Chapter 17: CH. 17 | Guild Mission for Theo

Theo smiled and nodded, thanking Thalia for putting her trust in him. Even so, it looked like they’d be waiting a while to get their mission officially registered through the guild system.

That was because the line of parties in front of the reception desk was fairly long. Theo could see it clearly, he had no idea how much time it would take for the line to actually shrink and clear out.

"Have you eaten?" Theo asked. Thalia turned and shook her head.

"We can wait our turn while you grab breakfast first. Don’t worry about the cost," Theo said.

Thalia nodded and went along with it, walking over to the tavern area to pick out something to eat. Right as Theo was about to walk over to her, a man called out to him loudly.

"Hey, aren’t you the boy from the other day?" one of the men asked.

Theo stopped walking and turned to look at the man, the grown adventurer who’d once given him some advice, advice that had actually been about failed missions getting returned by other adventurers.

He remembered exactly who this was, since the man had, in a roundabout way, humiliated him. Theo wasn’t about to forget that.

"You? Sorry, I never got your name."

"I’m Arvin. How’d that day turn out? Did you land the mission?" Arvin asked.

Theo shook his head with a sigh, "Unfortunately, no. Those adventurers apparently finished up their own mission just fine."

"Well... that’s just how it goes sometimes," Arvin said, hands on his hips, "So, have you got one now?"

He glanced back and saw Thalia already sitting at a table, waiting for her food to arrive.

The two of them did have a mission secured for that day, but knowing just how precious a mission was for a rookie adventurer, Theo decided against telling him.

"My friend tried pushing her way in, but we came up empty," Theo answered, "Competition between adventurers is honestly brutal."

Arvin’s eyes sharpened, his brow furrowing at Theo’s answer. Even though his face and stare carried an intimidating edge, Theo wasn’t scared.

"But I heard you already had one? I mean, you told that girl she could go run a mission with you," Arvin said.

"You heard that? You must be mistaken, that was a solo hunt. We’re just going out to hunt on our own," Theo said, unfazed.

"Right," Arvin said, "Solo hunting really does suit rookies like you two better anyway."

He raised a hand and gave Theo’s shoulder a hard pat, hard enough it felt like he was holding something back. But Theo didn’t flinch. He wasn’t going to give the man the satisfaction of seeing fear.

Once Arvin and his party members left the guild, Theo walked back to the table where Thalia was eating breakfast. Her food had arrived, and she was already digging in eagerly.

"Was that a friend of yours?" Thalia asked. Theo shook his head.

"More like the guy who scammed me," Theo answered.

"You got scammed? How?"

Theo paused for a moment, then started explaining the whole thing to Thalia. As she ate, she listened to everything he had to say. Her first reaction was to laugh.

"How did you fall for that? Didn’t anyone back in your village warn you about people like that?"

"I grew up in an orphanage. Because I’m classless, nobody was really willing to help me out," Theo answered.

"Oh," Thalia said simply, "I’m sorry."

"It’s fine. I’ve made peace with my situation. So you don’t need to apologize," Theo said.

Thalia nodded and went back to her breakfast. Theo, meanwhile, glanced over at the line in front of the reception desk.

Little by little, the line kept shrinking. By eight in the morning, most of the adventurers had already headed out to run their missions.

Thalia finished her breakfast and told Theo she was ready. The two of them got up and walked over toward the reception desk.

They found Sara there, and Theo handed over the mission sheet for her to register. Sara looked up and spotted them, breaking into a wide smile.

"So, should I register this mission as a solo run or a party mission?" Sara asked.

"Party," Theo answered.

"Are you sure? Does she already know about—"

"She already knows. There’s no issue at all," Theo said, cutting Sara off.

Sara paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement. She conjured a small magic orb and asked Theo to place his palm over it.

Slowly, the small blue orb lit up, glowing bright. A party system panel appeared in front of Theo’s face, and the same one appeared for Thalia too.

[Congratulations! Guild mission successfully registered for the party]

[Party Name: Theo’s Party]

[Leader: Theo (None || Lv. 2)]

[Guild Mission: Collect 10 types of herbs in Sarka Forest]

[Mission Duration: 00:09:59:46]

[Reward: +150 exp || +10 Contribution Points || +25 Copper]

The two of them read through the mission objective clearly. They were required to gather ten different types of herbs from Sarka Forest, located north of the city according to the map Yasa had given Theo.

Theo turned and looked at Thalia, "What do you think?"

"I can handle it," Thalia answered, full of confidence.

The young man nodded and decided to accept the mission. Sara handed the mission sheet back to Theo.

She also gave him a rundown of how mission completion worked. Theo listened and followed along.

He promised to be back before nightfall with all ten types of herb samples in hand for the guild. Sara agreed, wishing them the best of luck on their mission.

Theo and Thalia left the guild behind and headed north. According to the map, Sarka Forest was located north of the city, about a fifteen minute walk from the city gate.

"Can we actually finish this mission?" Thalia asked.

"We’ve got this. All we need to do is tell the herbs apart from the poisonous plants," Theo answered.

Thalia nodded, seeming to understand, going along with what Theo said.

The two of them reached the north gate of the city and continued walking down the dirt road, where from a distance, they could already make out the location of Sarka Forest.

They stepped into the forest, and the scent of herbs was already noticeable everywhere around them. Theo felt confident they’d be able to gather everything they needed in no time.

"Looks like we’ll be able to knock this mission out pretty quickly," Theo said.

"Well, well... looks like that loser from the other day has turned into quite the skilled liar," someone said.

Theo spun around at the sound of a familiar voice behind him. He looked back, his face freezing in shock, eyes going wide. Thalia wore the same expression.

"You? What the hell are you doing here?" Theo asked.

"What am I doing here, huh? Oh, right! How about my party and I just finish that mission ourselves?!" Arvin said firmly.

"I’ll give you thirty copper if you hand over the mission rights from your party to mine!"

Theo glanced at Thalia, and the girl shook her head. His attention snapped back forward.

"And if I refuse?!" Theo said firmly.

Arvin drew his sword and pointed it forward, a long blade of clearly better quality than Theo’s, "Then I’ll just have to take it off your dead bodies!"