Ganersam Volume 1

“Aren’t there any normal quests?”

The next day, we went to the guild. Other than high-level monsters, there were no quests left. Emma took a glance at me,

“No, I’m not getting chased by some random lizards.”

“That’s not what I was thinking about.”

She said as she rerouted her attention back to the board. We just went and fought a random snake the day before, I would prefer something a bit more laid-back.

“I’m sorry, but a large group of adventurers came by and took most of the available quests.”

The guild receptionist, who had just approached us, explained.

“I want an easy quest too every once in a while. We’ve been dealing with bosses far too often recently.”

“How about this dungeon?”

Emma pointed toward a quest on the board.

“... no, I’m not in the mood for that.”

“You know, it’s going to be an issue if our party leader is picky about quests.”

“You really need to learn something from Nia.”

Nia was casually drinking her strawberry juice not far from us. Emma pouted at that comparison, as if she didn’t like being compared to a half-demon.

Maybe it’s a part of her training as a soldier, but Nia rarely complained about anything.

“How about an item gathering quest? Will that do?”

Well... the last gathering quest did not go well, so I’m unsure, but the receptionist showed us the quest anyway.

“This just came in a few minutes ago. It’s a request for pink mushrooms.”

I took a look at the quest. It seemed like a low-difficulty gathering quest, nothing weird about it.

“Why didn’t the requester go pick them up themselves though?”

The pay is decent, and there were no obvious drawbacks.

“I asked the same thing, he said he was too lazy and is in the mood for some extra sleep.”

Just what is wrong with this world.

“Fine, I’ll try this one.”

“Thank you very much.”

We soon find ourselves in an oasis west of town. The weather was hot, so now I understand why the requester doesn’t want to go there themselves.

“Now... where should we start...”

There’s a large lake in the middle of the oasis, with several palm trees around it.

“Are you sure this is the right place?”

We looked around. Since the item we’re looking for are pink mushrooms, it’s supposed to stand out from the green bushes and the yellow sands of the desert.

“Is it covered by the bushes?”

Emma kneeled and started searching below the bush, she then shook her head.

“Nothing here.”

Not far from us, Nia is kicking around, trying to accidentally stumble onto some mushrooms...

I’m not sure if the words ‘trying’ and ‘accidentally’ were supposed to be in the same sentence, but no luck there either.

I checked the navigator.

“I’m pretty sure we’re on the right oasis.”

We decided to circle the lake, inspecting every tree and bush we found.

“Are we really in the right spot?”

We circled the entire lake, but not a single mushroom was found.

“Let’s go back.”

Given up, I turned back toward Misana. As I took a step, I felt slight pain as I accidentally kicked something hard.

“What’s this?”

I kneeled and picked the item up.

“What’s that?”

Emma asked as she took a peek. The item is a stone slate with some weird drawings on it.

“I think I know what that is.”

Nia said.

“You do?”

“It’s a key to an old underground ruin. It’s said that the underground ruins house an extremely powerful weapon only a selected few could wield.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Not if we held onto this piece.”

Nia said as she took the slate from my hand.

“Yes, this is definitely it. There are three slates, this is one of them. You could tell from the carving on the surface.”

It’s a weird shape. It’s like a square, with some kind of circle connected to its upper and left side.

“What shape even is that?”

“I had no idea. You could tell from how it’s carved, though. Here.”

Nia returned the slate to me. I and Emma ran our fingers down the cover, it felt weirdly smooth.

“Where are the other two slates located?”

“One of them is held by N1, the head of the demon’s army department of research and development. She used to be my mentor and master.”

“I see, then we should hold onto the slate for now.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

I put the slate into my bag and made our way back to Misana. We reported the lack of mushrooms to the guild receptionist.

Turns out we were indeed at the wrong oasis. The updated location of the correct one only came in long after we left. The desert was hot, and the long walk left us exhausted, so we decided to rest for the remainder of the day.

It’s 1 am right now, and I’m knocking in front of Emma’s door.

“Let’s go.”

“Just the two of us?”

“Yes.”

Without asking any more questions, Emma grabbed her handgun and followed me out.

We were now walking down the cold and dark streets, heading for the guild.

“Does this have anything to do with the stone slate?”

I reply with a simple nod.

“We don’t know whether she’s lying or not, there’s a chance this is the last slate they need. If Nia is indeed a traitor, we’ll be giving them this slate for free.”

“Didn’t she say it’s a weapon only a selected few could wield?”

“How do we know she’s not among those selected few?”

Usually, in games, that weapon would be something only the protagonist could use. But this isn’t a game, and as much as I wish I am, and as much as I joke about it, I’m pretty sure I’m not the protagonist.

“Is it just me or are you more distrustful toward her?”

I stopped.

“Now that you mention it, I do feel like I’m more careful around her.”

Is this because of the conversation I had with Riko the other day?

She let her heart out yesterday, and I’m doubting her now?

Where did all the character development go?

“Maybe the thought of an extremely powerful weapon scared me.”

Yeah, that’s probably the best explanation for why I’m doubting her now.

“You’re free to feel suspicious of me, though. You don’t need to hide it like that.”

The two of us looked behind, and Nia was standing there, smiling.

“Could you two girls please stop spawning out of nowhere? It’s creepy, and please stop smiling like that, it’s really creepy.”

"Sigh... You really are bad at stealth. I could hear that bang loud and clear.”

I accidentally hit the lift’s door when we went out, so that probably woke her.

... in my defense, it was dark.

And the more silent you try to be, the louder you actually become. Don’t believe me? Try going snacking out in the middle of the night, or slip some food into your mother’s shopping trolley, I guarantee you’ll hit something.

“So... should I turn back?”

Nia asked, but I didn’t have the heart to ask her to go back.

“Well, there’s no point in hiding it now, is there? Let’s just go to the guild together.”

I’ll just instruct the guild receptionist to move the slate later. Besides, I assume once the guild got their hands on this super important item, they’ll ensure maximum security on it.

As expected, the guild is filled with rowdy adventurers enjoying their night. There’s a table with eight adventurers on the side, I assume they were the ones who took the quests earlier today.

They’re probably spending their hard-earned cash right now...

If only I could join them for a free drink...

“Ah, William. What brings you this late?”

The guild receptionist greeted us.

“I need you to check this.”

I pulled out the stone slate and put it on the table.

“a stone slate? let me see.”

The guild receptionist turned around and headed towards the back of the guild. We sat down in the tavern and ordered some drinks. The inspection took a while, but the guild receptionist soon returned with a smile on her face.

“I’ve checked the slate and based on our findings, there’s a high likelihood that this is one of the three rumored slates of Asparagus. This is a great discovery. If we can find the other two, we’ll be able to enter Asparagus!”

... Asparagus? Isn’t that the name of a vegetable?

“The demon’s army is holding one of those slates.”

Emma gave her comment, Nia nodding confirming the truth.

“I see. There’s a rumor that the last one is near Alpha. No one has managed to find it, though.”

The guild receptionist then returned the slate to us.

“I’ll write a report regarding these findings.”

She said with a smile.

“You’re not going to keep the slate?”

“We do not have the capacity to take care of such a valuable item. If you don’t mind, we’ll need you to hand it to the officials at Omega.”

“Ah, I see...”

After that, we left the guild. Walking back to the inn, I looked at the shining stars in the sky. I don’t know if it’s because of less light pollution, or whether it’s because the stars are brighter, but the night sky is filled with a lot more stars compared to back on Earth.

Well, at least that’s how it’s like compared to the area I used to live in. Being a city boy, you could hardly see any stars in the sky.

“It felt really different going around at night.”

I muttered. There’s something soothing about a walk in the night.

It’s really calming. The air is really cold, though, but we are all wearing jackets. In my case, I’m wearing a t-shirt under my jacket. Emma is wearing a jacket above her strength jacket, which means she has two jackets on top of each other.

Nia looks the funniest, though, as she’s wearing a jacket above her robe.

“So about the slate, what should we do about it?”

Nia asked, her eyes looking at my bag.

“You want it?”

“No thanks.”

Even if Nia is trustworthy, having the slate with us is still a bad idea. The demon’s army will have more reasons to hunt us down.

“Shouldn’t we be giving it to the capital, though?”

Emma, who was walking in front of us, asked silently.

“Yes. But we have the weapon shipments to intercept. When was it again? Tomorrow?”

“That’s the schedule, but it may be delayed, depending on how those two are doing.”

I once again looked up at the sky. I wonder if they’re safe?

All of the sudden, Nia stopped. Her gaze fixed on one point at the distance.

“Nia?”

“By the way, are you two tired?”

“Not really, why?”

“There’s something I want to show you.”

Both me and Emma nodded, and we followed Nia out of town. It took quite a while, but we soon reached an abandoned structure.

“What is this place?”

It looked like an old medieval guard tower. Nia didn’t answer and silently climbed up the staircase, we followed behind her.

From here, we could see the entire town. The light shines from the streets, making a beautiful path of light. Most of the lights in the buildings were out, but there were some odd rooms that still have their lights on. If this was on Earth, I would assume those rooms are owned by my fellow brothers of the night. This town is the only source of light in this vast empty desert.

“Wow...”

“It’s really beautiful.”

I and Emma looked at the town. Standing on the side, Nia smiled.

“Does this place have some history to you?”

I asked.

“Yes. I stopped here during my journey. Used to live quite a while in this abandoned tower.”

Nia then started to search around the area.

“I wonder if it’s still here... Ah, here it is.”

Nia reached for a storage box located at the side of the tower. Inside, a small leather bag could be seen.

“Here, I’ll entrust this to you.”

“What is this?”

I opened the bag.

“Is this...”

“The second piece of the slate.”