NOVEL NEXT 37 - Noble Pursuit
The next morning, I wake up right at sunrise and immediately head for Ganyu's office. As expected, he's not asleep. Even as a mere 3 star, I could forgo sleep for more than a month if I wanted, so I would have been surprised if Ganyu needed any at all.
"Come in," he says from the other side of the door when I knock.
I enter to find him sitting in the middle of the floor in a meditative pose.
"Is there something you need?" he asks.
"I was wondering if there was a way to make up missed lessons."
"Of course," says Ganyu. "I can just give you the Lesson book if you'd like."
"Really?" I ask. "That would be great."
He stands up and walks over to his desk where he pulls a book out and hands it to me.
"The Floor Lord made copies of this for all the Administrators in charge of the new world's Batches. In the Lessons, I share additional information that may be useful, but everything deemed by the Floor Lord to be 'essential' is contained here. We're on chapter 4 right now."
"I see," I say, looking down at the book. "Thank you."
"Are you taking a Quest?" he asks.
"Yes. Hunting in the north."
No need to be overly specific.
"Grab all the herb gathering quests on the way out," he says. "There's no point in not doing it, and getting them verified after the fact can be tedious."
"I will. Thank you."
I leave the office and head straight back to my room. Trinity is still asleep, but wakes up and starts stretching when she hears me digging around in the closet. There are a few coats and pairs of fur-lined boots around, as well as some sturdy leather bags. I grab one of the bags, a pair of boots, two coats, and two sets of robes, and turn around just in time for Trinity to dive into the closet. She grabs onto one of the sets of robes with her claws and then continues to climb until she reaches a shelf.
"What are you doing?"
She starts sniffing around the top shelf, and doesn't seem to be interested in listening to me right now, so I just sigh and turn away. I summon Henry and have him alter the clothes and boots to be a bit thinner and to make them white for better camouflage in the snow. Trinity still hasn't left the closet by the time I finish, so I walk over and close the door. Almost immediately, she starts yowling so I open the door and she leaps out straight onto my face. I pull her off and hold her out in front of me, her back legs dangling as she squirms to escape.
"You're being very poorly behaved right now."
"Mra!"
"Yes you are."
"MRA!"
"I'm going to eat the snow ginseng myself if you don't clean up your act."
She doesn't understand me, of course, and keeps squirming, so I stare at her for a moment longer, then set her down… only for her to jump straight back into the closet. I close the door again, and this time, when I open it for her to leave, I close it again as soon as she's out.
With that handled I double check my bag and clothes. It's a little warm to be dressed this way indoors, but I circulate a bit of oum to keep the airflow going to make it bearable. I stashed the extra set of clothes and coat in my bag in case of emergency, but there's something very important missing: food. The dorm only has fresh food from the dining hall, so if I want travel rations, I'll need to get them from somewhere else. I remember the market close to the center of the city had people selling dried meats and fruits, so I'll have to stop there as well.
With that in mind, I do some quick last minute stretching, then shoulder my pack and leave. Trinity follows at my heels, constantly getting distracted by random things we pass by.
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It's still quite early in the morning, so most of the Batch isn't awake yet. There are a couple people out and about, but no one I know. Well, there's the jogger dude whose name I can't remember right now, but he's still too shy to talk to me or something like that, so no one bothers me. That's not the case when I leave, and I'm once again followed from my dorm, but I've gotten used to it at this point.
I stop by the open-air market, where fortunately there are actually quite a few stands open for business. It makes sense, since there are probably lots of other people on this Floor who are leaving for Quests in the morning. I grab some breakfast for myself and Trinity at the skewer stand, then a bundle of mammoth jerky from another, and a tent from a third before heading to the Quest Hall.
It's a lot less busy than usual, so I actually have a bit of time to take things slow and look over the options in more detail. I find the section focusing on the north region, and start reading about each herb and animal I can hunt, accepting every single Quest as I pass by. I really have no idea what to expect, so might as well grab them all. There are a few dozen different kinds of animals that are worth credits to hunt, and a few hundred types of herbs. Like everything in the Tower, they're all somewhat familiar, but with an odd twist or three. There are horned rabbits, leech-mouthed wolves, carnivorous ferns, purple mushrooms that release hallucinogenic spores when you get too near, and more. It's all really interesting actually. I'm a little excited to get a closer look at them in real life.
By the time I finish accepting all the Quests, the Hall is getting more full, so I slip out and after making one final check of my supplies, I start heading north. It takes about an hour to get to the edge of the city, and then another two hours to put it far enough behind me that it's out of sight. The road is wide and made of well-tread dirt with two lanes of wagon ruts, though I haven't seen any wagons yet.
Far in the distance, an enormous mountain range rises up on the horizon, completely covered in snow with the peaks disappearing into the clouds. There's a cool breeze blowing through the hills and birds flitting through the trees, and even the occasional butterfly on a wildflower on the side of the road. It's a beautiful morning, and I'm almost enjoying it. I'd be enjoying it a lot more if I didn't have an entourage 100 feet behind me pretending that they're not following me.
Honestly, I don't know why they're still doing things like this. Do they think I'm an idiot? Do they not realize how obvious they are? How long will it take for them to understand that following me like this isn't subtle?
Their disguises are a bit better this time, and just based on their appearances, they seem to be a group of Climbers heading out on a Quest. They're all dressed in warm clothing with stuffed bags and weapons on their backs, and they're joking and laughing together, and generally not looking at me. I almost thought that they might be legitimate Climbers until I tried slowing down to let them pass and they just slowed down at the same time, staying the same distance behind. I sped up after that, and they sped up to keep pace.
How should I deal with them? I could just wait until I get to the snowy forest and lose them there. But honestly, I think there's something a bit suspicious about these people. I understand following me around town to see what I'm doing, but following me out into the Outlands goes a little beyond that. Either they're sent by some powerful force that wants to recruit me to protect me "from the shadows" or they're here for something more sinister. I can't imagine their purpose has anything to do with simple information gathering.
In that case, I should definitely confront them. I'm not a fan of this shady, subtle shit. But I should wait until I get further out. If it's the second option, then I'd rather not have to handle it on a public road.
I keep walking, the temperature dropping precipitously with every hour that passes, and by noon, my breath is starting to fog. There are patches of snow all around, and Trinity has decided it was too uncomfortable and retreated to her voidspace. After another hour, I reach the edge of the forest, and I immediately break off from the road and start walking off in a random direction. The group of people following me pretend to continue on past, but I enhance my ears with oum and hear them turn off the road to intersect my path not long after.
After another 15 minutes, I arrive at a small clearing with an ancient-looking pine in the center, so I stop and lean against the pine, waiting for them to arrive.
When they do, all pretense of them being ordinary Climbers is gone. They don't draw their weapons, and do their best not to appear threatening, but I can tell that beneath their casual demeanor, they're tense, and they've formed a semicircle around me. Five of the six are Late 1 star, while the leader is Early 2 star, and freshly ascended, by the look of it. All of them have spears made entirely of metal strapped to their backs.
"You're a hard woman to talk to, Ms. Phoenix," says the leader, a cocky-looking young man with hair cut short and a faint scar on his cheek.
"What do you want?"
"Let's call it recruitment."
"In the middle of the wilderness?"
"Hey, you're the one who led us out here."
"And you followed me."
"True," he says with a shrug. "But we wouldn't have had to if you didn't keep pushing everyone away."
"Do you remember how I said that anyone who tries to follow me for recruitment would be rejected immediately?"
"I do, but I'm about to make you an offer you can't reject."
Oh boy, here it comes.
"Sign this contract," he says, pulling a piece of paper from his coat and holding it out to me. "Or die."