In the end, we ultimately decided to accept Isobel's "sabotage the mission" challenge. After a second explanation, her logic was fairly sound. When first starting as a Noble House, we wouldn't have any of the Quintessential Quartet to help us manage our recruits, meaning whenever we were ready to hire them, we'd be responsible for making sure they didn't get themselves killed–because we would be responsible for their revival costs.
As she put it, people don't join Noble Houses just because they want to fight. They do it for security and stability. Amelan's economy, for the most part, runs on Adventurers. They buy the food, populate the hotels, order the weapons and armor, and pay the clerics to revive them when they fuck up in a mission. In return, the Adventurers handle Quests that benefit those very townspeople. If you were an Adventurer or a businessowner who catered to them, life was easy. If you were anything else, though, you were likely broke and toying with the idea of moving in with the half-orcs and vampires in Ublar and Ecril.
That was why whenever Noble Houses sprouted up, people tended to flock to them. They were the means through which many people in Amelan managed to make a living, whether that be as a maid, butler, chef, tutor–not to be confused with Instructor–, or sitter. Isobel clarified, though, that when we did start recruiting, there would also be an influx of people applying to join our army who were wholly unqualified. This tended to happen due to the lack of actual wars that the Noble Houses fought. That fact was true even in my future. The Noble Houses only joined the battle to fight the Demon Lord when the fight reached Amelan.
"'Noble House Soldier' is a position that pays lazy people to sit around, which is why it's so popular. Of course, they'll be going on Quests for the sake of the House, but that doesn't necessarily mean you need to be a 5-Star to join. All you need is to be good enough to fool your Instructor into believing that you're good enough to stand beside a 5-Star and not buckle under the weight of comparison. That is the role I will be taking today–an Adventurer who somehow managed to skate by your eyes and worm her way into your ranks. I wish to see how exactly you two plan on solving that problem."
As much as I didn't want to admit it, Isobel was making a decent point. I trusted my ability to discern Adventurers, but was I willing to bet on that? If anything, this Quest could act as a way to improve my nose to that kind of thing.
So, with that, I left with Lyra and Isobel for the Adventurer's Guild. Lyra had thankfully come around to, judging by the battle-hungry look on her face, she usually had when faced with a unique challenge.
***
The weather outside was quite nice. Lyra walked ahead of us, likely to avoid having to look at Isobel and me. We weren't that bad. We weren't even holding hands or walking arm-in-arm or anything! She was rather close to me, though. I'd put an arm around her waist for no other reason than it would've been more comfortable than walking with Isobel so close to it. The feeling of her body in my arms reminded me of what we'd been up to less than a half-hour earlier, but it also made me think of Isobel on a more personal level. Despite having met her multiple times in past timelines, there was so much about her that I didn't know. As I looked at her, I figured that I wanted to learn those things. I wanted to learn what made her tick, what made her happy, what made her sad. I wanted to know her history, and I wanted to know her future. Was this what it felt like to… fall in love…?
"So, Quest Fairies. I've read about them in my books. They exist in tiny jars, and they verify whether you actually succeeded in your Quest or cheated in some way. But, how do they know? The books never said anything? And how come you don't hear about people doing anything to the fairies themselves? Not saying I would, but–"
I cut her off with a kiss. Nothing overly sensual, but long enough to feel her lips on mine. Isobel pouted, blushing as she looked away from me. "W-what was that about?"
"It wasn't 'about' anything. I just wanted to do that. You look cute dressed like a witch."
Isobel looked up at me, pulled me into a quick kiss, then sped up her tempo beside me. "You're speaking nonsense. This outfit is hideous. Do you know how difficult it is to maintain composure when I'm dressed like a stage performer in Eshil?"
"You don't look that bad," I joked.
"Ah, so I only look a bit like a fool…?"
"I mean, you chose the outfit. Let me dress you next time. I'll get you right."
"Oh, I can't wait to wear bikini armor with a steel helmet. I'm sure that'll keep me safe."
"As if you'd dress me any differently."
"Your core is solid. I'm sure your abs could deflect a fireball or two. Besides, it would save money. What do you say, Lloyd? Should I dress you on our next… Quest? That may be inter–"
"Quest Fairies can read minds. They see what you did all day and can confirm whether you completed the Quest or not based on your memories. Nobody tries to kill them because the fairies would vaporize you before you could swing a sword or shoot a lightning bolt at them. They wipe out everything, so there's no getting revived by the Clerics. Get killed by a fairy and that's it." Lyra shouted from ahead of us. "They also check Kill Orders. They're secret parameters to a Quest that nets money. It's usually hidden in the description. For us, I can only assume that the Kill Order is for the leaders of the Goblin Raider band, but since Isobel's with us, that may be too risky to take on."
Isobel and I shared a look before Isobel spoke up. "I… didn't know that. Thank you for the clarific–"
"No problem, now stop flirting behind me. I don't wanna hear my little brother and his girlfriend getting close behind me. It's weird."
"Aww, you don't care about my happiness?" I joked.
"Not that much. Also, once we get the fairy from the Guild, you're manning the carriage. I don't need Isobel getting carsick because I'm going too fast."
"Carriage…? We're taking a carriage?" Isobel asked. "I'd assumed we were going to walk."
"If we walk, we'll be walking for hours. By carriage, we'll be in and out in ten minutes tops."
"Even with my sabotage…?"
"It's like Lyra said: we're 5-Star Adventurers. We'll be fine."