The Achievement Junkie 154 Night in Federal City

They made sure to turn in the weapons Jack offered, as well as the refined cleansing powder. After giving Advisor Wain a quick goodbye, both Zariff and Jack took their horses to the inn.

After riding into town, the meeting, and choosing weapons, It was already late into the afternoon and the sun had started to set. It was about ten minutes of riding until the inn was in their sights. 

"This is the place. What do you think?" asked Zariff with a playful smile.

Stunned by luxurious it was, Jack was taken aback. It was huge and magnificent, with white and gold trim on almost everything. The inn had five huge floors and was bustling. Even the sign saying "Heavenly Palace" was over the top and extremely attractive to the eye.

"This is the place? You used to come here?"

"Yeah… I'm not a huge fan of the decorum, but the food is to die for." Zariff shrugged and led them both to the stable in the back.

Normally, guests would have to tie down their horses, purchase the room, and then take them to the stables. However, Zariff didn't care since his wife's family owned the place. A stable hand tried to stop them after he found out Zariff had no room key, but he just told the young man to ask the owners about him and left with Jack.

They entered through the back door and made their way through the bottom floor's restaurant. When they reached the front desk, Zariff asked, "Hey, Molly, have you seen my wife and daughter?"

"Zariff, you're finally here! They're waiting for you in the dining hall. Look for booth 18." The receptionist smiled when she saw Zariff and happily shared the information.

Zariff thanked her and took Jack to the back corner of the restaurant. In that corner, there were only private booths. It was common for high-rollers or wealthy nobles to use such booths, but it would be Jack's first time.

They knocked on the door and it was quickly opened. "Come in, dear."

Following Marisha's instructions, Jack and Zariff each took a seat. Of course, Marisha made sure to sit with Zariff so that Maura and Jack were sat together too.

"So, how'd it go back at headquarters?"' asked Marisha, eyeing her husband.

At first, he didn't respond, but he soon opened his mouth and said, "It went alright. I was honorably discharged, and we've got quite a sum of gold as a way to thank me. I think we should get a nice little house for ourselves. What do you think, Marisha?"

"I'd like that." She caressed his arm, happy to know that her husband could finally relax.

It was torture for her to watch her husband fight the poison, especially after any fights or missions he had. Though he hid it well with hid drinking, Marisha knew how her husband was always in terrible pain.

"And the poison? Will they cure it?"

"That--"

"Yes, they agreed to hunt down the remaining ingredients for the cure and they'll make it themselves. Also, their searching for a way to lift his curse too." Interjecting, Jack made sure not to mention his deal involving Ponlinne's staff.

He didn't want Marisha or Maura to know about that. If Marisha found out, Jack was afraid that she might try to thank him by sending him and Maura on a date that he couldn't refuse. Not that he wouldn't mind it, but Jack didn't want to pursue any relationships for the time being. He felt he was too weak, especially after seeing the Adventurers Association's powerful lineup.

"That's great!" shouted Maura. "You'll finally feel better Papa! But for now, just relax, you've already got plenty of savings to live off of. Just enjoy some time with Mom at home."

Zariff nodded. "Fine, I'll listen to you, Maura. So, what will you do now? I'm guessing you wanted to go with him, right?"

Maura blushed when her dad spoke so directly about it. She was still afraid that he would turn her down again and force her to stay.

"So long as you're with Jack, I'm okay with it. Just stick close to him, okay?" Zariff smiled at his daughter and turned to Jack. "As for you, take care of my daughter. If anything happens to her, then I'll come looking for you, whether I'm healed or not."

"Papa! Thank you!" Tears formed in Maura's eyes after she heard her father. "You're really okay with me leaving? I don't know when I'll be back?"

"It's fine, just be careful and don't let him do anything too stupid."

Marisha stayed quiet, enjoying the moment. She was happy to finally have Zariff allow their daughter to leave and learn to live life. And he was even trying to keep her and Jack together, that was a big plus in Marisha's eyes.

"I'll make sure she's fine, so don't worry. Which reminds me…" Taking out a sword from his storage, Jack turned to Maura. "Here, this is for you."

"What?! Are you serious?" Though she was questioning it, Maura didn't hesitate to take it from his hands.

"A sword?" Zariff saw it and was confused. He thought that Jack had chosen it for himself. And why was Maura happy about getting a sword?

Looking at her daughter, Marisha asked, "Honey, isn't it about time you told your father?"

"Time she told me what? What kind of secret did you two keep from me?"

Maura took a deep breath and nodded to her mother. Then, she looked her father in the eye. "Papa, I'm going to leave to get much stronger and I want to be even stronger than you. I never told you this, but I'm a spell sword, not just a mage like I told you. Are you mad?"

"A spell sword… My daughter is a spell sword?! That's amazing!" Zariff shouted for joy. He never thought his daughter would have such a rare class, why wouldn't he be excited.

"Sweety, that's great! No wonder you were always trying to go out on adventures. With Jack's help, I'm sure you'll get stronger than me in no time!"

At first, Zariff didn't like the thought of his only daughter being stronger than him. But once he knew that she had a rare and powerful subclass, his perspective changed. If she kept grinding and pushed herself, she could become one of the strongest people within her level.

"Since it's such a great occasion, why not celebrate?" asked Jack.

"We've already put in the orders, so the food and drink will be back shortly. Until then, how about you tell us about your masterplan, Jack? What's next on your to-do list?" Marisha turned the tables on him again, but it wasn't a loaded question so Jack was fine with answering.

"I'm going to hurry back to Reinolt to get the others and then we'll start traveling around to the neighboring countries to grind and search for valuable items or dungeons."

"Oh, come on Jack. We know you've got bigger plans than that. Maynard wouldn't shut up about finding the shrine of the ancient sword god and Rydel mentioned something about going to Trodar earlier."

Since Marisha didn't give Jack a chance to avoid the subject, he let out a sigh and answered, "Well, those are part of the plan. I'm not 100% sure of everything we'll do on the way to trodar, but I don't want to enter Trodar until I'm at least lv. 35," explained Jack.

"As for that sword god, I still need to talk to Maynard about that. I think there's a better god for him to pledge to. The goal will be for everyone to pledge to a god and gain their blessings. That way, we'll have some kind of advantage against people our level. It would help us a lot."

Hearing that, Maura blinked and asked, "Does that mean you're going to help me do that too?"

"Yeah, you're part of the party, aren't you?" Jack joked around with her, making Maura feel a little embarrassed in front of her parents. "I'll explain more about the gods later when the whole party is together, that way I don't repeat myself."

A knock then came from the door. "It's me, I've got your order ready."

"Come on in Mom! Now you can finally meet Jack." Marisha yelled at the door, but she never looked away from the table.

"Oh, he's here?" As the door slid open a beautiful, mature woman entered the room with a large tray in her hands. She was clearly older than Marisha, but her looks were uncannily similar.

"It's so nice to meet you! I'm Marisha's mother, Martha, but you can just call me grandma like Maura does." Sharing her daughter's glib tongue, Martha set down five plates on the table; one for each of them and one for herself. "So, I've heard so much about you. Tell me, other than her beauty, what is it you like about our little Maura?"

It was then that Jack realized the night was going to be long and the conversation would be hard to maneuver.

Chapter end