The Magic Tower's Strange Investigation Quest #2
The Magic Tower's Strange Investigation Quest #2
Just what kind of quest was this?
I was starting to get skeptical of Lili's words. But Lili wasn't one to leave things vague and ambiguous, so she soon explained the details of the quest.
"It's a quest to investigate a peculiar phenomenon occurring near the city of Yoen-su. It's not simply a physical event, but something involving magic. Strange occurrences that defy common sense. For instance, fairies kidnapping human children, or spirits acting bizarrely as a group. We're investigating those kinds of phenomena."
"M-Magic-related incidents? Isn't that a pretty high-difficulty request?"
Hearing Lili's explanation, I awkwardly scratched my cheek.
Just hearing the word 'magic' made it sound like a very high-difficulty request. It didn't feel like the kind of quest a bottom-of-the-barrel Bronze adventurer like me should butt into.
But Lili waved her hand dismissively, as if it were no big deal.
"No need to worry! Not all magical phenomena are dangerous. The quest I got from the Magic Tower is a relatively safe one too. If we were to judge it by the Adventurer's Guild difficulty scale... probably..."
Lili thought for a moment before opening her mouth.
"E-rank? I think my professor said it was about that difficulty."
"E-rank, huh..."
That was a difficulty perfectly suited for Bronze Tier adventurers.
The Herb Collection Quest I'd taken before was also E-rank. If we hadn't run into that Kelpie, it would have been an incredibly easy request.
In other words, the quest Lili was offering me was totally manageable.
"That sounds fine. What's the reward?"
I nodded and threw out the question.
When I heard Lili's answer, I couldn't help but put on a surprised expression.
"1 Silver, Luke."
"A-Are you serious? You're offering 1 Silver as the reward? It's barely an E-rank quest!"
1 Silver!
A single silver coin was an enormous amount of money to me!
If I used 1 Silver frugally, I could survive for half a month without working. I was floored by the unexpectedly high reward.
"Yes."
"Wh-Why? Why is the reward that high?"
"Isn't it obvious? Because my grades are on the line with this request!"
"......?"
A serious expression suddenly crossed Lili's face.
"To graduate from the Magic Tower, you need credits, and the Tower encourages students to go outside and get their hands dirty. So every semester they make quests like this and hand them out to students. You get bonus points depending on performance—something like that."
"I see."
"So I'm offering 1 Silver to make sure you help me do the quest properly. They say adventurers get more motivated the more money they receive, right? Or am I wrong?"
"Correct. You are absolutely right!"
I recalled my college days in my past life.
Like me back then, Lili seemed like a slave to credits.
Investing personal time and money just to get a good score on an assignment.
Well, it wasn't really my problem how she spent her money.
If she was a Magic Tower student, Lili was undoubtedly a girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
Perhaps her family was a great lineage of mages. Or she might be the daughter of a rich family who entered the Tower through massive donations.
1 Silver was probably nothing more than pocket change to her.
As if to clear the air, Lili clapped her hands and spoke.
"I think we just need to recruit one more party member. Having too many people will cost us points. But if we clear the quest solo, they deduct for lack of cooperation. So I'd like to ask: is there any good adventurer you could recommend?"
"Someone I'd recommend? Of course there is."
I scratched my head and glanced sideways at Rebecca, who was standing beside me.
"Hey, hurry up and say something. Stop just reading the atmosphere."
"Huh? U-Uh..."
Rebecca had been standing there awkwardly the entire time I was talking with Lili.
Unable to find the right moment to break into the conversation, Rebecca had ended up looking like a complete third wheel.
Rebecca only found her courage after I gave her a push from behind.
"H-Hello! I'm Rebecca... Urk."
Was she nervous?
Rebecca covered her mouth, having bitten her tongue.
And then she started her self-introduction in a terribly unreliable voice.
"I-I'm Rebecca, a Bronze Swordsman. I'm good with a sword. A-And...!"
"Excuse me? I can't quite hear what you're saying."
Lili furrowed her brows at Rebecca's clumsy speech.
Fearing a major disaster—like getting rejected from the quest if I left her as is—I quickly moved next to Rebecca. I placed my hand on her shoulder in a very friendly manner and started rambling.
"She and I are a fixed party. An inseparable set menu! We're soul partners with perfect chemistry. Ah, maybe you don't know what a set menu means? Anyway, if you hire me, a swordsman comes as a bonus."
"A swordsman? Can I trust her skills?"
"Of course you can! She's a monster rookie who survived a one-on-one brawl with a wild horse. Her movements are more than just nimble. Rebecca, am I right?"
"Huh? Y-Yeah."
Thankfully, Rebecca wasn't so dense that she'd miss what I was spoon-feeding her.
I broke a sweat trying to loosen up the stiff Rebecca.
It couldn't be helped.
Newbie adventurers usually lack that kind of brazenness.
Meaning they don't have the guts to act brazen in front of a client. It took me months to shed my own newbie colors, too. It was hard to expect Rebecca to suddenly act proficiently.
Thanks to me babbling away by her side, we got through the crisis.
"Not bad. So you two are a fixed party, right? A mage and a swordsman. That's a solid combination."
Lili accepted Rebecca as a party member without much thought. In fact, clients who visited the Adventurer's Guild usually preferred fixed parties. Anyone would know a pre-synced fixed party is better than a clumsily assembled open one. And if that party included a mage, its value naturally skyrocketed.
"Both of us are new to the Magic Tower's investigation quests. I'll tell you that upfront."
"Even if you're first-timers, it's fine. It's an easy quest anyway."
"Understood."
"Luke, Rebecca. Then let's take some time to prepare our things before departing. Since it's an investigation quest, there's no need to buy anything special. We should be back by this evening at the latest, so just pack a backpack with some gear and provisions."
Lili instructed us to regroup in front of the city's western gate after gearing up.
According to what I heard from Lili, the place our party needed to investigate was Morris Forest.
The very forest where I'd hunted goblins before.
The place where I ended up getting brutally wrecked by a goblin pack during a solo hunt.
"Then I'll see you later."
As we were stepping out of the guild building, a hand suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
It was Rebecca.
She looked like she had something to say to me.
"What? Why are you grabbing me?"
"W-Well... thanks for earlier. Speaking to the client on my behalf."
"Don't mention it. You and I are a fixed party. We help each other out when things get tough."
I chuckled and shook my head.
Rebecca fidgeted with her fingers and then let go of my sleeve.
That seemed to be all she really wanted to say.
It might be a bit weird to say, but Rebecca's dejected expression felt a little cute.
She had that peculiar newbie scent about her, which I found quite appealing.
Made me want to lift her up and pound her right then and there.
"See you later. You know where the West Gate is, right?"
"W-Well, of course I do!"
Leaving a flustered Rebecca behind, I returned to the inn and took a brief moment to prepare. I packed jerky and water bottles into my backpack.
Of course, just in case, I packed my crossbow too, but I probably wouldn't use it anymore. Firing Mana Spheres was better than shooting arrows, after all.
*
An hour later.
After meeting up with our client Lili at the West Gate, we immediately set off for Morris Forest.
Morris Forest was well within walking distance of Yoen-su. There was no need to rent a carriage, so I decided to ask Lili what I wanted to know while we walked.
"I still feel like I don't know everything about the quest. We're going to investigate a magical phenomenon, right? So what exactly is the phenomenon we're supposed to investigate?"
"If you're asking what kind of phenomenon... from what I've heard, it's a phenomenon where animals and plants grow giant. Creatures that live in the forest become massive overnight."
"Animals and plants grow giant? Why does that happen?"
"Huh? That's... beyond my current knowledge. There's a project at the Magic Tower researching the giantification phenomenon, but I don't have the authorization to access the research wing yet."
"I see."
Nodding vaguely, a thought suddenly struck me.
It was the Basilisk corpse I'd seen while working my part-time job at the Magic Tower not long ago.
The snake whose body was so massive it filled the entire waste disposal area.
Hearing Lili's words, that Basilisk might have been a monster giantified by the Magic Tower.
Just what were they researching that for...
Anyway, to summarize the quest, it looked roughly like this.
[Magic Disaster Investigation Request]
Rank: E
Details: Investigate the giantification phenomenon occurring in Morris Forest.
Reward: 1 Silver
After a while, my party and I arrived at Morris Forest.
Since Lili knew where the giantification phenomenon had occurred, she took on the role of our guide.
Following Lili, I casually threw a question at her.
"By the way, Lili. Do you know there are goblin nests in Morris Forest? We might run into some goblins during our investigation."
"Ah, goblins? There are goblins living in this forest?"
"Yes. Just to prepare for a possible fight, let me ask: are you a mage, Lili?"
"I'm a student at the Magic Tower, so of course I'm a mage. But I'm a student in the Alchemy Department. I haven't learned any attack spells. I've never even fought a monster."
"So you're an Alchemist, Lili? Can you make potions?"
"I'm still learning how to brew potions. I can make simple first-aid remedies, though."
"I see."
Through our conversation, I pieced together Lili's combat usefulness. She was a student in the Magic Tower's Alchemy Department. Since she'd admitted she hadn't learned any attack spells, Lili wouldn't be much help in a fight.
Rather, Rebecca and I needed to protect Lili.
"Hey, it looks like that girl has zero combat ability."
"So we need to protect her?"
"Yeah."
When I whispered this to her, Rebecca discreetly stuck close to Lili's side. Since Rebecca, as a swordsman, would have a faster reaction speed in an emergency, she took it upon herself to be Lili's escort.
We walked a long while into the deep forest.
Rebecca and I finally arrived at the place where the giantification phenomenon had occurred.
It was the side of a stream where the water babbled softly.
The moment we arrived at the stream and looked around, I couldn't help but look flustered.
"This is huge..."
It was far too massive.
Much larger than I imagined.
That was my honest impression after looking around the stream.