A Futile Exclamation
With a hollow cry, the fur hat vanished from right in front of my eyes. She was stronger than me to begin with, so taking it back wasn’t an option. …Though it was already pretty worn out anyway.
Left with no choice, I stared blankly at Reina’s back before peeling off the stiff academy uniform and changing into my combat gear—the same outfit I basically wore for going out. As I did, Balt’s words from earlier drifted back to me, and I tossed out a casual question.
“Noona, got any good weapon recommendations?”
“Huh? Why the sudden interest in weapons?”
“I’m getting tired of the dagger. It’s not exactly ideal for head-on fights.”
At the mention of weapons, Reina finally rolled over to face me. She spun the dagger from its sheath like a top on her fingertip, her way of agreeing that it was time to move on to something else. Back when we first hunted near the capital, a dagger was the only weapon I could handle, so there hadn’t been much choice. But things were different now. I couldn’t keep swinging around a weapon full of flaws forever.
“You’re right. It’s about time we started thinking about it.”
Reina nodded along with my words. Even among mercenaries who had made names for themselves, daggers were mostly used as backup or throwing weapons. Very few who fought directly with one in hand. There was a reason so many avoided them. Most of the stubborn fools who kept using daggers were either already dead or had long since come to their senses and switched.
I already knew all that in my head, but nothing useful immediately came to mind.
“Mm, I’ll head out for now.”
Time was short, and we hadn’t reached any real conclusion. I straightened my clothes and turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Where else? I need to make money.”
I answered Reina’s question half-heartedly and stepped out onto the stone path, heading straight for the guild. Unlike before, when I used to just drag a cart outside on a whim, I could now officially rack up achievements through proper requests. But…
“Hey, I saw that request first!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You think requests wait around for people?”
“Aah! Stop pushing!”
That meant diving headfirst into this blood-red ocean where everyone fought over the same jobs. It was good that there were more options besides hunting, but watching mercenaries argue over scraps killed any motivation I had.
‘At this rate, I won’t get anything done…’
In a guild this packed, just getting a request was already a hurdle, let alone building up achievements. Mornings used to be relatively quiet, but the moment the academy schedule started, it turned into this mess. Still, I was sick of endlessly hunting nothing but boars and snakes.
Whatever. Even if it was some request everyone avoided, I’d take anything. I pushed my way through the crowd and stood in front of the request board. Near the very bottom were the torn, crumpled request forms—the ones mercenaries had snatched up and slapped back on repeatedly. I scanned through those first.
‘Gathering herbs, hauling materials, being a conversation partner, playing with kids…?’
True to form, these were all errands that everyone else had rejected. My combat gear suddenly felt ridiculous. If I’d worn civilian clothes, maybe, but the only request that looked doable in armor was the herb gathering one. With a sigh, I peeled the neglected form off the bottom of the board.
An herb collection request open to anyone regardless of rank. The pay was only two or three silver coins, but at least I wouldn’t have to drag a cart back and forth to the slaughterhouse like with hunting.
“White berries and End-roll Grass. Herb gathering request accepted.”
‘White berries and End-roll Grass…’
Once I decided, the process moved quickly. While I handed over my registration card for verification and mentally listed the items I needed to collect, the receptionist continued.
“You’ll need to deliver the gathered materials to the pharmacy afterward. Is that all right?”
“Ah, yes.”
I answered without thinking. I’d already committed, and backing out over something so minor was too much trouble. Besides, the client was clearly the type who didn’t want to move an inch. Wanting delivery instead of picking it up themselves said everything. No wonder the request had been so unpopular.
After roughly memorizing the pharmacy’s address from the form, I left the guild. ‘Commercial District, 5th Street… Clear Dew Pharmacy.’
Repeating the delivery location in my head, I headed outside the city. Until that moment, I’d thought it was just an ordinary gathering request anyone could do.
…Until thirty minutes later, when I finally found the first End-roll Grass.
‘I only found one? Seriously?’
After stuffing the single stalk into my bag, I frowned at the unbelievable reality and kept walking the forest path. I’d completely forgotten. This world didn’t show helpful arrows pointing to destinations. There were no markers telling you how many of something you still needed. Of course, it also didn’t tell you where certain plants grew in the forest.
At least the white berries were easy—they stood out like snowflakes on green bushes no matter the season. The problem was End-roll Grass. Even with its distinctive curled tips, no matter how hard I stared at the ground, I couldn’t find any.
“Seriously, where the hell is it…”
A sigh escaped me. Wandering aimlessly through the forest in search of that damn plant made me feel pathetic. I should’ve just hunted boars and snakes instead of taking this stupid request.
Speaking of monsters, while I was busy looking for grass, I ran into five boars. Even though spring was approaching, prey was still scarce, so they charged the moment they saw me. They went down in one hit anyway, so I killed them as they came, but I couldn’t drag the corpses around while searching, and I hadn’t brought a cart in the first place. I had no choice but to leave the money lying in the forest and keep moving.
‘Hah, I really underestimated this.’
Honestly, I’d looked down on the herb gathering request. Reminding myself that nothing in this world was easy, I trudged through the mountains, sweating even in the middle of winter. The urge to quit and go home to lie down was overwhelming, but…
‘If I fail, there’s a penalty, right… Damn it.’
Remembering what the other mercenaries had said about penalties for failed requests, I couldn’t bring myself to give up. After wandering the forest for what felt like forever, I finally spotted a patch of green.
‘There! There, you bastard!’
I’d found the cursed plant’s colony at last. It was only worth a few coppers at most, but the joy that washed over me was greater than when I’d dug up that ring back in the village. While experiencing this new kind of happiness, I made a firm resolution in my heart.
I was never taking another herb gathering request again.
After hours of unexpected mountain trekking, my whole body ached. How did herbalists climb these slopes without any level correction, treating them like flat ground? ‘This job isn’t for just anyone.’
While internally raising my opinion of herbalists, I finally made it back to the plains. At least I’d walked in one direction, so I hadn’t gotten lost deep in the mountains and died. The real problem was that it had gotten way too late. By the time I reached the back of the line at the city gate, it was almost night.
Even after standing in the workers’ line instead of the visitors’ line, I still had to wait because other mercenaries were there too.
“Haaah…”
A long yawn escaped me amid the endless waiting and the darkening sky. Even after finally showing my card and entering the city, my work wasn’t done. Other mercenaries headed back to the guild, but my destination was elsewhere.
I’d forgotten the full address, but I remembered the first part—Commercial District, 5th Street. Assuming the herb delivery would be to the pharmacy, I headed there without a second thought. Requests that didn’t end at the guild were annoying like this. You got so focused on the work that your memory failed you.
Anyway, I’d arrived at Commercial District, 5th Street. Looking left and right, fragments of memory started coming together.
‘Ah, there it is.’
Only after spotting the sign for Clear Dew Pharmacy did the rest of the address come back to me. Forgetting my own dirt-covered appearance, I knocked on the door with my mud-stained gloves, filled with nothing but the relief that the job was finally over.