Chapter 54: Mission Complete
Lena glanced at him with a look that was somewhere between impressed and amused. "Enough that you’ll be very glad you took this job. Sit tight, and we’ll have an appraiser examine it right away."
As she gestured for a guild staff member to fetch the appraiser, Oliver turned to Isolde with a wide grin.
"See? Totally worth it."
~~~~
Lena led them down a hallway branching off from the main guild hall, her professional tone returning though her steps were a bit quicker than before.
"This way," she said. "The appraisal chamber will give us enough space. Please bring out all your monsters here — it’ll be easier for the appraisers to inspect everything at once."
Oliver grinned at Isolde. "Ready?"
Isolde shrugged. "If you’re about to make a spectacle, might as well make it a good one."
The chamber was a large, open room with reinforced floors and faint glowing wards etched into the stone — no doubt designed to withstand even heavy monster carcasses.
Oliver stepped inside and began unloading his haul.
First came the lizardmen.
One, two, five, ten... The pile kept growing until it looked like a small mound of scaled bodies. By the time he was done, nearly fifty lizardmen lay stacked together, their crude weapons clattering to the floor.
Lena blinked, her usual composure cracking. "...You killed this many?"
Oliver just grinned. "Yup."
He didn’t even stop to enjoy her reaction before reaching into his pouch again.
"And last but not least..."
The Fire Drake’s massive body appeared with a heavy THUD that made the floor tremble slightly, the sound echoing off the stone walls.
Lena just stared, mouth slightly open.
"Gods above," she muttered. "How many did you fight in there?"
"Enough to fill two space pouches," Oliver said with a satisfied smile, dusting off his hands.
Before Lena could respond, the door opened behind them.
Another figure stepped in — a man in a finely tailored coat with an appraisal kit slung over one shoulder.
"Alright, I heard you had some rare materials for—" He froze mid-sentence as his gaze swept over the room.
Lizardmen piled nearly to the waist. The massive Fire Drake corpse dominating the center like a trophy.
The man blinked slowly. "...Just how many did you kill?"
Oliver shrugged casually. "Everything that got in our way."
The appraiser turned to Lena, still staring wide-eyed. "...We’re going to need more personnel."
Lena nodded quickly, regaining her composure. "Agreed. I’ll have three more staff members come assist immediately."
She gave Oliver a glance — half professional respect, half disbelief. "Please wait here while we fetch additional appraisers. Processing this much material will take time."
"No problem," Oliver said, leaning casually against the wall, feeling smug.
Isolde shot him a look and smirked. "Enjoying the attention?"
"Of course," Oliver replied without hesitation. "This is the first time in my life anyone’s been impressed by something I did."
Isolde rolled her eyes but smiled faintly, amused despite herself.
A few minutes later, more staff arrived — scribes with clipboards, assistants with measuring tools, even a burly porter to help shift the larger carcasses.
The room became a flurry of activity as they began inspecting the lizardmen bodies, taking notes, cutting samples, and sorting them into piles.
"Not a single one is missing its core," one scribe remarked in surprise. "Whoever did this was methodical."
"That’s because she did most of the killing," Oliver said with a thumb toward Isolde.
Isolde crossed her arms, smirking faintly. "Give yourself some credit. You were useful... occasionally."
"Occasionally?!" Oliver said, feigning offense.
"Mmhh~ Maybe more than occasionally," she teased, just loud enough for him to hear.
The appraiser finally approached them, brushing off his hands after inspecting the Fire Drake’s hide.
"This is going to be quite the payday," he said seriously. "Drake scales, claws, bones, heart, and core — all intact. Add the lizardmen materials on top of that and the Phoenixroot... well, let’s just say your guild card is about to look very healthy."
Oliver grinned. "Exactly what I like to hear."
"Come back tomorrow morning," Lena said, recovering her professional smile. "By then, we’ll have a full report and payment prepared."
"Perfect." Oliver stretched his arms with a satisfied groan. "Guess we’ve got the night to ourselves."
Isolde smirked knowingly. "I can think of ways to spend it."
Oliver’s grin widened. "I was hoping you’d say that."
~~~~
By the time the extra appraisers and dismantlers arrived, the room had turned into a small workshop.
Two burly men began working on the Fire Drake’s body, carefully removing its hide with enchanted knives that glowed faintly as they sliced through the tough scales. Others extracted its fangs, claws, and core, each material carefully wrapped and labeled.
The lizardmen corpses were quickly stripped of their magic cores, usable hides, and weapons, the rest piled for disposal.
Oliver watched with interest, arms folded, while Isolde stood quietly beside him, her expression calm — though he noticed her eyes occasionally follow the more skilled dismantlers’ hands as if memorizing the technique.
It took well over an hour before everything was neatly sorted and recorded.
Finally, Lena returned with a small wooden chest.
"Here is the total for all collected materials," she said, sliding the chest onto the table with a satisfying clink.
Oliver opened it, eyes widening at the sight of shining gold coins stacked inside.
"Fifteen gold for the monster materials," Lena continued, "plus the agreed quest reward and additional payment for your surplus Phoenixroot. Altogether, that brings your total to thirty gold coins."
Oliver practically glowed. "Thirty gold... hell yes!"
He grabbed a handful and let them rain through his fingers, grinning like a kid with candy.
Isolde rolled her eyes but smirked, clearly amused by his reaction.
In the Valemont region, currency was divided into four denominations:
Copper Coins – used for small purchases like a loaf of bread or a mug of ale.Silver Coins – worth 100 copper each, enough to cover a nice inn room or a day’s worth of good food.Gold Coins – worth 10 silver each. A single gold coin could support a common family comfortably for several months.Platinum Coins – the highest standard coin, worth 10 gold each, rarely used except for major purchases like estates, caravans, or powerful magic items.
With thirty gold coins jingling in his pouch, Oliver was — by commoner standards — not just comfortable, but wealthy. He could rent a private inn suite for months, buy new equipment, and still have plenty left over.
For the first time since coming to this world, he actually felt like an adventurer... and a successful one at that.
Oliver fastened the pouch to his belt with a satisfied grin. "Well, that went better than expected."
Lena smiled politely. "You two have made quite an impression. Word will spread fast — I wouldn’t be surprised if you receive direct job offers from merchants or guild members soon."
Oliver smirked and elbowed Isolde lightly. "Hear that? We’re basically famous already."
Isolde gave him a sidelong glance, smirk tugging at her lips. "What are you so proud of? It was me who made this possible."
Oliver’s face fell slightly. "...You didn’t have to say it like that."
"Fufu~," Isolde chuckled, clearly enjoying his puffed-up reaction.
Lena, who had been watching silently, let out an involuntary pfft~, covering her mouth too late.
Both Oliver and Isolde turned to look at her.
Lena froze, realizing her slip, and straightened quickly, putting her professional smile back on. "Ahem—please hand over your guild cards. I’ll update your mission log."
Oliver and Isolde handed them over.
A few quick rune-presses later, Lena slid the cards back across the counter. "There. Mission officially recorded."
Oliver immediately flipped his card over to check.
The 0 next to Missions Completed now read 1.
For some reason, that tiny change filled him with a sense of accomplishment he hadn’t felt since coming to this world.
"Nice," he said, slipping the card away.
Isolde glanced at hers, unimpressed but faintly smiling.
With their business concluded, they bid Lena goodbye and stepped out into the cool evening air.
As they walked down the stone-paved street, Oliver jiggled the pouch of coins on his belt. "Alright, step one — where do we spend this first?"
"Clothes," Isolde said without hesitation. "We can’t just keep washing and re-wearing the same ones forever."
Oliver groaned, but nodded. "Fair. We’ve been through dungeons, caves, and fights — these are probably falling apart anyway."
"And you need a spare set, at least," Isolde added, glancing at his torn sleeve pointedly.
Oliver sighed. "...Fine. Clothes first."
"Then food," Isolde said, already looking ahead toward the market street.
~~~~
The market streets of Valebridge were bustling even as the sun sank lower, lanterns glowing softly to keep the streets lit. Merchants were still hawking their wares — spices, enchanted trinkets, and bolts of cloth in every color imaginable.
Isolde’s sharp eyes scanned the signs until she spotted one that made her pause. A polished wooden board, painted with a silver needle and thread, swung gently above a wide, glass-paneled storefront.
"This one," she said, nodding toward it. "That sign says they do custom work as well."
Oliver shrugged. "Lead the way, princess."