Chapter 15: Adventurers' Guild

River Valley Town, an ordinary settlement on the southeastern border of the Kingdom of Servia.

Located inland and far from the ocean, the few nearby rivers were blocked by mountain ranges, making the development of maritime trade difficult. Coupled with a lack of local specialties and complex terrain that made travel arduous, no serious merchant caravan would ever include it as a waypoint.

Under normal circumstances, this small human settlement would remain as obscure as the countless other villages within the kingdom's domain. One wouldn't speak of kingdom history or heroic epics; even if it were to fall completely due to a neighboring war or a monster invasion, it would likely only be mentioned in passing by some dutiful official during a weekly morning assembly.

But currently, it was one of the important towns in the southern part of the Cloud-Reaching Province.

The reason for this was actually quite simple, boiled down to a single point—

The Misty Forest.

The grayish-white mist that lingered in the forest day and night was not some peculiar natural phenomenon, but rather the result of an excessive abundance of mana in the air. Although this gave rise to many powerful monsters capable of threatening human lives, it also brought about countless precious magic potions and secret realms, attracting wave after wave of professionals seeking adventure.

With this as a premise, River Valley Town—surrounded by mountains on three sides and easy to defend but difficult to attack—naturally became the preferred place for adventurers to regroup and rest. Furthermore, the branch of the Adventurers' Guild established here many years ago acted as a landmark, further drawing adventurers from across the kingdom's southeastern border.

Much like a "university town" built around several higher education institutions in his previous life, or the various industries surrounding a tourist attraction, River Valley Town possessed a bustling street dedicated specifically to serving adventurers.

*Thud—*

A middle-aged man, dead drunk and spewing profanities, was hoisted by two guards in leather armor and tossed into the street. The scent of alcohol wafted from a half-open wooden door, accompanied by the sounds of clamor.

By the roadside, a wealthy, plump woman clutched a zircon necklace, arguing heatedly with a vendor in front of her. Beside her, a young boy watched with curiosity at the several burly, sweat-drenched men working in the street-side blacksmith shop.

"Hey little brother, come play~"

A sweet, cloyingly delicate female voice drifted into his ear.

Looking over, he could see two slender women in thin clothing with provocative figures leaning against a wall, beckoning to him with flirtatious gestures.

Xia Nan was not shy; he simply nodded with a smile and greeted them.

Seemingly perceived as a potential customer, his response immediately triggered a flurry of chirping, coquettish voices. However, he had no intention of approaching, maintaining his pace along the main road. Seeing this, the women felt they were wasting their breath and turned to solicit other passersby.

As he walked further away, the heavy scent of perfume gradually dissipated.

Xia Nan tightened the straps of his backpack, his gaze calm.

To say he had no thoughts at all would be impossible. After all, this body was in the prime of human vitality. If not for his memories of a modern society, having been washed by the massive amounts of information on the internet in his previous life, he might have been different. Given the original owner's background—a simple boy raised in the fields who had barely seen a member of the opposite sex—he might have lost his soul just from a casual wave from those "service industry elites."

Having only recently transmigrated to this world, he hadn't even settled down yet, so naturally, he couldn't afford to consider such things. By comparison, he was more curious whether this world possessed the same "unspeakable" diseases as his previous life, and whether the preventive measures taken by people in a world with supernatural powers were the same as those in his old world.

"I wonder if healing potions actually work?"

Having escaped a dangerous environment, everything about this other world filled him with curiosity. Even a random snack stall by the road could trigger his wandering thoughts.

Walking and pausing like this, about twenty minutes passed.

Xia Nan finally arrived at his destination.

It was a building with a peculiar style. Its four-story height wasn't particularly conspicuous among the street, yet it felt like the center of the entire area, bustling with constant foot traffic. Unlike the brick and tile houses he had seen along the way, the building was constructed entirely of a dark wood. The complex, rhythmic grain of the timber naturally formed its own unique decoration, and even a few clusters of emerald green leaves adorned the eaves.

From a distance, it looked like a massive treehouse.

For some reason, standing at the entrance, Xia Nan had a faint illusion of having returned to the Misty Forest.

The building itself had no sign, but just looking at the adventurers coming and going from its doors was enough to know its name—

The Adventurers' Guild (River Valley Town Branch).

Xia Nan shook his head, brushing away those stray thoughts.

He stepped through the main doors.

What met his eyes was an exceptionally spacious hall. The decor was similarly natural, filled with the essence of the forest, as various types of adventurers passed before him.

Relying on the memories left by his predecessor, his gaze searched through the crowd, finally settling on a counter-like area on the right side of the hall.

Behind the counter sat a short-haired girl wearing the guild's uniform. She was quite pretty, but her expression was exceptionally listless. She appeared to be processing work, but in reality, her eyes were lowered as if she might fall asleep at any second.

Xia Nan walked forward and placed a coarse cloth bag containing goblin and hobgoblin ears onto the counter.

"Hello, I'm here to turn in a quest."

The short-haired girl's eyelids flickered. She didn't touch the bag, but her lips moved

"Party badge."

"Oh, right." Xia Nan reacted immediately, pulling a palm-sized black iron plate from his bosom and handing it to her.

This was the insignia of the Magi Party, issued by the guild, which recorded the party's identification number. The receptionist needed this number to look up the quests the party had accepted. Fortunately, he hadn't forgotten to bring this little thing when clearing the battlefield, otherwise, he would have taken a massive loss this time.

"Bow of the Mountains?"

"Uh... yes."

Xia Nan was momentarily stunned, then realized that "Bow of the Mountains" was indeed the official registered name of the Magi Party. Having called them the "Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp Party" too many times in his head, he had almost failed to react.

In response, the short-haired girl merely shot him a glance, showing no intention of asking why the other teammates were not present, as if she were already accustomed to such occurrences.

The counter was slightly elevated from the ground, preventing Xia Nan from seeing the girl's movements clearly. Although he was curious how someone in a world without advanced technology but with supernatural powers handled work that required browsing through so many documents, he remained patient.

He simply watched as the girl's hands moved a few times in his blind spot, and she muttered a few lines of characters of unknown meaning.

*Thud.*

In less than five seconds, a coin pouch was tossed onto the counter in front of Xia Nan.

(End of Chapter)