Chapter 65: CH. 65 | A Solo Gambit

Thalia and Aya split up the responsibilities between them. They’d take turns watching over Grandma Lily in the intensive care room at the apothecary.

Theo, meanwhile, would stay at the inn, close to the apothecary’s location.

At first, Lily had offered her grandmother’s house for Theo to stay in for the night. But given the circumstances, he turned down the offer.

For Theo, it just didn’t feel right staying in that house while its actual owner wasn’t there.

The inn was the ideal choice for him anyway, and since Theo planned to head out early the next morning, staying at the inn made far more sense.

Once he reached his inn room, Theo opened the window and let the night air drift in, cooling the space.

He glanced to his left and watched the crowd that had gathered in front of the apothecary gradually thin out, people drifting away from the place.

Avara shifted back into her human form, sitting at the edge of the bed with her legs crossed. "Why don’t you just stay for a while longer?"

Theo heard Avara’s voice and turned to look at her. He leaned back against the wall of the room, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Avara.

"We don’t know for certain when Grandma Lily will wake up. My plan is to go back to the city to run guild missions and look for information about Hana," Theo answered.

"I know she’s your mother, but wasn’t Miya’s instruction clear enough? You don’t need to worry about her," Avara explained, "She and Lord Aslan are both Saints. A massive explosion like that surely couldn’t have killed them outright, right?"

"I think so too, a Saint wouldn’t just die that easily."

"And if Saint Mage Hana really is still alive, word of it would have already spread to plenty of people by now. But what’s the reality? Everyone believes they’re dead."

"What are you getting at?" Theo asked, his gaze sharpening.

"Listen to me! If the people who’ve lived longer than you, who’ve heard far more gossip than you ever could, all believe they’re dead, doesn’t that mean the truth about Saint Mage Hana is going to be incredibly hard to uncover?" Avara asked.

Theo wasn’t angry, but he listened carefully to what Avara had said. He had to admit, she had a point.

Sometimes the fastest source of information was simply word of mouth, since historical records surely wouldn’t record Saint Mage Hana as still alive and living quietly in some village or city.

Historians would much rather conclude that both of them had died, so their example and spirit could serve as a symbol of heroism for everyone.

That was because people tended to value someone’s struggle far more once they were dead than while they were still alive.

"All right," Theo said. "You’re a lot more talkative than I expected, I figured you’d stay quiet most of the time."

"At first I assumed you were just some random outsider who happened to inherit something from Lord Aslan, but after finding out you’re actually their child, my view of you changed completely," Avara answered.

"Besides... there’s something else I need to take care of," Avara added.

Theo let out a quiet sigh and nodded, even though he had no idea what Avara actually meant by that. He turned and tried to close the window, but Avara stopped him.

She explained that she preferred keeping the window open, since the night air circulation would help both of them rest more soundly. She also promised to keep watch over Theo even with the window left open.

"Suit yourself. I’m going to sleep."

***

The next day.

Theo woke up early in the morning and finished getting everything ready. He put on his clothes and long black jacket again, strapping his sword to his waist.

Avara had already shifted back into her crow form, flying over to perch on Theo’s shoulder. That morning was the right time for Theo to head back to the city.

Stepping out of the inn, he spotted a carriage parked in front of a wooden shelter, with several people already gathered there, getting ready to head out.

Theo walked over and asked about the fare to Aluric City. He paid the fare and climbed into the passenger carriage, which was packed with villagers hauling their goods to sell.

Before long, the passenger carriage set off north, heading toward Aluric City. The journey would be a long one, so Theo used the time to pull up his personal status panel and look it over.

I’ve been stuck at this low level for far too long. I really need to step up my efforts to level up faster.

If I don’t reach level 10 soon, I’m worried that the authority quest will stay locked for a long time.

The carriage stopped at every village shelter along the way, dropping off or picking up passengers.

Theo even passed through his own village at one point, stopping briefly at the shelter, and he caught sight of the orphanage through the carriage window.

After a long stretch of travel, the carriage finally arrived at Aluric City. He climbed down and walked away from the south gate.

His eyes landed on the clock tower in the city center, showing ten in the morning. There was a good chance the mission board had already been picked clean.

Still, there was no harm in checking anyway, just in case there happened to be a mission still left over. That could work out in his favor.

He arrived at the guild alone, and Sara greeted him, asking about Thalia and the others’ whereabouts.

"They’re in Archan Village, it’s a long story," Theo explained. "Is there any mission still left for me?"

"Hold on a second," Sara said, checking the mission board and coming back.

She explained that the mission board still had a few listings suited to Theo, ranging from D-Rank to F-Rank.

"What do you think?" Sara asked.

"I need a mission that’ll help me level up fast. D-Rank missions do give decent EXP, but I need something higher than that," Theo answered.

"Given your current level and your experience with D-Rank missions, the best I can really recommend is at least a C-Rank mission."

"The reward’s around 600 to 700 exp."

"I’ll take it," Theo said. "I’ll also register it under my party."

"A party? Why not go solo?" Sara asked. "If you take it as a solo mission, you’d get double the mission reward."

"Wait, that’s actually possible?" Theo asked.

"Yes."

Sara stepped out from behind the reception desk and led Theo to the mission board. She showed him a mission sheet marked for solo missions, easy to spot since it had no party badge or group listing on it.

Even so, Theo figured there was no way he’d actually take a solo mission. It just wouldn’t feel fair to Thalia and the others.

They wouldn’t get anything out of it at all, while Theo alone would walk away with exp, contribution points, and of course, money.

"So? Are you going to take the solo mission?"

"No," Theo said. "I’ll take this mission, for the party."

Theo picked out a C-Rank mission, its description requiring him to collect items from the Yuraja mine, a location overrun with Dark Goblin and Kobold monsters.

He handed it over to Sara, which clearly caught her off guard. "You’re seriously taking this alone?"

"Yeah."

"If I earn exp from this, then my friends need to get a share of it too."

"But this one requires a party," Sara said.

"Don’t I already have a party? Just register it under that, I’m the leader."

Sara let out a short breath, then agreed, glancing over at Theo. "I’m warning you. Running this mission is going to feel like a slow death for you."

"If you end up dead, I’m not taking responsibility for it!" Sara said firmly.

"Of course not, who do you think you are? My mother?"