The Achievement Junkie

As Bart's head rolled to the ground, Maynard had already wiped his katana clean and sheathed them. "Ya brought this on yourself, ya pestro."

Rydel walked up to the headless corpse, quickly locating a storage ring. He removed it and scanned through its contents.

"Find anything good?" asked Maynard, unfazed by the death of his four former comrades.

"Plenty of coin and wine, but not much else," answered Rydel.

"Any leftover swords or weapons for the kid? Ya saw what was left of the rapier in the dungeon, right?"

The hunter shook his head when he remembered the bent and charred blade they found near the troll's corpse. "Yeah, I like that idea. How about we just hand over the ring when he wakes up?"

"Really? But what about all the coin?"

"The kid's already a patron with some trader; how else do you think he got such great stuff as a newbie?" explained Rydel. "Besides, based on how fast he levels up, he'll be passing us too pretty soon."

"Enough chatting. Let's get going." The queen's cold orders rang through everyone's ears as she returned to the wagon. She kept her cool and showed no emotion after her absolute victory.

"Fine, but next time at least leave behind a corpse. Who knows what was in those rings?" stated Rydel.

"They angered me, so I acted," reasoned the queen. "They were too weak to be of any value, so I doubt they had anything worthwhile. Besides, they threatened my guard's life. If I showed mercy in the face of my enemies, what kind of queen would I be?"

Not wanting to argue with the queen he had previously underestimated, Rydel swallowed his pride and answered, "Yeah, yeah, just try your best next. Everyone, prepare to leave in two minutes!"

Troni and Brunar chatted with Maynard about their master's killing strike. Brunar was especially fascinated and entertained by Maynard's perfectly clean technique.

Slivia wasn't too bothered by the ambush, rather she was conflicted about how she should act toward the queen. The queen had just obliterated three adventurers in a row and kept her humble, gentle look after returning to Jack's side. She had no clue how to address her or if she was some kind of rival for Jack's heart, which appeared likely based on the soft, determined look in the queen's eyes.

Without wasting another second, the party moved on after the short break Rydel used to loot Bart of everything he had.

Like they had planned, the party quickly approached Reinolt City in the distance. Once it came into view, Rydel retrieved his contact crystal and messaged Zariff to meet them outside the gates.

In a flash, a mountain of a man exited the city gates and stood in its path. Any nearby guards or travelers scattered and avoided the intimidating man.

"Chief!"

Brunar was the first to shout in excitement. He had recently grown close to Zariff ever since the chief was available to drink with Brunar every night for the past few months. Pushing his new stallion to its limits, Brunar took off ahead of everyone to reunite with Zariff.

"You brat, you only leveled up that much?" laughed Zariff, poking fun at Brunar's growing ego.

"Hey, I may not be Jack, but I'm still his rival!" yelled Brunar as he dismounted and gave Zariff a big bear hug.

The muscular man let out a small, pained sigh as he was embraced, but he quickly returned the favor to the young samurai. Zariff's monstrous strength caused Brunar's face to go from a red to a faint purple before he let go. "What's this about Jack? He's okay, right?"

"He's unconscious, but the medic said he'll be good within a week," answered Brunar. "Still, he's too crazy chief. You'll never guess what level he is now?"

"Oh? Did he already pass you?" joked Zariff.

"No, but he wouldn't lose to me either," stated Brunar openly. "I can't tell myself, but Rydel said that Jack already lv. 18."

"Lv. 18? Already?" Zariff was amazed and smiled uncontrollably when he heard that.

For the past three months, Zariff had been living in excruciating pain, day and night. Whenever he tried to sleep, it was impossible to overlook the pain unless he got blackout drunk every night. Jack was the first beacon of hope he had to return to normal and remove his curse. The sooner Jack leveled up, the better the chances of him being able to change Zariff's situation.

Looking out to the covered wagon, Zariff's warm smile was on display for everyone to see. The gate guards were shocked to see the battle-hardened Zariff show such a warm expression. Those in the approaching party picked up the pace and hurried to meet the happy branch chief.

"Chief, we're finally back," sighed Rydel as he dropped from his horse.

"It's about time!" shouted Zariff, flipping back to his overwhelming personality. "I've been swamped with paperwork and court filings because you took your sweet time to get here."

"Calm down, chief," chuckled Rydel. "Don't blame me, just blame the kid. He was unconscious and forced us to stay the night at the Balt Guildhall for testing. Now that we're back, there's someone you should meet."

Before Rydel had a chance to introduce the goblin queen, Zariff caught sight of her beautiful, illusory figure exiting the wagon. "Whoa… Who's the dame?"

"That's—"

"Pleasure to meet you, Chief Zariff. My guards and I have come to meet you and witness the grandeur of the capital," stated the queen with a humble bow of her head.

"Oh, I heard about you. Rydel said you're pretty sexy for someone so different. Is that true?" asked Zariff.

"Oh, I had no clue," replied the queen, passing a strange glance at Rydel, who had his face buried in his hands.

"The name's Zariff, so no need to use any titles. What's your name?" asked Zariff.

"I'm the goblin queen. I can only reveal my name to a lover," mentioned the queen in a hushed tone, unable to reach the gate guards.

As those around her heard that statement, a couple of guys grew red in the face as they imagined it, Troni slightly more than the others.

"Fine, queenie, we'll play by your rules. We'll hurry and get everyone back to the branch office. We've got some extra rooms you can stay in while you're here." Zariff looked back at the wagon and walked closer. He noticed Slivia sitting there at the front, unmoving and stiff while she stared back at him. "Is Jack back there? How's he doing?"

A few moments passed by with no answer, so Zariff tried again. "Is Jack alright?"

"Z… Z…" Mumbles escaped Slivia's mouth, surprising everyone.

"Huh? What's wrong?" asked Zariff, focusing more on the girl than Jack for a moment. "You're the new cleric that wanted to join the Adventurers Association, right? We'll get you registered by the end of the night, so don't worry about it, okay?"

"Z.. Z…"

"What is it? Spit it out already," said Zariff, wanting to hurry and get everyone within city limits.

"Z… Zar?"

Zariff blinked, being taken aback from the simple word Slivia had uttered. While everyone else was baffled by her strange comments and behavior, Zariff squinted and took a closer look at Slivia. Upon further inspection, he said, "There's… There's no way you're… Sliv?"

The entire party paid close attention to the strange conversation between the muscle head Zariff and the angelic Slivia. What caught them completely off guard was how Slivia leaped off the wagon and tackled Zariff with her arms latching around him.

"Zar… I can't believe it…" Tears began to form in Slivia's eyes as she hugged Zariff tightly.

"You can't believe it? I can't believe it…" replied Zariff, returning her hug with his tender embrace. "Are you really Sliv? That same little farm girl?"

She didn't answer, struggling to keep it together.

"Umm… Can someone explain what's going on please?"

Rydel's comment awoke both Zariff and Slivia from their trance. "What's going on? How do you two know each other?"

The two of them let go of each other and faced the party. Zariff was the first to speak, saying, "This was a little girl that I guarded back in my early adventuring days. Her entire family lived on a simple farm, but her mom was the best cook I've ever met."

"Then what happened? Why are you so shocked to see her?" asked Rydel.

"That's because…" Zariff couldn't bring himself to say it.

"He saved my life," answered Slivia, inducing a steeper silence to envelop the party. "When the rest of my family was killed, Zar stormed into the bandit hideout and freed me. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I'd be alive today?"

"Don't say that," said Zariff, trying to not tear up.

"It's true. If you had come a day later, there's a chance that I might've given up on my life…"

Overcome with the tense emotions which held everyone's attention, Zariff let a tear escape. Not daring to overlook her now, Zariff hugged her again, saying, "Don't worry, you're safe now."