probablyaturnip
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CH995
🕑 Added 2025-12-25 12:47:42 +0000 UTCEntering the office, it was easy for Ceselee to see the stark difference between the two. One with pure excitement in her eyes in wonder over what they’d been called for while the other looked like they wanted to be anywhere else, Ben feeling no need to hide that fact as they took their seats.
“Alright,” he asked. “What is it this time?”
“You know, you could stand to be a bit more positive about the quests you get,” the guild master told him. “At least until you know what it is.”
“Mmm, nope. If it were something good then you would have just told me. I can already tell this quest is going to suck.”
“Ignore him, Ceselee,” Thera told her, her own enthusiasm undampened. “What are we being called to do this time?”
“It’s really a collection of a few different tasks, so you'd be going around to a few different locations, but you can consider the heart of it all to be helping with infrastructure. With how many people are moving around from villages to larger settlements and the damage the demons have done to other locations as well, there’s plenty of work that needs doing in the form of both building and repairs and-”
“Hold on,” Ben stopped her, raising a hand as he did. “This suddenly feels like an elaborate scam to get me to do the sort of work I might already get hired for without paying me my proper rates. Hard pass.”
“A pretty negative way of viewing it.”
“I don’t see how I could look at it as anything else. This isn’t adventurer work.”
“Sure it is; why wouldn’t it be? You may not have seen it in town, but in other locations, adventurers are frequently brought on as labourers for bigger projects.”
“I’m sure,” he said dryly. “And how many first ranks are brought on for those sorts of projects?”
“How could I say?” Ceselee shrugged. “I don’t run a big enough guild to see any other town do that sort of thing. I doubt they went out of their way to ask specifically to pull a fast one on you, though. You’re registered as being a first rank for your crafting, and Thera is for her earth magic. Given the fact that you’re both a team on top of it, when they were selecting who to ask to take this on, you were almost certainly the first names to come up among any of the first and second ranks on record.”
“And we should at least hear the finer details before rejecting it,” Thera told him, not having lost her interest, even to what sounded like a rather uneventful job. “Come on, quests for us don’t come up too often.”
“I don’t know, I’d say this feels pretty often to me,” Ben sighed. “But fine, what are the details?”
“Seven different locations, but the first four should be relatively easy for you both,” Ceselee explained, considering that the next time a quest for them came up, it might make sense just to tell Thera so she could accept on their behalf without having to subject herself to Ben’s grumbling. “Those ones are just building defensive walls around a few cities, but considering what I’ve seen of your power, Thera, you shouldn’t have any issue with that sort of thing.”
“No,” she agreed. “Sounds pretty quick.”
“And the last three?” Ben asked. “What level of pain in the butt are we talking about?”
“More your specialty. From what I understand, we’d be looking at building two different settlements for housing some refugees, either people moving from areas ravaged by demons or else left their villages that were too isolated to feel safe given everything going on in the world, and the last seems to involve reinforcing some structural issues in one of the subterranean settlements, though I’m not sure of the finer details on that particular one. In all cases, you just need to report to the local guild branches and they’ll set you up. Given that these would take a few days too and happen in proper cities, you’d even get to enjoy some of the benefits I’d told you about when you first reached this level. You’ll be provided with the best accommodations each location can offer and the best meals too. With how simple the work seems like it should be for both of you, consider it a mini-vacation.”
He wanted to shoot back that no vacation included being underpaid considering the fact that he was sure whatever the guild was offering would be below his rates, but he held his tongue. He could see that Thera looked interested, and Hentath’s words were still in his head. Maybe a couple of easier days would be good for him before he got back to working himself to death in the name of his own growth and progress.
“Alright, fine,” he gave in as Thera did the same, albeit in a far more positive way. “In that case, when do we leave for it?”
“While there’s technically not a strict deadline for it, unlike some of the other quests you’ve been on, in general I’d still say the sooner the better. They’re expecting you at any time.”
“We can probably head out tomorrow then,” Thera said, thinking it over. “It really doesn’t sound like this should take more than three or four days, Fontesh will probably be able to watch Mora.”
“Guess we’ll ask her when we pick him up. Okay, in that case, I guess let’s go let them know.”
And I guess this is one quest I don’t actually need to do too much to prepare for, other than to see how it goes.
---
“Alright, quick question. Am I being scammed?”
“In general, I view you as far more likely to be the one doing the scamming,” Myriad told him. “Why, what happened this time?”
“Got a request to do what sounds like some construction through the adventurer’s guild instead of, you know, just outright hiring me and I can’t help but view it as an elaborate way to avoid paying me my rates no matter what the guild says about it, hence I'm asking you.”
“Ah, I see. In that case, no, almost certainly not. Even if getting a first rank to help with a quest like that is unusual, quests like that for lower ranks aren’t. My bet would be the planners for this were looking for any awakened earth mages they had in their records considering the use such a person could provide in aiding in construction and when they found your name and skills attached to Thera as her partner they felt like they struck gold. Far more likely than anything nefarious, at least.”
“Mmph, I guess that lines up well enough with what Ceselee told me,” Ben sighed before lying back. “Fine then, I guess that’s going to be what I’ve got on the agenda for the next couple of days then. How bad could it be?”
“Depending on what you’re doing, I’d say pretty bad.”
“... Building a few defensive walls and, from the sounds of it, helping with some issues in one of the subterranean cities. Why?”
“The walls should be easy enough for you, and I'm not sure what you might be doing underground specifically, but there’s a lot of people who’ve either lost their homes to the demons or else have made the choice to abandon them. Depending on where you’re being sent, you might be building a lot.”
“Ugh, great,” he groaned. “Whatever, it’s fine, we’ll make it work. Thera basically has infinite mana compared to a normal person and I’ve reached a point where my volume is unimaginable to most people too. Add in the fact that we’re both contenders for the magics we’ll be using to build everything and we’ll make it work. Who knows? Maybe it will even be interesting. Besides doing the planning for both my researchers and the demis’ housing, I’ve never had a chance to build a town before. I just have to look at this as a neat little project and only a couple days of time.”
If his goal had been to awaken his crafting, it might have even been exciting. He didn’t know the scale of it, but it would undoubtedly have some challenges to it that would need to be addressed compared to how relatively straightforward it had been to expand Stonewall. The only real issue with it was that it was unrelated to his main goal.
But that’s fine. Hentath and Ceselee are both right. I’ll just look at this as a little break and then get back to work, refreshed and ready to get back to the grind.
Author's note
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and to everyone else, hope you're enjoying the end of the year!
Comments
Nicolae
Ben needs a shirt with that
Shannon
Turnip, you really need to stop blueballing us on Ben awakening his connect. Really hope it's chapter 1k. The wait is frustrating, and the longer you drag it out, the worse things will be if we don't find out happening satisfying. Hype is only good for a certain amount. Too much hype just leads to disappointment.
me0me0me0rawr
Merry Christmas! Thanks for the chapter.
John Vistica
…and the gates present a riddle how one gate tells the truth and the other lies. Actually, if a gate is able to filter demon from everyone else and direct demons to hell, that could work.
Selkie
Happy holidays
Johhny Appleseed
Tftc and merry crimbo to all
CherMi
He should have officially left that guild a long time ago. Ceselee refusing to let him go is played off as comedy, but makes absolutely no sense if you start thinking about it. No one on the whole world can actually make Ben do anything, he actively chooses to go along with it and whines all the way. Ultimately he does it for Thera's benefit I think. Although I absolutely agree that all the whining is annoying. Forced to go on a quest was funny the first time, maybe the third too, but this is likely fourth time or more. He needs to either leave or just accept them and not waste a full chapter on complaining.
IdolTrust
Merry Christmas 🎄🎁. Ben just has to give them the basic builds with no special add ons. But an idea for walls is to have a mini gate instead of a door. Which that gate could be tuned to two different locations. First inside the town it’s placed at and Second to hell.
bryce york
Honestly, I feel like this is where Ben should out his foot down with these quests. I genuinely cannot see how anyone could make this out to be anything more than trying to get free labor, and Ben has enough to do. He needs a proper break, not this.
Cloves
Merry christmas everyone!
Sce7tm
Thanks for the chapter. I may just be reading it wrong, but the first section seems to start in Cesele's perspective, then suddenly shift to Bens persective halfway with no section break to indicate the shift. The shift seems to happen at "He wanted to shoot back...". Intentional?
ReadingObsessed
What could go wrong?
Venno Unthammer
Maybe Turnip just wants Ben to be Essentially Santa Claus? Nah, it's the Death God, surely!
the void
Thank you for the chapter! So which of the underground cities is about to become a back up mythic grade arc ship?
blucube 14
Thanks for the chapter! Happy holidays!
Michael Hughes
So many flags. Don't need to prepare. How bad could it be. Look on this as a mini vacation. I can't wait to see what is going to happen. Thanks for the Christmas gift. I hope you have a good time wherever you are.
Riley Sampson
Surely this time it will be the death god
SDCard
Thanks for the chapter! Merry Christmas!
Frank Moore
Merry Christmas!
demure
I can only imagine what kinds of curveballs will occur on this task :)
Ekko
Tftc Happy Holidays to Turnip and everyone else in the community! Hope you'll have a wonderful time. Also, I'm certain that this isn't a scam from the Guild but from Turnip to chuck Ben and Thera into a deadly encounter. Maybe we'll finally meet the escaped Death God from Hell.
