A Goblin Investment

"And stay out!" The innkeeper yelled as his orge tossed Francisco through the open door. Having been thrown out before, the financial advisor was able to cushion the fall by landing on his bottom. The innkeeper threw his around him afterwards. As he massaged his backside, the inn door slammed shut.

"I'm tired of getting thrown out of places! And does everyone have a giant orge as a bodyguard!?" Francisco shouted, slowly picking himself up. "If I had a coin every time an orge threw me out, I would have-"

"You'd still be broke!" The innkeeper yelled throughout the door.

"Shut up!"

Francisco had fallen asleep in his room as he recalled the several past mistakes that led him to this point. He was clearly exhausted from the lack of food. He couldn't remember the last time he had a proper filling meal. Not to mention, the inn's bed wasn't exactly comfortable. He managed to stay as long as he did because the rate was so cheap.

Francisco woke up abruptly with the innkeeper barging through his door. The owner was not happy with him oversleeping through his checkout time. And no matter how much Francisco tried to negotiate, the innkeeper decided to toss him out.

Francisco gathered his things, which weren't much to begin with. He picked up his sword and the few gold coins he had left. His stare fixated on the coins in his hand before he heavily sighed, stuffing them in his pocket. He could feel his mood souring by the minute. The financial advisor attributed the situation to several factors: lack of food, no place to sleep, and no income.

He paused and stood next to the wall for a while. Francisco became lost in thought. His motivation had depleted. Slapping his cheek lightly, he knew he had only one choice. Francisco needed to complete at least one quest. He needed to choose a quest that could provide at least a room and a week's worth of meals.

Francisco mentally prepared himself, massaging his temples as he could feel the stress burdening him. The inn he was just thrown out of had a job board outside. Scratching his chin and grunting, he walked over to the community board that was covered in numerous wanted posters and errands. His eyes lazily scanned the board, looking for the perfect quest for his predicament.

Almost every quest was ranked too difficult for him. Most of the quests required multiple adventurers. Francisco considered the idea, but with his lack of experience, strength, and magic, he couldn't imagine working well with others. His inexperience could be the cause of someone getting severely injured or worse, dead. And he was much too prideful to have someone do the work for him. He shuffled through some of the papers, staying mindful of the difficulty.

The quest ranking system was straightforward. The easiest quests that required menial effort were ranked bronze. The proceeding ranks are silver, gold, platinum, and diamond, being the highest difficulty. For further clarification, each quest is also accompanied by one to five stars. The giant rat quest that Francisco failed a while back was ranked Bronze 2-Star.

Francisco read the quests like business opportunities. "The bronze requests are low-risk, low-reward. But given my combat skills, they might as well as be moderate risk, low-reward. I'd likely invest more resources and energy, only to gain pocket change. I need a higher profit margin." He rambled.

He grumbled as his hand stuck to a specific quest. Ripping the flyer from the wall, he sighed tiredly. The errand requested an adventurer to slay a group of goblins terrorizing a farm. The farm itself was a half-day's walk from the city's gates. This would be Francisco's first time venturing out of Arrgonde. The goblin quest ranked Silver 3-Stars.

Francisco nodded; he accepted the quest immediately once he read the reward. The request would net him around $250. He could survive a week off that. The financial advisor folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket. "This is a whole rank above the rats, but the money is worth it. I'm good enough for this." He tried to motivate himself.

With the change in his pocket, he stopped at a few places before venturing out. It was still early morning, so he had a lot of the day to burn. Francisco first visited an apothecary and bought a health potion. Though this quest decision was reckless, he knew he wouldn't emerge unscathed. He planned on making mistakes. The health potion could help afford a few more.

The next destination was a simple bakery. He bought three baked rolls with the rest of his money. He only had one gold coin left. Francisco wrapped one of the bread rolls in paper and slipped it into his pocket. He reminded himself that he needed the money just to afford a bag to hold his things. Francisco sat outside the bakery and ate the two bread rolls with both hands. He took his sweet time, slowly chewing and just savoring the taste.

It wasn't much of a meal, but he needed to go on this quest with all of his strength. Despite it just being bread, he felt this meal was special. He tried not to symbolize it too much. The financial advisor did not want to think of this as his last meal; that thought process is a bad omen. Even then, the bread was incredibly delicious this time.

Francisco remembered how he used to share food with Richard when they were younger. The food the brothers shared was far from sustainable: they had split a value burger, a breakfast pastry, a hot dog, and other cheap items. Even though it wasn't filling, it always tasted delicious. "That's an odd memory. Why am I just recalling that?" Francisco questioned, stuffing the tiny morsels of bread in his mouth.

The financial advisor stood up. He stretched his neck side to side and cracked his knuckles. Francisco marched with a brave, confident mentality. As he walked, he visualized himself defeating the goblins—a means of eliminating any pre-battle anxieties.

Within less than an hour, he reached Arrgonde's gates. Through a few words, the guards let him out as he showed the written request. The formidable gate swung open, and his heels clattered against the stone pavement as he walked outside. The green landscape was breathtaking yet instilled some anxiety. This new world was huge, and Francisco had just now realized it.

He began walking a man-made path, his eyes gazing at the beauties of this new world. With the sun out, he could see the open blue sky. There was more color compared to his previous world. The smell of flowers and trees was potent, helping to soothe Francisco's nerves.

He passed through several farms, but the one he needed was a couple of miles out. It was a long walk, though Francisco enjoyed the visuals. The financial advisor eventually made it to his destination. He quickly caught notice of a warm wooden home. To its left was a spacious barn. And off the path were several acres of crops. Francisco recognized stalks of wheat and corn. There were vines of other vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes.

Francisco remembered the ad explained the goblins were ravaging the crops. He didn't bother informing the farmer of his arrival. Throughout his walk, his feet were becoming heavy. He couldn't afford any more hesitation or doubt. Francisco strutted arrogantly through the corn fields. He pushed through for several minutes until he heard cackles.

As luck would have it, he found the monsters on the outside of the acre. As said in the paper, they were eating the crops, though destroying some of them for fun. Francisco counted five of them, and they all wore rustic armor. They swung around clubs, daggers, and swords. Even from his distance, Francisco noticed that only three of the goblins' weapons were entirely rusted.

Francisco took a deep breath and walked out of the stalks. The goblins quickly took notice. They pointed their weapons as they shrieked and cackled. The financial advisor withdrew his sword and held it tightly. "Alright, I'm here for a payday! I hope you have made some valuable investments because I'm here to seize all assets! You won't recover from this loss!"