Accidental Rich

After we left, I cast an illusion spell on myself and cleaned Naia up before we headed to the adventurer's guild.

I heard Naia sniffing the air repeatedly as soon as we stepped into the bustling streets.

"Sniff, sniff, sniff," she inhaled deeply. As she turned to look at me, her mouth started watering. "Is that... fish I smell?" she asked.

Nodding, I said, "Follow your nose."

After squeezing through the crowd, she found a stall selling fried fish. The tiefling man behind the stall, wearing an apron and holding a spatula, shouted, "COME GET YOUR FRIED FISH!"

"You've never had fried fish before?" I asked her.

"I've only grilled fish over the fire," she said, shaking her head.

I pulled a towel from my storage and wiped her drooling mouth clean, only to feel something wet on my head and shoulders. "Oh gosh, not you two as well," I giggled, noticing the cubs drooling too. "It must be a cat thing."

As we made our way through the line, I felt multiple gazes on me, though I wasn't sure why. When we reached the counter, the tiefling greeted us, "Hey, you two young ladies, how can I help... umm, miss, do you know you have two shadow tigers on you?"

I nodded. "Yes, they're my familiars."

His eyes widened in shock. "Miss, are you sure you want to eat here? I don't think my food is good enough for a noble like you."

"Noble?" I blink in surprise. "Ohhh, I see. With two cubs carried by a human in a beast kingdom, I must be drawing attention." I leaned in closer. "I assure you, I'm just here to feed them, so if it's alright, could I get five pieces of your fried fish?"

"You heard the lady! Five pieces!" The cooks in the back shouted and got to work. Before long, they brought out five enormous pieces of fried fish on sticks. Back in my old world, this would have counted as a whole basket of three.

"That'll be twenty-five copper," the cashier said.

I held out my hand, snapped my fingers, and produced a silver coin, handing it to him. "Keep the change."

He and his crew were stunned. "THANK YOU, Miss!" he shouted.

I nodded in return and passed two pieces to Naia while using magic to float two pieces to the cubs. "I should think of names for them," I mused.

Naia's eyes welled up with tears. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She took a big bite from one piece in her left hand while munching on another in her right. "It's just... so delicious!" she exclaimed, tears of joy in her eyes.

I smiled. "We'll come back and get more, and we can buy some for your mother too."

"Really?" she said with her mouth full.

I poked her cheek playfully, "You're too cute."

As they finished their fish, we made our way into the adventurer's guild.

Before we reached there, I asked my two cute kittens if there was anyway they could use their abilities; I didn't want to cause any problems in the adventures guild. They simply nodded their heads. 

Wow, it's like they really understand you. Naia said in shock.

They both leaped on to the ground, and before my very eyes melded into my shadow.

Are you two okay? I asked; I couldn't see them, but I could hear them purring, that is just so adorable. I guess they are comfortable there. I wonder could I do something like that, I mumble to myself. 

As we entered the establishment. 

"Hello! Welcome to—oh, it's Ms. Bunny!" Tanyai exclaimed. Naia burst into laughter upon hearing my name.

"How can we help you today?" Tanyai asked.

"I'm just here with Naia, keeping her company," I said, gesturing toward her.

"Oh, I see. Ms. Naia, you're back early. I hope you succeeded."

Naia rubbed her nose proudly. "Of course I did!" she said, puffing out her chest.

"Let's head to the counter, I see you've taken an E-rank mission for ten dire bears. Please place your items on the scale."

Naia pulled out materials from her bag, including the ears of the dire bears showing proof.

"Ms. Naia, it looks like you're short by one."

"I'm sorry," Naia stated. "We ran into complications. I forgot one." Her voice lowered. "We came across a slave owner with his mercenaries."

The entire guild went silent. A group of wolf men approached us.

"Do you remember where you saw these men?" one of them asked, cracking his knuckles as if ready for war.

Naia shook her head slightly. "Thank you for caring, but I handled it."

The wolf men were taken aback. "Good, good," one of them proclaimed.

"Slavery is not welcome here!" Another shouted, and the whole room echoed with agreement.

"Ms. Naia, do you have any proof of the mercenaries and the slave owner?" asked one of the receptionist.

Naia pull out a back that was stained with blood. "I have their heads right here," holding them up.

"Follow me, Ms. Naia," said Tanyai , guiding us to a private room. "Please place the items here for inspection."

As we waited, we started planning our trip to the capital near the Hero Kingdom, where slaves are imprisoned before being auctioned. 

"How long will the trip take?" I asked.

"By horse, about three days," Naia replied.

"That's all?" I smirked. "We'll make it in a day and a half, probably less."

She looked at me, confused. "How?"

"Trust me," I winked.

The door swung open, revealing a tall, handsome man with blond-grey hair tied into a ponytail that reached the middle of his back. He had a well-groomed beard, gray eyes, a chiseled chin, and a toned body. His greenish skin was marked by a scar across one eye. I had never seen such a handsome orc.

"Good evening, ladies. I'm Korgak the guild master here, just call me GM. I heard you two ran into a slave owner and his goons. After our inspection, we confirmed they were on the wanted list for kidnapping and trafficking our people also for possessing illegal aphrodisiacs. I wanted to personally thank you. But I also wanted to ask—how did you two manage it? Naia is only E-rank, and we don't even have you registered, Ms....?"

"Bunny," I replied. "Ms. Bunny."

"I did it alone!" Naia blurted out. "They tried to capture me, and I had no choice but to fight back. That's when I met Bunny; she was collecting herbs." She looked at me, and I continued,

"Yes, I was just collecting herbs for crafting potions."

The guild master nodded thoughtfully. "Well, Ms. Bunny, next time you need herbs, just put in a request. It's dangerous to go into the forest alone, even if it's just E-rank."

He turned to Naia. "So, you not only hunted down nine dire bears, which usually takes three people of your rank, but also dealt with some heinous criminals. I think it's time for you to take the promotion exam. What do you think?"

Naia's eyes lit up. "Yes, YES! I want to!"

"Congratulations, Naia!" I smiled. "I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors."

"Good, good," the guild master said. "Even though you're short one bear, we'll still give you the full reward—ten gold. And for the slave owner and his men, you'll receive a 500 gold reward."

"How does that sound, Ms. Naia?" he asked.

When she didn't respond, I tapped her shoulder. "Naia?"

"Oh! Yes, that sounds great!"

As the guild master was about to leave, I stopped him. "Wait, we have more to give."

"Follow me," he said, taking us to the front. "How much more?"

"Let's just say... dire bear-sized, " I winced, hoping he wouldn't ask too many questions.

He led us to the back, where workers were busy skinning and preparing materials. He pointed to a large table. "Is this big enough?"

"I sure hope so." I pretended to reach into a bag, I didn't want to reveal my true abilities, it would look strange just making things appear out of thin air. I began laying down nine dire bear furs.

The workers rushed over to inspect them. "Wow, these are in near-perfect condition! No blood, just a few small cuts," one said.

"Do you know how much people will pay for this? These are perfect for winter!" another exclaimed.

The guild master looked at us with his arms crossed. "I'm not even going to ask how you girls did it. Anything else?"

"Actually, yes..." I pulled out one of the skinned dire bears. "Sorry, I didn't know how to remove the meat, I have seven more if you can take them."

Everyone stared, mouths agape, including the Guild Master.

"Boys! Drop everything! We're having a feast tonight!" The guild master shouted, and the room erupted in cheers. Even the workers up front came to see what was happening, only to quietly close the door again when they saw the pile of bears.

"Girls, we've hit the jackpot!" one worker shouted. "We're getting a raise for this!"

The guild master rushed over, shaking both of our hands vigorously. "You girls are a blessing!" he said, before jumping up and down in excitement.

Naia stood there wide-eyed, not knowing what was going on. I couldn't help but laugh.

After the cheering settled, the guild master straightened his clothes. "Alright, ladies. Unfortunately, we can't pay out so much gold right now. 

"But what we can offer right now is two platinum coins. Once the pelts and meat sell, which should take about a week, you can come back to collect the rest. Of course, there will be a 15% auction fee, but you should still expect at least ten platinum coins after everything is sold."

He looked at both of us, his expression sincere. "If that sounds acceptable, I'll draft up the paperwork immediately."

I glanced at Naia, who seemed utterly overwhelmed, her eyes wide as she processed everything. "Is that okay with you, Naia?" I asked softly, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Naia blinked, still in shock. "Twelve thousand gold," she whispered, almost in a trance. "Me and my mother will never have to work again."

I couldn't help but smile at her innocence. "Well, it sounds like a retirement party is in order," I teased.

The Guild Master chuckled, clearly amused by Naia's reaction. "I'll have your coins ready in just a moment." He left the room briefly.

As soon as the door closed, Naia turned to me, her hands gripping my arms tightly. "Bunny, this is... this is unbelievable! We can finally live comfortably!" Her voice cracked, tears of joy welling up in her eyes.

I smiled warmly. "You earned this, Naia. You worked hard, and it paid off. But remember, this is just the beginning. There are more adventures waiting for you."

She nodded eagerly, wiping away her tears just as the Guild Master returned with a small bag. 

"Here you go," he said, handing over the bag. "We'll send word once the rest of the coin is ready. In the meantime, thank you both for your incredible contributions."

I nodded, Naia taking the bag. "Thank you, Guild Master. We'll be back in a week."

As we left the guild, Naia clutched my arm, her excitement barely contained. "Bunny, I can't wait to tell my mother!"

"Let's hurry, then," I said with a smile. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

With a new sense of purpose, we headed into the bustling streets once more, our next adventure already on the horizon.