The Smartphone Saga: A Distracted Journey of Spells and Signals

Chapter 13: Things are What they are

After so much meticulous camera work, Jasson was caught between relief and disappointment when the Evaluator promised that Jasson and the twins would receive full completion pay. And after only one video! Jasson decided to feel relief since he had noticed how much he coughed while filming the video and was finding it an embarrassing waste of storage.

Once the Evaluator had completed a full loop of the goblin's den and surrounding area, he had them all sign off on a piece of paper that Petra scrutinized carefully. Petra even had Jasson take a picture of the document so the Evaluator couldn't change the wording later. Once he was handed back the paper, the Evaluator informed them that they would be paid upon returning to the guild and that they were to wait at the road for 'assistance'. Then the Evaluator flew away.

"Dang, that's useful." Jasson said, following Petra back to the road, "He has places to be, so flying is a great ability for an Evaluator."

"I have to agree," Petra said, "But I wouldn't do it with a monster's Air Crystal if I were him, even if it is exceptionally large. Could you imagine if that broke mid-flight?"

"Yup," Jasson said, pushing aside a branch, "Skydiving without a parachute."

"What's a parachute?" Petra said.

Jasson thought for a few seconds then said, "It's something that slows you down when you fall."

Petra waved a hand and said "Oh, he probably has that. Nobody flies without a backup."

Following the marks Clara had made on the trees, Jasson and the twins made their way back to the road. They were considering leaving the way they had come, hiking on foot for another four hours but with more sleep deprivation, when a fancy carriage pulled up. It stopped beside them, the horses whinnying as the driver hauled on the reigns.

"What's this?" Jasson said, "Do we get to meet the boss?"

The door to the coach opened and a massive man stepped out, covered head to toe in elaborate armor and grinning like he'd heard something funny.

"Quite the opposite," the warrior said, "This carriage is for your return."

"Awesome!" Clara beamed, "Perks of the job!"

Petra eyed the man then held out her hand and said "Thanks for coming. I take it there are other adventurers in the carriage Sir..."

"Master Baldric Caelum," the soldier took Petra's hand and kissed it, "You are a most observant woman Miss..."

"Petra," Petra pulled her hand back, iron composure flickering, "It was a simple deduction. This was an urgent quest to deal with a monster infestation. It paid top dollar for goblin heads with less than twenty four hours to complete the job. Usually those with top dollar have men like you on hand to deal with it. But for some reason, their personal guard was unable to handle some goblins? There must have been dozens of nests, and a strict timeframe. So, while you were exterminating the bigger threats, you sent adventurers against the goblins and such. You probably posted a bunch of quest flyers, which explains how Jasson was able to get a hold of one. So this carriage must be to pick up all the bloody and dirty adventurers. But why one so resplendant? Of course-"

"A very talkative observant woman," Baldric said, "You should know that I can't give out any more details, although I'm sure you will discover them anyways. It is as you surmise. The nobles in question are already on this road, so we must pull you out without alerting them to the danger they were in."

"Or so they don't have our smelly bodies sully their day in the woods." Petra said, and Baldric shrugged, "Fine. Let's go guys. The curtains will be nailed shut and they probably took the cushions out."