Now that the quarantine is over, I was kind of sad to be leaving. After all, I have decided to become independent and move off the temple and the orphanage. While I have nothing against the people that helped me so much when I was alone in a new world I didn’t want to narrow my perspective. Seeing everything through the Holy lens is not the way to go. Plus, I would hate to be a burden on the orphanage and prevent them from getting another child just because they had to take care of me. After a lot of research, I choose to join the freelancer guild since it was the best place to be in Hano if I wanted to learn about magic. I decided to go check it out and see for myself.
With Louis going to work at Silnar’s place early this morning and everyone else at the temple being super busy after all the medical information I dumped on them, I stepped outside all alone for the first time since I arrived in this world. I made sure to keep an eye on my surrounding and only walk in crowded areas just in case. Thanks to the portals gate, navigating the city is easy and I know how to get to the freelancer guild since I already visited it once when I got my lightning Soulbook. There are other minor portal gates in the city similar to the one I have appeared in but none of them link the 3 main districts of Hano. It took me 1 hour to reach the freelancer guild despite it being less than a 10 min walk.
Hey don’t judge I had to try some snacks along the way, the street food game is insane around here.
The freelancer guild is a large institution that looks like a small village dedicated to martial art and weapon training. I could see a lot of people performing various activities; with Archery ranges, fighting pits, stacks of training dummies, a pond for swimming, and even a Parkour obstacle course, I lost myself watching human-looking people performing inhuman feats of strength and dexterity. After I spent another hour wandering around like a country bumpkin I decided to check a large building with the sign “Main Hall”. With tables in the middle and multiple receptionists’ desks in front, the inside was similar to the merchant guild. The similarity ends there because instead of the privacy booths on the sides, this building had multiple Bulletin boards on the left while the right side had a kitchen and a bar.
This looks like an important place I bet I could find it here!
I beelined for the bar and asked for some coffee! To my chagrin, they don’t serve it here either!
What does a girl have to do to get some goddamn coffee!
I reluctantly walked to the front desk. It wasn’t a busy day and only one receptionist was behind it. She was a dark-skinned girl with crystal blue eyes and curly brown hair.
“Welcome to the freelancer guild how can I help you!” said the receptionist with an enthusiastic smile.
“Hi I am San Alice and I am new in Hano I am hoping to join the freelancer guild,” I choose to present my title hoping to get something out of it.
“Welcome to Hano San Alice. I am Nada daughter of baroness Gnasha of the Lor Water-Line.” Bowed the girl.
Shit, she is bloodline nobility! I am not ready for this I spent most of my time reading about kindred and mythic! Isn’t Baroness too important a position to be manning a simple desk? Why is she here?
“Nice to meet you, my Lady,” I responded.
“Just call me Nada! I am barely nobility my uncle is the estate holder,” said the girl while extracting a paper.
“You can call me Alice as well” I smiled.
“So Alice, I will need your full name, your realm of birth, the realm of both of your parents and your affinities as well as any special ability you may hold.”
“I am Alice Hecate from the Mythic Realm, my parents are unknown, I have sky and fire affinities, and I am already subscribed to a dynamic Soulbook of lightning.”
My name is Alice Abbot but since I have already decided not to share my true name in this world I made up a fake Identity just in case. And who is better than Hecate, goddess of magic, to name myself after?
“Do you have any innate bloodline abilities?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
With a movement of Nada’s hand, a blub of ink flowed from the bottle and landed on the paper. The ink immediately shaped itself as my personal information.
“Wow! This is amazing!” I gasped “Is that your water bloodline ability? I never thought water manipulation could be this detailed!”
“I know right!” grinned the girl “Water banding hardly gives away this much control, but “I” am special!”
“Special! How so?” I asked.
“You see my mum is from a very powerful water bloodline. She knew that her elder brother would probably inherit everything and marry her off to some minor noble or something. So she decided to take matters into her own hand!”
“How brave!”
“She went to the Golden Reef and married a Kindred barbarian, have you ever been to the Golden Reefs Alice.”
“No, I have not. What’s special about the golden reefs?”
“The people there are semi-aquatic and mostly feed on giant squid. My father is their best hunter especially since he can transform into a three meters long squid with one of the most powerful ink attacks.”
I blinked twice.
“Wait does that mean you have an ink affinity rather than water.”
“I doubt there is such a thing as ink affinity or at least I never heard of it,” denied the girl “No I can’t control all ink to this extent, only my own!” In a blink of an eye, the girl’s long hair turned into 10 sandy brown tentacles and a blob of ink appeared from the back of her neck and splashed into a new paper. The next couple of seconds were mesmerizing, the ink splash started to transform into a Pen Portrait of me.
“This is amazing, YOU ARE AMAZING!” I shouted.
“Thank you, Alice!”
“I am sorry if it’s inappropriate to ask but Why are you working here as a receptionist you can make mad money making copies of books or something.”
“This is rather embarrassing! I was hoping to emulate my sister's rise in power and prestige here in Hano, she is the royal scribe back home in Salgoria. Since Hano is the most influential city-state in the 7 realms I thought it would be a great place to showcase my powers.”
“I am guessing things didn’t turn up so well.”
“This place is a nightmare! The literacy rate is so low. The library is pathetic. People don’t keep paperwork and only deal in verbal agreement, and they have neither kings nor a council… they are ruled by the military,” ranted the girl.
“Really! Things are this bad! How come this place is considered influential?”
“Hano controls the sole rift gate to the bloodlines and 80% of materials used for Soulbooks come from the bloodlines. The freelancer guild also has some of the most powerful individuals in the 7 realms and since the elite members are technically part of the military...”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“It means Power is Law here.”
“Exactly! This is why rising as a clerk in the Freelancer guild is the way to go! If I become Marina’s secretary I could do so much good.”
“Who is Marina,” I asked.
“Marina is the 5th strongest individual in the freelancer guild and the only person keeping this place afloat. She is so beautiful and strong and smart and responsible and…” A deluge of compliments toward this Marina ensue from her fan girl it took her the better part of 5 minutes and the appearance of another member waiting behind me for her to stop talking about Marina’s virtues.
“Anyway, since you are a San do you want to join as a VIP or just a regular member?” backtracked the girl to the original subject.
“What’s the difference?”
“All members get the “Perfect State” Soulbook and a bed in the barracks right away but they are required to pay the guild 6 silvers by the end of the year. A VIP member is upgraded to a spacious room as well as access to the eastern lounge, and the special mission board in there. But you have to pay 30 silvers a year upfront.”
“Who would I find in the lounge and what is special about the board there compared to the ones here.”
“Lounge access is only for VIPs, team leaders, and elite Members, but it’s mostly frequented by sergeants since any lieutenant or higher would be in the western lounge. The special mission board is mostly about politically sensitive missions.”
Humm, I want a room just for myself however I could get a room for cheaper near the temple. Which means: is the introduction to the sergeants and other VIPs worth the price of a team of horses?
“Do they serve coffee in the eastern lounge?”
“Yes… I believe they do.”
“Sold!”
After finalizing the transaction and getting my guild badge, I was escorted by a ten-year-old messenger boy to my new lodging. It was a decently sized room minimally furnished with a twin bed, a desk, a couple of chairs, and a closet. Under the bad, I noticed what appears to be a chamber pot…
I may have gotten used to a lot of bullshit since I got Isekai’ed but I am not using a chamber pot! Can you imagine how it would be embarrassing to empty it…
La♪ la♪ la♪ lala♪ don’t mind me♫. I am exiting the dorms with a pot of pee♫.
Yeah, I will stick to the outhouses, thank you very much.
Despite to lack of indoor plumbing, the city of Hano has a higher level of hygiene than what you would expect in a medieval-looking city. With a sewerage system; it is more of an underground tunnel system created by earth mages than some modern pipelines, while bathes inside Houses or dorms are uncommon, separate buildings dedicated to bathing are readily available.
There was a bathhouse next to the temple But since I was quarantined for the better part of a week I didn’t get to experience it!
I did take daily towel bathes and it’s not the same. I need the real deal. Luckily for me accommodations also offer access to the VIP bathhouses. After extracting a couple of towels and some change of cloth, I hide my backpack in the closet and closed the door. I was extra worried about my PC and phone so I entrusted them to lady Sana before leaving my quarantine flat, but I completely forgot that my silver necklace and platinum ring are still in my backpack. Let’s hope that no one break’s in and steal my stuff. I would hate it if I couldn’t trust my new abode.
The bathhouse was in the building next to mine so I decided to check it out. The problem with public baths is that one must first understand local etiquette before using them. Do they offer private rooms? Are they separated by gender? Do you go in naked or do you cover with a towel? Do you engage in conversation or must you remain silent?
I should have asked Louis all these questions instead of ranting for 3 hours about the absence of onions in this world…
Luckily I was able to answer most of those questions just by showing up at the bathhouse, the signs in the foyer written in Common showcase that there are two wings, one for each sex. The front desk was staffed by a middle-aged woman with brown hair in a net bun who was busy grinding some kind of herbs into a clay mixing bowl. When I approached her I notice a small pair of wings cupid style in her back. I have seen a couple of people flying when I walked the street of Hano but they were using fully-fledged wings, not some dainty chicken wings.
“Hello, young Miss! I have never seen you before,” greeted the woman. “This bathhouse is for members of the freelancer guild only; you will have to show your badge before going in.”
“Ah yes! I have joined today.” I responded while handing her out my newly acquired badge. My guild badge was an X-shaped double sword pin made of brass that was linked to me with a drop of blood and would glow red if held by someone other than me.
“Oh! Since you are a VIP member usage of the bath is free. I do however have soap to sell if you want any.”
“Yes, please. Do you make it yourself?”
“I do! I know basic alchemy and I worship Damada goddess of flowers and spring.”
“Ah, so you are also mythic!”
“Yes, half mythic half dreamer,” She said with a shake of her back wings.
Ah, the wings! I remember Vena telling me something about winged people being dreamers.
“Do you have any soap with magical properties?”
I spent the better part of an hour perusing her selection; from the mundane soap that cost a dozen copper coins to the absurd anti-aging cream that would half my bank account. I finally understood why people are surprisingly attractive despite the lack of modern accommodation. Skin and hair care are so easy with alchemy.
Who needs flat irons if you can use oil that keeps your hair shiny and straight?!
“Okay I am taking the Lime soap for sure and rubbing-alcohol …” I hesitated. “I would also like to get the special oil for my hair but I am worried about what it is made from. I don’t like the idea of killing sentient or extremely rare creatures just so I can get straight hair…”
“Oh! You don’t have to worry about it. While the oil requires a lock of nymph’s hair to make, we actually trade water or life-affinity gemstones for it. Most nymphs live near the Helm Holy kingdom and hunting them is illegal.”
Nymphs? I wonder if they are the same creatures from Earth mythology or if it’s just my translation ability performing a phono-semantic matching.
“Okay then, I will take the soap and the oil please!”
“That would be 9 bronze and 12 copper please!”
“We can use the bank card, right?”
“Of course!”
“By the way, this is my first time using a public bath in Hano can you advise me about the general etiquette?”
“Oh, well nothing much to worry about. You can undress to your comfort level some most woman only cover their genitals with a towel but if you are shy you can go in your underwear if you want. The water is magically cleaned so don’t worry about contaminating the pools with soap or oil. Ah! And avoid the boiling, acid, or frozen rooms if you don’t have adequate resistances.”
“How about conversations? I am not hearing anything from the baths, are we required to remain silent?”
“Not at all. The baths are empty now; they do get noisy in pick hours, especially around the dawn of the second sun.”
“Okay then! Thank you is the conversation. I will be going then in.”
“See you around.”
I walked to the women's section of the bath holding my newly acquired soap and hair oil. The changing room had multiple wooden shelves that separated the room into narrow storage capacities. I put my clothes in the leftmost basket and went deeper in. The next room looked similar to roman style bathhouses with a big pool in the center and multiple open archways that led to other rooms. The pool is fed by 8 elevated streams of water originating from 8 water features that look like dragon’s heads with blue and red gemstone eyes. On the side of each stream, there are short stools and wooden buckets of water for people to clean themselves. After a good scrub, I spent 10 minutes socking when I heard footsteps coming from one of the archways.
This is weird I thought the alchemist lady told me that I was alone in here.
I turn to the left only to find a mountain of a woman. She had muscle on her muscle, with short undercut black hair. Her skin was flushed red below her neck as if she had a severe case of sunburn. I looked upward to read “The acid pits” in the sign above her.
“Are you alright ma’am?” I asked a bit worried.
“I fell asleep while training my acid resistance. I think I hang about a bit longer than I was supposed to,” responded the colossal woman.
“How long did you stay in there?”
“What time is it?”
“Around sun high.”
“That makes it 8 hours.”
I blinked twice.
“You spent 8 hours in a pit of acid and you are only mildly seared.”
I wonder if I could do the same with similar training.
Back home, I was convinced that Earth had a belief-based magic system similar to the mythic realm. But now that I understand the kindred magic system, I wonder if it is a lesser version of it that was observed by Darwinism.
Look at me; believing in both gods and Darwin at the same time. I am a mess.
I was brought back to the real world by a splash of water next to me followed by a deep sigh.
“You are new around here, what is your name.”
“I am Alice, I joined today.” I skipped the title because I assumed a powerful kindred person would not be impressed by a title I didn’t earn with my strength.
“I am Lanka, a sergeant of the 20 men Armey,”
“The 20 men Armey?”
“We are a specialized team of elite freelancers who serve under Lieutenant Widmore.”
“Sorry, I am probably supposed to know who you are but I am new to the city.”
“Don’t worry about it; I am not a Soulit noble who expects my ass to be kissed.”
“You are kindred I assume.”
“Yep, pure kindred.”
“I am mythic I think… no one in the 7 realm has met my parents so I am not 100% sure.”
“You could try some kindred training regime, your rate of improvement will show how much kindred you have in you if at all.”
“That sounds interesting! Where could I find those?”
“Some of my buddies at the 20 men army teach advance weapon mastery but I think you better start with Sergeant Yon and his band of misfits.”
“Oh! Sergeant Yon, I know him! I would be happy to work with him.”
“Yeah! Just make sure you don’t end up like some of the bottom feeders that follow him around.”
“Yeah…I will do my best.” I stood finally down ready to exit my bath. “Thank you for the advice, Sergeant Lanka. See you around!”
After dressing up and making sure that my guild pin was firmly attached to my shirt. I said goodbye to the soap maker and then directly went to the Lounge to finally get my much-deserved coffee.