Chapter Four - Questions
[Scullery Maid] has leveled up!
[Scullery Maid] Level 1
Charisma +1
Rosario smiled, then wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. She expected it to be matted with sweat, but it was perfectly fine. Cool, even. The greater stats, maybe?
In any case, the kitchen was spotless. Literally so. She had powerwashed every corner of it, burned away cobwebs and scrubbed the stone floors until they shone. She was impressed with how good the place looked. Then she had brought things back in from outside. A lot of items were tossed, and she hoped that Emma wouldn't mind losing some stale spices.
She made a point of cleaning off all of the utensils and pots before putting them away. It was a shame that some were a little worn out or rusty, but at least everything was clean by the time she was done with it.
Rosario was quite satisfied with herself. Sure, it was only one level, and she'd grinded a lot faster than that before, but this felt more earned.
Then she noticed the time and winced before sneaking out of the kitchen. The inn was very much asleep by then, and she could pick out snores coming from some of the occupied rooms.
She slipped into her own, then lay down. She was surprisingly sleepy, actually. She felt like she could keep going, but her mind was tired.
Rosario closed her eyes and...
She awoke with a start when someone knocked at her door. The sun was peeking in through the shuttered window, painting an orange line across the floor.
The knock came again, and she sat up. She was still dressed in her maid's outfit, but a bit of smoothing it out with her hands removed most of the wrinkles. "I'm awake. One moment please," she said.
It was Emma, and the [Inkeeper] looked very impressed. "Miss Thorn! I just went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast."
"Yes?" Rosario asked. "Is it alright? Did I misplace something? I did discard some of your spices. And some of the potatoes in the back of your cupboard were growing entire vines back there."
Emma barked a laugh. "It's better than alright. I've never seen it so clean. I'm impressed."
"Oh. Well, you're welcome?" Rosario said.
The woman sniffed. "Welcome indeed. Breakfast will be ready in ten. I imagine you have a few things to take care of around town today, yes? Do you need Olivia to guide you around?"
"No, I'll be fine, thank you."
She supposed that staying at some random inn and working all day would be wasteful. She'd be much better off--
"Your Master Summons You."
Rosario jumped.
Emma blinked. "Are you well?" she asked. "You look spooked?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Sorry. I just remembered something. I'll be over for breakfast soon. By the way, does Riverbend have a Mage's guild? Or a library? Or maybe a bank?"
Emma chuckled and shook her head. "It's impressive enough that we have an Adventurer's Guild. If you're looking for anything greater than that, then Alpta is your best bet. It's just two days from here. There's a road, but most trade uses the Emerald River. There are a few smaller towns along the way, if you need to stop as well. Oh, and there's a caravan leaving at the end of the week. It should be arriving with a new batch of Adventurers and leaving with a few more, so it's relatively safe."
"Thank you," Rosario said.
All paths led to Alpta it seemed. She followed Emma to the dining room, had a quick breakfast (beans and eggs and bread that was still fresh enough with some sort of buttery jam on it) and then she politely slipped out of the inn.
"Now what?" she muttered. She had all of Riverbend to explore, but the town didn't exactly appeal to her. The thought of standing still was worse, however, so she eyed one of the larger buildings across the square and walked over.
She slowed down a little as she noticed the Jester again. The woman was slumped over in the pillory, looking rather wet and ragged, her clothes clinging to her. Had it rained overnight? There was a faint smell to the air that suggested that it had.
Shaking her head, she walked into the Adventurer's Guild. She expected something out of a fantasy novel, and she wasn't far off, the guild's entrance was a wide, open room with some tables and chairs, and the far end had a small counter. Mostly, the space was small and rather on the cozy side.
She moved up to the counter, then reached over and tapped a little bell.
It wasn't long before someone showed up, a relatively young man in a button-up shirt and slacks. "Hello? How can we assist you?"
"Hello," she replied curtly. "My name is Rosario. I wanted to inquire about a few things?"
"Certainly," he said before sitting down. He pulled out a small notebook and opened it up. "Is this about a request?"
"Something like that," she replied. "I was actually wondering if I could put in an information request. On behalf of my master."
"Your master?" he asked, then took in her appearance. "Oh, of course. What sort of information?"
"Would you mind if I wrote it down myself? I have a few queries," she said.
The man shrugged, found a blank sheet of paper, and handed it over, along with a quill and inkpot.
She had never used a quill before, but after opening the pot and dipping the quill-tip in, she drew a straight line on the page with a small flourish on the end and nodded. "These are my questions," she said before writing them down.
-What happened to Hellisdalr to bring it to its current state?
-Where is the Demon Lord?
-Can a system-sent message be tracked back to its sender?
She hesitated, then added another.
-Who is the most powerful person in the region, and what are their Jobs and levels?
Nodding to herself, she spun the page around and pushed it over to the man. "Here you go."
The clerk glanced the list over, then looked up to her. He carefully sprinkled some sand on the paper. "You are aware, apropos nothing, that demon-worship is illegal in Lithos and the Aerie?"
"Of course," she replied easily. She knew no such thing, but hoped that it wouldn't show. "My master is merely an avid student of local history. We're from Crowthorne."
The name came to her rather easily. It was one of the larger cities in the game world, and was within the Aerie. At least the name of that nation hadn't changed. Crowthorne was also a location where most of the NPCs were elves, so she hoped that it would explain her existence.
"I see," the clerk said. He didn't seem entirely convinced, but he shrugged all the same. "Well, in any case, most of these questions seem fine. You have to understand that we're not the capital, or a big city. You're not going to get very much out of the locals. I can make this a tier one quest. I'm assuming you mostly want to have a low-levelled adventurer walk around and ask the locals?"
"Yes, exactly," she said. That wasn't it, but now that he said it, it made sense. Have someone run around and ask a few grandpas and grandmas about their experiences, write the stories down, then report back. It felt like a proper quest.
"I see. One moment..." he backed away, moved into the stacks at the rear, then came back three minutes later. "That will be... seventeen silver crows."
She blinked. Silver whats? Though, she did recall the generic silver money in the game having an icon on it. "Perfect. Can I have that quote on paper? I have to confer with my master for any expenses over a certain amount."
"Of course," he said.
"To be clear, what is the exchange rate between bronze coins and silver crows?"
"Bits?" he asked. "Ten to in most cities. Around here, probably twelve to."
"Thank you," she said.
A lunch at the inn was three bronze coins. A night was seven. Emma had given her a dozen for a day's work. A day's work from an expert, but she also got two free meals and a night at the inn.
She was definitely in need of better work.
The clerk returned with a small page with the quoted rates on it, and she nodded before leaving, only pausing by the entrance to observe the quest board. Every quest had a small box at the top with the same information fields. Tier, from one to three, then duration and pay. The pay seemed to vary a lot. As for the contents, the quests mostly seemed to centre on combat, hunting and subjugation work. Not so much the 'find ten mushrooms' she was used to seeing in a game, but it was close enough. "Can anyone take one of these quests?" she asked.
"No. Adventurers only," he replied. "If you want to see about joining, you'll need to visit a larger branch."
"Thank you," she said before finally leaving. "Dammit," she muttered.
She was walking her way back to the inn when she was accosted... more or less. "Oh, tall and beautiful elven maiden! Lend me thine most pointy ears!"
Rosario slowed her pace but didn't stop. The Jester had twisted her head around to call upon her.
"I notice that thou hast visited that home of craven fools! Know this! There is no stronger or more capable adventurer than I in all of this small geographic area! Undercutting the guild may be illegal, but what can they do? Pillory me? Haha!"
She slowed down her pace, then turned. She eyed the woman before firing off a quick [Inspect].
Cricket
[Jester] - Level 27
A second tier Job. Probably an evolution of [Clown] or [Bard] or somesuch.
"Are you an adventurer?" she asked.
"I am an accredited member of the guild, my fair lady!" Cricket grinned, and even with her head lopsided, there was a palatable aura of smugness washing off of her. "Doth thou need my assistance? I can offer many services, especially to a pretty elven maiden! Guide, masseuse, jester! I'll make you laugh until you wet your hose! Bard! Bodyguard! Fashion consultant! Though you hardly need it, as pretty as thou are! Lawyer? Spiritual advisor?"
"I question your skills with some of those," Rosario said, but she couldn't quite hide the smile that wanted to sneak onto her features. "Do you know where Alpta is?"
"I do! Free me, and I'll lead you there forthwith!" Her antennae wiggled in delight. Which was also about when Rosario noticed that the young woman had antennae to begin with.
"I'll think about it," she replied before moving right on with her day.
***