Chapter 50: A New Quest

Original: Chapter 50: A New Quest

Upon returning to the Plaza, I stopped by the street stall I always frequented. It was Miss Rilril’s shop, a Dungeonfolk.

This stall handled all sorts of things, from Recovery Items to Weapons and Armor, and various adventure support goods. By the way, the Potions I made were always supplied to this shop, sold in clear bottles. They were apparently a huge hit and always sold like hotcakes.

Incidentally, Dungeonfolk is the name of the Race that lives in this Dungeon. They’re about four heads tall in height and have a very cute appearance. They wear traditional ethnic clothing.

Miss Rilril looks like a child, but I hear she’s fully an adult. Her hair is in twin-tails, and she’s a very lovely woman.

When Miss Rilril spotted me, she gave me a big, beaming smile.

“Welcome back, Miss Sayuki!”

“Hello, Miss Rilril. Were you talking with Miss Marta?”

Miss Marta, another Dungeonfolk, was visiting Miss Rilril’s stall. She’s a woman with braided pigtails.

Miss Marta is an amazing person, a master of Clothing Mending. No matter how tattered a piece of clothing is, as long as even a small scrap of fabric remains, she can completely restore it using the Dungeonfolk’s Traditional Technique. It’s such an incredible skill that I’m always in her debt.

I bow my head slightly to Miss Marta.

“Hello, Miss Marta.”

“Hello~. Miss Sayuki, I actually have a request for you today~.”

“Huh? A request? For me?”

“Yes, for you, Miss Sayuki.”

“W-what is it?”

I felt a little flutter of nervousness. I didn’t think Miss Marta and I were close enough yet for her to ask me for something.

“Miss Sayuki, are you familiar with a plant called

Fluffbloom

(

Cotton fluff flower

)

?”

“Fluffbloom? No, I’ve never heard of it.”

“Is that so~. The Fluffbloom is a flower that, true to its name, blooms with an abundance of fluff.

It grows in the

Danger Zone

(

Red Zone

)

, but I was wondering if you could gather some of those flowers for me when you have time?”

“Gathering plants, you mean? Oh, does that mean it’s a Quest?”

I remembered that Miss Rilril had issued me a Quest once before. The Dungeonfolk, being residents of the Dungeon, sometimes ask people they trust to undertake Quests. I figured this was another case of that.

“Yes. Rilril strongly recommended that I consult with you, saying you’re a very reliable Adventurer. So it would be a formal Quest request.”

Whoa—well, I’m kind of embarrassed. Without me realizing it, I’d apparently earned enough of Miss Rilril’s trust to be recommended. To live up to that trust, I really want to accept this Quest.

Miss Rilril seemed to offer a supplementary explanation.

“Miss Sayuki, the Fluffbloom grows in relatively safe areas within the Red Zone, so just gathering them shouldn’t be too dangerous, I think.”

Miss Marta added further details.

“Fortunately, the number of Earthlings coming to the Dungeon has been increasing lately. But because of that, Clothing Mending requests have inevitably increased… and the stock of Materials we have stored has become a bit precarious. So, I was wondering if you could possibly take on this Quest work?”

I see. So they were probably spinning the fluff to use for Clothing Mending. But the demand got too high, and their fluff stock became unreliable. So they want me to gather more to replenish the inventory via a Gathering Quest.

If the Materials for Clothing Mending were to run out, it would be a real problem for me too. I often have my Blazer or Blouse repaired by Miss Marta. If she said she couldn’t mend something due to lack of Materials, I’d be in trouble when going to school.

Times like these call for mutual support. I want to accept the Quest and help Miss Marta out.

“Understood. I’ll go gather a whole bunch of those Fluffblooms.”

Miss Rilril and Miss Marta looked pleased. Ah, but then Miss Marta spoke up hastily.

“It’s already late today, so—”

It seemed doing it within the next two or three days would be fine.

That was a relief. I was already planning to head home today. There was no way I could go to the Red Zone now.

Miss Marta began operating some sort of screen.

“Alright then, I’ll issue the Quest from my side.”

She seemed to have issued the Quest. I accepted it.

The Quest title was ‘Let’s Get Fluffblooms!’. The Reward was 25,000 Pon. I think she was being quite generous. I have to do a proper job to live up to Miss Marta’s expectations.