Having been resting for the past few days, Elise woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day.  She wiped her face with a wet towel that had been placed outside the door and changed out of the night clothes into a short sleeved green A-line dress.

The dresses that she had worn in the castle were all heavy gowns or functional battle wear, so it was the first time for her to wear simple and sweet dresses. Feeling tempted, Elise spun around, causing the skirt of the dress to float up slightly.

She stopped and chuckled at her childish action. “What am I doing?” She asked herself softly with a sigh.

It had been eight days since she landed in her current body. How were things going on in the castle? Had the people in the castle figured out she is no longer in her body? Were they in a panic?

Questions flashed endlessly through her head, but there was no way she could get an answer to them. She could not risk telling others her true identity, but with her current status, there was no way for her to find out more information about her country.

Ah, why did Lauritopia have to be so far?

*****

“Sorry, but we are not opened - Ah! Andric!” Fiore exclaimed when she saw that the man that was coming through the entrance of the Guild was a familiar russet haired man.

Andric nodded in acknowledgement. “Good morning.”

“Mr Seymour as well!” Her smile got brighter when she saw a man with light blue hair that was almost to his waist enter the building. Although she was slightly jealous of how his skin was better than hers, he was a major eye candy at so she could look past that.

“Oh~ So this is the Guild?” A sweet voice came from behind them. Fiore perked up her ears when she heard an unknown voice. As the two men were tall, they had unknowingly blocked the girl behind them.

When the both of them stepped aside, Fiore felt a sense of danger.

The girl standing in between them had soft, wavy light blonde hair that formed a golden halo around her head. A petite stature with delicate features and skin that was smooth and snow white. Her silvery grey eyes wandered around the interior of the building as her cherry like lips opened slightly, revealing some of her pearly whites.

Who is this girl that looks like a walking doll?

No, more importantly. What was she doing with the two of them?!

“Good morning, Miss Fiore,” Seymour greeted. Gesturing to the  girl who was still looking curiously around he introduced, “This is Elise. She is staying in the same inn as us.”

“Ah… I-Is that so?” Fiore answered as she tried to keep her professional smile on her face.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Elise,” Elise greeted politely. “Are you Fiore the Guild Receptionist?”

“Yes. That’s right,” Fiore replied calmly. However, inside, she was in a ball wondering why the girl knew her.

“That’s great! I heard many things about you from Andric and Sey! I really wanted to meet you,” Elise said as she gave a charming smile.

Andric and Seymour? What had the both of them been saying about her?! “W-What kind of things?” She asked tentatively.

Elise’s face flushed as she spoke excitedly, “I heard that before you became a Guild Receptionist, you were already a rank B+ Adventurer at the tender age of 16! And you are the practitioner of a secretive and powerful traditional martial arts.”

Not stopping at just that, Elise quickly continued, “I’ve really wanted to wanted to become an Adventurer, and hearing about you made me more motivated to become one! Would you be able to help me?”

Fiore was in a daze after getting praised so suddenly. However, her feelings towards her had made a sharp turn for the better. Heh. At least this girl had good eyes~ Now that she thought about it, why was she getting upset over a girl younger than her? She should be more confident of her own womanly charms, she thought as she stuck out her minute chest.

“Miss Elise is too kind. Hohoho~” She replied while letting out undignified laughter.

“It's my heartfelt words!” Elise replied earnestly.

Andric, who knew what the girl was up to, could only look on amusedly while Seymour still had his usual peaceful smile on his smile.

“Umm… Miss Fiore, I'll like to apply to become an Adventurer. Could you help me with it?” Elise repeated her question again.

“No problem! Just hold on for a while.” Fiore turned to the desk beside the counter and took out a form. Technically, the Guild was not opened yet, but there's no reason why she could not help such a dear.

Elise peered curiously at the form. It was a two page form asking for personal details. There were basic items like, name, age, gender, date of birth, country of birth, and job class as well as more complicated questions like family members, notable achievements, type of weapons used and special skills.

“So I have to fill this up?”

“That's right! Please write down as much as you can.”

“Is it okay for me not to fill up all the fills?”

“Hmm… Well, there are some who don't fill up everything, but I need to remind you that the Adventure Pass tracks each Adventurer using their blood. So if you have made one before, your records will still be with us,” Fiore warned. This function was to prevent rogue Adventurers who had a bad record from trying to start afresh by creating a new Adventurer Pass. It also helped them when people who want to replace their lost Adventurer Passes.

“Please also be warned that people who are found lying on their application will have their credibility affected, and it will affect the kind of quests you can pick up. So please fill it up to the best of your knowledge.”

Elise nodded and took the form. She had no idea whether her current body had registered herself previously, but if she turned out to be an Adventurer, she do not mind either because she would be able to know the identity of this body.

Seeing that there was nothing else he could do, Seymour walked up to them and excused himself. “Since everything is okay, I’ll head up to the meeting room first,” he said with a smile.

Fiore nodded. “Please do, Mr Seymour. The Guild Master is already in the room.”

Seymour nodded and started walking up the stairs.

What kind of work were they doing exactly? Elise wondered.

Looking at Andric who was still standing behind her, she asked, “You don’t need to go?”

“I’ll stay here for a while more,” he replied simply.

Elise shrugged and turned her attention back to the form.  Her pen hovered over the blank fills as she thought of what to fill. After deliberating for a while, she wrote down a few words quickly and passed it back to Fiore.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Fiore scanned through the form.

Name: Elise

Gender: Female

Job class: Archer

The rest of the blanks had been left unfilled.

“Is that all?” She asked with a puzzled expression. This was the briefest application form she had ever seen.

Elise nodded and lowered her eyes . “Yes. Is it okay if I just submit that?”

Seeing the girl who was looking low-spirited, Fiore pursed her lips. Although there was no rule against that, if it was any other person who submitted this kind of application, she would usually refuse it as it was very suspicious. However, the girl in front of her looked very sweet and innocent, and she knew two Adventurers who had good credibility so she was reluctant to just turn her away.

It was usually not easy for a girl to decide to become an Adventurer as there are many hardships in their line of work. For such a soft and sweet girl like her to want to become one, she probably had her own circumstances.

Looking at how well mannered she was… Maybe a runaway daughter of a noble?

Her feelings of sympathy overcome her  reservations and she gave a smile. “Please hold on while I do up the Adventurer Pass for you.”

Elise brightened up immediately and nodded eagerly. “Thank you!”

Yes, one obstacle down!

“You know how to use a bow?”

Elise turned to look at Andric. “Who said I didn’t know?”

“Even though you don’t have a bow?” Andric asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll just have to buy one then!” Elise replied unconcernedly.

“What? Are you sure about this? You will still need to complete a test before you can officially become an Adventurer you know?” Fiore who had overheard their conversation asked anxiously.

Elise turned around to face the anxious looking girl and smiled. “It will be fine. Please do not worry.”

“Is the card ready?” She quickly changed the topic.

Fiore held out a bronze card to Elise. On the card, there were fills for name, place of birth, age, gender and job class. However, apart from the name, gender and job class the rest were blank.

“Now for the final step.”

Fiore flipped the card to its back where a intricate drawing of a bird was carved.

“Please hold out your hand. I'll need to prick your finger so that the blood will drip onto this card and complete the registration.”

Elise did as she was told. Fiore swiftly and professionally pricked her index finger with a silver needle and held it over the drawing of the bird.

The moment a drop of ruby red blood touched the card, it was absorbed into the material. The card glowed red for a few seconds before it returned to its normal state. However, the bird’s eye was now red.

So this card is a magic device, Elise thought, impressed.

“Alright, all done!” Fiore said cheerfully and handed it over to Elise.

She took over the card and touched the giant ‘F’ was printed in silver at the top right edge of the card.

“You will be starting as a Rank F Adventurer. In order to rank up, you need to complete quests. If you complete quests that are of a higher rank than your rank, you will rank up quicker as well. But note that if you can't complete the quest, your credibility will be affected and you will need to pay 20% of the reward amount, so it's best to start with something you can handle,” Fiore advised.

“As for how to pick up quests; you can just visit any Adventurer Guild in the continent and pick up a quest from the Quest Board,” she said as she pointed at a giant cork board placed along the side of the lobby. “And pass it over to the receptionist at the counter. Wivendale Guild is currently not giving quests that happens in the Spider Forest due special circumstances with Goblins, but you can still pick up quests happening a bit further away. Any questions?”

“How many quests do I need to complete to become a Rank D?” Elise asked.

“Rank D? That’s two ranks away from Rank F. You should be aiming for Rank E first,” Fiore said with an amused tone.

“Mmm… But to participate in the upcoming Goblin quest, I need to be at least Rank D right?”

Fiore nodded. “That’s correct.” Looking at the eager girl, she continued cautiously, “But that will be too challenging for you at the moment.”

Elise just smiled indifferently. “You won’t know until I try. Is there any way for me to increase my rank quickly?”

“Hahaha! I like a girl who have big dreams!” A deep voice guffawed.

Fiore recognised the voice so her face immediately fell. “Guild Master, what are you doing here? Didn't your discussion with Mr Seymour just start?”

“This is my Guild. Why shouldn’t I be here?”

Fiore clenched her fists. “What not what I meant. Shouldn’t you be in the meeting room with Mr Seymour?”

“There there,” Seymour stepped up and cut in between the two parties patiently. “We have just finished our discussion so we are here to have some fresh air,” he explained to Fiore.

Elise studied the new face. The middle aged man was probably at least 2 metres tall and well built. His dark brown hair was swept back casually and she could see some strands of grey hair intertwined.

So this was the Guild Master for Wivendale Guild. There was an indescribable feeling of power emitting from him. Although he looked laid back, his sharp eyes and the strength rippling through his limbs with each movement he took showed that this person was not as simple as he looks.

Walking up to Elise, Reuben asked as he stared at the girl, “You want to participate in the Goblin quest?”

Elise nodded seriously. “Yes. Can you let me know how I can do that?”

Reuben laughed heartily. “I like the look in your eyes, young lady. You know what, I might just have the test for you.”

Gazing at Andric and Fiore, he held out a note between his fingers. “I have just received a message from Rigel that they have found two groups of around 100 Goblins each heading towards the town.”

Fiore took in a sharp breath. Were the Goblins finally launching an attack on the town?

Grinning, he continued, “But not to worry, because we are going to greet them first before they reach us.”

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Author's note:

Hi there! I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.

There will be a more action-ey chapter coming up next!