We were finally back! When we passed the gate there was no fanfare though, just the chief waiting for us while drinking tea just as ladiback as ever. Rue told him about what happened and the chief agreed to pay the request fee to the hunters which they happily accepted. Me on the other hand finally got to eat until I was satisfied.

 

Me: “I just realized something. Don’t your team have a name?”

Rilitar: “No we don’t. A permanent team might have a name but we only became a team for this request so we didn’t bother to come up with any.”

Me: “That's so.”

 

I didn’t realize this before (mainly because he was passed out for a long time) but it seemed that Rilitar the elf was the leader of the team. Rilitar talked with the chief about the paper for the request and at the end of their conversation the chief stamped the paper. While the two men were talking the two birdpeople laid out all their remaining supplies and started counting. I presume this was so that they could count how many supplies they need for their journey back to the guild. Hethoir came to me and asked about the quills and I happily sold it to him. We asked the chief about the price and apparently for the amount and quality of the quills I got 132 reti (reti is the currency for this place). The chief said that was enough to eat for a whole month, not bad at all honestly.

 

The four hunters decided that they would stay in the village for a day to recuperate and to replenish their supplies. The village didn’t have any inn though so they settled with sleeping in their tent. When I asked them about their plan they said that they would go back to Hunter Guild that’s located in Vlarvic to report the completion of the request then they would disband and continue their own ways. I considered joining them on their way back since I still didn’t have the confidence that I could do it alone. I felt really bad just freeloading all this time so I gave the loot from the hedgewolf for the chief. I also said that I would visit them in the future since I still felt that the loot wasn’t enough. 

 

Wait, I think I’m forgetting something.

 

[MiniGo: “You forgot your mission!”] 

 

Oh right! I needed to go to the plain in the west and find the antelope. Talk about getting sidetracked. I went to the chief to talk about my plan to go to the plains. I thought that I would go at the same time as the hunters.

 

Mojak: “Ho? Why do you need to go to the plains? I don’t remember anything special about that place. Just a huge green field, pretty calming though.”

Me: “I never told you before? I’m looking for an antelope in the plains. From the information I got it was last seen around that area.”

Mojak: “Hohoho, you did tell me about that before. I always wanted to ask you something before you go there though.”

Me: “What is it?”

Mojak: “What’s an antelope?”

Me: (ーー;) (wasn’t he supposed to be an all knowing wise man?)

 

A brief explanation of antelope later.

 

Mojak: “Ohohoho.”

Me: “Did I say something funny?”

Mojak: “You mean that guy over there.”

The chief pointed at one of the barns that was owned by the villagers. A bit weird seeing farm animals in the middle of forest honestly. There were cows, chickens, sheeps, goats, and…

 

Me: “Wait, that’s an antelope!”

[Antelope: “Oh, hello”]

Me: “And it can talk!”

Mojak: (•ิ_•ิ)?

Me: “Did I just waste all those efforts for nothing!?”

[Frog: “Yo, Anty”]

[Antelope: “Fred! Long time no see!”]

[Frog: “That’s mission done then.”]

Me: “Wait!”

 

And then I was surrounded by darkness again.

When I woke up I’m back in the room with the pedestals. There were now four pedestals instead of three. At the center of the room Antelope and Frog were talking to each other and laughing merrily. It kinda weird though, the other three are small but the antelope was a regular size antelope. Oh by the way, I was still laying spread eagle on the stone floor.

 

MiniGo: “Are you okay?”

Me: “No.‘

MiniGo: “Do you want some medicine?”

Me: “Don’t worry about me, kind friend, I’m just contemplating my life choices.”

Foxy: “Sorry we really couldn’t explain to you about how the mission works.”

Me: “It’s okay. I’m fine now.”

 

I sat on the floor and looked at my body. It was still clad with the armor I got from chief Mojak, I also still have my halberd and the pouch full of useful items. I was afraid that the two weeks I spent in that forest was only a dream, but I guess not. From how worried they seemed I guess that whatever it is that was used to send me back and forth could only be used by the Frog. Did the Frog limit the information that they could give to me?

 

Antelope: “You’re awake, buddy?”

Me: “Yup.”

Antelope: “Thank you for bringing me back. I wasn’t in any kind of danger, in fact I could say that the barn was actually pretty cozy, but in the end there’s no other place than home.”

Frog: “And friends, don’t forget about friends.”

Antelope: “Yup, that too. Oh yeah, now that I’m here you could use my powers.”

Me: “And they are?”

Antelope: “Run fast and eat grass.”

Me: “...”

 

I get the run fast one but the eat grass part? I guess it would be good for survival situation. I hope I won’t ever have to use this skill.

 

Me: “So this is basically my job? Gather animals to get their power?”

Foxy: “Yes, although many of the skills you got from the animal can overlap with each other so you may find some animal that won’t give you anything. Although you can still choose the better skill.”

Me: “it’s unstackable?”

Foxy: “No.”

Me: “That’s really unfortunate.”

 

I mean imagine if I can just stack the strength of every animal, I can just one hit KO anything in my path. I don’t think my body could handle that though. It seems there is a reason I couldn’t stack the powers.

 

Frog: “The next one will be inside some ruins. Find the turtle.”

Me: “Ah that’s right, you, I was gonna boil you alive.”

Frog: “Off you go.”

Me: “You!!”

 

And back to the darkness I went. I honestly should stop getting surprised at this kind of situation. I have a feeling the frog will never give me any warning ever.