Chapter 75: One More Push

Anais: “*squeak* (Nathan would you slow down, your making me sick).”

Iris: “Ugh~.”

Iris and Anais held on for dear life as Nathan sped through the city. He was heading back to the Adventurers Guild, to report on all of his completed requests. Nathan looked, back at the two on his shoulders, seeing them hanging on as he ran down the streets.

Nathan: “Whoops, sorry girls.”

He quickly grabbed them both up, holding them in his arms as he ran towards the Guild. He wasn’t planning on slowing down for them or anyone else for that matter. Today was the day the ‘Viridi Wilds’ opens, and he was still ranked as a ‘Pawn’. Ash said it took him about a month to become a Rookie class, but the dungeon was only open for a week; eight days to be precise. It would take him an entire day to get to the dungeon, so to get the most time to explore its depths, everything had to be done today.

Nathan reached the front door of the guild and ran right in, easily dodging the people who were exiting.

*Chime*

Nathan: “Belle!!...”

Belle was startled by the sudden shout, but she had turned her back to the counter after just finished helping a customer, but Nathan didn’t care at the moment, he would apologize later.

Nathan: “Belle, I finished a bunch of quests, can you check and see if I can ‘rank’ up now?”

Belle: “Ah, yes, right away.”

Nathan walked over to the counter and placed his Adventurers Card on the stone tablet from before.

*Shhhhhhhhhhnnnnnng*

Belle: “Let’s see.”

Belle checked over the results of Nathan’s work, while Nathan leaned over the counter an anticipation.

Adventurer A: “Hey did you hear about what happened to that puffy-faced bloater?”

Adventurer B: “They said he was messing with runes and blew up his home.”

Adventurer A: “Yeah, the explosion that shook the red-light district last night, just when I finally saved enough up for a fun night.”

Nathan and company listened in on the conversation of two adventurers.

Iris: “It seems as though word has gotten around rather quickly.”

Nathan: “And no mention of us at all, It went better than I thought it would.”

_

_

[Late last night]

Ena: “Nathan.”

Anais: “Ena, what’s wrong?”

Nathan turned to fine Ena waving him to follow.

Ena: “We have a problem.”

Nathan followed Ena back to Morty, to find Anais standing over him, only turning around once they arrived.

Anais: “I think I over did it.”

Morty was on his knees, with his head down. Nathan lifted up his head to look at him, only to find a blank expression. His pupils had rolled to the back of his head, drool running down his face and a small absent-minded groan escaped his lips.

Nathan: “Morty, hey Morty, *snap**snap*, Leseres to Morty.”

*Slap**Slap*

Iris: "Master what are you doing?"

Nathan: "What, its how they do it in the movies."

Girls: "(Moovees, again)."

No matter what Nathan did, Morty wouldn’t respond, he just continued to groan and sit there.

Ena: “What’s wrong with him?”

Nathan: “…………He’s dead.”

Ena: “I hear him breathing.”

Nathan: “I mean he’s dead from the neck up. Whatever you did, you fried his brain.”

Anais: “Yeah, when I scanned him again, I couldn’t find anything at all, it was like his mind was devoid of any and all thought.”

Nathan: “What were you trying to do?”

Anais: “Like you said, I removed everything about us and Ramol. While I was at it, anything that had to do with his business.”

Nathan: “………….Well, you reap what you sow, it was your first time, your just probably at a high enough level to prevent this from happening or you just don’t know your limits. He got what he deserves, you don’t have to feel sorry for him.”

Anais: “I don’t, but as things are now, if anyone comes inside and sees him like this, they will know something was up. A little investigating will prove that the rune wasn’t the cause of this.”

Iris: “We don’t have much time; Master and I witnessed several torch lights heading this way.”

Ena: “And we have to do something about that kid, he was the only one who saw us.”

Nathan: “Hm, you’re might be right……………..okay, we’ll ask the child to cooperate, if we could I would ask you to erase his memories, but-”

Anais: “Nope, I don’t mind doing it for scum like him, but as for the child, I refuse.”

Nathan: “Fine, Ena, Iris, could you wreck the house for me, make it look like it fell in on itself.”

Ena: “Sure.”

Iris: “But, what will this prove?”

Nathan: “The inevitable conclusion of a house falling on you.”

_

_

Adventurer A: “And get this, they say he can’t even think anymore. The whole place came down on top of him. They been questioning him all night, he just sits there with his mouth hung open with a ‘dead’ look on his face and bandage wrapped around his head. The knot on his head, it freed up all source of space upstairs, if you catch my drift.”

By the destroying the house and placing Morty in front of the rune, it seem to everyone, that he was experimenting with runes, but something went wrong. People took the incident as they saw it. Some of Morty’s men got caught and the collapse and were injured, but with their boss the way he is and they were no longer getting paid, none of them were gonna stick around to be interrogated or incarcerated.

Belle: “Master Nathan?”

Nathan: “Yes, how’s it looking?”

Nathan turned his attention from the men talking and back to Belle, from who he was hoping to hear good news. However, Belle’s expression said otherwise.

Belle: “You completed fifteen requests, that’s outstanding in such a short amount of time. Your earnings equal up to five hundred fifty rydt.”

Nathan: “Yeah, thanks, but is it enough to rank up?”

Belle: “I’m sorry, your just short of the margin.”

Nathan: “Dammit, wait, the other day I cleared out a bandit camp, is that worth anything?”

Belle: “A bandit camp, but there doesn’t seem to be any request for a bandit subjugation on your card.”

Nathan: “I didn’t actually take the quest, but circumstances lead me to take them out.”

Belle: “I see, then do you have any proof?”

Nathan: “Only the treasure I was able to recover, Ash is sorting through it now.”

Ash suggested Nathan leave the treasure at Ramol’s for him to sort through. No doubt that everything there was stolen, and it would cause a ruckus if the wrong person saw something he had. Money wasn’t a problem, but the jewels and accessories needed to be investigated and possibly returned, no need to make unnecessary enemies. But, it didn’t matter, Belle was shaking her head.

Belle: “Sorry, but their not saying you didn’t just raid the bandits and then just returned.”

Nathan: “I didn’t, I destroyed their camp.”

Belle: “Even still, I’m sorry, without physical proof, my hands are tied.”

Nathan put is head down, he was crestfallen. If he could have just brought Gideon here, everything would have been fine, if his face hadn’t been made so unrecognizable. Without a rank-up, he couldn’t go into the dungeon, he was staring to wish, he’d never joined the guild.

*Chime*

Ash: “There you are.”

Ash ran up to Nathan, out of breath and he’s hand bracing his knees.

Nathan: “What are you doing here, I thought you were sorting through the treasure.”

Ash: “*Gasping * You are some crazy kinda fast, the second you left the house I found something, but you were already too far out of ear-shot.”

Nathan: “My bad, what did you find?”

Ash reached into his pouch and pulled out a small glass ball of sorts. Inside of the ball was what look like a black rose. Belle went wide eyed and cover her mouth in disbelief.

Belle: “Ah, Rselaia.”

Nathan: “Who’s Rselaia?”

Ash: “Rselaia, it’s the surname of one of the human royal families.”

Nathan: “Royal families?”

Upon the mention of Royal families, some other adventurers had taken notice of the glass ball and went wide eyed.

Ash: “I remember this from when I first came here. There’s a request for the return of this stolen emblem, everyone was scrambling to find it.”

Nathan: “Why?

Ash: “The reward was one jade coin, one-hundred thousand Rydt, do you know what this means?”

Nathan: “I could rank-up and go into the dungeon, if we complete the quest?”

Ash: “What, who cares about that?”

Nathan: “I do, you jerk, that’s the whole reason I’m doing this.”

Ash: “Oh, right.”

Nathan face palmed and turn back to Belle.

Nathan: “Will it be enough?”

Belle: “More than that, this is an S-class quest, if you were to complete it, your rank could jump up to “Bishop”.”

Nathan: “Seriously!?”

Ash: “Not to mention, we could get in good-standing with the Rselaia family.” However, there is a problem.”

Nathan: “What problem?”

Ash: “The problem is we can’t officially except the quest.”

Belle: “Yes, you can’t directly except an S-class quest because of your ranked as “Pawn”, but if you return the emblem and we receive confirmation from the Quest-Giver, will have no choice but to close the quest and rather your rank allows it or not, give you the reward.”

Ash: “There was a loophole like that?”

Belles: “Yes, but please do be quiet about it, it would be terrible if under-ranked guild members attempted to complete S-class quest before their ready.”

Nathan pumped his hand and excitement, after all the crap he had to deal with, he finally caught a break.

Nathan: “Then let’s go immediately.”

Ash: “On it, no way I’m missing this pay day.”

Ash went to check out the information for the quest, while Nathan waited for him, talking to Belle.

Iris: “*whisper*Master?”

Nathan looked down to the occupants still in his arms, Anais was still recovering from Nathan’s mad dash, but Iris was urging Nathan to look around. Nathan notice a few adventurers leaving the building, eyeing him as they left.

Nathan: “Hey Belle, do fights normally happen in here?”

Belle: “Absolutely not, it is strictly prohibited, why do you ask?”

Nathan: “Just wondering, what about quest, can more than one party apply for the same request?”

Belle: “There’s no rule against it, but unless it’s a subjugation quest, it doesn’t happen very often.”

Nathan: “Why is that?”

Belle: “Well, besides a gathering or retrieval quest, it’s difficult to fight for the item. Dueling for the rights of protecting someone or subjugating monsters don’t happen very often or never. Those who need guarding usually choose the party they are familiar with and in the case of subjugations, the party may not specialize in fighting that monster, so its best left to those who are. However, it’s not uncommon for gathered and retrieved items, to be fought over.

Nathan: “Oh……no.”

Ash: “What are you two talking about?”

Ash walked up to the counter, smiling from ear to ear. Completely oblivious to the looks of the adventurers leaving the building. It didn’t take long before the guild had grown quiet from all those who had left. The few that stayed were whispering or laughing under their breath.

Ash: “Alright, man I got the information, let’s head over to the noble’s district……….. why are you making that face?”

Nathan: “Iris, would you fly around outside and if you see anything suspicious, let me know.”

Iris: “Understood.”

Iris took-off flying out in open window.

Ash: “What’s wrong, woah!?”

Nathan dragged Ash into the request room, Belle was curious, so she made sure there was no customers around before heading into the room as well.

Nathan: “This just got annoying.”

Ash: “Why?”

Nathan: “I think we just acquired a bunch of competition.”

Ash: “Huh?

Belle: “What’s the meaning of this?”

Iris: “Master!”

Iris flew into the room.

Iris: “The people who were in here, are now waiting outside.”

Nathan: “Dammit.”

Ash: “What going on?”

Nathan: “I pretty sure the second we step out of this building, were gonna have to fight a bunch of adventurers, aiming for that emblem.”

Ash: “They’re gonna jump us when we leave, bastards.”

Nathan ran back out and took a peak out the window.

Nathan: “Iris, I don’t see anyone.”

There were no clear signs of anyone waiting for them, when he looked out.

Iris: “They are further down this road and some waiting around the other side of that building as well.”

Ash: “That’s the way to the noble’s district; they are trying to cut us off.”

Anais: “So what, let’s just take them all out.”

Anais returned to her Therian form and smacked her fist together.

Belles: “Fighting amongst fellow adventurers is prohibited.”

Nathan: “Not if everyone challenges us to a duel, then it’s fine?”

Belle: “That is a distinct possibility.”

Nathan: “And if I lose a duel, could it hurt my rank?”

Belle: “No, you’re already at the lowest rank, no penalties will happen, but if you lose, you forfeit whatever you gambled.”

Nathan thought for a moment and at this moment, several different adventurers were waiting for him to exit so they could take the emblem from them.

Nathan: “(As if I’m gonna let that happen, I just caught a lucky break, no way I’m giving that up.)”

Seeing as how his rank was at the lowest, that meant that anyone could challenge him. Asking why it was so backwards, Belle replied that several groups of lower ranks would band together and fight a higher ranked adventurer back to back. Once they had been worn out, the lower ranks would reap the rewards for defeating higher ranked adventurers. Though she did admit it to be backwards, by making so only higher ranks could challenge lower ranks, they made it so that if the higher ranks lost, their ranks could, in turn, decrease.

They wanted duels to happen less frequently, after all the goal of the guilds were to build a place where it could help with problems that the populace had, problems the government would not normally intervene. It was not a place built for battle and personal gain.

Belle: “We can’t outright forbid it all together, but we can at the very least dissuade them from engaging in such dishonest activities and focus more on clearing requests.”

Nathan: “I see, well it looks like that won’t be the case now.”

Iris: “I could go out and remove them all.”

Belle: “Miss Iris, I implore you not to do that. It’s way too dangerous.”

Iris puffed out her chest and raised her chin.

Iris: “Nonsense, it will be a simple task, with minimum effort.”

Anais: “No, I don’t think she meant it was dangerous for you.”

Nathan: “No need Iris, I have a plan. Belle can you tell me everything you can about the ‘duel system’”

Belle: “Of course.”

Belle began to explain everything about the system to Nathan. Once she was done; Nathan explained his plan. It was so simple, yet it appeared one hundred percent fool-proof.

Nathan: “Everyone got it?”

Belle: “Amazing, to come up with the plan in such a short time.”

Nathan: “It’s not that big a deal.”

Ash: “Aw man, how I draw the short-straw?”

Anais: “Stop complaining, its half your fault we’re in this mess. Or did you forget running into the guild screaming: ‘jade coin’, ‘jade coin’.”

Ash: “Guh!”

Nathan: “Don’t worry about it Ash, the other half of the problem lies with me, so I’ll be right there; next to you.”

Nathan smacked Ash on the back, attempting to cheer him up. Arming themselves, Nathan and Ash made their way to the guild exit.

Belle: “I wish you all the best of luck.”

Nathan: “Alright, everyone ready, let’s go.”