This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 210

Cleanup Mission

“Name “Luke,” age “25,” combat ability “archery,” is everything correct?” The clerk confirmed with Luke once again, as he hadn’t undertaken any missions recently. Thus, identity and card verification were necessary. Ellie, in Luke’s disguise, nodded quietly in response.

“I’m now using a beast in combat. Do I need to register it?”

“Yes, additional information is required. Then, I’ll register for you now. Please provide details about the beast.”

“Ah, it’s a frog-type beast. Its ability is to consume the corpses of other beasts.”

“Oh, that’s quite a useful ability. However, there are additional conditions for beast trainers. For instance, if your beast harms others, the responsibility falls on you. So please ensure it’s well-trained before taking it on missions.”

“Understood, thank you.”

“Mmm, with a special beast like that...the association has a request that came in 2 days ago and hasn’t been picked up yet. It’s a tough job for hunters since their skills are usually geared toward fighting, not cleaning up corpses. But with your beast’s ability, there should be no problem. Here, take a look at this.”

The clerk handed over the special mission document. It was a mission with no star-rank restrictions. However, not many were interested in taking it, despite the good pay. It was a dangerous and time-consuming task, so it wasn’t surprising that the clerk’s eyes lit up upon hearing about Luke’s beast’s ability.

Actually, the clerk was struggling. The urgent missions like this cleanup mission always caused the clerk stress. These missions weren’t just urgent but also difficult to find people for. Many times, the association was criticized for failing to find someone to do this job.

“Beast Corpse Clean Up Mission

Mission Area: Association village north of Green Mountain Forest, 1st floor

Required Rank: Any

Reward: 100 silver coins per completion and 20 mission points upon successful completion.”

“At Green Mountain Forest’s village, maintained by the association, they process the necessary parts of beasts. However, while processing, there are often parts deemed useless, which they throw into a disposal pit. Every year or during heavy hunting periods, the pit overflows, causing problems with odors and other issues. Hence, this mission is assigned to hunters.”

“For other hunters, this mission is akin to suicide. That’s why no one has picked it up. The pit contains a mix of various beasts. Some are poisonous, and others, having been there for a long time, become rotted and toxic. If not careful, it could pose serious health risks.”

The clerk provided a bit more explanation. Ellie considered it and didn’t see any issues. For her, the job wasn’t complicated at all. She had 2 corpse handlers, and her little Apple would quickly have more food to consume. While the Purple Mushroom would aid in decomposition, it wouldn’t gain much from decomposing non-living matter, yet it could still multiply through this process. If lucky...there might be some parts that still held a bit of life force.

"In that case, I’ll take it."

"Good. I’ll register it right away. So, the total missions you’ve taken are 3. And...please start the beast corpse cleanup mission as soon as possible."

"Understood," Luke’s deep voice replied. The clerk was pleased, and so was Luke.

As requested, Ellie first headed to the association’s village. Traveling to the association’s village was convenient. People undertaking missions in the association’s village received good care. It was a spot the association controlled directly, not relying on the city control platform. Therefore, there were no barriers or defenses according to the tower’s rules. Nonetheless, it was only the 1st floor, and handling beasts wasn’t too difficult.

"Heading to the village for a mission? Come on, hop in," the coachman beckoned the small-framed youth onto the carriage. Inside, 2 young women were already waiting. The association’s carriage would depart in 1 hour, waiting for everyone to gather before leaving. Ellie, in Luke’s guise, had to sit with them.

"I heard that at the top institute, a student created a new stratagem."

"Mmm, I heard the same. It seems to be that rags-to-riches duchess."

"Exactly. They say she invented the stratagem herself, but I don’t believe it. With the power of the Setter family, she could have easily had someone else think it up."

"Indeed. Why isn’t she satisfied with what she has? Does she need that much fame? Sigh...Look at us, struggling so hard but never seeing any improvement in our lives, while someone with a sudden fortune is so fortunate. We still have to take missions to help villagers deal with beasts every day."

"Sigh, don’t complain too much...but these days have been pretty good, don’t you think?"

"Hehe, of course. It’s because there’s a handsome young man taking on the same missions as us. Besides, I think he might be wealthy. If one of us manages to catch his eye, we might even become another lady of the house."

"Haha, I’m hoping for the same thing. But it’s not just us hoping for this. Many village girls are thinking the same way. I saw them shamelessly chasing after him."

"Yeah, whoever is the best will get him. We need to try harder too." The two women chatted excitedly. Under her cloak, the girl’s eyebrow twitched slightly. Had the story of her accomplishment already spread here in just 1 night? And it seemed like many people didn’t believe it was her idea.

Well, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for them to think that way. Let them believe what they wanted. Ellie leaned back against the carriage, unconcerned. However, the two gossiping women looked at "Luke" with clear disdain.

"Hey, you! Could you move over? And don’t come too close." Since this was a carriage, the seats were divided into 2 sides. The two women chose seats opposite each other to chat easily.

The carriage wasn’t very large, accommodating about 6 people, so Ellie had to sit inside. She intended to move if no one else joined, as she didn’t care much about these two women. After all, she was a woman herself. Ellie didn’t squeeze them at all; she was petite like the average women, and upon closer look, she was even smaller than these two women. What Ellie didn’t know was that the two women were saving the seat next to them for a man. When Ellie sat in the spot they had reserved, they snapped in displeasure.

"Hmm...am I really that close to you?" Ellie asked in a flat tone. The two women looked her up and down, then sneered.

"You’re a man but so skinny. Who knows if you have some disease? You should stay as far from us as possible. No! It would be better if you didn’t ride in the same carriage as us at all." Faced with such disdain, Ellie sighed in annoyance as well.

She stepped out of the carriage in frustration. However, without her noticing, a large shadow suddenly loomed over her small frame.

Ellie’s delicate brows furrowed. She hadn’t checked the spores around her, so she didn’t see that someone she least wanted to meet had appeared.

"Ah! You’re here already? Today you must be taking on the Four-horned Sheep Beast extermination mission again, right? Please, get on the carriage. It will be leaving soon." The two women were all smiles upon seeing the newcomers. Ellie felt a sense of familiarity with this mission, as if she had heard about it from that annoying man before. And yes...she didn’t even need to turn around to confirm. It seemed her luck had run out, having evaded the people at the institute who wanted to ask about her new stratagem.

"Hey, long time no see. I heard you’ve been missing for a while, haven’t you, newbie hunter Luke?" The laughter from the man behind her made Ellie roll her eyes inwardly. The last person she wanted to see had indeed shown up. But what could she do? The chances of running into him were high.

What was most surprising was that her spores failed to track him effectively. She didn’t want to encounter this man again, so she had let her spores follow him around. But since their last meeting in Gaia City, her spores couldn’t detect him. Perhaps...this important hero had some magical equipment that rendered her tracking spores ineffective.

Ellie tried to have the spores root again, but it was futile. The spores couldn’t latch onto him, and even the surrounding spores couldn’t track him. They needed to be within about 1 meter to do so.

Although it was surprising, it was understandable. After all, he was a prince. It wasn’t unusual for him to have special equipment to evade detection; otherwise, he’d be an easy target for assassins. With the current fierce palace conflicts, he was likely being extra cautious.

Behind the prince was a large man, seemingly between 35 and 40 years old, exuding a calm and collected demeanor. His eyes, full of life experience, scanned the surroundings. This man had a minor role in the novel, serving as one of the prince’s hidden allies. He was the first member to help the prince seize a city without relying on his royal status.

Although he played a significant role, his name wasn’t frequently mentioned. The novel focused on the heroine, Nara, who encountered him only briefly. Most of the story centered on her interactions with the various heroes and the constant events she faced, leaving Ellie with little information about the man.

"Mmm," Ellie responded indifferently in her guise as Luke. She acted disinterested, and the prince, now having other companions, didn’t bother her as much as before. Nonetheless...

"Whenever you wish, you can join me. My companions and I are currently on a mission to exterminate Four-horned Sheep Beast in the village. Soon, we’ll be expanding to take on other missions, requiring additional manpower. You have quite the skill yourself. It would be beneficial to take on higher-risk missions together with much higher rewards, wouldn’t it?"

The prince, still wearing the same cloak as before, proposed his idea once again. He remembered "Luke" quite well, perhaps because Luke started in the Tower of Eternity at the same time as him or because something about the newbie hunter caught his eye. Despite meeting many people in the tower, he remained fond of the first friend he made here.

"No, I don’t like doing missions with others."

"Sigh, alright. You might not understand now, but one day you’ll realize there’s a limit to what you can achieve alone." Prince Jason said before passing Ellie to sit in the carriage along with the large man.

The two women eagerly welcomed the newcomers, almost rolling out a red carpet for them, a stark contrast to how they treated Ellie when she sat with them. She had been accused of crowding them, despite sitting a whole hand’s width away.

Ellie checked the time and sat down next to the prince. Honestly, she preferred sitting next to his friend, but the large man’s size left her little room.

Fortunately, the prince didn’t cause her much more headache. At least during the trip, he didn’t say anything about inviting her to go on a mission together again. He only occasionally responded to the two women’s chatter. Soon, Ellie parted ways with the 4. The two women took on a low-level beast extermination mission, while the two men accepted a more dangerous but highly rewarding mission.

Ellie headed off to her task, which was not near the village walls but in the area behind the village, where workers discarded unusable parts of beasts.

Following the employee’s directions, the first thing that made Ellie want to cancel the mission was the "smell." The stench of various beast carcasses, decomposing for nearly a year, was overwhelming and made people almost vomit. Fortunately, Ellie had come prepared. She brought out the equipment to help her breathe through her skin, a device meant for underwater breathing, thus sparing her nose from the stench.

"Over there. When you’re done, let us know, and we’ll log your completed mission," the employee said quickly before hurrying away. They were more accustomed to the smell, having to toss plant and animal remains into the pit daily, but that didn’t mean they enjoyed lingering in the odor.

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