I Reject Quests

Rewen suggested to which Hase nodded. 

"That's the best thing we could do for now," Hase said, before turning to the guild receptionist. "Where are the applications?"

"What kind of job do you want?" The guild receptionist replied back with a question.

"What are the kinds of jobs?" Rewen got slightly interested.

The guild receptionist started to explain. "Well… there's the most common job [Adventurer] who picks up missions and gets paid accordingly. Then, there's [Mercenary] where we send you to military campaigns. The pay here is high because the risk is high. Lastly, there are miscellaneous jobs at the guild. Here, there's the stability of income as the pay is given weekly. What kind of jobs do you want?" 

Hase, Rewen, and Michi looked at each other. 

"Three of us want to be [Adventurers] and one wants to do miscellaneous jobs at the guild," Hase said.

"Okay." The guild receptionist nodded, then took out four applications and gave them to Rewen and the others.

Each of them started filling out the form.

Meanwhile, a woman came near the guild receptionist and sat at the chair next to her.

"How is it going?" The guild receptionist asked.

"Terrible." The woman said with some bitterness in her tone.

"Is that so? I heard that the City Lord is a reasonable person." 

"Only reasonable when he is public."

"Really? What exactly does he want?"

"He wants someone to work for him… ah, there he is."  The woman pointed to a newly arrived middle-aged man in the guild.

In curiosity, Hase followed her gaze and got shocked. 'Isn't this the City Lord?'

Rewen noticed his shock and also turned his head. 'Oh?' This was the man he saw talking with the Envoy when he went to get the letter for the contest that was held in Exquisite Immemorial Palace. 'If I recall correctly, he should be the Rover City's City Lord.'

By this time, the City Lord had also noticed two familiar faces, then walked to them.

"It's good to see both of you safe and without any harm." The City Lord patted Hase's shoulder, then looked at Reza. "Where is your father? I need to talk to him."

Hearing that, Reza's face turned dark.

Hase also kept quiet.

The City Lord's face showed confusion for two seconds, then sighed in understanding. "I see… sorry for asking. Are all of you here for jobs?"

Hase nodded without uttering a word.

The City Lord turned to the guild receptionist. "Give them a priority."

The guild receptionist's face turned awkward. With three words, he had made her life difficult. If it was some average joe, she would definitely not care and give a perfunctory nod but the person standing in front of her is a City Lord. He can't bear to offend her unless she wants to get fired.

Taking a deep breath, she carefully picked her words. "Sir, I would definitely give them priority but… the matter is out of my hands."

The City Lord frowned. "In that case, how much time would it take?" 

"Sir, it should take about… one-and-a-half month." With a difficult face, the guild receptionist gave a reasonable estimate based on her experience.

"One and a half months? Do you take me for a fool? Do you know who this person is? She is the daughter of a full-fledged Noble. I'm not someone to use authority to force things but think about this poor girl. She lost her father and is currently homeless. If nobles are to be homeless, what have their ancestors laid their lives in wars for?" The City Lord said in a dignified tone.

Hearing the first half of his sentence, the crowd thought that he was another arrogant person with power and authority but as they heard more, they felt that he had made some sense. The noble families are descendants of people who made huge contributions to the war that happened in the [Third Chaotic Age]. Most of them perished. 

Back then, the central forces of humans had already planned to make a systemic hierarchy. After much deliberation, they chose to create a monarchical system. To honor the deceased, they added their descendants into the system and made them nobles. There weren't any divisions between nobles. They are commonly referred to as just nobles/aristocrats. 

Though it was generally said that the nobles from Central were in a "different class".

The guild receptionist's face turned even more difficult.

The woman sitting beside her got up. "Let me talk to the Branch Manager."

Rewen, Hase, and Michi looked at each other, understanding that the situation was turning difficult.

A while later, the woman returned. She walked to the City Lord and bowed. "My apologies. The Branch Manager said to wait for a month…"

The City Lord opened his mouth when Hase spoke up.

"It's fine, Uncle. We can wait for a month or two."

The City Lord appeared a little hesitant, after which he nodded. "Alright. Do you have a place to stay?"

Hase nodded. "We are temporarily staying at an inn."

"An inn? Why don't you stay at my place for the time being?" After he said that, the City Lord's eyes brightened as if he had remembered something. "That's right… you could also work for me and earn."

"Work?" Rewen got interested.

"Yes. Come to my place first. We can leisurely talk there. Sounds good?" The City Lord stared at Hase who slightly nodded.

***

Rover City City Lord's Mansion.

Coincidentally, the City Lord of Rover City actually lived in Jackport Town for the most part of the year. Therefore, it's no surprise that the City Lord had a large mansion located in the center of the town. 

The journey from the guild to the mansion took ten minutes. Unlike Rover City, Jackport Town was significantly small.

Rewen and the others sat in a large room. 

Rewen looked around the room and found it quite pleasing to the eyes. 'The mansion isn't larger than the Terio Villa but it's definitely more beautiful. The floor is completely soft marble. It's comfortable to walk barefooted. Speaking of which, I never get people who walk around their house wearing shoes. It's uncomfortable as I didn't wear shoes in my home when I lived in the village. Maybe it's more of an Eastern Dream Kingdom-thing… I wonder about the cultures in the Frozen Fire Kingdom…'

Random useless thoughts entered his head until he saw the City Lord entering the room along with some servants behind him and stood up along with the others sitting beside him, that is, Hase, Michi, and Reza.

"Thank you for… everything." Hase respectfully bowed to which the City Lord shook his hand. 

"It's only my duty as your Uncle's friend. Never mind that, sit down. I want to hear the details of what had happened in the Rover City as… unfortunately or fortunately, I wasn't present in the city when the city needed me the most. Not that it would make a difference anyway." After he said that, he let out a sigh.

Hase nodded, then started to narrate the entire incident that had happened yesterday. Sometimes in between, Rewen added more to the incident by narrating his side. Michi and Reza remained quiet.