Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

Currently reading: Chapter 9: Comparison is the thief of joy, latest chapters available here.

Rudius's commission proceeded smoothly, while on the other side...

Number 12, Licaris Town, at the entrance of the warehouse with the red door.

Several strong demons were carrying boxes of goods in and out, while a few meters away, a pig-headed demon of similar height and width was staring at Yue Ren.

In the end, it was Yue who broke the silence first.

"Hello, I'm Kawasaki Koshito, a member of 'Dead End,' here to complete a cargo moving order. Is this the right place?"

As he spoke, Yue Ren even took out his adventurer card as proof.

"Yes, I'm the person in charge, Dugham. We do indeed commission such missions from the guild, but kid, can you handle it? And, 'Dead End'? What kind of twisted name is that? Is your captain an idiot, choosing a name like that without fear of running into real people? Or do you guys not understand what this name means?"

After glancing at the Yue people's proof, the pig-headed demon said in a deep voice.

"..."

He was a person who appeared rough on the outside but wasn't necessarily arrogant on the inside. Surprisingly, he was also kind-hearted, which surprised Yue Ren a little.

"Thank you for your concern. Perhaps our captain has really recruited that person. As for my health, please rest assured. Since I have already accepted the commission, I am undoubtedly prepared. After all, there is compensation for failure, isn't there?"

"Hahaha, really? Well, your captain is really something. Alright, come on if you want to try, but let me make this clear: if you don't meet the standards, I won't announce the completion of the assignment."

The pig-headed man appeared very generous and did not mock the Yue people.

"Of course, I also have a question about the scope of the commission. Is it simply a matter of moving everything out of this warehouse, or are there any other requirements?"

"Haha, move it all? Kid, if you can move this entire warehouse in one day, I'll give you two coins, how about that?"

As he spoke, the pig-headed man, Dugham, pointed to the warehouse behind him, which was fifty meters long and thirty meters wide.

Keep in mind that this place contains ore, which is one of the most difficult things to move. Moreover, it has to be moved from the warehouse all the way to the shop, a distance of about one kilometer. Normally, a demon would be exhausted after about ten trips.

That's why you can specify in the request that you need someone strong, and there's no limit to the number of people.

He wouldn't be in such a hurry if the warehouse wasn't waiting for the next batch of materials to arrive.

The Yue people thought about it for a moment. Two iron coins, two hundred shi of coins, that should be enough to last them three or four days. Not bad.

"So you mean the commission is based on the number of people, and you get five stones of cash for every day you work, right?"

"That's right, but of course, the premise is that you can't be lazy, and there's a minimum quantity limit for what you need to move. If you don't meet the standard, you won't get it."

Yue Ren nodded. "That's about right. It's hard work, so this price is normal."

"Understood. So, the bet from just now, two iron coins for moving everything, that's settled."

Upon hearing this, the pig-headed man immediately became interested. He wanted to see what this seemingly frail brat was up to.

"Of course, don't you even consider my reputation, Dugham? As long as you can finish moving it, I'll go with you to the guild to modify the commission."

"Then it's a deal."

The next moment, amidst the pig-headed man's astonished expression, the human boy spoke.

"The Great Serpent"

With a shout, to the surprise of the pig-headed demons, the shadow beneath the boy's feet began to wriggle and spread, eventually forming a large white serpent demon over twenty meters long and two to three meters tall, startling the others who were still working.

Fortunately, they were the only ones nearby, otherwise it would have caused a riot.

"This is my summoned creature, the Great Serpent. It will obey my commands completely. Don't worry, it will help me complete your mission. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"

To demonstrate safety, Yue told the snake not to move and placed his hand on its body to indicate that there was no danger.

The pig-headed demon was clearly a worldly man; he wasn't intimidated by the giant snake, and his next move surprised the Yue people.

"Ah...oh, it's not that I can't...um, can I touch it?"

After experiencing the shock just now, the pig-headed demon rubbed his hands together somewhat embarrassedly.

The Yue man gestured for him to do as he pleased, and the pig-headed man moved over step by step, reaching out to touch it without fear.

I was deeply shocked. It really was a snake! This person is amazing; he can actually summon a demonic snake of this level.

The faint contempt for the Yue people in my heart disappeared and was replaced by respect. That's how it is in the Demon Continent. The core of the people's customs is still the respect for the strong, especially the strong who can reason.

After confirming that there were no problems, the orc-headed demon Dugham led the Yue people to the warehouse, which was filled with ore, divided into half-meter boxes.

Then, at Yue Ren's prompting, the giant serpent stepped forward and, to everyone's astonishment, swallowed the boxes one by one. It didn't stop until it had swallowed more than thirty boxes at once. Its body showed no signs of change, but its body was now full of boxes. Only a shikigami could do such a thing; an ordinary monster would not be able to do it.

After demonstrating to the pig-headed demons that he could easily spit out the swallowed ore without getting it wet, the latter were even more impressed.

"Do you mind if I dig a hole? After all, it's too conspicuous and might cause panic. Don't worry, I'll fill the hole after I'm done transporting the goods."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. Let's do it that way."

Then things became much simpler. After arriving at the shop, Yue Ren signaled the giant snake to start digging a tunnel. The whole process took just over a minute, and the tunnel was dug.

The giant snake made dozens of trips back and forth, passing through several shops, and completed the transportation of all the ore in less than half a day.

"Hahaha, I'm impressed, completely impressed! Brother Yue, you're truly amazing! I admit defeat. I'll add an extra piece of iron as compensation for my previous offense, and consider it a way to make friends, how about that?"

Seeing the empty warehouse, the orc-headed demon simply put his arm around Yue Ren's shoulder and slapped him a few times. If it were Rudeus, he would probably have been slapped to the ground.

"Of course, it's a pleasure to meet a friend like you, Brother Dugham. Please contact 'Dead End' if you need anything in the future."

Along the way, I felt that the other party was of good character, and I was happy to make friends with them, after all, having more friends means having more options.

"Haha, sure, sure, you're so straightforward, just like me. Come on, let's go to the guild to change the commission, and then have a drink together?"

It was completed in less than a day, saving him a lot of time. Now he's unemployed and relieved of his stress, which makes him happy.

"Respect is not as good as obedience."

"Hahaha, that's great..."

In this way, Yue Ren exceeded his first task.

At the same time, Yue Ren also saw something that seemed to be a quest token, issued by the guild to the person who issued the quest. It was a card made of something unknown, such as iron. The surface was marked with numbers that looked like a quest number and the word "Incomplete" in VR font.

Once the commissioner confirms the completion of the commission, they can say "Completed" to the card and hand it to the adventurer who accepted the quest. The adventurer can then use this as proof to exchange for the quest reward at the guild, which is quite convenient.

I had a few drinks with Brother Demon and took the opportunity to suggest that he help promote the team, while also explaining the team's inability to take on high-difficulty quests due to their low level.

The Yue people's strength, sincerity, and generosity impressed the pig man, who readily agreed to entrust the task to him and would introduce him to the commission later.

After a few rounds of drinks, and after seeing off the pig-men and demons, Yue Ren noticed it was only noon and Rudeus and the others hadn't returned yet. So he went to the bulletin board again and took another F-rank mission that suited him.

The receptionist was the demon girl from yesterday. She helped Yue Ren with the procedures very efficiently and even struck up a conversation with him. If Rudy saw this, he would probably be so envious he'd have a split personality.

......

As the sun set, Rudy and the others finally returned to the guild.

However, he looked somewhat dejected.

Rudius was helpless. Although the mission was indeed completed, he couldn't be happy to be honest. There was nothing he could do. On the one hand, he had argued with Mr. Rigdl because of a special event. Although Mr. Rigdl eventually apologized, his words were still echoing in his mind.

Besides, the work efficiency is still too low. Although it was the first day, it took a whole day to complete the commission, but the reward was only a pittance. If it's like this every time, the team will go bankrupt soon. There are a lot of problems.

"You're back? Over here!"

The familiar voice made Rudy and the others look up and see a Yue man standing up and waving at a secluded table not far away.

The group instinctively walked over.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Yue. How did the request go?"

Composing himself, Rudius asked with his usual smile.

Yue Ren didn't answer the question, but instead waved to the waiter to indicate that the food could be served, and then placed a small bag on the table.

"Not bad, I completed two tasks, spent five stones to order some good food, and this is what's left."

"That's amazing!"

Alice exclaimed.

Rudius breathed a sigh of relief; the mission was accomplished. Then he exclaimed in amazement, "As expected of Yue Ren, he completed two missions on the first day, all by himself. He's really strong!"

Seeing that the bag wasn't too bulging, Rudius casually opened it. Adding the scrap iron coin they hadn't exchanged yet, he figured this should be enough to cover their expenses. But even so, ordering a dinner costing five stones was too extravagant. Oh well, consider it a first time...

These thoughts came to a halt when he saw the money in the bag.

Two iron coins, one scrap iron coin, and two stone coins...?

"Brother Yue, did you exchange gold dust for money?"

This was his first reaction upon seeing the money, and it was the most reasonable one; otherwise, he couldn't understand why it was so different from what he had expected.

"How could I? Everyone said it was life-saving money, how could I possibly break the agreement myself?"

"And these are...?"

"Here's what happened..."

The Yue man began to recount his day's experiences: making bets, completing tasks, getting along well, drinking, spreading the word, and continuing his mission...

Alice listened with excitement in her eyes, Rijrud was also a little surprised, and Rudius was full of envy.

This is what adventurer stories should really be like! What are they doing? Damn it, is this guy the protagonist? How can he have such luck...!

Rudius's rational mind told him that the Yue people's actions were reasonable, and he himself would not have been able to fulfill such a request with his abilities. However, he was emotionally envious and wished that he was the one who would put on a show of bravado and reap the rewards.

"So, the bulk of it came from Mr. Dugham. This afternoon I took on a Class F commission worth seven stones, and spent five stones. That's all."

As they were talking, the waiter brought out a large table of food that Yue had ordered, and everyone began to eat.

"Impressive, no wonder you're called Brother Yue."

I feel like the Vietnamese guy is the most reliable one in the team right now.

"Tell me about your experiences. You didn't seem very energetic when you arrived. What happened?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Rijkaard apologized, and then, with Rudius's brief explanation, Yue Ren understood the gist of it.

Of course, Rudius didn't mention changing the commission, since there were too many people around to be aware of the situation.

"I see. Kidnapping pets to scam commissions? That's indeed a despicable tactic, and as Rudeus said, it's not a capital offense."

"Do you think so too?"

Among the group, Yue Ren was the most mature. Yue Ren's previous experience of perfectly resolving matters had made Ruijie Rude quite convinced of him. Now that he said so, it seemed that he had indeed been too stubborn.

Yue Ren chuckled as he saw the demon man preparing to blame himself.

"Mr. Rachel Luther, don't worry about it. Actually, you didn't do anything wrong. It's a case of making an example of someone to warn others. I'm sure the other two will cooperate more this way."

"But evil is evil..."

Rachel Rudd was still struggling, not with Rudy, but with the situation itself.

"That's right, evil is evil, but we must also be careful. Minor evils require minor punishments, while major evils require major punishments."

"...!!?? What does that mean?"

Rachel Luther looked up abruptly, eager to find a breakthrough in his thinking. Upon hearing Yue Ren's new ideas, he subconsciously pressed for answers.

"Like those you met today, what they did didn't make you particularly angry, and you don't want to kill them because of these things, right?"

"That's right."

"Then let's do as Rudy suggests. This way, we can punish them in another sense, and at the same time, give them a chance to reform. If they reflect on their actions and become good people in the future, wouldn't that be better?"

"......good."

"On the contrary, if they have truly committed heinous crimes, then killing them is the end of the world. Rudeus probably wouldn't plead for someone who enjoys indiscriminately killing innocent people, would he?"

"Of course, how could someone like that possibly plead for mercy?"

Rudius nodded vigorously. If the people he had met today were like that, he wouldn't have even considered cooperating.

"So, this is what they call minor offenses and minor punishments. Do you feel better now?"

"Yes, thank you, Yue Ren. I understand. You mean that those who are not irredeemably wicked should be given a chance to repent and atone for their sins."