Volume 1 Chapter 27 The Silver Wolf Princess Who Is All Alone
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Kian received 3 silver coins from the guild for completing the quest and 6 coins as a reward for taking down the griffin during a free hunt.
Normally, the griffin hunt would have earned him at least 60 silver coins (the minimum market rate for such bounties). However, since Kian killed the griffin before the guild issued an official hunt request, his reward fell into the “free hunt” category, resulting in less pay.
On top of that, because Kian didn’t have the required rank for the hunt, his reward was further reduced to just 6 coins.
It felt unfair, but Kian wasn’t upset—he had expected this outcome. It was simply how the rules worked, and he had already come to terms with it.
The guild’s hunting team had collected the griffin’s carcass early that morning. As per their agreement, Kian could buy back materials from the griffin if he paid the required amount.
But Kian had no plans to do so. While the materials were valuable, spending his limited silver coins on them wasn’t worth it. He decided to let the guild keep them this time.
Giving up the materials might earn him some goodwill with the guild—or so he hoped. Then again, there was also the chance they’d see him as someone too poor to even afford the basics.
”But… I thought I’d get a bit more from the free hunt. At this rate, I can’t buy a sword.”
As Kian left the adventurer guild, he peeked into his wallet.
The total silver coins he got this time was 9.
Having lived in East End for over ten years, he thought he had a good grasp of the prices for swords and armor.
Nine coins were nowhere near enough──.
A new sword would cost 20 silver coins.
Even a used one would set him back 12 to 15 coins.
With 9 coins, he might find something if he looked hard enough, but he doubted the performance would be reliable.
If he was going to buy something, he should wait a bit longer and get a new one.
’So what about the remaining 4 Rank 7 quests? Are you going in with a club and a wooden sword?’
”Well, if I don’t have any money, there’s not much I can do… Plus, I can’t just spend all this silver on weapons. If I’m going on a quest, I need things like painkillers and hemostatic ointment, and my dissection knife is starting to look worn out. If I don’t replace it, gathering materials will be a hassle. And I have to buy portable food for the quest too.”
’Everything costs money, doesn’t it? Life is tough.’
”So, if I’m going to use a club as a weapon, how do I make up for the lack of attack power? Maybe buy some explosives or poison… Hmm, but is fighting even wrong? It might be smarter to buy tools to get out of fights quickly.”
’What should we do?’
”For now… I’ll visit all four quest givers and ask them about the locations of the quests and what kinds of monsters or beasts might appear. Based on the information I get, I can figure out what tools to buy… how does that sound?”
’The treasure hunting quest in the Labyrinth of Roses is from a merchant, right? Are we going to find anything?’
”If I go to the commercial guild and have them reach out, even if the quest giver is busy, they’ll probably send someone in their place. I’ll get the inside scoop from them.”
’I see.’
”I should be able to use today for gathering information. Robert’s escort request wrapped up quickly, so I have plenty of time.”
Kian pulled out a note he had copied the request onto.
”For now… let’s go meet the guard in front of the guild’s training ground. One of the requests is from that guard. Unless something crazy happens, he should be standing in his usual spot.”
’Alright, let’s go. Walk fast. No, just run. This one is real bored while we move.’
(Man, it must be nice to just sit in a pocket and yap about stuff…)
Kian started running toward the eastern gate of East End, feeling a bit envious of the glasses.
* * *
”Three days ago, my brother John disappeared in the Eastern Forest. John is a mid-level adventurer, and he was hired to collect mushrooms in the Eastern Forest. He is probably dead by now, so I need you to find his body and collect his belongings.”
Outside the eastern gate, in front of the adventurer guild’s training area, a mustached guard explained this to Kian when he asked about the request.
”So, you want me to collect his stuff instead of rescuing him, since he’s probably dead?”
When Kian asked this, the guard clicked his tongue in annoyance.
”Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Just bring me all his stuff when you find it, and that’ll wrap up the quest. I’ll give you at least a B rating.”
”John is your brother, right? Saying he’s probably dead seems pretty cold. If you had put in a search request sooner, he might’ve been saved.”
When Kian said this, the guard snorted.
”You know how much money it costs to put in a search request? Let me tell you, John was a loser. Why should I pay a ton of cash to save a guy like that?”
’But he still want his stuff collected, huh?’
”Is there anything specific you want me to handle with his belongings? Like, something you definitely want me to recover?”
”Something that clearly shows he’s dead. If possible, I’d like a part of his body. Once it’s clear John is dead, Matilda will have no choice but to come to me. …She shouldn’t have fallen for a loser like him. She should’ve fallen for a serious guard like me instead. I could’ve married Matilda and had a bunch of kids with her. Heh heh heh.”
”Uh, right…”
’So they were competing over this Matilda girl, huh? What a silly request.’
The glasses said this with an exasperated tone.
Kian scribbled on his notepad.
”Did John go on the quest alone?”
”Yeah.”
”Do you know how far he went to gather mushrooms? Just a rough idea is fine.”
”Mid-level of the forest, in the northeastern area. Recently, ‘Spoon Wings’ have been spotted around there. It should be roughly in this area on the map.”
’That’s pretty specific, huh? You must’ve had a real heart-to-heart with your brother before heading out on that quest.’
”‘Spoon Wing,’ huh?”
Ignoring the guard’s words, Kian muttered to himself.
The guard nodded, “Yeah.”.
”It’s a sub-dragon with wings like a spoon and red compound eyes, and a mouth like a trumpet. Honestly, it looks more like an insect than a dragon.”
”It’s a monster that injects digestive fluid into its prey through a needle-like mouth and sucks up the gooey insides through that trumpet-like mouth. Why didn’t you stop your brother?”
”I tried to. But he’s an idiot, so he went off to the afterlife.”
The guard chuckled lowly as he said that.
”…I understand. I’ll make sure to find your brother’s belongings. Just wait for some good news.”
”Yeah, I’m counting on you. Just be careful you don’t end up like John, getting sucked dry by a Spoon Wing.”
With that, the guard turned on his heel and went back to his buddies.
”This is a tough request. I hope I can find the belongings easily, but… this area is the Spoon Wing’s territory. I kind of feel like waiting until someone else takes it down, but nobody wants to take on the heavy lifting of hunting a Spoon Wing. The reward probably isn’t worth it anyway.”
’Hey, Kian. Did you hear what that guard said? He probably killed his brother. He must’ve lured him into the Spoon Wing’s territory.’
(Don’t say reckless things like that.)
Switching to his inner voice, Kian furrowed his brow.
It can’t be right for brothers to kill each other so casually.
He thought it was a common understanding that the guard was just a clumsy guy trying to recover his brother’s belongings.
’There is no such thing as pure goodness in people. You are too naive, Kian.’
”…….Well, I’ll keep that in mind.”
If that guard really did trick his brother into the Spoon Wing’s lair, then his brother was likely already dead, and the Spoon Wings would be buzzing around the belongings.
So, it looks like the key to clearing the quest is figuring out how to get to his brother’s body without being spotted by Spoon Wing.
He must find a way to trick those bug dragons that suck up the prey’s fluids.
’Hmph, there”s nothing to be scared of. Just take them out head-on.’
”If it was that easy, no one would have a hard time being an adventurer…”
Kian muttered this with a look of disbelief when, out out nowhere, a figure came out from the entrance of the guild’s training area.
Silver hair.
Wolf ears and a fluffy tail.
It was a Wolfmen girl──Serena.
She didn’t seem to notice Kian and was busy having a formal chat with the guard over there.
She must’ve been swinging a sword just a moment ago, because her naturally short silver hair was drenched in sweat.
Eventually, she walked over, wiping the sweat from her neck and underarms with a towel.
The scent of her sweat mixed with the morning breeze wafted through the air.
She had unbuttoned her top a bit to tuck the towel inside, and she looked up with a flushed face, her light blue eyes locking onto Kian.
”Oh…”
”Hey there. Good morning!”
Kian greeted her with a polite smile, but as soon as Serena saw him, she quickly looked down at the ground.
Her pleasant post-training glow seemed to vanish, and she turned her body away from Kian, avoiding him.
Kian widened his eyes a bit and called out to her as she hurried away.
”Hey, Ms. Serena!”
”…!”
She picked up her pace like she was trying to escape.
Kian grabbed a leather pouch that had rolled onto the ground and chased after her.
”Ms. Serena, wait up!”
”…!!”
For some reason, Serena finally started running.
Kian raised his voice at her.
”Stop! You forgot something…!”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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