Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?-Chapter 67 – First Gathering Quest
Chapter 67 – First Gathering Quest
“Welcome, would you like to see a list of available quests?” Syrus walked up to the counter, where an elderly man in simple clothes asked her the usual routine.
Syrus answered, "Yes, please.”
Compared to their current home, which was on the western edge, the Brown Oak Guild was on the southeastern side, on the last main road splitting from the central one. The journey was a little long, but that was what Anlesa wanted.
There were a number of visual quests on the board, but that wasn’t all of them. If a person wanted to see the rest of them, they had to ask one of the staff at the counter.
[This was definitely the correct place to choose.] (Syrus)
[Yes, a lot quieter than expected.] (Luna)
A few different hunting guilds existed in the city, and they were all owned by the city but there were a few differences between them. The biggest one for this place was the atmosphere, compared to the other guilds Anna took a peek at, this one had a less professional feel.
That didn’t mean the quality of service was necessarily lower. The main differences were the casual clothes of the staff and their lesser numbers, the smaller space, and fewer quests appearing on the board.
Syrus asked, “Can I see the gathering quest?”
The man shuffled through the sheets of paper on the bookshelf behind him. “Sure, would you like to exclude the ones with tight deadlines?”
“No thanks.”
Failing a quest was only really bad if there was a deadline for it, as accepting a quest, for the most part, meant no one was trying to complete it, and so the idea was if a quest failed near the deadline, then it was the failing hunters' fault for accepting a quest they were incapable of doing and blocking the opportunity for other hunters to do the request.
“Anything here that interests you?” The man laid a series of requests along the table.
Syrus read over them, but besides the reward, nothing was intriguing about the request. She knew a little about plants, mostly about what could be used for first aid and survival, but the plants here were different to the small few she knew.
[Evelean Flower.] Eva suggested.
“I’ll take the Evelean Flower quest.”
“Alright, give me a moment.”
[Any reason for that one?] (Luna)
[It grows in the small forest towards the ocean. Fewer dangers in that direction and from my research, there are a few medical ingredients we can pick up there.] (Eva)
The man asked, “What do you want to be marked under?”
“Syrus is fine.”
“All good.”
The process went smoothly and they were out of the building before long.
[Twenty flowers, huh… That seems like a lot.] Syrus was unsure, as she expected that they would either be extremely common or uncommon.
[Evelean Flowers grow under tree roots but have a small flower that peeks out during the day and retracts at night. They are a rarer flower, and from my understanding, they are hard to grow purposefully.] (Eva)
[Trying to recreate the natural process has been unsuccessful; people aren’t sure why exactly.] Luna knew a bit about it. It was in one of the many books she had read in the past.
[What is it even used for anyway?] (Syrus)
[Sleep medication.] (Eva) fгeewebnovёl.com
[People need that?] (Syrus)
[Plenty of people do, have you ever met anyone who had trouble sleeping?] (Luna)
[Nothing that a good night of sleep didn’t fix.] (Syrus)
[...] (Eva)
[...] (Luna)
[I can feel you two judging me.] (Syrus)
[It’s just… I feel like it would be more common to see in your line of work.] (Luna)
[...] Syrus went quiet in thought. [Maybe… During the war, I saw people like that, it wasn’t immediate, but after the quality of food and water dropped, people started feeling that way.]
Luna and Eva understood that what Syrus was referring to was the poisoning of food supplies. A rampant, pervasive plague on survival of the common folk was caused by whoever Syrus was fighting. Syrus wasn’t one to talk about her past, but she didn't deny any questions about it when asked, even if details-wise she didn’t supply much.
Syrus left from the city’s main exit and followed down the road for as long as possible before turning off to enter the forest. She brought their bags and a couple of objects to support the job. A shovel, small buckets, and, importantly, a few different-sized knives–one for self-defence and the rest for cutting.
They walked past a few people, and everyone was friendly enough. Some even asked if they needed directions as they weren’t recognised.
Eventually, they entered the small forest. The trees were tall with dark orange leaves and dark brown bark, but underneath the wood was clearly a lighter orange.
The area around Arisea Station was very fertile, and if it weren’t for the dangers of its location, it would’ve made a good farming area for any kingdom. The side facing the sea was relatively safe, and besides the local wildlife, there wasn’t much to worry about.
Eva was their main eye for the flowers and other plants she wanted to collect. Luna was also on the lookout, as she knew common poisonous flora. Syrus was also trying to look around, but the plants mostly looked the same to her, nearly every single one was different from the ones in her previous life’s homeland. She did try learning, but compared to the others, she had far from memorised everything.
The trip started off successfully for Eva, she already picked up multiple ingredients she wanted for potions.
[This place is a goldmine.] She giggled. She got a bunch of stuff she was aiming for, and even a few she hadn’t read grew around here–Able Roots; Bromk Sap; Wef flowers; Acorns; Simon Grass. The main thing preventing from going completely crazy with the collecting was the limited storage space and the fact she didn’t have the proper storage for a few of the plants. Syrus was confused, though, about how some of those ingredients were supposed to be used to make potions.
[You are enjoying this; did you do this often?] (Luna)
Eva replied, not even pausing her motion. [No. Most plants were grown on farms or in one’s own greenhouse. I… never did anything like this before.] She used Manipulation and the shovel to dig the plant out of the ground without issue.
As Eva dug up Evelean Flower, Syrus paused as she saw the small grass growing behind the tree.
“Barbook weed?”
[Northroot grass? What about it?] Luna questioned, looking at the same piece of weed. It was an uncommon variety, but a weed was still a weed.
[Oh, this stuff is great.] (Syrus)
[Really? It doesn’t have any medical properties, from what I know. It’s just very sour.] (Eva)
[Medical crap ain’t always important, this stuff makes great glue when heated and stirred, and that sourness is great, many dishes used it for the flavour.] (Syrus)
Neither Eva nor Luna could exactly agree on enjoying something for its sourness, but they weren’t going to judge.
[Glue is normally made from animal parts here.] (Luna)
[I can’t comment on how it worked back where I was, but for making or fixing storage, it was great stuff.] (Syrus)
Listening to Syrus' comment, they did pick up a few handfuls of the stuff and Eva was curious to experiment with their applications.
After collecting the last Evelean Flower, they immediately headed back to the town, as they were already full of supplies.
Overall, the first day of gathering work was a success. They were a little exhausted, especially Eva who kept up the disguise longer than she had planned to, but her motivation managed to keep her mind focused on it.
They brought back the flowers and got a small amount of coins for their troubles.
