Earl looked rightly confused and annoyed behind his glasses as he held the document thrown at his face. They had moved out of the secret hallway and were sitting at the only empty table they could find, that also didn't have any suspicious stains on it either. Everyone was confused for why Noah had thrown the quest at them. Something Diana was trying to poorly come up with an excuse for.
“Maybe he had a bad day? I always saw people throw stuff in the taverns when they got angry. It would also explain why he had wine in his office.” She tried to smile to her friends, but even she didn't fully believe her own words.
“But he isn't supposed to throw stuff at people! Literally no one in any place starts a conversation by throwing stuff!” Beatrice argued back with a scowl, gaining the nods of both Heracles and the victim Earl. He read through the paper while Diana and Beatrice had a friendly banter on whether Noah was a douchebag or not. After they managed to pull a reluctant Heracles into the conversation. Earl, who had finished looking through the document, decided that this was a good moment to speak up.
“As the victim, I have the last say on this matter. The man is a douchebag, but we still have to do complete this quest. There has, according to this” Earl holds up the document, “been an increase in goblin sightings in recent weeks. And while they aren't a big threat to the city, it is a potential threat to the farmers at the city edges and those who travel to and from the Worlds Tongue. At the end, it does mention that something else has scared the goblins and a lot of other creatures, so we should report on anything that doesn't seem right. No other details about what exactly.” He placed it on the table for everyone else to read. It was a fairly simple quest, all things considered. Go out there, kill any goblins, report anything strange. Problem was however…
“Wait, we have to kill goblins? I don't want to kill anything, can't we have Vita do it?” Beatrice grimaced and pushed herself off the table to make some distance. Just the idea of bloodshed made her feel sick, and made it just as clear to everyone else how much she disliked it. Heracles moved his head around with his eyes closed.
“You wouldn't need to kill any goblins, we can that part for you. If anything, I doubt you would be in any real danger with Vita and I around. I am used to fighting monsters with my body, and Vita is better than I in a fight. With the two of us in front, Diana and Earl towards the sides, you would be safe in the middle.” Looking around after sharing his idea, Heracles realized that everyone was looking at him like he was a stranger. Earl, who sat next to him, lifted his glasses to get a closer look at the stranger who replaced his friend.
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“Why is everyone surprised? I know how to fight, I was raised for it.” Heracles answered with a confused look.
“Your parents are adventurers?” Earl look tilted his head. Heracles shook his in return.
“Nah, nothing interesting like that. That old bitch who raised me lived more or less in the desert down south, right at the edge of The Kingdom. Had me training against anything hostile outside the borders.” He crossed his arms. Beatrice looked appalled.
“Why would you call your mom a bitch?!” A nearby adventurer snickered at Beatrice's reaction, but was ignored by the group.
“Because she had me fight monsters as a kid?” Heracles responded with a blank look. She took a moment to think for a response, while Diana and Earl looked at the two with great interest. Even the stranger nearby pulled enough of his tired mind together to take a peek.
“Well, I'm sure she did it for a reason.” Beatrice muttered as she moved her attention to a small groove on the wooden table and started picking at it. Heracles sighed.
With a red vine, Vita picked up the paper for itself and read through it and picking up any keywords on it. With no reaction, the document was stored within a quickly-created pocket of leafs. It was also getting clear for everyone to see that the group dynamic had gotten worse since they had arrived here. For what reason or why they were going in this direction, Vita couldn't fully understand. Was it fright over what they thought Vita was mimicking the ignition for this? Well, that wouldn't do. Not for what Vita had in mind. And while Vita didn't care much for her, it would be a shame to be left alone with Diana and have no one else to fill that hole in her life. It wasn't compassion, it would only make it easier to leave without her trying to find Vita again. Who knows what kind of magical nonsense Diana could use to relocate Vitas whereabouts. Either way, something had to be done.
Four thick vines reached out to everyone, distracting everyone, with a bundle of leafs at the ends.
“Here, some sweets before we go out.” Opening up from the inside of the leafs were small gumdrops that glistened in the light. Three out of the four people present hesitated at the sight, because how was Vita able to create something like this and why would Vita make something like that. Diana, however, did not hesitate to reach out and try one. Popping it in her mouth and chewing on it with a thoughtful look, she suddenly squealed in delight and reached out for another one. Beatrice, one who has a sweet spot for sugary sweets, couldn't resist herself and quickly took one for herself. Which quickly turned to two and then four. It didn't take long before Earl and Heracles reached for a gumdrop, even the adventurer a table over managed to sneak a piece for himself.
