"Barkeep, do you know where the Adventurer’s Guild is around here?"
Lorin returned to the tavern with his pack on his back, wanting to see what a proper Adventurer’s commission looked like.
He wasn’t one to sit idle. Pip still needed five days to recover from his injuries, and he couldn’t just hole up in the tavern counting copper plates every day.
He figured he could take on a few simple requests to practice, familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain, and rack up some Explore Points.
If he ran into anything lethal later on, at least he would have a better chance of surviving.
"After this trip, I’ll ask the little guy if he wants to go adventuring with me," Lorin thought.
Ever since Pip had been willing to risk his life to hold off that Hobgoblin alone, Lorin no longer saw him as an Ordinary passerby, but genuinely believed he was someone he could trust with his life.
To say he hadn’t panicked in the months since he crossed over to this world would be a lie.
Opening his eyes to an unfamiliar world, with only fragmented memories left by his original body, the loneliness of being in a foreign land gnawed at him constantly.
Until Pip appeared.
This short fellow usually seemed warm and polite, but in a fight, he would charge forward swinging his hammer, occasionally blurting out Dwarf profanities. It gave Lorin an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
The tavern owner was busy cleaning. Hearing this, he tossed aside his rag, leaned on the counter with both hands, and chuckled, "You’re looking at it."
"Huh?" Lorin looked confused.
"Shallow Beach Town is too small, and it just so happened we didn’t have a tavern either, so I turned the Guild into one." The tavern owner pulled a stack of crumpled parchment from under the counter. "Looking for work? Take a look for yourself."
Lorin set down his pack, leafed through the stack of parchment, and casually pulled one out.
[Dragon Shadow Mystery]
[Type: Investigation]
[Reward: 500 Gold Coins]
[Issuer: Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters]
[Task Summary]
An Adventurer reported sighting a dragon in the middle and upper reaches of the River of Frost. The exact species and age are unknown. If anyone discovers the dragon’s species or purpose, please report back to headquarters immediately.
[Time Limit: None]
[Note 1: The Guild does not recommend any Professional below the "Extraordinary" rank to provoke the Dragon Race.]
[Note 2: To claim the reward, you must bring back any item that can prove the dragon’s species, such as scales, blood, or feces.]
...
Gold Coins?
Lorin raised an eyebrow. He had never seen so much money in his previous life. It was enough for him to buy a two-story house in the Market District of Frost Valley City.
The kind with two bedrooms upstairs and a storefront downstairs—he had been coveting one for a long time.
However, for a dragon, this bounty was a bit too stingy.
Setting a low price perfectly filtered out the reckless greenhorns. True experts wouldn’t bother earning such a meager fee for the trouble, and bottom-tier Adventurers wouldn’t dare throw their lives away.
In the end, those willing to take this job would likely be cautious people who knew their own limits—those who only dared to follow the dragon from a distance, picking up scales and feces to make a small fortune.
The Guild could also use this to deduce the dragon’s objective.
It was a win-win situation!
But the middle and upper reaches of the River of Frost were nearing the Permafrost, which was over two months away by horseback from Shallow Beach Town.
Lorin put the task Scroll back and shook his head.
He continued flipping through the stack.
...
[Strange Noises in the Black Water River Channel]
[Type: Investigation / Extermination]
[Reward: 80 Gold Coins (10 Gold Coins deposit already paid)]
[Task Summary]
Multiple merchant caravans recently reported hearing strange noises near the lower reaches of the Black Water River. It sounded like the breathing of some gigantic creature, mixed with the noise of rocks shattering.
The merchant chamber hopes someone will investigate what exactly it is. If it’s just wild Beasts occupying the area, driving them away would be best. If it’s something more troublesome, find out what it is and report back.
[Time Limit: 5 Days]
[Note: Members of a fleeing caravan reported that the target is an amphibious creature, suspected to be a Rock-dwelling Salamander. Please proceed with caution.]
...
"A Rock-dwelling Salamander? What the hell is that?"
Setting aside whether he could even land an attack on an amphibious creature, the Power to shatter rock wasn’t something he could contend with right now.
Lorin had a very clear understanding of his own standing.
That Hobgoblin had nearly cost them both their lives. A Demon that obviously required a Professional to handle was better left to the Professionals.
He only intended to take on simple tasks like hacking down a few goblins or just gathering some herbs, to fully explore the surrounding area first.
It wouldn’t be too late to tackle these bigger requests after racking up more Exploration Experience and gaining a decent amount of strength.
Thus, he simply rifled through the parchment, skipping over the tasks that were clearly out of his league.
After a good while, Lorin finally found a commission he could comfortably handle.
[Uninvited Guests in the Barn]
[Type: Extermination / Proxy Posting]
[Reward: 1 Gold Coin, 15 Silver Coins]
[Task Summary]
Old Hunter’s barn has recently been taken over by a pack of giant rats, about seven or eight of them. They’ve turned the place into their headquarters, eating half the stored wheat and biting two laying hens to death.
The largest of the beasts is as muscular as a half-grown pup. Their eyes glow red in the night, and their tails are thicker than a man’s arm.
Hoping someone will quickly get rid of these pests.
[Time Limit: 1 Day]
[Note 1: Just don’t set my barn on fire. The entire harvest for this year is in there.]
[Note 2: URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!]
[Note 3: This is a proxy-posted task. Please collect the reward directly from the issuer. If the issuer refuses to pay, contact the Guild.]
...
"Giant rats?"
Lorin stroked his chin.
The size of a pup, around seven or eight of them—they sounded like some sort of mutated creatures, but they should fall within his manageable range.
He now had his Leather Armor and Rusted Throat. If he got injured, he could heal himself with the Ring of the Flame Speaker. If all else failed, the worst-case scenario was blowing them up with Burning Hand!
Wasn’t this a guaranteed win?
The reward was quite decent too. One Gold Coin and 15 Silver Coins were better than escorting caravans, no matter how he looked at it.
Lorin once again recalled the fear of being dominated by that Hobgoblin.
Checking the map, Old Hunter’s barn was located just outside the town. If he was fast, a round trip might not even take a whole day.
"Alright... this is the one!" Lorin thought.
He stuffed the parchment into his pocket.
Then, the most pressing matter right now was... to eat a full meal first.
Having been busy all morning, his stomach was already GRUMBLING with hunger.
"Barkeep, give me a portion of Martha’s bean and meat stew!"
"Hiss, smells amazing..."
...
The next afternoon, Lorin stood outside Old Hunter’s barn, staring in utter bewilderment at the furious man in front of him.
"Why! Why has my bounty been posted for well over ten days, and only now is someone coming to handle it!!!
"Do you have any idea how I’ve lived for the past half month?!
"My grain! My chickens!
"I’m going to file a complaint!!!"