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After we had our talk, we went out of the inn to do our things.

Zeph went his way, while I took Freya with me.

It was still fairly early in the morning, so I took her on a tour around the city. I doubted she ever had the option to leisurely tour around one. The previous evening she was probably too tired to really appreciate it, but I could see that she was looking around in wonder.

Despite the readily available wood of the forest, most of the buildings were made of stone, which was quite different from all the other places I had seen. It probably made them really long-lasting because I could almost feel the ancientness radiating off everything around me. It gave the place a unique atmosphere.

“So, how do you like the place?” I asked her when we stopped at the square where I watched the sunrise a few hours before.

She contemplated the answer for a while.

“I like it,” she said, watching the people on the market below. “It seems a nice place to live.”

I nodded. “I like it too.”

She then turned to look at me.

“Would you stay here to live?” she asked with a curious expression.

I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t.”

Then after thinking about it for a moment, I corrected myself, “Or, at least, not permanently. Like I told you I want to travel, so I could maybe stay here a few months, or even a few years if I had a good reason, but in the end I would want to leave. I want to see more of the world, and then maybe one day when I’m satisfied I’ll pick the place I like best to settle down. Or I’ll just keep wandering, who knows?”

She nodded and kept looking at the view. I had to bring her here at dawn; the sun rising from the river gave the water some nice colors.

“Sooo,” I said after a while, “How about a haircut?”

She was a bit surprised by my question, then passed a hand through her hair.

“Maybe I should,” she said.

It wasn’t long, since she had it pretty short before, and it wasn’t nice looking. She probably just had a quick cut to keep it short, like I had with mine.

“Then let’s go. After that, I want to visit the explorer guild to see what it’s like,” I said to the girl.

“Okay,” she answered.

She had a bit of a wide-eyed look when I brought her to have a haircut from a professional, but it was worth it. She had been nervous during the whole process, and she’d been convinced by the hairdresser not to cut it too short. Or better said, she was so nervous that she only made an indecipherable sound, which was interpreted as a yes.

It had been fun to watch.

Too bad they didn’t accept my input.

“Now you look better,” I said as we went out.

“Thank you,” she said, looking almost relieved to get away from the place.

“What got you so nervous?” I asked, amused, as we walked towards our next destination.

“It was strange,” she said after a few moments. “I felt like I shouldn’t be there. It’s not a place for me.”

Mm, I can more or less understand. It should be the treatment we received. It’s almost uncomfortable to be treated with such… courtesy.

Even I felt somewhat strange, though it didn’t bother me too much.

“Well, it was the same for me. We’ll get used to it as time passes, I suppose.”

I guess I should be more proactive from now on instead of having Zeph buy everything. It’s not like I can’t afford to spend some money by myself now.

I thought about it for a while as we circled on the edge of the market. The smells, colors, and bustle were still a bit too much for me, so I preferred to just skirt around the edges and admire it from there.

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“We should go buy clothes or something later after I finish my business,” I told her as we took the Left Road.

We reached the Explorer Guild soon after.

It seems that they didn’t operate much differently from the Mercenary Guild, since they too had a ‘Bar’ and ‘Administration’ entrance.

I wanted to take a look at the bar before going to the Administration side, so I went to the counter with Freya following me.

There were a few people inside, talking and drinking, but not too many. Most of them were probably already at work.

“Good morning,” greeted the old bartender when we reached him.

We greeted him back, and I ordered a drink for me and Freya. Non-alcoholic for her.

One of the most striking features of the place that differed from the other guild was a board that covered a wall at the right of the entrance, with various papers pinned on it behind glass panels. I could see various sections on it, like “Animals”, “Plants”, “Minerals”, “Escort”, “Exploration”, and “Miscellaneous”. They were also further divided by ranks, from F to C.

“Old man,” I asked after a while I looked around, “How does that work?”

He looked up from the drinks he was preparing for a few guys on a table. He looked amused by something.

Then he looked towards the board and back at me. “Want to post a quest, young man?”

I shook my head.

“No, just wondering. I’m searching for work, and I’m trying to figure out how the place works,” I said.

He made a grunt of assent, as he kept working.

“That’s the quest board. After a client brings a request to the administration,” he said, nodding towards the door on the left wall, “They get divided by type and rank. Members of the guild then look through the papers and, after noting the quest number, go to the receptionists. Either to ask for details, like if there’s someone already working on it, or take the quest.”

I thought for a moment.

“Can everyone take any quest? Or is there a limit? For example, if someone is already working on it,” I asked.

“You can’t take any quest you want,” he said, passing the tray to a girl. “You can only take one of your rank. Lower rank quests can only be taken in case of emergency or if the quest isn’t completed in a certain time frame. If someone is already working on it, you can take it, but if there’s a resource limit required to the quest, only the first to complete it will receive the reward.”

“Mm,” I said. “Do you have any idea if an unblessed can register in the guild?”

The bartender paused, then turned to look at Freya.

“Do you want to register her too?” he asked confused, looking back at me.

I chuckled.

“Well, maybe later, but I was talking about me,” I told the old man.

He raised his white eyebrows.

“Young man, you do look young, but not that young,” he said, looking uncertain.

“Ahaha, no, I’m twenty-three,” I told the old guy. “But I’m unblessed anyway. No Class, no Skills.”

I wonder how many times I’ll have to repeat this type of conversation, I thought while he processed my statement.

“I must say this is a first. And that’s saying much considering how long I worked here,” he said, looking at me like I was some kind of rare animal that popped out of nowhere.

Then he sighed.

“Unfortunately, though, I doubt they’d accept you,” he said.

I groaned.

“Damn, let me guess, do I need a certain Level or Class?” I asked exasperated.

He nodded.

“The issue is mostly from the Skills. If you go looking at the quest notices you’ll see that there are requirements, and most of those come in the form of certain Levels in specific Skills,” he explained. “There’s also the same requirement to rise in the ranks.”

“I knew it,” I said, exasperated.

“Can’t they close an eye and do it anyway if I show them I’m good enough?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Indeed, he shook his head.

“The quests are automatically accepted by using the device provided by the church. I don’t think they’ll be able to make exceptions.”

Fuck the church.

Then I took a swig of my drink, hoping to wash down the annoyance with it.

Another customer came in the meantime, so the old man went to him while I fell into thought.

So, another dud, then. Talk about bleak prospects, I thought as I watched the old bartender talk with the new guy.

Maybe I should ask the old man an opinion. He had been patient enough and didn’t seem to mind explaining things. And being an old bartender in a guild bar, he could have some ideas on how I could proceed.

Won’t lose anything by asking anyway.

I then waited a while until I saw he was not occupied.

“Old man,” I called, “You’re certainly more informed than me. Could you give a tip on what I could do to find work, given my situation?”

He glanced at me while he took out a bottle from under the counter.

“I’m not sure,” he said, getting up. “It’s hard to find someone who’ll take you in if you don’t have the right Class or Skills. No one will even take you as an apprentice.”

He looked at the quest board for a few moments, before asking, “What are you searching for exactly?”

Crossing fingers here.

“I’m good at fighting. I have a good chance of winning against most warriors up to Level 40. I had hoped to join the mercenary guild, but they rejected me because I’m unblessed. Now I’m searching for a job I could do while traveling,” I said, hoping he had a good idea.

“I can also pay for training if necessary. I want to travel, but I don’t mind staying in one place for a few years if it allows me to learn something useful for that,” I added.

If his suggestion isn’t applicable in Caldris, I can always travel back here.

I tried to think of anything else, but nothing came to mind. “That’s all.”

He looked at me skeptically, then asked, “Up to Level 40?”

I nodded.

“I killed a bandit that was ’round middle thirties in Level, last month,” I told him.

I debated for a second if I should share that I was a gladiator until recently, but I decided to avoid it. I wanted to avoid any type of question in that direction.

The old man shrugged.

“Impressive,” he said calmly.

I could tell he was still doubting me, but he probably concluded it wasn’t necessary to pry more.

I had to wait while he worked on another order before he turned towards me again.

“How about becoming a merchant?”

…

Wut?

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