Popularity [https://i.imgur.com/ifycO4T.png]
Chapter 5: Popularity
Garfield decided to stick with the Bretten Sunset Inn for the time being since the low price would allow him to take some time off before he accepted more adventuring requests. Also, it was getting kind of late and he didn’t want to start searching for new accommodations.
“Hello again. I’d like to continue staying here if that’s all right.”
“Certainly!” the innkeeper agreed. “Welcome back! Would you like to stay in the same room or perhaps upgrade?” The innkeeper winked at Garfield but he responded evenly.
“The same room is fine, for now.”
“Okay. Oh, how did your guild evaluation go?” the innkeeper asked Garfield.
“You know about that? The guild told me it went well.”
“Hm, I don’t see your badge, though?”
Garfield took out his badge. “Oh, here it is.”
The innkeeper’s eyes widened as she saw Garfield remove a Gold badge from his pocket. Gold adventurers wouldn’t normally stay at a bargain inn like this one. She would likely do everything she could to anchor him to this inn, for now.
“Wow, Gold!? You’re quite an adventurer! Actually, remember I told you about my nephew? He’s helping out in the restaurant right now. Do you have time to chat with him?”
Garfield didn’t have much to offer this nephew, but perhaps the boy would have useful information to share with Garfield. A connection to the Magic Guild in the future could possibly be helpful, as well. “Uh, sure. I’ll head over there in a little while for a late dinner.”
“Thank you! His name’s Ricky. He’ll be delighted.”
Garfield returned to his room for a short while and then entered the restaurant at Bretten Sunset Inn. A boy of about fourteen ran over to him. “Are you Bearclaw!?”
“You must be Ricky. How did you hear about that name?”
“I heard about it from another customer a little while ago,” Ricky replied. “That’s amazing. I want to become an adventurer as soon as I graduate from the Magic Academy.”
Ricky sat with Garfield while he ordered and ate dinner. He demonstrated «Make Water» to Ricky’s delight. Ricky peppered him with questions about how to prepare and cast the spell, but honestly, Garfield couldn’t provide a satisfying answer. They ended up talking more about Ricky’s training so far. Garfield was actually quite interested in learning more about the nature of normal magic in this land, so it was beneficial.
“But I don’t understand. You’re a summoner at the guild and yet you can use various support magic? I haven’t heard of someone with two magic specializations like that before.”
‘Hm, so that’s why they were so surprised at the Welcome center the other day…’ Garfield speculated. “My specialty is really summoning. I wouldn’t dare pass myself off as a support magic specialist while adventuring. Don’t worry, I’m not taking your future spot away at the Adventurer’s Guild.”
Ricky was satisfied with that explanation and thanked Garfield for the chat. Garfield returned to his room and eventually went to bed.
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The next morning, Garfield returned to his room after breakfast and worked on creating new clothing. His goal was to reproduce the fabrics of his existing garments, but in colors and shapes that are more typical for humans in this land. Duplicating his existing clothing was easy, but modifying it in the process of duplication took some time. Eventually, he produced several outfits that were about as comfortable as what he was used to, but looked more ‘normal’. He changed into a less flashy outfit and departed his room. He wanted to try a restaurant outside the inn for a change.
“I’m heading out for some shopping. I’ll be back later this afternoon.”
“Oh, not adventuring today?” the innkeeper asked, surprised. “Very well. Take care!”
Garfield left the inn and searched for restaurants using his Mapping magic. He purposefully selected a relatively distant restaurant to give him a chance to explore the city a bit. He was gone for approximately three hours. During that time…
“Welcome to the Bretten Sunset Inn.”
“Hello. I’m looking for Sir Garfield. Is he in?” asked a man the innkeeper recognized as the Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild.
“I’m afraid he’s not, but I can take a message for him or if you like you can have a seat over there and wait for him.”
“Very well, I’ll help myself to a seat. Thank you.”
Whatever his business was, it must have been important for him to choose to wait. A few minutes later, a second gentleman in one of those famous Magic Academy instructor uniforms walked into the inn.
“Welcome to the Bretten Sunset Inn.”
“Good afternoon. I’m here to see Sir Garfield, if he is available.”
“Sir Garfield, is it? I believe he’s out but I can take a message for him, if you like, or you could wait for him over there if you prefer.”
“I guess I’ll wait for him,” the instructor decided. He thanked the innkeeper and had a seat.
It was quite a coincidence for two people to arrive to see Sir Garfield at about the same time. A few minutes later, a fox-eared swordswoman walked in.
“Hi. Is this Sir Garfield’s inn?”
“Ahahaha…” The innkeeper could only laugh.
Soon after, the woman Garfield would recognize as Yttria had a seat. Just a few minutes later, a man dressed like a rogue (but bearing no guild badge) walked into the inn. The innkeeper greeted him. “Are you here to see Sir Garfield?”
The rogue froze for just a moment, then spun around and walked swiftly out of the inn. The innkeeper found that especially odd. A few other people came and went without incident. Eventually, the man himself, Sir Garfield, walked into the inn.
“Welcome back Sir Garfield! You have some visitors.”
The innkeeper gestured to the waiting area at the other end of the entry hall. There, Yttria was chatting with an older gentleman. They both noticed him, stood up, and began to walk over. A third gentlemen, not associated with the other two, also stood and began to walk over.
Yttria greeted Garfield first. “Sir Garfield, it’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise. Are both of you here to see me?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Yes,” said the Adventurer’s Guild Master. “Although, Ms. Yttria and I only just met a few moments ago. You met my deputy yesterday, but I’m the Guild Master. First of all, congratulations on your spot-promotion to Gold.”
“Thank you. And you sir?” Garfield turned to the third gentleman who had yet to introduce himself.
“I’m Jenkins, an instructor at the Magic Academy. I happen to be Ricky’s advisor as a support mage. He told me about his conversation with you from yesterday and I just had to meet you.”
“Ah, I see. Well… who got here first?”
“I believe it was me,” the Adventurer’s Guild Master responded. “Could you spare a few minutes?”
The innkeeper arranged for some chairs in Garfield’s room, and they relocated.
“So, do you normally visit adventurers at their inn?”
“No,” the Guild Master acknowledged. “And I apologize for seeing you in your private time. However, there are a few things I must urgently ask you about. When you didn’t come to the guild today, I looked up your registered address.”
“Hm, I take it that’s how Ms. Yttria was able to locate me as well.”
The Guild Master’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment. “Oh… I see. Once again, please allow me to apologize.”
“No need. So, what did you want to know?
“I want your thoughts on those strange monkeys you helped hunt down northeast of the city.”
Garfield didn’t hesitate to reply. “Honestly, I don’t have much to offer there. My summoned creature hunted one of them down, and the rest attacked us. We had no choice but to eliminate them. If anyone knows anything, it’s the folks at the guild who dissected them.”
“True, we are still looking into that. Why did you choose an ape to hunt down the other monkey?”
“I figured summoning a superior combatant of the same basic type would be effective.”
“So there is no other connection between those monkeys and the ape you summoned?”
“None that I’m aware of, at least.”
“It’s a good thing that you were there when the monkeys suddenly attacked your party. I understand you developed your abilities outside the Fenwick Kingdom. May I inquire as to how you learned to summon such magnificent creatures?”
“I’m trying to start over and forget the past,” Garfield said coldly. “I have no desire to discuss it.”
“As an adventurer, that is your right. We cannot press you for private details so long as you do not have a criminal history…”
The Guild Master stood up and turned towards the door while looking over his shoulder at Garfield. “We’re also investigating the appearance and… disappearance of the large creature that showed up a couple of days ago. Do you know anything about where it came from or why it appeared near Bretten?”
“No, I was as surprised as everyone else. If I got here a few hours later I might have been stepped on by that thing…”
“Given the result of your guild evaluation, I’m quite glad that didn’t happen. I’m looking forward to your future as an adventurer. I’ll send Ms. Yttria up on my way out. Good day.”
The Guild Master departed and Yttria entered a minute later. She stepped over to the empty chair but did not sit.
“Sir Garfield, I happened to overhear the inn you were staying at from the Guild Master and came over to congratulate you on the result of your evaluation. I hope you don’t mind… I’m amazed that you’re starting out at Gold rank.”
“And you’re just one rank down from me in Silver - Upper Half. You must have taken your swordsmanship training quite seriously growing up,” said Garfield.
“I have my father to thank for that. He’s a strict but capable teacher. Still, unlike me, you earned yourself a second name as an adventurer, Bearclaw.”
“That was a surprise for me, too,” Garfield insisted. “I didn’t even know you could receive another name as an adventurer…”
“I see… Named adventurers are fairly famous, even in the far reaches of the Kingdom. In rare cases, top adventurers are famous in adjoining nations as well.” As Yttria finished speaking, they both heard a loud bell ringing outside the inn.
“What is that?” asked Garfield.
“A fire!? …Let’s go.” The pair ran downstairs.
“Sir Garfield!” Jenkins called out.
“Sorry, we’ll need to talk another time.”
The group ran outside and noticed a large fire two buildings adjacent.
“I doubt help will make it in time,” said Yttria. “We need to at least search the nearest buildings for people.”
The innkeeper spoke first. “If they don’t get that fire out, it will spread to the Bretten Sunset Inn too!”
Garfield looked up at the overcast sky. It was one of those days where it could start raining at any time. Garfield, being well versed in meteorology, got an idea. “I’ll search this building. Can you check to see who’s coming to help?” Garfield thought to himself, ‘I’d rather she not place herself in danger right before everything is resolved…’
Yttria hesitated for a moment, then nodded resolutely. “Yes.”
As she ran off, Garfield chanted a spell. “«Summon Creature of Hell, a demon, Furnaceborn Imp».”
The innkeeper and other observers hollered as a one-meter creature, hairless with reddish skin, appeared. Garfield commanded, “Let’s both search the building for anyone in need of rescue and pull them out.”
The fire-resistant demon cackled and ran into the building, with Garfield following behind. Once out of view, Garfield quietly chanted a spell. “«Enchant Battlefield: Nimbostratus Deluge, Embedded».”
The rain started almost immediately, drenching Bretten and the surrounding plains. The existing cloud cover made it easy to embed (hide) the appearing rainclouds. “«Mapping: Display Map. Identify Lifeforms, Color Code by Mass».”
Garfield tapped his finger a few times to zoom in. The demon was carrying some small animal out of the building, but otherwise it was empty, save for some pests. Garfield went back outside.
“Oh, Mittens!” a woman called out. She ran over to Garfield’s imp and took custody of a lapdog.
“Your dog’s name is Mittens?” Garfield asked, incredulously.
“You don’t see me judging your choice of pet!” she chastised.
Garfield made a wry smile as he dismissed the demon. The rain was rapidly putting out the fire in the adjacent building. City officials were also arriving to take charge. Yttria returned.
“Sir Garfield, I can’t believe it suddenly started raining so hard! What luck!”
“Yeah,” said Garfield. “I went inside the building to search for people, but it started raining so I came back outside. It looks like my inn is going to make it. I think it’s safe for us to go back now and dry off. How far is it to your inn?” Garfield knew it was quite a ways away, but didn’t want to admit that.
“It’s not too far…”
Inviting Yttria back to his inn to clean up was probably the gentlemanly thing to do, but it somehow seemed incredibly risky. “«Summon Item of Fancy: Tropical Umbrella». Here.”
Yttria tilted her head in confusion as Garfield handed her the umbrella. She seemed to find the item’s spring-loaded mechanism unbelievably complicated, but didn’t say anything about it. “You can summon objects?”
“I’m a bit of an unusual summoner,” Garfield stated. “There’s no need for you to get rained on.”
“But what is this umbrella? It’s not like anything I’ve seen before.”
“…Summoned items are strange sometimes. Unlike a large beast, it should stick around for a while. Please use it to get back to your inn.”
Yttria thought for a moment. “A strange umbrella… There have been many strange things lately. Anyway, I hope to see you at the guild tomorrow.”
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At about the same time, in the basement of a certain establishment, a man and a woman wait for their comrade.
“Shouldn’t he be back by now?” the woman asked.
“Be patient,” the man replied. “He’ll be back soon.”
“We even told him the correct inn. How difficult is it to make contact?”
“It would do you well to learn some caution.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the woman said flippantly.
A few minutes later, another man, clearly a rogue, entered.
“Well?” the boss asked.
“I failed.”
“What?” The boss tilted his head.
“I don’t know how, but he saw me coming. He even set a trap for me at the entrance to his inn,” the rogue insisted.
“Damn! Lilah, you’re up.”
“Wait. How the heck did he see you coming?” the woman, Lilah, asked the rogue.
“I said I don’t know. Don’t underestimate him.”
“Make it happen. Tonight,” the boss directed. “We can’t let anyone else get their hands on this guy.”
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At the royal palace, following the regular evening meeting…
“Did you investigate that Bearclaw?” the King asked the Adventurer’s Guild Master.
“I met with him. I didn’t find anything suspicious. He wasn’t willing to talk about his past before entering the nation, but he didn’t seem to be connected to the divine beast or the strange monkeys. Shortly after I left his inn, there was a fire in a nearby building. I heard that Bearclaw helped with evacuations, but nothing beyond that.”
“Perhaps we could learn more if we invite him to teach advanced summoning magic to my daughter?”
“Are you sure?” the Guild Master asked worriedly. “I said I didn’t find him suspicious, but he’s still a wildcard. You could be placing the first princess in danger…”
“Just seeing how he reacts to the invitation could be telling, but fine. Let’s wait a bit longer and continue to monitor him. Keep me apprised of anything unusual he does. My other investigations haven’t turned up much.”
“Yes, my king.”
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When the night was about halfway over…
Garfield’s door at the inn slowly creeped open, the lock picked. A slender form slipped into the room, closed the door quietly with a practiced hand, and approached Garfield’s sleeping form.
‘So far so good,’ Lilah thought.
She placed one hand on the bed, then froze. After squinting at the bed through the darkness, she slowly slid her hand back and forth, feeling the bedsheets and the mattress below them. “What IS this…”
Although the volume was low, she’d said the words aloud. Lilah pressed a hand over her mouth in astonishment at her blunder. The man still seemed to be asleep, thankfully. The softness of the fabric had shocked her. She quietly slid her body under the sheets across from the man and put her head down on the spare pillow, contemplating how best to ensnare him.
‘This bed is SO comfortable…’
In the morning, Garfield awoke to a strange woman sleeping next to him.