Catgirls And Dungeons (Yuri)-Chapter 68: First quest

Once again, we find ourselves at the Adventurer's Guild, standing in front of the Quest Board where adventurers select their missions. Each quest note is color-coded, indicating the minimum rank required:

No color: E-rank or below

Green: D-rank

Blue: C-rank

Purple: B-rank

Yellow: A-rank

Red: S-rank

At present, the board only has B-rank quests and below. According to Eris, there hasn't been a yellow (A-rank) quest posted for over five months, and no red (S-rank) quest in a couple of years. Those high-level tasks are typically the most dangerous, often requiring teams of A-rank or S-rank adventurers. However, A-rank or S-rank dungeons—though extremely rare—do appear from time to time.

Beyond this color-coding, quests fall into a few main categories:

Subjugation Quests: Adventurers must defeat a certain number of monsters in a dungeon and return with specific materials (e.g., claws, fangs, or other drops) as proof.

Gathering Quests: These involve collecting particular items from within a dungeon, such as mana crystals or rare herbs and flowers. The guild—or whoever issued the quest—needs these materials for research, crafting, or other specialized uses.

Exploration Quests: Whenever a new dungeon appears, or when an uncharted section of an existing dungeon requires investigation, exploration quests are issued. These missions often involve guiding cartographers or academics to map new regions and study unique dungeon phenomena. Sometimes, exploration quests delve into ancient ruins, too.

Crime Quests (Listed Separately): A separate board displays bounties on criminals who hide in dungeons to evade authorities. These quests function like wanted posters, with the guild offering rewards for information leading to an arrest or for bringing the outlaws in directly.

After spending a few moments carefully considering our options, Eris snaps her fingers and says, "Hmmm, let's go with this!" She plucks a quest note from the main board.

It's a green-coded Gathering Quest. Leaning over her shoulder, I skim the details:

————————

Quest type: Gathering

Danger: D rank

Dungeon: Lake Vanessa

Request: 10+ Vanessa Lilies with frozen petals (has to be kept frozen!!!)

Reward: 2000 crowns for each 10 flowers gathered, up to 20000 crowns.

Note: Do NOT touch the flowers with bare hands, and be aware of frogs! Just don't step into within 10 meters from them, or they will notice ya, and try your best not to pick any flower with a frog guarding it. Well, if ya lads are strong enough to beat up those fuckers and get their core, feel free to do so! I will also be paying ya 100 crowns for each core!

———————

"Ooooh! This sounds amazing!" I exclaim, practically bouncing with excitement. "And the pay is fantastic, too! Great find!"

Honestly, 2,000 crowns for just ten flowers? Considering my salary at the Gilded Horn would be around 50 crowns an hour, this is a huge payoff. No wonder so many people want to become adventurers!

But Eris taps me on the head, hard.

"Owww!" I yelp, rubbing the spot where she hit me.

"Silly," Eris mutters, shaking her head in disapproval. "If the reward is really that great, then why hasn't anyone else picked up this quest already?"

"Huh?" I falter. She's got a point. If this reward is so lucrative, why is the quest still posted? The guild is full of capable-looking adventurers who should've snapped it up by now, especially if it's only labeled D-rank.

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Unless…

"Y-you mean… it's not really D-rank?" I ask warily.

"Exactly," Eris replies, flashing a wry grin. "Though Lake Vanessa is rated D-rank overall, the specific area where the blue Vanessa Lilies grow has a high mana concentration and is considered more like C-rank territory. Plus, the frogs there are tough. Even a C-rank party might struggle, especially if they stumble on a big group of them."

Gulp.

I swallow hard.

Even C ranked adventurers are at risk?

What the hell?

"T-then… you are saying… this one is a dirty scam quest? No way, that should be illegal, right? Why would the guild allow this? They are putting adventurers in danger!"

""Well, technicallyyyyy…" she says with a shrug, "it's still doable at D-rank—provided you're incredibly lucky though hehe. Sometimes, the lilies can sprout outside the dangerous zone, and if you manage to collect your ten flowers there, you'll complete the quest without setting foot in the high-mana region!"

"Ohhh!" My eyes widen. "That… does make sense. Still, shouldn't the quest be classified as C-rank to avoid confusion? Then more experienced adventurers would be likely to tackle it, right?"

Eris chuckles. "You'd think so, right? But making it C-rank would force the quest issuer to pay a higher registration fee and increase the reward to meet C-rank standards. It's cheaper for them to leave it at D."

"That's shady!" I blurt out.

"It is," Eris agrees, nodding. "But it's a common trick—people try to fit their requests into the lowest rank possible to cut costs. They bank on desperate adventurers who will still take the risk. At higher ranks, this kind of tactic is rarer, since those quests are usually tied to serious, large-scale dangers."

Right…

That makes sense.

But still… I feel bad for anyone who accidentally take on quests like these.

Not only they won't be able to retrieve the flowers…

They would potentially be in grave danger as well.

"Don't worry, adventurers aren't idiots," Eris reassures me, patting my back. "As you can see, nobody's touched the quest because it looks shady. Everybody knows how dangerous Lake Vanessa is. Unless they're complete newbies—then, well…" She smiles thinly. "It'll be quite an experience for them… if they survive."

Her eyes narrow ominously, and I swallow hard.

"So… why did you take this quest?" I ask, still puzzled.

Even though I understand the quest's pitfalls, something doesn't add up. "You said it's not worth it, right?"

"Why?" Eris winks. "Because Lake Vanessa is really pretty, that's why! I really wanted to show it to you. And besides, I'm only an E-rank adventurer, remember? I can only take D-rank quests!"

"Huh?" I blink. "But you actually are — Uoooohhhh!!"

Suddenly, it clicks.

Right!

RIGHT!!!

She's actually A-rank, but her current ID only shows E-rank status. By law, that means she's limited to picking D-rank quests!

Therefore, this quest, with the highest reward amount among all the other D rank quests, is actually her best choice!

And given the fact that Eris is super strong, there will be no danger for her taking it at all! C ranked, or even B ranked quests are just cakewalks for her!

"Alright, ready to go?" Eris asks, nodding toward the registration desk.

"Nn!" I reply, excitement bubbling up in my chest.

And with that, we head over to register our party—ready to tackle my very first dungeon quest.