"We're broke?! Howww?" Amethyst blurted out with a feigned face of confusion, which screamed guilt.
"I asked the guild's banker, and he told me that we are in debt 1000 gold coins to a certain Madam Oren's Magical Supplies and Spells…"
"Ahhh, I wonder how that could've happened…"
I glared at her with a searing gaze, and she buried her head in her chest. I could see the tips of her ears coloured red as they poked out from her long brown hair.
"Worthless gold-digging elf, go find yourself an 80-year-old nobleman if you want to spend someone else's money." The taunting Kyros snarked.
"You small dicked little nerd!!! I should-"
"And!" I boomed out before they could really start getting at it, "Another 850 spent at… Xrath'Vakk's Devilish Draughts… whatever that is."
Amethyst stuck her tongue out at the unsympathetic assassin.
"The point is, we have no more gold left." We even owed 1000 now thanks to whatever mischief was happening at Oren's shop. "It's about time we got back to work!"
Tia cheered as I announced this, clapping his little hands together. He deserved to be so happy after all the hard work spent training the past few weeks.
I could say without a doubt he had now become a highly skilled adventurer, and I don't think we could've found a better healer in the entire city. And definitely not one so pretty.
"So what are we going to do now?" He asked me, finishing his applause and staring up at me with bright blue eyes.
No matter how many times I saw those eyes, I was left entranced; transported to an open meadow without a cloud in the sky. It wasn't just his eyes; it was everything about him. His golden hair, his sweet voice, the way his curvy hips and ass swayed and jiggled as he walked… the not-so-well-kept secret between his thighs… I found myself thinking of Tia Iris more than I thought was even possible.
"The only thing to do as broke adventurers, we're going on a quest!"
Again, Tia clapped at the announcement.
"Hmph, about time. I was getting tired of sitting around." Kyros muttered.
"Oh, who cares about you… Hey Draven! Let's take an extra hard quest, pleaseeee? I want to test some new magic on something stronger than a goblin."
"As long as it's not an Elder One, I think we're strong enough to take just about any monster down now, thanks to Tia. And Gods know we need the extra gold. Let's see what we can find."
The next hour was spent searching through page after page of varying quests citizens had posted in the guild for adventurers to take on. We started our search at the quest board where dozens of jobs, from picking berries in a haunted forest to slaying a pack of Pirate Orcs, were posted. The most common sort of quest currently available was undead-slaying jobs, and I began to realize the extent of the necromantic activities going on all around.
"Oooh, what about this one? I've never seen a real Coral Snail before!" Tia chirped, grabbing a page off the wall and handing it to me with puppy eyes.
Quest Objective: Collect 10 filets of infested Coral Snails
Location: Tide pools on Redwind Beach
Reward: 300 gold coins and 1 free meal at Jorgen's Seafood Shack
I'm not sure if I want to eat there…
"Save that one for the newbie adventurers; we can do much better than that. We're gonna need more than 300 gold coins anyways," I responded.
"Fine…" He pouted so adorably I couldn't help but smile. I gave him a friendly pat on his head, and he continued the search.
Amethyst then chimed in with another option.
Quest Objective: Slay 10 Sadistic Bandits
Location: Bandit Hideout 25 km south-southeast of Castellum
Reward: 800 gold coins
"No…"
We eventually made it through the entire quest board without finding a single job that would pay enough to recoup the gold we needed. We asked the guild receptionist if there were any more quests available, and she politely brought us a large stack of papers.
Again, we flipped through each one diligently, and again we found none with a high enough reward. We were on the verge of giving in and accepting a lower-paying job when the doors of the guild flew open, slamming loudly against the walls and grabbing everyone's attention.
"Please help us!" A frail old man with a dirt-stained tunic rasped as he rushed inside, followed by a small group of similarly downtrodden-looking farmers.
"Please!" He again begged the receptionist as he made his way towards her desk. "They're everywhere; Rotworm Village has been overtaken! M-my daughters… Our families I- I don't think they made it out in time…" He was trying to maintain his composure, but I could see tears slowly falling down his dust covered cheeks.
"Calm down, Sir. Please, tell me exactly what has happened."
"We come from Rotworm Village, a small farming town to the north. Three nights ago they came… the cursed undead! Dozens, maybe even hundreds of them swarmed our fields and pillaged our homes! murdered our people… the few of us here made it out alive, but our families… Someone must save them, please! We aren't rich, but we'll pay with everything we have."
His cries echoed through the guild halls and caught the attention of every adventurer present. Some listened empathetically to his story, while others only paid attention after hearing 'we'll pay with everything we have'; Amethyst was one of the latter.
Tia seemed strongly affected by the old man's pleas for help; his lips quivered in sadness, and before a tear almost left his eyes, he shot up with one hand in the air and a determined expression on his face.
"W-we will accept your quest, sir!" The pretty boy resounded, and the whole room stared at him.
"Oh, dear priestess, thank you! A thousand thanks! May the gods bless you and your party."
Of course he thinks Tia is a girl…
"Are you sure about this?" I said quietly into his ear, "I really doubt they have the gold to pay out a good reward, sadly."
"Draven!" He scolded, giving me a little slap against my chest, which I couldn't even feel through my armor. "It's not about the money! These people need our help. How can we call ourselves adventurers if we don't save them!"
"Tia…"
His piercing blue eyes tore up at me, his cheeks puffed out, and the expression on his face was one of innocent determination.
How could I ever deny him?
And he was right. It was our duty as adventurers to help those in need. To slay the evil that sought to destroy everything good and dear to us.
"We will start our journey to Rotworm Village at first light!" I boomed out.
Again, the old man showered us with thanks, and the joy on Tia's face was worth more to me than gold could ever be.
We spent the next hour talking to the members of the village, receiving a map to find the place, and gaining valuable information on what we were to face when we arrived.
Amethyst wasted no time asking how many gold coins they would give us. Despite being only able to provide 500, the guild receptionist kindly offered another 1000 upon quest completion.
We then took our leave and planned to fill up on supplies and to get some much-needed rest before we set out tomorrow morning.
As we were leaving the guild, the old man from Rotworm asked me for a moment alone, and with an expression of terror, whispered in my ear.
"Be careful, Sir Knight… Some of the villagers reported a sighting of a demon flying over just before the attack. They say she was a woman who sang with a voice of honey, and was, uh.. shamelessly full-figured."
Aevrys…
If she was behind this attack, I knew without a doubt she must be the one responsible for all the evil that was spreading, and that she must be stopped at once!
I still worried about this master she spoke of in that rotten cave.
"Thank you. I promise we will take back your village! Will will save your daughters and everyone else."
He responded with a solemn nod and teary, grateful eyes.