The two who couldn't accept the S-rank quest originally intended to just let it go, but suddenly a voice caught their attention.
"What? I'm an S-rank adventurer, you know? Can't I take this quest?" A girl wearing heavy armor was saying to the adventurers' guild staff.
The gorgeous, golden heavy armor on her body, along with the treasure sword whose hilt alone screamed immense value, made her look like a noble from the outside.
"I'm sorry, milady. You are indeed S-rank, but you must have teammates." The staff member awkwardly pushed the girl's adventurer card back.
"Uh, find teammates, right?" The girl looked left and right, then immediately spotted Dan Feng and Roxy, who were looking at her.
"Them! Even though the two of them look super unreliable." The girl pointed at Dan Feng and Roxy as she spoke.
"No one said we were going!" Roxy said to the girl, looking at this willful scene.
But Roxy's action was stopped by Dan Feng. Since it was all about completing a quest anyway, following this girl would also allow them to complete an S-rank quest.
The staff member, seeing Dan Feng and Roxy, didn't interfere much and proactively took out three sheets of paper—one for the girl, and the other two for Dan Feng and Roxy.
Dan Feng puzzledly took the two sheets, then spread them out to look at them together with Roxy.
"S-rank quest sheet." Roxy read the words on the paper aloud, then looked at the girl with an incredulous expression.
This quest was an S-rank one—going somewhere to gather a certain herb—and its rank had actually reached S.
"There's another one below." Dan Feng pulled out the sheet underneath.
[Order: This is a confidential mission. Form a temporary party to protect our kingdom's second princess while she completes the quest. During this time, she must not be harmed in any way. Furthermore, you must not inform anyone else of the princess's identity. This is a national order—you have no right to refuse.]
Dan Feng and Roxy read the words on the second sheet, then both looked at the girl with appraising eyes.
"It seems we really can't refuse this time. After all, with our current strength, we're still far from being able to oppose an entire kingdom." Dan Feng helplessly shook his head, then picked up a pen and slowly wrote his name on the sheet.
Seeing this, Roxy beside him had no choice but to do the same.
After signing their names, the princess nodded in satisfaction, then turned and walked toward the door.
However, after taking a few steps, she noticed that Dan Feng and Roxy weren't following, so she stopped, turned back, and shouted, "Hey, you two over there, stop dawdling and hurry up and follow!"
Dan Feng and Roxy exchanged a glance, both feeling a bit helpless, but they still quickly caught up.
"Let's go, Roxy. If we can successfully complete this S-rank quest, we'll be one step closer to becoming S-rank adventurers ourselves." Dan Feng said to Roxy as they walked.
"Yeah, that's right. I hope everything goes smoothly." Roxy replied.
The three of them walked together down the street like that. The princess strode ahead boldly, while Dan Feng and Roxy intentionally kept a certain distance from her.
As they walked, the princess was suddenly drawn to a snack stall by the roadside. She quickly stepped forward and curiously asked the stall owner what kind of food it was.
The stall owner enthusiastically introduced it, and the princess listened with great interest, occasionally asking questions.
After a while, the princess spotted a fabric shop. She immediately went over, picked up a bolt of cloth, examined it closely, and asked the shopkeeper if it was for horses since it was so coarse.
The shopkeeper explained awkwardly, but the princess didn't seem to mind and continued looking around curiously.
Watching the princess's actions, Dan Feng and Roxy couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
This princess looked exactly like a country bumpkin girl who had just come to the city—filled with curiosity and novelty toward everything urban.
"Please wait a moment!" Roxy suddenly called out to the princess.
The princess heard Roxy's call and turned back to look at her.
"By the way, we still don't know your name." Roxy asked the princess for her name.
"I am... uh, right! Fia. I'm an S-rank swordswoman." The princess said slowly—her name was clearly a pseudonym.
"I am Roxy Migurdia, an A-rank magician."
"Dan Feng, A-rank warrior."
"I'm a bit curious what an S-rank adventurer card looks like. Can I see it?" Roxy looked at Fia with curious eyes.
"No problem~" Hearing that they wanted to see her adventurer card, Fia proudly handed over her adventurer card with a face full of pride.
Roxy took Fia's adventurer card and examined it.
"Huh? Kingdom-exclusive guild card? Valid only within this kingdom?" Roxy looked at the adventurer card in surprise, then turned to look at Fia again.
"How about it? An S-rank adventurer card is pretty special, right?" Fia still wore that proud expression, her armor creaking under the weight her body couldn't fully bear.
"So it's not a real S-rank after all." Dan Feng said with a wry smile, and then Roxy made a request to Fia.
"Fia, could you come with us to a shop?"
In the end, Dan Feng and Roxy brought Fia to a weapons shop.
Dan Feng and Roxy began selecting equipment for Fia.
"Since the quest is to gather herbs as adventurers, a long sword isn't very suitable. Let's switch to a shortsword instead." Roxy said as she picked up a shortsword, weighed it in her hand, seemingly assessing whether it met her needs.
However, Dan Feng had a different opinion.
He thought a dagger would be sufficient, and as for armor, switching to lighter leather would be better.
Fia was very puzzled by Dan Feng's suggestion. She asked in confusion, "Hey, my equipment is obviously perfect! Why change it?"
Roxy looked at Fia and patiently explained, "Where is it perfect? Look at you in that gear—you can barely walk steadily. How are you supposed to conveniently gather herbs?"
Fia, hearing this, retorted dismissively, "This is carefully selected equipment. How could I not walk steadily?"
Roxy didn't argue much with Fia. Instead, she picked up a dagger, weighed it again, and called out in satisfaction, "This is just right!"
Seeing this, Fia grew even more convinced that these two were arrogant. She said disdainfully, "You guys—a poorly dressed warrior and magician—dare to criticize my equipment?"
Hearing Fia's words, Roxy immediately got angry and shot back, "Where are we poorly dressed?"
Fia pressed on relentlessly, still disdainful, "I'm just stating facts. Look at yourselves—you don't even have decent armor!"
"You jerk!" Roxy puffed out her cheeks at Fia, then turned to the shop owner and said, "Boss, can we borrow your backyard? I want to teach this person a lesson!"
"Got it." The boss, who enjoyed watching the fun, casually agreed.
"Hmph, bring it on!" Fia snorted coldly.
In the empty space in the shop's backyard, Roxy and Fia distanced themselves from each other.
"Watch closely! I'll let you see my true power!" Fia shouted at Roxy, her eyes full of confidence in herself.
Meanwhile, Dan Feng, watching Fia from afar who still hadn't drawn her sword, had already silently declared the end of this match in his mind.
Hearing her say that, Roxy thought to herself, "She couldn't actually have S-rank strength, could she?"
After Dan Feng called out that the match had begun, Roxy moved.
On Fia's side, she was preparing to draw her sword.
However, no matter how she tried, the sword wouldn't come out—it was stuck in the scabbard.
Seeing this, Roxy quickly ran up to Fia and pressed her staff against Fia's head. "Looks like I win."
"That's so unfair! Wait until I draw my sword before we start!" Fia shouted at Roxy.
Roxy was happy to give Fia a second chance. What was there to fear from a swordswoman who couldn't even draw her sword?
Afterward, Fia finally managed to pull out that extremely luxurious-looking sword, but the hand holding it kept trembling.
"Come on, let's start for real!" Fia said to Roxy.
Dan Feng and Roxy both sighed.
"Alright then."
"Begin!"
As soon as Dan Feng finished speaking, Fia charged at Roxy with her sword raised.
"A magician is easy—just interrupt before she chants!"
Reaching Roxy, Fia swung her long sword down hard at her.
Clang!
The long sword collided with the staff, and then Fia felt an overwhelming force from the sword that she couldn't hold onto, causing her to let go.
Seizing the moment, Roxy knocked Fia's sword away.
The long sword spun in the air, then its tip pointed downward toward Fia below.
"Ah, it hurts." Because she couldn't steady the sword against the recoil, Fia lost her balance for a moment and was knocked down by the heavy armor.
Seeing this, Dan Feng immediately used wind magic to blow the long sword to the side, preventing Fia from getting injured.
"Do you understand now? Your sword and armor are both too heavy." Roxy walked over to Fia and helped her up.
"The weapon an adventurer should choose isn't the highest quality one, but the one that suits them best. In critical moments, that can decide life or death." After helping Fia up, Roxy also picked up the long sword.
"As for me, as a magician, I entrust my back to my companions. So companions are extremely important to me."
"Even in the most urgent moments, I have always trusted my companions completely."
Fia listened intently to Roxy's words. A spark of anticipation suddenly lit up in her eyes. "So that's what an adventurer party is like?"
"Yeah, exactly!" Roxy replied excitedly. "On the journey of adventuring, trust and rapport between teammates are incredibly important. Only by trusting each other can you cooperate closely and overcome various difficulties and dangers together."
Fia nodded thoughtfully. In her mind appeared an image: a group of brave adventurers advancing side by side through the dangerous Demon Continent, relying on one another as they explored unknown territories.
"Haha, suddenly it feels so novel." Fia couldn't help but smile.
"As a swordswoman, I should be the one protecting the magician in the party."
At that moment, Dan Feng walked over, holding the equipment he had selected earlier.
Seeing this, Fia quickly took the set of equipment Dan Feng had just brought and prepared to change into the new gear.
However, when Fia went into the room to change, Roxy suddenly seemed to realize something. Her face instantly turned horrified.
"Ah, she's the princess, isn't she!" Roxy stared wide-eyed at Fia who had just walked into the room.
"I was so rude to her earlier. Am I going to be executed?"
Dan Feng, seeing Roxy so flustered, couldn't help but find it a little funny.
He calmly said, "Probably not. After all, no one else saw it here except her."
Roxy let out a slight sigh of relief but still said worriedly, "That's true, but if she really wants to execute me, you have to help deny it, okay!"
Dan Feng smiled helplessly and comforted her, "Don't worry, I will. But I think she probably won't be that petty."
Hearing Dan Feng's words, Roxy's mood calmed down a bit. She forced a somewhat strained smile. "I hope so…"
After Fia finished changing, the three of them went to pay.
In the end, it was Dan Feng who paid, because judging from the princess's identity, she didn't seem like the type to carry her own money.
"I wonder if this equipment cost can be reimbursed." Dan Feng muttered to himself. Back in Millishion, he never had to worry about money, but traveling on the Central Continent made him feel like money was suddenly running out fast.
"Huh? Do you eat this by holding it?" Fia ran up to a snack stall and said to the owner.
Then, with a smile, she ordered a snack from the stall owner.
The snack owner quickly handed over a steaming-hot portion to Fia, then stood by quietly waiting for her to pay.
At that moment, a crisp voice suddenly rang out: "Wait a second! Do you know that everything has to be paid for!"
Everyone on the street turned to look. Roxy came rushing over like a gust of wind to Fia's side and said to her with a serious face.
Fia didn't seem startled by Roxy's sudden appearance. She slowly turned her head, gave Roxy a slightly contemptuous glance, then leisurely pulled out a large gold coin even more valuable than an Asura gold coin from her pocket.
"I know. How rude of you."
This large gold coin sparkled brilliantly under the sunlight, exuding an unparalleled air of nobility.
If Asura gold coins were already the most expensive, then this Asura large gold coin was extremely rare—something only nobles could possibly possess.
Because this kind of large gold coin couldn't circulate in normal markets at all. Its value was so high that one large gold coin was equivalent to ten years of hard work for an ordinary person.
Seeing the large gold coin Fia took out, the snack stall owner immediately widened his eyes in shock and said in astonishment, "This… little miss, even if you take out a large gold coin, I can't give you change for it." His voice carried a hint of difficulty.
However, Fia didn't seem to understand the stall owner's meaning. She looked at him in confusion and asked, "Huh? Is it too little? Then I'll take out another one." As she spoke, she really prepared to pull out another large gold coin.
Seeing that Fia was about to take out another large gold coin, Dan Feng quickly stepped forward, stopped her, and smiled at the stall owner. "Boss, sorry about that. I'll pay with this money."
With that, he swiftly took out the appropriate coins from his money pouch and handed them to the stall owner.
After taking a bite, Fia said, "I see. It really has a simple, plain taste."
Hearing Fia's comment, Roxy immediately dragged Fia away from the snack stall.
Dan Feng apologized to the stall owner and followed after Roxy and the others.