Lost in Paradise

"Are we lost?"

"No! Why would we be?" Sanae's response to Daichi had a pang of annoyance. Her eyes darted around from bench to bench, to tree to tree. The public park they'd wandered into was Outset's prime destination for relaxing strolls, but considering current circumstances, it was anything but.

"This is where they told us to meet though, right?" He took another look at the quest paper in his hands. "Says here: 'Meet in Outset Central Park. Arrive at 11AM.' But . . ."

"But they didn't tell us where in Outset Park to meet," Sanae sighed. For the special occasion of celebrating their first quest together, she'd decided to wear more formal attire. Hugged snug around her was a Cleric robe sporting kimono-like patterns of red camellia flowers. The pink background accentuated elegant jewels lining her sleeves—perhaps as catalysts for stronger spells. Down below, her robe featured a far wider split, fully showcasing Sanae's legs donned with white, knee-high boots. Most surprisingly, she'd seemed to have applied makeup that helped make the blue of her eyes pop more than usual.

In the distance, a wooden bridge crossing over a stream came into view. Two children were tiptoed over the guardrail, admiring some ducks waddling in flowing water below.

Don't suppose our client would be a kid or something? Daichi checked their NPC Playercards as he strolled across their bridge, hoping their names would match the client's—but to no avail. We're gonna be searching all day at this rate!

"It's a bit strange though." Sanae joined him by his side. "Usually the Guild House gives a specific rendezvous area. Not something broad like a whole park."

"Didn't even know Outset had a park this big," he replied, shading his eyes with his hand to see around better. Bright sun was beaming down onto a vast, public parkland. It looked hardly different from parks in reality, though people were still wandering around or relaxing in medieval garments. Several Adventurers had laid blankets to rest on as they enjoyed an idealistic, perfect day. Just about everything in the vicinity was occurring, ranging from picnics to parties to jogs to dates.

Overhead, a crow had been circling around for a while, as if seeking out free food from generous or distracted humans. Daichi watched it soar away towards another end of the park.

"Anyway, I'm still kind of iffy about leaving Abby back at the inn," he said.

"It's not an issue," Sanae replied. She walked a bit ahead to survey more scenery herself. "Public places like inns are usually safe, and I asked the innkeeper to keep watch over her."

It wasn't that Daichi didn't trust her words, but the nagging sensation of those two masked NPC's he'd encountered in the inn lobby was still bothering him. They didn't utter a single word to him, but seemed to harbor disdain in their hearts—for Adventurers in general. Were those guys the rare exceptions of NPCs that hated people from reality? Whatever the case, so long as their hatred was focused on Daichi and not Abby, they wouldn't pose a problem.

He randomly picked up a pebble and tossed it into the stream beside him. Ripples distorted what little of his reflection he could see. "Well, I left Furbolt with her as extra protection. But he's only gonna last an hour."

Sanae's face grew more and more doubtful of her decision to leave Abby behind. But she shook it off somehow. "Even if we did bring her, the quest specifically requested just one man and one woman. If we brought an extra person, our client might cancel the whole quest outright."

"Would that be a bad look for us?"

"Well, it'd leave a blight on our guild record, which would make it take longer for us to get higher-tier quests."

"But it's not like we're gonna be taking on tons of quests though."

"It just seemed like the least risky option overall," she concluded. "Remember, this is technically a bodyguard mission. Who knows if we'd run into trouble and it becomes dangerous."

"Yeah. Lesser of two evils, I guess." It wasn't much, but he felt a degree or two more comfortable now. He'd have to repay Abby with candy or something when he returned.

Their aimless search for their quest client continued. Dang, haven't we been around the whole park by now? Already more than 20 minutes had elapsed on the agreed upon rendezvous time. Newfound desperation on Daichi and Sanae's faces was palpable, but they kept examining the Playercards of everyone in the park they came across. Not a single one matched the moniker they were looking for.

"Crow, Crow, Crow . . . " Daichi was mumbling their client's name over and over, as if it would summon them. "You'd think we'd have found someone with a unique name like that by now."

"That, or they should have found us by now," Sanae replied. Her eyes continued scanning the nature-filled surroundings. "They should have been sent a quest paper with our information—has our names, classes, levels, and where and when to meet."

"Then they're probably stuck in the same situation we are." He stopped to glance around a bit. They'd entered a denser part of the park with more trees and less people wandering around. Several birds flocked overhead on their way to another part of the parkland.

"Geez, we might have to go ask the Guild House for help." She exhaled and put her hands on her hips. "All this searching is just ridiculous."

Mabel wouldn't be trying to pull a fast one on us, would she? He thought as he leaned back on a tree. She was acting a little suspect back then after all. But I don't take her for someone who does mean pranks like Makoto. Maybe it's just the conspiracy theorist in me overthinking things again . . .

Then, as he pondered, a crow landed in the branches above Daichi's head. Several leaves fluttered down as the curious, feathered creature looked below towards him.

"Hmm?" Daichi peered upwards. "Got a nest or something up there, little guy?" Wait, why am I talking to a bird? Not like he can understand me like Furbolt.

"CAW!" the crow squawked. "CAW, CAW!"

"Something wrong?" Sanae said as she approached.

"Oh, I think that guy up there likes me, haha." His finger pointed above. "Listen to his cool singing."

"CAW! CAW! CA—COUGH!"

"Huh?" Daichi and Sanae said in unison. They both stared up towards the bird that seemingly just coughed.

And its coughing fit continued like the dry coughs of a chain smoker. Caws mixed with more coughs until the creature was on the verge of dropping dead. But it finally managed to calm itself and shook its head around. Beady little black eyes looked down on two poor, confused teenagers below.

"CAW! I've finally found you guys! CAW!" It spread its wings wide as if to appear intimidating. "You're late! Late! Is this how you treat all your clients? CAW!"

But now, it was Daichi's turn to almost drop dead. From shock. And befuddlement.

AAAAAHHHHH!