The Village Chief Samuel was relatively easy to find as he was almost constantly surrounded by Players, hoping that he would give them a Quest or to hand one in if they managed to receive one. The sudden influx in adventurers was a relief for him but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed occasionally.
’Some of these Outsiders are just plain rude.’
There were inevitably some people who treated him as if he wasn’t a person, shouting skip when he tried to speak, try to threaten him into giving them a quest or simply just insulting him when he didn’t give them what they wanted.
’The party that wiped out the Goblin Settlement was far better than any of these Outsiders. I wonder what they are doing now...’
"Kyaaaaah~! It’s Ouroboros! He’s sooooo dreamy~!"
A sudden scream from one of the young ladies who noticed a party of players approaching them. Samuel turned his head to see who all the fuss was about, only to see that it was the young heroes party that had saved the village once before.
Ouroboros had a sheepish look on his face as Lily and Nyx nudged him with teasing expressions on their faces.
"Look at you~! Mr. Popular over here~!"
"The nickname Playboy scum is probably gonna stick now~!"
Horo groaned as he did his best to ignore the Gremlin Duo who were having an absolute blast teasing him. That was until they heard praise directed towards them.
"Oh my. That must be Lily right? Her hair is such a pretty green colour! But her chest...those hips....Goddamn! I wonder how long she spent in the Character Creator to get such perfect curves!"
"Yeah Lily is alright but don’t you see Nyx?! She has that hot wild girl aesthetic. She looks like the kind of girl who would step all over me...and honestly I would be so down for that!"
Nyx and Lily both had shivers of revulsion creep down their spine as they immediately proceeded to try and hide themselves behind Horo, using him as a human shield against the blatant sexual harassment.
Horo immediately glared at the two individuals who made those remarks, both of whom looked extremely uncomfortable about being glared at and swiftly departed, afraid of sticking around.
The crowd parted ways as Samuel forced his way through the encirclement. There was a look of genuine surprise and delight as he called out to the party.
"Oh my! What a pleasant surprise to see such familiar faces here. And some news ones I see"
Leo had a faint smile on his face as he nodded in affirmation.
"It is good to see you too Chief. We had a quest we needed to turn in after we discovered a dungeon."
Samuels eyes widened in shock as he stammered
"A D-Dungeon?! Here of all places?! That can’t be good! Will we need to send a request for aid from a nearby town? We definitely need to set up a subjugation force before the dungeon overflows. Who knows how long it has been there. It will be extremely dangerous if it has never been cleared before either..."
Samuel was clearly panicking, stress washing over him as his thoughts began to spiral deeper and deeper into worst case scenarios. But he froze when Leo spoke again.
"Actually we already cleared it. Crazy hard but we beat all of the Bosses inside and cleared the dungeon as a whole."
Samuel’s jaw felt loose at the unbelievable achievement that Leo casually announced. A screen appeared before Samuel as if to confirm the authenticity of Leo’s words.
Quest: Kobold Militia
Quest Details: A mutated Kobold had taken control of the nest and was training its kin to form a Militia. The dungeon has since been cleared for the first time and all BOSSes have been defeated. As a result, the Dungeon can now be opened to the public
Difficulty Completed: S
Samuel didn’t know what to say, his mouth flapped like a leaf in the wind but still no words came out. Suddenly, the old village chief opened his arms wide and forcibly gave Leo a hug with tears streaming down his face.
"You are the Lucky Star of this village! I can’t thank you enough! Whatever you desire, I will do my best to fulfill your request!"
The excitement and hug from an old man caught Leo off guard. He wanted to slip away but he felt like it would be rude to do so as his intentions were entirely pure. He glanced towards Sonata who had somehow managed to avoid drawing attention to herself by using the others as natural shields to hide herself from the eyes of others.
She saw the discomfort Leo and found it slightly heartwarming that he wasn’t sure what to do as he truly didn’t wish to hurt the Village Elder or his feelings. She faked a cough which made Samuel come to his senses and release Leo with an embarrassed and awkward expression.
"Sorry Young Man. I just got a little excited. Your contribution to this village deserves more than some paltry praise."
Samuel waved his hand and a screen appeared in front of the party’s eyes.
Dungeon Quest Completed.
Samuel is very impressed with your efforts in clearing the Kobold Nest. He has decided to reward your party with the maximum reward he can.
The party has gained:
6 Randomized Skill Books
Life Profession Slot Unlock.
Player Lily’s Pet [Moku] Has Leveled up
Additional Reward: Village Elder Samuel has granted Player Leo’s Party with the following Title(s):
Benefactor of the Beastkin Village (Beginner)
Effects: +50 HP, +25 MP
The party was stunned by the extreme rewards that Samuel had given them. Especially the Free Points, A skillbook that was essentially for each of them and a Profession Unlock. Lily was the only one who truly knew what that meant at that moment. She could finally become a herbalist based alchemist and her teacher could help her with a lot more.
She felt her excitement growing at the idea of learning something new but it was immediately suppressed when a loud grumble came from her stomach. There was a priority to what needed to be done and for her, the first priority would always be one thing: Food.