DING
[You have made a total of ten sales!]
[Two gold coins have been deposited into your Level 1 Inventory.]
Parita inwardly raised an eyebrow. Although she hated being controlled by the system, it somehow worked in her favor. Nobody hated passive income.
'At least, you don't force me to do something absurd.' Parita was relieved. She couldn't imagine the nightmare of being taken somewhere terrible against her will.
The chat also slowed, as the Night Watchers and Rubella stopped talking. Parita continued cleaning the mansion and ended the stream at 6.30 AM. Following her breakfast, she proceeded to clean the filthy mansion.
At noon, the elf girl team had already left for work. Parita took a break after she finished cleaning the ground floor. Her stomach growled. Thinking of lunch, she proceeded to the kitchen.
The kitchen was ancient. Only a charcoal stove, a few dented pots, and clay plates were stored there.
Parita couldn't find any food. The elf girls didn't leave any food behind, since the old food had spoiled and been thrown away outside last night.
Without anything to eat, Parita thought of the city. She left the mansion and backtracked to the Diddease Town, hoping to buy something to eat and stockpile some food for dinner. Also, she forgot to submit yesterday's quest to the guild, and she needed to do it within the day.
* * *
Upon returning to the town, the city guards recognized Parita. They teased her.
"Hey, Toilet Goddess!"
Parita's eyes widened. Her pupils shrank, taken aback by the nickname. She refuted. "My name is Kestrel, not Toilet Goddess, you bum!"
The men laughed. "Sure. Hurry and get inside. Don't cause trouble."
"…"
"By the way," One of the guards remembered something and warned her. "Try not to stay out of town at night. There have been sightings of creepy monsters in the wilderness. We've also found corpses of D-rank adventurers this morning. Their team camped outside and got ambushed, it seems."
Another guard added. "Yeah. Don't leave town today. We can't afford to have our goddess maimed by wild beasts."
Parita's expression changed. She nodded and thanked them. She then entered the town and went straight to the food stall zone. It was past noon, and she was starving.
The food stall area seemed organized. Six makeshift counters were lined along the small dirt street, and adventurers formed long lines, waiting for their turn to place orders. The food vendors were also busy cooking or refilling their plates with food.
Parita peeked at the stalls, noticing rabbit meat barbecues, hot vegetable soup, and unknown bone stew. Aside from the barbecues and the soup, everything else seemed unpalatable.
Following the locals' unspoken rules, Parita joined the rabbit barbecue queue at the back. She didn't realize everyone was giving her strange looks, as if she were an oddball. The two male elves waiting in line for soup frowned and whispered to each other.
Minutes later, she got her turn.
"How many sticks, Toilet Goddess?" The storekeeper asked with a wide grin.
The people around Parita smirked and snickered. She rolled her eyes, thinking the stigma might never go away. She answered.
"Give me 10 of these."
"Ten? You sure do eat a lot. Actually, do elves even eat meat?"
"I'll save some for dinner. Also, I'm an omnivore."
"Alright, Miss Toilet Goddess! Coming right up!"
Parita facepalmed. She warned the storekeeper. "Can you stop calling me by that nickname? People who don't know me might mistake it for something else."
All the men in the area paused for a moment and suddenly came to a realization. Half of them looked ashamed while the others giggled in understanding.
"Got it, miss. Indeed, it's rude." The storekeeper apologized and handed her 10 sticks' worth of rabbit barbecue. "One silver coin, please."
Parita paid for the food. For the sake of secrecy, she held on to the sticks instead of putting them in her inventory. She then proceeded to a secluded alleyway between two houses and stored nine of them in her system. She ate the last one as she walked out.
While chewing the rabbit meat, her eyes cast upon the two male elf adventurers from earlier, who were sitting by a house and drinking vegetable soup. They also stared at her, who was in the middle of eating rabbit meat.
One of them clicked their tongue in disgust. The other smiled wryly and asked Parita.
"Pink lady, which forest are you from? Why are you eating meat? Won't you get diarrhea or be punished by the spirits?"
Parita scoffed. "Yeah, I might shit waterfall tonight, and I don't care about spirits. They have already smitten me with a freaking flying truck and sent me here for no reason."
"…I don't know what truck is, but that sounds rough. We're so sorry for you. Being excommunicated is not easy."
Parita had no idea what they were talking about. She shrugged it off.
"Don't worry. I'm not actually excommunicated whatsoever. I'm still the servant of a goddess, remember?"
Both the men and some bystanders who accidentally heard their conversation laughed. One of the elves half-explained and half-warned her.
"You won't be able to use the nature-element spells, though. Anyway, I hope your goddess protects you. Don't go around proclaiming that you're a toilet, okay?"
"I ain't no toilet, you bum!"
"…Huh?"
Parita's odd wording baffled the elves. Parita had had enough of these men and continued on her way to the guild.
* * *
The guild was bustling with adventurers in the afternoon, as they came back to turn in their completed quests. The tables were full as usual. The returned party members rested and finalized their gains. Three children gathered in front of the F-rank board and picked one quest. They gave it to their parents, who acted as guarantors. Only a few teams lingered in front of the quest boards, choosing their next job.
Parita ignored the crowd and queued at the submission counter. A different guild staff handled the payout and quest rewards. As verifying the stamps and documents was easy, the line moved fast.
Soon, it was Parita's turn. She handed the paper that Rubella had given her. It had the alchemist aunty's stamp on it, as Parita had completed the request.
The staff only glanced at the request and grabbed coins from a drawer. She placed the rewards in a tray.
"Here is your pay. Next!"
Parita shrugged and collected the pay. A few copper coins wouldn't be enough to buy a stick of rabbit barbecue, but she didn't mind.
After collecting the reward, Parita walked over to the F-rank request board. She thought of taking on another cleaning quest, but she recalled that she had unfinished laundry to do back at the mansion. She sighed and turned away from the board, postponing the guild quests to another day.
Just as Parita was about to turn to the exit, Sars, the burly highland barbarian from yesterday, rushed into the guild building. Blood covered his body, and the cut on his chest looked recent. Also, he carried his friend, Tetanus, the blond-haired Highland knight, into the building.
The friend of the barbarian was missing an arm and two legs. Blood dripped all over the floor. Although Sars was injured, he shouted.
"Is there a priest?! Help!"
Five priests from a different adventurer team rushed over. None of them bothered asking and began casting their healing magic in unison.
The wounds were sealed, and Tetanus stopped bleeding. However, none of the healers could cast a high-rank regeneration spell, which could restore the patient's limbs. They gazed at the knight with sympathy.
Rubella vaulted over her counter and checked on Sars. She asked the barbarian.
"What happened? I thought your team went out to collect herbs."
Sars sat down and let healers tend his chest wound. His voice cracked as he explained.
"The Hungers have returned!"
Rubella and every adventurer's expressions changed. A few appeared stunned, and a lot of people turned white. Meanwhile, Parita tilted her head in confusion.
Sars stared at Rubella and gnashed his teeth. "We ran into it in the Heni Herb Field. The newbies might run into it! We need the guildmaster there right now!"
"I see. Location?"
"Fifth farm. The first lot."
"Got it."
Rubella sighed and turned around. Two of the guild workers hurled a spear, covered in cloth, at her. She caught it and turned to the teams of adventurers in the building.
"Contact the guildmaster at the mayor's house. Nobody should camp or leave the city today! I'll head out to scout!"
Everybody looked solemn as they nodded. Rubella then turned around and rushed out.
Meanwhile, Parita looked out of place. Her tilted head remained motionless.
'None of my business. I guess I'll stay at an inn tonight.'
Parita shrugged, as the chaos seemed too distant to her. She shifted her attention to the current daily quest and the message log.
[You have completed a daily promotion quest.]
[You have obtained 10 Idol Points.]
[You have obtained two gold coins and 20 silver coins as an additional bonus.]
[You can accept a new quest.]
[Will you accept a new random quest? You may preview the content before you make the decision.]
Sometimes, the system quests served as a good method for killing time. Parita missed the Internet, smartphones, and computers. As she was bored, she previewed the quest.
'Yes, show me the RANDOM quest you have for me.'
DING
[Quest Preview: Return to the Elf Mansion before sunset.]
[Rewards: 20 Idol Points and additional bonuses depending on your performance.]
Parita smacked her lips. She hated the forced quest.
'Can I change the quest content?'
Despite her best efforts to rationalize the situation, there were obvious warning signs. There was a threat nearby, yet the system instructed her to leave the city.
[No, the quest cannot be changed after it is randomly generated. However, a new quest will be available after the midnight reset.]
[All quests are always achievable with your current strength.]
[Recommended Action: You currently have 10 Idol Points. It would be wise to enhance your 'FITNESS' attribute to ensure you have enough stamina for your way back.]
[In the case of an emergency, the system will take control of your suit and escort you home unharmed.]
Parita pursed her lips. She had doubts, but she hated staying in a strange town where people called her a 'Toilet'. For the sake of womanhood's safety, Parita chose to believe in the system's advice.
'Fine. I'll accept the quest. Also, convert my 10 Idol Points to my fitness stat.'
[Understood.]
DING
[You have accepted an optional random quest.]
[Return to the Elf Mansion before sunset.]
[Rewards: 20 Idol Points and additional bonuses depending on your performance.]
DING
[Your fitness attribute has increased by 10!]
* * *
Name: Parita Kestrel
Age: 22
Class: Vtuber Idol
Level: 0
Strength: 25
Fitness: 11
Magic: 1
Singing: 1
Dancing: 1
Charm: 7
System Features
- Inventory System: Level 1
- Livestream System: Level 1
* * *
Parita wasn't sure if she measured up to the strength of the local adventurer. But since the system ensured her safety, Parita grinned with confidence.
She exited the guild building, heading south.