PART 1

"Mr. Bar, what quest will you undertake today?"
Bar–a man in his thirties–frowned, looking down upon the three parchments handed by the young receptionist behind the Guild"s counter.
"Which one will you recommend?" Unable to decide, he asked.
"Hmm, I will suggest collecting the Heiren herb." Niebe continued, focusing her red eyes onto him.
"Some rookies joined a while ago and they wished to take on this quest. I, for one, want a veteran to accompany them."
"I see."
Bar nodded.
Niebe, maybe due to her youth, was responsible for many rookies and youngsters, and always had them be accompanied by a veteran.
No wonder she got her alias as "Trainer", Bar thought, smiling.
"It"s fine. I"m free."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Bar!"
Niebe"s mouth broke into a big, wide smile that would bewitch any young man. Not Bar, though. He just stared back at her.
"And where are those rookies?"
Niebe glanced to his right, forcing Bar to move his head in the direction.
There stood three demi-human girls.
15, no 16 years old. Dogmen Tribe, huh.
The girls wore cheap shirts and shorts that wouldn"t hinder their mobility, and were equipped with leather breastplates old enough that they were someone"s hand-me-downs and a short-sword, gauntlets and a staff.
"Eh, it"s this old man?" [1]
The orange-haired girl, standing in the middle of the other two, grimaced and glared daggers at Bar with her tawny eyes.
"Mister, what"s your rank?"
"Seventh Rank," Bar replied. 
The girl clicked her tongue, "How lame can you get. You"re so old yet of the lowest rank?"
Her words came as no surprise to Bar.
The adventuring ranks start from Seven to One, and the lower the number dictated higher skill of an adventurer. 
To be stuck at the Seventh Rank despite entering his thirties, it was no wonder the girls looked down upon him.
"I-I a, agree we need a veteran to accompany us, but at least let it be someone reliable…or it"ll trouble us…"
The green-haired girl tightened her grip on the staff, raised her eyebrows in worry and appealed to Niebe.
The girls sneaked a glance at Bar"s clothes.
He was clad in a long-sleeved, black jacket with four big pockets, a white shirt to soak the sweat, a blue trousers and a pair of loafers–all of which looked very cheap.
His clothes were a far-cry from an experienced adventurer"s attire. Neither did he look the part of a competent adventurer, nor did his clothes attest otherwise.
It just was no wonder the girls opposed his inclusion.
"It"s because you need a competent veteran that I asked Mr. Bar to accompany you." Niebe answered with a smile, her forehead twitching in anger. "He has accompanied more than thirty rookies, and returned alive with every single one of them. He"s an veteran at his tasks." She said, almost as if bragging about herself.
"Is that considered amazing?"
The blue-haired girl warily looked at Bar.
"You"ll understand once you go on an adventure."
Niebe knew well enough to argue with a rookie, but to let them experience the world by themselves.
"Okay. Fine, whatever."
The girls agreed, their expression contradicting their words.
Should they get on the wrong side of the receptionist responsible for them, it would be harder to request any well-paying quests in the future.
…Is probably what they"re thinking, Bar inferred.
They weren"t the first ones to think and do it. As far as Bar could remember, almost every single one of his parties were the same.
"Then, Mr. Bar please support us."
"Roger," Bar nodded, turning around to face the girls. "I"ll be in your care."
"P, please rest a.s.sured."
The blue-haired girl…only the blue-haired girl bowed to greet Bar.
"I"m Bar. What"s your name?"
"I, I"m Helena," the green-haired girl stated, then pointed at her comrades and introduced them.
"The girl with orange hair is Aefa, and the one with blue hair is Tinee."

"Nice to meet you two as well," Bar said with a smiling expression.
Aefa scoffed and looked away from Bar.
"Me too," Tinee said in a low voice, as though she"d couldn"t be bothered to have a conversation.
This temporary party had every grim prospects, but still, regardless of that fact, Bar"s smile never broke.
"The harvesting place for this herb is…near the waterfront, huh…" Bar re-checked the parchment. "I"d like everyone to buy clothes that cover your hands and feet."

Putting Helena aside, the other two wore half-sleeved shirts and shorts. n.o.body would bat an eye at those clothes, but it was obvious that someone, somewhere–an adventurer–would get offended at the lax att.i.tude of these girls.
"Eeh?"
The girls showed displeased expression with varying intensities.
It took no longer than a second for Bar to realize why Niebe had been so worried about these girls. They had a big problem—they took adventuring as an easy job.
"At least put on a jacket."
"It"s fine. We"re near the Imperial Capital, there can"t be any dangerous monsters lurking near here. Even civilians walk the roads everyday without fear."
Aefa waved her hands, her face contorting in irritation, as she refused Bar"s advice.
Her actions were far too rude for a person, almost as though she were shooing a dog away, but Bar remained calm.
"…I get it. Try at your own risk," He said, stopping the conversation.
There were many youngsters who neglected preparing well in advance because they believed nothing bad would happen to them.
Especially in the Imperial Capital, where the public safety was a.s.sured, and civilians lived their lives without feeling any danger.
That perception, however, was an evil poison for adventurers.
"Okay, then."
Aefa smiled in satisfaction, scuttling forward. "Mister, you can carry our items, right?" Bar nodded calmly, ignoring the conceitedness evident on her expression
The girls probably took his silence as acquiescence on his part.
What rambunctious girls these are.
Bar broke into a grin as he followed the girls trotting away.
The designated place for harvest was situated at the riverfront, which was a thirty minute walk from the western gate of the capital, near a gentle-sloped hill.
Knights patrolled the area alongside the road from time to time.
The danger around here was quite low, and the quests were hardly anything to worry about.
As such, it wasn"t uncommon for people to make light of quests around this area. And for sure, Aefa"s group wasn"t the first and won"t be the last to do so.
Aefa and others gave no mind for their depleting stamina and continued on and on, not stopping for even a rest.
As the quest is simple, so is the reward not high enough. The girls, in their haste, seemed eager to finish this quest and move onto another one.
"We shouldn"t hurry."
Bar warned, walking faster to keep up with the rest, but the others seemed uninterested in his words.
This is going to be troublesome.
Maybe they were looking down on adventuring, or wanted to finish the quest quick enough. But judging by the situation, they seemed to be lingering on both sides.
They"re the type to end up in trouble.
Bar put up his guard, scanning his surroundings warily.
It would be great if nothing happened, though, trouble always reached and gathered around troublemakers, making their lives miserable.

Nothing happened until they crossed the hill. However, that soon changed after they arrived near the river.
"Isn"t that–"
The girls stopped, staring at a big, black cow drinking water from the river.
"It"s Auðumbla, probably."
Helena said, her voice shaking from lack of confidence.
"If I remember correctly, it"s a monster with exquisite milk and beef, right?" Aefa asked, to which Helena nodded.
"It"s got horns, so it"s a female. Apparently, it"s beef is so expensive only n.o.bles can have a taste of it. But it"s also strong enough to defeat an ogre."
"If we do it well, can"t we squeeze out the milk? It"s an obedient monster, right? We can sell it to get some extra change."
Aefa"s words were pragmatic enough for the rest of the girls to nod.
Had she proposed to defeat a monster which could even defeat an Ogre, a monster impossible to beat by civilians or weaker adventurers, even Tinee and Helena might have had protested.
However, if all they had to do was get some milk from its teats, they believed they had a chance.
"Wait right there!"
Bar exclaimed, his expression coloured with panic.
As a veteran accompanying the party, he had to stop the three.

PART 2

"Why?"
Aefa and Tinee ignored him as Helena replied back with a question.
"Don"t even try to get milk from Auðumbla if it"s not with its child. If you try to do it regardless, it"ll kill you in anger."
"Eh? Is that true?"
Helena widened her eyes.
"Of course. And it"s strange that a female is strolling around these parts, all alone…after all, they aren"t even found near the capital."
This was another reason why Bar stopped the three.
For a monster to be away from their habitation was nothing less than ill omen.
"It might just be a stray monster."
Aefa retorted with a sullen expression, seemingly eager to get back at Bar.
A stray monster tended to be the one which ends up taking actions alone, away from its group"s or family"s guidance.
Those individual exceptions were easily angered when confronted with enemies, or maybe even their temperament were bad.
However, Aefa couldn"t be bothered about that.
"It"s too dangerous. We shouldn"t take our chances when its child isn"t around. There could also be a much stronger monster, something that could kill even an Aub.u.mla, strolling around this here, for all we know!"
"Mister, you"re such a coward."
Aefa scoffed.
"Aefa, you spoke a bit too much," Helena chided, as though unable to pa.s.s her remarks.
"That"s true. If mister"s words weren"t wrong, it could get very bad for us."
Maybe the words of her comrades got to her, Aefa hung her head, pouting.
"We don"t even know if he"s telling the truth."
She was acting immature, apparently, too obstinate to listen to others.
"But, a Guild"s staff had him accompany us," Helena said.
"What if he just got lucky?! Maybe he"s just been wasting his years uselessly!" Aefa shouted, her emotions had gotten hold of her.
There was no way she"d listen to him anymore.
Even Bar, who"d just met them a while ago, understood her nature in an instant. He turned around to face Helena and Tinee, a wry smile plastered on his face, stating not to be bothered about him.
"We should start with harvesting the herbs. Even if you bring back extra, expensive stuff, if you don"t complete your quest, the guild won"t recognize you."
Bar, diligent as ever to his work, advised Aefa once again, unwilling to give up on her.
"…Fine."
Bar raised his eyebrow at Aefa"s words. Maybe the "recognize" word had worked a bit well.
"Let"s move on slow, just in case,"Bar stated, but only Helena nodded.
Aefa and Tinee showed nary a response, and moved along.
"No, we should check on Auðumbla and see how things go," Bar suggested.
"It"s fine if we don"t anger it, right?"
Aefa said, not bothering to turn around. She approached a tall tree, situated a metre away from the river in front, and hid in its shadow.
The big, green leaves grew on the tree. Much to her surprise, its was the requested medicinal herb, Heiren.
It wasn"t a spectacular herb when used as a separate item, but when mixed with other herbs and medicine it would increase their efficacy and reduce the side effects. It was a really strange, mystic herb.
As such, it was highly valued by many doctors across the land.
"If I remember correctly, we need to take back the whole branch, right?" Aefa muttered.
"That"s right. If you tear the leaves, its efficacy drops in an instant, and it loses its value as herb," Bar answered, diligent till the end.
He praised Aefa for her knowledge, and received a scoff in return. She really liked scoffing at people, apparently.
"Of course. We"ll eventually rise up to the Third Rank together."
"Third Rank, huh."
Bar sneaked a glance at the Auðumbla several metres away and gestured at it.
The monster didn"t show any signs it had noticed them, as of yet.
"Yeah. It"s nigh impossible to become the First, or Second Rank for that matter," Aefa said, gritting her teeth in resentment.
At least she"s somewhat pragmatic, Bar thought.
He felt strange seeing such an obstinate girl, almost to the point to audacity, speak words that were realistic in nature.
"Aefa, we"ve both taken one branch," Tinee said, interrupting the conversation.
Bar turned around and saw Tinee and Helena held one branch held in each of their hands.
"That"s good enough," Bar said.
Heiren trees grow a new branch within a day, and new leaves popping out only within some minutes after that.
As such, as long as someone doesn"t plan to rid the tree of all branches, it was possible to continue harvesting the herb every single day.
"There was no specific number written on the parchment, so it would be proper to bring at the very least three branches. Anymore and you"d be taking more than we need."
Aefa distorted her expression at his words, while the rest listened rather obediently.
All three put the branches in the jute bags hanging down their waist. Unable to fit it completely inside, the topmost part of the branch jutted out from the opening. It couldn"t be helped.
"I really want to buy a "Storage Bag" when we have enough money," Tinee said, glancing down upon her own bag.
A Storage Bag was imbued with magic, and could store almost anything, taking the ma.s.s and size of the object out of the equation.
It was a convenient article, but it sure was expensive. Not even a miracle would allow a rookie adventurer to buy it from a store.
"Yeah. It"d be possible to buy if we reach the Sixth Rank," Helena nodded, approving of her words.
Bar said, unable to keep quiet when he knew the truth, "It"s common for Fifth Rank adventurers to buy the "Storage Bag", but not before that."
"That"s true," Helena dropped her shoulder, muttering.
Aefa retorted, "It"s fine if we work harder than others!"
Bar took a step back, thinking. Maybe she"s a hodgepodge amalgamation of insecurity and obstinacy.
Judging by her actions, her natural state seemed to be obstinacy. And her weakness, insecurity, pops out whenever she loses confidence in a situation.
"And thus, we need to deal with Auðumbla," Aefa declared, her eyes shining.
It"s impossible to persuade her any more.
Bar had to change his thought process to deal with the situation.
It would no longer be possible to persuade her to give up her reckless mission, and it also wouldn"t teach her a lesson. Bar wanted her to reflect on her actions, to know that everything has a consequence.
If not, she might get killed on another reckless mission sometime later.
It would be better to let her experience defeat, and learn the pain of her actions.
After all, Bar could support her right now.
"If that"s what you want to do, go ahead. Try your best."
Tinee and Helena"s eyes widened in shock, and even Aefa looked at him with a suspicious glance.
"Heh, so you finally understand my words?"
"But, if it becomes dangerous, immediately RUN."
"Yeah, sure," Aefa replied, just as nonchalantly as before
"I, is that okay?" Helena grumbled.
Tinee put a hand on her shoulder and rea.s.sured her. "You already know her…she won"t listen to anyone if she puts her to something."
"Y, yes."
Apparently, even Tinee and Helena had a tough time dealing with her.
"Does everyone know how to squeeze milk out of a wild Auðumbla?" Bar asked, a.s.sessing everyone"s knowledge beforehand.
"Um, to approach an Auðumbla from behind, silently so as to not excite it."
"…That"s right," Bar"s said, his expression hard to read. "That"s the only thing you can do, since its child is not around. Aefa, can you do it?"
"I was the one to suggest it, after all," Aefa said, puffing her chest out.
It would be easier to handle her had she flinched a little, but then, if she had that kind of a personality Bar wouldn"t have had to come up with such a plan.
"Um, what will we store the milk in?" Helena asked, timid.
Her tone and volume spoke far more than anything that they weren"t prepared enough. They hadn"t even brought a bag to store anything else.
"It"s normal to bring a bottle, but if you don"t have it…ah, do you have a canteen?"
Bar choose the most innocuous option out of all.
"Yes. Ah, I see," Helena said, realizing what he meant.
"Then, I"ll fill it in my canteen," Aefa said as she took out a bamboo canteen from a red pouch wrapped around her waist.
She emptied her contents into Helena"s canteen, and crept near the monster.
At that moment, Auðumbla"s burly hind-legs a.s.sault Aefa.
"Ah!"

PART 3