Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 42

Mandatory Quest! Save the Maiden of Water

With matters of the clothing done, Connie with the one and a half men headed to the guild.

As they entered, Nick spotted a friend and excused himself. The girl allowed him with a small wave of her hand.

It was almost noon and the hustle and bustle of the counter had lessened a great deal. She did not have to wait long before her turn was finally up.

“How may I help you to – ah!” The guy manning the counter’s expression stiffened for a moment before he coughed and said. “S-sorry. I, er – h-how may I help you?”

“No Cossette today?” Connie asked.

The man looked to the back and found himself being jerked to the side by a strong hand and almost fell.

“Watch it!” the man said in anger. But was cowed when he saw the face on the girl who pulled him.

“I’ll take over. You help Old Browne with the documents, Fred. Hello, Connie. What brings you here today?”

The familiar smile of Cossette had become a welcome sight in the guild these days. The Hunter’s Guild had not exactly been a very friendly place after her attempt at discouraging unsavory hunters the first time she arrived in this world.

“I want to sell some Essence Crystals from Alabaster Atrium.”

“Oh, can I see them? You can just put them on this tray.”

Connie took out the Essence Crystals from the Item Ring and put them on the counter. The beautiful receptionist’s face became more and more awed as Connie piled more and more of the Essence Crystals on top of the counter, until only the tip of Cossette’s pigtail could be seen. This scene caught the attention of the other hunters and guild staffs.

“Hey, look at that!” a hunter exclaimed.

“Damn, that’s a lot of Essence Crystals! How many monsters did her party kill?” the guild staff who served her before went wide eyed.

“Are these all that you want to sell?” Cossette lightly panicked as she peeked around the pile.

“Yes. Can you count them up?”

“Y-yeah, sure. This is going to take some time. Can you – eh, wait for a bit? Fred! Come here and help me lift the tray!”

Cossette and Fred slid the tray over and lift it side by side as the tray bent from the weight of the Essence Crystals.

“Use your back!” Old Browne from Guild Management yelled out from behind his desk.

“I’m using it, you old coot!”

While waiting for the result, the two took a seat at a nearby table.

“Hey, Connie!” Someone called out to her. It was a vaguely familiar looking woman. She was talking with Hans and another male.

“You are…err,” Connie tried to remember the person. She never did have too good a memory of people’s faces. 600 years of living did that to you. Memories were usually the first thing that goes.

“It’s Linda and Arnold,” Martell whispered to her. “We saved them back in Alabaster Atrium.”

“Ah, yes! Linda and Arnold! Did the man survive, err?”

“Roy, it’s Roy. Yeah. We managed to get him treatment just in time,” the woman said as she pulled up a chair, along with Arnold and Hans. “He’s gonna be out of commission for a while, but we’re good with money for a while thanks to the Essence Crystal we gathered from the dungeon.”

“It’s times like these that I envy those hunters who owned Item Rings. We had to throw away most of what we killed because we cannot afford to bring too much materials or it’d weigh us down. Especially if we find treasures,” the man said. “Thankfully we have Essence Crystals, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it going Dungeon Diving.”

“It’s too bad they don’t want Bilge Rats pelts,” Linda added. “They are easy to kill and very close to the surface.”

“No one wants any parts of those things! They smelled like beasts no matter how good you tanned or cleaned them!! And they look and felt like shit!!” said Hans with a shrug. He then turned towards Connie. “Hey, I heard Sen has been helping in Ethel’s store these days.”

“Yes. It…kind of just happens. Business is booming and Ethel is too old to serve too many customers.”

Hans scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile. “T-thanks for that. Her mother and I are worried for her because she always goes out to the forest to look for flowers. If she managed to find work in old Ethel’s store, it’d bring her peace of mind.”

“Sadly, that also means I cannot eat her flowers anymore,” Connie gave a short laugh. “but she is getting good with packing the pills.”

“That’s right!” Linda hit her palm with an astonished expression. “Those pills were great! It’s as great as Potions but more portable. And cheaper to boot! Some of the Hunters has been going there to stock on the stuff. Especially after we told them about it.”

Connie felt a bit miffed hearing her stuff being compared with Potions. But it was also her fault that she did not specify the details about her Medium and High-Grade Rejuvenation Pills. I think it is time to introduce more pills for the general masses.

“We’d like to get some more before we leave for another dungeon.”

Connie nodded with a smile. “More customers are always welcome.”

Linda leaned forward and asked. “You know, I heard people saying that you defeated a party of Hunters by yourself with a piece of paper. Is that true?”

“A pamphlet actually. And yes, that is true. It was a justifiable self-defense.”

“With a pamphlet?!” Martell went wide-eyed. “O-oh, if it’s you it…kind of makes sense?”

Connie smirked at Martell and answered. “Eh, I just crippled them. If they die as a result of their own doings, that’s not my problem.”

Arnold whistled. “Whew, gotta keep my eyes off you, then. Wouldn’t wanna get killed.”

“If you died from ogling me, it wouldn’t be my doing. Isn’t that right, Linda?”

Linda and Arnold’s face reddened as they looked at each other. “W-we’re not like that.”

“What? What is it?” Martell made a confused face.

“If you don’t make me angry, you’ll find me to be a good friend to have.”

While they were having a lively chat, the Guild’s doors were suddenly flung open and a fat man in a blue and white robe flanked by two knights came in. Four other knights held the door open as they walked in. They all had blue and white cloth over their shoulders.

“Church Knights?” Linda exclaimed in surprise.

“Who’s the acting leader of the guild?!” The man spoke out.

All the guild’s staffs’ eyes fell onto the belligerent middle-aged man sitting behind a desk with a mountain of paperwork. He looked left and right and meekly raised his hand. “I-I suppose that’d be me, mister Priest, sir. My name is Pertwee Browne.”

“I don’t care what your name is. I want you to declare an urgent mandatory quest!” the man pointed with a fat and pudgy finger.

“A mandatory quest, sir?”

“The Maiden of Water is missing!! All Hunters are ordered to help the Church Knights and the soldiers to search for her. 6000 gold will be paid to anyone who found her!! ALIVE!!”

Instantly the whole guild went into an uproar.

“6000 gold?! That’s amazing!”

“Post the request already, you daft fool!! Deacon Peterson will give you the detail.”

A lanky knight gave a salute to the frightened Browne. “By Junnaveil’s grace.”

“Er, sir. May I – May I know your name?” By this point Browne was so scared by this loudmouth priest that he almost whispered the words.

“It’s Cardinal Deacon Babblebrook!!” The man answered with a face red with rage. “This wouldn’t have happened if they sent the elites instead of regular soldiers!”

“Er, Cardinal Deacon, sir. They did send us 5 knights with the average of level 35s,” one of the braver Church Knights pointed out.

“Well, they should have sent higher level knights! Like members of the Order of the Blue Dragons! Or the Order of the White Lions! We even lost our own Knights! This is a disgrace! Oh, Goddess. I hope they didn’t hurt the Maiden.”

While the high-ranking priest wallowed in self lamentation, the request was already written in a big tarp and nailed onto the quest board, covering all other requests. Instantly the Hunter’s crowded over to the request board to have a look.

“Call the rest of the party! We are moving out as soon as we are gathered!” Linda slapped Connie on the shoulder and ran out.

Arnold cussed as he leapt into action. “Dammit Roy! Why are you bedridden when something this big is happening?!”

Hearing that number, Nick became ecstatic, but quickly cooled down when he saw Connie having no reaction to the announcement. Martell awkwardly glanced at her, not knowing how to react to this obvious lack of motivation on her part.

“Er, Connie? Didn’t you hear? 6000 gold!”

“I heard,” Connie said, crossing her leg and leaning back. “but instead of focusing on the money, did you not hear that the kidnappers did their deeds while 5 Knights at the upper part of Rank C level were there?”

“But still…6000 gold!” Nick moaned.

It was then that a man with a dashing mustache and a fine suit entered in a fluster, cradling his right arm in a sling. The cloth binding his torso and part of his shoulder had turned red. “Cardinal Deacon Babblebrook!! Please wait! Please search for milady too!”

The Cardinal Deacon made a face at the man while shouting. “Grrh! Which one is more important? A miss from a Marquess household or Her Holiness? Everyone in the kingdom will answer the same. Even her own father!”

“I have no time for you. I will go with my Knights to search for Her Holiness,” The fat priest stomped away, followed by the Church Knights, who gave him an apologetic glance.

“Barnaby?” Connie called out, with a questioning tone.

The man winced as he turned to see her.

“Lady Cornelia?! Ah, pardon me. To show myself to you with such a condition. This is my shame.”

“Never mind that. Sit down!”

Nick stood up and gently sat the man down.

“Many thanks.”

“What are you doing here, Barnaby? Shouldn’t you be accompanying Henrietta in the Capital?”

Barnaby bowed stiffly while cradling his arm. His face could not conceal his worry.

“Lady Henrietta…she is also missing right now. She was accompanying the Maiden of Water in her carriage when suddenly our convoy was attacked. It happened in minutes! I only managed to escape because of luck. Dammit! For me to leave the Lady alone! I am a failure as her servant!”

“Don’t blame yourself, you did what you could. More importantly, do you know who attacked the convoy?” Nick asked.

“They were wearing bandit’s clothes and had masks on. But they were not simple bandits. They took down the knights far too easily for mere bandits.”

“Hmm. Nothing else?”

“I am very sorry.”

“Alright. Don’t worry, Barnaby. We’ll find her.”

Barnaby had a complicated expression. He knew of her Lady’s best friend’s status as a Hunter, but he thought of her as nothing more than a noble’s daughter trying out a new hobby. One that she would grow tired off soon.

“I appreciate the thought, Lady Cornelia, but I think we should leave it to the knights.”

“Nonsense,” she gestured at Nick and Martell. “We’ll head out now while the day is still bright. And here, eat the pill and have some rest.”

“What is this?” Barnaby asked. “A…pill?”

“Yes. It is similar to a Potion. Just swallow the damn thing!”

Barnaby looked dubiously at the thing but decided to trust her and swallowed it. He felt his body becoming warmer starting from the stomach and slight itchiness came from his wounds. He felt for the wounds and noticed that they were already closed.

“Amazing, my wounds are healed!” He jumped up and said. “Let me come with you!”

“No. Having you with us will just slow us down. You can just tell us where you were attacked.”

“But - !”

“Look, your wounds are healed but you are not a fighter. If she lost you, Henrietta will be sad. Do you understand?”

“I…I understand.”

Barnaby resigned and gave them the location of the carriages. As soon as he was finished Connie told the woman manning the counter. "Tell Cossette to keep the reward for me. I'll come get it later."

With that, they left the guild, walking in a brisk pace.

“Should we follow the Knights?” Nick asked.

“If we want to go after them fast, we can’t go with Knights. They’ll lord over us all. Didn’t you see how the man acted?” Martell ran alongside them as they walked.

“Right. I’ll prepare us a horse!” Nick said again.

“No horse. They’re too slow. We’ll run there."

"Run?!"

Martell noticed the face the scruffy man made and said with an empty gaze. "Yeah...Mistress is definitely faster than a horse."

"Martell, you go back to the shop and wait for Illumca.”

“Mistress, please! Take me with you.”

“No. You can fight a bit but not enough. The ones who kidnapped Henrietta and the Maiden of Water are professionals. They overpowered the knights who escorted them. They’ll gut you in no time!”

“Please! I’m not really good at fighting but I know how to track! My father taught me! And if I focus, I can sniff out anyone within 4 kms of me.”

Connie scrunched up her eyebrow and made a face. “Fine. You have your knife with you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you, Nick?”

“I need to get my armor and my spare shield. From what I heard the enemies were no joke.”

“Alright. 10 minutes, meet us in front of the gate.”

“10 minutes?!”

Connie threw him the Item Ring that she had been wearing. “10 minutes!”

He accepted the ring and smirked. “10 minutes. Got it!”

As Nick ran to get his shield, Martell asked. “Er, should we look for Illumca? I can try to sniff her out. I’ve memorized her scent by now.”

The blonde-haired girl thought about the suggestion for a moment and shook her head.

“No. Not today. Things...will get complicated with Henrietta if we bring her…”

“A-alright.”

He followed behind as Connie made her way towards the gate.