Chapter 8: Working Smart

Emma raised an eyebrow to what he said, "Well, there are a few different requests that [Brass] Ranks can take, but none are particularly well paying: Delivery Requests, Manual Labor, and a few other basic tasks. Anything more complex than that takes a guild recommendation. Oh, by the way, we've sent a letter of introduction to the merchant guild to allow you to do Scribing tasks. It was signed by the Guild Master personally, so you won't have any issues getting jobs along those lines."

"Thank you. So, what are my advantages and disadvantages?"

"Well, scribing requests will pay you more than anything we have on offer for you here, so if you actually want money you should go over there, but you should definitely take a few requests here at the guild so that you can gain participation points.

"That's actually one of the advantages to being [Brass] rank since going from [Bronze] to [Silver] rank requires you to take several Odd Job requests. A lot of [Bronze] ranks who continue dungeon raiding get so focused on dungeon requests because they pay more, and when the time comes for them to do Odd Job requests some of them really struggle because they now consider it beneath them, but the Odd Job requests you do as [Brass] will count toward your [Silver] promotion. Amazing, right?"

He nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, cool."

She tilted her head in confusion, "Cold? I don't think it's that cold though?"

“…"

"Don't worry about it." He looked around, "So where is the Odd Jobs request board?"

"Here, I can show you!"

Emma led him up to the loft and there he found a line of billboards. The one on the far left had the words "Odd Jobs" written over it, from there was two billboards for [Bronze], one for [Silver], and one for [Gold], but the rest of the billboards had a few ranks per billboard. It neatly showed the general level of Adventurers in Falst in an almost depressing way.

"This is the Odd Jobs board, you can take pretty much anything on it, but there are some things that are restricted by skill set. It doesn't make much sense to have someone who can't write do scribing tasks, right?"

“Sure."

Might deplete some of his options, but he could deal with it.

"I'm pretty sure that you can do everything on this board. It really is mostly Odd Jobs. The biggest groups are manual labor and delivery jobs, but you'll also get the occasional "help me find this" request. Essentially, if it can be done without leaving Falst, it will almost always end up on this board."

"Are there any requests you'd recommend for me, or should I just pick one?"

Emma put a finger on her lips and thought for a long moment. "Well, I'm honestly not sure, but considering the strength of your faith in the gods you might want to take a job helping the church."

What faith? He knew they existed from Raften, but it wasn't like he was a pious believer or anything like that. He felt no need to worship them, but if he told Emma that, she might get offended. Best to just express himself gently.

"Please don't exaggerate, you're making it seem like I'm extremely religious when my level of faith is low."

"No need to be humble!"

"No really, I'm no-"

"And in any case! You still owe me a prayer to the Goddess of Love! I haven't found a good boyfriend and all the guys around me don't care to make eye contact! I need some help here!"

Crimson slowly placed his head in his hand and let out a long sigh, Emma was probably only a few years older than him, so it made sense that romance was on her brain, but did she need to tell him all that? Could the Goddess of Love even help?

He raised his head and looked into her tear-filled eyes. Well, it couldn't hurt just to write her a prayer, "Fine, I'll write you a prayer. Just bring me some paper and a pen. You owe me for this one."

Emma's mood did a sudden 180 and she cheerfully announced that she'd repay her debt whenever he asked. Then ran off to grab the stationery.

Crimson turned his attention back to the board and read through the various requests. He definitely wouldn't be taking the "please find my cat" request, but he memorized the semi-decent drawing on the poster in case he came across it.

Looking at the other requests he discovered that "manual labor" was a vague term that included everything from digging holes and assisting with construction, to assisting in a blacksmith's shop. There were even some for acting as a temporary replacement guard in the city, but that one had a minimum level requirement of 5. Crimson still didn't have a level, so that one was clearly a no-go, and how was that manual labor anyway? It was clearly listed under the manual labor category!

He shook his head and moved on.

Since Emma had mentioned the church he looked for the requests involving it. One of them just looked like a pain since it was a request from a [Priestess] for a "brave adventurer" to meet the children of the orphanage - fortunately Crimson didn't fit the bill in the slightest. They were probably looking for a beefed up tank with impressive armor and wavy blonde hair or something like that, not a skinny black-haired kid with shiny eyes and no discernible strength. Hmm...maybe he was still a little bitter about the new body?

Putting that thought aside, one of the requests from the church was to assist with laundry, another was to help with cleaning, and the last was to act as an assistant to a [Priest] for half a day.

The last one caught his eye because the pay was quite a bit higher than the surrounding requests and it had two requirements. The first was a Guild Recommendation, the second was the ability to write. The target date for the request was also today, but not till the afternoon, so he wouldn't have to wait too long for the appointment.

Crimson thought about it a bit more, and decided that it would be a good opportunity. He wanted to learn a healing spell, so being in a place where they were very common seemed like a good idea - he might at least get to see them cast them without having to fall down the stairs to have Emma help him.

He'd just need to see if the guild would recommend him.

With excellent timing, Emma came back up the stairs to the loft, in her eagerness and haste she'd taken the stairs two at a time and was holding an armful of rolls and rolls of paper and way too many bottles of ink.

Unsure how to react, Crimson asked, "What are you going to do with all that paper?"

"Ummm..." she looked down at her cargo then looked back up at him, "Too much?"

"Too much, how long do you think it's going to be?"

She turned pink from embarrassment.

"I wasn't too sure, but I wanted to be on the safe side."

"You even have all that ink, but I don't see a pen?"

She went from pink to mortified as she set down the paper and ink bottles on a nearby table then ran back down the stairs.

"Make sure you don't fall!" He called after her.

It wasn't his style to play matchmaking, but maybe he should keep an eye out for a guy to set her up with? It was something to consider; he did owe her a lot after all and the prayer didn't really seem like a way to repay her.

Crimson sighed and turned his attention back to the board. He needed something he could do for the morning. Looking, he found a delivery request for 20 Royals. The owner of a business was asking for help with delivery and was looking for someone who could move quickly through the city. It seemed easy enough and with the secret passages, it'd be even easier.

Interrupting his thoughts, a panting Emma ran back up the stairs and seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

"You should put more into your physical stats, you look like you're about to die."

In between gasped breaths Emma told him, "I...don't...want...to hear it! Just write me the prayer!"

Recovering her breath a little she lost her anger and swapped back to excitement as she grabbed his wrist and lead him over to the table with the excessive amount of paper. She thrust a pen into his right hand then pointed to the paper, "I want a hot guy taller than I am with good manners! He doesn't need to have too much [Intelligence], but he needs to have good [Charisma] and [Constitution] Stats!"

"Why those two?"

She turned completely red, "You don't need to worry about it!"

Why did she want someone with a high [CON]? He didn't have enough information.

He sighed, "Very well then."

Twenty minutes and three re-writes later Emma was gently holding a piece of paper covered in wet ink as she slowly blew on it to dry it faster without smudging it.

Crimson still sat at the table, having swapped the pen to his left hand long ago and received a weird look from Emma when he did so. Were left handed people rare or something? Well, more so than usual?

Crimson stood and grabbed Emma's attention as she stared at the prayer with uninhibited glee, "There is one request I'd like to take, and another I'd like to ask about."

She gently set down the sheet and responded, "Okay, which ones?"

He silently pointed at the delivery request, then the priest request.

"You want to take those both today? I don't think you'll have time for both. Not only that, but I'd need to check with the Guild Master about the second one..." She tucked her hair behind one ear as she continued, "He's the only one who can provide those kind of recommendations when it comes to the requests of important people like this one..."

"That's fine, I'll take the first one while you talk to the Guild Master about the second one."

She nodded slowly then spoke with a worried expression, "I really don't think you'll have time for both."

Crimson felt pretty confident about his ability to do both, so he grinned at her and responded, "Please just ask the Guild Master, if I don't get back in time then there's nothing to worry about, but if I do, then I want to be able to take it without any issues."

She slowly puffed out some air as she rubbed one of her arms, then nodded, "I'll talk to him."

"Great! Could you get me the first one?"

"Sure."

Emma grabbed both papers off the board then lead him downstairs where she had him press his guild card onto the back of the delivery request. It was interesting to see the lines of text appear - he still hadn't dared to use it to pay any bills yet and was just surviving by using what few coins he had left, but he would have needed to try it soon if he hadn't had an example.

With that, Emma gave him instructions on how to get to the shop, how to deal with the owner, and what not to say, then sent him on his merry way.

It wasn't hard to find the place, it was in Phase 5 and the passages made getting over there an easy experience. The shop was called "Hunnie's Tailoring" and was a small building of dark wood with two floors.

When Crimson walked inside he was greeted by a burly woman behind a loom facing the entrance. Around the room were work desks for the five other people. They were sewing pieces of cloth together and some of their projects were actually starting to look like clothes.

"What do you want boy?" the booming voice echoed from the burly woman.

"You placed a delivery request with the guild Madame Hunnie."

A mocking sound exited from the woman as she looked him over, "You seem to be VERY qualified to run from Phase to Phase, can you even run from here to the guild?"

Crimson raised an eye brow and kept the rest of his face neutral. Emma had mentioned the woman had a strong personality, but this... Well, if she didn't want to hire him he wouldn't beg, he could find something else to do. He could take another request or read in the library to kill time.

Seeing that he wasn't fazed, the woman set down her shuttle and stood. She stalked over and got in his face, her weak brown eyes meeting his. She flinched.

Whatever she'd meant to say was completely derailed as she actually took a step back and avoided looking into his eyes.

Crimson ignored the room of shocked employees, who were staring at him in confusion, and kept his focus on Madame Hunnie...her hands were shaking. Just what were his eyes? Raften owed him an explanation. He should probably also avoid making eye contact with people...but that wouldn't solve his curiosity about his eyes. Curiosity won out over caution once more.

The woman forced herself to stand straight and did her best to hide the shaking in her voice, "Well, uh, right. A-anyway, I have four parcels for you t-to deliver. I usually have one of my apprentices d-do it, but we lose out on money with th-them handling it."

Crimson nodded quietly and calmly looked at her forehead instead of her eyes to avoid scaring the poor woman once more. He had to crane his neck quite a bit to do that.

Madame Hunnie finally steeled herself and continued with all signs of fear gone, "Your pay will be 20 Royals for completing the task. If you take too long I will be deducting 5 to 10 Royals from your pay. If you complete the task within a short amount of time you may receive a bonus of 5 Royals, is that understood?"

"Yes."

"Good."

She then proceeded to give him a sack with the parcels inside and gave instructions about where each was to be delivered to. Two to Phase 18, one to Phase 8, and one to Phase 23.

He could see why Emma thought he wouldn't have time to finish both requests today. Just going from Phase 5 to the delivery location on the edge of Phase 8 could take an hour with all the foot traffic, not to mention how far the other Phases were from there. Madame Hunnie probably got to cut down on the pay for any Adventurers who took her request.

Crimson smiled, he would be getting that bonus.

With a quick bow and a farewell, he left and started running with the bulky and oversized bag on his back, looking like either Santa's evil twin, or a really pathetic burglar.

It didn't take long at all for him to reach the place in Phase 23 for the first parcel. It also wasn't a hard decision to go clockwise, he needed to end at Madame Hunnie's place to be payed, and he needed to head to the Guild afterword; going counter-clockwise would definitely be the slower option.

In Phase 23, he dropped off once of the parcels with a butler at an impressively sized mansion of black stone. As he left he saw a girl about six years old running up to the middle aged butler excitedly. The clothes inside were probably for her.

As he ran the thought went through his head: why didn't these rich people send the butler to pick up the clothes on their own? That was how he had thought these kinds of things would work from his past experience with fantasy books.

With a shake of the head he slipped back into the passages and headed around to Phase 18. It took a decent amount of time jogging though the passage, but his morning run showed its strength as he was able to do it without much issue.

He exited into Phase 18 only panting lightly as he weaved through the shockingly crowded streets to the delivery location. It appeared to be some kind of mortuary, and considering the fact that it was right next to Phase 17, it didn't surprise him. There were probably burial clothes in the two parcels he dropped off to the depressed looking owner with a long face. He was bald too, what was with that stereotype? Well, it was probably better than being a happy mortician. That felt like crossing a line.

Heading back into the passages unseen after a fight with the crowd, Crimson ran with the last package to Phase 8.

It was definitely the longest run of the bunch, and by the time he exited the force of his breathing led him to wonder if he'd force his own lungs out through his throat.

Once on the streets he stared at the crowd from the entrance of the ally. It would take far too long for him to fight his way through this mess. He glanced at the building beside him and decided to do something stupid, again.

He tied the now much smaller Santa sack to the back of his belt then awkwardly climbed the wall next to him using the gaps in the stone as hand holds. It took a few tries, and he fell down and probably would have shattered his tailbone with one of the attempts, but the Santa sack was a good cushion. Eventually, he was able to eventually reach the roof.

He stretched his shaking arms out, then began to run across the rooftops with relative ease. They were set close enough together that even with his lack of practice it didn't present an issue with jumping across. Once he got close to his destination he was forced to return to street level to cross the main thoroughfare of Phase 8. It took him a hot minute to force his way through the crowd of people, many of whom clearly hadn't seen a shower or bath in a while, but once he was on the other side he was able to meet a woman waiting outside some kind of small food shop. She was the one he was looking for, so he gave her the parcel and headed back the way he came - his second climb was far more graceful than the last one.

After re-entering the tunnels he sprinted through them back to Phase 5 and easily made his way to Madame Hunnie's now crowded shop. There was a line out front, but that wasn't an issue to Crimson as he walked around it and went in. There were a few people who complained, but they were ignored. It wasn't like he was there to buy anything.

"What are you doing back here so soon boy? It hasn't even been 3 hours! Did you give up?"

The booming voice of Madame Hunnie silenced everyone in the shop as they turned to look at him. The apprentices all looked like they were sucking on lemons, and the members of the crowd who had complained looked smug. Crimson thought it was a weird expression for the apprentices to make in the situation. The smug fools were once again ignored.

He silently handed the three proof of purchase slips over to Madame Hunnie who stared at them with a blank expression before she exploded, "How in the name of a Goblin's Mother did you do all this in 3 hours? It isn't possible!"

Crimson thought once more: the swearing here really wasn't satisfying sounding, it also didn't make sense.

He elected not to respond, his actions spoke for themselves.

Madame Hunnie stared at him, ranted some, stared once more, signed the request sheet, then paid him 30 Royals as the crowed of watching people gasped in shock. She was probably known for being fiscally tightfisted if her personality was anything to go by.

Fortunately for her, he'd avoided eye contact the entire time, so from all outside appearances it would probably seem like he was scared and trying to hide it. Her paying him 30 Royals despite her making it clear that she'd only promised 20 would also make her seem more generous and fair, thereby boosting her shop's reputation without any apparent downsides, it would also serve to counteract her - assumed - personal reputation of being a cheapskate.

He had to wonder if she did it all on purpose, or if it was just something that somehow happened.

He slipped off back into the crowd with his purse 30 Royals heavier and he went back to the Guild via his new favorite route.

----

Emma sighed as she walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. Her friend -Crimson- had put her in yet another difficult position. It was only fortunate that the Guild Master had taken a reasonable liking to him as well, or she really would have been putting her neck on the line.

Well, she thought the Guild Master liked him, but the time when she began working with him to assign instructors for the current roster of [Brass] ranks he had started laughing in a creepy way and told her not to worry about Crimson - Lars already had someone in mind for him. It was slightly concerning to her, more than slightly, but the Guild's Policies made it difficult for her to mention anything to Crimson about it.

Well, she couldn't be sure about the Guild Master's reaction to his attempt to accept this request, but since she was asking in an official capacity and not in an unofficial one, there shouldn't be any issues or at least, she was telling herself that as she took a few deep breaths while outside the Guild Master's office.

She reached up and knocked gently - slightly nervous as she wondered if he knew how long she had been standing there. It was quite possible, his [PER] might be high enough, but his [Classes] weren't usually ones that gave [PER], but considering how high his Level was, it couldn't be ruled out.

Her thoughts continued in that loop as she waited for the Guild Master to respond, when she heard some muffled words behind the door, she opened it and walked in.

Lars was sitting behind his desk as per usual. His Guild Master's robes were neatly arranged and his hair and fur were well groomed - his wife probably helped with that task. The man himself was well known for caring about how people act, but didn't caring too much about appearances or cleanliness, but that held true for many male Adventurers and a small number of female ones.

Emma hated that little habit so much she didn't hesitate in correcting Crimson as she tried to build good habits in him. To her glee: it seemed to be working. Next on the list would be teaching him to do his hair.

Emma neatly filed the thought away for later and focused once more on the Guild Master as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Good morning Guild Master."

"Good morning, what brings you up here today Emma?"

"One of the Adventurers needs a Guild Recommendation signed by you to take this request," she handed over the request slip and waited as he read over the details.

Lars looked up at her, "So? Who's the Adventurer?"

Emma internally winced as she spoke the next line, "[Brass] Rank, Crimson."

Her instincts proved correctly as her [Expression Reading] skill made it easy for her to pick up the smirk that crossed the Guild Master's face and disappeared almost instantly. Well, easy would be an exaggeration, but the result made it easier for her.

=====

Level UP!

Skill: [Expression Reading]

Lv.7 > Lv.8

=====

She hadn't even gotten the skill that long ago...

Lars pulled her out of her thoughts as he spoke gruffly, "Yes, since this is a request that may make use of his skills along with your personal knowledge of what kind of person he is, I have no issues with giving him a recommendation for this request. Best to make use of the [Ultimate Scribe] however we can."

"Are you trying to coin that as his second name Guild Master?"

A wide grin split his face, "I think it's perfect for him! He has shown himself to have the potential to be nothing less!"

Emma reached up and pushed her hair behind one ear to keep her hand from balling it up into a fist, "I don't think that he'll take a [Scribe] [Class] Guild Master. From what I know of him, he'll take combat [Classes].”

Emma's eyes bored into the Guild Master as his smile changed from proud to sinister, but the change would normally have gone unnoticed. If she hadn't just reached Lv. 8 with her [Expression Reading] she doubted that she'd have noticed it - she wasn't the only one with a [Expression Control] [Skill].

"The future remains open Emma. I will continue to hold out hope. Also, I want you to take a step back from your involvement with the boy. It's been decided that Sherry will be assigned as his Guild Advisor, so your active role with him is done. You may only assist him if Sherry is not around."

Emma utilized the full strength of her [Expression Control] Lv.9 skill as she bowed quietly.

Well, she had taken special action to help the "boy" -as the Guild Master put it- several times during his week long employment. She had covered for him when he used the office as a bedroom, she had negotiated the job to begin with, she had helped him frequently at almost every step, it was no surprise then, that the Guild Master would almost overstep his bounds to tell her to back off. A special action for a special action.

Emma couldn't say anything on a personal level, [Brass] rank had been her idea to help her brother, and the Guild Master had been the one to support it. Though they both had interest in its success, they both had different philosophies on "success." For Emma, it was helping them walk the path they wanted to walk, for the Guild Master, it was showing them the path where they were most talented. Frequently, these beliefs intersected as people wanted to become a strong as possible, but in this case they differed.

Crimson didn't care about being a [Scribe], something Lars considered him exceedingly talented in, he had his own path to walk. Emma wanted to support him, Lars wanted to derail him. Of course they clashed, of course she would lose.

As she turned to walk out, Lars spoke after her, "For any request that involves the ability to write, the boy will receive an immediate Guild Recommendation. We will continue to encourage him to take the path of a [Scribe]."

Emma looked at him silently for a long moment, then bowed once more and left. It vexed her to no end that she couldn't say anything against him, but what could she do? He was still acting within his authority.

Emma stalked downstairs and let the focus on her [Expression Control] slip a little, before snapping it back in place as she took her place back at her desk.

[Expression Control] was one reason she liked Crimson and why she felt so strongly about speaking up for him: she never felt the need to use that [Skill] around him. She couldn't explain it, but it felt like using around him was wrong. Not only that, but he'd become her friend, she just didn't want to use it around him.

She glanced over to see that Sherry had taken her place a few booths over and debated with herself for a moment, then decided to go speak to her.

"Good morning Sherry."

The Dark Elf glanced at her - seeming dazed as she sucked on her unlit pipe. After a long moment she responded, "Good morning."

Emma tilted her head in confusion, "Is everything okay?"

Sherry slowly began to load her pipe using a few different plants from a small multi-compartmented chest as she questioned, "When did Crimson take that delivery request?"

Emma felt even more confused as she responded, "Just this morning, why do you ask?"

Sherry fumbled with a match for a moment, then gave up and placed her pipe on the table in front of her, "He came in a few minutes ago with a proof of completion slip from Madame Hunnie, she even paid him a bonus 10 Royals, then he took another delivery request and went back out the door."

Emma's thoughts whirled around her head as she tried to figure out whether or not Sherry was serious; unable to, she decided to treat it like a joke, "There's no way, Madame Hunnie's requests are the most difficult and time consuming, no one else requires that many deliveries in so many extreme parts of Falst. On top of that, you even had the gall to joke that she’d give a bonus! If you want to joke with me, you should pick a better punch line."

Sherry quietly handed a slip of paper to Emma and she felt her reality break as she read the details on it. Three deliveries in less than three hours? All three deliveries all over Falst? There was no possible way to get around that fast!

No matter how high his [AGI] was, it wouldn't solve the problem of the crowds! There was no human way for him to do that!

She looked at Sherry, "How?"

Sherry shrugged, "When I asked, all he said was that it was a trade secret."

Emma looked at the sheet once more, and wondered if the Guild Master would still think that the [Scribe] [Class] was the only "correct" [Class] for Crimson to take...

----

Crimson trotted back into the guild yet another 20 Royals richer and much happier with how quick the second delivery request had been. He had weighed his options, and decided to risk being able to complete the request before his [Priest] request.

It was a good thing, because it paid off in the end.

Crimson glanced at the mildly full guild of an assorted motley of races, genders, and [Classes] as he crossed over to give his Proof of Completion slip to Sherry.

The Dark Elf nuisance had explained that she'd been assigned as his Advisor, so he was supposed to ask her for help and take and return requests with her whenever she was around - he could only call on Emma when Sherry was gone. He didn't consider it an issue since Emma was always the first one to arrive in the morning, so he'd be guaranteed to be able to take requests from her at least every time he took one early in the morning. He did have to squelch his annoyance with Sherry, but she'd let up on the teasing a little, so she was more tolerable now.

When he gave her the slip she stared at it with a weird expression, almost like she'd been hit by a bat and hadn't figured out what was going on. He didn't understand this woman at all, it was just a proof of completion slip, didn't she those all the time? Oh wait, she wasn't worried about the slip itself, but maybe the time it took for him to finish? Well, nothing for that but for her to get used to it.

Delivery requests were easy money for him. In a single morning he made almost half of what a week of working for Evans had made. If he kept that pace up, he'd be able to gain 100+ Royals every three days, which would allow him to save up for a weapon, pay for expenses, and leave him with plenty of free time for other activities like training.

Crimson waved goodbye to Sherry and went over to Emma as the Dark Elf still looked dazed. Well, he merely went from one dazed woman to the other as Emma was sporting the same expression as Sherry.

"Emma? Emma? Emma?" he drew out the third Emma, then snapped his fingers under her nose which seemed to do the trick.

"Uh, huh, what?"

"Were you asleep on your feet or something?"

"Uhh, no?" she was blinking way too fast.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine, just trying to figure out how you were able to break the laws of reality."

Crimson shook his head with a deadpan expression, "No laws were broken, unless there's something about running on people's roofs, so don't worry too much about it."

"Oh, good.” She responded despondently.

"Anyway, how did your talk with the Guild Master go?"

Emma slowly reached under the table with withdrew two objects; she placed an envelope on the table along with the request sheet.

"The Guild Master also asked me to pass along a message: he's willing to give you a guild recommendation for any scribing requests."

"He's being really obvious."

The still slightly dazed expression on Emma's face was instantly replaced with intense focus as she responded, appearing to chose her words very carefully, "Well, not ALL of his methods will be so obvious. Don't do anything stupid tomorrow."

Crimson looked at her silently at he sunk deep into thought. He then clicked his tongue and asked, "What kind of messed up teacher did he set me up with?"

It couldn't be the class, Lars didn't seem like the type to wreck an entire group to change the mind of a single individual, so it would have to be the teacher. Considering the fact that the members of the [Brass] rank would probably all be taking different paths, a single teacher for everything wouldn't make sense. They'd probably all be assigned a senior adventurer or two to directly mentor them, a perfect opportunity to get at Crimson.

Emma, with undisguised glee, said, "I don't know, but stay on watch and be careful."

Crimson nodded, grabbed the envelope and request slip, then headed out of the guild. The Temple was in Phase 1 and he didn't have much time till the request started.