Mishki played a huge role in defeating the Devouring Coil. Why isn't he gaining prestige?"

Thessin shared a look with one of the other officers, who hesitated, then tapped a book he held under one arm. Thessin nodded at the gesture and turned to Logan. "That goble is not a guild member. Now, as I was saying—"

"Well, you can make him one, can't you?"

Thessin laughed, then realized Logan was being serious. "It's a goble."

Logan folded his arms, Bromlin wrapped his grip around his axe, and even Alden took a step closer to Mishki in a show of solidarity.

After his stumped speechlessness passed, Thessin let out a smaller laugh, almost apologetic. "Induction to the guild requires Captain Krett. Perhaps once you aid us in finding her, you can raise this… request with her."

Senna tucked her chin back and made a disgusted clicking sound with her teeth, and Logan narrowed his eyes on the wood elf.

Cassandra cleared her throat. "Officer Merrow, you are the highest ranking officer in this branch at the moment, and according to Section 4 of the Adventurer's Guild Bylaws, you have the emergency acting authority of a branch captain. If you wish our help in finding the rest of your associates, we demand Mishki be added to our team."

Thessin once more looked at the other officers, and they all shrugged.

"Very well. I shall induct the goble, but I cannot award Prestige points retroactively. And so, it must…" He trailed off at Logan's shaking head.

"He. Mishki. And Miss Varesh over here already told you it was a demand, so it's all or nothing."

Thessin inhaled through his nose, and then let out a loud exhale. "Fine." He visibly prepared himself before calling Mishki to the podium.

Logan had to remind himself that there were generations of dislike of gobles, but that didn't make it right. Part of his charge as Exalted Kin was restoring balance, and maybe this was part of it.

Mishki looked as uneasy as Thessin, though. The poor goble must feel terribly out of place. Logan knew the feeling.

When Mishki received his initial induction, Logan started clapping and cheering, which raised a whoop from Bromlin and echoed huzzahs from the others.

Mishki blushed, and his ears twitched as he lowered his eyes, but he was smiling.

After a few more minor words, the conversation turned to two topics: Logan's training with the guild and the missing officers.

The training point was minor, mainly that the Gnashridge Heights training area wasn't in a usable state, but Logan would have priority access to training programs in the guild's headquarter city, Caerwyn.

As for the missing officers, Cassandra and Alden had already done a good deal of work in gathering details from the other guild members.

The group included Captain Dalia Krett, Chief Inspector Jorek Hane, and Vellia, the fairy who assisted Thessin. They had been investigating the blighted region of the forest when the void fissures had first appeared. It hadn't been until some time later that the officers still in Gnashridge Heights noticed the activated distress beacon. After that, there had been no responses, and then everything flew into chaos with the reaver attack.

"Since you are headed to Caerwyn anyway," Thessin said, "I ask that you take the slightly longer route skirting the edges of the blighted forest for any signs." He looked worried. "While we of course hope for good news, if you can uncover any clues as to whether Krett and the others still live, you will earn an additional 50 prestige points."

Logan opened up the new map that appeared in a tab on his status screen. And he was glad for what he saw. After the team checked in with each other, they accepted.

After some boring small talk with the guild members, Logan pulled Thessin aside.

"I get access to guild equipment now, right?"

"Yes," said Thessin, who had just been describing a tedious sounding report with a different officer with glazed eyes (who gave Logan a grateful look as they managed to slip away).

"And you have a core distiller here, right? 'Cause I need to use it."