NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4
After we finished eating, we returned to town to sell the few items we had gained during our hunt. Leading the way back into town, Roxanne wanted to sell our goods to the merchant she frequented but I shot her down. Informing her that the Adventurer's Guild would pay us more, she decided to give it a try and see what happened. Taking her to the Guild Hall, which was near the harbor, the two of us strolled into the building only to find that the place was empty.
"Hello!", I called out, "We have some monster drops to sell. Is anyone here?"
"Give me a moment!", a woman shouted from the back.
Hearing her come running up from the backroom, a familiar face stumbled through the doorway to greet us properly. Straightening up her uniform, the blonde dragonkin woman smiled at us and introduced herself to us.
"Hello, my name is Quetzalcoatl but you can call me Lucoa!", she said, "What brings you to the Bartfort Adventurer's Guild branch today?"
'Holy shit, why is she here!?', I thought, before answering her, "We have some drops that we would like to sell."
"I see, just so you know, since you are too young to register with the Guild the payout will be smaller.", Lucoa remarked, wanting to ensure we were okay with that.
"That is fine.", I acknowledged, "We killed several goblins and a hobgoblin."
Pulling the items out of my Item Box, I placed the materials on the counter for her to examine. Looking at me in shock, Lucoa was surprised to see I held such an extremely rare skill.
"That is quite a gift you got there.", she said, "I would be careful about showing it off to other people. Many would try to enslave you and turn you into a pack mule for them."
"Thank you for the concern, I feel more than confident that I can defend myself.", I assured her.
"Hehe, acting tough for your little girlfriend I see.", she teased me.
Glancing at the drops, she pulled a notepad from under the counter and began jotting things down. Putting a few of the more fragile ingredients into jars for us, Lucoa slid the notepad over to us so we could double-check that everything looked correct. Leaving it to me, as Roxanne was not very literate, I quickly confirmed everything was properly listed.
"Alright then, I can pay you ten dia per goblin and fifty for the hobgoblin. The materials you brought back from the hobgoblin are in excellent condition so I can pay you four hundred dia for the ingredients. Normally the eyeballs, testicles, heart, and liver would be closer to nine hundred, but I cannot pay you that much since you are not a member.", she said apologetically, "Believe me, if it were up to me I would happily pay you full price."
"Ten dia a goblin!?", Roxanne gasped, "The merchant I was selling them to only paid me three dia a head!!"
"Before selling anything to those scummy merchants, I highly suggest having the Guild evaluate items. We will give you the going rate for items, and you can decide from there if you wish to sell them or not.", Lucao told her.
"I definitely will from now on!", Roxanne agreed, with a happy smile, "So how much does that mean we made then?"
"Five hundred and seventy dia from the drops.", I informed her, "Split in half, we each get two hundred and eighty-five dia."
"OH!!!", Roxanne clapped with excitement, "That is the most I have ever made!!"
Smiling at us, as she got us our money, I asked Lucao how she ended up here. Giving me a confused look, I stated that someone as beautiful as her could have easily become a nobleman's mistress in the capital. Blushing at my compliment, she thanked me before explaining her situation.
"I am not out here by choice, the Guildmaster in the capital sent me out here because I got into a fight with some high-ranking adventurers. They wanted me to be their stress relief out in the field, and I told them no. Instead of accepting my answer, they laid their hands on me so I scorched all of them.", Lucao explained, with a proud smile, "When the Guildmaster found out, he interrogated all the witnesses and every single person said I attacked those adventurers without warning. Even my colleagues, whom I considered friends, threw me under the cart to avoid any complications for themselves. Since the adventurers were not nobles, I narrowly avoided a death sentence or becoming a slave. Instead, I was cast out here for the rest of my career."
"I am sorry to hear that.", I said, feeling bad for her.
"It is what it is, at least out here I do not have sleaze bags harassing me.", she admitted, "Your father is a decent enough lord, but your stepmother she is…well she is-"
"She is a cunt muffin.", I stated, finishing her sentence, "I wholeheartedly agree with you on that."
"Hahaha!!!", she laughed, causing her enormous chest to jiggle uncontrollably, "After the day I have been having, I needed a good laugh. I hope you keep coming here, this place is boring as hell because no one ever stops in anymore."
Promising to become regular visitors from now on, Roxanne and I left the Guild for the day. Handing Roxanne half of our reward and the loot we got once we were outside, she thanked me for spending time with her today. Telling me she would wait at the edge of town for me tomorrow, she quickly ran off toward the market to sell the rusty iron tools she received.
'All in all, not a bad start to my career as an Adventurer.', I thought, stowing my money in my Item Box, 'I have a cute and reliable partner in crime now, and a gorgeous receptionist at my local Guild Hall. Dreams really do come true in an isekai universe!'
Opting to keep my loot for blacksmithing practice, I quickly headed home to avoid upsetting my mother.
—3rd Person POV—
Running into her home with a bag full of her earnings, Roxanne eagerly handed the money to her aunt. Unsure what her niece brought home this time, she was startled to find five hundred dia in the pouch. Having never brought so much money back before, the first thing her aunt thought was that Roxanne had pickpocketed the money. Pouncing on that explanation before Roxanne could get a word in, her aunty began lecturing her about the consequences of stealing from others.
"Your uncle and I raised you better than this, how could you steal money from other struggling families?!", her aunty shouted, reaching for a wooden spoon, "If the guards find out about this, you could be hauled off to jail, have your hands cut off, or even be sold off as a Criminal Slave!!"
"WAIT!!", Roxanne howled, as she began backing away, "I did not steal it, I earned it with my new friend Leon!! We killed several goblins and a hobgoblin together!!"
"You did WHAT!?", her aunty shrieked, snatching the spoon off the counter, "How many times have we told you not to take the other children into the forest?!"
Unable to reason with her now, Roxanne took off running with her aunt in hot pursuit. Ducking and weaving every swing her aunt took served only to fuel her aunt's anger. Walking into his home a few minutes later, Roxanne immediately hid behind him with her tail between her legs.
"Move it!", his wife demanded, "She took another child into the woods with her again to fight with monsters!"
"Leon and I are friends!!", Roxanne protested, "The two of us are going to form an Adventurer's Party when we turn sixteen!!"
Recalling something that occurred earlier in the day, Roxanne's uncle motioned for his wife to wait a moment.
"Do you mean Baron Bartfort's son Leon?", he clarified.
"Yes, he is the only person that does not treat me like a weirdo or monster!", Roxanne said, as her tail began wagging excitedly, "We are going to map out the whole island together!"
"Oh lord…you took the Baron's son into the forest to fight monsters…", her aunt hyperventilated, falling to the ground in fear, "The Baron will have our heads for sure…"
"Dear please calm down, Lord Bartfort sent his son off to explore this morning. I watched both of his parents see him off when Leon left this morning.", he explained, having witnessed this while he tended to the Baron's flower beds.
"Yeah, we are going to become famous adventurers!", Roxanne boasted, happy she could finally start repaying her aunt and uncle.
"Well…so long as the Baron does not fault us for anything happening to them, I do not care.", her aunt sighed, still uneasy about the arrangement.
Thanking her aunty and uncle for allowing her to continue partying with Leon, Roxanne promptly went to her room to begin planning out tomorrow's adventure. Noticing a newfound pep in his niece's step, her uncle smiled with happiness for her. It had been a long time since he had seen her so happy, it reminded him a lot of how his sister used to be.
"Are you sure that there is no problem with them going off on their own?", his wife asked, "What if they blame us for any injuries their son gets?"
"Leon is far more mature than any child I have ever met. He has already completed all of his schooling, and has memorized all of the books in the Lord's study.", he informed her, "That boy is probably the smartest person in this region, maybe even the country. If Roxanne can stay by his side, I am sure she will become an excellent young woman."