Candy and Stella returned to the Adventurers’ Guild to hand in their quest.
Upon arriving at one of the desks, Stella handed over the quest paper, along with the crumbling remains of a crystal golem.
“I’ve received your quest paper and verified that you two successfully got rid of the crystal golems!”
The clerk smiled at Stella as she spoke.
“Here’s the reward money. It’s 80 silver.”
“Alright!”
When the clerk stated the amount, a system note popped up.
[Adventurer’s Quest: Hunt Crystal Golems
Status: Complete
…Please speak to the clerk about your reward.]
‘Hm? Why does it say I still need to talk to the clerk?’
‘Ah crap! The debt!’
Once again cursing the developers for their buggy game, Candy watched as Stella received 80 silver from the Clerk
“Miss Candy, let’s discuss your reward now. I heard from Lena—oh, she’s the you originally spoke to—about the money you owe and your agreement with us. Per our agreement, the guild will keep 80% of your earnings from each quest. As such, I will subtract 64 silver. Your reward is 16 silver. Your debt is now 4 gold 47 silver. Please continue working hard!”
“Yeah, haha.”
After receiving the 16 silver, Candy and Stella exited the guild.
“…Hey, Candy.”
Averting her eyes, she responded.
“What is it?”
“What did she mean you owe the guild money?”
“Oh that, Ah haha, I may have gotten into a bit of trouble when I first arrived.”
Facing Stella’s inquisitive look, Candy reluctantly continued.
“When I first went to the Adventurers’ Guild, someone tried to pick a fight.”
“It was probably Charles, that bastard’s always picking on newcomers.”
“Anyways, I got kind of ticked off and well, blew a hole through the building’s wall.”
“Oh, I see. Sounds like he deserved it.”
“…”
“Wait. What did you just say?!”
“…I threw a cannon doll at him.”
“You mean the doll that is currently in my bag and the ones you used to blow up the sapphire golem?”
“Yep.”
Stella looked at Candy, speechless.
“Y-you really threw that at someone?”
“I didn’t actually hit him!”
“Sigh, well at least things didn’t get any worse. Still, that’s crazy!”
“Yeah, and now I owe the guild 5 gold, 36 silver and 70 copper.”
“You could buy a house with that much!”
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“Hold on, didn’t the clerk say you owe 4 gold, 47 silver? That plus the 64 silver you gave them doesn’t equal the total. Did you already pay some of it?”
“Ah, they needed some sort of payment upfront and since I didn’t have anything on me, I sold them the staff I got from clearing a dungeon.”
“I see.”
The two continued walking around and chatting. Suddenly, Stella stopped and turned Candy to look at her.
“You said that you owe money right now, yes?”
“Yep.”
“And you said that you didn’t have anything to pay so you sold them the treasure you found.”
“Yes.”
“Meaning that after that, you didn’t have anything.”
“I had 17 cannon dolls.”
“Those don’t count!”
“Then yes.”
“Which means that when I met you, you had no money.”
“Why are you asking so many questions.”
“Just listen!”
Stella shook Candy by the shoulders.
“That also means that when I met you the next day, you also had no money.”
Candy, unable to speak properly due to the intense shaking, gave a thumbs up.
“Which means you spent 3 days in this city without any connections or money! Where did you sleep? You couldn’t afford any lodging.”
As Stella finally let go, Candy regained her balance and ability to speak.
“The first night, I just stayed at the training grounds until you showed up and last night I met this really kind fam-“
“Candy, do you know what this means?”
“Huh?”
Stella put her hands on Candy’s shoulders.
“IT MEANS I LET MY FRIEND SPEND TWO NIGHTS ALONE WITHOUT ANY LODGING IN AN UNFAMILIAR CITY!”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Um, I didn’t think of it at the time?”
‘I can’t very well say that it doesn’t really matter to me since I just skip to the next day without sleeping and I can pause whenever I want.’
“Why? We’re friends! You should have told me! No, this won’t do. From now on, you’ll live with me, okay? Okay, let’s go now!”
Pulling Candy behind her, Stella rushed to her home.
…
“Ta da! This is my home! It’s also the place you’ll be staying from now on, got it?”
Candy laughed at how serious Stella’s expression was.
“Yeah, got it.”
The cozy house was located on the outskirts of the residential district. It was surrounded by other houses and behind it lay the vast fields the city used to grow food. Due to being near the agricultural district, it was much quieter here and the air held the smell of tilled earth and plants. The house itself was a modestly sized one story building with large windows looking over the street.
As Candy entered the house, she was greeted by a distinct herbal scent. The living area was filled with plants of all different shapes and sizes. The many colors gave the otherwise dull room a warm and vibrant atmosphere.
“You have so many plants.”
“Hm? Oh yeah, my brother grows them. He’s an herbalist, but now he’s working as a doctor for the city guards. Right, I forgot to tell you that I had a brother. He usually stays at the guard building since coming home is inconvenient.”
“I look forward to meeting him!”
“Yeah.”
Candy looked around as Stella went about unpacking her bag.
Leaning in closer to look at a delicate plant with blue leaves and violet flowers, she heard Stella’s voice coming from another room.
“Candy, come here. Let me show you my room.”
Turning away, Candy started to walk over when I system note popped up by the plant.
[Skill: Poison Almanac (novice) activated
Name: Riesalis (aka. Blue Moon.)
Type: ??? (poison)
Description: A small plant with light blue leaves and a central stem. The 6 petaled flowers range from bright purple to deep violet depending on the plant’s maturity.
Potency: ???
Please research more to discover new information.]
‘Huh?’
Candy looked at the information displayed in front of her.
‘Apart from the name, the skill didn’t give me any information I didn’t already have. What does it mean I have to do more research? Shouldn’t the skill do that for me? What’s the use of a skill that identifies poison if it doesn’t even tell me what kind of poison it is?’
Shoving these thoughts aside, Candy went over to Stella.
“Took you long enough, what were you doing?”
“Oh, I was just looking at all the plants you have.”
“They’re really pretty right? My brother cultivates most of these plants as decoration.”
“They are.”
“Oh, right. Here’s my bedroom. It’ll also be the room you’ll stay in since we only have 2 bedrooms.”
The small bedroom contained a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe standing in one corner. The desk was placed at the window, overlooking the agricultural fields. A potted plant sat to one side, while various writing materials and adventuring items lay strewn about.
“The bed isn’t very big, but it should fit both of us.”
“What? I don’t want to take up your bed, I can sleep on the floor.”
“The floor gets cold at night, plus you’re my friend. I refuse to let you sleep on the floor. We can both fit.”
“Alright.”
The two continued to chat until sunset.
“I just realized we haven’t eaten all day. I’m starving. Let’s make dinner.”
“Sounds good, how should I help?”
“Could you-“
‘Creak.’
The sound of the door opening interrupted their conversation.
“Hm? There shouldn’t be anyone visiting right now…Who is it?”
The door opened and revealed a tall, thin man. He had the same dark purple hair as Stella, and he carried several books in one hand and a cane in the other.
Stella’s eyes lit up when she saw him.
“Brother! Why’re you here? I thought you were staying at the guard building for now?”
“What, I can’t come home to see my little sister?”
The man laughed as Stella hugged him.
“Oh right! I made a friend! This is Candy. Candy, this is my brother, Zion.”
“Hiya! It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Candy.”
“I’m glad to meet a friend of Stella’s. I’m Zion…”
As Zion looked over at Candy, his eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re…”
