77 Chapter 77 - Cellar Investigation (1/2)
Gren continued to do smaller missions near Adierton for the rest of the week.He was bored of them already but Jessica promised him that this was going to be the last 'pest control' mission.After this he would be able to take on the tougher missions that he had been wanting to go on.
With the pest control missions it would take an entire year before he could even get a gun.They were extremely inefficient for gaining points since each animal would only give him a handful of points.Gren had only just gotten his second research point in the last mission that had him killing squirrels that were nesting in someone's attic.It was just as boring as he thought it would be and to make it worse they deducted most of the reward because someone named Gren managed to put their sword through an old painting of someone's grandma.
The jobs that took him inside someone's house were the worst.Unfortunately, today's mission would also be taking place in a residence.Even worse was the fact that the place belonged to someone rich so any mistakes that Gren or his partners made would likely cost a lot of money.
Today was a bit different.Gren had gotten used to Luna and Midna joining him on missions but Luna was out on account of having a bad stomach ache--Gren healed her but she'd need time to recover--and Midna surprisingly found a date.Today it would just be Gren, Noir, Choco, and Shenzi.
Shenzi was usually the guard for the store but it was closed for the day so she was free.Her agility was even better than Midna's agility even though her attack strength was lower.Like Luna and Midna, Shenzi was a beastman woman with an odd appearance; it was just in an opposite way to their peculiarities.Shenzi had almost no fur covering her body.
Shenzi had the ideal hairless butt with a furry tail popping out from above it that Gren wanted to see when he was still optimistic about demihumans but, when he accidentally saw it one day, he was extremely disappointed and possibly a bit traumatized.He had already been told about it by the attendant in the slave company but seeing it was a different story.Like all spotted hyena beastmen, Shenzi had a penis; she was undoubtedly female according to both her and the paperwork from the slave company but her species evolved in a weird way.Gren just didn't understand how her species could reproduce.
”So, what do you normally do for these missions?Do we go talk to the client first or just save the day and ask to be paid afterwards?”Shenzi hadn't gone on a mission for the guild before this.In her old tribe she was more of a scout and right now the guild wasn't accepting exploration, settlement, or exotic hunting missions so they didn't require one.
”We usually go meet up with the client first but this time it's a bit different.The client isn't in the city and the building hasn't had a caretaker in years so it's the government officials that are overseeing this mission.We clear the cellar of anything inside and then turn in the keys.Once they confirm that the mission was completed then they'll have someone bring the payment.”Gren wasn't happy with the way this mission was handled but if he didn't do it then Jessica would never agree to send him on tougher missions.
———————————
The four of them reached the mansion.The gate was tangled up with vines so Gren had to hack at them in order to get it open.”We don't have permission to enter the mansion itself so even if you see something crawling around in it you're not allowed to chase after it.Understood?”After the other three agreed, Gren pulled his cart into the mansion's grounds.The gate's lock was broken so Gren just tied some of the vines around the gate to keep it from swinging open.
The exterior entrance to the cellar was next to the mansion but the snow was piled up on top of it so it was hard to find.If he didn't have a hand drawn map of the mansion's grounds then Gren might have had to search for hours to find it.The wood was rotted through so when Gren tried to open it the doors fell apart.”What was the point of giving us the keys if we didn't need them?”
”Judging by the level of decay, I'd say that nobody has been here for quite a while.They probably didn't know that it was this bad.”Shenzi picked up a broken piece of wood and ground it into dust with her fingers.”It's completely rotted.This place has been abandoned for years or at least this entrance has.Remove the doors to let it air out while we get ready.”
On the back of the cart was a thick blanket made of grey wool and it was covering something.Pulling away the blanket revealed four suits of armor of varying sizes; one for each of the members of the group.Unlike the old crude iron ones that Jasmine and her team used at the beginning, these ones came straight from the system and had all kinds of improvements over what was currently used by the people in this world.
The way the armor was designed allowed an individual to put it on or take it off easily while still offering superior protection than what the armor in stock at blacksmiths had.Every currently active guild member had their own suit of armor now but Gren didn't think it was too much.With Ahk out there earning more points than Gren could spend right now there was no reason not to protect everyone with the best armor available.After Gren and his team got into their armor it was time to go down and check out the cellar.
”Gren, you forgot your weapon.”Turning around, there was Gren's sword and shield still on the cart.Gren only forgot because he usually carried the weapon in his pocket dimension.He was still trying his best to get used to carrying it with him.
”Sorry about that.I'm ready to go now.”The kobolds were waiting for Gren while holding their short spears.Shenzi was already walking down the stairs with her curved blade in hand to scout ahead.
”Be careful.Part of the stairs have collapsed.”Shenzi called up from the cellar.One of the kobolds slipped and gave a small yelp but her friend was there to catch her.