First Mission (Civ)

"John, give me a list of requests from the nearby town or villages that is on the easier side to solve" I said in a lazy tone

"Yes sir, should we compile them and then burn them like we used to?" John ask calmly, seeming used to all the weird orders his master gave.

"No, not this time. I need to scan through them and pick one suitable enough for a level D not getting killed while doing them"

"Sir? a Level D? I did not know we have since accept level D adventurers?" John asked again this time with a more confused face and scrunched brows

"Remember the girl I said Ivy asked me to take care of? Yeah that's her. Now, you know I can't say no to Ivy. Hurry up then, I want the list on my desk by noon, you hear me?" I said impatiently

"I understand, sir" John replied with a wonder in his voice

It sure is convenient to sell Ivy's name. I don't do it often because I don't particularly like it but no matter what lie I told, I could pretty much cover it up with the story of how infatuated I am with Ivy, to the point that I would do anything just to please her. It also helped that Ivy is one of the tower's greatest and brightest minds, so that people always think that Ivy is scheming some big picture that no one but the elite could understand.

By noon, John had compiled a rather lengthy and thick report and successfully place it on my desk for me to review. As expected of my aides, their smart mind coupled with their quick and efficient work is a god sent, too bad John wear his expression on his sleeve making it quite a weakness, I would say.

"I have compiled it based on the location since I assumed that if we want to take care of her, it would be difficult if she went too far" John said as a matter of factly

"You are right, that's great. Why did I not think of it before? So then which is which?" I asked quickly

"This here are requests around one to two days worth of travel by carriages, over here are about 5 days worth of traveling.."

"That's fine, you can stop. One to two days of travel is far enough. You can burn the rest" I said to John while my hands are busy flipping the files and quickly scanned through those requests.

"I would recommend this one- herb gathering, it's easy and close by since our surroundings are full of forest, I am sure she will have an easy time gathering them" John said suddenly

"Yeah right, you think they would accept the herbs gathered by a poison master?" I said ignoring John while keep scanning though the files

I don't need to see to be able to guess how John paled after hearing my previous comment. His pride and ego are hurt because he forgot that Kat is a poison master, something he should have remember and consider before recommending me the quest. "Besides, that is too easy even for a level D don't you think? Since when did Arcadia Tower takes herb gathering quest? Isn't it like a level F tasks?" I asked to distract John

"Well, these herbs are famous to only grow in the forest nearby so naturally people distance themself from that said forest because of our tower. Some of our members felt guilty to people needing those herbs, because apparently there is quite a demand with those herbs. So some of our adventurers actually accept the herb gathering quest to compensate them sometimes. It's nothing difficult and it's usually on their way into the forest anyway" John explained with details

"Well, regardless, if the said adventurers did not voluntarily take on these quest, do not force it to anyone. Other wise it will be seen as an insult to take such easy level F mission and make others think that the Arcadia Tower force it upon them because we think they are not capable enough"

"I understand Sir, thank you for your insight. It was such an eye opener conversation, I did not think that far enough about it. For me, the easier the job is, the better of course because it means I get to go home early and rest in my room for much longer, which is always welcome" Said John calmly. Whether it is sarcasm or not, I am not quite sure.

"You lazy ass. Let's see.. I think this is good. Panskey is about two days away, right? Killing kobold should be doable for a Level D? What do you think?" I ask for John's opinion this time.

"It's doable, but might be a little troublesome for level D. Oh, but maybe we do not need to worry too much about the new recruit. Based on my information gathering, my father is now quite close to her and he did say Ms. Steel actually rank the first in her rookie quest. She had killed over 400 badgers and the one contributing the most in her group," said John proudly, it seems he did research on Katarina properly and the slip before was really just a mistake that he forgot about her skill.

"I suspect that your father has already consider her his own daughter and forget about you, John. Too bad for you, huh?"

"He can forget, but the administration office will still be inherited by me if he retired anyway so it does not matter" Said John this time sounding a little bitter about my comment

"Well then, let's choose this one. John, help me settle all she may need for me will you?" I said finally

"Yes, yes of course. Since Ms. Ivy said to take care of her then of course, there might even be a possibility where the whole tower will want to help her. After all if Ms. Ivy said she has potential means she will be important later on" John replied with a nod and a smile.

"Besides, even before I can take care of all this, the moment I let my father know which mission we decide, I am pretty sure he will have all of this settled and only brings out the best of best" John adds

"Well that is good to hear. Tell uncle Otto I said thank you. Really" I said shortly with a nod.

"Sir, you should tell him yourself. I might be able to gather information from him and about him, but we are not exactly on a talking term. At least not in a nice and cheerful kind of talking. Heck, I can not even figure out why the hell that old man is taking care of a newly recruited Level D instead of his sons " John gets a little more defensive than I thought

"We all have our reasons" I answer, somehow confused that our course of conversation seems to shift. We could have talked more about Ivy, though.

"Maybe, and some are heavier that others" John answered

"Heavy? You mean heavy reason like how all of uncle Otto's sons are useless but arrogant brats? Yes, that includes you." I said curtly

"Isn't that the more reason he should be taking care of his own sons rather than taking care of the tower's administration and new recruits?"

"That is his way of taking care of you guys. Do you think if he is free of work, all of you would still be able to freely roam around the kingdom? At least you are polite enough, so he let you stay here in the tower to work as my aide to learn" I explain

"Well then Sir, look at how the famous Ottoman Beaumont take care of his sons. All my other brothers are useless dickheads, it's a surprise that I turned out quite useful don't you think?" John voice raised a little whenever he mentioned his brothers, no matter how many times I pointed that out, he still do it unconsciously without changing a thing. I swear his emotion he wears on his sleeve will be the death of him one day.

"No, They all have their use. No matter how useless you thought they are, they always have their use" I said mysteriously, keeping the fact that 2 of John's brothers are now my shadow guards. In secret of course, because no one could know, not even their own family.

"You are right, Sir. But I guess the only useful thing they have right now might be their pretty faces. After all, the Beaumont face card is acknowledged throughout the kingdom. I just hope none of them become a whore and sell their bodies" John said dejectedly as I almost choked on myself

"Trust me, they are not" Shaking my head with wonder how can my aide think of such thing about his own brothers. How useless does he think they are? To be completely honest, strength wise John might be a cut above the other two brothers, but they are not by any means ordinary either.

Jake, the eldest is a determined and proud first born son of uncle Otto. Unfortunately, he does not possess the same wit as uncle, so he is determined to get strong another way, with his strength. And then Jay the middle, has the same or if not more cunningness than Ivy. Which is why I sent Jake to protect Katarina and Jay is on standby beside me and provide me with his insights from time to time.

They are both part of my shadow guards and I am pretty sure uncle Otto knows it and let them be. Everytime I think about the talent Uncle Otto has, I always think it's too bad none of his sons has awaken their power. At this age, maybe they never will. If they did, I am sure not only me and uncle Otto, but the whole tower will surely celebrate it. But for now, let's just hope that they do their jobs properly.