The adventurer’s guild is much larger now that I am out of the carriage. It’s more akin to a town square with the guild in the middle, surrounded by food stalls and several shops; blacksmiths, armor, and potion shops. I can also see more diverse races than I thought would be present, elves, centaurs, and dwarfs. Now, this is a proper fantasy setting. Fantasy creatures, magic, and adventure, I could practically smell it now.

No, I can, in fact, clearly smell it.

You see, the thing about a town square is that it tends to garner a large number of people, and the thing about people is that they tend to sweat, a lot. Now, if you had somehow guessed that adventure would smell like dried sweat and piss, you would be correct.

Moreover, there are several people with collars on their necks. A couple of shops employed slaves, and apparently, adventurers did too. Slaves can carry your equipment and loot; also, if the situation gets dicey, slaves are rather expendable.

Soon after, we were in front of two open wooden doors. The guild was busy; as soon as we entered, I could hear the chatter and laughter. There were ten booths, all with female clerks. Approaching the one with the shortest waiting line, I could barely hear Valeriana mutter. “Stay quiet, I’ll do the talking.”

It was finally our turn. With my vocalization restricted, I could only blankly stare. The clerk was a cute girl radiating a cheerful atmosphere.

She spoke in a joyous yet professional tone. “Hello, my name is Alice. How may I help you?”

Unable to resist the clerk’s charm, Valeriana replied with a slight smile. “Hi, I’m Valeriana. I just registered yesterday.”

“Ah, welcome to the adventure’s guild miss Valeriana. What can I do for you?”

“Please, just Valeriana is fine, and I’d like to endorse my… friend here.”

Glancing at me for a second, Alice replies. “Oh, umm… are you perhaps an active member already?”

“I don’t know what that is, but I’m D-ranked. I should be able to endorse anyone I want.” answered Valeriana in a confused manner.

“I’m sorry, but you have to be an active member to endorse someone.” Alice explained in an apologetic tone.

Before Valeriana could snap at her, I leaned forward, catching both of the girls’ attention. I locked my eyes with Valeriana. It took her a few seconds to realize what I want, and she finally muttered. “You can speak.”

Alice was giving us both a strange look. I put on a friendly smile and offered my hand. “I’m Edward, it’s nice to meet you Alice.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As she accepted my held out hand, I turned my smile to an apologetic one and continued. “I’m sorry about Val here.” Releasing her hand and ignoring the glare I got from Valeriana at her shortened name, I pressed on.

”It’s just that we’ve been planning this for so long, and knowing that we can’t adventure together yet can’t help but make us feel somewhat upset.”

Alice looked from me to Valeriana and then to me again. She mirrored my apologetic smile and said. “I’m really sorry. It's the guild's policy. I can call down the guild manager if you’d like. He’s the only one who can help here.”

Noticing the slight grimace on Valeriana's face, I replied back. “No thank you, that won’t be necessary, but can you please elaborate on how can she become an active member?”

Brightening up, Alice answered with a genuine smile. “Of course, since she’s D-ranked, she has to complete five F or E-ranked quests. She’s already D-ranked I’m sure it won’t take too long.”

Smiling back, I said. “That will be all. Thank you, Alice.”

Turning around to leave, I heard her hurriedly add. “Ohو please wait; she can’t accept quests without her guild pendant. Let me check if it’s ready yet.”

She entered a door in the back and came back a few minutes later with a dog tag-like necklace. She offered Valeriana the pendant and a quest, and both were grumbly accepted. It was an E-ranked quest for harvesting twenty-five slimes. On our way out, I saw six large boards labeled from A to F. Quest boards, I summarized. All in all, everything went better than I expected.

We left the guild, and about fifteen or so minutes later, we arrived at a luxurious-looking inn. Valeriana was silent the whole time. I was content with quietly walking behind her and doing my own thing. Taking in the scenery, watching the locals go by their day, and getting captivated by the frantic movement of her tail. I think she noticed my staring at some point and got irritated, which only served to increase the agitated motions, and in turn, intensify my gaze.

The inn lady was a nice plump lady with wolf-like features. She had a knowing smirk on her face when she realized I’m with Valeriana, which successively drew a reaction from Valeriana. With slightly warmer cheeks and a scowl, Valeriana stomped her way up the stairs. Asking the innkeeper for a different room with an even number of beds only made her smirk larger.

With a heavy heart, I followed behind Valeriana’s footsteps. Arriving at a very lavishly furnished room. She was sprawled face down on the bed with her head buried in a pillow. I closed the door behind me and sat down in a chair. I needed to talk to her, but approaching a frustrated person holding a metaphorical gun to your head is not a wise idea. I could hear quiet sniffling now. Once the room was silent again, I walked towards the bed and sat at the far end.

What greeted me was two glaring puffy eyes and an angry “What!”

Clearing my throat, I state. “We need to talk.”

Seeing as the glaring didn’t lessen, I sighed and said. “Look, we can’t keep doing this. Did you notice how Alice was eyeing us?”

Receiving silence in return, I add. “See this?” pointing at the tattoo on my hand. “I can’t harm you, I can’t lie to you, and I can’t disobey any of your orders. Everything is in your favor, so let me help you.”

She sits up while hugging her pillow and stays silent for a few seconds before asking. “Why would you want to willingly help me?”

I shrug my shoulders, I answer. “I need to get stronger if I want to break this seal, and adventuring doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

I hear a faint “You can’t.”

Shrugging my shoulders again, I reply. “I can’t help but try; I don’t fancy my current status.”

A comfortable silence envelops the room. I enjoy the quiet atmosphere for a few minutes, stand up, and collapse on the same chair from earlier. Today was the most eventful day I've had so far, and I was happy with letting it come to an end, even though it's still mid-afternoon.