Tarri sighed as she approached the notice board for the third time this week. It was a massive wooden board that took up a large portion of a wall inside of the Nofronio Adventurer’s Guild, covered with many job requests, company recruitments, and artisan advertisements. She sifted through various papers until she found the one she had put up there the day before. After ripping it off the board, she took a moment to make sure the important information was still readable. ‘The Defenders of the Realm are looking for new recruits! If interested, ask for Tarri at the reception desk.’ Above the text was her company’s emblem, a shield made up of smaller shields, with a sword placed behind it. Within the sword, she had placed her signature three vertical heptagrams. Surrounding the entire design was a circle made of interconnecting circles, designed to look like a chain. Tarri was proud of the emblem, though she was worried it might be a little too intricate to be replicable, in case a member of the company wanted it engraved into their armor.

Of course, she thought, the company needs to have members before that even becomes a reasonable concern. She looked up and scouted the board for a spot where maybe, just maybe, the recruitment ad would stand out enough for one person to notice. Finally, she found a spot and reposted the page to the board, standing on the tips of her toes. The new spot she chose was quite high, even for her.

“Tarri?”

She placed her feet flat on the ground and looked at who spoke to her. A rather milquetoast individual, short black hair, fair skin, brown eyes. If it wasn’t for the Myconian silver armor, he’d be impossible to pick out of a crowd. Yet, there was a familiarity to him. Tarri approached him to get a better look, and her eyes went wide when she spotted several small scars on the bridge of his nose.

“Percival!?” Tarri rushed in and hugged him tightly. “Gods, it's been too long.”

“That it has.” He chuckled. He stepped back and looked at her. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Can’t say the same about you.” She said. “How were you able to afford this kind of armor?”

“Long story. Speaking of, how’s the family business?”

Tarri frowned. “Long story…”

Percival darted his eyes back and forth, realizing he may have just turned this happy reunion into an awkward one. “I’ve got an idea.” He said. “There’s a job request I need to get some more information about, but once I’m done with that, how about we meet up at The Bird’s Nest?”

Tarri nodded. “Sounds good. See you there.” She moved past Percival and exited the guild. He looked at the spot on the board where she had reposted the recruitment ad, inspected it, and smiled before heading to the reception desk.

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“So, ‘The Defenders of the Realm.’” Percival said after placing his tankard back down on the table.

“What? Too childish?” Tarri asked.

“No, no, I think it’s perfect…more or less.” He grinned as she shoved him in the shoulder. “Any members yet?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Tarri sprawled out on the table and sighed. “My ad keeps getting covered up by all the other ads, so who knows how many people actually see it. And recruiting members is just one of my problems.” She held a hand up and started counting on her fingers. “I still need to find a company headquarters, fulfill monthly job quotas, and deal with the endless amounts of bureaucratic nonsense.”

“Why didn’t you just become a freelancer?”

Tarri shot up in her seat. “I could’ve done that!?”

“Yeah, if you have at least a few years of experience, you can take on jobs as a freelancer. Torgärd didn’t tell you that?”

She slumped down. “No, she didn’t. Since I have basically no experience at all, she must not have deemed it necessary to tell me. Come to think of it, Mr. Cordell didn’t tell me about that either.”

“The owner of the Adventurer’s Guild? You spoke with him directly?”

“Yeah, he’s the whole reason I even have a company. He let me start one on my own, as long as I completed a particular job for him.”

“I see.” Percival pondered for a moment. “Wait, so you don’t have any co-signers for the company?”

“Nope, it’s just me, myself, and I.”

“Then let me be your number two.”

Tarri’s face lit up. “You want to join the company? As a co-signer?”

“Of course! I just need to finish the job I’m currently on and then we can deal with all that bureaucratic nonsense together.” Percival said, smiling.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Okay then. What’s the job?”

“It’s a pretty simple escort mission. The client already has guards, so we’d be coming along as extra muscle, just in case.”

“Must be a pretty wealthy client.”

He nodded. “Armond Rein, son and heir to the Rein Trading empire.”

“Ah, no wonder he hired an extra guard, or guards now, I guess. Where are we headed?”

“North, along the coast, to Wulcan. According to Torgärd, he wants to set up a trading post there. The fishermen there have been resistant to his father’s advances, but he’s optimistic about his chances. That’s about all I have for details.”

“Seems simple enough.”

“Yeah,” Percival said. “I just hope it stays that way…” He stared down at his tankard. The air around them fell into an awkward silence that not even the random bits of chatter in the tavern could penetrate.

Tarri cleared her throat. “Well, um, should we go meet with the client?”

“Ah, yes. He’ll be expecting us at the northwest gate, just outside the harbor. Best not be late.”

“Right.” The two of them finished their drinks quickly and quietly.

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The seas lapped against the rocky shore as their group traveled the narrow road along it. Shadows from trees dotting the nearby hills decorated the path. Percival was marching out front, while the two guards were in the rear, leaving Tarri and Armond to walk together in the middle.

Percival had done most of the talking when they first met each other at the gate, mainly to convince Armond to hire her as well, which was surprisingly easy to do. He even agreed to pay her the same amount for the job as Percival instead of simply splitting the original pay. If she didn’t know who he was already, she wouldn’t have made him out to be extremely wealthy. Lanky build, pale skin, almost slickly so, and a receding hairline that made him seem older than he was. As they had been walking together, Tarri noticed him looking around nervously several times while grasping the straps of his satchel.

“You know, there’s nothing to worry about,” she said.

“Well, um, you can never be, uh, too cautious,” he replied.

“Don’t you worry, Armond.” Percival shouted, looking back towards the pair. “Unless some bandits have figured out how to hide themselves in water, we should be perfectly—”

He stopped himself as he heard leaves rustling. He returned his gaze forward and spotted several bushes dotting a nearby hill. Holding his hand up to stop the group, he muttered something under his breath. A barely perceptible dark aura surrounded him, clinging tightly to his body. Sensing potential danger, Tarri drew a spell card and readied it. The two guards drew their swords and stood on both sides of Armond, who was clutching his satchel, knuckles white.

Tarri moved up to the front with Percival. She felt an oddly icy presence radiating from him, but couldn’t determine what it was. She focused her attention on the bushes. “Bandits?”

“Maybe. I’m going to take a closer look.” Percival said.

“Okay. I’ve got your back.”

The two of them slowly crept up the hill towards the bushes, his fists and her card at the ready. They got closer, and closer, and closer, until finally, they were right in front of them. Percival looked and Tarri, who nodded, then reached down and split open a bush. Nothing was there.

“AH!” Armond shouted. The pair whipped around to see a group of smaller greenish-yellow humanoids rushing towards Armond and his guards.

“Goblins? This far north?” Tarri said.

“Dammit!” Percival rushed down the hill, and she followed close behind, throwing her card towards the group of goblins. It transformed mid-air into a small fireball and took out one of them. The rest scrambled around and spread out while continuing their charge. She continued to draw and throw the same spell card towards them, but they easily dodged them.

By the time the pair reached the bottom of the hill and returned to the road, the goblins had surrounded Armond, his guards doing the best they could to fend off their attacks. The two hurried over to them while Tarri cast her magic swords and drew her sword and dagger. Percival took a giant leap towards a goblin, raising his arms together in the air.

“Abaqs!” he yelled. The goblin looked up at him, and its eyes widened with fear, as a dark claymore formed in his hands. He landed and slammed the claymore into the ground, cleaving through the unfortunate goblin. The ones that remained turned their attention to their fallen comrade. Armond smiled, hoping this display would instill in the goblins the same sense of fear he was currently experiencing. Instead, they let out a shrill cry, and launched a second, furious assault. The goblins unleashed a flurry of blows, leaving little room for a counter-attack. Tarri tried to find an opening, but even with multiple swords at her disposal, she had to focus on deflecting. Percival wasn’t faring much better, having to use his weapon as a shield to spare himself from the brunt of the blows.

Out of nowhere, a horn sounded in the distance. The goblins’ ears perked up, and they immediately stopped their assault and scurried back from where they came. Tarri and Percival remained on guard until the goblins were out of sight. When they saw the last one disappear over the crest of another hill, he dismissed his dark aura and sword, the odd coldness surrounding him disappearing. He let out a heavy breath, resting his hands on his knees.

“Are you okay?” Tarri asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Percival said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m…I will be fine. Just need a quick breather.”

“Alright.” Tarri turned her attention to Armond and his guards. “How about you three?”

“We’re fine,” one guard said. “Right, Master Rein?”

The blood had drained from Armond’s already pale face. He was curled up on the ground, continually clenching and unclenching his fists across his body. “They took it. They took it. They took it….”

Tarri knelt down next to him and inspected his person. She noted where his hands were and what they were doing, as if they were constantly grabbing for something that wasn’t there. That’s when she realized what’s missing: the satchel.

He looked up at her, tears forming in his eyes. “Please. You have to get it back. I’ll pay double. Triple, even! Perhaps even four times as—”

“Woah there.” Percival said, stretching while walking over to the rest of the group. “We’ll settle for the original payment. And we’ll get your satchel back. Can you two take care of him while we give chase?”

“Aye, we’ll make sure he stays safe.” The second guard said.

Percival nodded. “Alright then. We’ll be back with that satchel before you know it.”

“Let’s get going. Hopefully, they haven't gone too far.” The two of them left Armond and his guard behind, hurrying off into the hills.