The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo carried the body of the high-level toxic creature awkwardly into the request room. He could tell that the creature was still alive as the body continued to squirm in his hands, but there was little it could do without its limbs.

Layla appeared soon after and watched as Apollo walked across the room.

As for the request room, the request table shifted and dispersed. The mist gathered to become a fairly large cage. The cage looked far from reliable given that the bars seemed to be fading in and out of existence, but Apollo didn't question it.

The front of the cage was just a gap, so Apollo tossed the creature in that gap. It landed with a thump, then mist rapidly gathered around the cage before disappearing altogether along with the creature.

The request table returned, but this time with the parchment on top torn and a sack of two hundred gold coins. Above it were six lines of condensed mist.

Without much hesitation, Apollo picked up the sack and headed over to the shop section of this room that looked like a street side stall. He looked at the gold coin section of the shop once more.

'10 Gold Coins - 10 One-Week Food Pellets

50 Gold Coins - Black Flame Match'

The purpose Apollo completed that mission in the first place was because he wanted to get the one-week food pellets, so there was no way he wasn't going to buy them. However, he was also quite curious about what this black flame match could be.

In the end, Apollo was caught between the decision of spending all his coins on food pellets, or buying one match and spending the rest on food pellets.

Layla got next to Apollo and looked at him as he stared intently at the price board.

Her furry ears twitched.

"Is there something tasty here?"

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"Not something tasty, but I can get things to eat."

Layla puffed up her cheeks.

"Ehhhh? Why eat if it isn't tasty?"

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"To survive?"

Layla tilted her head to the side, clearly confused.

"I don't get what friend is saying."

Apollo shook his head.

"It doesn't matter."

After a bit of deliberation, he supposed Layla had a point in a certain sense. Not that things had to be tasty, but what was the point if there wasn't a bit of excitement. Buying one couldn't hurt, at least not physically.

The fifty gold coins weren't a small price, but having one hundred and fifty food pellets should be enough for at least a little while.

Apollo decided on what he wanted to buy, but then was at a loss as for how he could buy them.

He looked over to the small bowl attached to the side of the misty street side stall, then connected two and two together.

Apollo dumped all of the gold coins into the small bowl and watched them disappear down the funnel. First, the One-Week Food Pellet section of the price list glowed brightly and the Black Flame Match lit up soon after.

After shaking out the very last coin from the sack, Apollo walked over to the price list, then after a bit of hesitation, tapped the black flame match item with his index finger.

A small amount of mist converged on top of the stall before revealing a small match. It was completely black and had a bulbous tip. Apollo pinched the match with two fingers and brought it up next to his face, inspecting it closely.

Other than the strange color, the match didn't seem to be anything special.

He then pocketed in and tapped the respective part for food pellets. Instead of immediately giving the food pellets, a few extra lines of mist appeared. They showed fifty, one-hundred, and the maximum he could buy, one-hundred and fifty.

Apollo tapped the one-hundred and fifty and mist began to converge on top of the table. A familiar black sack appeared on the table, but was a little bit larger this time.

After Apollo pocketed that sack too, Layla couldn't help but ask a question.

"What are those things?"

Apollo waved his hand dismissively.

"Nothing too important. Some flavorless food and something that I don't understand yet."

Layla pouted.

"They aren't tasty?"

Apollo shook his head.

"Probably not."

Layla hummed with dissatisfaction.

"Why don't you get the tasty things?"

Apollo sighed.

"I might and I might not."

He walked over to the request table and pulled out his iron coin to flip it. Plumes of smoke appeared, before condensing into five lines of mist.

There was only one parchment, prompting Apollo to raise an eyebrow.

...At least it was better than no parchments.

'Reward: The Eye of An Adult Unicorn'

Apollo remembered seeing this reward several times and recognized the parchment. In other words, nobody took this parchment for quite a long time.

This made Apollo think that the reward was probably lackluster. However, there was no other choice for him to make and he did not want to waste the chance he used up to flip his coin.

And so, he picked it up and read it.

'Rank: Iron Coin - Silver Lined

Target: King-Level Toxic Creature

Description: Resides in the center of the toxic wasteland, the perpetual raining section. Estimated danger level of four horns. Heavily mutated appearance. Extremely large. Takes on the color of the filth rain that falls upon it. Will be provoked by any living creature that comes within the perpetual raining section.

Requirements: Assassinate King-Level Toxic Creature'

The attached picture below showed something that somewhat resembled a demon. That was because the general shape appeared to be humanoid while the head had three horns. However, the actual appearance consisted of extra limbs that appeared to be haphazardly placed on its body along with extra jaws. The skin was either badly drawn, or had several irregular bumps.

It was as though a three-horned demon had mutated in this place.