Contrast, Not Very Cute

A roadside stall in the southern district of Anka Market

Yaya was hunched over a table, devouring a piece of roasted meat made from unknown ingredients. While eating, she mumbled her thanks to Jadeka, who was sitting beside her. "Gulp... Many woofs! Tasty... woof!"

"Thank you very much. Please () read the most complete and fastest-updated novels!" Mo Tan also held a vegetable skewer and smiled at the old mage. "And thank you for treating us to food."

The old man chuckled and shook his head. "It's nothing. Adventurers have it tough these days. I heard about the mess this Half-Orc girl caused earlier. Those goblins care about money, not their lives. I imagine they extorted quite a lot from you, didn't they?"

"A friend of mine helped repay the debt." Mo Tan answered honestly. "I'm truly penniless. As for Yaya, I actually only met her recently too~"

Jadeka took a sip of the local drink, whose ingredients were equally unknown, and smiled at Mo Tan. "Having more friends is a good thing. The fact that they were willing to help means you were worth helping. Mo, right? You're really quite impressive..."

As he said this, a trace of loneliness flickered through Jadeka's eyes. He then let out a long sigh. "To accept a shameless, useless mage like me as a teammate, that breadth of mind and courage really is..."

"Everyone who perseveres deserves respect." Mo Tan answered lightly. "Though effort and reward often don't match at all, what does that matter?"

By then, Yaya had already finished the roasted meat in her hand and was contentedly burping~

Jadeka stared at Mo Tan for a long while. After Mo Tan and Yaya got up, he paid the bill and walked beside the young man, heading out of the city with the two of them.

"I was born into a family of knights." Jadeka only spoke after they had left the city gates. "My father was a Great Knight, and my grandfather was a High-level Knight of Conquest. I heard that several remarkable Lord Knights had also appeared in our family's history..."

Mo Tan had already heard most of this from Kasha, the mage of the Voltilong Mercenary Group. Nevertheless, he quietly listened to Jadeka continue, showing no impatience or annoyance.

"Everyone thought I should become a knight~" Jadeka shrugged and made a face at Mo Tan and Yaya. "But ever since I was little, I was passionately determined to become a mage! Although my elemental perception was terrible, and my so-called fire-element affinity only let me avoid being blown up by myself, I still wanted to become a mage."

Yaya blinked. "Woof Element..."

Mo Tan was speechless. He pinched her ear, trying to make the girl stay quiet for the moment.

"Haha~" Jadeka merely laughed heartily, clearly not minding. He continued, "Elegantly wielding the forces of nature, learned, mysterious, wise, powerful, meditating to comprehend elemental power, discussing scholarship and knowledge with companions in a magic tower, being the most trustworthy partner in battle, turning the tide with a few laughs... Pretty naïve, isn't it?"

Mo Tan shook his head slightly. "I think it sounds cool."

"I think it sounds cool too~" Jadeka gave his smoking staff another "ice treatment." "That's why I left my family. That's why I treasure this staff I bought for two gold coins on the black market. It's not that I like making explosions; I simply can't use any more advanced staff. At least this thing lets me sense the existence of elements a tiny bit."

"I think it has repaid your feelings." Mo Tan joked, "At least you're still alive and well, aren't you?"

Jadeka looked at him in surprise, clearly astonished by that oddly angled bowl of chicken soup. Then he lightly clenched his fist. "Perhaps. Of course, it could also be a matter of physique. When I was little, my family always said I was a born knight. Even now, I might not lose in an arm-wrestling match against some not-too-strong Orc warriors. After all these years, the only things about me resembling a mage are my appearance and age. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

"No, you don't resemble a mage." Mo Tan said this instead. Then he nodded at Jadeka, whose face had reddened slightly. "You are a mage. Even if one day you defeat a dragon in close combat, you'll still be a mage."

This time, the other party was silent for an especially long while...

"Call me Jadeka, mate." When they were almost at their destination, the old mage finally said this to Mo Tan. "Thanks."

Mo Tan patted the old man's shoulder. "All right, Jadeka~"

"Woof-deka!" Yaya happily called out to Jadeka. "Woof-deka! Meat, thank woof!"

"Haha~ Yaya has such a good personality."

"That's right~"

"Woof!"

Five minutes later, Jerry's Farm, not far south of Anka Market

"That's about it." A vigorous old Orc said to the three of them, "So, while I'm away visiting relatives, I'll have to trouble you with the farm."

Mo Tan nodded. "Clear the weeds outside and fertilize and remove pests from the crops."

Jadeka continued, "Repair the leaking roof, check whether the fences are sturdy, then drive away any beasts that want to ruin the crops."

Yaya tilted her head. "Meals included, woof!"

"Meals included, meals included~" The old Orc pointed to a stone house in the distance. "There are plenty of ingredients and cooking tools inside. Help yourselves."

Yaya's eyes immediately widened. "Good woof!"

"Then I'll be off." The employer nodded. "I'll leave the rest of today and everything until tomorrow evening to you three!"

With that, the old Orc grandpa mounted a sickly, nearly-dead-looking goat-like creature beside him and slowly wobbled away at a speed several steps slower than a normal walking pace.

"Woof Sheep made a mistake?" Yaya watched the pitiful animal's limping figure recede and scratched her cheek. "So Woof punished it?"

Jadeka stroked his beard. "No, I don't think it's punishment. It's simply unlucky..."

"Agreed." Mo Tan nodded. "Really unlucky..."

How could it not be unlucky? The old Orc and the bundle on his back were almost twice as large as that sheep-like creature!

After a brief round of emotion, the three decided to begin working.

The technical requirements really weren't high. After all, ordinary people without the slightest ability could complete this task, and aside from fertilizing, removing pests, and repairing the roof, even a more obedient dog could handle it.

Incidentally, the above statement contained absolutely no implication or metaphor...

"Leave fertilizing and pest removal to me." Jadeka said to the other two, "Mo, go look at the roof. Yaya, check whether the fences are sturdy enough. Any objections?"

Mo Tan readily agreed, and Yaya nodded vigorously to show that she had none.

And so... work began...

Relying on the abilities of a level-three warrior—he had used the experience reward from the previous debt-repayment quest—Mo Tan easily climbed onto the farmhouse roof. Looking at Jadeka striding around with a bucket of fertilizer in each hand and Yaya hopping near the fences, he felt that the future of this quest was bright~

That said, the quest truly wasn't difficult. The reason Miss Chris could casually assign it to the three of them, aside from showing them a little consideration, was also that no other adventurers were interested in it.

The reward, whether in money or adventurer experience, was pitifully small, while the task consumed a great deal of time. Even newly promoted novice adventurers wouldn't have much interest in it.

But the three of them didn't really care...

Mo Tan, who always maintained the attitude of "Do not neglect good deeds simply because they are small," aside, Jadeka naturally didn't mind either, since he was constantly isolated and ostracized by other low-level adventurers. High-level adventurers and proper mages had no reason to ostracize him. As for Yaya, there was even less to say. The girl was so excited to work on a quest with everyone that she practically danced with joy.

Everything proceeded smoothly, and then...

Then, after working for most of the day, the three prepared to eat dinner. Surely no one was expecting something to happen? Don't be silly. The time hadn't come yet~

During this period, Mo Tan had used the materials left by the farm owner to make some simple repairs to the main house's roof. Only the finishing touches remained. Jadeka had also finished fertilizing; he only needed to deal with the small number of pests before nightfall. Yaya had smacked several loose sections of fencing until they were unbelievably sturdy...

"This girl is really strong." Jadeka clicked his tongue while stewing the vegetable-and-meat soup. "She's almost as strong as me!"

Was that really something a mage should be saying...

Mo Tan nodded as well. He had inspected Yaya's work earlier because he was worried. He gave the Dog Girl a thumbs-up. "That's amazing~"

"Hehe!" Yaya immediately put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Woof has been full of strength since childhood, woof!"

Then she continued staring fixedly at the vegetable soup in the pot~

Yaya couldn't cook, which did not surprise Mo Tan in the slightest. Although Mo Tan's cooking skills were decent, the ingredients on the Continent of Innocence were still too unfamiliar to him. He was worried that rashly taking over might poison the three of them, so in the end, Jadeka became the cook~

Yet this junior mage, who looked like a Great Mage, seemed to enjoy it immensely.

The sun sank toward the west. After eating their fill, the three continued working. Mo Tan soon finished the repairs on the roof, while Jadeka crushed the remaining pests with his bare hands within twenty minutes (...). During that time, Yaya kept her head down and dealt with the weeds.

By the time the other two finished, the girl seemed not to have made any progress at all. Of course, this was understandable. No one had noticed that Yaya had ignored the sickles and other farm tools beside her and was instead hopping around while pulling the weeds by hand.

Her nails were fairly sharp, but they were still human hands! The Half-Orc's features were far less obvious than Mo Tan's Half-Dragon traits. The former only had beast ears, a tail, and sharp canine teeth, while the latter had a few scales on his face and a slightly protruding forehead. Although he still looked human, it was difficult to make out the player's original appearance.

Of course, players who had randomly rolled goblins or ogres had it much better. At least they still had some exotic handsomeness, right~

"Yaya, move aside." Jadeka clapped his hands, picked up the unstable explosive beside him, and rolled up his sleeves. "I'll take care of this stuff!"

Yaya turned back and blinked. "Woof?"

Then she moved two steps to the side...

"Are you sure this is okay?" Mo Tan asked uneasily. "Safety first..."

"Easy!" Jadeka smiled confidently and began waving his staff. "Although I'm only a junior mage, handling these weeds won't be a problem!"

Mo Tan looked around Jadeka. After confirming there was nothing nearby that would be troublesome if accidentally blown up, he nodded and also moved a few steps away.

"Red Cloud!" Jadeka shouted excitedly. He swung his staff, tracing a trail of fire that swiftly spread across the ground toward the weeds one second later. It vanished precisely before reaching the fence.

Perfect spellcasting!

"Impressive!" Mo Tan immediately clapped. "That's so convenient!"

Jadeka stroked his beard and was just about to say something when a low growl suddenly sounded nearby...

Mo Tan naturally heard it too. He immediately turned his head stiffly and focused his gaze.

He then saw Yaya crouching on the ground, her right hand clutching the tip of her tail as she stared fixedly at the two of them. Her emerald eyes were now filled with crimson, and the canine teeth at the corners of her mouth seemed to have grown longer...

There was an obvious patch of black scorch at the tip of her tail...

At that moment, Mo Tan suddenly remembered what Miss Chris had said earlier...

Torn apart half a house~

Flattened someone's courtyard~

With extremely high efficiency in slaughter... yes, that's what I meant~

There seemed to have been a few more things, but there was no time to think about them anymore!

Yaya was charging over!!

"Aaah!! It hurts so much!!!" The girl appeared in front of Jadeka in practically an instant. She grabbed the collar of his filthy mage robe and, before he could react, hurled him away with tremendous force. "It hurts so much, you bastard! You old thing, you set off an explosion and burned my tail! Do you enjoy courting death or what?!"

For some reason, her originally soft, puppy-like voice (...) was now filled with the aloof air of a mature woman. More importantly...

Her Common Tongue was extremely standard! And she spoke incredibly fast!!

"Yaya!" Mo Tan suddenly realized that this was no time to marvel at that. He shuddered and hurried to stand in front of the girl, shaking his head. "Calm down..."

Bang!!

As one-fifth of his health vanished, Mo Tan flew backward in spectacular fashion and crashed straight into the main house!

"Stop getting in the way, you idiot!" Yaya shouted without turning her head. Then all four limbs pressed against the ground. With a sudden burst of force, she appeared behind the newly risen Jadeka in a blur. "How dare you treat a lady's precious fur like that! Go die ten thousand times, you old bastard!!!"

The girl's slender right leg swept low across the ground, throwing the junior mage off balance. She immediately followed with a spine-breaking knee strike and a shoulder throw. Finally, she grabbed him by both legs and began spinning wildly, screaming as she turned, "You useless mage, go die, die, die, die, die, aaah!"

Whoosh!

Her slender hand released him, and Jadeka flew away in circles. After plowing a deep furrow through the farmland, he crashed through the kitchen where the three had previously cooked. His momentum remained strong enough to smash through a large section of fencing before he finally stopped.

"Yaya!" Mo Tan only now crawled out of the farmhouse, which had collapsed halfway. He shouted, "Calm down! Stop messing arou—"

"You're so annoying!" Red light flashed with brutal fury in Yaya's eyes as she darted behind Mo Tan. "I'll beat you too, believe me!"

Then Mo Tan flew as well...

Straight toward Jadeka, who was struggling to get back up...

Half a second later, he slammed heavily into the old mage, and the two rolled several meters away!

"Are you all right?" Mo Tan, with half his health remaining, immediately looked toward the old mage, who had just been thoroughly beaten. He asked with concern, "Are you seriously injured?"

Jadeka shook his head. "I'm fine. My physique is fairly decent..."

Another howling sound rang out. Yaya, who had entered some strange state, charged toward the two of them without the slightest pause!

"Get out of the way!" Jadeka shouted at Mo Tan. "I just remembered a binding spell. It might temporarily restrain her!"

Mo Tan immediately crawled several meters to the side... His legs were a little numb now...

At the same time, Yaya pounced over like a gust of wind!

And then...

Boom!!!!!

It was that familiar sensation again. The instant he was blown away, Mo Tan understood. This was not Yaya's attack, nor was it a binding spell. It was Jadeka's thing, written as a staff and read as an unstable explosive, exploding again!

"After Yaya finally woke up, she and Jadeka told me to return to the city and rest, while they stayed behind to clean up the aftermath at the farm." Mo Tan sat on the living-room sofa with a dark expression as he spoke to Yi Dong on the other end of the call. "Later, while I was returning to the city to buy repair tools, I disconnected and changed accounts. That's all... Hello? Are you listening? Hello?"

A few seconds later, a burst of hysterical laughter came from the other end of the call...

The End