"You came to the Commercial Nation without even knowing that?"

The gruff-voiced female adventurer, who introduced herself as Alyssa, looked at us in disbelief.

She went on to explain that the Six Great Merchants were the top trading companies that represented the Commercial Nation. True to the country's name, the leaders of these merchant houses were involved in running the state itself.

"The old-standing request for wild Skywolf Mushrooms you see here is from the Rashiyu Merchant Company. Recently, the Mimina Merchant Company has entered the game, targeting the same market," she explained.

"Interesting," I replied.

"Yeah. Some folks think Mimina stepping into Rashiyu's territory is going to cause trouble, but nothing’s happened so far. In any case, Mimina's requests pay better, so most people go for those."

"Well, we can’t take either of those since we don’t meet the rank requirements," I pointed out.

"That’s for the best. The deeper parts of the Skywolf Forest are home to Silver Wolves. If you're not high enough rank, don’t even think about going there."

"Got it."

Alyssa’s warning was appreciated. The high-paying requests plastered all over the board would usually be hotly contested, but apparently, not so much here.

I decided to ask something else while we had her attention.

"By the way, is woodworking a specialty of this village too? I noticed the wooden buildings and furniture looked exceptionally well-crafted."

It turned out that while the Skywolf Forest's timber was indeed a specialty, most of the processing happened in a craftsman’s city called Raven, located on the far side of the forest.

"But don’t even think about crossing the forest to get there," Alyssa added sharply. "There’s no proper road through, and the Silver Wolves make it a death trap."

Even as I nodded along, I thought about how we could fly over the forest instead. Still, it didn’t hurt to confirm there weren’t any safer routes.

"Is there no other way to get there?"

"Nope. The only alternative is to loop back to the border town, which would take longer."

Great. Flying it is.

"Thank you for the advice."

"Don’t mention it. Too many adventurers wander into that forest and never come back. Don’t join their ranks."

With a parting nod, Alyssa walked off toward the guild’s back area, her party members teasing her about wanting to chat with a “cute boy.” Was she talking about me?

"Knowing there’s treasure in the forest, it’s no wonder adventurers get tempted," Rio mused.

"Yeah," I agreed. Being an adventurer was inherently a gamble. But was the reward for wild Skywolf Mushrooms really worth the risk?

"For now, let’s start by accepting a monster extermination request at one of the Skywolf Groves."

"Sure, mushroom hunting it is!"

"Not the mushrooms! The monsters," Rio corrected with a laugh.

The Skywolf Groves were scattered throughout the forest’s outskirts. Exiting the village through the eastern gate, we entered an area where sparse trees dotted the landscape. A straight road stretched ahead, with smaller branching paths leading to various groves. Signs at each fork ensured we wouldn’t get lost.

After a ten-minute walk, the density of trees increased, giving the area a proper forest-like feel. Soon, we spotted a fence marking the grove’s boundary.

"This must be it," I said.

"The sign says 'Navel Skywolf Grove,' so we’re in the right place," Rio confirmed.

Using my perception skills, I sensed a few humanoid presences, likely the grove’s caretakers, along with a scattering of creatures lurking within.

We approached an elf who appeared to be the caretaker and got a rundown of the situation. The monsters were drawn by the mushrooms’ scent, constantly showing up to snack on the crop. While the creatures weren’t particularly strong, their numbers posed a problem.

"If you eliminate thirty of them, the request will be complete," the elf explained.

"Understood. We’ll bring the corpses here for verification."

"Thank you. I’ll be here to count them when you’re done."

Leaving the caretaker behind, Rio and I began our hunt.

"So this is how Skywolf Mushrooms grow," I remarked.

They sprouted from the roots and trunks of ordinary-looking trees, their shapes uncannily similar to matsutake mushrooms. The sheer abundance of them almost felt excessive, but what did I know about mushroom farming?

A quick sniff revealed that their fragrance wasn’t particularly strong in their raw state. They probably needed to be cooked to release their aroma.

"Alright, let’s get to work," I said, cracking my knuckles.

"Let’s go!" Rio cheered, raising her fist.

We split up, relying on our perception skills to track and eliminate the monsters. By the time we’d circled the grove, we’d far exceeded the target number of thirty.

"Wait, you’re already finished?" the caretaker exclaimed as we returned.

We began unloading the corpses from the dimensional box, counting them out loud. Somewhere past thirty, the caretaker stopped speaking entirely.

"Eighty-three… and that’s all of them," I said, concluding the tally.

Despite my initial guesswork during the hunt, it turned out we’d managed just fine.

"I didn’t realize there were this many…" the elf murmured, dazed, as they signed off on our request form.

With the job complete, we left the Skywolf Grove behind.