Next morning, Sol, with Amber following behind, got breakfast and headed to the Adventurers Guild. The breakfast was a simple meal just to jump start their day, but Amber really enjoyed it. Though it didn’t show on her face, Sol could tell by the way she quickly ate it. She only slowed down when Sol advised her that she could savor the taste longer if she ate slowly.
At the guild, Sol was looking at the board for escort quests that led to the capital. While they could travel on their own, it would be much easier if they took a quest. Traveling in a group was much less dangerous as it would make it less likely for them to be attacked, as bandits and monsters were less likely to attack larger groups of people.
That was also the reason Sol was attacked when he was traveling to the city. A lone young man would appear to be an easy target for anyone with bad intentions. Sol wasn’t afraid of being attacked on the road, but it would be incredibly inconvenient, especially when sleeping. No one else would be there to take turns keeping night watch.
Because Kerman was bordering three other countries, a lot of merchants passed by here on their way to the capital, where they could sell their goods for the highest price. Sol had plenty of options to choose from, ranging from E-Rank all the way to C-Rank.
"What do you think, Amber? Should we take this one?"
Sol pointed at a C-Rank quest for escorting 5 carriages for a large merchant company. As usual, Amber offered no input.
"Wow, you’re right, Amber. In the description, it says they will take a half-month detour to bring their goods to their branch stores."
At this point, Sol felt like he was going insane, but he thought this fake conversation could be good for her. Sol wasn’t a scholar who studied people or the mind, but he believed constant practice and experiencing normal life can help Amber build more personality, at least until they found his father. It definitely wasn’t because he was bored and decided to joke around.
"Oh, this one is good. A direct escort to the capital; it will take a week at most."
Sol grabbed the quest paper off the C-Rank board and took it to Trevor, who had his empty line as usual.
Trevor waved as he saw Sol approach. His mood seemed especially good today.
"Sol! My man! What can I do for ya?"
"Hey, you look extra peppy today. Did you get a raise or something?"
"Hah, I wish, no. It’s even better! I’m going on a honeymoon!"
"You’re married?!"
If it was any other person, he wouldn’t be surprised, but Trevor was almost the same age as him, being only a year older. In the times they had talked about their personal lives, Sol didn’t even get a hint of the fact Trevor was seeing someone, much less married to someone.
"Haha, yeah. Her name is Julia." One could see how lovestruck he was, as the mere mention of her name brought a smile to his face. "I have been working overtime this past month so that I can accumulate enough days to go to the Ausen Village. They are famous for their hot springs, and we have both wanted to go for the longest time. It’s far so for a round trip I needed three weeks, and I still needed to work for two more weeks to be able to go. But because I helped you with the kidnappings, the Guildmaster gave me the rest of the time off I needed!"
"I’m happy for you, Trevor. I guess we will both be leaving Kerman for a while."
"You too?"
Sol handed over the escort quest paper to Trevor.
"Oh, you’re heading to the capital? For how long?"
"I don’t know yet, until we find what we need."
"We?" Now is when Trevor noticed Amber behind Sol. Trevor thought she was just another adventurer waiting in line. "I see, so you’re both taking the quest?"
"Yeah, speaking of which, Amber, do you have an Adventurers Card?"
Amber shook her head. She had no need for it, and her old one was thrown away by Cane.
"Can she still register for the quest?" Sol asked.
They needed to both be registered for the escort quest as he doubted the merchant will just let a random stranger tag along for the ride.
"Not unless she registers as an adventurer, but even then, she would have to start from scratch, reveal her status page, or take the rank up exam."
Ranking up the normal way would be tedious and take too long. Sol wanted to be on the road as soon as possible to not only help Amber but also find his parents. The option to reveal her status page was not ideal as it would be permanently recorded in the guild, which could later be used against her. Sol knew the guild wasn’t a perfect organization and saw firsthand the effects of people using leaked guild information. He wouldn’t want that information to fall into the wrong hands.
The last option was to take the rank up test. While it was a requirement for B-Rankers to take a test to rank up to A-Rank, it was possible for lower ranks to take it as well. This option wasn’t ideal as it would take a while to find someone capable of administering the test. Amber was easily a B-Ranker, so they would have to find at the very least a B-Ranker to administer the test. If they’re lucky, it could be done by tomorrow, but if not, then it could take a week.
"Is the Guildmaster in today?" Since all the options weren’t ideal, Sol will just have to make a new one.
"She is, but are you sure? I know you both talked yesterday, but you can’t just approach her without a good reason."
"I’m sure, trust me."
Sol was confident the Guildmaster would at the very least hear him out since it had to do with one of the victims of the kidnapping.