Increased Reward

By the time the horizon turned golden, the sun was setting.

Accompanied by fiery clouds and a warm autumn breeze, the carriage rolled onto Mill Town's main road.

The stone-paved road sent a different vibration through the wheels, while the horses' shod hooves struck the stones with a crisp clatter.

The others woke one after another.

"We're here."

"Yeah. Finally back in town."

A few minutes later.

The Adventurers' Association hall in Mill Town.

Leia was speaking to a receptionist. The woman's expression soon changed, and she hurried away from the counter, her little leather boots tapping against the floor. It looked as though she had gone to report something.

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Another receptionist invited the whole team, Rain included, into a reception room off the hall.

Before long, Rain saw a middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache stride down from the second floor, several guards following him.

"Miss Leia, I'm terribly sorry. There was a serious error in the Association's intelligence, and it put your team in danger." The middle-aged man spoke as soon as he entered the reception room, then bowed in apology.

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Ramsey. I'm sure you didn't intend for this to happen." A hint of surprise crossed Leia's face at his arrival.

"I have no complaints on my own behalf. But I do think the Association should compensate my teammates properly."

"Of course, Miss Leia." After a moment's thought, the middle-aged man said, "Would a fifty-percent increase in the Whistling Hunters' reward be acceptable?"

"Is that calculated after including the Boarfolk Warrior?"

"Of course. It also includes the information you brought us about the Stillwater Boarman."

"It's a little low, but I suppose we can accept it." Leia glanced at Rain and the other two, unable to hide the smile in her eyes.

Soon, several burly Association guards carried in the Boarfolk Warrior's corpse.

After carefully examining the leather armor on the body, Ramsey said, "The stitching on this armor was definitely done by a sewing machine."

"The holes are all spaced exactly the same distance apart. Only a machine could do that."

"A Boarfolk clan could never achieve this level of craftsmanship."

"Miss Leia, your deduction makes a great deal of sense. We'll immediately post a Black Iron quest to investigate the suspected changes in the Boarfolk clan in Deadwater Valley."

"Thank you again, Whistling Hunters." Ramsey thanked Leia, Rain, and the rest of the team once more.

"You're too kind, Mr. Ramsey. My team and I only did what we should have done." Leia returned the courtesy.

After the middle-aged man left, Fabian leaned toward Rain, who still looked puzzled, and said quietly, "That's Ramsey Wood, the head of the Adventurers' Association branch in Mill Town."

"I didn't expect this incident to get his attention."

So he's the branch head.

Understanding dawned on Rain's face.

Everything that followed fell neatly into place.

With the branch head's approval, the receptionist recalculated the reward. The resulting figure was astonishing: one gold coin and ninety-five silver coins.

As everyone had estimated, the Boarfolk Warrior was worth seventy silver coins.

And although their information had yet to be verified, the Association valued it at fifty silver coins.

Add the thirty silver coins for killing the two Stillwater Boarmen, and the total came to one gold coin and fifty silver coins.

Then...

A fifty-percent increase!

That brought the full reward to two gold coins and twenty-five silver coins—a sum that had no business appearing among the quests in the ground-floor hall.

Inside the carriage outside the Adventurers' Association hall.

"After deducting thirteen silver coins for Chris's treatment, plus two for the carriage and other small expenses, we have two hundred and ten silver coins left."

"But I suggest we take ten silver coins from this reward and give them to Rain as a bonus for his outstanding performance." Leia looked around at the others, her expression serious.

On the way back, she had learned how they had dealt with the Boarfolk Warrior.

Grand and Chris had both fought bravely, but Rain had been the one to turn the tide.

"I agree."

"Agreed."

The others were taken aback for a moment, but soon smiled at Rain and nodded.

"Wait... Captain Leia, let's split it evenly." After a little thought, Rain spoke up.

Everyone liked money.

But as Rain saw it, Chris and Grand had both shown plenty of courage. Not one of them had fled when the Boarfolk Warrior appeared.

And Leia, their captain, had performed no less impressively than he had. She had lured a Boarfolk away on her own and killed it.

"Hmm?" Leia studied Rain's face, as if trying to tell whether he was being modest or genuinely meant it.

"Everyone did just as much as I did..."

Before Rain could say more, Leia patted his shoulder and declared, with a captain's finality, "Rain, I'm the captain. It's settled."

"Good work deserves a reward. Otherwise, who'll give their all next time?"

That...

Rain paused.

He was beginning to understand why Leia led the team instead of Chris or Grand.

It wasn't just a matter of strength.

"All right. Thank you," Rain said.

So the others each received forty silver coins, while Rain received fifty.

"Forty silver coins! I think that's a first in my nearly two years as an adventurer," Chris said happily, his injured arm freshly bandaged.

"A first for me too." Fabian put away his dagger and took the silver coins Leia handed him.

"Same here." Steady Grand said little, but the smile on his face said enough.

Rain, too, was delighted by the sudden weight of his bulging purse.

With this money, I could replace all my equipment.

No, that can wait. First I'll try taking on the Boarfolk Warrior bloodline.

Rain's thoughts wandered.

"All right, everyone. Go get some proper rest."

"Captain, aren't we having a meal to celebrate? My arm's fine. Look!" Chris waved his injured arm.

"Behave yourself. We'll eat together in two weeks, once Chris has healed. Any objections?"

"Of course not!"

"Take care of that arm, Chris!"

With Chris injured, the meal they had planned for that day had to be postponed.

After agreeing to put team quests on hold for the next two weeks, Rain returned to his room at the Oak Inn, a little excited.

Only now did he have a chance to try using the Boarfolk Warrior bloodline.