Unleash the Chuunibyou!

Chapter 16: First Quest

"Yet another trial that the gods force me through..." Fumiko spoke to herself as she glared at her objective, which was the bulletin board in front of her. However, while she'd thought that there had only been two before, it turned out that there were actually three and that each one was split into sections. The last board was split into four sections with two being nearly empty as only C and B-Rank quests were posted on the second to last one and the A and S rank quest spots obviously being the one that was completely empty.

With the second board being split in half and having plenty of D and E rank quests posted up onto it, Fumiko was currently standing in front of the first board which was completely covered in G and F rank quests. But even if there were plenty of quests, she couldn't read any of them. Not because they were in a language that she didn't understand, but because-

"Come on!" Fumiko let out a strained grunt as she jumped up and attempted to take one of the requests that were on the bottom of the board. But try as she might, they remained just out of reach. And while she didn't want to, she eventually realized that she'd have to use a chair as a stepping stool before she snapped her head to the right where someone had placed one for her.

"Hey there... I just, uh, figured that you could use this." A familiar man dressed in leather armor and a short brown mohawk said nervously as he set the chair down. "Oh, and I know that I didn't introduce myself yesterday, but I'm Hans. A D-Rank adventurer here."

"Fumiko. It's a pleasure to meet you." Fumiko courtasied slightly as she greeted him before becoming nervous herself. "S-sorry about sending you flying yesterday..."

"Ah, don't mind that! I deserved it!" The man laughed. "It's just, there's a reason everyone was jerks yesterday and that's because a lot of kids come here thinking that being an adventurer is nothing but going on adventurers and finding free treasure. And its for that reason that we're all mean at first in order to let them know that being an adventurer isn't all sunshine and rainbows. We try to scare them off early so that they don't get themselves killed while thinking that the job is easy."

"That's somewhat nice of you guys." Fumiko stated while keeping her tone suspicious so that the man second-guessed himself.

"Just try to give us another chance, alright? We're actually pretty friendly once you get to know us. Besides, during emergency quests, we all have to fight together so it's best to be on friendly terms with everyone anyway." Hans explained. "Oh, and I know that they don't normally talk about them, but emergency quests happen every now and then when the city is being threatened by something that the guards can't handle by themselves."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Fumiko replied before the man simply waved at her and turned away, though after he left, she pushed the chair he'd offered her across the floor until it was underneath the bulletin board until she finally climbed up and could see what some of the requests were.

Promising herself that she would make something where she could make herself taller or something while retaining her dignity next time, Fumi looked at several requests for gathering herbs and other useful materials just outside of the city, though they all seemed as if they would take too long for the amount of time she wanted to spend questing today before she eventually found one that seemed as if it could easily be done by using magic. And after taking the request off of the board and struggling to put the chair back at one of the empty tables, Fumiko headed back towards the receptionist desks where Jennifer was already waiting for her.

"Were you able to find your request alright?" Jennifer asked knowingly, making Fumiko irked as the woman already knew that she hadn't.

"No, as a matter of fact." She replied. "Is there any way that I could get you to lower the boards?"

"I'm sorry, but they're like that because most G-Rank adventurers are tall and don't want to bend over in order to get their requests." Jennifer replied immediately.

"That, and watching you jump for them was absolutely adorable." The other receptionist added while giggling.

"Oy. I'm sure that you two probably know this, but I am a witch and it's not outside my realm of power to turn the both of you into toads." Fumiko threatened while keeping an evil smile on her face. However, unlike with Hani, they didn't seem to be effected by it as they just continued smiling. "Well, whatever. Can I take this request?"

"So you want to help Old Man Fred water his crops? That's going to take a while... Are you sure that you still want it?" Jennifer asked.

"I am." Fumiko replied.

"Then I'll officially register it as your quest." She stated with a smile. "Fred's farm is just outside of the city's eastern gate and will be the second field on your left. He should be out there, so be sure to talk to him first before you start."

"Alright, thank you." Fumiko thanked the woman before Jennifer began to speak again.

"If you plan on using magic, please be careful not to flood his crops as then he would complain and the quest would be a failure." Jennifer warned. "Failed quests can build up and, should you get five of them in a row as a G-Rank, you'll be banned from being an adventurer. Also, should you complete the quest with the client's satisfaction, go to them and they'll hand you a card that you can return to us as proof of completion. And should they have lost it, then tell them that they'll need to come back to the guild in order to confirm its completion before reporting the situation to us immediately. That way there's no confusion."

"Alright, I'll remember!" Fumiko called out before she eventually headed outside of the building and began to look around for the eastern gate before she shook as a thought struck her mind like lightning. She still hadn't paid for her half-eaten breakfast, and she figured that she needed to do that before anything else. And so, after running back to the inn and apologizing to the staff several times, Fumiko handed one of her silver coins to them and was handed ninety copper coins back in change. But just before she was about to leave, one of the waitresses called out to her and offered her something that was wrapped in a package made out of long leaves.

"I saw how your friend dragged you out of here this morning and knew that you'd probably be back, so I wrapped the rest of your breakfast for you." The middle-aged woman explained with a smile. "Though the fruit might be a little mushy by now..."

"T-thank you..." Fumiko accepted he missed breakfast awkwardly as she hadn't expected to get it back. In fact, she'd expected to be scolded for running off, but the people had merely smiled and said that it was alright seeing as she'd come back... Well, even if she wasn't used to everyone being so polite as understanding, Fumiko still did her best to act normally and thank them again before leaving the inn and heading towards where she guessed the eastern gate was. After all, personal matters and feelings aside, she now had a job to do.