I read the book left behind by Mom until she returned home to prepare lunch for noon.
Mom said that Lara didn't take a mission, as not all her teammates were available. So, she was just training at the Adventurer's Guild.
Yeah, like in all fantasy worlds, there is an Adventurer's Guild.
The organisation was said to have spread throughout the Kingdom. They had branches in every city, town and even most villages.
Not every village has a guild branch, but luckily, we do.
This was because, though our settlement was still classified as a Village, it was almost the size of a town, and it borders the Cloud Mountains to our north.
Yeah, our village is a border village. To our north were the famous Cloud Mountains, which to this date have never been traversed by humans, at least as per the records.
The guild branch is more like a lookout post than a true guild branch. There are a lot of beasts that live in that mountain range. Though for some reason, there was never a recorded beast tide from those mountains, no one knows what could happen at any moment.
So, it was said that the kingdom requested the Guild to be on the lookout. This way, the branch here can act as a base for the adventurers who can go to hunt for beasts and any other resources in the mountains and the forest that surrounds it, and if by chance anything bad happens in the mountains, the information could be relayed.
Usually, near dangerous areas, there would be military outposts, which were sponsored by the kingdom. To do so would mean there would be a drain on their treasury.
By bringing the guild here, they could avoid such a drain and, at the same time, provide sufficient security for the surrounding area.
Having a guild here made a lot of things easier for the village. There would be a lot of adventurers who pass through the village before they enter the forest nearby.
At the foot of the mountains, there is a forest, which extends to the entirety of the mountain range or at least what was thought. As no one who has entered deep into the mountains ever returned, there was no document about the forest's range.
Anyway, with a lot of adventurers present, there are a lot of resources that are exchanged here, making the village very prosperous. It was one of the reasons why my father quickly reached the B- rank. If not, it would take decades before one could reach such a rank, unless that one was a genius, which I am sure doesn't define my father.
The main reason why most farmers still thrive in this village and are still stronger than their counterparts from other villages is that many resources are cheaper here than elsewhere.
Due to the presence of forest nearby and a guild presence in the village, there is always beast meat available. It was said that there are three dungeons around a five-kilometre radius from the village.
So, cores, parts and meat from beasts and monsters are available at the lowest cost.
As I said before, working would increase attributes, but for that to happen, one has to eat good food. Eating normal food all the time wouldn't be helpful as the attribute value increases.
At a certain point, normal food would be just to recover lost energy and to fill the stomach, nothing more. If one wants to improve, they have to consume beast meat, which is usually costly and unaffordable for most families.
With the forest and dungeons nearby, the cost here is quite lower than elsewhere.
Though many have the lowest support class, like Farmers in this village, many have secondary professions for combat, which help them to fight the beasts themselves and get the beast meat and parts for themselves.
It was why the guild sells resources at dead cheap, making very little profit over items, but overall, the profits are very high, as trade here is very high. No items remain on sale for long.
With such low costs, I can experiment with cooking. It won't cost as much as it would for others, where the guild was not present. It makes life easier for me, but here no one makes a profit in coin, but almost everyone here is strong, very strong.
Anyway, let's first complete this book. Mom would return home for lunch, and it would be my first attempt at cooking. I need to know a few details regarding cooking or else I may not utilize my talent to its fullest.
---
As it was almost noon, Mom returned from the farm.
Alongside her was Lara, which surprised me. Mom, too, was surprised, as she had only met Lara as she came to the path that led to the house.
"What are you doing home early? I thought you would be in the guild, training", I asked.
"Hehe", she laughed mischievously as she pulled out a box from her robes.
It was a small box, velvet in colour, capable of holding probably a small object like a ring or something along its size.
"Care to guess what it is?" Lara teased us.
"How can we guess when we have no information about what you could have been doing?" I spoke helplessly.
My sister was like this always. Whenever she does something that no one can guess, she would tease us to no end.
"Tch, you are no sport at all", she exhaled dramatically as she unveiled the box, letting us see what was inside.
"It's an affinity stone", my Mom gasped as she looked at it in surprise.
When I heard those words, I was surprised. I never thought that the stone inside was an Affinity stone. I never saw it before, but it was not something I could have guessed.
In fact, no one would have guessed that she got her hands on the Affinity stone.
"Surprise...haha", Lara laughed in delight, shocking us all.