Chapter 16: The Adventurer’s Guild
After spending two hours in line, I finally entered the capital. What I saw was a strange mix of ancient Greece, Japan, and Europe. The castle in the center of the city was Japanese style, the buildings around the gate and along the roads around me were in European style, and from what I can see of what I would assume is the noble’s district are Greek oikos.
As I started walking down the road, I started talking to Tamamo.
‘This feels weird, there are so many different styles of building here that are really similar to buildings in my previous world. Is there any reason for that?’
{I’m not really sure myself. I would have ask one of the crafting gods about that but I don’t really want to do that.} She said with an annoyed tone.
‘Do you not get along well with them?’ I asked, curious.
{It’s not that. I’m good friends with a few of them, it’s just the younger ones are always trying to seduce me.}
‘I see, then I need to learn how to kill a god or two.’ I said with a dark expression.
{Oh, and I thought I was the possessive one.} She said laughing.
It was at this point that the young crafting gods started to feel chills going down their spines.
As I was walking around, I found myself in the middle of a big square. Looking around, I saw a building larger than the others. On the sign in the front was a symbol with a sword and stave crossed and surrounded by two pairs of wings.
“I guess that’s the Adventurer’s Guild.” I said to myself, walking up to the door.
When I entered, I was greeted with a calm yet busy scene. People were lined up at the counters, single file. They moved smoothly and no one was causing a disturbance. I could hear loud noises coming from the third floor of the building, so I assumed that was a bar.
‘Honestly, could they add some soundproofing up there?’ I complained to myself.
I was taught how to dull my sense of hearing and smell during my training, but it was still loud enough to be annoying. It was then that a guild employee walked up to me. She was a demon girl that was about the same height as me, she had two horns growing out of her forehead that were the same color as her skin and ended with purplish tips.
“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild, is there anything you need help with?” She greeted me with a business smile.
“I’m here to register as an adventurer, which counter do I go to for that?” I asked politely retuning a smile.
She blushed a little then said, “I-it’s right this way.”
I followed her, confused by her reaction.
{You need to realize that you are quite the looker, Luna. If you’re not careful, you’ll attract some annoying fleas.} Tamamo warned, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
‘Really, I don’t think so. At least not compared to you anyway.’ I said, trying to sooth her.
{You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that.} I could tell she was smiling with the way she said that.
Once we reached the counter, the demon girl started preparing documents that needed to be filled out. They were simple name, race, class, where you’re from that kind of stuff. Once I finished filling that out, I handed over the documents.
“Then, Miss Luna, all that’s left is to get your card and receive an explanation on how the Guild works.” She said trying to be professional.
I could see her stealing glances my way while she was putting a large crystal ball on a stand and placed a metallic card beneath it.
“Please place your hand here and pass a small amount of magic through it.”
I did as she asked and touched the crystal ball. It shone for a second, then a small beam of light shot out from the bottom, engraving my information on the card.
“How interesting.” I said. “I wonder how this works.”
“I’m not really sure myself, all I know is it’s really complicated. Anyway, are you ready for the explanation?” She asked.
“Yes.” I answered.
I already knew how the guild worked since it was one of the things Dad taught me. I pretended to listen to the whole thing while talking with Tamamo. After about 15 minutes, the receptionist finished her explanation.
“That should about cover it, do you have any questions?” She asked.
“No, I’m good.” I answered back.
“My name is Shuten, welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild.” She said with a smile.
“Thank you. Ah, before I forget could you show this to the guild master?” I asked as I took out the letter of introduction Dad gave to me.
“The guild master?” She asked as she took the letter from me, confused. When she read the name on the letter her eyes went wide. “I’ll deliver this right away, please wait for a moment.” She said and ran off.
After about five minutes Shuten returned, “Please follow me, the guild master would like to meet you.” She seemed a bit nervous as she led me to the fourth floor. We stopped in front of a big door at the end of the hall. Shuten knocked on the door and waited for a reply. I heard a voice tell us to come in, so Shuten opened the door.
Sitting behind the desk was a slightly muscular elf. He had long green hair the shade of pine needles. He had one blue eye and a green one. When he saw me, he stood up and walked over to me. He offered a handshake and I obliged.
“It’s nice to meet you Miss Luna, I am Vince, the guild master of Savanna’s guild branch.” He said with a gentle smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting with you today?”
“I just arrived in the capital and finished registering with the guild and I thought I should greet you.” I replied, retuning his smile with one of my own.
“I see, why don’t you take a seat so we can talk.” He said moving over to a couch.
As we sat down, Shuten prepared some tea. We talked about small unimportant things for a bit until she was done. When she finished pouring the tea, she left the room. We took a sip from our cups when the guild master spoke,
“The letter from your father said that you would be going to the main office of the Guild in the Celestia Kingdom soon, is that correct?” He asked getting straight to the point.
“That is the plan, though I plan to raise my rank some first. I know I need to be at least D rank to be able to freely move between countries.” I answered taking another sip of tea. “This tea is quite good.”
“It’s from my home country, I only have it served to important guests or nobles.” He pridefully explained.
“By the way, how exactly do you know my father? I’ve never heard him mention you before.” I asked.
“He is a general of this country, so we have worked together in the past. He also fought along side my sister against the King of Fiends.”
“Is your sister the Elf general by any chance?” I asked, my interest peaked.
“She is.” He replied.
“I wonder if I will ever meet her. Dad told me she was the best at archery in the whole United Army. I kind of want to test my skill against hers.” I said, my competitive spirit showing.
“Hahaha, I see you are as competitive as your father.” He laughed.
We continued to chat for a while longer about my father. Before I knew it, it started getting dark.
“It seems to be getting late, I should go.” I said standing up.
“Do you need me to recommend you an inn?” He asked, moving back to his desk.
“No, I plan on staying at an inn called Fox’s Mirror, I was told it’s close to the guild.” I said declining his offer.
“Yes, it right across the square. Just exit the guild and go straight.” He sat down and gave me directions.
“Thank you very much.” I said bowing my head a little.
“It’s nothing, I enjoyed chatting with you. You are very easy to talk to unlike the other nobles out there.” He said wearily.
“Well, I wasn’t really raised like a noble. Heck, I learned my family name just before I left the shrine village.” I replied as I left the room, shutting the door behind me.
I walked down the stairs and headed to the door. I saw Shuten out of the corner of my eye and waved to her. She waved back then went back to her work. I then left the guild building and started to walk in the direction of the inn.
For a split second I thought I felt someone staring at me. But the feeling vanished just as quickly.
‘Hey Tamamo, do you know if anyone is watching me?’ I asked.
{You are but it’s not important. They are just some followers of mine that have business in this city. They probably noticed that there is some form of connection between us and are looking out for you. If they start to bother you, I can always tell them to ignore you.} She explained with a sigh.
‘Is something big going to happen?’ I asked, starting to get worried.
{No, they’re always like that. It seems like they are preparing the area for a V.I.P that is coming to the guild in the next few days.}
‘OK, then. If you say so.’ I said and continued to make my way to the inn.
When I reached the door and went inside, I was greeted with a great smell. It smelled like stew and freshly baked bread. My stomach started growling, making me realize I hadn’t eaten in a while. I walked up to the reception desk and found a middle-aged rabbit woman there.
“Hello there, young lady, how can I help you?” She said cheerfully.
“I’m looking for a place to stay for a little while, I was recommended this inn by an adventurer named Jarl.” I answered.
“A recommendation from that good-for-nothing, that’s impressive. He doesn’t normally talk to anyone aside from his party members, especially pretty girls like you.” She said surprised.
“Really, he was quite talkative the last few days.” I replied.
“You must have really made a good impression on him, for that I’ll let you stay for free for the first night and the meal will be on the house. You’ll have to pay if you’re going to stay any longer though.” She said.
“Thank you, I’ll put in a good word for you the next time I meet him then.” I said, giving her a wink.
“I’d appreciate it more if you put a good word in for me with Mister Apollo.” She said laughing at my misunderstanding.
“Will do.”
“Your room will be on the third floor, second room on the right. Will you be having a meal now or later?” She asked getting back to business.
“I’ll take it now; I don’t think I can take smelling it anymore before I go and eat whatever I see.” I said, my stomach grumbling again.
“Then come on back and take a seat, I’ll have it right out.” She said as she went to the kitchen.
I sat down and waited for a few minutes when she returned with a bowl and plate of bread. I dug in immediately.
“This is amazing.” I said, my eyes shining.
“Thanks, I try my best.” The proprietress said as she walked back over to the front desk. “When you’re done, just leave the stuff there.”
When I finished, I walked up to the third floor and opened the door to my room and laid down on the bed. I let out a long sigh.
‘A bed after so long is nice.’
{Hey, before you go to sleep you should read that letter from the Goddess of Fate.} Tamamo said.
“Oh right, there was that. I can’t believe I forgot.” I said, pulling out the letter and started to read.
Author's Note:
Sorry it took so long to get this out, I had to help out with some stuff because it's really windy. There might be one more chapter today, but don't be surprised if there isn't one. Thanks for reading.