The Frontier's Most Honourable
Chapter 6
Arriving back at the Guild, Warden found Guild Girl sitting at the reception desk, filling out some paperwork. "Lady Guild Girl," the knight said getting her attention. Guild Girl looked up and smiled.
"Mr Warden. Back so soon?" she asked.
"Aye. Did a little job that I wanted to have marked down in the books," said the knight making Guild Girl raise an eyebrow.
"Oh? What kind of job?"
"What do you know about gnomes?" Warden asked back.
"Gnomes?" Guild Girl had a surprised look on her face. "I know a little bit about them. Why do you ask?" she questioned.
"Because I just recently destroyed one and was told about the apparent legend behind them," Warden told her.
"Wait one moment, please." Guild Girl rose from her seat and headed to a nearby book case where she determinedly scanned the spines of the tomes on the shelves. Picking out a red book, Guild Girl opened it up and scanned the pages, flipping to another section of the book before giving an, "Aha! Here we are." Walking back to the desk, the receptionist laid the book in front of Warden who looked at the pages.
"It says here that gnomes once roamed the Four-Cornered World when it was young. It was said they were once part of the fairy races as guardians of forests and gardens," Guild Girl informed Warden as they read the contents of the page. "When they first encountered the other races such as humans and dwarves, gnomes tried to peacefully interact with them, trying to persuade them not to raze forests for lumber. When that failed, gnomes began to harass and insult humans and dwarves."
"And how is that they were turned to stone?" Warden asked.
"That would happen because of the Gods of Law and the Gods of Chaos. The Gods of Chaos began to corrupt gnomes, turning them into malicious tricksters who would harass and waylay heroes in their journeys," Guild Girl replied before continuing. "To stop this, the Gods of Law cast a spell on all gnomes turning them into silent inanimate statues as punishment; able to see and be aware of the world around them, but unable to move let alone interact," she said.
"But the gnome I destroyed was able to interact by insulting me quite vocally," Warden pointed out.
"Yes, that would lead to a rather foolish mage in recent years who had collected the gnome statues and partially lifted the curse on them," Guild Girl said with an annoyed look on her face. "While not as mobile as they once were, gnomes are now able to hurl insults at passers-by and even harass particular individuals that catch their attention," she explained.
"I see," Warden muttered nodding his head in understanding. "And there was something about a prize being awarded to whomever can destroy fifty gnomes?" he prompted.
Guild Girl nodded and tapped the a paragraph of words. "Yes, it says here that a grand prize will be given to the person who can find and destroy fifty gnomes. But thus far, no-one has been able to," she explained.
"Well, I've made a start at least," Warden said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Is there a chance I could have this be made an ongoing quest of sorts?" he asked Guild Girl.
"Well, it's not technically an official quest," Guild Girl replied but she then smiled. "But I'm sure I can mark it down in the books for you," she said generously to Warden.
"Then let's draw up the paperwork," Warden said politely and within a few minutes, he and Guild Girl had drawn up a contract that listed the destruction of fifty gnomes as an ongoing quest until it had been completed or Warden decided to forfeit it. Signing his signature on the dotted line, Warden looked at Guild Girl, giving her his thanks. "My thanks for this, Lady Guild Girl. I don't know if I'll ever be able to complete such a quest, but if I see any gnomes, I will endeavour to destroy them," he promised.
"No thanks necessary," Guild Girl said with a bright smile. "Although, if you could do me a favour?" she asked softly.
"Name it."
"If you could make sure your partner comes back in good shape after a goblin hunt, I would appreciate it," Guild Girl said with a small smile.
"You just want me to make sure you see my partner around more often," Warden said teasingly.
"It's not like that!" Guild Girl whined out looking very caught out in her apparent feelings for Goblin Slayer.
"Don't worry, Lady Guild Girl. I cannot promise that Goblin Slayer will always come back in good shape, nor can I promise to be with him on every hunt he goes on, but I will endeavour to make sure he doesn't act so recklessly," Warden said solemnly.
"Thank you," Guild Girl said in a small voice.
"I should let you get back to work," Warden said in realisation. "Have a productive day," he added in farewell as he headed into the tavern portion of the Guild, leaving the receptionist with a warm feeling in her heart.
Heading into the tavern, Warden found an empty table and skipping up to was Padfoot Waitress who had warmed to the knight quite considerably since the last time. "Hello, Mr Warden! May I take your order?" she asked in a chipper voice.
"What's good, Lady Padfoot?" Warden asked back and he was then handed a menu by the dog-eared waitress. After scanning the items listed on the menu, Warden made his selection. "I'll have the rack of pork ribs with the special sauce," he requested. "And a flagon of ale as well please," he added.
"Coming right up!" Padfoot Waitress said with a smile before scampering off to carry out Warden's order. A few minutes later, she returned with a flagon of ale and a cup to go with it, saying to the knight, "The ribs are being cooked right now, but here's your ale if you want to have it right now."
"Thank you very much," Warden replied as he took his helmet off, revealing his face and setting the helm on the table near him. Pouring himself a cup of ale, Warden raised it to his lips and saw that Padfoot Waitress was staring at him intently. "Is something wrong?" he inquired her.
"No, nothing! This is just the second time I've seen your face!" Padfoot Waitress replied.
"Is it really all that shocking?" Warden asked blandly as he took a sip from his ale.
"It is!" Padfoot Waitress blurted out with a blush on her cheeks. "Everyone thought you were like Goblin Slayer, never taking your helmet off! But you've done it twice now!" she babbled.
Warden gave a deep chuckle and replied, "I'm sure my partner takes his helmet off from time to time, but he has a relatively sound reasoning as to why he doesn't when out on the job."
"Which is?" Padfoot Waitress asked quizzically.
"Well, the head is a very vulnerable spot to get hit," Warden said as if it were obvious. "Even a small tap on the noggin from a pebble can stagger you. And I think most of the adventurers here are very foolish to go on quests without a helmet," he added sardonically.
"Well, most adventurers kinda want people to see their faces so they would be recognised," Padfoot Waitress said in response to that.
"Perhaps," Warden said not completely refuting that statement. "But it should be an adventurer's deeds that should be recognised, not their faces," he stated.
"I can sorta see that," Padfoot Waitress nodded in understanding. "Oh! Your ribs! They should be almost done! Be right back!" She scuttled off into the kitchen to check on Warden's meal.
A moment later, Padfoot Waitress came back bearing a plate that had freshly cooked and steaming rack of pork ribs glazed with a dark smoky looking sauce. Accompanying the meaty dish was some thinly sliced and fried potatoes. "Here you are!" Padfoot Waitress to said Warden. "Eat up! I better not see a crumb left!" she playfully threatened before scampering off to attend to her other customers.
Warden then began to dig into his meal with a sigh of contentment when a voice interrupted him mid-bite. "There you are!" Looking up, Warden saw Heavy Warrior along with Spearman and Witch. "Having a good time with those ribs?" Heavy Warrior asked with a jesting smile.
"I was until you interrupted me," Warden said with a dry smile. "Good day to you, Lady Witch and Sir Spearman," he offered in greeting to the other two silver-ranked adventurers.
"Hello… there," Witch greeted back in her unusual manner of talking. Spearman scoffed which made Witch nudge him and say, "Go on… be… nice now."
Spearman grumbled before looking at Warden and mumbled a "Hello."
Heavy Warrior stage whispered to Warden. "He's still pretty sore about how you beat him the first time." Spearman glared at the sword-wielding adventurer who said in defence, "What? It's true."
"Well, that aside, how have you all been? Keeping busy?" Warden asked as he resumed his meal as the three adventurers sat at the table with him.
"Busy enough," Heavy Warrior replied. "Female Knight and I just returned this morning from a job. She was at the Blacksmith's Shop last I saw," he said.
"She was. I was there as well getting my armour fixed up," Warden stated.
"From goblins?" Heavy Warrior asked.
"No. Wolves, led by a Warg," Warden corrected. "Goblin Slayer and I took a hunting job that involved getting rid of wolves for some farmers," he explained.
"Eh?! D-Did I hear you right? Did you just say you and the stiff hunted something other than goblins?" Spearman asked in surprise.
"Yes, well, between Goblin Slayer and I, we'd been clearing out all the goblin nests in the regions," Warden intoned. "So there was understandably a lack of Goblin Slayer's preferred prey," he added as he took a bite of his pork ribs, sauce smearing his lips.
"What did you tell him to get him to hunt wolves with you?" Heavy Warrior asked in interest.
"Well, I used the reasoning that goblins used wolves as watchdogs and mounts, so it was enough to get Goblin Slayer to hunt them with me," Warden answered.
"That… would… do it," Witch remarked a small smile. "And you… said… something… about… a warg?" she asked.
"Aye, it had probably been separated from the Demon Lord's armies and took control of a wolf pack," Warden replied. "It was pretty tough and bigger than regular wolves," he said wryly.
"I also heard that you did something else in town today," Heavy Warrior prompted with a knowing look.
Warden gave a small grin and said, "Word spreads fast around here, it seems."
"Yeah, the thing about that gnome being smashed to pieces gets people talking," Spearman remarked. "So, are you gonna start smashing those gnomes and get that prize?" he asked Warden.
"I made an arrangement with Guild Girl to have it be an ongoing quest," Warden replied. "From what Guild Girl told me, gnomes are hard to find and no-one's sure what the prize for destroying fifty gnomes even is," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Still, it'd be pretty interesting to see what the prize is," Spearman remarked. "But it doesn't sound like a lot of fun trying to find fifty gnomes that won't do anything to stop you from smashing them," he added.
"I suppose not," Warden said in agreement as he took a gulp of ale from his cup before filling it up with more ale. "But if it stops those little wretches from harassing and insulting passers-by, then I won't lose any sleep over it," he added.
"So, now Goblin Slayer took a quest that didn't involve goblins, do you think he'd be willing to hunt something other than goblins from now on?" Heavy Warrior asked conversationally.
"It depends if there are no goblins for him to hunt at all," Warden replied. "He only took the wolf hunting quest with me because of that reason and the fact he needed more money," he said.
"Hmm, guess we'll have to wait for something to happen that are no goblins around," Spearman remarked. "Still, goblins aren't in short supply, even if you kill the, they always come back," he joked.
"I would not call that a good thing, Sir Spearman," Warden said sternly. "You may think goblins are weak stupid creatures that aren't worth the rewards offered, but goblins often attack villages and farmsteads. In the case of the latter, if there are fewer and fewer farmsteads producing crops and foodstuffs that we enjoy, it would mean shortages at best and famine at worst," he reasoned.
"That is… smart… thinking," Witch said in approval.
"Yeah… it is," Heavy Warrior said with a sombre look in his eyes as Warden's words struck a chord in him.
"Well, since we're here, did you wanna go on a quest with us?" Spearman asked Warden hesitantly. "I mean, you did say you and the weirdo cleared out all the goblin nests in the region, so it'll take some time for them to build up their numbers again," he said.
"I might be interested," Warden said with a nod of his head as he finished off his meal and drank the last of his ale. "But if you'll excuse, it's been a long day and I'd like to catch up on some sleep," he told the three adventurers.
"Of course." Heavy Warrior nodded in understanding. "If there are still no goblins in the morning, we can see about you coming on a quest with us. Does that sound fair?" he asked as Warden rose from his seat to pay at the counter.
"We'll see," Warden replied with a nod of his head as he put his helmet back on. "Have a good night," he told the three adventurers as he walked over to the counter to pay for his meal.
After paying for his meal, Warden headed up to the room he was renting at the Guild. Taking off his armour and leaving himself in only his smallclothes, Warden climbed into the double bed and closed his eyes to get some much-needed sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: Chapter 6 is done and dusted! Another pointless filler chapter, but I hope the interactions between the Warden and some of his fellow adventurers was enough to satisfy and the door is open for Warden to go on an adventure with Heavy Warrior, Spearman and Witch, provided there are no goblins for him and his partner to kill.
In other news, a friend told me that this story of mine was listed in TV Tropes fanfic recs or something like that. I'm honestly pretty surprised by that, I guess someone really liked this to list it on TV Tropes, so that's good.
Other than that, I haven't got too much more to say, so I'll see you all in the next one.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.