Teamwork

The next morning, I opened my eyes to the soft light filtering through the curtains, and there beside me lay Heath, curled up like a cat in a sunbeam. His tousled hair framed his face, an endearing sight that reminded me he was, after all, a tiger person—part of a species known for their grace and agility, but with an unmistakable feline charm. Not wanting to disturb his peaceful slumber, I decided to slip out of bed quietly, carefully shifting my weight to avoid making any noise.

However, my attempts to sneak away were in vain. Just as I began to move, I felt the bed shift beneath me. Heath stirred, blinking sleepily, and with a playful grin, he declared, "Mission failed." I couldn't help but smile at his humorous demeanor, even as I felt a twinge of guilt for waking him. It was hard to resist the warmth of his presence, but the day awaited us, full of new adventures.

Continuing on anyway, I finally got out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Once I finished my shower, I got dressed and made my way downstairs for breakfast. Heath, after his own shower and getting dressed, joined me, clinging onto me as we descended. I figured it was understandable since I had just rescued him from the bandits the day before. So, I extended my hand for him to hold onto, which he grabbed immediately.

No

When we reached the breakfast area, I sat down in one of the high-top chairs, with Heath taking a seat next to me. I ordered the morning special, which included three eggs, two biscuits or toast, a choice of two pieces of sausage or bacon, and either a glass of water, beer, or juice. I ordered two of these meals: mine with biscuits, sausage, and juice, and Heath's with toast, sausage, and juice. 

The server politely responded with a warm tone that my meal would cost 1200 Ran. However, her demeanor shifted dramatically as she rudely informed Heath that his meal would be 3600 Ran.

I felt a deep sense of unease for several reasons. First and foremost, it struck me how recently the beastmen had been regarded as inferior beings. Less than two years ago, they were marginalized and discriminated against, their worth questioned by many. The passage of the "Race Unification Proclamation" (R.U.P.) was supposed to mark a turning point, one that would level the playing field and grant them equal status alongside humans. However, despite this legal recognition, the reality on the ground was far more complicated. 

Interactions in everyday life revealed that many individuals, deeply ingrained in their prejudices, continued to treat beastmen as lesser beings. It was disheartening to witness this ongoing discrimination, a stark reminder that mere proclamations do not erase centuries of bias. 

Among all this, I was particularly troubled by how Heath, a kind and deserving individual, was unfairly treated simply because of his heritage. The conflict of the R.U.P.'s ideals against the lingering reality of inequality weighed heavily on my heart. I couldn't help but feel a sense of injustice and frustration, knowing that while progress had been made on paper, true acceptance and equality remained elusive for the beastmen.

Instead of throwing a fit and getting nowhere, I simply handed the lady 4,800 Ran for our meals and waited quietly while she prepared the food.

Fifteen minutes later, the food for Heath and I arrived, and we quickly devoured it. After finishing our meal, we headed to the guild so I could register Heath as a member. Once we arrived at the guild, we stepped inside, and I approached Asa to initiate the registration process. Standing in front of her, I greeted her, "Hello again! I would like to register my friend Heath in the guild."

Unlike our last encounter, Asa responded with her usual warm and inviting voice, "Okay, just have your friend fill out this form." She handed me a piece of paper, which I filled out with the following information:

Name: Heath Kento 

Age: 15 

Level: 1 

Mana: 89 

Class: Apprentice Warrior 

Tier: 0 

Path: The Heart

After completing the form, I returned it to Asa, who then registered Heath by going into the back room. When she returned, she handed Heath his guild card and explained the guild system to him. I then mentioned that Heath and I were planning to take on a quest. In response, she informed us that the maximum level of a quest was determined by the highest-level party member. 

I then went to the quest board and selected a Rank 0, 10-star quest for a goblin hunt located in the forest. After eliminating some boars I encountered there, I confirmed the quest with Asa. With everything set, we headed out to the forest.

Before we reached the forest, we needed to buy equipment for Heath. Unlike me, who relied on magic, Heath was a swordsman and required a sword. For this reason, we stopped at a blacksmith located on the street. Inside the shop, I gave Heath the freedom to choose any sword he wanted, and he was ecstatic about it. 

After about 20 minutes, Heath settled on a black steel longsword of good quality, complete with a beautiful scabbard. Once he made his choice, we approached the shopfront to pay. The blacksmith informed us that the total for the sword and scabbard was 150,000 Ran. As I pulled the money from my bag and handed it over to the blacksmith, I noticed that Heath's eyes nearly popped out in disbelief; it was the most money he had ever seen.

Even after witnessing the transaction and receiving the sword he had chosen, Heath was still in shock. However, once we were on the carriage heading to the forest, he snapped out of it. After regaining his composure, he asked me if it was really okay to spend so much money on a sword. I reassured him that it was just a small price to pay, and that once he completed this quest, he would understand why.

Arriving at the entrance of the forest we went over the game plan for the goblins that being that Heath would be in the front and I'll be in the back and that if he ever needed help that I would help him also that after gets the grove of killing the goblins that we would split up to get more work done, understanding this we inter the forest ready for the battles. No more than five minutes later we encountered our first goblin group.

To help Heath out I shot Icicles into the heads of the four back goblins so he only had to deal with one, lucky he seemed to be talented, waiting for an opening to slash down killing the goblin Immediately.

After that the time started to pass as we got into the rhythm of defeating the goblins, cutting their ears off as prof and taking the mana stones out of the goblin putting them into my infinite storage bag.

Eighteen hours later, both Heath and I were exhausted as we approached the entrance of the hotel. We went inside at 2 AM, ready to crash, and that's exactly what we did after taking showers and changing clothes.

The next morning, we met with the guild at 8 AM, eager to cash in on all the hard work we had done the previous day. Once we arrived at the guild, we asked Asa to take us to a warehouse, and this time she agreed. Upon reaching the warehouse, I began emptying my storage bag. We spent a solid ten minutes dumping everything out, and by the time I finished, the entire warehouse was almost full of goblin ears and mana stones.

This time, Asa took a more proactive approach, launching into the task without hesitation. The process was intense and required almost four hours of concentrated accounting work. After diligently analyzing the data, she recorded a successful haul of goblins: 12852 were hunted, each fetching a price of 345 Ran. In addition to this, she accounted for 10471 Tier 0 Mana Stones, which were sold at a price of 1,023 Ran each. 

After calculating the revenues from both the goblins and the mana stones, Asa concluded that the total earnings amounted to an impressive 14,388,484 Ran, after deducting a 5% processing fee. This meticulous effort not only reflected her efficiency but also highlighted the profitable opportunities in their recent endeavors.

After hearing her proposal, I expressed my intention to split the profits evenly, at a 50:50 ratio. However, before I could elaborate on my reasoning, Heath interjected with his own suggestion. He argued that, given his status as a newcomer to the venture, he deserved a smaller share—specifically, a 90:10 split because He believed that my experience warranted me taking the larger portion.

This sparked a spirited discussion, as I felt that a fair division of the profits should take into account our respective contributions and commitments. After some negotiation and a bit of back and forth, we eventually reached a compromise: a 70:30 split. This arrangement resulted in me receiving 10,071,939 Ran, while Heath would take home 4,316,545 Ran. 

With this agreement in place, my total earnings swelled to 14,106,880 Ran, which I felt was a fair outcome considering the efforts both of us had put into the venture.