The female receptionist who stood behind the desk in a gray uniform with a slight gold pattern smiled warmly upon hearing Anastasia's request. "Understood, Miss Adventurer. I'll take care of your request right away, and I'll also look for missions with the minimum pay as you asked. But before all that, may I see your Adventure Card? Because there are some things I have to make sure of." said the woman, crossing both her hands in front of her stomach to give a polite impression.
Anastasia looked at the female receptionist gently, "Of course, please wait a moment." She slowly reached into the pouch behind her cloak, took out her Adventure Card, and handed the card to the receptionist.
"Thank you, I'll handle your request immediately." replied the receptionist, who took Anastasia's Adventure Card with both hands.
Slowly, she sat in the chair behind her and began checking Anastasia's Adventure Card while reading it aloud in a fairly loud voice.
[Adventure Card - Personal Identity]
Name. : Anastasia Germaine Lawrence
Age : 22 Years.
Height : 159 Cm.
Weight : 49 Kg.
Origin : Withea Village, Cardinal Continent.
[-----//----- - Personal Statistics]
•Physical.
Strength : Rank D.
Speed : Rank D.
Endurance: Rank D.
Stamina : Rank D.
Intellect: Rank A+.
•Spiritual / Magic Affiliation.
Fire Magic : Rank D.
Water Magic : Rank C.
Wind Magic : Rank D.
Earth Magic : Rank C.
Thunder Magic : Rank D.
Light Magic : Rank D.
Darkness Magic : Rank D.
Spirit Magic : Rank A++.
Magic Resistance: A++.
Luck : C.
•Trace
√Great Winter Spirit rank A++
√Magic protection from the great spirit.
√Protection from disease.
√Blessing of the Winter Goddess.
[-----//----- - Print Date/Year]
Year : 1649 AR.
Month : 10th - Norëa.
Day / Date : Sairn - 18th.
//Signed by - Church of Winterblessed & International Guild Union Golden Hex//
Anastasia stood calmly, listening as the receptionist read her personal data loud but gently, while verifying its authenticity.
Anastasia's gentle smile remained fixed the whole time, causing the receptionist who checked the authenticity and important details of her Adventure Card to stand up and hand the card back with a warm smile.
"Thank you for waiting, Miss Anastasia. I'll attend to your request as soon as possible." said the receptionist, bowing her head briefly and then turning to go into the room behind her workstation.
"I understand..." answered Anastasia, in a soft voice.
For several minutes, she waited for the receptionist patiently and did not move an inch from where she stood. She kept staring at the room the receptionist had entered, her smile hiding the unrest in her heart.
Strange sounds began to appear around Anastasia. She tried to ignore the sounds, thinking the other adventurers were chatting and passing by. But when the sounds grew louder and clearer, Anastasia was about to close her eyes for a moment but was stopped by the receptionist's voice calling her.
"Miss Anastasia, sorry to keep you waiting. This is a map of the area around Moondale City, the latest version that was printed three or four years ago. I also brought some mission request papers that might suit you very well, as well as the great spirit that contracted with you." she said softly, placing the map and the mission papers on the table.
Anastasia looked at the papers with a gentle smile and a curious gaze. She took the map paper newly placed by the receptionist and began to read it. For several minutes, she examined the map from various directions and angles, paying attention to the small details provided and the visual adjustments made for the user.
"Amazing... this map, it was made with high-level perception magic, right?" she asked, without looking at the receptionist at all.
"Exactly, Miss Anastasia. This map was made using Mist Goat skin, which is famous for having the best quality in the middle class, then soaked for 15 days in a deodorizing potion to remove residual bad smells... before finally being dried for a week so it's truly dry when the map is created. The making of that map also took four days, not counting the one month of area scanning time. High-level perception magic, or more precisely Rune Description, was applied to the map so adventurers using it can see the map's contents from various viewpoints as they wish... But it also limits the area, so the map can only be used within this city's territory." said the receptionist.
With the same curious expression, Anastasia glanced at the receptionist for a few moments and exhaled slowly.
She then folded the map paper into a small rectangle and carefully put it back into the pouch behind her cloak.
"An excellent explanation. Mist goat is indeed known for the superior quality of its hide; even statistically its durability is remarkably tough compared to some upper-class animal hides... This can't be separated from the effects of the foods Mist goats always consume, which are known for their poison and extremely pungent smell. The poison from the Mistelion flower at least can knock an adult unconscious for a full week and cause severe stomach illness upon waking, but that same poison is what increases the quality of a mist goat's hide even though the smell effect is very attached to it and can even knock a dragon unconscious." said Anastasia, adding information to the receptionist's explanation.
Applause immediately sounded from various directions; the receptionist and a few adventurers who had accidentally overheard Anastasia's knowledge were impressed. They noticed details that seemed unimportant, but her knowledge of the Mistelion flower which is known to be very difficult to understand and always explained in a very complicated way by alchemists was made the adventurers admire her.
Since ancient times, the Mistelion flower has always been one of the most difficult flowers for laypeople to understand. Many plant books avoid explaining that strange flower because alchemists, who should be able to explain things concisely and understandably, instead give a long-winded explanation that makes people reluctant to read.
Anastasia then glanced left, right, and behind her, noting the people who were giving her small compliments.
"Wow~ Little lady, you can actually understand that strange flower, huh?" said a tall woman.
"Very impressive, I even threw away a scroll about that flower because the alchemists' explanations were so annoying." said a muscular man.
"Impressive... are you an educated Young lady?" said a tall thin man wearing glasses, looking like a noble.
Anastasia turned around and looked at them all. "You all praise me too much. Basic and common knowledge like this shouldn't deserve praise... And I'm not an educated person either, so I apologize."
Those who heard Anastasia's explanation simply thought the woman before them was being modest and continued to praise her... Because Anastasia herself did not know that for laypeople like them and nobles, the Mistelion flower was the most annoying thing to study.
So when she denied their praise, it only made them think she was being humble. The receptionist, seeing Anastasia become awkwardly standing and not knowing what to do, quickly walked out from behind her desk and asked the adventurers to leave.
"Adventurers, thank you for your compliments. But as we all know, anyone who comes here surely has their own business and matters. Meanwhile, Miss Anastasia here is also busy with her own personal matters." she said.
"I see... Very well." said the thin man with glasses.
"All right... hope we meet again, little Lady." said the muscular man.
"Drop by my group if you want help... I'm very interested in people like you, Miss Anastasia." said the tall woman.
Anastasia simply nodded repeatedly to answer the adventurers' words. She didn't expect such a seemingly insignificant thing could attract unwanted attention.
"Phew~ thank you, Miss. If not for you, I'd probably have died standing in front of them." said Anastasia, bowing her head in thanks.
"Don't worry, Miss Anastasia. It's part of my duty to help adventurers like you... Now let's return to our previous business, about the mission you requested after the map." she said softly.
"Oh right..."
The receptionist returned to the back of her desk and let Anastasia read each mission paper first, before offering suggestions.
"Ahem... Miss Anastasia. Considering you are not at all the fighting type, wouldn't it be better to check or consider missions that don't demand any physicality?" suggested the receptionist in a gentle tone.
"Hmm?" Anastasia glanced at her, then shifted her gaze back to the mission papers. "That's a good suggestion, Miss Receptionist. However, Phill will sulk if I don't take a mission that's that safe." said Anastasia casually.
"Phill? Who's that, Miss Anastasia?" asked the receptionist in puzzlement.
"Hmm, I haven't told you yet? Ahem... The great winter spirit you saw on my Adventure Card is actually Philekos, the giant wolf from the Carthya forest." said Anastasia.
And at the same moment after Anastasia spoke the name Philekos, a small wolf-shaped spirit appeared floating above Anastasia's head and then landed on her.
"Ugh... Who called me while I was still sleeping?" said a spirit that made the receptionist freeze with wide eyes, shocked to see a great spirit casually answering a call from a Young Lady.