Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(1-3VOL)

Good guy

I shrugged. I didn't mind Nicola taking the floor, but it didn't seem right for both Vivianne and I to share the bed.

Just then, we heard footsteps outside. Vivianne perked up instantly and exclaimed, "They're back!" before rushing out to greet them.

...

"You really convinced them to come back?" Brennan's familiar voice sounded from the hallway.

"Amazing! I thought we wouldn't get to see the angels again after this. Nice work!" he praised.

"Shh, keep your voice down. They're still inside. I barely managed to persuade them to stay," Vivianne shushed.

"But they probably heard everything just now with how loud you were," Adrian's voice replied.

"This is all your fault. Don't come crying to me if they run off and you go hungry!" Vivianne scolded.

She then ran back into the room, followed by the two guys.

Nicola and I exchanged glances, having overheard them. We were no longer certain if everything had been staged by the three of them.

Seeing our expressions, the trio realized they had given themselves away and looked panicked.

"Let me explain..." Vivianne began.

"No need," I interjected. "Since you're so adamant about having us stay, we'll spend one night here. We did already promise you after all," I conceded.

Nicola voiced no objections either. "It doesn't really matter if it was intentional or not. Just know that we're truly grateful to you all. Without you, we'd probably still be wandering the forest."

"So you'll stay?" Vivianne's face lit up excitedly. It seemed all she cared about was us agreeing to stay, regardless of everything said prior.

"Of course," I nodded. Brennan and Adrian behind her immediately broke into delighted smiles too.

Yet Vivianne still had a hesitant look, as if there was more she wanted to say.

"Actually..." she began.

"Actually what?" I asked, perplexed.

"It'd be even better if you could stay for a few more days!" Brennan interjected impatiently. Vivianne's head bobbed in eager agreement.

I rubbed my temples in exasperation. I truly didn't understand these people. Were all the people in this world so friendly? The first three we met just had to be jesters.

Having just completed a quest and earned rewards, we decided to celebrate tonight by eating at the finest restaurant nearby. Selene did not join us, having returned to the church after the quest.

At a high-end eatery called Maple Story, Adrian ordered the most expensive set meal for each of us. Our table was soon piled high with all kinds of dishes and plates. I was stuffed to the point of bursting, having to give up on dessert before it even arrived.

To be honest, the food here didn't taste as amazing as the meal we had in that small town. But the portions were huge, and I saw almost everyone at the table was full even before all the courses arrived.

"It's a pity Selene isn't here. Something feels missing without her," I remarked.

Despite Selene and I not always getting along, we had gone through a lot together these days. There was a certain bond between us.

"It can't be helped. She's back at the strict church now. With the quest completed, there was no reason for her to come out again," Adrian explained, having accompanied Selene to the church earlier.

"How's Irene doing?" I asked about the dark elf girl who had been clinging to me. Although she was now a light elf.

"Not sure," Adrian shook his head. "After reaching the church, she left with some of their personnel. Selene said she had to go meet the other light elves first."

I see. That seemed like a decent outcome for her, so I felt reassured.

"Can you share how much your quest rewards were?" I probed, having been very curious about their earnings from this job.

"15,000 silvers total," Adrian freely divulged after a quick mental calculation.

"That's not a huge sum, since it was just an investigative quest. We only had to go to the site and retrieve some information. Also, because it was privately commissioned by the city defenses and church rather than going through the Adventurers' Guild, there were no processing fees deducted," he elaborated.

"I see," Vivianne chimed in. "These kinds of private requests are usually highly sought after. We only managed to snag this one due to Adrian's connections from his military days."

That reminded me she had mentioned Adrian often taking on mercenary work for the army.

"Speaking of which, how much are the Guild's processing fees usually?" Nicola suddenly asked. She had caught on to something important.

"Around 10-30%, depending on quest rank and difficulty," came the reply.

So it really wasn't insignificant. If this job had gone through the Guild, they would have earned several thousand silvers less.

"It can't be helped. The Guild has the most abundant resources, while opportunities like this are scarce and rarely come by. We got lucky this time purely by chance," Adrian conceded with a sigh.

The Guild's steep fees were unavoidable it seemed.