Chapter 20

[Yumi'S P.O.V]

We began just moments ago after barricading ourselves against those venomous snakes.

We needed to be doubly shielded from the pollen of the Panax flowers as we rode in Jiho and Jaeseong's vehicle wearing masks and scarves.

Inhaling pollen from these islands may cause illnesses such as asthma, influenza, and chronic coughs.

For this item, our responsibility was to collect the flowers and pour the oil they produced inside a vial, which we were given hundreds of.

Following that, we place the bottle and the flower into separate baskets.

It took a while, but we eventually got hundreds of them, using up all of the bottles that were supplied to us.

"And done! That was the last bottle we were given," Jiwoo concluded.

"Finally! It's difficult to see with my goggles fogged up by pollen," Jaeseong stated as he wiped the pollen from his goggles.

I agreed; the pollen was becoming worse by the minute.

We stood up and returned to the cliff, and as we did so, we observed Heric's crew flying above us, landing on the cliff we were about to reach. Even Prico was there!

"Prico! You're here!" I said, waving at him, and he neighed cheerfully back.

"Hey guys!" Seongho said as he waved. "You finished?"

"Yeah! We came to pick you guys up!" Milton exclaimed.

Jiwoo and Jiho gently dropped two baskets on the ground. The little flowers were in one, while the vials of ginseng oil were in the other.

Sujin was drawn to its appearance as he took up the bottle, opened it, and inhaled the fragrance. It smelled fantastic and was ideal for use as a perfume on its own.

I saw what he had done, screamed, and yelled, "NO! Don't sniff that; it'll make you high!"

Yuto instantly seized the bottle from the boy and carefully closed it while holding his breath. He bent to check on Sujin, but it was too late.

His eyes were slightly slanted, and he smiled strangely, as if the boy were completely in a drunken state.

The boy's symptoms manifested faster than predicted, and he was officially high.

Sujin hugged the samurai and giggled like a child. "Yuto, my friend, I love you!" he said.

He then puckered his lips and leaned forward to kiss him. Yuto tried to step back to avoid his kisses, but it appears that the oil boosted Sujin's strength.

He realized he was too weak to get away from him and began crying for aid, prompting Sujin to alter his target to Jeongmin.

The kid tried to force a kiss on his hunt-mate again, dragging his neck closer to his puckered lips, but the Imaginator fought back and pulled his face away from him.

This took me aback. I had no idea Sujin was the kind to kiss someone when he was intoxicated. It was surprising while also entertaining to watch.

"Guys, do something!" When the Songist had successfully set his kisses on the boy's cheeks, Jeongmin shouted.

Seungjae had an idea to help calm Sujin down, so he quickly grabbed a Holi flower and handed it to the youngster, drawing the boy's attention to the strange plant and having him stare at it in admiration before taking in the scent.

The pharmaceutical aroma irked him, and he scrunched his nose in disdain as he returned the flower.

"What is that?" he said, displeased.

With just a single sniff, the drunk boy fell into a deep sleep. This astonished my team members. We'd never seen anything like that before, and it was fascinating.

Seungjae explained the flower's power and assured us that it was not harmful. It will merely put the person who has inhaled its aroma to sleep, and they will wake up soon enough.

Looking back, Yejoon was the sole teammate sleeping on Prico's back. It made complete sense. I suppose he must have breathed the same thing for that to happen to him.

***

Using the yin-yang vehicle, we flew back to the Houndlet kingdom.

When we arrived at the Poffice, we handed the ingredients to Angela.

We brought a couple hundred of each ingredient back, which we placed in these baskets. Every ingredient was returned fresh and clean.

Angela scanned every basket, and the herbalist was impressed that we were able to finish the task and bring back hundreds of them in just one day.

With several of them brought back, they were able to create hundreds of treatments for the victims.

"Great job!" she exclaimed proudly. "Please proceed to the Adventure Guild Head Office with these ingredients."

"Head Office?" I inquired, my brow furrowed in puzzlement.

Angela nodded and explained further that the mission that we had just completed was placed in the urgent section of the bulletin.

People assign missions to hunters and adventurers when those folks lack the ability to accomplish them.

The task we had just completed seemed to be from the royal castle. As a result, the reward for those who accept it is more expensive than the standard missions in the Poffice Guild.

Special tasks like this will be handled by the Hunting Guild Master. Because the mission we took on was special, those who took part were obligated to report to the master's office.

Our awards will be delivered to us there, she mentioned.

I was a little surprised. It had not occurred to me that the Hunting Guild Master would be in charge of these special missions.

I knew special missions were special, but I didn't anticipate them to be THAT special.

Aside from that, we were unfamiliar with the interior of this structure and had no idea where the hunting guild master's office was.

Angela's coworker suggested she escort us instead. She was familiar with the Poffice Guild interior, as well as who we were.

So she followed her advice and walked us to the master's office instead. We followed her up the stairs to the second floor, where the aforementioned office is located.

As we approached the office door, we heard laughter from what sounded like the familiar voices of a lady and a man.

"Didn't that sound like the royal highnesses?" I asked softly.

Angela snickered as she knocked on the door and excused herself before entering.

There, I heard two familiar voices greeting Angela. Were the royal highnesses present?

"I have brought the hunters who have brought the ingredients for the Pock-X medicine, your highness, Master," Angela said.

"Send them in!" said a gruff but deep voice.

When we received permission to enter the office, my question was instantly answered. It was them, and when we entered, the royal highnesses greeted us with a big smile.

I bowed and smiled as I said, "It's a pleasure to see you again, your highnesses."

"Likewise, Ms. Yumi!" Queen Aurora replied merrily.

"You hunters have blown me away with your generosity!" The king added.

"I see they are someone you recognize, your highness," an elderly gentleman said.

He sported a mutton chop beard, sleek back hair, a decent black kimono samurai garb, and an eye patch covering his right eye, with a scar peeking out from the top and bottom.

He may appear menacing at first glance, yet he is truly a nice person. You should never judge a book by its cover.

"They are the kind and generous hunters about whom we have told you stories, dear," the queen continued, and the elderly man hummed in response.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Gin Friday, and I'm the Guild Master of the Hunting/Adventure Organization."

"It's nice to meet you, Master Gin!" I said as I curtsied.

After the introductions, we got right down to business. We were requested to display the ingredients we had brought back, and we did so by arranging 12 baskets in the center of the table.

"Be careful with the two ingredients; the Holi flowers will put you to sleep, and the ginseng oil will get you high," I warned them.

They did so and then proceeded to scan the ingredients we had brought with us. The oil appeared to be clean, the Holi flower petals were not crushed, and the fruits were ripe and lovely. It's safe to say they were all very pleased.

Soon after, the king presented the reward to us. Completing a mission is exhilarating because we will be rewarded for our efforts, especially if we will be rewarded with diamonds.

Mr. Smith placed the money inside a vintage money bag on a serving plate and handed it to us.

"Here is your reward for your gallantry," King Schmmok stated, handing the sack to the closest member beside him.

Jaeseong bowed elegantly as he accepted the reward. "Thank you, your highness," he said, expressing gratitude.

"There are 80 diamonds inside, five for each of you," the Queen added.

However, because the written prize on the poster was three diamonds, we were taken aback at first.

The king began by explaining how three gems were insufficient for the job we had accepted. Especially because we've brought back hundreds of them.

But, if my multiplication is correct, fifteen times five equals 75 and not 80. I was too shy to mention it to the royal highnesses; instead, Angela did it for me.

"15? Don't you mean 16, Angela?" asked the queen when she inquired.

"Don't forget, you're also included in this," the king said, receiving a confused frown from her.

"I humbly beg your pardon; all I did was stay in the office, your highness," she explained.

"Gin told us that the POCK-X Medicine was your recipe," the queen stated, "and as a result, you've saved over a hundred of our citizens from the disease."

"To express our gratitude, we present you with five diamonds, which is the best we can do," the king continued. This made Angela happy.

She never revealed her secret to anyone. While she handed Master Gin the list of ingredients for the disease treatment, she lied about how she obtained it.

She refused to be compensated because she didn't need the money and gave it so that the people of Houndlet Kingdom would be saved.

Master Gin, on the other hand, saw right through her and knew the scientist who created the remedy was none other than Angela herself.

When a mock-up remedy was created, it was able to save ten people from a single drop. Master Gin knew Angela deserved to be recognized and rewarded for her righteous act.

"Thank you so much, your highness," she replied with a curtsy. Knowing that people would get better thanks to her remedy, she felt proud of herself.

We all felt good as we left. It felt nice to be able to help save millions of people. But I do have some regrets about how I reacted before realizing the written prize.

We volunteered for the money without recognizing how crucial the medication was to them. Nonetheless, I was very proud of myself.

After all, we went through all that trouble and nearly killed ourselves in the process. It was worth it in the end, nevertheless.

My arm and foot were both aching from the excursion. We were all ready to return to our cabin and return to Earth.

But, as we were about to leave the guild, we were abruptly summoned by Master Gin. He was reminded by the King about an event that all were welcome to join.

The occasion was a cooking competition, and the reason he chased us was to encourage all of us to participate.

We weren’t required to, but it would be wonderful if more people did, especially due to the fact that we were liked by the King and Queen and were more welcome to do so.

It will take place next month, and we can register as a team or individually. To compete, we would need to register at the Poffice Guild a day before the tournament date.

Our chef caught the attention of the Arkane boys. Minjoon appeared uneasy and hesitant in the face of the provided news, which made me wonder why he was acting that way.

"We'll think about that, Master; thank you for informing us," Milton replied as he bowed, and the Master returned to the Poffice Guild. One by one, we politely bowed at his departure.

"So, do you guys want to join?" Heric inquired. He had no plans to participate because he wasn't a good cook, but he had a feeling his huntsmen would.

The Arkane members all looked at Minjoon once more. I've heard from my friends back home that one of the members has the skills of a professional chef.

Given the amount of attention the youngster was receiving, I assumed the person my friends were referring to was Minjoon.

And so I joined in as I glanced at him. But I noted that the members' expressions indicated that they were having second thoughts.

I was expecting a positive response from the boy, but unfortunately received the opposite.

"We'll think about it," said the chef as he walked away.

Although Heric and I were caught off guard by Minjoon's reaction, his members understood why he was acting that way.

Seo Minjoon has a bright, dog-energy aura most of the time. So it was a surprise to me when I saw the happy dog transform into a frightened, apprehensive puppy.