I Promise To Kill You

Chapter 3:Where is the Forest?

"Huh?! THE WHAT?!

Bathemus exclaims with a crack in his usually deep and calm voice. Roth quickly realizes his actual reason would prove to be a bit bizarre and tedious to explain so he instead says:

"I-I mean I heard a lot about the country side of Genfilheim and decided to go on a tour you know? To experience the greenery and all that stuff..."

Well...Roth wasn't practically lying, just using half truths to explain his reasoning. Roth lets out an awkward laugh and before Barthemus could say anything, Lilian bursts through the door with a paper in her hand. She pants for a few seconds before speaking.

"Sor...Sorry for the hold-up...the paper was buried in a pile." she says with a short breaks due to her shortness of breathe. Roth is handed the papers and he starts reading it whilst humming a unknown melody. The Guild Master and Lilian wait for a few awkward minutes before Roth sets down the paper and says:

"Thank you for letting me see the quests but something keeps catching my attention, may I inquire about it?

"Of course! Go ahead. What's on your mind?"

Barthemus's enthusiasm to help clear his doubts, shows Roth the professional and reliable personality that the Guild Master exudes. Roth points at all the quests listed and starts saying:

"If I am to assume, these are all the quests which have been withdrawn due to not being accepted or left vacant for a significant amount of time, correct?"

"Indeed that's correct."

"In most cases, withdrawn quests consist of elite monster level threats which weren't categorized correctly or extremely low paying ones without much merit. As I saw on the quest board earlier, there weren't any monster subjugation quest or any escort related missions, so I assumed they were withdrawn due to being too dangerous or too tedious."

Roth continues explaining as he taps the table in a steady rhythm to articulate his words better.

"But when I looked at the quests just now, I couldn't find any dangerous ones, only boring ones which don't hold much reward. So, what's the deal with that? Why aren't there any such missions...what's the story?"

Roth finishes his question with slight passion as he utters the word 'story'. Barthemus and Lilian look at each other for a moment, before the Barthemus decides to speak.

"Well...the answer may not be entirely fulfilling but I will explain it nonetheless. As you just said...Yes-all the quests, shown and withdrawn, do not contain any escort jobs or monster threats, except for the extermination quests for critters and such. Part of it could be due to Cortfel being a quiet town without much action, which would explain the no bandit escort missions but its still weird for no monster quests to be available."

Barthemus pauses for a second as he contemplates continuing the conversation, but when he sees Roth listening with full attention and anticipation, he decided to keep talking no matter how ridiculous he may risk sounding.
"There aren't much monster related quests due to no requests being made...or to be more accurate-Because there are no monsters to be seen around these parts..."

Roth's interest is at an all time high as he asks:
"What!? No monsters? Even though this town is so close to the forests?"

"Actually...that is the main reason behind this phenomenon."

Barthemus replies as he prepares himself to indulge in the legends of the Rogue Forest and the mysterious entity it holds. Roth in slight confusion asks:
"What do you mean? Are you referring to the forests?"