Try again? - Chapter 41

” Hey, Fio… We have a problem with… the… Huh? ”

As I was about to ask her what should we do in this situation, my eyes landed on her half-finished paper.

’Holy Tree, what the heck…’

” Hmm… What is it, Lizza? ”

” Do you know how to write, Fio? Where did you learn it? ”

” What do you mean… Is there something wrong with it? ” she said with a very confused expression.

” Huh? Oh, no, no… It’s nothing… ”

” Are you sure? ”

” Yeah, don’t worry about it… Let’s finish these papers first. ”

” Mm. ”

There was definitely something strange about it. There’s no way for a slave to have the opportunity to learn how to write.

But the most strange thing was her attitude. She was looking at me as if I asked her something obvious like how was she able to breathe or something…

’There’s no way in hell to… Hold on… Hold on for a second… How the heck was I able to even read all these in the first place?’

Looking again at my paper, I was able to read the unfamiliar symbols like it was the most normal thing to do. If I didn’t pay close attention to them I wouldn’t even realize the anomaly.

’Don’t tell me…’ as the shocking realization came to me, I took my quill and write my name on my paper without any problem.

”…”

Yup, better to give up. If I were to ask another question like this one…

Yeah, I didn’t want to look like an even bigger retard in front of Fiona. I didn’t want to lose the little pride that was still there.

As we both finished with the writing and were about to leave, a sudden realization came to my mind. Even though I didn’t want to ask about something embarrassing again, that didn’t mean I wasn’t curious.

Since the day I came to this world, I was able to speak with the people due to that skill, [Amissi Common Language]. Or at least that was my assumption.

’If that was the case, maybe the reading and writing skills are included in it as well…’

As to prove my hypothesis, I put the tip of the quill in the ink again and write my name on my hand. The sole difference was that for this time, I deliberately chose to think about my second skill related to language and the result was stunning.

While I was able to read it like the most normal thing to do, at a closer look, the symbols were different from the previous ones.

’How strange…’ I wonder what would happen if I were to deliberately think about speaking in elvish.

If that skill was working in this way, then I subconsciously chose to speak in the common language since I want to be understood. I had to at least try to speak some words in elvish to Fiona and see if she would understand me or not.

*tap* *tap*

My shoulder was gently touched by Fiona which startled me since I didn’t even know when she came this close to me. It seemed that I was lost again in my thoughts…

” Lizza, the receptionist is free right now. We should go before she’ll be busy again. ”

” Oh, is that so… Let’s go then. ”

” Mm. ”

I took the ink and stepped carefully toward the reception as to not spill it. Fiona took the rest and followed after me.

” You finished already? ” the receptionist said and took them from us.

” Yes. ”

” Good. Let me briefly check them to see if all is good. ” she said and started to read the first paper.

” Hmm, Fiona… Let’s see, let’s see… This is good, this is good too… No problem there either… Okay, yours seem to be alright. ”

” Mm. ”

” Then, the next one is… Elizabeth, right? ”

” Yes. ”

” This is good… this is good too… Huh? Wait a little bit… huh? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake here? ” she said and pointed a particular line while looking at me from top to bottom with a curious look.

” What mistake… ohh… That one. Yeah, it’s not a mistake actually. ” I said after I took a glance at what she was talking about. It seemed that even at the guild it was rare to see an elf.

She didn’t say anything after she saw Fiona and while I was looking around there was a person with a tail too at one of the tables. Maybe I should prove to her or something.

” Umm, miss receptionist… Look here… ” I said and approached her as I lifted the hat just enough for her to see my ear.

” Oh… Oh my, oh my… Ehem, there’s no mistake. Sorry, but I had to confirm when cases like yours appear. ”

” No problem. ”

” Good. The rest seem to be fine. That’s all for now. The registration should be finished by tomorrow. Take this and come back then to retrieve your tags. You’ll start from the lowest rank F as anyone else. ” she said and gave me a piece of paper with our names and some kind of stamp.

” Thank you. Umm… can I ask another thing before to leave? ”

” Oh, yes. Since there’s no one waiting right now you can ask.  Normally, I’ll give you a brief explanation too if you want but as how busy these days had been we couldn’t do it anymore. ”

” That’s exactly what I wanted to ask. I heard about this emergency quest but I don’t know what exactly had happened. Can you tell me, please? ”

Since her attitude changed quite a bit after she confirmed my race, I think that asking at least that much wouldn’t be a problem. Despite my early complains it seemed that my race gave me a lot of advantages. I could be considered pretty lucky.

” The emergency quest, huh? Then, let me explain. A week ago we received reports about abnormalities in the forest east of this city. After our team investigated and returned it was confirmed that we have to deal with a giant wasps nest. ”

” Oh, a wasps nest? ”

” Yes, if we don’t exterminate the queen fast enough and the nest manages to expand too much the situation will turn very ugly. Some of the near villages have been attacked already. ”

” The situation is that severe? ”

” Yes. That is the reason we put the emergency quest in the first place. Before the queen extermination team is assembled, we have to focus on decreasing their numbers as much as we can. Are you perhaps interested in it? Your kind is famous for their archery skills. ”

’Wha… What happens with the previous warning and stuff… Though, as my actual age was written there, she knows that I’m older than my looks suggest.’

” I’ll think about it. But isn’t that quest restricted in any way? I mean, we just registered. We are just rank F after all. ”

” Not really. The queen is another story but the normal ones are classified around D rank. It’s not above C rank so it’s still alright. Since you probably are proficient with the bow I just assumed that you might be interested in it. Troublesome as it may be, the profit from hunting them is quite good compared with other monsters at the same rank. ”

She had a point there. To hunt these things you need a ranged weapon. You couldn’t expect a swordsman to throw his sword after them or something. That would be hilarious.

Still, something was bugging me…

” Not above rank C… Does that mean that I can’t take quests more than two ranks above mine? ”

” Ah, no. You seem to misunderstand something. Even if you were a D rank you wouldn’t be able to take a C rank quest unless there is a special situation. C rank adventurers take C rank quests or lower, B rank adventurers take B rank quests or lower and so on. Taking higher-ranked quests will defeat the ranks purpose after all… ”

*sigh*

” You see, the ranks F, E, D were a little special. The adventurers at these ranks were considered more like local adventurers rather than true adventurers. The quests weren’t too complicated like you saw already. For example, the emergency quest which should be classified as D rank. You just have to kill how many wasps you can. The repercussions for failing the quest weren’t that severe either and the advancement at these ranks is easier too. After completing several quests and prove yourself competent, you will be promoted. ”

So basically the lower rank adventures were more like amateurs. Since their job was to hunt lower level monsters and regulate their number, failing a quest wouldn’t amount too much. Someone else would do the job eventually. The ranks were just to distinguish between them a little.

If some individuals were to fail at killing these wasps, that wouldn’t amount much since the quest wasn’t exclusive for them and there would be others who should succeed.

On the other hand, failing a high-level quest like killing the queen would be another story. Since the danger-level and the consequences of failing were much more severe they couldn’t entrust quests like these to anybody.

” Anyway, since you just started, there’s no reason to think about the higher ranks… If you were to decide on participating in the emergency quest, I’ll tell you about the details then. ”

” Ahh, yes… Thank you. Then, I’ll be going for now. Goodbye!  ”

” Goodbye! ”