Merchant Escort Quest #1
Merchant Escort Quest #1
I walked up behind Rebecca and tapped her on the shoulder.
"L-Looking to post a quest?"
Rebecca spun around, flustered, but the moment she saw it was me, her face soured instantly.
"Now you show up? Have fun with the big-titted receptionist downstairs?"
"I wasn't playing around. I was discussing a quest. Wait, what was that line you were using earlier? The one where you were advertising yourself to any party that'd take you."
"What, the I'm good with a sword thing?"
"No, the Mad— pfft!"
The second the words left my mouth, I couldn't hold back the laughter any longer. I doubled over, clutching my stomach and cackling.
"M-Mad Burst Dealer Rebecca! Pffthahahaha! Ahahahahaha!!"
"You son of a bitch!!"
"How the hell is your introduction line 'Mad Burst Dealer'?! What was it— you'll slice monsters like radishes?!"
I laughed so hard tears welled up in my eyes.
Rebecca, her face bright red, grabbed me by the collar.
She was glaring at my face with a gaze practically brimming with murderous intent.
Even feeling my life was in danger, I couldn't stop laughing.
"You're the one— you're the one who said it first! I just copied you!"
"Who told you to copy it? That's a line only shameless bastards with zero pride can get away with. If you just mimic it cluelessly, you'll only make yourself a laughingstock. Don't step into the adventurer's world with that half-assed attitude."
"Then I'll just stab you right here and die myself! You shitty Dream Demon bastard!"
Her reactions were so over-the-top, I couldn't help but find it fun to tease her.
Rebecca shook me by the collar until my whole body vibrated like a smartphone on full blast.
She kept shaking me until I was dizzy and on the verge of throwing up.
The moment my face turned pale green, Rebecca finally let go of me.
I collapsed onto the ground and spent a good while gasping for air.
Breaths still laced with laughter—.
"Mad—"
"Shut up! I said shut up!"
"Ah, madness. My old friend."
She looked ready to commit suicide if I teased her any further, so I put on a solemn expression and changed the subject to the quest.
"Actually, we don't need to look for a quest today. I already got a suitable one from Miss Wendy."
"Huh? I thought you said quests handed out by receptionists were all trash?"
"Seems like things have changed a bit. Well, it's a little complicated to explain. Basically, the guild treats me as important personnel now. The quests I get from Miss Wendy are pretty decent these days."
"From a receptionist, huh."
Rebecca stared at me skeptically for a moment, then asked about the quest details.
"So what's the quest?"
"Caravan escort. A merchant caravan heading to a nearby trade city. They say the whole trip takes about ten days. The pay's not half bad either, from what I heard. I signed on for six silver."
"Six silver? Then I—?"
"I get a bonus because I'm a mage. They said the other adventurers get five silver. Still, that's not bad, right?"
Basically, I was getting about a 20% bonus.
I'd wondered if Rebecca would resent me for that, but surprisingly, she didn't seem to care about that part at all.
Rebecca thought it over for a moment, then nodded readily.
"Nice! The pay sounds decent enough. I've been wanting to visit other cities on the outer continent for a while now. A trade city's bound to have plenty of sights to see, right?"
"Probably. I heard it's a metropolis as big as Yoen-su."
"When did you say we're leaving? Today, right now?"
"We depart in the afternoon. We just have to pack our things and gather in front of the South Gate. I was told to look for a wagon marked with the same symbol engraved on this wooden tag."
I handed Rebecca the wooden tag with the engraved symbol. We needed time for preparations in the morning, so once she took the tag, Rebecca and I parted ways immediately. We both had to go back to our inns and pack our things.
A caravan escort quest lasting a total of ten days.
The essentials to stuff in my backpack were trail rations and drinking water. Knowing full well the merchants wouldn't provide proper meals, I packed a hearty supply of jerky. I figured I'd ration it for about five days, then restock once we reached the trade city. Just in case, I also grabbed a blanket to cover myself with.
I packed what I needed and headed for the South Gate.
*
There are always many merchant caravans setting out from the South Gate.
That's because the trade city of Barca lies to the south of Yoen-su.
The city of Barca—. The name of the trade city I'd heard ages ago had only just resurfaced in my memory.
Not that it was a name worth dwelling on, anyway.
'Damn, that's a lot of wagons.'
I looked at the rows upon rows of wagons lining the main road by the South Gate, a fed-up expression on my face.
I had to find the one wagon bearing the correct marking out of dozens of them.
It felt like a hidden-picture puzzle, making my head spin.
The mark was the emblem of an eagle with outspread wings.
After wandering around for twenty minutes, I finally managed to find a wagon with the same symbol carved into it. A pot-bellied middle-aged man standing next to the wagon looked at me and nodded as if he knew me.
"Are you the one called Luke? I heard an incubus who uses magic would be joining my caravan?"
"That's correct. I am Luke."
"I am Kaltz, and I lead this caravan. Your appearance is quite striking, as befits an incubus."
His plump, bulging belly marked him as a wealthy merchant.
If you just put glasses on him, you could practically hear the oink-oink noises.
But he did seem to carry an air of veteran authority, probably due to his age.
"Flowing blonde hair and deeply tanned skin... could it be that you are an incubus who has undergone repeated evolutions? Just looking at your face is startling enough. I would never want you in the same room as my wife."
"That's incubus hate speech."
"Apologies if I offended you. In any case, you said you're a mage? We welcome mages regardless of their race. Please wait with the rest of the company until we depart."
I moved toward the back of the wagon that Kaltz indicated with his finger. Most of the party members who would be taking part in this quest had gathered there in the shade. It was a mixed group of hired adventurers and the caravan's private soldiers.
I scanned the group and, surprisingly, spotted a familiar face. It's rare for me, an incubus, to run into a familiar face on a quest. I'd mostly done solo quests, so I rarely had a chance to interact with fellow adventurers.
"Ethan...?"
A halfling who looked like a little brat.
Sure, all halflings were a race full of bratty-looking boys and girls, but—
This black-haired halfling was without a doubt someone I knew. It was Ethan, the one I'd done that herb-collecting quest with a while back.
I never expected to run into him again in a place like this.
"Oh, is that Luke? Good to see a friendly face."
Ethan raised a hand in greeting to me. His voice was as gruff and mismatched with his appearance as ever.
Out of courtesy, I felt like I should ask how he'd been, but I just couldn't open my mouth easily.
There was something drawing my attention.
Kreee—!
A bird, sitting ever-so-gently atop Ethan's head.
A random pigeon was incongruously perched on Ethan's head.
I was about to ask what that was when I suddenly remembered what Ethan was.
What was it Ethan had introduced himself as back then?
A monster behavior specialist?
Don't tell me he tamed that pigeon instead of a monster?
"Ethan, that pigeon sitting on your head... don't tell me you've tamed it?"
"Hm? A pigeon? Gah, what the f—!"
Ethan jumped up in surprise, leaping from his spot.
The pigeon that had been on his head scattered feathers as it flapped into the air with a frantic flutter.
'Yeah, figured.'
How could a Bronze class adventurer pull off a high-level skill like taming?
I was relieved to see that nothing about Ethan seemed to have changed.
"Thanks for telling me. I nearly got bird droppings in my hair."
"Don't mention it. Have you been doing well?"
"I was swamped with goblin extermination quests for a while. And you?"
"A lot's happened. You know that red-haired girl we did the herb-collecting quest with? I formed a fixed party with her."
"A fixed party—! That's worth celebrating. I've been in a fixed party myself, so I know— it's the sweetest time in an adventurer's life. As long as your personalities mesh well, there's no reason not to form one. If you keep grinding in open parties, your body ends up completely wrecked."
"I'm pretty satisfied with it myself. Turns out traveling as a duo is way better than being alone."
I chatted with Ethan about the glories of a fixed party.
The glories of a fixed party, put conversely, also pointed out the trash-tier aspects of open parties.
A miserly adventurer who hoards all the consumables for himself, a crippled player who can't deal damage because his control is shit, some insane newbie who keeps his mouth clamped shut.
You could talk endlessly praising fixed parties— or, well, endlessly shit-talking open parties?
Anyway, we were going on and on about that topic when—.
Suddenly, Ethan brought up something about the quest.
"There's something you should know. I just found out about it myself. Seems a special individual is mixed in with this caravan escort quest."
"A special individual? Aren't we all just the same Bronze-tier bottom feeders? Judging by the scale of the caravan, I don't think they hired any high-ranking adventurers."
"This adventurer is Bronze as well. But you shouldn't treat her the same as an ordinary Bronze. Don't be surprised. A nun is taking part in this caravan escort quest."
The moment I heard the word "nun," I was visibly startled.
As if I'd just heard the name of a noble who had no business being here.
"A nun...! Such an esteemed person in this humble place!"
The moment Ethan pointed his finger in a certain direction, I realized there truly was a nun participating in this escort quest.
"Wow."
She was a nun with eye-catching, lustrous blonde hair.
She wore a jet-black nun's habit with a veil covering her head.
A wooden cross hung around her neck as a necklace.
I naturally had no interest in things like crosses, but my eyes were drawn there anyway.
Because of her curvaceous chest—.
The voluminous swells of her breasts pressing up beneath her habit were literally supporting the cross.
Moreover, the hips visible beneath her skirt traced a gentle, soft curve— it was obvious at a glance that she had a superb figure.
"She's a pretty nun."
"The important part isn't that she's pretty. It's that she's a nun. A nun, who can be considered outright nobility in the adventuring world, has joined this party."
I fully understood what Ethan was getting at.
A nun capable of using healing magic is like the sun itself in an adventuring party.
Even arrogant, stuck-up mages will shut their mouths and apply if there's a nun in the party.
A nun is in the party.
And a pretty, blonde nun at that.
Around the nun, other adventurers on the same quest were lining up to introduce themselves to her.
No, even adventurers who weren't part of the escort group were casually mixing themselves in to greet her.
What the hell's wrong with these lunatics?
"S-Sister! M-My name is Hans! I truly hope you'll consider joining our party next time...!"
"Hey, you're making the Sister uncomfortable. Move it—!"
"My party will pay one silver to have the Sister join us. It's just a humble stipend, so I hope you'll accept."
"This party offers two silver! I understand you're on a quest right now, but please do get in touch with us next time!"
The lowly adventurers were making a chaotic scene in front of the nun.
I watched the spectacle from a distance, my expression thoroughly fed up.
That's when Ethan spoke to me.
"Now that it's come to this, shouldn't we also go greet that Sister?"
"Greet her? Why should we single out the nun for a greeting when we're all on the same quest team?"
"Everyone else is doing it. It'd be weird if we two were the only ones who skipped it. There's nothing to lose by cultivating some goodwill with a nun. That's a lesson I learned during my long years as an adventurer."
"Hmm."
"We'd better go now. That line's only getting longer."
I didn't have anything else to do while waiting, anyway.
There was still time before departure, and Rebecca, whom I needed to watch out for, hadn't arrived yet.
I ended up standing in line with Ethan in front of the nun.
Who knows, right?
If I made a connection with the nun now, maybe I could get a free heal or something later on.
The line gradually dwindled, and before I knew it, my turn to greet her had come.
I bowed my head politely toward the nun standing before me.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Luke. I am truly honored to make your acquaintance, Sister...."
"Gasp!"
A sharp gasp suddenly cut through the air, and the moment I raised my head, I realized—
The blonde nun was staring at me with wide, round eyes.