The temporary guild building looked, well… rickety. By this time, the sun had risen some, and one could clearly see the building. It was a rundown wooden tavern with two stories and paint so chipped you could see more brown wood than white paint. A sign with the words ‘Adventurer’s Guild’ were written in blue on a sign posted in front of the building.
By the time they had arrived at the building, their group was noticeably smaller. Although many of the people were from Earth, the majority were kidnapped humans and elves, and a lot of them separated from the group upon making it to the city, intent on finally coming home. Of course there were a few who had no home to return to, which included all the elves within Ricky’s group, which joined Jason’s house. At any rate, from nearly 100, the number was reduced to around 50.
The guard captain and his men bid Jason and the others goodbye and returned to their duties.Jason was about to enter the building when he noticed something. A newspaper stand. He approached the stand, the term stand being used loosely. It was really just five columns of newspapers stacked up.
A young man with a business-like demeanor saw his approach and said “Good morning sir, would you care for a paper? Only 25 copper!” Jason walked past him and grabbed a paper. He had hoped his eyes had deceived him, but of course he had no such luck. There, on the cover of the newspaper was what looked like a giant demonic minotaur shooting lightning from one hand, ice from another, while breathing fire.
The article was titled ‘New Demon King? Monster known as Alexandrius terrorizes Reina kingdom!’. Jason just sighed. He knew Alexander had powerful, but it was something else actually seeing it. Wait why was he calling himself Alexandrius? It seemed like everyone that mattered was changing their names now…. maybe he should change his too.
Shaking such thoughts from his mind, he handed the newspaper off to Ricky on his right. “That’s what you wanted to fight.” He said. He heard Ricky mutter “Bet I could still take him…” but chose to ignore it. He took three more papers and handed them around to the group. The young man who worked the stand spoke out. “Hey you have to pay for those! That's one silver!”
Jason turned to the man and asked “Do you own these?” The man smiled with pride. “That's right, I’m Allenius Regnus, dispatched by the Information Union to be the head of the Gyara branch and the surrounding areas!” Jason rose an eyebrow. “And yet you're selling the paper’s yourself.” Allenius’ face reddened as he embarrassedly stuttered “W-w-well.. I don't really have that many employees, just one working the library, so…”
Jason smiled “Mr. Regnus, I’m going to help you sell your papers.” Allenius smiled “Well, pay for one day is one silver, so today would be used to pay for the paper’s you took. Here, I’ll show you how to sell.” Jason shook his head with a smirk. “Not like that.” Ignoring Allenius’ confused face, jason approached the piles of papers. It was convenient that they were all touching. He concentrated, then animated all five stacks of papers. The illustrations seemed to come to life, The image of Alexander, no, Alexandrius rampaging became a moving scene of carnage.
Allenius just stared with a surprised look on his face. Jason chuckled to himself, slightly tired. He had wanted to see how much that would take out of him, and it actually wasn't much. He was a little winded, but he would be fine in like a minute. Leaving the stunned Allenius, Jason and the rest of his group entered the guild building.
It was fairly spacious inside with room for all of the people who had just entered. the furniture was all simple wood, but it was clean. On the far side of the room was a bar, with a few people stocking it with drinks. A girl saw them, and ran over. One might say she was more cute than beautiful, a little on the short side with shoulder length black hair and… rabbit ears? Jason almost thought it was a beastman of this world till he noticed her skirt and shoes. She was definitely from Earth. From what little Jason had seen, women in this world were too modest for such short skirts, and he had yet to see heels being worn here either.
“Hiya! Are you all new recruits?” She asked with a bright smile “I’m Thea, Vice leader of the Gyara region branch! Let’s sign you guys up!” Jason was being dragged towards the before Thea finished talking “Whoa! Not so fast there, we aren’t joining yet! We still have some questions as to what it is you do here!” Jason said. The girl looked puzzled, then smiled again.
“You don’t know what an adventurer’s guild is? You weren't one for video games back on earth were you? Anyway, we basically take on quest from the general populace or the kingdom, and get rewards for it. We also go treasure hunting! Basically, our mission is to have fun and help people!” Thea finished with a thumbs-up and another one of her gleaming smiles.
Jason sighed before speaking, “Thank you, we’ll be going now.” All Thea could reply was a confused “eh?” When Jason turned around, he saw confused looks on many of the faces behind him. Only a few seemed to understand, Ricky was chief among them. His unamused expression said it all. these people thought this was a game.
Quests? Adventuring? This was real life! Jason understood the need for establishing an organization, but these people were acting like children! What they were doing wasn't necessarily wrong, but such a group would not suit the purposes of Jason and those with him. They needed to grow stronger, gain knowledge, not act like protagonists of some generic manga.
Jason had an idea brewing in his mind about what to do next and was about to exit when Thea landed in front of him. Jason was astonished by her jumping power, then realized what those rabbit ears signified: she was already partially transformed, and her transformation was rabbit. “You can't leave!” She said, desperation filling her voice. “This is all we have! There is no other place for those like us! Lord Senryuu has made a safe place for us, why can’t you accept that? Is it because of the guild building? It’s only temporary! Until the fucking lord of this city finally grants us full rights, that bastard. Look, just give us-” “Enough Thea” A man back at the bar spoke up.
He was quite tall and muscular, and wore the remnants of a suit, which at this point was a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a tie. He had sharp eyes and a military style haircut. He spoke again “If they wish to leave, it’s their right to. This isn't a draft.” Thea looked as if she had been hurt, before saying “Yes branch leader Primat.” She walked off to the side.
Jason and his group left without another word. Thea began pacing up and down the floor. Where had she gone wrong? Was she not nice enough? Not cute enough? It wasn’t like they were bad guys, not like the ones Lord Senryuu had saved her from only a month ago. What was it? It must have been the guild building, it must have! The lord of this shithole had been snubbing them since they came here! it was all his fault! he must pay. SHE would make him pay. A wild light danced in Thea’s eyes.
Jason and the group all were relieved when they finally got out of there. They had all detected the madness in that woman’s eyes. No words needed to be said, although they left for a different reason, they all were glad they didn't join this adventurer’s guild. They decided to explore the city for a while, and broke off into groups. Jason, Deineres, Alize, Ricky, and the seven other elves were all in one group. Then Jason remembered something.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
He asked a random passerby where he could sell treasure, and he pointed out a merchant’s union building on the docks. He entered the building and could feel many eyes appraising him. The main room was loud with with sweet talk and curses. Many merchants were buying and selling with customers in areas that were reminiscent of cubicles. This was the den of merchants. Jason and co approached what looked to be the front desk. There was a young lady with glasses sending off pieces of paper which seemed to be enchanted as they flew off her desk and towards various offices, sometimes even outside.
“Excuse me miss, I have valuables to sell, could I possibly meet with one of your best appraisers?” Jason said. He had experience with this type. Without even looking up, the young lady said “You don't have an appointment. I know you don't have an appointment since appointments are scheduled through me. Our senior appraisers require appointments to be set and do not necessarily reply to requests of-” she glanced briefly at Jason and his group. “unknowns.”
While the others looked quite offended, Jason merely smiled. Yes, he certainly had experience with this type. He pulled several jewels that he kept in his pockets at all times, and laid them in front of the clerk. “These are my appointment,” He said. He had the satisfaction of seeing the clerk’s eyes widen. She quickly wrote one of her magical letters and it flew into one of the offices. Within a minute a small man walked out of the office. he had curly graying hair, pointed ears, and somewhat large feet. Jason realized he was a hobbit.
“Come with me young masters, let us see what you have for us!” the hobbit said with a smile. Jason scooped all but one gem off the clerk’s desk, saying “That’s for you” with a smile. It pained him so much to give such a gem away for free, but he knew that it was the best move. Being on good terms with someone in the merchant’s guild was smart.
He cursed the dragon within him for making him so obsessed with treasure. He had always liked money, but never intentionally made a lot more than he needed. But now he was so hungry for gold and precious stones, he might’ve gone back to the adventurer’s guild just for the treasure hunting the crazy chick mentioned.
They entered the hobbit’s private office. It was quite nice, with a main desk and four chairs, one of which was behind the desk. It also had two couches with a coffee table, and a beautiful painting of rolling waves and sandy beaches which covered an entire wall.
They all took seats, with Jason, Alize, and Ricky all being at the desk with the hobbit, and the rest being on the couches. “To business then.” The hobbit said. Jason smiled then called the elves over. they were slightly annoyed at having sat down only to stand up again, but soon that wouldn't even matter anymore. The heavy packs they had been carrying around were about to become much lighter.
“Collette please empty your bag out onto the desk.” Jason said. The elf known as Collette did as she was asked. A small pile of golden objects and gemstones were formed on the desk. The hobbits eyes began to sparkle with greed. “Yes, yes, this is quite nice, I’ll give you 3000 gold for it.” Collette interjected immediately. “He’s cheating you.” Jason rose an eyebrow and looked at the man. “Oh??” Jason had the feeling he was being cheated, but he wasn’t sure as he did not understand the money here.
The hobbit looked at Collette with irritation. “5000 gold then.” jason activated his snake eyes before looking directly at the hobbit. “Stop playing games with me.” Jason wasn’t used to using intimidation tactics, but he hoped this would work. It did. “1 platinum!! that's wholesale!” the hobbit said, fear in his voice. Jason glanced at collett who gave a small nod. “Alright then, the rest of you, it's your turns.” Jason said.
15 minutes later, Jason had opened up an account with the merchant’s bank with 10 platinum and some change in it. It seemed in this world the money was broken down as follows 100 copper= 1 silver, 100 silver= 1 gold, 10,000 gold= 1 platinum. There was also another unit at 10,000 platinum called a crown. These were rarely seen, because the meaning behind the name was that if you were that rich, you could afford to buy a country. Or so it was said.
Jason walked out of the merchants guild slightly unhappy, he deeply missed his dear treasures already. Luckily he had kept the gems in his pocket. He had also received an experimental card. It was supposedly linked with his bank account, so that when he needed money, he could reach into the card and withdraw some directly from the bank.
The group was walking towards an Inn where they had agreed to meet the others, when they heard a big commotion start up. Heading towards it, Jason noticed a shadow fleeing the area via rooftop . Activating his snake eyes, he looked at the figure and saw something quite interesting. Rabbit ears.
When he got to the plaza that all the noise was coming from, he saw a big crowd. After maneuvering through it, he saw a dead body with a weeping woman over it. The guards were keeping the crowd back. Jason noticed the guard captain from before and asked “What happened?” “The lord has been assassinated.” The guard captain answered back in a cold voice.
Jason recalled some of what the crazy rabbit had said at the guild building, and began to piece things together. They had gotten tired of the lord’s noncooperation so they killed him. Oldest trick in the book. And the adventurers guild was the talk of the country right now, everyone liked them, no one would suspect them for it. jason chuckled to himself. Guess they weren't all fun and games after all.
“This is an opportunity” Alize suddenly whispered in his ear. He looked at her confusedly, until he finally understood her meaning. She was far more crafty than what he had thought. He turned to the guard captain and asked “How long has he been dead?” “not 3 minutes? why?” the guard captain responded. “I may be able to help” Said Jason.
The guard captain looked skeptical. “I know you Earth people are capable of great things, but the lord is dead, there is no cure for that.” Jason decided to be a bit more forceful. “Listen to me, every second that I don't do this, the chances of it working drop a little bit. soon, there will be no hope for the lord, and it will be your fault, can you live with that?” The guard captain hesitated, then led him to the body. The crowd began murmuring, they didn't understand what was going on.
“Deineres, heal him quickly!” Jason said, and the gouge marks on the man's chest disappeared. “That won’t work, he’s dead! Dead!” said the woman who had been crying over his body. Jason ignored her and placed a hand on the man’s head. “Animate.” he said. He instantly felt the strength leave his body, even more than the time he reanimated Alize. He fell over, and as he lost consciousness, he saw his friends running towards him saying words he could no longer hear. But as his head began to relax, and his eyes were almost closed, he saw the lord begin to stir.