394 A Quest For The Mines



Ugh… I give up…

I found out there's the existence of Sexual Skills as well…

At least I can be happy that they belong to another category and not under Valour Skills…

With how my perception of the skills have been… 'Expanded'... I decided to just take a walk alone in the city for a bit.

I had no destination in mind so it's just a day of wandering for me I guess…

Of course, it's nice to be with the others as well but just today, I thought that it might be a good idea to just take a walk alone.

Well… Alone might be stretching it since I'm pretty sure I had some guards also following me at a distance, though they were good enough that I could not sense them.

Putting that aside, I went towards the Commoner District since I'd think interesting things would happen there instead of the Noble's District.

I wasn't really expecting anything to happen but I figured that the likelihood of something interesting happening would be higher there than around pompous and upstart nobles.

Not that I have anything against the nobles, but I would think anything that involved them would be closely related to politics and they also have a higher chance of finding out that I was related to the Nilm Family. So better to just go somewhere else instead.

Even though I had not planned it, I still found myself walking along the street where The Guild building was located. Probably because I had come here multiple times before so I unconsciously took the path I was most familiar with.

I was just thinking if I should go in and take a look when someone spoke up, "Miss Aster?"

Turning around, I found several familiar faces looking back at me.

"Oh! Hello Viera, Melissa, Sabrina. And it's been a while, Jack, Markus, Loyd."

The three men blinked at me, obviously not really remembering who I was at the moment.

Jack scratched his head, "Err… I'm sorry, pretty lady… Have we met? Did I… Did I do something rude?"

Sabrina elbowed him in the ribs, "Really? You tried to hit on her on so many occasions!"

Jack groaned while rubbing his chest, "Woman! Do you even realise how little that narrows it down?"

"Ugh! This is why you're the worst!"

Viera ignored them and turned to me, "Thank you for your help the other day, Miss Aster. We would not have been able to do it without you and Miss Odeta."

I waved at her, "Oh it's nothing much. Besides, I received a significant reward from that quest as well so it's not like I did it without any compensation."

The futa swordswoman smiled at me, "But still… I have to thank you for helping us all the same."

That was when a loud gasp came from Jack's direction, "Oh by the Gods! You're Aster aren't you?! I almost didn't recognise you!"

I chuckled, "I'm surprised you remembered me. I don't think I did anything worthy of remembrance though."

I could see the three girls trying to hide their grimace at my words since they knew exactly who I was. The guys however still had no idea who I really was so they were still thinking that I was just some young lady they escorted in the past.

Jack grinned at me, "Oh I won't ever forget a beautiful lady like you!"

Melissa rolled her eyes at him, "Didn't you just admit that you forgot about her just a moment ago? You really are shameless aren't you?"

"Hey, don't ruin my chances! Come on! We were having a moment here!"

Viera waved her hand at him, "Forget it Jack, she's way out of your league. You'd have better chances trying to flirt with Markus."

"Oh please! You never know since I'm that charming, aren't I?"

I couldn't help but giggle at the little skit that was happening in front of me.

"Sorry Jack, but I don't have any interest in you," I told him bluntly.

The man collapsed on his knees while clutching at his head, "Nooooo!! How many rejections does this maaaaaaake?! Am I destined to be single forever?!"

Markus, the party's tank, slapped their leader on the shoulder, "It's because you behave like this that you always get rejected… At least try to act a little more proper, Jack…"

"Never! How can I pretend to be someone I'm not just to attract someone?! If I have to pretend and act like someone else, then I'll just be lying to all those pretty girls! I just need to find someone who can accept me for who I am!"

"Sigh… Good luck with that then."

Viera turned her attention back to me, "So what is La… Ahem… Miss Aster doing here? Are you looking for another quest?"

I shook my head, "Actually, I'm just taking a walk around today. I don't really have anything in particular to do here."

Jack jumped up, "In that case, how about taking a quest with us?!"

Sabrina elbowed him again, "Did you not understand what she said? She already said to your face that she's not interested in you. Why are you still insistent on disturbing her?"

"Hey! I'm not that stupid! I wasn't planning on hitting on her anymore! I just thought that if other pretty girls saw that a pretty girl like her was hanging out with our party, we might get the attention of other pretty girls too!"

"I don't even know where to start to argue with that stupid logic…"

"Because it's a flawless piece of an idea!"

The spear wielding girl grabbed him by the collar and shook him, "Are you suggesting we're not pretty, huh?!"

"That's not it!!"

I raised my hand to get their attention, "Actually… I don't really mind joining you guys."

It's not like I have anything to do anyway and following them to participate in some higher ranked Mercenary quests is also not a bad deal.

Viera turned back to me, "Miss Aster, please don't feel obligated to go along with our stupid leader just to make him feel better… He's really hopeless."

I chuckled, "It's ok. I don't mind~ Although I would have to reject the invitation if the quest is going to take more than a day though."

Loyd raised an eyebrow at me, "As much as I wouldn't mind another eye candy on our team, could I just ask what role you could play Miss Aster?"

I  thought for a moment, "Hmm… I suppose I can play any role you need. I'm proficient in the first tiers of Astromancy, Somatomancy, Iatromancy, Aeromancy and Hydromancy; Proficient in the second tiers of Pyromancy, Lumenmancy, Electromancy and Umbramancy; And I'm also capable with a sword, a bow, daggers and also unarmed combat though I have experience with polearms and axes too. Is there any role you would like me to fill?"

All of them just stared at me with wide eyes.

I could hear Viera mutter under her breath, "As expected of her child I suppose…"

Another Mercenary party, whom I assume must have heard my introduction, walked past us. The one leading the group smirked at me, "Damn… First time I'm seeing someone overselling themselves this much. Must be pretty desperate."

His party laughed with him and they disappeared into The Guild.

Well… I guess it does sound pretty exaggerated when you don't know me so I won't say anything this time.

Jack stared at me, "Miss Aster… Are you a Goddess?"

"Ha? No?"

"Then can you marry me?"

Viera smacked him on the head, "Jack, shut up! Seriously! Before I shut you up permanently by shoving my sword up your ass!"

"Oh come on, Viera!! She's not only beautiful, she's also talented!! She's practically a Goddess!! I won't be able to live with myself if I don't at least try to shoot my shot!!"

"This is why we told you she's out of your league! So shut up!"

Markus made a placating gesture with his hands, "Alright, alright. Let's just calm down everyone… Why don't we head in to find a quest that we can do together today? We're making a scene here."

Oh, but I'm honestly enjoying it though. These guys are so fun~

Loyd raised a finger, "How about we just take the quest we found yesterday? The one with the mines?"

Markus raised an eyebrow at him, "Really? Hmm… Actually I think that's a good idea too. We just need to find a porter and we would be set to go."

I tilted my head, "What's the quest about?"

Melissa turned to me, "There's a D rank quest that is looking for a party to dive into a Dungeon and mine some ores. It's not really that difficult but since there are some monsters in there that are resistant to physical attacks and I'm the only mage in our party… It's a little troublesome for us."

Jack pumped his fist, "Alright! Then that's decided! Let's go sign ourselves up for that quest and we'll head there right now! We can be back by evening! This is perfect!"

Viera sighed, "Miss Aster… Are you really sure you're ok with this dummy? He's probably going to just hit on you every step of the way…"

"Well~ As long as I get paid for this~"

Oh come on, it'll be fun!