Tynesday, 21st of Febrinna, 5662 AE, 468th Year of the 5th Era

It had been a couple of days since Charles had departed from Dansville towards the town of Ashfell. While on the road towards the town, Charles had been escorted by a young man in a wagon pulled by a strong workhorse. The wagon was filled to the brim with fresh produce from the village to be sold at the town’s market. While Alfred had appointed the young man - Nigel - to be a sort of guide for Charles to Ashfell, he had enough foresight to assign me on an escort mission under the guise of being a ‘guide’. Very shrewd of the Old Count to say the least.

“Do you get out of the village like this very often, Nigel?” I asked the young man who was driving the wagon of goods as I rode beside him on a horse provided to me by Alfred. Not the fastest steed to be sure, but a steady girl she was.

“Oh, Aye, sir!” The gruff young man answered in a cheerful tone “We take turns every week or fortnight or so to take our village’s produce and products to sell in the town.”

“What do you all usually sell to the town?”

“Oh the usual, sir. Our lands are among the more fertile in Feldonia and we’re able to produce much more food than we had any clue what to do with so we engage in trade with Ashfell regularly in return for coin and other necessary items for our village to grow.”

Charles nodded at the explanation as he focused back on the road in front of him. The sun had only just started to rise as most of the landscape on the road remained dark and the moon was still visible within the sky above. It was only after half an hour later did Charles finally catch sight of the Township of Ashfell.

Surrounding the settlement were proper walls and battlements made of what looked like granite rock bricks that were about five to six meters tall. On the walls, the national banners of Feldonia could be seen flying proudly as they blew in the wind. Though it was still dark in the early morning, Charles could spot many torches and lanterns lighting up sections of the battlements, especially the defensive towers where the sentry guards could be seen making their rounds along the walls with a couple of guards stationed in front of the gates to check any incoming visitors and travellers.

After a few minutes it was finally their turn to reach the vicinity of the town’s walls. Directly in front of them was a carriage that was simple yet had some ornate furnishings pulled by a couple of white horses. It was a black carriage and Charles had recognised the design of the crests on the side of the coach as a cross that represented the Church of Feldonia. He merely raised an eyebrow as to guess who so high-up in the church was out here in the provincial town of Ashfell and for what purpose would they possibly have to be visiting here. Charles had no idea and if he were honest, he wasn’t too keen on nosing around the business of Higher Institutions like the National Church of Feldonia.

After the carriage in front of them had safely made its way inside of the town, the guards stopped our little caravan and gave us a check in turn.

“By order of the Town Magistrate under the command of His Imperial Majesty, the Prince-Imperial, we would have to ask you gentlemen to present proper identification to gain entry to the town of Ashfall-...” A guard saluted as he said in a lackluster manner like he had repeated the same request for the thousandth time today. It wasn’t until the guard saw Nigel that he breathed a sigh and changed his tone to something more informal “Bloody hell, Nigel, I didn’t realise it was you! Is it just me or did you get fatter from last I saw you? Hahahaha!!”

“Bahahaha! You and your nonsense, Gerry!” Nigel replied in an equally friendly tone “I can’t understand why’d anyone put you on night duty when you’re blind as a bat!”

“Bah! I can see well enough. So the goods from Dansville have finally arrived, I take it? When last month’s shipment didn’t come in, we had feared the worst for the Lord-Count Royal’s safety.”

“Aye, it was dangerous times, Gerry. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors coming over from the guild.”

“I didn’t want to believe it when I first heard them. Bloody hundreds of people massacred by madmen is what we heard… And who might this strong-looking fellow be?”

“This here is Charles. A man the Lord-Count Royal trusted with escorting the goods with us from any lingering dangers that might occur on the road.” Nigel said as he introduced me. I merely bowed at the young-looking guardsmen as he saluted back.

“Oh aye! Must be quite the strong one if the Lord-Count trusts him so! Alright then, I think we’ve been talking for too much and I spot a few carriages heading over here. You boys can head on over through the gates.”

“Much obliged! Also some repairs are needed on the wagon and I’d need a place to stay over tonight. Mind if I imposed on you and Franny just for the night, hahaha?”

“Pffft, just bloody get your wagon in, you git!” The guard chuckled as he slapped Nigel’s wrist in a friendly way “We’ll see you for dinner, Nigel. Open the gates boys!”

After the friendly exchange with the town guard, the gates to the town opened and we entered Ashfell as the sleepy town was starting to wake again to begin its morning activities. Honestly, the town was far better than what Charles had expected it to be. Charles was expecting a totally wrecked town full of both human and horse manure on the streets and for his senses to be immediately assaulted by a pungent smell of shit and puke in the air but when they entered the town, they were greeted with relatively clean streets with little to no beggars though there were perhaps some street urchins running around here and there.

The style of buildings and houses within the town reminded Charles a lot of the style of architecture in Tudor-era England which he had visited a few times before. Though it was a provincial town, it was quite quaint with houses utilising timber framework and the like. The town itself was substantially larger than what Charles had previously seen in this world, though granted he the only real human settlements he’d seen were the village of Dansville and the Castle-town of Surlock.

From what Alfred had told him about the town, Ashfell was an old settlement built back centuries ago as a residence for adventurers during the time of the Old Aldrothian-Alfbrander Kings. I was very excited when Alfred told me the guild of Ashfell managed a couple of ‘dungeons’ or ‘manapoints’ where the guild would regularly send adventuring parties to procure useful materials from the manabeasts that would spawn in them every so often. Such a venture allowed the town to keep its relevance as a hub for skilled adventurers and operated semi-independently during the era of the Osgiling Kings - the ancestors of Ardunon’s Ducal family - and even until the early Feldonian Kings before it was finally brought completely under the authority of the crown during the reign of King Eadhbert the Strong some four-hundred years ago.

After a while more of riding, Nigel had led me towards the Guildhouse of the Ashfell Branch of the Adventurer’s association which was located on the side of the main road of the town that was very close to the town’s central square and market district. The building of the guildhouse itself piqued Charles' interest. While it’s general style was in line with the rest of the town’s architecture, the guildhouse itself was made of granite rock and was designed like a little keep as it had a square H-shaped design with battlements to the side though the walls of the first level of the building were only about four metres tall at most but equipped with machicolations and the main doors of the guild were guarded by two 2-metre tall statues of seated griffons that were built in a way that they stared fiercely at anyone who would approach the guild.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“This’ll be your stop, Sir Charles.” Nigel said as he gave a nod to Charles who had quickly dismounted from his horse as he handed the reins towards Nigel. “I’ll leave the horse with one of my friends at the stables while I get all of these goods to the market. Once you’re finished with whatever business you have at the guild, you can explore the town! If I’m free after my dealings here, I might even be able to show you around the good spots!”

“That sounds like a plan, Nigel.” Charles answered.

“I’ll be off then, sir!” As the young man said that, he immediately left the vicinity with the horses and wagon as Charles brought his attention back to the doors of the guildhouse.

Not willing to waste any more time dallying around, Charles gently opened the doors to the guild house and he was immediately greeted with the sight of the guild’s reception area. The interior of the building was elegantly decorated with the floors being made of polished stone embellished with beautiful floral patterns while most of the furniture Charles could see inside were made of finely carved timber. The guildhouse looked busier than he expected for the time of day being only a litlle past the full sunrise.

The interior of the first floor which Charles saw looked like a sort of lobby with many seats and tables and he could see many people both men and women - young and old, equipped with a variety of weapons and armour - loitering around, talking to each other or sitting down and having a meal. As he entered the hall, he noticed that many of the people he assumed were adventurers had given him a glance but given by the fact he was wearing a relatively drab cloak and not really wearing any flashy armour, the people there didn’t bother to be overly alert or cautious at his entry.

On the other end of the hall were counters with several people behind them. Charles assumed he must be in the main reception hall and lobby and he quickly made his way towards one of the vacant reception counters. After ringing the bell on the table once, from the backroom behind a counter, a bespectacled middle-aged woman with long brown hair tied onto a bun approached Charles as she looked like she was carrying a ledger of sorts. The clothes she along with the other people who must’ve been the guildhouse’s receptionists were uniformly dark red in colour and the style of dress they were wearing seemed to be most similar to the dresses Charles remembered to be from his own lifetime though far more simple and practical, though giving it a second glance, it wasn’t fully analogous to the clothes worn on earth with some parts looking a little ‘modern’ in their design or at the very least from a later period.

“Is there anything I could help you with, sir?” The woman asked as she gave a very bright smile. Charles was quite impressed as despite being in middle age, the woman’s beauty wasn’t lacking the least bit and the charm she commanded was incredible especially after observing her straight and noble-like body posture and grace.

“Yes, I received this letter from the branchmaster and I was told it was all the documentation that I’m required to show for proof of legitimacy…” Charles smiled as he handed over the letter that Hunt had sent him a couple of days ago. The receptionist lady quickly took it and opened it before carefully analysing the letter. It didn’t take long for the lady to read the letter as she folded it and looked back at Charles with an even brighter smile.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet with you, Sir Charles.” The woman bowed her head respectfully this time as she addressed Charles “Please, follow me upstairs to the branchmaster’s office! We didn’t expect you to come this quickly!”

The woman quickly yet gracefully made her way out of the counter as she motioned for Charles to come and follow her, to which he obliged. Seeing this happen and at the mention of his name, Charles could feel the stares and attention that some in the building were beginning to direct towards him. Whether it be glances of awe, envy, or contempt, the only thing Charles could feel was the slight discomfort from all the attention that he was garnering. But regardless, Charles had followed the lady up the staircase to the second level of the guildhouse. On the second level, she had led Charles to the door of Hunt’s office. After giving the door several knocks, Hunt’s voice could be heard coming from behind the door.

“Come in.” Hunt had said from inside his office. After gaining permission to enter, the receptionist opened the door to the office and there Hunt was sat behind his desk holding a pen and in the middle of working on a mountain of paperwork which reminded Charles a lot about how Alfred was also almost daily swamped with paperwork and administrative duties.

The difference between Alfred working and Hunt working however was plain to see. The old man would vanish into all of the paperworks and charts and ledgers as if that was his own form of escapism. Alfred would almost everyday always work diligently and looked like some sort of machine, oiled up enough to run for several centuries if need be. This contrasted with the current sight of the Ashfall Guildhouse’s Branchmaster who was rubbing his temples as he kept on massaging it to at least try and relieve himself of the pain he was experiencing. Hunt’s eyes also resembled that of a panda bear with eyebags around them, desperately indicating that he was lacking in some much needed rest.

“Alright, what is it?” Hunt was still so engrossed in his paperwork that he didn’t even realise that there were now two more people within the room including myself.

“If I may be so bold to cut in, Sir Hunt. I believe I was called here by invitation.” Charles said with a smile and immediately after he had spoken, Hunt had lifted his face from the paperwork as he saw him. It took two seconds before his expression brightened and the man raised from his desk and embraced Charles. It had only been a fortnight or so since the two had last met with each other, but it was never a bad feeling to be so cordially welcomed, Charles thought.

“Sir Charles! I never thought you’d make your way here so soon!” Hunt said as we shook hands. “Please sit over there and make yourself at home!”

As Hunt pointed towards a set of couches and a low table in an alcove of the office room for the two to sit and talk, he went back to his desk and grabbed something from his drawer while Charles did as the branchmaster had directed and made himself feel quite at home as he sat down on one the couches and laid one of his arms upon the armrest. The receptionist that had come in here with me also quickly went to another table within the room as she was preparing tea for refreshments as well as some cookies on a plate.

It was an interesting thing for Charles to see the receptionist lady quickly cast a spell as a small flame appeared at the tip of her finger which she had used to quickly heat up the tea she was brewing for everyone there. While Hunt was still searching for something in his desk, the receptionist had come to the alcove with a tray on which lay the tea and cookies.

“Please have these on behalf of the guild, Sir Charles.” The lady said as she served gracefully

“Oh thank you, Miss uh… Oh how rude of me, ma’am but I haven’t gotten around to asking you for your name yet.” Charles said

“You can call me Emma, Sir!” She answered with a smile

“Ah, well then thank you miss Emma! This hospitality is truly remarkable, I feel like nobility being treated like this, hahahaha!”

“Oh it’s nothing at all, young sir. After all that my husband here has told me of you, it's the least that we could do.”

As the woman said ‘husband’ in reference to the only other person in the room, Charles was surprised but he soon connected the dots as he recalled the story that Hunt had told the party during their expedition and that his wife’s name was Emma. Charles immediately raised himself from the couch before bowing slightly towards the woman.

“Apologies for my rudeness, milady. I should’ve realised your identity sooner as the wife of a landed Knight and the prospective Guildmaster candidate!” Charles bowed as he said that.

“Oh you! Hahahaha! You don’t need to be so formal. It seems like my husband isn’t the only one adept at the art of flattery.” Emma said as she took a seat on the couch opposite to the one I was seated on.

“Dear, you make it sound like it’s a bad thing!” Hunt said with a slight pout before he had closed his desk’s drawer and made his way over to the alcove as he took a seat next to his wife. “Anyways, while I’d have liked to have at least organised a small or semi-formal ceremony for this, current circumstances have prevented me from doing so, but regardless…”

Hunt had placed on the table a metallic plate with what looked like a steel chain around it. The metallic plate that acted as its pendant had an engraving of a griffon passant with its claws bared and under the griffon, I could see the name ‘Charles’ engraved onto it too.

“By the authority vested in me by the Association of Adventurers in and of the Kingdom of Feldonia, I, Sir James Hunt of Grifftongue, as Branchmaster of the Guild in Ashfall, hereby recognise you, Sir Charles of Dansville, officially as a member of the Adventurer’s Association and bestow upon you the Steel-Rank of Warrior. May your path be always fruitful, for the future and prosperity of all Feldonia. Glory to Archior and its Empire!” Hunt said as he gave me a salute

I nodded and answered back with a salute as I said, “Glory!”