Besides the three commissions mentioned above, the fourth commission looked much more generous:
【Escort the employer to 'Stone Pine City'. Reward for bronze adventurers is 10 gold dragons per person, and for silver adventurers is 50 gold dragons per person】
"This is paid per head!" Saifei'er said, "I think this escort commission is good~!"
"Eyah--!"
Then, she saw Ailiya in front of her jump straight up, the golden-haired girl patted her flat chest and turned back to say, "Sister Saifei'er! Don't suddenly scare me!"
Saifei'er looked innocent, "I didn't..."
This was purely because she walked without a sound, so Ailiya didn't notice her.
At this moment, Phi, who was beside her, also said, "Then let's take this escort commission. If it's 50 gold dragons per person for one trip, we won't have to worry about daily expenses for at least some time."
However, Saifei'er suddenly noticed something, "50 gold dragons per person?"
Phi nodded, "Yes, after all, everyone is a silver adventurer... Wait, you're not?"
Saifei'er looked embarrassed, "Uh... I probably, it seems, am not an adventurer yet. Does this thing need to be registered?"
Phi, "?"
Phi slapped her forehead, then showed a pained expression like a 'suffering mask.' Let's analyze the current Hero Squad.
A single-threaded golden-haired girl who is so naive she believes whatever others say.
A bizarre priest who can only cast divine spells three or four times a day, talks big but doesn't even dare to flirt, and was consequently kicked out of the church.
Now there's another idiotic cat who runs into trees and knocks herself unconscious, completely lacking common sense.
Phi really wanted to say 'It's over' right now. Is there really no problem with this squad?
Phi sighed helplessly, "Alright, wait a moment, I'll go get you an adventurer's certificate."
It didn't take much time, about half an hour, before Phi handed Saifei'er a palm-sized round bronze badge with her name and the words 'thief' engraved on it.
Afterward, Phi also introduced her to the basic settings of adventurers:
There are four levels in total: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Legendary. If you want to become an adventurer, either someone else 'guarantees' you, proving your ability, or you pay money for some simple tests. If you pass, you can become a Bronze Adventurer.
Under normal circumstances, if you want to raise your adventurer level, you can only slowly take on missions. When you've done enough missions and difficult enough ones, you can apply for a level increase.
It's worth mentioning that there are no clear power divisions like 'First Stage, Second Stage' in this world. There won't be a situation where you cultivate in place for a while and then 'whoosh' you break through, with your strength skyrocketing. Regardless of the profession, strength is slowly improved through continuous effort. Warriors rely on daily sword practice, mages diligently learn more magic, and so on.
This world also doesn't have methods to instantly discern someone's specific strength, there's no situation where you just glance at someone, sense their aura, and then shout something like 'The opponent is a Ninth Stage big shot, run!'
Therefore, most people judge a person's strength by their adventurer level. A new bronze adventurer can never defeat an experienced silver adventurer.
Saifei'er listened attentively, nodding occasionally. When Phi finished speaking, she even thanked her, "Thank you so much, Mommy Phi!"
Phi, "?"
Meanwhile, Ailiya was stunned. She stared blankly at Phi and asked confusedly, "Huh? Phi, you're Sister Saifei'er's mother? But that's not right, aren't you a man? Can magic even do that...?"
Phi's mouth twitched violently, and he let out a long sigh, "Saifei'er is joking! How could I be her mother."
However, Saifei'er raised her index finger and shook it from side to side, showing a very serious expression, "No, no, no, if someone takes great care of you and helps you every time you encounter difficulties, then that person is your non-blood-related mother! It doesn't matter if they're a man, a male mother is great too!"
Phi, "?"
As for Ailiya, she recalled what Phi had done since he was invited to join the squad. The golden-haired girl tilted her head slightly and tentatively said to Phi, "So, Phi is my mother too?"
Phi slapped his forehead, showing an extremely weary expression.
Coincidentally, Douglas happened to come over at this time. He was chewing on cudweed and rinsing his mouth with water, and then he just happened to hear Ailiya's 'Mommy.'
"Pfft--"
"Cough cough! Cough cough cough! What the hell!?"
After a simple breakfast, Phi went to apply for the escort commission they had just seen. The three professionals they had met yesterday—the female warrior, the Black Robed Man, and... a small raccoon—also accepted this commission.
Not long after, a man in his thirties, accompanied by two guards, appeared at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild. He had short blue hair, handsome features, and was wearing a set of very expensive silk clothes. A floral pattern was embroidered on his chest with golden thread, and there was a small, thumb-sized blue gem on his collar.
This couldn't help but remind Saifei'er of the commoners she saw yesterday wearing ragged coarse linen clothes. Wasn't the difference between the two a bit too great?
Perhaps because there were too many idiots in the team, Phi quietly introduced him, "Pike Brown, I know him. His father is a viscount and the de facto ruler of Stone Pine City. He has immense power. The gem on his chest should be a magic item with a permanent 【Cleaning Spell】. His entire outfit must cost at least five hundred gold dragons."
"He needs to hire adventurers for protection just to return to his family's territory? He most likely got into some trouble."
"This commission might not be as easy as we imagined. As expected, there's a reason the reward is so high."
Phi was still analyzing the situation of this commission, but Saifei'er's mind now had only one thought: How... how much!? Five hundred gold dragons?
Good heavens, isn't this guy a bit too stingy? Her reward for completing this escort is only 10 gold dragons! Only one-fiftieth the value of his clothes!?
At this moment, Saifei'er's favorability towards this noble plummeted. For no other reason than she was very poor now, and he was very rich.
Saifei'er suddenly realized that she couldn't bring herself to steal from commoners, but she could totally steal from these nobles! After all, this guy looked absolutely loaded! What's wrong with him contributing 'a little bit' of his assets to help out her poor little cat?
She wouldn't feel any psychological burden at all, alright!
......