Coming to Capital City both girls had seen things they would have never imagined. Street vendors hawking wares from lands far away. Performers pulling off stunts that baffled the mind. Men and women of every size and shape flooding the streets followed by children that ranged from the adorable to the obnoxious. What drew their attention however were the awe inspiring warriors strewn about from metal clad knights in shimmering armour to those with impossibly long and assuredly unwieldly weapons hefted upon shoulders. They herded together forming mercenary groups protecting wealthy patrons or shaking down those in debt just beyond the city guards limited sight. Mages too caught their eye as they walked about given away by their enchanting attire or in one case flying down from atop a magic carpet. Despite what horrors the city may hide, and the many crimes being committed just out of view, there was no denying the capital was a hub of wonder and exciting people. The only downside was all those exciting people couldn’t help but engage in the most ludicrous of past times: waiting in line.
“Divine strike me now.”
Valerie groaned as the second hour stuck in line ticked, the tedious activity exacerbated by the crick in her neck. If Albert were to list his libraries storage room as available for rent, his realtor would likely use words like quaint, cozy and rustic, a blatant lie if ever there was one. The space was incredibly small and covered in an inch thick layer of dust that could choke the unlife out of a freshly reanimated corpse. Samantha swore she fell through a chair that disappeared into a cloud of dust and Valerie was inclined to believe her. Beyond the grime, there was stacks and stacks of books taking up the vast majority of the space yet all neatly arranged and still categorized by genre or volume. You could say what you wanted about Albert, but he was organized to a fault. Fashioning a pair of makeshift beds out of the many books, the duo did their best to get some shut eye after a long and eventful day. Samantha slept within her cloak as usual while Valerie made do without, only wanting a decent night’s sleep that wouldn’t come. A part of her was too nervous at the thought of visiting the Adventurers Guild, especially after Joanne talked it up to high heaven the previous night.
Getting barely a wink of sleep, the huntress rose at the crack of dawn rolling her friend onto the floor in an effort to wake her up. It did not work. She was forced to carry Samantha down the creaky loft ladder meeting Albert and Joanne already in the midst of enjoying a morning cup of tea. The beast woman had shed her apron and filthy work clothes opting to dawn a flowing yellow sundress that contrasted against her savage features while accentuating the desirable ones. Albert meanwhile wore a completely new suit that somehow also featured numerous ink stains, some in the exact same spots and more aged than the finest wine. Hoisting the still asleep Samantha over her shoulder, Joanne guided Albert and Valerie to the district affectionately known as ‘Adventure Town’. Obvious names aside, the huntress was surprised to see the sheer number of skilled warriors and mages milling about. Her and Samantha’s wanderings while searching for Albert’s library had taken them past several fighters and wizards yet it was here they all congregated. She was amazed to see the innumerable adventurers with hardened battle worn armour, gleaming well maintained weapons, a few skimpy attires for those with the physique to flaunt it and a shocking number of monster pets loyally following their masters. It only helped to elevate the girl’s excitement, that is until she realized the throngs of people weren’t just here to be gawked at. They were in fact all in line to enter the Adventurers Guild and not a one would even dare consider letting anyone cut ahead of them.
The quartet joined the back of the snake like congregation adding to the ever-expanding shuffle that seemed to never get any closer. Every step forward was met with the crushing realization that around the corner yet more people were ahead of the group. After the first hour Joanne left needing to purchase supplies and open up her restaurant for the day. She promised the remaining three a hearty meal if they ever got out of line, her mocking laugh as she walked off haunted the back of Valerie’s mind. She would have recommended Albert also leave and tend to his library but they both knew the girls would be in no position to fill in the necessary Adventuring forms. Samantha didn’t rouse even the slightest while “waiting” in line, the huntress gave up carrying her friend and rolled or dragged her the rest of the time. Finally at around noon the trio made it to the Adventurers Guild entrance and were next to be called up.
The Adventurer’s Guild was a large brownstone building with three floors that towered over its neighbours. The sign out front didn’t advertise any name or branch designation but instead featured a carved wooden image of a Dragons Skull with a sword jutting out the top, the universal symbol of the guild according to Albert. He explained it was an homage to the guilds founder who was known to have slain a dragon in much the same way. After his death his greatest feat was used to represent the guild and its widespread branches. Not only did it honour the achievements and morals of their founder but also became an easily recognizable symbol that transcended language barriers. The elf was on the cusp of explaining the entire history of Gregor Dragon Slayer when a ding and loud ‘next’ came from the guild’s open entrance.
Crossing the boundary into the building, Valerie felt a sudden weakness in her knees, not from nervousness but quite literally all the strength leaving her body. It was at this time Samantha arose, shooting awake and coming to her feet, she looked around for danger only to be met with a starkly decorated room and a clerk sitting behind a temporary desk. The old woman typed away on a strange blocky device, the keys clacking furiously under her acrylic nails until she was forced to move an attached cylinder back to the centre and resumed clacking. The typewriter, as the duo would later learn, was a relatively new invention that had similarly shocked the many people served by the older woman although she was already bored at the sight of it. The frantically typing receptionist was more skin and bones than muscle with a face that could launch a thousand ships straight into a hurricane. She wore a pair of half rimmed glasses and kept her expertly combed and styled hair up in a beehive which shone an eye-catching silvery grey. Her clothes were the standard company mandated uniform and as such was not the most exciting outfit on the market. The buttoned up blue and white shirt with long black skirt wouldn’t win any awards for creativity unless you paired it with the red style of the Shurle branch and Yellow for Maroch. Together the three uniforms might just make the annual end of year party a lively affair. Not that Margaretta Vice would ever know as she held the record for not longest no show to such events while still always being invited.
Margaretta had been the receptionist for this branch of the guild for nearly sixty years and was older than the brick and mortar that held the building together. A fact that was less exaggeration and more fact following the recent re-construction after a self-proclaimed elite monster hunter tore half the building down in a fit of anger when he was shortchanged for a job. His membership had been summarily revoked and he was banned from all branches in the region.
The guild only recently re-opened following a hasty repair and much of the usual memorabilia was missing. The loss of a local branch also caused many of its members to become frustrated without jobs to undertake or the ability to advance. As a result, a sizable back log of requests had formed, monsters would not wait for adventurers or their bureaucratic overlords to be ready and the common folk suffered for it. A week after re-opening and interviewing a slew of new lacklustre recruits, Margaretta was on the verge of walking out and never returning as she had been every day of her long career. At least no major incidents would be repeating any time soon especially with the wards etched into the walls inhibiting all physical and mystical abilities. The old receptionist glanced up over her half rim glasses to the new arrivals and would have scoffed at their atrocious get up had she not seen a familiar face.
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“Albert? Is that you? You old fart, haven’t seen you in ages!”
The shrill chalkboard scratch voice filled the room almost causing both girls to instinctively cover their ears. Albert shared no such reservation and greeted yet another old friend with warmth and affection.
“Margaretta, how have you been? You’re still as young and beautiful as ever I see. I remember when you were a little girl sitting in your mother’s lap as she read to you those fairy tales.”
The bag of bones receptionist let out a snort that could haunt the dead.
“Ha! My mother was as good at reading as she was at cooking and let me tell you some days I wish I’d gone hungry. Oh and the mouth on that bat. By the time I could walk all I wanted to was run up to and tell her to shut her trap!”
The two senior citizens prattled on about the past, current events and finally reached the youth that would determine the future. Margaretta turned to the two would be adventurers waving a dismissive hand in their direction.
“And who are these two… girls? Your grandsons’ grandsons grandsons grandsons grandchildren?”
Albert let out a warm laugh while shaking his head.
“Afraid not, these two fine young women are new acquaintances of mine who wish to join the guild.”
Margaretta cocked an eyebrow and tried to assess the girls further. She dismissed Samantha outright believing her inability to look the girl dead on a sign she was inconsequential. Valerie however, she scrutinized every nook and cranny from the top of her black-haired head to the tip of her muddy shoes. What she found was disappointing in her opinion and was backed by many years of experience.
“Are you sure you girls wouldn’t rather ask mummy and daddy take you on a fun carriage ride outside the city walls? I’m sure it would be just as exciting.”
A heavy silence filled the room, neither Valerie nor Samantha reacted to the jab while Albert could only shake his head. The long-serving receptionist immediately understood her mistake, it was the same story time and again. No loving and complete family would push their children into such dangerous work only the truly desperate or deranged would willing choose this life. Feigning indifference, she waved the group over and prepared a number of documents for them to read over and sign. She was unsurprised to learn neither girl could read despite their ages, yet another attribute many young adventurers shared. The guild offered services to new members including a course on reading and writing that many signed up for and only a handful followed through with. She and Albert filled in what details they could while ensuring the girls both knew exactly what kind of work they were getting into. They nodded and agreed yet the elder pair couldn’t help thinking the girls were not as prepared as they made themselves out to be. When all was said and done, Margaretta reached into a box at her feet and presented two wooden badges to the girls showing a simplified version of the sword pierced dragon as on the building’s exterior.
“All officially recognized adventurers are given a guild badge to not only signify your accredited status but also to show your rank within the guild.”
She explained with practiced ease as she fished out a different badge for comparison. The second badge was metallic and the design more complex with an additional sword piercing the dragon’s skull.
“Move up the ranks by completing jobs and you may earn yourself one of these. There are more but I’m not getting up to grab a badge neither of you bozos will ever get to hold let alone see.”
Valerie listened attentively to the explanation while Samantha inspected the wooden badge by gnawing at the edge, an act she was not the first to try.
“So, what will we be doing exactly?”
The huntress enquired a bit late into the interview process. Throughout the meeting Margaretta had mentioned jobs and contracts multiple times, but Valerie wasn’t quite sure what they were. Killing monsters sounded easy and fun but she wanted to know if there would be some caveats or stipulations. Or to put it another way, she needed to know if she would get paid extra for killing more monsters than was on the contract. Margaretta huffed and pointed to a large bulletin board with what looked like over a hundred sheets nailed in place and overlapping one another.
“Jobs are what they say on the tin. Someone approaches us with a commission, we determine if it’s worthwhile and stick it up on the board. Contracts are basically the same, but they are exclusively for killing monsters.”
Jobs could range from any number of simple requests from escort missions to overnight guard duty. Contracts always had something to do with killing a monster and often overlapped with standard jobs. Escort a merchant AND kill the pack of monsters assaulting travellers was one such example. Simple enough, Valerie thought, the two designations were even seperated by different coloured paper. There was one additional set of frequent requests that had yet to be explained, and Samantha was the first to enquire about those.
“What about the ones with the red cross?”
The most numerous by far, they covered almost sixty percent of the total requests stapled to the wall. Margaretta’s voice grew deadly serious and despite her reservations looked both girls in the eye.
“Those… are extermination contracts. You’re not dealing with monsters. You’re dealing with people.”
The Gentile kingdom was a land of abundance and when there was something worth having there were those who would take it. Bandits were a particular nuisance that could crop up anywhere but given the countries current state of affairs they had become far more frequent over the last few years. Samantha was all too aware of this fact and her attention became hyper focused on the red notices. Margaretta snapped her fingers drawing the girl’s attention back to her.
“Forget it, ya little psychopath. Those contracts are for seasoned adventurers, the kind who have earned the guilds trust and won’t kill indiscriminately.”
She wasn’t lying about the rule, but the reason was deeper than she let on. In truth they had to restrict those types of contracts as some adventurers were never quite the same after taking on their first extermination and more often than not quit. Killing mindless monsters was simple on paper, killing a person with thoughts and dreams on the other hand was less so. With their induction ending on a sour note, Albert thanked Margaretta for her time and the trio left. The line hadn’t shrunk an inch since they first joined and only seemed to grow ever larger as the day went on but neither Valerie nor Samantha cared. Walking out of the guild they felt a new sense of purpose, drawn to a calling they willingly participated in but could now be paid for. Strolling past their contemporaries they felt unstoppable, until Samantha realized they forgot something.
“Hey Val, shouldn’t we have picked up a contract while we were in there?”
The newly minted adventurer froze, she looked back at the entrance to the guild already accepting a new customer and then at the world spanning line.
“BOLLOCKS!”
She raged causing some observers to snigger at the girl’s outburst. Albert too laughed, like a friendly grandparent watching his descendant continuously trip over themselves.
“There’s no rush, those contracts will be waiting for you when we return. Come, Joanne will be waiting for us and signing all those papers has made me famished.”
The upset girl begrudgingly agreed vowing to arrive even earlier the next day to take her pick of contracts. The trio walked along the cobblestones taking a different path to their destination and seeing more of the city. They passed by a city square that several streets fed into and were forced to halt when Samantha froze in place. The girl glanced around the square taking in the surrounding buildings and even an ornate fountain adorned with mermaid statues pouring water from jugs. She walked around the square, stopping in random locations before shaking her head and moving onto another. She ceased marching around at one point just in front of the fountain and looked up to the grand decoration. In the centre of the ornate display was the symbol of the Gentile Kingdom: a white rose in full bloom cast in luxurious gold. Or gold paint at the very least, one would have to mad to leave pure gold out in the open. Below the symbol was a plaque that fancifully described the founding of the kingdom as well as the city itself including that the spot where the fountain rest was the original town square. Unable to read or comprehend the ancient history, Samantha stepped over the stone boundary wading into the water much to Valerie and Alberts confusion. Passersby stopped to watch the odd girl climb up the old fountain whispering if they should alert the guards or toss change at the street performance. When she finally reached the tip of the fountain, blocking a spout from shooting water, Samantha smiled to herself and exclaimed enthusiastically.
“Neat!”
Walking up to the fountains edge, Valerie called up to her friend.
“Samantha? What do you think you’re doing?”
She tried and failed to hide her embarrassment, all these prying eyes staring right at the display was getting to her more than she liked.
“This is it; this is the place Val!”
The huntress stared up awaiting an answer which Samantha happily gave.
“This is the spot where I die!”
Her voice echoed out beyond the square carrying far into the distance so that none could deny exactly what they just heard.