Ch. 13 – A Reunion in Ancona

They rolled in through the gate of Ancona, and a few meters in, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Is he just letting us out here? I guess we are at our destination, but still...

The driver shouted back, “We're here” as if to emphasize they needed to get out.

Damien sighed, and opened the door to leave, grabbing their chest off the back.

“Thank you for your patronage,” he said, before immediately leaving.

Betty seemed annoyed, “He could have at least took us to the Guild, or an inn.”

Damien set down the chest, trying to not be bothered by the situation. “So, what should we do first?”

Betty pointed, “If I remember correctly, the Guild is that building,” she explained pointing to the roof of a building a few streets over.

Damien leaned forward a bit. “That's the Guild hall? The one in Silaro is barely the size of a tavern.”

Betty nodded. “Yes. Ancona is the headquarters of the Guild in this country since this is the capital, so it's much larger with all the main staff living here.”

Damien nodded, picking up the chest and following after her.

They kept walking through the streets, stopping occasionally so Damien could put down the chest and rest his arms.

Bluey seemed concerned. “Master...do you want me to carry it?”

Damien was about to decline, but then remembered how strong Bluey was. “Um...are you okay carrying it?”

Bluey smiled, “Of course! Here...” she said, handing over Aurora (who had been held in her arms since they got there). She then picked up the chest with ease.

“Th-thanks...” Damien said, amazed again at her strength.

“Piyu!” Aurora said back, nuzzling his stomach as he held her.

Now with Bluey carrying the chest, they made much quicker time, and reached the Guild in a couple minutes.

The guild was crowded inside, several long lines and people streaming all around the request boards. “Bluey, can you and Aurora stay out here with the chest while we sign up?”

Bluey gave a fist pump, before sitting on the chest. Aurora jumped up in her lap, seeming to want to take a nap.

Inside, they found a line that was accepting sign-ups. Unlike in Silaro, there was a long line for sign-ups here. In fact, despite having a couple dozen open windows (with another dozen currently closed) all the lines were fairly long.

Damien leaned over to ask (due to the loud din inside the Guild hall), “Is it normal to transfer to the capital Guild?”

Betty nodded, raising her voice back. “Yes, it's normal to start out at a local guild and transfer to a larger city like this. Especially if you're trying to find a new party. My old one was talking about coming here before...” she trailed off.

“Sorry, I didn't mean-”

Betty cut him off, “It's okay. I can't just ignore my past forever. Besides, I have you now.”

Damien blushed a bit. “You're-”

“Damien?” he heard a voice to his side ask.

Damien turned around to see there, in her full armor, was Carleen.

“Carleen?” Damien said back.

Betty started looking between them rapidly.

Carleen smiled. “Glad to see you alive and well. Based on how you look, I'm guessing things went okay in Silaro?”

Damien gave a grin and scratched his head. “Haha, yeah, I joined the Guild and managed a few requests. Still got hurt a couple times, but nothing that bad again.”

Carleen nodded approvingly. “And transferring to Ancona? We've been using this one as well.”

Damien nodded, “Yeah, we decided to transfer.”

Carleen looked at Betty, as if expecting an introduction.

“Oh, this is Beatrice. She's my partymember,...and girlfriend,” he added with a slight blush.

Betty also blushed (a lot deeper), before giving a bow. “It's nice to meet you.”

Carleen's eyes went wide, before a big smile coming across her face. “Haha, that's wonderful! Say, why don't-”

She was cut off, as someone slammed into the back of Damien. “Masterrrr, why are you still in here? I'm hungry.” Bluey stated.

Damien sighed, “We're still in line. And it's only been a few minutes! Wait, where's our chest?”

“Aurora is guarding it.”

Damien facepalmed, imagining Aurora was probably just napping on it still.

Carleen asked, “Another party member?”

Bluey's face lit up, “Carleen!” she shouted, and hugged her.

Carleen's face was confused. “Err, sorry, do I know you?”

Bluey backed away, a pout on her face. “You don't remember me?”

Damien sighed, “Well, you did change a bit...”

Bluey seemed to get an idea, and scrunched down beneath Carleen, before grabbing Carleen's hand and putting it on her head.

Carleen seemed like she was remembering. “Wait...is this...your slime summon?”

Bluey nodded, “It's me, Bluey!”

Carleen laughed, “Haha, I see you got leveled enough to transform,” she said, looking her up and down.

“Yeah! I made myself look like you!”

Carleen seemed confused, “You...you wanted to look like me?” she asked, before looking at Damien.

Damien nodded, “It's true. You can let Summons choose their abilities, and when she got the option to customize, I let her pick how she'd look.”

Carleen seemed to not know how to react for a moment, but then broke out into another smile. “Haha, I'm honored then!”

A few people ahead of them finished, and Damien saw they were nearing the front. “Bluey, can you just wait outside a bit longer? Then we'll go get some food.”

Carleen had a idea. “Oh, come over to the inn across the street once you've signed up. My party is staying there, so we can have dinner in their tavern.”

Bluey got excited. “Yeah, let's go!”

Damien looked at Betty. “Y-yeah, that sounds fun,” she stammered out. Bluey followed after Carleen while they continued waiting in line.

A few minutes of waiting later, and they reached the front of the line. The woman at the window gave off a motherly aura, her guild girl outfit barely fitting her chest, and a soft smile enveloping them. “My, you two are just adorable. Are you signing up today? Or possibly transferring from somewhere else?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Betty blushed at the 'adorable' remark, and nodded. “Y-yes, we're transferring from Silaro,” she replied, pulling out her guild card. “We'd also like to register as a party.”

“Oh my, here I thought you would be already, by how close you are,” she said, giving a small giggle.

Betty blushed further, and even Damien was a bit embarrassed, pulling out his own guild card.

The lady took our her orb, before tapping them together. “So you are Bronze, and you are...Tin,” she said, handing out their cards. She took out a clipboard to write the info down.

Oh yeah, I was distracted by Aurora and traveling, but I moved up a rank automatically since I finally hit lv. 5!

The lady continued, “What would you like your name to be?”

I didn't even think about that...

Betty, however, grabbed his sleeve, “I have a name, if you don't mind.”

Damien shook his head, “I don't have one, so go ahead.”

Betty clasped her hands together in prayer. “Our name should be, “The Goddess's Fated Chosen', as I think the Goddess wanted us to be together.”

Damien forced himself to not facepalm. You might be right! If she ever answers me again, I'll know for sure... he waited a moment, wondering if the Goddess would say anything. Nothing...oh well.

The guild lady's eyes went wide, holding a hand over her mouth. “Oh my, that is the loveliest name ever!” she exclaimed, excitedly writing it down while nodding.

Betty blushed and looked up at Damien.

Damien laughed nervously. I guess as long as we're both happy, then it's fine. “Oh, we didn't get your name.”

The lady smiled, “Oh, sorry, I usually just get straight to business. I'm Alissa. You can just call me Liz for short though,” she explained, giving a small bow.

They bowed back. “Is there anything we should know specific to this Guild hall?” Betty asked.

Liz nodded. “Yes. The guild girls live on premises here, so if you ever need me, even during the night, just ask for me.”

Damien gave a nervous laugh, “Haha, shouldn't we let you sleep?”

Liz smiled, “That's okay. We make commission based on requests, so being available is part of the job.”

Oh yeah, I already knew that part...

“Also, due to the large amount of members currently assigned to this Guild hall, you are limited to one request per party-member.”

They nodded. I guess two is fine, although it might get annoying if we take longer trips.

“I can't think of any other differences. Is there anything else you'd like to know?”

They shook their heads.

“Then, I look forward to seeing you again!” she replied. Since there was a line still behind them, they turned and left.

After leaving, they headed for the tavern Carleen had mentioned. It wasn't hard to find Bluey and Carleen sitting in a corner. As they walked over, he could see Aurora was now sitting in Carleen's lap, who was calmly stroking her as Aurora seemed to be napping again.

Bluey stood up, “Master! I put the chest in the room!”

Damien was taken aback, “Did I give you money? Or did you take it out of the chest?”

She shook her head, “No, Carleen paid for it.”

Carleen smiled, “Before you say anything, don't worry about it. This inn fills up fast so I wanted to make sure you got a room before it's too late.”

Damien sighed, “Well, thanks for taking care of me again...”

Betty looked between them again as she had earlier, so Damien explained, “Carleen found me half-dead on the road when I was first going to Silaro, and picked me up and gave me a room until I recovered.”

Betty seemed concerned, “Half-dead!? Is that where those scars on your back came from?”

Damien winced, “Yeah, we got attacked by a bear. It didn't go so well, although luckily Bluey took care of it.”

Carleen had a devious smile on her face, “Oh, so you saw his naked back.”

Betty blushed heavily, looking down, glasses fogging over.

Carleen giggled, “Sorry, you're so cute, I couldn't help but tease you.”

Betty recovered a bit at that, and asked, “What about you Carleen? Do you have a boyfriend?”

Carleen shook her head and crossed her arms. “Even if I wanted one, I'm busy with adventuring. And Goddess knows I wouldn't date one of my party-members.”

Damien nodded, “How are they doing?”

Carleen put a hand to her face in thought, “Hmm...Sevana is probably asleep in her room upstairs. Rufius is probably off trying to pick-up girls. And Baurus is probably with a girl.” She sighed, “He always visits the brothels as soon as we're back in town...”

Damien blushed. Brothels!? “Do you not like brothels?”

Carleen waved her hand, “That's not it, I just think think he wastes too much money on them. Well, I guess it's his money...” She shook her head, “They're not here so let's forget about them. Tell me about how you adventuring at Silaro was! Bluey was giving me some of the...juicier details,” she said, her devious smile coming back.

Oh, so about 'that' I guess.

Bluey leaned over, “I know you said to not talk about it, but I figured it was fine to tell Carleen about our mating,” she said like it was important info.

“Yeah I gathered that,” Damien said back, causing Carleen to giggle again.

While drinking some ales, Damien recounted most of what had happened since they last met. Betty jumped in as well whenever she was involved.

“And then after I told him my story, we...” Betty stopped with a blush, poking her fingers together in embarrassment.

Carleen leaned over and whispered something to Betty, who then scooched over and started whispering back.

Damien couldn't hear what they were whispering about, but given their glances at him, he could probably guess.

Bluey seemed to really like the taste of her beer. She had already drunk three, and Damien was starting to get concerned. “Are you okay? You shouldn't drink so many...”

Bluey had a confused look on her face. “Yeah, why wouldn't I be? This stuff is great!”

Damien raised an eyebrow. Are slimes not as affected by alcohol? But, she's human now...well, sort of human. “Okay, just be careful, and stop if you start feeling weird.”

Bluey nodded excitedly and started gulping down more.

Betty and Carleen were still whispering, so Damien went up and ordered them some pot roast beef to share (and partially to pay Carleen back for the room). As he came back, Betty and Carleen had upgraded to giggling.

Bluey was playing with the now awake Aurora, giving her a sip of her ale. He was about to say something, but Aurora stuck out her tongue, seeming to not like the taste anyway.

“I ordered some pot roast for us, since I was getting a bit hungry. You can have some too, of course,” he said to Carleen.

Carleen smiled and nodded, “Thank you.”

Betty slid her chair back over, wrapping her arms around him, seeming to be oddly affectionate all of a sudden (at least compared to earlier).

Damien didn't mind, of course, just giving her a smile and wrapping an arm around her.

The continued making small talk for a bit until the pot-roast came out, which was quickly devoured by the hungry group.

As they were sitting back nursing their stomachs, Damien noticed Bluey was looking a bit red. “Are you okay Bluey?”

“Masther, I feew...*hic*-...”

Damien facepalmed. So it just takes a bit for her to feel it... “I told you not to drink so much.”

“Sowwy...” she started, before hiccuping again.

Carleen giggled, sliding over the key. “Here, take her up to your room.”

Betty smiled and nodded, “I'm gonna talk with Carleen some more.”

When did they suddenly become friends? Although, maybe having more friends would be good for Betty. He grabbed Bluey, helping her as they walked over to their room, Aurora following after them.

“I can walk Masther-...”

“Just let me help you,” Damien reassured her. After going up a flight of stairs with only a couple stumbles, they made it to the room. Damien tried to bring her to lie on the bed, but Bluey collapsed on the couch.

“Mas-...” she said, and then started breathing softly.

Damien checked to make sure she was okay, and she seemed to be just asleep. Aurora jumped up onto Bluey's hip, seeming to think it was a good place to sleep. He gave her a scratch behind the ears, earning a soft 'Piyu' in thanks.

After drinking some water, Damien laid down on the bed, hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling. Well, we're here. Back to the grind tomorrow.

- Earlier, when Carleen and Betty had been whispering back and forth. -

Carleen leaned over and whispered, “Was it good?

Betty scooted over and whispered back, “Yes! Or, I think so? It was my first time, but it felt pretty great. Although I was sore in the morning...”

Carleen giggled, “I've heard it can be rough the first time.”

Betty seemed confused, “Have you...have you not?”

Carleen shook her head.

“You're so beautiful though! Or are you saving it for someone special?”

Carleen giggled again. “I guess that's partially the case. It's not like I'm against it, I just haven't met a guy I wanted too with yet.”

Betty nodded. “I thought that way too, before I was rejected. Although...I guess it went kind of quick with me and Damien.”

Carleen nodded. “If you two are happy, then it's not a problem, right?”

Betty blushed a bit and smiled. “Right.”

They talked a bit longer until it was time to eat.

Once Damien took Bluey up to their room, they continued their conversation from earlier.

“Do...do you think I'm weird, for partying with and...dating a summoner?” Betty asked.

Carleen raised an eyebrow. “You mean because...” she lowered her voice, “...because he has sex with them?”

Betty nodded.

Carleen shrugged, “Like I said earlier, if you two are happy, then it's not a problem.”

Betty nodded again. “Errm...if-”

Before Betty could get far, Carleen continued, “I have to say though, it's pretty brave of you to date your party-member like that. What happens if you have a disagreement and the party breaks up? Will you also break up your relationship, too?”

Betty blushed, “I...I'm not that concerned. I'm in the party to be with Damien, not the other way around.”

Carleen seemed to think a bit, then nodded. Giving her a poke in the cheek, she smiled, “I hope things work out well for you.” She then stood up, “I'm gonna hit the sack, my party is picking up a new request and heading out tomorrow.”

Betty also stood up, nodding. “We might be, too, depending on what we get.”

Carleen seemed to be trying to remember something, then pounded her fist into her hand when she did. “Water elementals. There's some Bronze-Rank requests for them, and you don't have to go far since they're in the city sewers.”

Betty seemed a bit concerned, “Aren't they kind of tough, though?”

Carleen shook her head, “They're not pushovers, but they're weak to electricity,” Carleen said with a grin.

“Oh!” Betty nodded. “Bluey should be able to handle them, then!”

Carleen smiled and nodded. She hesitated for a moment, then gave Betty a hug, before leaving for her room.

Betty was surprised, but then smiled. Carleen is so nice! I'm glad I made another friend here. Well, besides Damien.

She also started heading for the room. As she got to the door, she hesitated. Bluey should be asleep, right? Should...should I see if he wants to...

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Inside was Bluey, sleeping on the couch with Aurora. And Damien, sleeping on the bed.

Betty was a bit disappointed, then felt embarrassed at her own thoughts and emotions. She walked over to Damien and slowly slid into the bed next to him.

Laying there, she looked at him for a bit, before blushing again at herself. What am I doing, I'm going crazy now. It's your fault! she thought, before bending down and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Damien didn't wake up, so she just curled up next him in blissful sleep.