After leaving the guild masters office, I walked down the stairs towards the guild reception area. I couldn’t help but feel like I just had a job interview and was hired on the spot. At least I have my living situation covered.
The guild right now was mostly empty and my only guess was that it was because most mercenaries had their jobs for the day. Since there were not any lines, I walked up to a receptionist girl. The first thing I noticed was the receptionist was not wearing any cute outfit like how the light novels and manga of my old world described. Instead, she was wearing what just appeared to be some simple clothing with hardened leather plates strapped in various places to protect vitals. While I can understand the practicality of such equipment, especially for a mercenary guild branch stationed next to a dungeon, I was really hoping for the cute receptionist girl.
That isn't to say she wasn’t cute though. She had sandy blond hair in a short crop cut that matched well with her brown eyes. She also looked well-toned with an olive skin tone. Just eyeballing her height I would say it was about 165cm.
“Hello! Welcome to the mercenary guild. My name is Clara, how can I help you today?”
Wow despite her appearance she comes off as really professional.
“Hi, I was told to give this to you,” I said reaching out with the letter in mt hand.
Clara takes the letter from my hand and reads through it.
“I guess the guild master has waived the age restriction with you. Well, in any case, welcome to the mercenary guild. If you would follow me to your accommodations.”
Clara walks around to the other side of the counter.
“Hey, Clyde! I am stepping out for guild business. I’ll be back in a moment.”
The man that was working with Clara just gave a nod and a grunt and continued on with his tasks.
We had left the guild and walked down the street, Clara pointing out different buildings and explaining them.
“Over here is the only inn in town. It also doubles as the local tavern. The inn section doesn’t get too much use as we are a frontier town and is considered dangerous to live here at the moment.”
“Over there is the artisan district. Tailors, blacksmiths, and the like are over there. If you ever need something crafted, you can get it from there.”
I could feel her gaze looking at my current clothes. Yes, I know they aren't the best-made clothes, but it's what I got. I could only sigh as I add one more thing to my list of stuff to do. After a moment she looks away and continues on.
“And over there is where the traveling merchants stage their carts. It is recommended that you sell any monster parts to the guild as we can guarantee a fair price. However, you are allowed to sell to whoever you want. They also bring other goods from the capital to our town.”
That is good to know. Maybe I can get some seasonings from them? I don’t know how much stuff like that costs though. After just a few more minutes of walking, we had arrived at the buildings I didn’t know about from earlier.
“These are the guild barracks. Most of them are mixed but we do have on building for females only if you choose to live there. The fourth floor is single rooms for the mithril ranks. If you work hard maybe one day you can become mithril rank and get your own room.”
Oh...I see. I am guessing the letter I gave her didn’t inform her of my rank. Well, I am not going to notify her. I would like to see her reaction tomorrow.
“I am a gold rank so I live on the third floor. Normally gold ranks would room with another gold rank, but due to my circumstances, I am sharing it with my younger sister. When she is feeling well you can see her at the tavern, so please be kind to her.”
With the tour done, I choose to live in the female barracks. I was about to choose the mixed barracks but I realized that I am a girl and that I would like to avoid having to hurt anybody. Not that I know for sure anybody would try anything, I decided to err on the side of caution...as long as there are no lolicons in the female barracks.
We walked inside and there was a desk with an older woman behind it. She was in the middle of her knitting when she looked up and noticed us.
“Hi, Clara! Who is that with you today?”
“Afternoon Anne. This is Lynn, she is a new member of the guild and needs a place to stay.”
At this Anne stops knitting and looks me over.
“Oh dear. They really started you out young, didn’t they? Well, my name is Anne and I am the dorm mother. The guild calls this place barracks but I prefer the term dorm. Every morning I provide breakfast at sunrise so don’t wake up late and miss out. I don’t provide any other meals, and breakfast is just because I want to. Now then if you would follow me, I will show you to your bed.”
With that Clara took her leave and went back to the guild and I followed Anne.
“I am sure Clara has already told you about how the dorm works but I will say it again. The first floor is the common area and dining area. Any fights are prohibited and can result in you getting kicked out. The second floor is the open room areas everyone is provided a bed and a wardrobe. There isn’t much in the way of privacy I'm afraid. The third floor is for gold ranks and they are shared rooms. The fourth floor is for mithril ranks and those are single rooms.”
I followed Anne upstairs to the second floor. The second floor was very open there were just rows of beds on each side of the room and each bed was separated by a large wardrobe. I can see what she meant by little privacy. But that didn’t matter to me, even if I was going to be staying on the second floor. We walked over to a bed somewhat in the middle and she told me that this was my bed. The wardrobes next to each bed had a number to easily identify which bed was whose. I got lucky number 13.
“Alright sweetie, if there is anything else you need just let me know.”
Nodding I turned towards my bed and sat down. Since I still have half the day, I decided I would go and explore the town and maybe get some delicious food. This would also be a good time to see how the currency works in this kingdom. With that, I got up and headed outside.
Once outside my first goal was to see if the merchants were still around, and if so, trade some of my materials to them.
After a bit of time, I found the merchant area and saw there were a few around. Looking around I walked up to the nearest one.
The merchant I walked up to was a skinny man who was balding on top but had long curly hair. He was also rocking a handlebar mustache. Clothes looked like they were made with a simple material, dyed with earth colors. This guy didn’t look suspicious at all.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Hello, little missy! Are you here to browse my wares?”
...again, with little missy. Oh well, I should just get used to it.
“Possibly, I was wondering if you would buy any monster materials?”
“Yes, I can buy materials from you. Have you come back from a dungeon raid?”
Without giving an answer I pulled out some materials from a velociraptor monster. According to my books, inventory type magic should be just common enough that at least everyone saw it once in their lifetime. Of course, I know how old those books are and I needed to judge people's reactions to it. If it did turn out to be really rare, I can always make an excuse as long as it was just one person who was a witness.
“Oh, the little miss has storage magic! That is quite the ability. Makes me wish I could learn it, but I couldn’t grasp the concept of space magic. Now then let me look at these materials.”
The man started to go through the materials. He was using some sort of crystal that was shaped like a lens. I could detect magic from it so I guessed that it could somehow identify or appraise items. After some time, he had everything separated and pulled out an abacus and started to calculate the total costs.
“calculating everything up your total comes to 32 copper and 16 silver.”
I don’t know how much that is. I will have to ask him about the value of money even if I come off as ignorant.
“I’m sorry. I grew up sheltered and I don’t really know how money works here. Could you help me?”
He gave a slightly surprised look but quickly went back to his professional face.
“Ah ok then. So, 64 copper coins equal 1 silver coin. 82 silver coins equal 1 gold coin. As the value of copper, silver and gold rises and falls the tax collector will go to the different villages and inform them of the coin's new values. There was one time where 7 copper could equal 1 silver.”
“Ok, I understand now. Thanks.”
“You're welcome. Please come back and visit again.”
I walked around viewing the other wagons set up a bunch of it looked really cool but I wouldn’t buy anything until tomorrow when I have my room. The sun was starting to set and I decided to go and visit the tavern for dinner. I was really wanting to try out some real food.
The tavern was somewhat lively. It wasn’t crowded but there were a lot of people here. Seeing an empty seat over at the bar I decided to sit down over there. After I sat down waited until the man behind the bar walked over to me.
“Yer a little young to be drinking ain't ya miss? So, I suppose yer here for food?”
“Yeah, I’ll take whatever you have for the special for today.”
“Don’t really have specials but if we did, I suppose it would be our boar steak n mushrooms with our potatoes. We serve water here but I’ll wager you’d rather have our honey milk?”
That does sound quite good and that honey milk sounds like it would be good too.
“I'll take that then. How much I owe you?”
“It’ll be 7 copper. I'll have it right out.”
7 copper wasn’t too bad. I handed over the money and just waited. The guy sitting two chairs down from decided to strike up a conversation.
“What's a lass like you doing in a town like this? You do know this here is a frontier town, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I joined the guild today.”
“Oh, a small thing like you joined the guild? Well, I won't tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, but I’d recommend that you be careful. More than just monsters to worry about.”
“Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.”
A few moments later my food came out and it did look really delicious. I took a bite of the steak and was filled with happiness. The gravy and the mushrooms made my mouth dance. I could feel the tears starting to form. It was really good. Next, I tried the honey milk. It was good too. But it was a bit warm which was slightly off-putting. I should have realized it wouldn’t be cold as they don’t have refrigerators here. I was wondering how they keep it from going bad, but then I thought that maybe the honey acts as a preservative. To be honest, I don’t know, but I think I will just get the water next time.
After my satisfying meal, I decided to go back to the dorms and call it for the night.
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The next morning, I woke up early. I made myself presentable and walked downstairs to the dining area. Miss Anne said she made breakfast and I was interested in that. The breakfast reminded me of the food from my old world. It was a biscuit of some kind of gravy with what appeared to be some kind of meat in it. Well, it looked good so I wasn’t about to complain. While I was in the middle of my breakfast a loud commotion brought me back to reality.
“OH, MY GODDESS! SHE IS SOOOOO CUTE!”
Looking towards the loud obnoxious noise I see what appears to be a fair-skinned, blond-haired and blue-eyed female knight charging directly at me. It took me a moment to register just what was about to happen, but once I did my eyes got big.
With the force of a small car, I was hit in the chest and knocked to the ground. I was really confused now as to why this female knight was hugging me. Whoever she is I don’t like her and I want her to get off me.
“Dammit, Laura! Get off the new girl and go sit down or no breakfast for you!”
Miss Anne grabs the knight, who I guess whose name is Laura, by the back of her armor and lifts her up and moves her to the opposite side of the table.
“I apologize for that Lynn. Laura can be a bit...eccentric at times.”
Yeah, no kidding. I can tell me and her are not going to get along at all. Well, at least I can resume eating my breakfast, maybe. While I am eating, Laura begins to play five thousand questions.
“So, your name is Lynn! That’s such a cute name. I wish my name was Lynn. How old are you? Why are you living in the dorms? Did you join the guild?”
Before she could rattle out any more questions Miss Anne stopped her.
“Laura, dear. First off, breathe. Second, let Lynn here answer your questions, you are being a bit overbearing again.”
Giving a slight sigh, I decided to answer her questions.
“My name is Lynn. I am eleven years old. I joined the guild yesterday and I will be staying here during my stay.”
“Oh, my goddess! That is sooo young! Why did you join the guild? What about your family? Aren't they worried?”
At the mention of my family, I grip my fork with enough force that could crush it. Sensing the dark atmosphere Miss Anne stopped Laura.
“Laura! That’s enough. You need to be careful of the questions you ask.”
“Yes, ma’am. I'm sorry Lynn I didn’t mean to offend you.”
I really am thankful for Miss Anne. I can tell she's like the mother here in these dorms.
“It's fine. It's just a topic I like to avoid. Thank you for the food, Miss Anne.”
“Oh, you're a welcome sweetie and just call me Anne, please. You can just take your dishes to the kitchen; I’ll wash them later. Oh, and I was notified by the guild that another mithril rank will be joining the guild and will be staying here. So, when you see her please be courteous.”
The other women around the table simply nodded. Laura was getting all sparkly-eyed again. I guess she is just too friendly with people. With my business here done I head over to the guild to get my guild tag and my first pay.
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Walking into the guild I see a lot more people here than last time. I am guessing this is the morning rush. Seeing Clara behind the counter, I walk up and join the line. After about 10 minutes I am finally able to see Clara.
“Morning Clara. I am here to pick up my tag. The guild master said it would be here.”
“Ah yes let me go look.”
Before Clara has a chance to move a loud voice boomed throughout the guildhall.
“Hey, Lynn! Nice to see you this morning!”
Walking down the stairs is Arlan. All the other mercenaries and Clara are looking at me with curiosity.
“Morning sir. Did you need me for something?”
“Yeah, I am going to give you your guild tag, right?”
From his hand on a silver chain dangled what looked like two dog tags. The tags had a blueish green color to them. Clara and everyone else's reaction to the tags was one of shock. I could see Clara looking at the tags then look at me, then back at the tags.
I only curse inwardly. Dammit, why did you have to make such a big scene?