Chapter 4 - Adventurer's Guild and Strange Rabbit-kin (Patreon)

Walking down the cheapest inn, Gaia realised once again that she was in a completely different world.

Mould was growing everywhere, the wood was creaking like crazy, and there was an insane draft between the wooden boards.

'I'm surprised I have not fallen ill, ye-'

[You have contracted a rare illness!]

'...' Gaia blankly stared at the system. 'Was this kind of retribution for trash-talking this place? Surely not, right...?'

Shaking her head, she left the depilated inn. It was surprising that it was still standing, but if you give it a few days, it would definitely fall down.

On the outside, the walls even looked crooked, so it wouldn't take all that long.

Outside the inn was the usual sight for this kind of place. Those rocks were supposed to represent a road, but it was so poorly made that it was surprising you could even walk straight on it.

The smell was likewise unbearable. Unlike the high-tech cities, this was a complete slump, so nothing like a sewage system existed. It was the same smell as someone shitting into a bucket and throwing it outside of their house.

'I know that this is supposed to be a Fantasy World with Swords and Magic, and it's based on a game that I played, but isn't this a bit too much?! It smells god awful! How was the previous owner able to live in this place?!' Gaia was crying inside her mind as she walked around.

Shaking her head, she looked around. It seemed like she was on the outer side of a small town, possibly a city?

Walking towards the centre of the city, the situation improved significantly.

Around her, there were no more poorly made buildings, no more thatched houses or anything like that, but sturdy rock or brick houses. The odour was still quite awful, but nowhere near as bad as it was on the outer side of the city.

Most houses had natural colours since paint would be exceptionally expensive. Normal colouring from herbs would wash away way too easily.

There were quite a lot of pubs around.

'A high number of pubs meant that there should be a dungeon around, since Adventurers loved to drink after a life-threatening day. They also liked to mingle, but most adventurers would not visit those kinds of places since getting rid of diseases was expensive and difficult.' Gaia chuckled. She had no intention of visiting those places either.

'It might be a better idea to go into the dungeon instead of the Forest. It's safer, and if I make shit up, it's more believable.' Gaia knew that what happened inside a dungeon would stay inside a dungeon, which was both a good and a bad thing.

There was no law inside the dungeon other than unspoken rules that you will remember once you experience them. Fortunately for her, she already knew most of the rules, but they did change from place to place, so she would have to be careful about not attracting too much attention.

Gaia nodded to herself as she stopped in front of what looked like a tavern.

'Ah, the familiar symbol.' Gaia nodded gently, the feelings inside her were conflicted, but it should be alright.

Gaia entered the 'tavern'. All eyes of the drinking parties were on her. 'Now that I think about it, I have not yet checked how I look...' Gaia's lips tightened slightly, she was concerned she might be quite ugly considering the reaction.

'I should find some kind of puddle to have a look later on, or maybe I will be able to find a magic mirror inside the dungeon. Pfft, as if.' Gaia mocked herself, since that was one of the rare drops inside most dungeons, and there was a high chance that it would even break when it dropped.

The Tavern was large and with many sections, like the pub or the pub, and did I mention a pub? Yes, this Adventurer's Guild had 3 pubs and 5 counters, but only one is operational.

This made Gaia frown, but it could not be helped. Most talent would be 'escorted' towards the capital, while most uninspired folks would stay here.

The insides have the feeling of an old homey tavern, but the same thing can't be said about the creaking wood and rough eyes that were all around her. It felt like she arrived in a prison.

This place also had a second floor, but that was just for employees and the Guild Manager.

Gaia arrived at the counter. She had to ignore those piercing gazes on the back of her head, which was very difficult.

'It's quite a small counter, but that is only natural since this is managed by a Rabbit-kin.' Gaia thought. Rabbit-kin were small and 'active', so they were well-liked for these types of occupations.

"I would like to sell some old loot." Gaia gently spoke. The Rabbit-kin behind the counter looked flustered, but Gaia ignored her.

The Rabbit-kin was smaller than Gaia at around 145 cm? Her ears were black with white fluff inside. This meant that she was from the warring tribe and not easily messed with. If this little cutie drop-kicked you, you would know for a fact that none of your bones would stay in the same place.

Unlike what you might think. She had a mostly Human body, just her legs were that of a Rabbit. Thus, she was probably half Human and half Rabbit.

She had large emerald eyes, which attracted a lot of attention.

"Y-yes, please come with me!" The Rabbit-kin was quite a small and pure girl, but Gaia wouldn't see her again. She would be kicked out the next day or the day after, so there was no need to remember her. 'She is quite pretty.' She thought after looking at her.

'I will have no business with the Adventurer's Guild later, since their prices are awful without a licence.' Gaia already knew that life would become harder, but she would be able to pursue more occupations like that.

They walked into the private rooms, they were for VIPs and those that wanted to sell things in order to not cause commotion. This was a good thing for her as she would be handling a lot of rare materials.

As for the room itself. It was quite small, with a small table in the middle and two couches opposing each other. There were no rugs or anything like that, so it felt a bit empty.

They sat down, opposing each other, but it felt like the Rabbit-kin was eyeing the place next to her.

This confused Gaia, but she didn't dwell on it.

"What do you wish to sell?" The Rabbit-kin was overly polite, so much so that it sent chills down Gaia's spine.

'They shouldn't have time to process me yet, right?' Gaia felt some suspicion, but the Adventurer's Guild shouldn't be able to work that fast through paperwork.

Gaia smiled at her gently, which made the Rabbit-kin even more flustered.

"I have some Griffon Eyes, Large Poisonous Snake Eyes, Minotaur's Sack-"

Gaia kept placing those gross things on the table. 'I'm glad that I can get rid of them!' She really hated everything about them, but it was important to collect such things, since they yielded a lot of money.

The Rabbit-kin widened her eyes. She probably didn't expect such a weak newcomer to bring so many rare materials.

"P-please wait a moment. I need an Appraiser for this!" She immediately jumped out of her seat and dashed outside the room.

Gaia was startled by her behaviour, but since she was small and cute, she would forgive her.

Gaia waited a few minutes(?) before they arrived. It was a somewhat old mister with a moustache and monocle.

'This is the most generic appraisal look that I have ever seen.' Gaia's eyes widened. Almost all descriptions of appraisals were like that!

The Rabbit-kin immediately sat next to her and let the Appraiser sit opposite to them.

'No, wait. Why are you sitting next to me?!' Gaia was startled.

The Appraiser was also surprised, but didn't voice his opinion. He lifted each and every piece of loot that Gaia had brought to them.

"These are...!" He had a surprised expression on his face, but Gaia had no idea why.

"Is there something wrong with them?" The Rabbit-kin voiced her worry. 'I want to give her a lot of money for her service, definitely not because she is hot!' She gulped discreetly.

"No! Quite the opposite! Most of these ingredients are perfectly 'fermented' and/or preserved!" The Appraiser voiced his opinion loudly. His eyes were shining at the materials and loot that she brought.

'The previous owner was amazing! But there is no way that I will indulge in such a hobby, no matter how much it pay-' Gaia nodded inside her head, but her thoughts were cut short.

"Like this one, this one alone is worth a Gold Coin!" The Appraiser raised his voice again.

'Wait! Did he say a Gold Coin?!' Awkward Cough 'I might consider trying that hobby for myself.' Gaia foolishly nods before returning her attention to the Appraiser.

"I would like to sell all of the materials." Gaia smiled gently. 'A smile always helps to get discounts or higher pay, unless your boss is a skirt chaser...' She thought and clicked her tongue in displeasure.

"A-all of them?!" Gaia could see his eyes almost pop out of his eye sockets, but that was only natural.

'The whole worth should be around 30 Gold Coins if I'm not mistaken. Which is a lot of wealth for adventurers!' She nodded to herself.

"Please wait. I will calculate it." The Appraiser looked pitiful, but he had a lot of counting to do.

'It's unfortunate that I don't have a [Peddler] or [Merchant] Class, since that would allow me to get even more value out of it.' Gaia sighed to herself as she waited for him to finish.

...

The Rabbit-kin helped him with the counting, so Gaia didn't have to wait all that long for the final number.

"The full value comes at 12 Gold Coin- Ugh!" The Appraiser coughed from being elbowed by the Rabbit-kin.

The Rabbit-kin smiled innocently, but whenever the Appraiser tried to say the final value, the Rabbit-kin would elbow him.

"Thefullvaluecomesat15GoldCoins! AGH-" The Appraiser rapped out the sentence and covered his body, expecting another blow, but no harm came his way.

He peeked through his defences, but the Rabbit-kin was already sitting next to her.

This was a strangely satisfying opera act for Gaia.

The Appraiser sighed and pulled out 15 Gold Coins out of his pocket.

"If you wish to have it in Continental Coins, we would have to exchange it, but that might take even a month or longer." The Appraiser warned her.

"She will be fine!" The Rabbit-kin cheerfully responded to her and placed her hand on her thigh.

Gaia's body stiffened, but before she could respond to her, the Rabbit-kin used her thigh as leverage and grabbed a few Gold Coins. Of course, the Rabbit-kin didn't forget to give her thighs a good squeeze...

'I can't believe I'm being molested inside the Adventurers'- No wait! I can believe it, since it's quite commonplace, but I still don't like it!' Gaia groaned, but she wanted to have a clean exchange, so she would bear with it. It was not like she was groped by a 50+-year-old boss cough geezer.

"We can also exchange these Gold Coins for other Coins if you need them." The Rabbit-kin grabbed the two Gold Coins and used them as glasses.

'Fine, I will forgive you since you are cute.' Gaia pouted to herself before answering.

"I would like to exchange one Gold Coin for Silver Coins." Gaia smiled gently.

"Are you sure you want just Silver Coins. We also have Large Silver Coins." The Rabbit-kin asked her while blushing and playing with the Gold Coins.

The Appraiser had a scary expression. It looked like the Rabbit-kin would be scolded later.

'While that seemed like a good idea, not many used Large Silver Coins here in Adra. They liked the 'hard' cash more than the new currency, which were Large Coins.' Gaia sighed. Large Coins were better since they had a higher value. They were also lighter, but unfortunately, too many commoners didn't like it, so she might run into trouble while exchanging it.

"It will be fine." Gaia shook her head at the Rabbit-kin.

The Appraiser left for a bit, leaving them alone...