Garnedell’s eyebrows knit in consternation even as Zilnek nodded, a soft smile forming on his face. Joe noticed and softened slightly, glad that Zilnek understood and wasn’t too upset. Garendell stared at Kilniara for a time then looked back at Joe.
“Then…”
Joe smiled, “I’m not sure… what it means either. We shall see.”
Kilniara smiled, “Do not worry, Garnedell. It is a good thing. Just… I am no longer an apprentice.”
Garnedell nodded at that, then nodded again with more firm acceptance and turned back to Joe, “Then is she joining us for lunch?”
Joe blinked at that, then realized there were a lot of new situations that would come about and sighed, “I’ll treat her for today. It seems only fair.”
This relaxed the other two considerably and Joe only shook his head, ignoring the exchange. As they were climbing the exit, Joe remembered their plan for the afternoon and brought up their immediate task.
“Right. So, both guilds can make parties, right?”
Kilnaira replied quickly enough, “Both guilds usually share services. Many things they do are similar, although the adventurer guild deals with wild beasts and monsters so are more heavily geared to skinning and processing of the creatures corpses and the dungeoneer guild offers guidance to the specific dungeon and handling quests or tasks specific to those dungeons for the city folk.”
Joe thought on that for a bit before shaking his head, “They basically do the same thing and they refuse to combine... well, I guess competition's good, but...”
Kilniara continued responding, “They originally were one guild but the head of the dungeoneer guild and the head of the adventurer guild had a falling out, splitting. The two fought with each other constantly until the Ancient One forced them to peace and negotiation.”
“Huh. Wonder what they fought about?”
Garnedell shook his head at that, “Common folk will likely never know.”
“Hmm… Garnedell, is there a benefit to being in a party?”
Garnedell nodded, “Yes. My parents spoke of it as a boon.”
“Hmm… so we can be a party of three, at least, right?”
Garnedell glanced at Zilnek before looking up at Joe, “Yes.”
Joe smiled, looking to Zilnek, “Don’t worry. I’ll figure things out after … yeah.”
Zilnek nodded back after a moment and Joe then nodded to himself.
“So… at least we can just do what we have now, OK?”
Kilniara smiled at that and Garnedell nodded, “It seems good for now.”
“Until things are ‘fixed’ later,” Joe finished with a meaningful glance to Zilnek.
Zilnek smiled at that and calmed, and Joe smiled back, “Then let’s head there and call for the partier while we order our food and eat.”
All three agreed passionately on that point and the group soon found themselves at the adventurer’s guild and going to a rather nice common room in the rear of the building which was more a restaurant than a common room in its décor. This is… quite nice. And the smell!
Joe found the other three also sniffing appreciatively and Joe let the three take over with ordering as he wasn’t sure what to get in any case. He did leave the three at the table, however, and head out to the main reception area and ask for a partier, letting them know that the partier should seek them out in the restaurant. It seemed that the guild was willing to accept his request and he soon found himself back at the table and waiting for their meal, which came quite fast.
When it did come, Joe was surprised to find a huge slab of meat and nothing more. While Joe’s mouth began salivating immediately at the smell, he did find he was a bit unsettled to be without any greens or fruit. After the plates had been set before them, he did pull the waiter aside.
“Excuse me, but are there no greens or other sides?”
“Sides? What are sides?”
“Oh, hmm… Could I see the menu…” No menu… no writing… Joe grunted with some annoyance and started again, “Never mind. I believe I made a mistake in allowing my apprentices to order. Please tell me what you have available?”
“You have the lesser wyvern right now. It is our best meat at the moment. There is also some great bear, chicken, and beef, if you prefer,” the man added on with some disdain, “The rest was sold to the market.”
“Ah. I am happy with the meat. I was wondering on some greens, vegetables, or fruit?” Joe replied as he looked around the room and found the plates remarkably plant free, “You… do not offer such?”
“We do have some apples and oranges, one kiwi, and several herbs which have not been processed.”
“What do you mean they have not been processed?”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
The man seemed to look at Joe with consternation and a hint of mockery, “They have not been used by alchemists or chemists.”
Joe almost got side tracked in asking the difference between an alchemist and a chemist but let it go, focusing on their meal and holding up a fist in illustration, “Excellent. Four oranges and four apples, and a handful of edible greens, a handful about the size of a fist; four handfuls, please.”
The waiter blinked in shock for several moments, eyelids flickering like butterfly wings before he quickly gasped out, “That will be… four copper for the fruit and, uh… maybe eight? Copper? For the greens?”
“Make sure they are a mix of greens, not the same thing. Bring them out immediately.”
“Uh, sir, that meal will be twelve copper and four nickel!”
“You wish me to pay now?”
The man took a deep breath before replying unevenly, “These… extras would normally be paid for at the front desk.”
“Oh, right. Give me a second,” Joe offered as he pulled his bag out from under the table and dug in through his coin. He ended up stopping in some confusion before looking at Garnedell.
“Copper?”
Garnedell seemed to wilt under Joe’s question, a bit embarrassed, “Square one hole.”
“Oh! That’s… expensive. OK, no problem,” Joe found a couple square… Nickel, right? Coins but nothing above that and stood up, “I’ll return shortly. I’ll sell this core. That should be enough, right?” Joe asked as he held up a simple single core from a slime.
The man’s eye’s did shine a bit at seeing the slime core before nodding, “That will be sufficient. I will bring out your meals. Please present your coin to me when I return.”
“Certainly,” Joe said as he turned and left the table once more, “What a man must do to get a healthy diet!”
It seemed that simple fruits and vegetables were less regarded, as their meals were liberally laced with the fruits and vegetables in their meals at the inn, but he was surprised how little they were available here. It seemed the wealthy had a disdain for them. Although… they were really overpriced. So… what are they serving us at the inn?
Joe was out in the main area and looking around the reception before finally deciding to head up to the desk he’d been to the last time he was here. It was the emptiest at the time, and he hoped he could at least be pointed in the right direction.
“I’m sorry, but could you tell me where I can sell my gains?”
The young man at the reception glanced up, taking in Joe’s face before dropping back down to look at what Joe was holding up for him to see, “Ah, a core. It seems… I have not seen such a core before.”
“A simple slime core from up the road. I have not seen many slimes near this city.”
“Ah, I see. Slime cores are quite rare.”
“Really? Slimes seem quite common.”
“Oh, they are. But being able to gain a core from a slime is very difficult. Most are destroyed in the fight.”
“Oh,” Joe replied, saying nothing. He waited and the man simply pointed across the way.
“You will find cores are sold through that door. The sign above the door will let you know they purchase cores.”
Joe looked at the door the man mentioned, then thanked him before heading out. As he came to the door, he looked up at the sign and saw a rather stylistic single core painted on it. Now that Joe knew what it was, it was simple to recognize it, but without being told, he’d only seen a rather abstract swirl of lines. He held up his slime core to the left of the sign and compared the two, and was easily able to recognize it. Huh… makes sense.
Joe dropped his hand and walked into the small off room where he saw a few cozier desks with seats available for customers as well. Only one desk was occupied which made sense as Joe was the only customer. Joe walked up to the core buyer and settled in the seat across from him.
The man was a bit older than him, easily middle aged, and seemed a bit pompous as he didn’t even look up, “Appraised or non-appraised.”
“Uh? I’m not sure? It’s not appraised as of now.”
The man snorted and look up at Joe with his reply before shaking his head and taking the core. When he did take it, he took a moment to stare at it carefully, “I… have not seen one of these before. Which monster did you retrieve it from?”
“A slime.”
The man raised an eyebrow at this, “Very lucky. I can give you the base value of two hundred iron. If you wish to take the chance of appraisal, it may be much more valuable, or…”
Joe waved him off, “Or much cheaper. It’s fine, I’ll take two hundred iron. Please also give me some copper as well.” I hope copper is cheaper than iron, heh.
The man nodded at that and eagerly slipped the slime core in a small velvet lined box of its own. Is that velvet? And, maybe I’ll need to take better care of my cores? Joe didn’t mind the way he treated his cores as he had so many of them, but seeing how this man working for such an obviously large entity treated their cores reminded him of the amount of wealth he was carrying. It didn’t matter though, as he had no intention of flaunting or using the full extent of it, and even considered destroying or hiding it. It was becoming too much of a pain and could become a serious issue later. Huh… are there banks here?
Joe’s thoughts continued to meander as the man began counting out his coin and Joe found one large square four holes, nine medium square four holes, and nine small square four holes. Huh, one hundred ninety nine, right? These are iron… ok, that was overkill, I only need square one holes. As Joe feared, nine large, medium, and square two holes came down next followed by ten large square one holes. Joe picked one of the large one holes up and slipped it back to the man.
“May I have change for this as well?”
“Would you like small or just copper will be enough?”
“Just medi… ah, copper is enough.” Right, gotta remember, the medium ones are just named their denomination.
The man did just that and pulled out ten more medium square one… copper coins. Joe stood at that and thanked the man before simply leaving the room. There was no more need to be here and the man had already turned back to his entertainment as soon as he’d put the slime core in its container.
Joe walked across the reception room and into the dining room to find an older lady waiting at his table. He didn’t really recognize her so he didn’t think it was the same partier as the last one who’d put Garendell and him in a party. Joe didn’t really mind so much and came up to the woman before holding a hand out in greeting.
She accepted his greeting, sliding her hand from his forearm down to and past his palm. That’s a new one. Old style of doing things? Young whipper snappers getting too uppity and lazy to do the whole greeting? Or is this just a more formal way of greeting. Joe found his thoughts curiously pondering it but thought little of it and offered the same in return to her. Her mouth twitched at his greeting, and Joe wasn’t sure what he’d done or why she reacted, so let it go.
“Hello, I am Joe. It is good to see you. We are looking for a party of three; my two apprentices and I,” Joe said as he pointed out Garnedell and Kilniara.
The woman took his statement in stride and replied rather formally, “I am Muonooan. You are in luck. I am just able to create a party of three. It is difficult, but possible.”
“Hmm. Wonderful. How long would it take?”
“Not much longer than an average partying.”
Partying… huh… I guess it would make sense to make that noun a verb… sounds weird though. Joe shook his head and turned his thoughts back to the conversation, “Apologies, I was finding the language … interesting. In any case, then please create our party.”
The woman nodded but replied cautiously, “You are unconcerned with the price?”
“Are you untrustworthy?”
The woman opened a mouth then shut it slowly before nodding slightly, a small smile playing across her lips, “Hmm. Interesting. That will be one copper, then.”
Garnedell stood at that, anger flushing across his face, “This is robbery!”