TL Note: Sponsored chapter (2/3). Thank you Al for your support!
The next day when I woke up, I was so glad to not be smelling the familiar, stinking odor of Magical Grass wafting around the room. While reveling in the small pleasures of life, I got up and prepared to go to the Adventurer’s Guild. My stomach pain was more or less gone, and my mood was already a lot better. It was just another ordinary day, but the happiness I was feeling right now was just on a whole different level.
As I was caught up in the euphoria of being in a perfect physical condition for the first time in a while, I walked towards the Adventurer’s Guild and arrived at the quest commission reception desk. Since there weren’t a lot of people around, it wasn’t smelly at the moment. My goodness. Whenever I had to go to the Adventurer’s Guild, I really had to start making it a routine to come early in the morning.
“Welcome. This is the reception desk for putting in quest commissions, how may I help you?” (Receptionist Lady)
“Yes. Yesterday, I came in and put in a quest commission request. Here is the number tag.” (Lewin)
After the usual exchange, I handed the number tag over to the receptionist lady. She confirmed the number and then pulled out a few documents. She started introducing the adventurers who applied for recruitment, just like before. This time as well, three adventurer parties quickly put forth an offer.
“The first group is [Umbrella], which is an E-rank party. Although it has been E-rank for several years, its quest commission success rate is moderately high. Among the E-rank parties, it is a stable choice.” (Receptionist Lady)
Hmm… The fact that they were stable was quite attractive, but if I were to compare them to [Azure Alliance], they didn’t really match up. I decided to just quietly listen through all the party introductions for now.
“The second group is the F-rank party [Iron Gear]. It is a party composed entirely of rookies, but their quest commission success rate is more than 90% so far. Although it is a F-rank party, they are a fairly promising adventurer party.” (Receptionist Lady)
If I remembered correctly, they applied last time as well. I ended up not picking them over the [Azure Alliance], but they were looking pretty good. At least, in comparison to the first party, although [Iron Gear] were a lower rank, they currently had a better impression in my eyes.
“And finally, the third and final party is the D-rank party [White Feiler]. They were recently promoted from E-rank to D-rank. Although hiring them would cost the entire 4 gold coins, I personally think it would be a good deal on a cost to rank basis. The only concern for this party would be that they failed the D-rank Promotion Quest twice before finally succeeding.” (Receptionist Lady)
“Thank you for explaining the details to me. Could you give me a moment to think about it?” (Lewin)
“Yes, of course. Please take your time to decide.” (Receptionist Lady)
Hmm… I was already deciding between [Iron Gear] and [White Feiler], but which one was I supposed to choose? [Iron Gear], the F-rank party that was fairly cheap to hire but probably had built up their success rate through easier quest commissions? Or [White Feiler], which was stronger since they were a D-rank party but had a high price and failed their Promotion Quest twice?
The stable option was probably [White Feiler]. At least in terms of party rank, they were about the same rank as the [Azure Alliance], so I had high expectations for their actual fighting strength.
I had already decided to pay 4 gold coins, so there was no need to be frugal. Even without selling the Magical Grass this time, my net gains from the recent expedition were really far in the positive. The costs for preparing for the expedition wouldn’t be that high either. All things considered, I had made my choice.
“Um, could I request [White Feiler] please?” (Lewin)
“Understood. Then, I will contact [White Feiler]. For the face-to-face meeting, does the meeting place in front of the Adventurer’s Guild bulletin board at a little past noon work?” (Receptionist Lady)
“Yes, that works. Thanks so much!” (Lewin)
Well, I had to kill some time until noon. I thought to myself that I should probably get something to eat first since, yesterday and… actually, the last five days, I had only been eating Magical Grass. I decided to splurge a bit on some delicious food before going shopping for the expedition to Mount Cornello. After the recent expedition, I had gained a bit of experience on what was needed and wasn’t needed in terms of shopping for preparations. After eating and doing some shopping, the timing should be just about right.
Alright!! Since that was out of the way, it was time to find a delicious restaurant to eat at!
After eating at two different restaurants and finishing shopping, I returned to the Adventurer’s Guild. From here, it was time to meet with [White Feiler]. I was quite nervous, but I was definitely even more nervous when I met the [Azure Alliance]. That time, I heard that the behavior of the [Azure Alliance] was bad after all. If I had remembered correctly, they wore white bandanas to represent their party, but… it seemed that they hadn’t arrived yet.
Well, there was still some time left before our designated meeting time, so I decided to wait patiently.