Chapter 4: Daily Adventurer
Cecile overslept. The sun was already high in the sky when she woke up. She looked around; the room still seemed orderly except for the pillow lying on the floor. She thought what happened to her last night was a dream, but the unmistakable stench of her love juice still persisted in the room. Grabbing her clothes, which had avoided the disaster, she went down to ask the innkeeper for a mop.
After cleaning her room, she hurried to the knight order's headquarters to ask for Captain Sheena. However, she was denied entry since she was merely a civilian. Inquiring about the lewd worm brought no results; the stationed knights merely shrugged her off with an "I don't know.". She then remembered that the existence of the lewd bug was a secret, so it was obvious that regular knights wouldn't know about it.
With a heavy heart, she left the knight's headquarters and went to the adventurers' guild. She had no choice. She felt fine now, but worry continued to linger inside her. If the lewd worm attacked her in the forest, she would be incapacitated, and monsters would kill her. As a female, a fate worse than death might befall her; she could become a breeding ground for goblins and orcs until the knights saved her again.
She didn't know that if it were not for the sentient Hiro inhabiting her, she would suffer an even worse fate. Fortunately for Cecile and the city of Horaine, Hiro was a sentient parasitic tentacle. A normal parasitic tentacle would have consumed her in a day and propagated throughout the whole city. Without intervention, a densely populated city like Horaine could fall within a week.
Cecile walked with a heavy heart to the counter, where a woman named Agathe was professionally sorting documents. It was already noon, so no adventurers were coming to her. Cecile spoke up, trembling.
"I am adventurer Cecile. The quest has failed." She reported.
"Yes. I have heard from the knights. The quest to guard merchant Omnus has failed. The penalty for failure is two gold. Will you pay it now, or will you deduct it from future quests?" the receptionist said coldly. Adventurers must take their work seriously. If they fail, it tarnishes their reputation. For beginners like Cecile, it was akin to a death sentence.
"I... I will deduct it from future quests."
"Very well. All future quest commissions will be deducted by fifty percent until the debt is paid. I suggest you take on easier quests, such as slaying goblins or wolves. You can run away in those cases, unlike escort quests. Bandit strength varies, and we understand that you merely had terrible luck. However, it would not do for clients to know their guard could lose.
Moreover, the escort quest's level requirement was ten, and yet, through the power of your party leader, who is level 14, you somehow sneaked into the quest. The higher-ups aren't pleased with such rule-breaking. All escort quest level requirements will be increased to level 15, and all members need to be equal to or higher than the level requirements." The guild receptionist sighed. Cecile merely nodded.
She then walked to the commission board. As advised, she chose a goblin extermination quest. The reward was 4 silver for five confirmed kills. Her cheap inn was priced at 4 silver a day. If this didn't go well, she would be homeless in two days. She then picked two more slime commission quests, which rewarded 1 silver for ten cores.