Chapter 29: You all have duties, or don't you know that?

Nate POV:

Lars didn't want to adopt any pets, which could have led to him sharing a room with me. But that was not the worst thing which happened to us all on that sunny and bright April morning. No. 

Mr. Medon, our trainer from the adventurer's guild, came to us. A frown on his face, and a letter in his left hand.

"Have you all forgotten, that you are adventurers and have signed a contract?" Yes, we have done just that. It was just a rhetorical question if one had to be honest.

"Is that a quest?" Considering the last time, we did a quest we ended up bringing Jean with us, I wasn't very sure we could do a quest that had to do with killing. It was only a quest for most people, but we were not like most people.

Our lives were hard, but by some miracle, we still had a moral compass. A true miracle indeed.

"Yes, and since you defeated the guild master in a duel," I heard as Basil started coughing. A smile crept on my lips, but a glare from Mr. Medon made me lose it. Mr. Medon was a hard man. Not without his soft side. How could he not have one, when he taught children day in, day out? If he was glaring now, then it meant only one thing: we had crossed a line, and now we were in for it.

"Lars, lower your hand," he continued, and I looked at Lars, who was biting his lower lip. "You defeated the guild master. Did you think he could keep it a secret from the government?"

Ah, snap.

"Which rank are we?" I dreaded my own question, for I was sure I would get an answer.

"Which rank do you think someone who defeated their guild master deserves?" Oh, no. Please no. "S, of course."

Oh, no, no, no...

"S? Yes!" Mike didn't see the big picture. No, he saw just the salary we will get. From the looks of it, Jean was spacing out once more. As for Lars, he looked a couple of seconds away from bolting. If I had to be honest, I was going to join him under a rock somewhere. As long as I had Lars, I could live near a waste depot and still be happy.

"Good Sir, these kids invited us in their party," Rowan was still wearing his pink apron. I had half a mind to tell him it once belonged to Lars' mother. Still, I didn't want to throw Lars under the wagon like that. Love before bros. "Is this allowed?"

"Are you adventurers?" Mr. Medon was not buying this bullshit, oh no. I looked at Lars, who was trying to breathe, but was getting red in the face.

"No, but Basil here is an Arkano Arch mage and a General in the Third Destruction Division. I am an intelligence gatherer from the SN Division," Rowan worked for the Secretariat of Naschestan? Man, how? 

"You both could be just about enough to help the kids to survive the quests," which didn't put my mind at ease. I still didn't trust Rowan and Basil. Yes, I trusted them enough to sleep in the same house as them, to eat the food which Rowan cooked. But more than that, I couldn't give them.

During the quests, we would need to watch each other's backs. Rowan and Basil were no longer just some people from Arkano and Naschestan, but two special agents. Maybe they even led to my mother's death.

I had no idea how to feel about that. If their story was the truth, then they were heroes, who had stopped a mass sacrifice to the God of Destruction, Loki. On the other hand, what sense did it make for heroes to be exiled?

"We think so, too. Do we need to take a test?" Basil had his lopsided smile on. I narrowed my eyes. My doubt in his goodwill grew and grew. How could he ever want to protect me, when he was someone, who had surely fought on the front lines? Did the tasks which were simply unspeakable for others…

"Then you can go with them. The party will need a name, however," I blinked. Didn't we get a name already? I was pretty sure that we were given some documents after we passed the test. Something that felt like an eternity and a day ago, but was actually only two weeks ago.

"The Travelers!" Basil chirped, then slapped his knees. "Kiddos, don't argue with daddy now, or mommy will send you to bed without dinner!"

Basil was enjoying this a bit too much. I snorted.

"What? You think I can't bend you over a knee?" Basil knew that he could get a reaction out of me, and I did have half a mind to tell him he was too short to do so, but the last time someone used his Halfling status as an insult, said someone couldn't sit on his ass for a whole day.

Lars was shaking his head back and forth. It seemed that we were on the same wavelength.

"I didn't mean anything by it," I bowed my head, smiled from ear to ear. We all knew what I just wanted to say. Basil's smile vanished, but he didn't make to stand up. "And we will gladly take the quest Mr. Medon offers."

"I am not offering it, Nathaniel," oh, he used my full name? Yes, we were really in for it. "I am just bringing your order from the guild master."

Basil's head snapped towards Mr. Medon, and he offered his hand. There was no trace of his ever-present smile anymore. 

"A dragon?" He asked after a while. I sucked in a breath. Surely not? What did guild master Bern want from us? That we gave the dragon indigestion by letting it eat us? Or did he expect that Lars giving it the shits would stop it from grilling us until we became medium rare?

"Unfortunately, yes. The guild master did everything he could to keep this quest from landing on your plates, but... some higher up learned that Nathaniel is on the party. I... if you have to run, know that the guild won't send anyone after you," which was nice of him to say, but I still had one question on my mind.

Why? For how long will I have to keep on paying for my mother's sins? For how long will I be viewed as the mistake of a prince, who dared dream of a crown?

Will I ever be free?