Price Increase

When they returned to town, it was nearly ten in the morning.

The journey had been fairly smooth. They hadn't encountered any monsters, which instead left Lin Mo's hands itching for a fight.

He had even been wondering if he could farm a few Goblins along the way and raise Slash to level 3.

After returning to town, the first thing to do was naturally turn in the quest.

The group entered the Adventurer's Guild, and the first person Lin Mo noticed was the catgirl at the counter on the far end.

As always, there were few adventurers in front of her. Even other Half-beastmen seemed more willing to gather around the human receptionists for a chat. Only those genuinely in a hurry came to her counter for the sake of convenience and speed.

Naturally, quests had to be submitted where they had been accepted.

Lin Mo walked straight over and took out the 150 Qingfen Grass plants from his backpack.

Although they had encountered many unexpected incidents along the way, the quest he had originally accepted had merely been a Material Collection quest.

Yet he had somehow gotten dragged into trouble and profited greatly from it. He really didn't know whether to call himself lucky or unlucky.

"You're back!"

The girl behind the counter was clearly delighted to see Lin Mo.

Laina naturally remembered this "strange person" who, for some reason, seemed not to harbor the discrimination she was used to receiving.

She hadn't seen him these past two days and had even worried about him for a while. After all, with a profession like adventuring, no one knew when misfortune might strike. Every trip outside could be one from which they never returned.

"I'm here to submit the quest. This is the Qingfen Grass I collected."

Lin Mo handed her the somewhat messy bundle of herbs. Laina nodded. "All right, please wait a moment."

She accepted the large clump of herbs, sorted them out one by one, and counted them at the same time.

As Lin Mo watched her movements, his gaze naturally fell on her delicate hands. They looked no different from human hands, but perhaps because she worked indoors year-round, her skin was especially soft and fair, almost reflective.

"There are 150 plants in total. Three Silver Coins each, so that comes to 4 Gold Coins and 50 Silver Coins."

"Three Silver Coins?"

Lin Mo froze for a moment. "Wasn't it two Silver Coins?"

"Recently, it hasn't just been monsters. Bandits have also appeared outside town. While that has created many extermination and escort quests, they aren't very friendly to novice adventurers. A small number of experienced adventurers have come in, while many young people have chosen to develop elsewhere. Not many people are willing to take simple Material Collection quests like this, so the reward had to be increased."

At that, Laina suddenly glanced around and lowered her voice. "Normally, payment should be calculated according to the price when the quest was accepted. But small quests like this usually don't have the time recorded, so the employer doesn't know when you took it. I'll calculate it at the current rate for you, but please don't tell anyone."

Lin Mo looked at her in surprise, then smiled knowingly. "Don't worry. I won't go spreading it around. I'll come find you again when I take quests later."

"Thank you, meow~"

Laina smiled sweetly. This kind of relaxed, equal exchange was very rare for her, so she treasured it all the more.

The catgirl took out 4 Gold Coins and 50 Silver Coins from the counter, carefully counted them, placed them in a pouch, and handed it to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo took the pouch, waved, and turned to leave.

"That fast?"

In the hall, Evan looked astonished as he watched Lin Mo return with the cloth pouch in hand.

"I saw there were fewer people over there, so I accepted the quest there."

Lin Mo pointed at Laina's counter. Evan immediately understood. "Uncle Bern is still in line. And we have to wait for the employer to come confirm it, so it'll probably take until the afternoon."

"Then let's eat here."

Lin Mo checked the time. It was about time for a meal anyway.

The Adventurer's Guild naturally provided food, and the prices were reasonable, only slightly more expensive than outside.

Including the daughter of the Yori Merchant Guild's owner, there were five people in total. Lin Mo ordered a whole roast chicken, a large plate of cheesy mashed potatoes, and for each person, a steak, a piece of white bread, and a serving of Cream of Mushroom Soup.

The roast chicken was not the common domestic chicken from Lin Mo's previous life, but a native wild chicken from this world. It was enormous, weighing over twenty pounds, about the size of a turkey.

However, its meat was not as dry as turkey. It was tender and juicy instead, and tasted quite good.

After Bern finished the formalities, he sat down to eat with them as well.

The Association would contact the employer below and have him come personally to verify it.

It was much faster than expected. Not long after they finished eating, a slightly plump middle-aged man rushed into the Adventurer's Guild.

"Father!"

The girl, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately stood up and rushed toward him excitedly.

The father and daughter were finally reunited. They embraced each other, weeping so hard they could barely speak.

Yori knew full well that in this dangerous world, losing contact with someone nearly meant being separated by life and death.

When he went to the Association to post the quest, he had not held much hope. He had only thought that he would be satisfied if he could at least recover his daughter's body for burial. When the Association informed him earlier, he had almost been unable to believe his ears.

So he immediately put down all his work and hurried over.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

He gripped Bern's hand excitedly and thanked him over and over.

"It was our duty as part of the quest."

Bern comforted him, while Evan looked at Miriam beside him and slowly but firmly took her hand.

This time, Miriam did not pull away or roll her eyes at him. She merely stared silently at the father and daughter before her, speechless for a long time.

After confirming that the quest's additional objective had been completed, the Association also handed over the 100 Gold Coins Yori had prepaid when posting the quest. Bern held the bulging bag of Gold Coins, feeling its heavy weight in his hands, unable to hide his excitement.

According to their prior agreement, he gave Lin Mo 40 Gold Coins. Of the remaining 60, he first gave 4 Gold Coins to each team member.

Naturally, he did not intend to keep the remaining 48 Gold Coins for himself. They would serve as the team's shared funds, used for team expenses and major purchases.

For example, food supplies and lodging expenses, as well as various alchemical potions, including the purchase of armor and expensive weapons.

These matters were generally discussed by everyone, with Bern making the final decision.

"Four Gold Coins... I remember Edgar's Iron Thornwood Bow costs 5 Gold Coins."

Muttering to himself, Evan took out a Gold Coin and handed it to Miriam.

"Want to go take a look around the forge?"

Bern invited Lin Mo.

Lin Mo had already planned to go there, so naturally he had no reason to refuse.

Although the sword he had picked up for 50 Silver Coins had been a great bargain, it was not sturdy or durable enough. After several intense battles in a row, slight damage had already appeared on the blade. If he kept using it, it might snap in some future battle just like Evan's previous sword.

Lin Mo would not be careless about something as important as a weapon. If it was time to replace it, then he would replace it. Not a single Coin that needed to be spent could be saved.