Chapter 9 - Headache Relief and the Rainbowhoppers
After seeing how smoothly I defeated the monster the Ramuh adventurers seemed to have lost their fun.
They asked me about the stone projectile size-up method right away.
Of course, I didn't tell them.
And thus they left, leaving behind petty insults like...
Idiot, stupid! Go die to some monster――!
I didn't answer. No way I'd reply to that kind of childish slander.
From there I wandered the plains on my own and soon found a second and third goblin, both of which I took care of without problems. Thrashing them with stone projectile and stabbing them afterwards continued to prove successful.
"And number six, done!"
Sure is easy to defeat low level enemies. If they were just a couple levels higher they'd probably be able to sidestep a simple stone projectile. A high level doesn't just mean they're stronger, it also implies experience and knowledge.
By the time I returned to the royal capital the moon was already floating across the night sky above, illuminating the city while I was dashing through it at full sprint.
"Lola, I got the wrists――!"
"I knew you'd make it!"
As I headed to her reception desk Lola walked out to greet me. Now to receive the quest reward of 8000 ria.
Or so I thought, but instead Lola picked up a hand bell and rang it. What's going on?
"Noir Stalgia has successfully completed his first quest."
Despite the late hour the guild was still full of adventurers. Now, they all stood up to clap, smiles on everyone's faces.
"Congratulations!"
"Welcome to us warriors of Odin."
"Let's work hard if we ever party up!!"
Uwa, this is bad... I'm super happy!
"Thank you, everyone!"
With a deep bow I saluted my seniors. Being acknowledged as a member of the guild was an incredible feeling, as if I gained a new home.
Afterwards I let Lola know that I'd be back the next day and took my leave.
Thanks to my first completed request I also gained some money. I should be saving it, but given today's events let's buy a tasty meal for my family.
With that thought I rummaged through the merchant district, looking for the right things to take home, when――
"Have you seen Noir!?"
At one of the open air stalls three people were asking a familiar stall owner about my whereabouts... Those three people's expressions were, unlike usual,
serious and full of urgency.
I approached and called out to them.
"Father, mother, even Alice, what's wrong?"
"Uooo! What happiness, so you were alive!!――"
"Huh? Whoa-!?"
Without warning all three of them smothered me with hugs and the conversation was halted.
What happened!?
I asked them what they were on about and received an unexpected answer.
"You didn't come home no matter how much time passed!"
"Exactly, we thought you failed the hero school exam, and... due to that shock..."
"'Brother must have turned suicidal!,' basically."
"No way I would!!"
I'm not someone that would kill himself, they should know that much. I'd choose a life of shame over death, that's the kind of man I am... even though it's uncool.
But still... Humans certainly do die over trivial things, that's also true. Frankly, seeing all three of them worry about me like that made me happy.
"No need to worry, I passed the exam. Even placed third."
"Whooaoaah!? N-n-n-noir, you're not joking with us, r-r-right!?"
"Yes, father. I'm not joking."
"I'll have to brag about it tomorrow, to everyone I've met in my life!"
Father stretched his hands to the sky, filled with joy. He then went on to grab random strangers by the shoulders, going 'My son ranked third in the hero school entrance exam♪'.
Yeah, well, that's really embarrassing so please don't.
While letting my frolicking father calm down I called out to the butcher close-by and ordered some bird meat.
Now mother panicked.
"Excuse me!? That's quality meat of the 5000 ria kind!"
"Please calm down, mother. Truth is, I also became an adventurer today. I already completed my first quest for an 8000 ria reward, which also happens to be the reason I'm returning so late today."
"Which means you surpassed father on your first day then. As expected of big brother."
"Stop right there Aliceee! Think of my dignity as fatherrr!"
Father's wailing sounded like it came from the bottom of his heart.
Most nobles own land or receive some village's taxes and that way possess a source of income without having to work, that's the norm. However, not us. It's a shame, but since we're only nobles in name we have no way of earning a living without actually working.
Even so, father had his own pride and abruptly put on a tense expression. He actually looked pretty cool like that.
"...I'm still the father of this household. I'll at least make enough money to properly raise my children. Noir, how much is the school entrance fee?"
"300,000 ria by next week."
"......A month later won't do?"
"It's fine, father. I'll earn it."
"Forgive me, I'm sorry..."
Our group of four headed home to House Stalgia and then we all ate some delicious bird meat together.
◇ ◆ ◇
"Another good request came in today, 'Deliver one rainbowhopper.'"
"Rainbowhopper, huh."
I looked at the request flyer that Lola handed me across the reception counter. Like their name let's you guess, rainbowhoppers are rainbow colored grasshoppers. Their habitat has been more or less identified, but despite that they are famous for their rarity.
"If it's you it should be an easy task. You have that one skill, right?"
"...Ah, true."
I totally forgot, but I've still got the Great Sage. This skill has the ability to tell me the answer to just about any question.
"See you later then, I'll be right back."
As I left the guild Emma's face crossed my mind. If I'm planning on using the Great Sage skill then her kisses will be indispensable.
Although, now that I possess skill creation let's try creating 「Absolute Headache Resistance」.
「Absolute Headache Resistance」 5000 LP
Expensive! For me at no more than 700 that wasn't doable for a while. However, to at least tone it down to a bearable level I tried removing 『Absolute』, which made the bar fall down all the way to 300.
Let's take it.
"Looking forward to seeing how well this works."
To see whether it will allow me to bear the headache or not.
For now there's still the possibility of another intense one hitting me, so let's not test it right away. I'll have to ask Emma to be around for――
"――Idiot don Noir!!"
As always, Emma knows how to show up with good timing. And as always, her shaking chest was something else.
Like ships on a stormy sea.
Back to topic, she looked a little upset.
"When you said you'd earn it on your own yesterday, that had the meaning of becoming an adventurer!? Why didn't you take me along――!"
Seems like she asked my family for my whereabouts and found out that I was headed to the adventurer's guild. Let's be upfront and apologize properly here... while looking as dejected as possible.
"I'm sorry..."
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