The sun is now high in the sky, burning Vienessa and Madeleine from its peak as they exit the Center Adventurer Guild. The two escape down the streets, yet the rays of heat won´t let up, like somebody is casting continuous fire magic.
For once, it doesn´t help that the number of people won´t decrease no matter how far they go, or at least it doesn´t feel like it. Only once they make a turn for the side alleys the noise of unruly chatter somewhat quietens down. The tall buildings block out the sun´s vicious attack which also results in the shimmer of the ground becoming so much more apparent. It´s pretty, but if someone wanted to spot you, to follow you, they easily could.
Well, it doesn´t matter. Before long Madeleine stops in front of an inconspicuous-looking, small-sized house
“That should be the one,” she says, inserting one of the keys from the bundle that Sara gave her. The door unlocks with a click and screaks open. Madeleine prompts Vienessa inside. Once the girl enters the walls, the receptionist goes inside as well and closes the door behind them.
The interior looks as one would expect from the exterior: There´s nothing special about it. A bed to the right, a small kitchen to the left, a large wooden table in the middle and to the front a door that leads to the bathroom with toilet and shower.
“It´s not bad? Seems cozy,” Vienessa says after looking around for a bit
“Good,” Madeleine replies and throws Vienessa the bundle of keys “Because from now on, this is your house”
“Eh?” Vienessa makes and catches “What? Why? It´s not bad but I don´t need it. Can´t I just stay at your place for the time being?”
A difficult expression appears on Madeleine´s face
“You know… I´d let you if I could. But I can´t”
The words don´t click in Vienessa´s mind. She tilts her head to the side
Madeleine sighs “You see, because I´m the Sub-Guildleader, my home is at the Center Guild”
“The building we were just at?”
“Mhm,” Madeleine nods and continues after a short break. “The first floor acts as a normal Adventurer´s Guild, but the second and third are the personal accommodations of Guild employees”
Vienessa takes in the information, but…
“And what exactly is wrong with that?” she asks
“I mean, I think it´s too risky to let you stay there, especially because of the Guild-Leader. You see, this man is dangerous. If you were to live there, there´s a good chance he´ll find out you´re a Demon”
“Even through my disguise?”
“Don´t underestimate him, there´s a reason why he´s the Guild-Leader. And think about it, you saw what just happened at the Guild, right? With your real Level getting out and all. You may look perfectly Human to me, but he´ll notice immediately that something´s off”
“And what if we just avoid him?”
Madeleine shakes her head “We can´t,” she says
“Why´s that?”
“Because he´s my father.”
A short moment of silence follows. Vienessa clearly didn´t expect Madeleine´s reply
“Your father…” The girl mumbles and strolls to the bed where she plumps down on the soft sheets “Well, that´s a conundrum,” she says.
“A what now? Where did you even learn that word?”
“Dunno, but I like how it sounds funny”
Madeleine rubs her eyes in exhaustion.
“Well, I get it though… I think," Vienessa says "I´ll just stay here for the time being. I know it´s probably a little late but… Thanks for everything, Madeleine”
Some of the accumulated worries leave Madeleine´s body as she hears these words, but the guilt for tricking the girl still remains
“You´re welcome,” she mutters back.
--
The long journey really did a toll on the two, more on Madeleine than Vienessa though. They take some time to relax at ´home´ before getting back to work again: Madeleine needs to return to the Center Guild once more to submit the reports she filed in her absence. She also wants to prepare another backpack filled with Items and rations for Vienessa´s future Dungeon trips. Madeleine knows exactly that the Demon is getting impatient. Even now she notices the girl´s unease, either from tapping her foot on the ground or her finger on the wooden table, or both.
Her intention is to send Vienessa to the northern Adventurer Guild where she´ll gather information about surrounding Dungeons and familiarize herself with how things work at a guild. It worries her to let Vienessa go alone, especially since she could just do all the preparations for her herself, but deep down she knows it´s better for the girl to learn to act independently, so that the Demon is capable of handling everything by herself because there will be times when nobody´s around.
The receptionist had already made the mistake of taking everything into her own hands not long ago, and look where it led to: A stupid quarrel that almost cost their friendship. Madeleine doesn´t like this side of herself, this overprotectiveness. Who can blame her after that incident? Still, she needs to overcome her flaws. And that´s why, even though it pains her, she must let the girl act on her own. She knows the girl is capable, that she´ll manage, and that she can trust her.
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´It´s better that way. For her, and for me too´
When Madeleine tells the Demon what she has in plan for her, Vienessa is happy with her proposal. She smiles.
“Alright, then listen. At first you need to…”
--
I´ll spare you the details
--
“And after you´ve reached the Guild, you…”
And… maybe some more
--
“…And if you approach them like this, they should let you be even though your Level is low in comparison. Got it?”
“Yup, no problem,” Vienessa grins and shows Madeleine a peace sign.
And so, both of them leave the warm quarters of home and set off in opposing directions.
-- -- --
´Hmm, I think… this should be it?´
Looking up from the map of the city which she received from Madeleine and at the building that´s exactly where it should be. The Northern Guild: It´s nowhere as grand as the Center Guild yet has a charm of its own. Not that the Demon really cares about such nuances though, her sight-seeing mode has long diappeared already. Without wasting another second she opens the door and steps inside.
The first thing that hits her is the mixed stench of sweat and alcohol in the air. It´s a little unsettling, but doesn´t bother her too much as she´s used to worse. Also, there aren´t as many people in the guild as she expected. Well, the sun is almost setting already. Most Adventurers pick a quest early in the morning and set out for the entire day, that´s how it usually goes. Not that the Demon knows though.
At the moment, only some smaller parties are sitting at the tables and holding strategy meetings for future excursions, and some sole adventurers who decided to ´take the day off´ by drinking their heads out:
Name: Selia
Human: LV: 113
Class: Black Mage II – LV: 103
Name: Cain
Human: LV: 110
Class: Assassin – LV: 100
Name: Eden
Human: LV: 123
Class: Shielder – LV: 113
Name: Nadia
Human: LV: 98
Class: Spear Apprentice – LV: 88
Name: Kat
Human: LV: 161
Class: Precision Archer – LV: 151
´Hmm, guess I have to behave here´
Vienessa concludes after looking around. She tries not to draw too much attention, yet still notices a few eyes following her. She walks up to the reception desk where she´s warmly welcomed by the receptionist, a kind-looking man who´s about in his 40s
“Hello there, I can´t remember seeing such a pretty face. Are you new to the capital?” he asks in a voice a parent would use with their child
Vienessa nods “Yup, I arrived just today”
“Is that so? How are you liking it here?”
“Hmm,” she takes a moment before giving an answer “Everything´s very different from what I know. It´s… exciting”
The man smiles upon hearing that
“I´m glad. So, you surely have a reason coming here. What can I do for you?” cutting the chit-chat short he comes to the point
“Right, I really want to go fight some monsters, but my friend said to come here first. I don´t quite understand why though…”
“I see, if you´re not familiar with the concept, does that mean you´re new to being an Adventurer?”
“I´ve registered today”
“Oh I guess you´re more than new to it then,” the man says and scratches his forehead with which he removes the wrinkles that have formed there. “Then, first of all, would you mind telling me what Level you´re currently at”
“17,” Vienessa answers immediately, and puffs her chest.
The man doesn´t seem too impressed though “Well, that´s…” he trails off “I´m sorry to say this, but are you sure you´re ready for a Dungeon? It´d be better to do some introductory quests first and increase your Level, no? Maybe you could search for a party in the meantime as well?” the man suggests, genuinely concerned for the young girl.
Though, Vienessa just snickers at his words
´Wow, I would´ve guessed too it´d turn out like this, but that Madeleine would predict his reply word by word? Not bad...´
She rummages through her backpack and takes out her newly acquired Adventurer´s license: “Here, I was told you´d let me once I show you this,” and pushes the card into his face
The man sighs some air out of his nose. He puts on the glasses that lie on the desk beside him and gives it a closer look
“That´s?!” his brows furrow into an emotion between doubt and confusion “C Rank? Didn´t you say that you registered today? And that you´re Level 17?”
“That´s right!” Vienessa puffs her chest again.
“I… Uhm,” he blinks a few times before regaining his composure by clearing his throat. “Well, this is a first. The license looks genuine, too,” the man says and hesitates a little. “Honestly, I´ve lived long enough to learn not to make any rash decisions, you see. I´m sorry to inconvenience you, but I´d like to confirm this with the higher-ups first. This probably will take a bit, sorry, but could I ask you to wait in the meantime? I´ll prepare some tea and snacks for you as an apology”
´This… Is not how it was supposed to go?´
Vienessa didn´t prepare any follow-ups as she didn´t think she´d need them. And thinking of something on the spot proves difficult. Still, she tries: “Look, I was at the Center Guild earlier today and they decided to put me at C-Rank. Why would you need to reconfirm? Are you doubting the decisions of your superiors?” She argues and crosses her arms as if she´s nailed it
The receptionist looks like he´s getting where the girl is coming from. But…
“I know that the people at the Center Guild are highly capable and know what they´re doing. I also know there´s an admission test that potentially lets an Adventurer skip through ranks on registration”
“So what´s the problem then?”
“But if, by any chance, anything happens to you all responsibility would fall onto me. I will hurry so it won´t take too long, I promise”
“Well then just say you warned me but I didn´t listen. Can´t we go with that? I don´t mind waiting in general, anymore that is. But I definitely won´t wait for something this pointless”
“If it were so easy, then I would let you. But unfortunately, it´s not”
The Demon´s patience is slowly but surely, well more surely actually, visibly disappearing from her face
“You know what? I don´t even care anymore. This is not worth some information,” she says and takes her card back. “If you won´t tell me, I´ll just manage on my own then”
“Ah wait!” the receptionist definitely wants to stop her but doesn´t know what to say to do so.
“Hey, you!”
Suddenly, a third voice cuts in from behind
Vienessa turns around to the huge Adventurer in full metal-plated armor and a heavy sword and shield on his back at a nearby table. His party gives him a glance of ´what are you doing?´ but he ignores them. Standing up, he comes to the reception desk
“Sorry for interrupting, but I happened to overhear your talk. I know it´s none of my business, but I can´t just let you make so much trouble for this kind man, you see”
“So?” Vienessa hisses back
He looks into her eyes, a dark red, without breaking contact, then smiles: “How about you just prove your strength? You said you like fighting, right? There´s a training room at the back of the guild, how about a little spout with me?”
The adventurer gives the man behind the desk a quick nod to convey his intentions. The receptionist understands immediately: He´s going to set the girl in place before she has the chance to throw her life away. He sighs in relief to that, thankful for the adventurer´s intervention
´Maybe this young one will back down from the sight of him alone, that would be for the best,´ he thinks
But nope, backing down? Pff, nuh-uh there´s no way. Instead, a wide grin spreads on her face and she friendly slaps the adventurer on his back. Strongly at that. He slightly stumbles forward, quickly taking a step to not lose his balance
“–?!”
“I thought you would say something stupid as well, but that´s the first time in a while I heard something good coming from a Human! You´re right, it´s much easier to just show my strength. Let´s go then!”
The adventurer and receptionist give each other a puzzled look
“Uhm, right,” the receptionist says “Let´s do just that then. You two, please follow me”