First Commission

Day 3

Another day, another adventure. Today was the day to pick up her plate, so she could easily do some commissions. She headed straight to the reception. Luckily, Yoko was there.

„Good morning, Yoko-san!” she said enthusiastically.

„Oh, good morning, Ayane-san.” she responded with a smile. „How can I help you today?”

„I’ve come to receive my plate.”

„It’s been 3 days already? Time’s going really fast, isn’t it? If you can excuse me for a moment, I’ll check it for you.”

„I’ll be thankful.”

„Thank you.”

After not even a minute she came back.

„Thank you for waiting. Your plate is ready.” she presented it on her hand.

Plate as a plate – silver, seemed made in bulk, but had something in it, which made it different from simple plates.

Hotaru got a bit excited seeing that.

„Thank you very much, Yoko-san. It looks really nice.”

„You think so? I personally like them as well, but the one from Northern Lands is my favourite.”

Hotaru was visibly confused hearing that. Yoko noticed that and began to explain.

„Oh, I’m sorry, probably not many people know that. Guild has many branches across the continent, not on every single territory, but on most of them. Each region has its own, unique ornaments which represents it. We are in Nagato, town known mostly from wealth and trade, so those extravagant ornaments on the sides are good reflection of it.”

„What about the Northern Lands?”

„Plates from there have a rose petal on each side.”

‘Rose petal? I can’t really imagine it.’

„Do you know why exactly rose petals, Ayane-san?”

„No, not really. I arrived few days ago and I’m not really familiar with things...”

„That’s okay. Northern Lands are known from Rose of North, the only rose, and flower, that is blooming there at winter.”

‘Rose blooming at winter? Wha-'

„That is pretty unusual, isn’t it? But that’s what makes this flower special. Northern Lands are covered with snow whole year, so it’s rather impossible for any flower to bloom there. But this specie somehow makes it. It happens between January and February, then white surface is overcome by red stream. And even for rose it has unique colour. People are comparing it to fresh blood, but I don’t see it this way.”

„But... aren’t roses growing from bushes?”

„They are, but this one, apparently, not. I haven’t seen it on my own eyes, but I’ve met eyewitnesses and they confirmed it.”

„That’s extremely weird, but, fascinating at the same time.”

„I feel the same. What’s more, roses are known for their reaction to cold. Rose of North is pretty much the same. They are very delicate, not even a touch is enough to break them. It’s very well put on the plates. Their fragility, delicacy, beauty...”

Yoko was telling that with hearable enthusiasm, also like this subject was very close to her.

„It is still a mystery how this is happening. People across the centuries came up with many ideas, but only one is widely known. I don’t really remember it whole, but I know it was a beautiful story. I will have to recall it at some day...” Yoko realised she let herself go with a flow and snapped right away. „Oh! I’m so sorry!”

„It’s fine. You seem to be very interested in this topic.”

„I used to be, as a little girl.” she cleared her throat and continued. „What were we talk about before that?”

„About patterns on plates.”

„Ah, right, right.”

Something suddenly came to Hotaru's mind and she wanted to ask Yoko about it.

„Yoko-san?”

„Yes?”

„Are Northern Lands far from Nagato?”

„Yes. As name suggets, Northern Lands are on the northern part of continent, while we are on the southern part. From Nagato to Harewood is pretty far, approximately 400 kilometers, and from Harewood to the very first town there is another 500 kilometers.”

‘That’s really far. Even with car it would take some time to get here, but I don’t think they have cars, which makes it even more time consuming.’

„That’s why it’s rare to meet anyone from these region, but I personally know few people from there. One is even an often guest here.”

„Are they adventurer as well?”

„Yes, that's how I get familiar with this pattern. I know also someone else with this plate, but they're not from there.”

„So how they get it?”

„I’m not sure, but knowing this person, it was a gift.”

„A gift?” Hotaru seemed surprised. ‘Why would someone gift such item?’

„You can receive a plate from different regions in two ways – either pay for making them or receive for invaluable help.”

„Can I ask how much it costs?”

„5000 gold each.”

‘5000 gold... Can’t say if it’s a lot or no. At most of the games 5000 gold is nothing, but things may be different here.’

„Oh, okay. You mentioned that the other person got it as a gift. I’m assuming it was for their invaluable help, right?”

„That’s correct. I’m not sure if you have already heard the name of top adventurer in the world.”

„No, no, didn’t have a chance.”

„Miyajima Mikoto. The most known adventurer in the world. And I’m not exaggerating. This guy was probably everywhere. Dealing with crazy stuff that normally people can’t deal with. Very strong and respected man. There are legends about him. Even with his age, I don’t think there is anyone who has done more things than him. Well, maybe his son, who’s also an adventurer. I had a pleasure to meet them both.”

Yoko said that as she was honored by meeting them. Both of them seemed to be a real big-shot, so it was good for Hotaru to remember their names, just in case. They have Japanese names, so it was even easier.

‘Miyajima, huh?’

„You seem to be very happy about it.”

„Well, Mikoto-san is a living legend, so having a chance to meet such person is obviously an honor. Besides that, he’s a really good person. Fame didn’t affect him at all. Similar thing is with his son.”

Hotaru noticed that Yoko for some reason never really mentioned first name of Mikoto's son.

„Yoko-san, umm... sorry for directness, but you seem to have some issues with Miyajima-san's son.”

She said it with uncertainty if she could say something like that to her.

„Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s a personal thing.”

That wasn’t convincing enough for Hotaru, but if Yoko said to not worry, then... It wasn’t her business anyway.

„I see.”

„So, while you receive your plate, you may be interested in taking a commission?”

Yoko switched quickly from informal to formal mode.

„Hmm... I need money anyway, so why not? If you can help me with choosing, I’d be thankful.”

„That is my job after all.” she smiled. „May I ask you for your plate, please?”

„Sure.”

She was confused for what Yoko would need her plate, but she let professional do her job.

A small panel opened up before Yoko. Hotaru couldn’t see what was in there, but she didn’t have to wait long to find out.

„You’re already lvl 10? That is some progress.”

It seemed Yoko was able to see part of Hotaru's info like name, level, stats, number of taken commissions, as well as done ones. They were put in order from lowest to highest rank, but while Hotaru hadn’t done any, panel showed a round zero. She was able to see only these informations. Plate contained much more detailed information, but only Hotaru was able to see them.

„Hmm... By what I see, I could give you a D rank quest, but while you haven’t done any, E rank is the highest I can offer.”

„May I know why is that?”

„Huh? I do believe the quests classification is in the handbook, isn’t it?”

‘Shit. I forgot about its existence.’ at this moment Hotaru was expecting a scolding from Yoko.

„Nevermind.” no scolding this time. „I’ll explain it anyway, while there’s something to mention. Starting from the beginning – to make things easier for everyone, we made the quests classification, also known as commissions classification, we are using both names. In this classification quests are divided to two groups – individual and group, and then to the ranks. Individual quests are divided to ranks from F to S, while group quests from D to SSS. The higher the rank, the more difficult quests are.

I think there is not much to talk about group quests. Those are quests that you’re normally doing in party with other people, but there is a possibility to do them by yourself.”

‘Why would anyone do quests intended to do in group alone? Are they that easy?’

Things were a bit far more complicated than Hotaru thought, but from the other hand it had some sense, while people like Mikoto existed.

„Let’s focus more on individual quests. As I mentioned before, they are divided to ranks from F to S. F rank is the lowest, S the highest. To be able to do higher rank quests, you need to first do certain amount of lower rank quests. That’s why I said that I’d give you a D rank, but I can’t, because you’ve done none at all.”

„Okay, but something’s wrong.”

„What is it?”

„You said you can give me E rank, so what about F one?”

„To be honest, we’re treating F and E ranks as one, while there is not much difference between them. There was an idea to just merge them into one rank, but there was an issue with one type of quests, because it was too difficult for F rank and too easy for D rank. To put it in the context – quests from D rank and higher involves fighting. Even if it will be a single boar to beat – it has to be in D rank, because it requires some skills, even a minimum. I know how it sounds, but procedures are procedures and we need to follow them.

And the type I meant before is one with slimes. They are harmless, not fighting back, that’s why we can’t put quests involving fight with them to D rank unless there is a reason for it, for example you have to beat group of fifty.”

Hotaru recalled her little jelly friends, who would be definitely insulted by that.

„I see.”

„Talking about slimes – the quest I mentioned before is about harvesting gel from them. If you’re interested, I can give more details.”

„Sure I am.”

„Brill. I have it with me, while it was given to me not so long ago.”

„Freshly posted?”

„Exactly. So,” Yoko put the paper with details on counter. „our customer requested 10 slime gels ASAP. They will pay 10 gold per piece, so 100 gold in total. Deliver to Hekate's store in the town centre.”

„That’s it?” she wasn’t sure what to expect, but definitely a bit more than that.

„That’s it. They’re very specific if it comes to what they need to be done.”

Hotaru sighed.

„Okay. So I’ll be going finding slimes then.”

„They are mostly outside the town. By the way, have you been to place I mentioned?”

Hotaru got confused with this question out of nowhere.

„Eee... Yes.”

„I see.” a little smile appeared on Yoko's face.

It confused girl even more.

„I’ll be going then.”

„Good luck.”

„I might need it.”

With such positive attitude, Hotaru headed outside Nagato in search of slimes. Meanwhile she got a message from someone.

‘Eh? Message?’

She opened the chat. It was Hachi.

„Yo. I see you’ve done some good progress. Still going by yourself?”

Out of curiosity she checked his level on the friend list. It was showing level 9, so he was one level behind her. It was kind of satisfying for her, while he had in party someone who has been playing during beta testing and still, she made better progress than them. She was wondering as well why he was so persistent with Hotaru joining his party.

„Still am and it seems that I’m doing better than you (◕‿◕✿)”

„We’re in party of three, you know? It’s harder to get level like that.”

„Yet you’re persistently trying to get a fourth member, hmm?”

She hasn’t got any instant response from him, so she went back to looking for slimes. She noticed a small group of them and was about to attack them, but she got a message again.

‘Oho, he decided to actually reply. Hope he’s not upset of what I’ve said.’

„Yeah.”

‘You really took an effort to write that, huh?’

„Well... You’ll have to wait while I’m currently busy"

„Hmm? With what?”

„Obtaining slime gels. I need to do it asap so I can’t really talk”

„Sure, I won’t disturb you then. If you’ll struggle, try out at the river a bit further from main gate. Good luck. ^^”

‘Main gate, huh? Worth checking, I haven’t been there yet. If I’ll get lost, I always have map with me.’

She checked if the group she noticed earlier was still there. It was. Slimes shouldn’t be that challenging for her. And so they were, she was surprised how easy it was. From five slimes that were there, only two left gels. It was hard to say if they were good enough, but she didn’t recall anything about quality, so she took them and checked the map. She found the place Hachi mentioned and went there.

Slimes normally spawns only near water source, but here they can spawn at any place as long as it has right humidity. The ones near river seemed to have slightly different texture than ones Hotaru met before. Hotaru didn’t see that at first. After gaining gels from them, she noticed the difference. Description was the same for both, but it was visibly clear, that the freshly obtained ones had better quality. With that knowledge she was farming gels in this area. She obtained in total 14 gels. It was time to head to the store.

Yoko mentioned it was in town centre, but there were a lot of shops, so it was hard to find it. Especially when she didn’t know what kind of store it was. She was going down the 2nd Avenue when she noticed a sign „Hekate's Workshop".

‘There it is!’ said to yourself Hotaru with gained back faith.

She went in. Nobody was there, so she had a quick look around. There was a mannequin with clothes on, but Hotaru didn’t feel like they were selling clothes there. Out of nowhere a woman appeared.

„How can I help?” she wasn’t very enthusiastic.

„Hello! I’m from Guild. I accepted a quest for slime ge-"

„Oho, that was really quick. Can I see your plate?”

„Sure.”

Girl showed her plate. Woman had a quick look on it. She was cautious, what caught Hotaru's attention.

„Fine. So, where are gels?”

„Here.” she took all from her bag. „I’ve got more than it was needed, as well as those two, I think, have worse quality than others, but-"

„Let me take a look.”

‘What a hot-headed woman...’

„And how much you have of them?”

„12 of these and 2 of those.”

„Can I ask you something, girl?”

„Yes, what is it?”

She started to get intimidated by woman's behaviour. She was hot-headed, cautious, but most importantly – a Guild's customer, so it was better to be nice.

„You said that these have worse quality than those. Why do you think so?”

„Um... I’m not a specialist, but these seems to be more pure, if I can say that, so it means they should have better quality, but I can be wrong.”

„You’re not. There’s something more, but unexperienced person can’t really tell much. I’ll take them all. And I’ll pay extra for a quality.”

‘Woaaah, that’s so nice of her! It was worth to go there! I’ll have to thank Hachi later.’

„Th-Thank you very much!”

„Don’t mind it. I was expecting to get a low-quality shit, while I need these gels now, but it turns out I was lucky enough.”

„May I ask you to what are you using these gels?”

„Curious, huh? Guess you have no idea about craftsmanship while you’re asking.”

„Well...” Hotaru had a look on mannequin again, woman saw that.

„I use them to various things, including clothing. When you know how to properly use material, then you can create something interesting from it.” after that she said nothing and was constantly looking at Hotaru with her piercing gaze, which made girl even more intimidated.

‘S-stop staring at me, you weirdo...’

„Follow me.” she said and went through the door behind her.

Hotaru followed her to backroom. It turned out to be her workplace. Full of cabinets, shelves with unspecified things and more mannequins with clothes. Girl was looking at everything in room and tried to understand what that woman was exactly making and selling, but she couldn’t really find any satisfying answer.

„See that stuff there?” woman pointed at upper shelves. „That lamp and that thingy over there... err... nevermind, I used slime gels in their production.”

‘In lamp? Say what?’

„Really?” Hotaru asked in disbelief.

„As I mentioned before, if you know how to use material, then you can do everything with it.”

„And you made them all?”

„Umm, yeah? It’s my workshop after all?”

‘So she’s Hekate...’

„Um, sorry, I didn’t know you’re the owner.”

„Who do you think I was then? Ehh, nevermind, I haven’t even introduced myself. But, you may not know, but I’m the only person working here besides my daughter. I think she’s around your age as well...”

‘Daughter? My age?’

At first when Hotaru saw Hekate, she thought she’s in her 30's, but while her daughter is Hotaru's age, she had to be much older then.

„She’s more at my mother's place while she has an apprenticeship there.” woman deeply sighed. „Everything stays in the family, doesn’t it? Anyway, let’s first deal with money, shall we?”

Hekate went to workbench and browse through drawers. She was looking for something. Hotaru didn’t know what to do with herself so she was observing her. It didn’t take long and Hekate came up to Hotaru with something in hand.

„Here you go.”

She had few notes with her.

„Thank you very much.” girl took them from woman.

‘I didn’t know they use notes here.’

She thought that reward will be payed in coins, while local currency here is gold. Even when Yoko was explaining the details, she exactly said „gold". Maybe the „gold" came from the color of notes. That detail didn’t really matter.

Hotaru had a look on notes. They were like any others.

‘Hekate-san mentioned she will pay extra, but how much exactly she gave me?’

Her intuition suggested to check the exact value. She was afraid that Hekate payed her too much. She looked at a single note. It says one hundred.

‘One hundred? That was the original reward.’

She took another one. One hundred as well.

‘Huh?’

One hundred after one hundred after one hundred after one hundred... And twenty at the end, which made total of 620 gold.

‘What?! How many?!’

It was definitely too much.

„He-Hekate-san, there is-"

„It’s good. I said I’ll pay extra, didn’t I?”

„But... That much?”

„If you don’t like it, then we can stick to original price.”

„Uhh...” Hotaru didn’t know what to say.

„I’ve payed you a market price. Ten for shitty one and fifty for less shitty one. Should be six hundred twenty in total.”

„That’s correct.”

„Well, you can feel lucky, while normally I don’t need that many gels.”

„Huh? What do you mean?”

„I just said it. I have regular delivery once a month, but I messed up stuff during work and I was in dire need of more gels. To be honest, I was expecting receiving low quality gels, but with what you gave me, I don’t need to worry now.”

„Good to hear.”

„What was your name again?”

„Ayane.”

„Ayane...” Hekate had something in mind. „If I’ll be in dire need again, I can let you earn some money, if you’re interested. But I bet you are.”

That was a chance for Hotaru for good money and better relation with Hekate, which seemed to be worth having. Even if she was a very specific person.

„I am, but how will I know when such situation happen?”

„Guild will inform you. If they will mention personal request, then you’ll know that’s from me.”

‘Personal request?! The one that is given to specific person only?! Whaaa-'

„Alright, thank you.”

„Ayane, one thing.”

„Yes?”

She was about to say something, but changed her mind.

„...Nevermind. If you’ll need my services, you know where you can find me.”

„Hekate-san?”

„Hm?”

„To what exactly are you using them?”

„Hm? Gels? You mean their properties or-?”

Girl nodded.

Hekate recalled that Hotaru was looking at clothes on mannequin. Probably that was in her mind while was asking her.

„It depends where will you use it. If it comes to clothing, it can either strengthen material, making it more stretchy or give resistance to some sources, like water.”

‘So she can make a raincoat?’

„Like a raincoat?”

„What?” Hekate first heard this name.

‘Huh? They don’t have raincoats here?’

„Raincoat. It’s light and waterproof.”

„Raincoat, huh?”

Now when she thought about it, it had sense to use it that way. It would be good to note it somewhere.

„I thought you’re making them as well...”

„Maybe I will start.”

Woman headed back to workbench and took out from one of drawers piece of paper and pencil. She had something in mind and she wanted to put it on paper while this idea was still on.

„Ayane, do me a favor. If you can bring me some more slime gels, I’ll give you the raincoat thing as soon as it’ll be done.”

Hotaru was positively surprised by Hekate's offer.

„You will make one, Hekate-san?”

„As soon as you’ll bring me gels, then yeah.”

„Of course! Thank you very much for that!”

„Hey, hey! I haven’t even started! I need common ones, not many, I guess five will do. No need to hurry with that. If you'll bring me them in few days, it'll be alright.”

„I got it. Um, by the way, how much will it-"

„Geez, girl, just go! Go while I haven’t changed my mind!”

Hotaru got a bit flustered.

„If you’ll excuse me then.” after that she left the place.

‘For God's sake, this lass... Are all girls like that nowadays?’