Been to Hell

I visualized the system window to read 'the confidentiality agreement and the terms of secrecy' one last time. The quest's goal was to gather information to assist demons in the upcoming human-ice demon war, and it was created by an anonymous user.

{Quest was offered to all users who met the following conditions. If one of the terms no longer applies to you, do not accept the quest.

1. The user must belong to a demon breed.

2. The user must be within the confines of the Snowflake forest.

3. The user must have a good relationship with humans that have high status.}

''Who decides I have good connections?'' I said in curiosity.

''It must be because Hermes and Roen are on your friends' list,'' The fox said. ''Doesn't it worry you that the person who created the quest is anonymous? It could be a trap made by humans to identify spies.''

I shook my head, ''The creator and the ones who accepted the quest will never come face to face, the measures that protect the creator protect me too. I will upload the information to the system and receive the quest reward from the system. At least, this is what the agreement says,'' I said.

''So you're determined to take the quest, huh?''

''You heard the soldier said that the captain is pretty religious and even respected the crazy cleric. With Miran's help, I can earn his trust,'' I said and meanwhile, we reached the guild. The same peg-legged man welcomed me, ''Is Hermes here?'' I asked.

He pointed to the stairs, ''Upstairs,'' He said. The guild was much more crowded than the previous time I was here. Those waiting to meet Hermes were lined up in front of his room. There were adventurers, local business owners, and even soldiers in the line.

I sighed in boredom. ''What are guilds for?'' The fox asked.

''Don't you know?''

''Malice wasn't interested in humans, but to feed on them,'' It said.

''Guilds are places where you can create or receive a quest. Places frequented by adventurers, bards, sorcerers, and the like. If an outside adventurer wants to come and do business here, she or he must first get permission from the guild,'' I said while waiting for my turn to see Hermes.

''What if the outsider doesn't want to get permission?'' The fox asked.

''Then he gets into trouble with the guild,'' I said and I felt a weird emptiness in my mind. ''Damn. Ina ve Ian, I almost forgot about their existence. Damn fairy magic, if I don't force myself to remember, I'm starting to forget. I don't even remember their faces anymore.''

''Fairies are masters of illusions and mind games. It's an achievement that you can resist that much,'' The fox said.

I smirked, ''Are you aware that you just praised me?'' The fox didn't answer me, it turned its face and started to lick its paw. My grin widened, ''Tell me, are demons on our plane really weaker than those in hell?''

It nodded with its tiny furry head, ''Of course. It's much harder to survive on the plane of Hell than here. Humans are unlikely to survive, and it is not... pretty enough for the angelic breeds to prefer.''

''Really? I know a human who went to hell and came back alive,'' I said.

The fox shrugged, ''It's your turn,'' It said. A soldier came out of Hermes's study and I entered. The walls were unadorned but a pair of swords hanging on the wall and there was no carpet on the floor. There was nothing in the room, except for a desk and bookcase as furniture. There was also no place to sit.

Hermes had a grim look on his face, ''How can I help you?''

''I have a sample for stamina potion,'' I said and put the glass bottle on the desk.

Hermes smiled and sighed. ''Good news, finally,'' He said.

''Has there been so much bad news lately?'' I asked. He took the glass bottle and opened the cork crap to take a sip.

''Soldiers don't let adventurers into the forest, and due to the increasing population with soldiers, raw materials are running out faster than our estimates. Restaurants want meat, tailors want leather, healers want herbs, blacksmiths want us to bring mines, but we can't go to the forest,'' Hermes rubbed his forehead.

''We have agreements to regularly source some businesses. Adventurers are not happy with the situation either. Do you know how hard it is to keep calm a guild full of bored adventurers? I expect a fight to break out at any moment. It's a miracle that they still haven't rebelled,'' He laughed bitterly.

''It looks bad,'' I said.

Hermes shook his head, ''It's worse than it looks. Business owners are happy to be able to sell to soldiers, they will give a raise everything, but this is not a town that can handle such a thing.'' He sighed.

''Whatever, that's made of the honey from your quest, right? It seems good. Others sold everything they got from the hive quest to the guild. You can use them to make the potion and I can give you a share,'' He thought for a second, ''How about thirty percent?''

If they sold everything... ''I want queens' antennas,'' I said.

Hermes nodded, ''Antennas and twenty-five percent?''

I thought a little bit, ''Okay, I hope it won't be a problem if I use the guild's equipment,'' I said. Hermes nodded carelessly. I couldn't myself from grinning, access the teleportation formation, check. ''I wonder if you know why the soldiers don't let adventurers into the forest?'' I asked.

Hermes shook his head, ''No idea. But I know they will scare away the merchants. I've never seen soldiers contribute to the economy,'' He sighed, ''Sometimes I miss my carefree times. Chasing beast, exploring dungeons...''

''They must be hiding something in the forest,'' The fox said in my mind.

''At least we can sell the potions to the soldiers for any price since no one else will be able to go on a quest to gather ingredients anytime soon,'' I said to the Hermes, and ''I know,'' I said to the fox.