CH 14

The Life of an Adventurer Farmer

And so the one I chose was…

Weeding

Rank: G

Pull out the weeds in the field.

Reward: 2 Silver

Northern settlement, Rogit.

This. Now that were in the warmer season, weeds grow a lot faster. I would be able to make use of my farming skill. It was work that I was used to doing.

I did consider herb gathering as well. But this was the request:

Herb Gathering

Rank: F, G

One bundle of herbs: 5 bronze

10 herbs equal 1 bundle. Prices will change depending on their condition.

The quest will be complete when you have gathered 50 bundles.

You could get several leaves from one plant. 10 bundles meant 50 bronze. 100 bundles was 5 silver.

And since I was used to gathering medicinal herbs, such simple work would not be impossible for me. Well, back at the village, that is. However, the forest where the herbs would be picked was quite far from the town. And I could only travel out so far if I wanted to be able to return in a day. With such restriction in terms of distance, the competition with other gatherers would be severe. And so I decided to wait until I knew more about the forest.

Just as I ripped off the request sheet from the board, a nearby boy called out to me.

“Don’t take away the G-Rank quests old man!”

He had short blonde hair and looked rather stubborn. He also had a sword on his belt.

“Sorry. But I’m a G-Rank Adventurer, just like the rest of you.”

“You’re a G-Ranker at that age! How lame!”

“Well, being an Adventurer isn’t my main occupation. But if you really want to pick some weeds, I could give it to you?”

“I became an Adventurer because I don’t want to be a farmer! I won’t work in the fields!”

He seemed to be satisfied now, and his eyes went back to the quest board. Do your best, boy.

I took the request to the reception counter and they stamped it. Now, it was time to work in the fields. I returned to the inn first, bought some brown bread, which I stuffed into my bag, and then I left the town through the north gate.

And from there, I headed to the settlement. As they were outside of the town, the four or so houses were surrounded by sturdy, stone walls.

I knocked on one of the doors and a woman emerged.

“I’ve accepted a request from the Adventurers Guild. Is there a Mr. Rogit here?”

“In the fields.”

She looked a little suspicious upon realizing how old I was, but told me what direction the fields were in. I headed over to them and spoke to a man who was working there.

“Mr. Rogit?”

“Aye. I’m Rogit. What can I do for you?”

“I’m Ajifu. I accepted a request from the Adventurers Guild to do some weeding.”

I thrust out the request sheet and Mr. Rogit looked very surprised.

“Well, you’re a lot less young than I was expecting. And you aren’t really dressed for field work. Are you sure?”

“I’m fine.”

I said, and then took out two towels and wrapped one around my forehead and hung the other around my neck. Then I put my bag, sword, and short sword to the side of the field and took off my leather jacket.

“I see. Then do that field and the one next to it.”

I had Farming Lv3 and the title of Farmer. This was easy.

Mr. Dick had bestowed to me his master skills, and before midday, I had pulled out all the weeds and gathered them into a large pile.

“I’m done.”

“Hmm? Surely you couldn’t finish it so quickly. I’m paying you for this, and won’t tolerate any sloppy work. This is why Adventurers are so… Eh!?”

Mr. Rogit’s eyes fell on the neatly weeded fields and the pile of weeds to the side.

“Oh, uh, pardon me. I underestimated you. Uh, say… If you do another field, I’ll add in some lunch?”

“Thank you. I would be glad to do it.”

And while my weeding skills continued to serve me well, by midday, my back started to hurt. Though I may have had an advantage due to my level, I had gotten a little too carried away. Ouch…

As it was midday when I finished the third field, Mr. Rogit invited me to his house for lunch.

“Heey! Get some food for Mr. Ajifu here!”

“Oh? It’s rare for you to bring a guest.”

“I’m sorry to intrude, Mrs.”

“No, we’re very happy that you finished so quickly. I’m surprised that it isn’t your main line of work.”

“Well, I do have the Farmer title.”

“What? So we are in the same trade? But I thought you were an Adventurer?”

“I’m a traveler and former farmer. And uh, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Mr. Rogit…”

“What? There’s no harm in asking.”

“I saw that there were some ripe Lulu beans that haven’t been harvested yet. Could it be that you lack farm hands to harvest them?”

“Heh. So you noticed that. Very observant. Well, my neighbor usually helps me with that, but his wife’s father became ill, and so I have no one to help me. I could put out a request at the guild, but I doubt I’ll make it in time for the morning market if amateurs do the work.”

“If you put out one today, I could help you in the morning?”

“I would be grateful if you did, Mr. Ajifu. I can pay you the same as today, 2 silver…no, how about 3?”

“I don’t mind taking 2. But I would like you to tell me something instead.”

Mr. Rogit signed the request sheet to show that the work was completed, and I left his house.

Then I went out of the outer walls of the town and headed to the left side of the forest.

There were hardly any medicinal herbs or mountain vegetables left. They were probably trying to make sure that they didn’t pick everything. However, there was still quite a lot of antidote grass and un-paralysis grass left. For the antidote grass, you used the leaves, and for un-paralysis grass, you used the roots. And so I was able to gather some while making my way around.

After I had gone about a quarter of the way around the outer town wall, I found the footprints, just like the information I had heard from Mr. Rogit.

The question I had asked him was, ‘Is there something that is troubling the farmers in this area?’

And he told me that a deer had appeared in the fields to the west, and so I came to investigate.

After that, I turned around and headed to the western settlement and questioned the first person I met.

“Is there a Mr. Gidel here?”

“If you’re looking for Gidel, he’s right over there.”

And so I approached the person I was directed to.

“Mr. Gidel. I’m Ajifu, an Adventurer. Mr. Rogit told me that you had trouble with deers in your fields.”

“Hmm? Well, that is true… But shouldn’t hunters deal with deers? There are no hunters in town, so I was thinking about asking someone from the neighboring village. But I haven’t been able to do it yet.”

“If you were to make a request at the Adventurers Guild, I could do it for you? You can pay me afterward for every deer.”

“Well, in that case, I don’t mind. Hmm. How about 2 silver for each deer, with a limit of 5 deers?”

“If I can keep the deer, then I accept.”

“Aye, that is fine.”

Negotiations settled. We shook on it.

“However, I cannot accept the money directly. Could you come to the guild with me?”

“Aye, I will go then. Hey! I’m going to town for a short while!”

And so Mr. Gidel and I went through the west gate and headed to the guild.

We reached the front desk and Mr. Gidel addressed the receptionist.

“I want to put out a request.”

“Yes, thank you for using our service. What sort of request will it be?”

Her salesperson’s smile was about forty percent stronger than when talking with me.

“Deer extermination. The reward will be 2 silver per deer, with a limit of 5 deers. The Adventurer can keep their prey.”

“That price is a little lower than the market price. It’s possible that no one will accept it.”

“No need to worry about that. This man said he’d do it.”

He slapped me on the shoulder and then the receptionist glared at me.

“I see. Please leave 11 silver with us as trust money. If it turns out that you overpaid once the quest is complete, you can return to us and collect what is left.”

“Aye. Well, I’ll be counting on you then.”

“I’ll start the job the day after tomorrow, Mr Gidel.”

As Mr. Gidel left the guild, the receptionist created the request sheet and stamped it before handing it to me.

“We do not appreciate it when Adventurers act on their own like this.”

“But there was no such explanation in the agreement.”

I then passed her the request sheet, 2 gold and 2 great bronze that were from Mr. Rogit.

She looked at me grimly and started to make the request sheet.

“This one too?”

“Yes, please. And this as well.”

I handed the request sheet with the completion signature and my Adventurers plate. She then added a completion stamp as well as another stamp for the new request.

She then gave me 2 silver and my plate back, as well as the request sheet. Then I put the medicinal herbs, antidote grass, and un-paralysis grass on the counter.

“Can I sell these?”

“You can sell them at the purchase counter.”

She said, shoving them back towards me.