After a few minutes, we moved the girl to my bed to let her rest, and after a few more Gild and I continued to stare at her silently.
“How long do think she’s going to stay unconscious for?” I asked.
“Uconcious? No, she’s just sleeping. Kind of impressive in a way to be so at ease after losing a fight and passing out.”
‘This is my first recruit…’ I sighed. “Well, whatever. Is there anything else I need to know?” ‘On the bright side, if she's unreasonable, or we don’t get along, I won’t feel that bad about it.’
“Yeah. This is your room, but all the first years will stay in the same room the first night in the building where you got your key. The free-for-all has technically already begun… As you can see… After you get your mark things will get more intense, so I’d recommend not actually sleeping, and then heading back to your room after sunrise to go to bed. Very few people know how to pick locks here, and someone breaking a lock will wake you up, so it’s a lot safer than sleeping in the same room as everyone else.”
‘So many bazaar rules…’ “So they lock us all in the one room after they give us our marks?”
“Yup. It does a few things… Firstly it’s a wake-up call to any commoners that don’t know the difference between them and nobles… It’s a wake-up call to the nobles who don’t take the commoners seriously. It weeds out the people that are too cocky. You’ll see what I mean.”
“Ok… But I don’t get it, it’s only one mark, can’t I just give it away and get a good night's sleep? What if I just don’t go at all and stay here?”
He started laughing. “You’re starting to sound like your brother. I mean… Yeah, you could, but no one would ever do that. It’s a serious blow to your honor and pride to be markless, especially to a noble from a family like yours… As for not attending, from what I understand they deactivate the lock on your room, which everyone will be able to see because it will stop glowing.”
‘That’s not ideal… But I mean… Those girls still opened the door, and I know it was locked…’ “I leaned back and crossed my arms. So you're saying it wouldn’t look good, that makes sense… Does that matter though? The only thing that matters in the end is who has the most marks right?”
I leaned forward on the table placing my hands under my chin. “If I want to be the strongest, I have to get the strongest team right… And in order to do that I have to make myself look good so that people actually want to join up with me… Does that sound about right?”
He turned both his hands palm up. “Two groups, nobles will want to see someone strong and intimidating, fearless and powerful.” He closed one hand into a fist. “Commoners will want to see someone that uses their head, but isn’t too crafty, still… well… still noble.” He closed his other hand into a fist and pulled them together. “The trick is using your head, without losing your honor… Or you can just be like your brother and do whatever it takes to win. Of course, most of the nobles hate how he fights, that’s partly why everyone in our guild is a commoner more or less.”
“Ok… So what should I do then?”
He laughed again. “Isn’t that up to you to decide? Why are you asking a commoner?”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I lowered my head into my hands, rubbing my temples. “Agh… This whole thing is annoying… How about I just find the biggest toughest guy there and beat him up?”
He shook his head, slowly standing up. “Now you're starting to sound like a noble.”
‘That was a joke…’ I groaned. Letting my mind wander as I dropped my whole upper body to the table and rested my eyes. “So my whole family is nuts huh… You know more than just Air?”
“I at least know OF all of you, everyone but you is pretty famous, even you are to an extent, if not only because no one knows anything about you.”
“Right…” I sighed standing up and walking over to the bed next to him, staring down at the unconscious girl. “We’re all different though for sure, you got that right. Airsidh’s like a walnut… Lu is more like a hazelnut. I guess I’m a peanut. What nut would my parents be?”
“Penuts arn’t even nuts though.”
“That’s kind of the point…” I sighed, sitting up again as he walked back over to the girl, who we had moved to my bed.
Her build was as bulky as Lu’s, although she was a bit taller and… A bit larger… In specific areas. Despite her very noble and desirable figure though, her hair was a single color, golden, like a field of where at sunrise. By build, there was no way I could guess her age, but her face still showed childlike features like pudgy cheeks and a small nose, and as she slept her mouth hung open, where I could see a few teeth just barely not quite grown in all the way in the back of her mouth. ‘If she lost her teeth at all doesn’t that basically confirm she’s a commoner?’
I quickly checked her stats though, and although her speed was slightly lacking, much like her frame suggested she rivaled Lu in strength and constitution. ‘So… Is she a noble then?’
Gild knelt down, checking our new friend's breath before pulling out the vial of medicine he used earlier. “What about bhaltair? What kind of nut is he then?”
I growled as he snapped me out of my thoughts. “He’s more like a pinecone…”
He laughed again rubbing some of the medicine just below her nose.
‘She’s not going to like that…’ Her nose started twitching as he put the medicine away and her eyes were already tearing up before they opened. “Where am I?” She was confused and dreary, but that was to be expected.
‘I need to be straightforward and upfront with her. I need to gain her trust.’ “You're still in my room.” She panicked, sitting up quickly flinching and grabbing her arm. “Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you.”
She slowly pushed herself back against the wall. “Why did you…”
“Well, I wasn't just going to let you bleed all over my floor. That's no way to treat a future guildmate.”
“A what? But I… I can't.”
“And why not?”
“I've already committed to joining the Bronze Blades.”
‘The bronze blades… So that was the name of the guild that was behind this… I need to find out more about them, if they continue to pester me, I might have to deal with them… This interrogation thing is easier than I thought.’
Gild sighed, stepping back and sitting down again. “You really are just like your brother.”
‘You’d think that would be a good thing… Seeing as how he’s your guild master and friend…’ I snarled at him for a moment before turning back to the girl. “Committing to another guild doesn’t even matter yet, you can't join until 7 days from now, right? That means that all commitments made before then are subject to change. Come join my guild and you won't have to worry about being abandoned and left to the mercies of your enemy.”
“A-abandoned?” She looked around again as her memory started to finally come back.
“Those two girls you were with, they ran away as soon as they could, neither one bothered to try and help you. They’ve been gone awhile too, so I don’t think they're coming back either.”
“Did they really just…”
“Some friends you got there.”
She slumped down against the bed frame. “You said you're starting a guild?”
‘Did I already convince her? They must have actually treated her pretty poorly for it to be this easy… Now I kind of feel bad…’ “Right. I’m starting a guild, and it’s looking like you're going to be my first member.” ‘Why do I feel like a pushy coffin salesman…’