Chapter 31: Ada and Sarah

The morning sun burned off the last of the mist, casting a thin warmth over the cool, quiet streets of Mottled Town.

Raine and Kaelin grabbed a quick breakfast at the inn before heading straight to the Adventurer's Guild.

On their way out, Raine caught a rich, meaty aroma drifting from the kitchen. His throat moved on its own. Maybe lunch would finally be worth looking forward to.

The moment the two of them stepped into the Guild's noisy main hall, they ran right into Matthew and his crew.

They had clearly just arrived as well, huddled near the entrance in hushed, animated conversation — still buzzing from the harrowing adventure the day before.

The moment they spotted Raine and Kaelin, all four of their faces lit up, and they surged forward eagerly.

"Mr. Raine! Lady Armless! Good morning!"

Matthew's voice rang out loud and clear, his respect utterly unconcealed.

David gave a warm, simple-natured nod, and even Gavin — leaning on his crutch — and the Half-Elf "Basement Rat," whose face was still a little pale, straightened their backs, expressions full of gratitude and something close to awe.

The fierce fight in the cave yesterday, and Raine's astonishing composure and unerring sense of direction on the way back, had left a deep mark on all of them.

The scene was strange enough to catch the attention of nearby Newbie Adventurers.

They stared, baffled, as Matthew and his crew — notorious for never showing deference to anyone — treated Raine with what could only be described as outright reverence. Looks were exchanged all around, faces etched with confusion and disbelief.

"Blind Shot, what the hell has gotten into you lot?"

The hulking man in Leather Armor stood with his arms crossed, eyeing Matthew and the others like they'd lost their minds. "Fine, saying hello to Armless, I get that — but why are you also…"

He never got to finish. Matthew shot up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, cutting him off instantly: "Stepping on the Toe, drop that pathetic outdated attitude of yours! Yesterday, we took down a Razor Beast — together with Mr. Raine!"

"A Razor Beast?"

The man nicknamed Stepping on the Toe blinked, then broke into a wide grin — and a moment later, he and the guys around him erupted into loud, mocking laughter:

"You lot? A Razor Beast? That's a Magical Beast that can tear through a veteran squad without breaking a sweat! Blind Shot, I'll say this — your talent for bullshitting has improved a hell of a lot faster than your Archery ever did."

But Matthew and the other three didn't bristle at the mockery. If anything, they looked even more smug.

David whipped out a Sen Bai Bone Spike from behind his back — shaped almost like a dagger — and slammed it into the wooden table beside them with a sharp thud.

The impact sent a tremor rattling through the tabletop, cutting right through the laughter.

"Get a good look."

Matthew jabbed a finger at the wickedly sharp spike, chin tilted high. "I pulled that off the Razor Beast's back with my own hands. You think we're like you — scraping by killing Goblins day in and day out?"

"Damn right! When that thing burst out at us, it was like a moving mountain!"

David threw his arms wide, gesturing wildly, back ramrod straight. "If Mr. Raine's Archery wasn't dead-on and Lady Armless's Sword Techniques weren't razor-sharp, and if we hadn't worked together perfectly — there's no way we would've brought it down!"

Basement Rat and Gavin each pulled out a few more Bone Spikes and waved them around in front of the onlookers — Basement Rat even rising up on his tiptoes to show his off properly.

Faced with those spikes still faintly radiating a cold, savage aura, the grins on Stepping on the Toe's face and those of his companions froze solid.

Other Adventurers nearby who had been eavesdropping crowded in closer — some craning their necks for a better look, others murmuring among themselves, eyes caught somewhere between flat-out disbelief and poorly concealed envy.

Raine and Kaelin paid the commotion little mind.

They walked directly to the Guild's reception counter.

The morning rush was in full swing — Adventurers streaming in and out to hand in and pick up quests, with lines forming at nearly every window.

Only one spot had no queue: the window where Lady was stationed.

Whether it was because she processed everything with ruthless efficiency, or because her unmistakable "don't bother me" aura kept most Newbie Adventurers at a distance, was anyone's guess.

"Turning in a quest."

Raine set a large cloth sack containing fifty Calming Bellflowers on the counter, along with the commission slip.

Lady raised her eyes. Those sharp, discerning eyes swept briefly over Raine and Kaelin before she spoke, expression perfectly flat: "Quicker than expected."

She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a tanned, muscular forearm, and was just about to begin counting the Calming Bellflowers when a figure came barreling over, trailing a smell that was equal parts medicinal herbs and sulfur.

It was a young woman — petite, somewhere in her early twenties, a full head shorter than an average girl but noticeably taller than a Half-Elf.

Her long hair was an uncommon shade of violet, curling slightly at the ends and looking rather disheveled. Over her clothes she wore a leather apron splattered with stains in every color imaginable, like a walking painter's palette.

"Those are my Calming Bellflowers!"

The violet-haired girl locked onto the sack on the counter immediately.

She snatched up one of the purple blooms and buried her nose in it, breathing in deeply, eyes going half-lidded with bliss. "That calming, soothing scent — I've missed it so much!"

Raine noticed that even her slender fingers were thoroughly stained with the same colorful mess. Oddly enough, the pale lavender of the bellflower suited her hair perfectly.

"Put it back. I haven't finished the count yet."

Lady shot the violet-haired girl a long-suffering look, clearly well-acquainted with her habits.

She went on counting the Calming Bellflowers with practiced efficiency, saying offhandedly to Raine and Kaelin, "Sarah the Radiant — she's the one who posted this commission."

Both Raine and Kaelin blinked at that.

Raine had pictured the owner of an Alchemy Workshop in Mottled Town as a composed, thick-spectacled old Alchemist. He had not pictured this.

"Come on, Ada, can't you cut me a little slack?"

Sarah reluctantly set the bellflower back, turning to gripe at Lady. "You're always so rigid about everything — at this rate you'll die a lonely old spinster, you know that?"

"Worry about yourself before you start worrying about me."

Lady didn't look up, her tone flat and unbothered. "I honestly cannot think of a single man who would put up with someone as scatterbrained as you."

"I'd rather spend my life with my flasks and crucibles anyway — who needs a man!"

Sarah puffed out her chest and wrinkled her nose at Lady.

Lady, for her part, clearly couldn't be bothered to engage further and went right back to counting.

Seeing that Lady had tuned her out completely, Sarah pivoted her attention to Raine and Kaelin, and a bright, wide smile broke across her face:

"Hey! So you two are the ones who completed my commission? Thank you so much! These Calming Bellflowers look absolutely perfect! My new experiment is stuck at a critical step and I've been waiting on these to save the whole thing!"

She talked at a speed that would've given Raine's arrows a run for their money — there was no opening for either of them to get a word in.

The moment she saw Lady count the very last bellflower, she swooped in like a butterfly catching a whiff of nectar, scooped up the whole sack, and clamped it tightly under her arm.

"Get your reward from Ada — she handles all that!"

Sarah called out as she backed toward the door, feet already moving at a rapid clip. "She's stiff as a board and rough around the edges, but she won't shortchange you on coin — that much I can promise! I'm out — my flask is going cold!"

And with that, she spun on her heel and burst out through the Guild's front door, swallowed up by the crowd on the street almost instantly.