I know what you’re asking yourself, were those other gates as bad as the first? As you could well imagine, the remaining three gates turned out to be at least as awful as the first. It became clear all the gates were suffering from near similar conditions. I had no problem getting access to the gatehouses because the guards were already forewarned of my arrival, besides I kept the adventurer guild quest parchment with me as evidence. I confess I was a little disappointed, other than more ancient bird carcasses, there were no other rings to be found. It wasn’t too unexpected, after all, rings didn’t fall off people’s fingers every day. That first gatehouse ring remained a once off fluke. It turned out that my greatest adventure came when a few days earlier, I attempted to register at the adventurer guild when not everything went as smoothly as I hoped.
Early one morning I arrived at the adventurer guild to register with them. It turned out to be a far unhappier experience than I expected. My initial thoughts of the large, stone hewn guild building were that it looked pretty much like the all the guilds mentioned in the fantasy stories. Who knew, perhaps the first person to write about them on earth may have been from that world originally. The interior with its large hall, wooden planked floors and reception desks met all my expectations. Heck, there was even a place where groups of people could sit at tables, but I didn’t notice anyone selling beverages or meals there. A compartmentalised reception counter stood along the entire side of the hall with each compartment owned with its own administrator. On the other side of the hall stood what looked like two quest boards against the wall. Only a few notices seemed pinned to the board, I guessed adventurers already left early that morning with the better quests if I continued with my guild trope. I confirmed my guess because the hall looked surprisingly empty at that time, more like a library and less like the labour market it was. When I approached the long counter to apply for the palace’s request, I felt disappointed to see that the only attendant at the counter wasn’t a ‘Kawaī neko no on'nanoko’, instead it was a thin, older man with a reedy beard. The man reminded me of beef jerky.
“Yes. Can I help you?”
“Morning. I would like to register with the adventurer guild.”
“We have some questions you need to answer.”
His curt attitude and for reasons I can’t explain, the attendant pinned me as a troublemaker and things spiralled downhill from there. When I couldn’t answer some of the application questions like where I was born or when, his demeanour soured as if I was just wasting his time. By then his irritated voice echoed across the hall as the already still building turned quieter than a cemetery.
“Look, if you can’t answer these questions then you might as well go to the labour guild, they always need more muscles than brains there and they don’t ask too many questions, not while you can do the menial jobs.”
His loud voice gave me the distinct feeling he intended intimidating me into leaving so that he didn’t have to deal with my bothersome request. The situation attracted unwanted attention from other guild workers and adventurers who sent unpleasant glances towards me. I realised there was no point in arguing with the man, he wasn’t in the mood for listening and he never gave me an opportunity to explain the situation to him. I decided on a different tack, one where I made my situation crystal clear and in a way everyone there would understand. If I intended doing more business through them in future, I first needed their cooperation.
With my business with the guild left in limbo and having no intention of hanging around there any longer, I returned to my waiting carriage.
“Did you manage to register?”
The old man prompted me as our carriage started moving forward.
“No. It seems I bumped into a few personality issues.”
“Please tell me you didn’t turn them into to your proselytes?”
I didn’t bother answering him although I sorely itched to do it. No matter how good an idea it seemed, attacking a guild attendant wouldn’t go down well, and I didn’t want to start with a criminal record. Our less ostentatious version of the palace carriage carried us to the inn followed by an open cart carrying all our blacksmithing gear. Our new inn, one of those the one the king surreptitiously recommended to us, was situated in the upper city area near the upper wall. Generally, inns tended to be smaller affairs that didn’t cater to guests’ carts or horses but since we used the palace supplied transport it didn’t pose a problem for us. Our rental cart and horses wouldn’t return to Obon anytime soon, so we returned both cart and horses to the rental’s associate company located in Shimmerstal. Luckily, we didn’t have too much trouble with the associate company. Not much I say because they started to grumble about our unplanned rental return but when they spotted the carriage with the royal emblem parked outside, all their disagreements instantly crumbled.
I hoped the old man found a place to store the marquee tent and mobile forge because I didn’t suppose the innkeeper would appreciate a forge laden cart parked outside the inn’s front door. Our inn turned out to be an upper-German styled building with black frames and white walls. Yep, definitely fantasyland. I decided not to be surprised anymore by the similarities in future and take it in my stride. Perhaps because of its German similarity, the inn triggered a nostalgic feeling in me. But if my mood felt melancholic, it melted away when I viewed my sunny room with its own view over the city, I could see the many city houses below me and even the western road we arrived on, flanked by the patchwork farmlands, until it disappeared into the green forest. Once again, I missed Obon. For as little time I spent there, something about the place got under my skin.
Apparently, the palace paid for all our accommodation costs. I think the king appreciated the old man’s blacksmithing expertise and wanted to make staying in Shimmerstal an attractive proposition. Despite our financial windfall, Grenfell made it clear that he had no intention of paying for my food or any other expense while we stayed in Shimmerstal. He insisted that I find a way to make some money while staying there since he couldn’t guarantee me any permanent work. I guess he gave me a bit of tough love, which was fine with me given our circumstances. The palace arranged a foundry with a private forge for Grenfell in the lower city area, about half an hour’s walk from the nearest gatehouse and along the middle wall heading south. On later occasions I occasionally assisted him with a cart or horse that came in for repairs or reshoeing.
Our no-nonsense innkeeper, an elderly woman by the name of Mrs. Violet, who was always impeccably dressed in a white embroidered dress, also became my contact to the palace. Straight after my adventurer guild incident, I asked Mrs. Violet to relay a message to Graham, the king’s personal butler, to apologise for the delay in starting the king’s request. I mentioned the circumstances at the guild leading to the delay and that given the circumstances, I would be unable to fulfil the request. Imagine my surprise when early the next morning a royal courier delivered a letter directly to me from the palace, explaining that I should please return to the adventurer guild and that everything had been sorted. I chuckled to myself; the plot seemed to be working out as planned.
My experience at the guild the second time around was profoundly different. When I walked into the guild, I expected to confront the old man again, only to discover at the administrator counter, that a lovely young woman greeted me instead.
“Ah, Mr. Karosaki, we’ve been expecting you. My name is Olivia and I’ll be your personal administrator in future with any help you need when dealing with this adventurer guild branch.”
She looked to be about my age and half a head shorter than me, with long blonde hair plaited into a single ponytail reaching her waistline. She wore a long sleeved, white collared shirt under a short-sleeved breast jacket with wooden buttons and complimented by a short black dress. Her black stockings tucked into some laced leather boots that came up just above her ankle. Her demeanour was far better than that rude gentleman from my last experience there. I looked around nervously to see if I missed him somewhere, as if he were suddenly going to pop out from behind the counter somewhere like a jack in the box.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Thank you…Olivia. What happened to the man who helped me the last time?”
My question distressed her a little, but she quickly hid it behind a professional smile, probably for my sake.
“That gentleman was relocated to another branch that urgently needed his help. You needn’t be concerned for him, he’ll get there within two moon cycles, so he’s well looked after. But since you’re here now, how about you sign here and here, so that we complete your application?”
I’m sure she said two moon cycles. Just where did they send the poor guy, their version of Siberia? I shivered in horror at that thought when she distracted me by pointing out two separate application forms, the first was the adventurer guild application and the second, the quest for the palace.
“You’re not going to ask me any questions?”
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. The woman looked nervous again as she vehemently shook her head.
“Mr. Karosaki, the palace has already sorted out any issues with the application. We’ve committed to help you in whatever you need, please don’t hesitate to let the palace know that we are fully committed.”
I chuckled to myself at the vast difference of attitude. The negotiator in me wanted to capitalise on that opportunity was only expected from me so I said.
“I don’t know Olivia. Please understand that I’m fully satisfied with the service you are giving me now, but I’m not fully convinced that anything has necessarily changed from my last experience. What would happen if I reported back to His Majesty that everything is has gone well only to have the level of service drop once the urgency is over. Perhaps I should hold back on my feedback until I’m more convinced.”
Of course, I boasted of speaking to the king as if he and I were bosom buddies, but it was all bluff. However, they didn’t need to know that and for all I cared they could sweat it out a bit. I didn’t know it at the time, but the king personally requested the presence of the guild master the day before. What was said between them in the palace office remained between the king and the guild master, but its effects were far reaching for me.
Olivia, looking more nervous, started to panic.
“Please wait here Mr. Karosaki. I’m going to have a word with the guild master. I beg for your patience; I shouldn’t be long.”
I smiled as she hurried away and up a nearby staircase to an office on the top floor. Everything was going to plan. With nothing better to do that wait, my eye roamed over the guild for the first time. That time, the fascinated glances from the staff and adventurers in the guild were far more satisfying to me than the judgemental looks from the time with Mr. Beef Jerky. Not a minute later, Olivia came trotting down the stairs led by what I assumed was the guild master. His slightly balding head and short cut greyish beard grabbed my attention first. His muscled body that seemed to mark him as a veteran adventurer, either fully or partly retired from the field. He stood a head length under my height and was well dressed in a collared, grey coloured shirt, and sleeveless, brown leather waistcoat with gold buttons. The waistcoat covered his belt while his soft brown leather pants were tucked into buckled boots just under his knees.
“I apologise for keeping you waiting Mr. Karosaki. I’m the guild master for this branch and please call me Rupert. Had I known when you would arrive, I’d be personally waiting for you. Would you prefer to continue our conversation in more comfortable quarters; perhaps if we spoke in my office?”
That he was closer to me, I noticed an obvious scar running down the left side of his jaw. You would think all guild masters needed to sport scars like battle trophies, perhaps as some testament to their adventuring history. I purposely didn’t reply immediately but first looked at Olivia and then at the guild master to stretch their nerves a little.
“Very well I’ll listen. Despite the previous issue, I feel this will benefit me.”
I could hear them audibly sigh in relief and asked myself what the king must have threatened them with that they were that nervous? Because the guild master couldn’t attend every issue the guild faced, only a select group of people managed to personally meet the guild master. Only large quests or dealings with important clients warranted the guild master’s full attention, anything else he left to the administrators. I didn’t realise that was usually the case and happily continued pressing my advantage in the office, but first planned to let the guild master do the talking and explain himself.
His personalised office reminded me of the old government offices decked out in wooden panelling and furniture. I thought I could smell the pleasant aromatic fragrance of Thadlar wood. It took me back to the woodcutter camp, I suddenly found myself reminiscing about them. I couldn’t believe I missed that place or was it the people I actually missed I mused to myself.
With the dungeon monsters from the Blister Oak Forest having unfettered reign in the area, I suspected trading businesses might be serious affected, Orilay and the family would be going through some hard times. Something in me wanted to get back to them, the sooner the better.
Meanwhile he indicated for me to sit on a chair opposite the desk and then proceeded to pour tea into thick glass cups for me and then for Oliva and himself.
“Ah, Mr. Karosaki. Please forgive the guild’s rudeness to you yesterday.”
“Please, I consider it a past event not worth paying attention to, however I’m interested to hear what you have to say.”
I subtly hinted to get on with the business. I didn’t want to drag out their discomfort any further. The guild master sat down at his desk opposite Olivia and me.
“Yes, yes, thank you very much. I believe it would benefit us both if we spoke frankly?”
“I’m happy for you to do so, I’ll not take cumbrance at anything you say if I can ask the same from you?”
He nodded in agreement.
“Very well. Mr. Karosaki, the king asked me to see him yesterday. I had no idea of your situation, and it was with great trepidation that I attended His Majesty’s request, and he was quite frank on our expected cooperation with you. He paused for a moment, then continued.
“In future, if there is any problem you have relating to adventuring or this guild please speak to Olivia directly, or to me if you cannot get resolution. I wouldn’t want to bother His Majesty about any easily resolvable issue.”
What the guild master was saying was perfectly acceptable, after all, being spoken down to by an obviously obnoxious person was hardly worthy of a king’s attention, it was a gamble from my side to get more attention from the guild. It obviously worked, but I hoped I didn’t rub the king up the wrong way by doing that. I may have used up my royal kudos points.
“Okay, I can understand your request.”
Again, they looked visibly relieved as I seemed to have passed an invisible hurdle, but they weren’t quite at the end of my gauntlet yet.
“But the original question I asked Olivia still hasn’t been answered.”
The guild master looked at Olivia then back at me.
“Mr. Karosaki, as a person who’s new to the guild, I can understand why you asked that question. However, at this guild our motto is that our word is our bond, and we keep to that no matter the cost. To show you my sincerity I’m going to offer you the once in a lifetime opportunity to ask whatever you will of us, right now in this office, and if it is within my power to grant, I’ll do so.”
I started at his words. He made no small offer to me. I just got handed the keys to the guild and potentially more. I couldn’t help smiling to myself, it was almost too brutally good to be true. Yet I didn’t think that the guild master would be lying to me, not when I had the ear of the king. On the other hand, I didn’t want to bruise his olive branch beyond redemption, but the guild master wasn’t stupid either. By showing me his full hand, he forced me to show mine and in doing that he hoped he would get a fuller understanding of who I was.
“Very well. I’m not a greedy man, so my request will be one considering further business between us in a win-win situation.”
“Eh? Win-win?”
Yeah, it was a stereotypical term, but it described the situation well, although it seemed the guild master didn’t understand the term.
“It means that we both gain something out of the situation.”
“Ah, I see. Yes, then a win-win situation is preferrable.”
“I’m not well versed in ways of the guild, and I would like to learn as much as I can. I would first ask that I can be personally taught the intricacies of your operation.”
The guild master nodded. That was easily done.
“Olivia here is your administrator, feel free to ask any question of her that you would want and if she cannot answer it, I will.”
Olivia nodded her head like one of those car dashboard puppets, she looked cute when she did that. I continued.
“Do you have a library or any literary resources here that I can access?”
“We have a dedicated library for access by the adventurers. It has a cost per use attached to it, but in your case, I’ll have all costs waived when you use it in future.”
I don’t think the guild master realised what I would have given for that privilege, and there it was handed to me on a silver platter. I still think the old man was clairvoyant. When he eventually heard about my incident with the guild, other than his laughing about it, he advised me that should that very event take place, that I should remember to ask one other thing.
“I’m an apprentice blacksmith for the master weaponsmith, Grenfell of the Dryad, I believe you know of him?”
An audible gasp from both caught me off guard. The guild master spoke in a calm, almost reverent voice.
“Know of him? There isn’t an adventurer that doesn’t know of his weaponsmith work and dream to have the privilege of owning one of his weapons. To hear that you are a disciple of his, is your luck beyond belief.”