Cale was the nearest town to Steelton distance-wise. Coincidentally, the Cale branch of the Adventurer Guild was the most famous in Arcadia and one of the top ones in the whole of the Axolotl continent. This is due to the rumored strongest adventurer being based here.

Cale and Steelton are both towns located on the border of Arcadia. Steelton is the fortress that protects Arcadia from foreign kingdoms and the Empire, while Cale borders the Zarek Forest. Dangerous monsters roam the forest, so adventurer activities here are more concentrated than in other places. That was the reason I came here for my journey since I’m still young my parents especially my mother doesn’t want to let me go too far so I just went to the neighboring town.

I woke up the day after I arrived at Cale in a room with 3 beds. I shared a room with Harry and Chris since it was big enough. Frank had his own smaller room. I told him he could do what he wants but he wanted to stay and wait if I ever need anything. He’s like my personal butler at this point. I’m grateful so I just let him do whatever.

After breakfast, we went to the guild to finally take on some missions. If it’s anything like the novels, the staple beginner mission has to be there right? I looked up the mission board and saw it. There’s a bunch of them on the board.

[10 Glow Mushrooms]

[25 Purple Clovers]

[12 Purple Grass]

The herb collecting mission! I found it!

“Hohohoho~”

I started laughing on my own while Harry and Chris looked at me weirdly. I could finally experience the fantasy story I always read in my past life. I excitedly grabbed the mission papers to give to the receptionist.

“Huh? Are you sure you want to do this mission?” Chris opposed my decision to start from the foundations.

“He’s right young master, shouldn’t we take an E-rank mission instead? We could rank up faster that way.” Harry tried to support Chris.

“Don’t underestimate the importance of the foundations,” I advised the two of them.

“The foundations are the most important aspect in building anything. You can’t expect to have high achievements without accumulating smaller achievements. If you do, then your surroundings would doubt you at first, wouldn’t they? That would be troublesome.”

Besides my weak excuse, there’s also another reason I wanted to start with collecting herbs. Most of the time the main character of a fantasy novel discovers their cheat while doing their first-ever mission which is collecting herbs. Who knows if I would discover some sort of cheat system by doing the same thing.

“Why does it matter if people doubt you? Just smack them like you did yesterday.” Chris refuted my well-thought advice.

“Un.” Harry agreed with Chris again.

“Fine, do what you want. I’d pick herbs by myself.”

I stuck my tongue out to Harry and Chris before going to the receptionist counter to notify them.

“Sigh...” Harry shook his head at my childish behavior and followed me since he and Chris were supposed to be my babysitter.

***

I was walking around the edge of the Zarek Forest to find purple clovers and purple grass. Chris and Harry were with me, they both took a different herb collecting mission than me and they both have completed them. I was the only one left finding herbs between the three of us. It was almost sunset already.

I didn’t discover any cheat system at all and unlike magic and swordsmanship, I’m not talented in herb finding. I regret not reading the guide to finding herbs because I thought knowing how they look like was enough. I just played myself.

“Can’t you help me?” I almost cried looking for the supposedly easily distinguishable plants.

Chris has been laughing at my almost crying face since earlier. He said to me.

“You should accumulate smaller achievements on your own, young master. Otherwise, people would doubt your abilities, won’t they? Hahahaha.”

For the first time, he called me young master but he said it in a patronizing way and even laughed at the end.

“I didn’t say it should be accumulated on my own though,” I said in a sulky voice without looking at Chris.

“Don’t bully the young master, Chris. Young master, purple herbs usually grow in shaded areas so let’s look around those places.”

Harry who has always been nice to me despite his sarcastic personality told me how to find purple clovers and grass after telling Chris off. I sniffled and followed Harry’s lead while Chris was still laughing behind us.

***

It was night by the time we got back to town. I entered the guild bringing a sack full of purple herbs Harry and I found. We walked to the receptionist counter where Rebecca greeted us with a friendly smile. She was especially welcoming towards me.

“Welcome back~ How was your first mission, Richard?”

“Miss Rebecca! How was your work today?” Chris interjected before I could answer.

What’s this about? I noticed Chris was tidying up his hair before entering the building, does he like Rebecca? Rebecca was a pretty girl and she’s 19 while Chris was 21. It’s understandable to fall in love. However,-

I had a mischievous smile and rubbed my eyes quietly to get back my tears from when I was struggling to look for herbs. I then looked at Rebecca.

“It was fine, how were you doing with your first day- Richard, what’s wrong?”

I successfully drew her attention towards me when she noticed my teary eyes. I laughed inwardly and pointed at Chris. I sniffled once for extra effect.

Rebecca's eyes instantly turned fierce as she asked Chris.

“Sir Chris, what did you do to Richard?”

Chris, who was baffled by the change in the situation looked alternatively between Rebecca and me. I stuck my tongue out at Chris while Rebecca wasn’t looking at me and I noticed his eyes looked furious as he saw me.

“Did you bully poor Richard?”

I nodded quickly with a pitiful expression and Rebecca who saw that turned even more angry with Chris. The situation continued with Rebecca scolding Chris and Chris giving excuses to explain what really happened. That’s what he gets for making fun of me.

‘Being a child has its merits.’ I thought to myself.

Harry who was just watching the whole scene from the sidelines just smiled and shook his head at my act of mischief.

***

“How dare you do that to me!”

“You made fun of me first!”

Chris and I were quarreling at the inn while Chris puts me in a chokehold. I kept struggling to get out but Chris wasn’t letting go. Of course, I didn’t use my full strength since it was just a quarrel.

Harry stopped the fighting as the oldest one out of the three of us. He lectured both Chris and me.

“Young Master, you were stubborn to take the herb collecting mission, and you didn’t even bother to read the herb collecting guide. You cried because you decided to put yourself in that situation.”

“Chris, you shouldn’t bully the young master. As someone older, you should have been mature enough to guide the young master instead of making fun of him.”

Chris and I listened with our heads down while sitting seiza. I haven’t forgiven Chris, but I should listen to Harry.

After a long lecture, the three of us slept soundly for the rest of the night.

“Zzzzzz...”

I woke up in the middle of the night to a loud noise so I looked around to see Chris snoring with his mouth open beside me. When I slapped him to wake him up, he stopped snoring and opened his eyes slightly.

“What do you want?” he asked with a sleepy voice.

“Quiet down.”

“Ugh, whatever.” he went back to sleep and snored loudly again.

I can’t believe this guy, even while sleeping he’s still bothering me. I looked at Harry sleeping soundly despite the loud snoring. How is he doing that?

Chris wasn’t snoring this loudly last night. Wait a minute, is he doing this on purpose? I pulled my pillow and pressed it on Chris’ face. He tried to push it away but this time I’m putting strength on my hands so he couldn’t do anything about it. I removed the pillow when he looked like he’s losing strength.

“Stop that,” I ordered him.

“Okay fine.”

This time it was Chris who sulked so he went back to sleep quietly. I also went back to sleep after that.