Chapter 31: A Night’s Embrace and a Morning’s Disappointment

The meal stretched on for quite some time. By the time they returned to their lodging, carrying the uneaten portions of food, the night had already deepened considerably.

“Get some rest early; you’ve been traveling all day, after all,” Tiffany instructed the two boys living across the hall. Angelina and I had already yawned several times.

With the room door now closed, only the three of us girls remained inside. My consciousness, which had been somewhat hazy moments before, instantly sharpened, signaling that the most crucial moment had finally arrived.

“Are you really sure you want to sleep on the floor?” I whispered, pulling Angelina aside to confirm. ‘Since when did this one start letting a prime opportunity slip through their fingers?’

‘I couldn’t shake the suspicion that there was a hidden motive, perhaps an opportunistic nighttime ambush, aiming to kill two birds with one stone.’

Seemingly discerning my thoughts from my gaze, Angelina frowned slightly, clearly displeased.

“What kind of person do you take me for? Am I really that shameless? I’m simply being kind by offering you the bed!”

“Well, how truly embarrassing for you then!”

I rolled my eyes, honestly having always considered her rather lacking in morals, particularly concerning romantic entanglements.

“Judging by your reaction, does that mean you’d prefer I sleep on the bed? After all, it wouldn’t do to let our host sleep on the floor, and that arrangement certainly has its merits.”

A wicked smile suddenly appeared on her face, as if she wouldn’t mind switching plans at all.

“Wait, pretend I didn’t say anything!”

‘I suddenly understood; this was indeed the best plan. Allowing her to sleep on the bed would undoubtedly be far more perilous.’

Nevertheless, I turned to Tiffany, who had just finished washing up and was already lying comfortably on the bed.

“How about I sleep on the floor as well? I believe there’s ample space here, quite roomy…”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you so conflicted,” Angelina mumbled, observing the scene, as she walked away, promptly flopping down onto the bedding already spread out on the floor.

“Ah, wasn’t it agreed upon?” Tiffany asked, her face a mask of bewilderment, looking a little wronged.

“Do you perhaps dislike sleeping with me?”

“This… I’m afraid I might disturb you,” I stammered, this being the only plausible excuse I could conjure at the moment.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind at all,” Tiffany declared cheerily, even patting the empty side of the bed, gesturing for me to hurry up and join her.

‘But I did mind. This was, after all, my first time sharing a bed with a *real* girl; Angelina, that impostor, didn’t count.’

“Haha, alright then!”

I managed a dry laugh, realizing there was no other option for now. I could only brace myself and slowly make my way onto the bed.

No sooner had I lain down than the room lights were switched off, and Tiffany’s hands immediately wrapped around me, embracing me tightly, even snuggling a few times.

“Wow, Flora really feels so soft!”

‘Little brother Brook, I truly apologize, but this express delivery is from SF Express, and I simply can’t stop you from receiving this green hat; the vehicle is moving far too swiftly.’

I had to exert all my might to painstakingly free one hand from her tight embrace.

“Tiffany, gently… it’s too tight… it hurts…”

‘Could it be that real girls were this passionate in bed? I honestly felt a bit overwhelmed.’

Upon hearing my plea, she indeed immediately relaxed her hold a little. I braced myself for what I expected to be an impending storm, yet after a long while, no other movement occurred.

‘Was that truly all? I was utterly bewildered once more.’

‘I wasn’t sure if I had genuinely overthought things, or if Tiffany was simply too exhausted. Feeling the even warmth of her breath against my chest, it seemed she had already fallen into a deep sleep.’

‘If only I had known it would be this simple, why had I agonized so much? Angelina’s teasing had truly hit the mark.’

A wry smile touched my lips, and I dared not move freely, fearing I might wake her. Thus, maintaining this awkward posture, I slowly drifted off to sleep…

****

When the early morning sunlight streamed into the room, I opened my eyes to find that Angelina, who had been sleeping on the floor, was nowhere to be seen.

Tiffany, too, had shifted at some point without my notice; she had long since released her embrace, curling up on the other side of the bed, still deeply asleep.

Stretching leisurely, I got out of bed, but found no other trace of anyone else in the room.

‘She must be outside then.’

Opening the room door, I poked my head out and looked, and sure enough, beneath the stairs outside in the corridor, I saw Angelina engaged in stretching exercises.

‘This one actually does morning exercises?’

‘This observation completely shattered my long-held impression of her as someone perpetually indulging in hedonism, her body presumably hollowed out.’

“Hey! You’re awake too?” she called out, turning her head to greet me as she heard the room door open.

‘Come to think of it, she always wakes up earlier than I do. I wonder if this is connected to the inherent strength of her angelic body.’

Leaving the door ajar, I walked out, nodding in acknowledgment, and then, not to be outdone, joined her in exercising.

“How did you sleep?” Angelina asked, stretching her neck.

“Alright,” I replied, mimicking her neck stretch.

“It’s just that after being hugged all night, my body feels a bit stiff,” I added, waving my hand.

“Then we’ll need to rent a place quickly,” Angelina agreed, also waving her hand.

“It’s still quite early, and they say the early bird catches the worm,” I continued, kicking my leg.

“There should still be some intermediate quests left at the Adventurers’ Guild…” Angelina mused, mimicking my leg kick.

“Now’s our chance!” The two of us exchanged glances, a shared smile blossoming on our faces.

[Tiffany, Angelina and I are off to the Adventurers’ Guild to pick up quests. (*^▽^*)]

True to our word, after leaving a note on the bedside table, I closed the room door tightly and rushed out with Angelina.

****

The Adventurers’ Guild hall was quiet in the early morning. Its official opening time was 7 AM, yet it was only 6:50 AM.

A long queue already snaked its way to the far side of the plaza outside the entrance.

“No way, we’re late even though it’s so early…” I exclaimed, looking at the seemingly endless queue, a wave of discouragement washing over me.

We had rushed all the way here, even suffering a slight delay from getting lost along the way, yet the outcome was unexpectedly still this disheartening sight. Angelina, beside me, also seemed quite disappointed.

“Many people must have been queuing overnight,” she observed, scanning the lengthy line, offering a plausible explanation.

‘That made sense. The sun had only just begun to rise, and the Guild’s doors hadn’t even opened yet. For such an extensive queue to have formed, people must have been waiting outside since the middle of the night.’

“We can only hope that some of them aren’t here specifically for the intermediate quests.”

I nodded, having no other recourse in my helplessness, as it was indeed a distinct possibility.

Soon enough, the grand doors of the Adventurers’ Guild swung open, commencing a new day of business.

The queue slowly began to inch forward. As several windows simultaneously started processing requests, the line even split into multiple routes. Yet, even with this efficiency, it took at least over half an hour for our turn to finally arrive.

“Are you picking up quests together?” the staff member asked from behind the window, scrutinizing the two Guild ID cards I had handed over.

“That’s right!”

‘There were still a few intermediate quests left unclaimed,’ I thought, silently cheering my luck. I quickly selected a Tier 4 delivery quest that seemed relatively straightforward, requiring adventurers of Tier 3 or above, and offering a substantial reward of several thousand Sira.

“I’m sorry, but these appear to be newly registered cards, aren’t they?” the staff member stated. “As you currently have no points, you cannot accept quests that require point collateral.”

The staff member’s words left both Angelina and me utterly dumbfounded.

“What do you mean? Point collateral?” Angelina asked, a hint of agitation in her voice as she leaned closer.

“It’s like this, miss,” the staff member began, offering a professional smile as they started to explain. “For all quest tiers within our Guild, some require point collateral to be accepted. The quest you are currently requesting, for instance, requires 1000 points collateral. Given that both your cards currently show 0 points, you are unable to accept it.”

‘It was over.’ Only after her explanation did I finally notice that the “points” column on the ID card held this crucial meaning. Previously, too preoccupied with quest tiers, I had completely overlooked it. No wonder many quests on the bulletin board had a string of numbers listed after them; I had always been perplexed by their significance, but now I understood they represented the required point collateral.

‘In that case, there were no intermediate quests left that didn’t require point collateral. The remaining few intermediate quests all demanded at least several hundred points, and we simply weren’t qualified.’

I sighed, realizing that being an adventurer was indeed not as straightforward as it seemed.

“Then let’s switch to this low-tier quest,” I conceded.

Since we had already come all this way and didn’t want our trip to be in vain, Angelina chose a letter delivery quest. This particular quest had been posted on the bulletin board since yesterday, remained unclaimed, and required no points.

‘I had a strong feeling it might be a trap,’ yet Angelina’s attitude remained resolute. ‘Even if it’s a trap, we’ll only know for sure if we try,’ she seemed to convey.

I, in turn, selected another low-tier quest: a Tier 2 monster clearing task with minimal requirements.

Both tasks offered substantial rewards, several hundred each, placing them among the highest-paying low-tier quests.

After we confirmed our choices, the staff member handed each of us a quest card and the necessary quest supplies. These cards detailed information about the task, the reward, contact details and addresses for relevant personnel, points deducted for failure, and points gained upon successful completion.