Marlon took a deep breath at those words. It was a long mont before he cald himself enough to sheathe his Galaxy Sword. He stared at Leon for a good while before finally speaking.
“I’m starting to regret agreeing to let you join the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Why?” Leon asked in confusion. Was Marlon really angry over just a joke?
“Because I think your ntal state isn’t entirely stable. You’ve got a persecution complex. Sure, that makes your senses sharper in battle, but when it cos to dealing with people, I’m afraid one day soone will cut you down because of it. Not everyone in the Adventurer’s Guild is as calm as I am.” Marlon’s tone was serious.
Leon thought back to Marlon’s earlier outburst. Calm? He didn’t see it. But considering he’d already joked with the man—and nearly gotten himself cut down—he decided to show so respect to his future guildmaster.
“Don’t worry, Guildmaster Marlon. I only joke with people I’m close to. Strangers? I’m always polite. What you’re worried about won’t happen.”
“Heh. Well, we’re not that close, and you’ve got a knack for saying things that really tick people off.” Marlon’s cold chuckle carried a bite.
“So… can I still join the Adventurer’s Guild?” Leon pressed. That was why he’d sought Marlon out in the first place.
“Of course. As long as you pass the trial. You unlocked the fifth floor of the elevator today, so you must have seen so combat. Here’s the deal: kill fifty green Slis and co back safely, and I’ll let you join.”
He handed Leon a new task on the spot.
The number, however, was five tis the usual. Normally, ten Slis would do. But Marlon still felt stung by Leon’s earlier jab, and decided the youngster needed a reminder to respect his elders.
“Fifty, huh?” Leon glanced at him and asked, “Do the ones I’ve already killed count?”
“They do. As long as you can bring back fifty Sli jellies, I’ll count it as a pass. I don’t need the jellies for myself—they’ll just serve as proof you’ve done the job.” Marlon confird without hesitation.
Though still irritated, Marlon knew fifty green Slis might be a bit much. So he eased the condition, clarifying that the jellies alone would do. He’d killed more Slis than he could count over the years, and knew exactly how much they dropped—sotis just one jelly, sotis three or four.
He didn’t even bother considering the loot from Leon’s earlier fights, which ant this task wasn’t actually that difficult. At most, it would just take more ti, which could help temper Leon’s patience and combat skill. That way, the boy wouldn’t get arrogant just because he held a Galaxy Weapon.
But then Leon surprised him—pulling Sli jellies out of thin air and starting to count them right there.
“One… two… three… five… fifteen… twenty-five… thirty—”
“Wait, stop, stop!” Marlon cut him off quickly as the pile of jellies grew in front of him. “Where in the world did you get all these?”
“Drops,” Leon replied simply.
“But you only reached the fifth floor, right?”
“Yeah. On the fourth floor, I hit a monster level—it was packed with Slis. Most of these jellies ca from there.”
“The fourth floor had a cursed area? With your luck? Did you even check the daily fortune before going down there? You’re supposed to pick a good-luck day for mining. If you found a cursed floor that early… your luck today must be in the negatives.”
Marlon was dumbfounded. He had never seen a cursed floor appear so close to the surface.
“Daily fortune? Where do I check that—TV or newspaper?” Leon asked blankly. He knew about it from the ga, where you could watch it on the TV in your house. But he’d searched through the channels in his own ho’s TV and only found the weather report and Queen of Sauce, never a daily fortune segnt.
“On TV,” Marlon said after a pause. “But you need a special way to get there. Press seven sevens on the remote, and you’ll jump to the channel hosted by Welwick.”
Then he couldn’t resist adding, “You know the secret of Yoba’s Crafting Altar, but not how to watch the fortune channel? I honestly don’t understand how your elders raised you.”
“I’m just an ordinary farr. How would I know about these arcane things?” Leon shrugged.
“Heh… Who do you think you’re fooling? Even veteran guild mbers don’t know the forging thod for a Galaxy Weapon or about Yoba’s Crafting Altar.” Marlon looked at him with open disdain.
“I just got lucky. Found a Prismatic Shard in the Universal Crystal Cave, went to the Calico Desert for fun, and when I found three stone pillars, the shard reacted. Next thing I knew, I had a Galaxy Weapon.” Leon spun a half-true story.
“Sure. Keep spinning. If you told
Linus was the one who told you, I’d believe it—he doesn’t watch TV either.” Marlon snorted.
That tidbit made Leon curious. “Linus knows about Yoba’s Crafting Altar?”
“Of course. Who do you think held the mine entrance when the abandoned mines had a monster outbreak and the guild hadn’t arrived yet?” Marlon answered without thinking, then realized Leon might not know the story. He quickly shut his mouth and changed the subject.
“Old news. Forget it. Since you’ve got enough jellies, co inside, fill out a form, and pay the mbership fee—you’ll be officially in.”
“Pay money? Then I’m out.” Leon shook his head imdiately. He was dirt poor. Joining the guild didn’t even pay a salary, and now they wanted a fee? No way.
“You think getting an ID is free? Without an adventurer ID, you can’t take monster-hunting jobs. The lowest-paying job is five hundred G, and the fee’s only twenty G, paid once. Can’t you do the math?!”
Marlon was practically laughing in disbelief at Leon’s refusal over the mbership fee.
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