Kenrich and Violet walked towards the guild which was easily the most impressive building in the area. Being funded by the government rather than the town itself, often makes these guild halls appear much more cared for than surrounding buildings in areas that don’t house the most patriotic citizens. The building was tall and wooden with a large metal-plated sign that read “Lampeer Official Guild Hall.” Violet took the lead and opened the solid wooden door with Kenrich right behind her. Once entering, they were able to witness the kinds of people that often take refuge in the guild halls of less vibrant cities. A portly man sporting a wooden helmet with spikes protruding from it and a large fur vest was snoring away at the closest table to the door. The way his head was resting with one spike against the table had his neck in a seemingly uncomfortable position that did not seem to bother him in the slightest. Another table showed three men and one woman playing with a deck of cards. Two men on one side of the table were dressed in traditional peasant garb while the other side had the man and woman dressed in mage attire. Another group of two patrons were against the request bulletin going through each piece of paper listed under the label “D.” As Kenrich took in these sights, Violet ignored them all and went straight to the desk where a receptionist with her eyes glued to a book did not notice her until she was inches away from the counter.
“Welcome…” the receptionist said, disinterested. She didn’t even look up from her book. “What do you want?”
“I’m here to get certified as an adventurer,” Violet said.
“Full name?”
“Violet Tilleon.”
“Occupation?”
“Former barmaid, soon to be adventurer.”
“Date of birth?”
“Spring 46th, 1499…You’re not even writing anything down!”
“I was just curious. Fill out this form.” Still without looking up from her book, the receptionist slid a paper over to Violet. “Bring it back once you’re done.”
Violet stood there for an extra moment staring daggers at the receptionist, who was not affected in the slightest, sighed then turned around to find a free table. Kenrich followed, slightly amused by the situation but making sure that he did not appear that way.
“What was her problem?!” Violet said while filling out the form with a light blue feather pen. “First those jackasses at the gate and now we’ve got ‘Ms. Ditsy’ here…”
“We’ve definitely got some real characters in this town so far,” Kenrich said. “At least we won’t be staying too long.”
“It all depends on how quickly I can get some quests done,” Violet said. “If I just need to kill some goblins, it’s fine, but if we only have a ‘Find my cat, Mr. Muffins!’ quest, then we might be in trouble.”
“I’d much prefer the latter…”
“Grow some chest hair, Kenrich. There’s probably going to be a lot of death on this mission, so even you might have to get your hands dirty at some point.”
“I’d prefer not to think about that now…by the way, are you well known in the military? Should we be worried about you getting recognized as well?”
“Most higher ups don’t know who I am, but a few of my connections might sell me out if they knew what I’m doing now. I made a name for myself mostly in the 1st division, so I doubt anyone would recognize me unless we went to their territory in the north.”
“That’s good. With the skills you showed off at the gate, I figured you might be higher up in the ranks.”
“I could've easily made commander, but being well known by many was not good for my mission, so it’s not something you have to worry about. I’m more worried about you being recognized. You need to grow out a beard or get a hood or something.”
“How long do you think we have before they spread wanted posters?”
“Normally I’d say two weeks, but since capturing you and recovering the ring is the direct order of the emperor, let’s say one.”
“Not a lot of time to grow a beard…”
“We’ll make some extra money to get you a hood from the apparel store then, so stop sweating the small things for right now. I’m done with the form, so let’s get started.”
Violet left the table with Kenrich following after. Kenrich was slightly excited to see how this next interaction with the girl behind the counter would go. Violet made it to the counter and slammed the paper on the wood right in front of the receptionist, who didn’t react.
“I’m finished. Can we start now? I’d prefer to get a job before the sun sets.”
The receptionist looked up from her book for the first time and right up at Violet. The receptionist was plain looking but she had very bright blue eyes like ice that made it hard for Violet and Kenrich to break her gaze. Suddenly, the receptionist raised an eyebrow, and she looked confused and slightly annoyed.
“What’s with the head wrap?” she asked.
“I got a scratch on my head, but I’m fine. Can we please continue?”
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“The amount of dried blood shows me that it was more than a scratch.”
“It doesn’t matter. Can I pick a job off of the board now?”
“Sorry, but I’m going to need you to fill out this form.” The receptionist slid a new form towards Violet that looked to be several pages long.
“I just did that! I’m done with this bureaucracy! Can I please just pick a job?”
“It’s a liability thing,” the receptionist said. “See? This one’s different.”
“I’m done with your forms!”
Kenrich looked around and saw that the few people in the guild were looking amused over the situation developing between Violet and the receptionist. The man who was sleeping close to the entrance and looked the part to be a Viking had awoken, sat up, and began to shout.
“Stop your bickering!” he said. “Seriph, go ahead and take a break. I’ll take over at the counter.” The receptionist nodded and walked out the door in the back of the room. The large man walked over and stood next to Violet at the counter. “Sorry lass, but with an injury like that, you must fill out the liability form before taking jobs in my guild.”
“Your guild?” Violet said, confused.
“Let me introduce myself, I’m the guild master, Geralt. My receptionist there is Seriph. Sorry if she seemed a little…unfriendly. She’s not the greatest people-person, but she does do a good job here.”
“Well, that’s putting it-”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kenrich said, shaking Geralt’s hand while cutting off Violet. “I’m Kenrich and this here is Violet. We’ve had a long day, so I apologize if we’re a little on edge. This is a very handsome guild hall and we’ll be happy to follow its customs and fill out the form before proceeding.”
“No apology needed!” Geralt said in a friendly manner. “Tell you what, just sign your name on the bottom of each page and I’ll have Seriph finish filling out the dates when she gets back, that way you can get a job before the day is done.”
“We very much appreciate that,” Kenrich said. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“I’m just happy to have your business!” Geralt said with a smile.
Violet stayed silent and started putting her signature at the bottom of each page of the packet. As she did so, Geralt and Kenrich kept up some small talk which caused those in the guild to go back to their earlier tasks now that they saw there was not going to be any fighting. After finishing the form, Violet pushed the paper towards the edge of the counter and walked over to the job board. Kenrich gave one last pleasantry to Geralt before following her.
“Anything look good?” Kenrich asked as Violet scanned the jobs labeled “D.”
“Thanks for fixing the situation…” Violet said after a small pause. “I get easily irritated sometimes, so I’m glad you were here to bring me back to solid ground.”
“Don’t mention it,” Kenrich said. Violet smiled.
“Anyway, this here is my favorite so far. It’s a goblin extermination job.”
“How is that a “D” rank job? I didn’t think combat jobs would be so low in the rankings.”
“It always depends on the guild. Guilds that don’t get a lot of adventurers are sometimes known to put harder jobs lower so the likelihood of them getting taken is higher, and lucky for them, that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
“What’s the reward?”
“800 gez.”
“That’s plenty enough to get us a horse and get that hole in your skull filled!”
“There’s no hole in my skull! It was just a cut! But you’re right. We can get a horse to share, get my head stitched up, and get some suppliers before we head to Fril.”
“Is it a lot of goblins?”
“The request says there’s a small band of goblins seen on the outskirts of the town that are making the villagers nervous. It says the request was made by the local government, so we shouldn’t have an issue with getting paid promptly and fully.”
“You think you can take them in your condition?”
“Easily.”
“I guess we have a winner then. Let’s go pick up our badge and take the request.”
Kenrich and Violet walked over towards the counter where Seriph was filling out what looked to be the last page of the liability form. Geralt was leaning over the counter talking to her as she did it. Much like with Violet, she didn’t look up once during the exchange and did not give him a single response as they watched. Based on what Kenrich saw, they seemed to have pretty opposite personalities.
“Ah, so you’ve chosen a job? Seriph just finished the form, so we can give you your badge after your registration payment and then Violet’ll be an official adventurer!”
“Wonderful!” Kenrich said. “And yes, we have. We’re gonna get rid of the goblins outside of town.”
“You’re certainly aiming high. That’s the most dangerous “D” rank job on the list.”
“Also, the best paying,” Violet said.
“That it is, lass. Just please look after yourselves out there. Goblins are a clever bunch.”
“It won’t be a problem,” Violet said, handing Geralt the 200 gez we received from our earlier wager.
“Please stand on that red circle,” Seriph told Violet.
“What for?”
“You’ll need a picture for your adventurer badge! Make sure to give us a big smile!” Geralt said.
Violet stood on the red circle and gave a cute smile which contradicted the dangerous aura she exuded normally as a soldier of the Admian military. Seriph lazily held up a white stone from the desk and it flashed at Violet, who flinched badly. Seriph then set the stone on the desk and pressed it against a card on the table. After pulling it off, a picture of Violet appeared. There was no cute smile on the card though as the flinch was captured in its entirety. Her eyes were halfway shut and both of her hands were thrust in front of her looking as if she was under attack. Kenrich snickered when he saw it but tried to keep his composure. Violet on the other hand was beet red and flustered.
“I-I wasn’t ready!” she yelled. “Let’s do another!”
“I apologize but picture stones only work so many times, so we can’t use more than one on each person unless their eyes are closed,” Seriph said.
“They’re almost closed! See?!” Violet said pointing at the picture.
“I can still see your eye color, so it doesn’t fulfill the recapture requirements,” Seriph said.
“I think you look quite n-nice,” Kenrich said, still trying not to laugh.
“Bite me!”
“Now that the registration is complete and you’ve chosen a job, feel free to go ahead and attempt to complete it when you’re ready,” Geralt said. “If you need more information than what is on the request then I recommend asking Leonard and Lenfil who guard the front gate. They’re the ones who first reported the sighting.”
Kenrich and Violet looked at each other, sighed, then thanked both Geralt and Seriph before leaving the guild hall to start the request.