“Welcome to the Adventurer’s- Ah, Cornelius! How can I help you today?”

“Hey Gracey, just here to get this guy registered as a new Adventurer. How have you been? I think this is the first time I’ve seen you working the afternoon shift.”

The Adventurer’s Guild hall was quite the impressive structure. The place exuded practicality and ‘no-nonsense’ vibes, while still holding an elegantly artistic style. There were three sets of double doors lining the front side of the building, with the middle set being the largest and the two on the sides identically smaller. Clear and distinct lines were painted on the ground, giving clear directions to anywhere a guest might need to go. The clerk desks were easily accessible and in plain sight, and there was always at least one clerk free to help anyone with questions. At the far left and right sides of the line of desks were wide staircases that lead to the upper floors, which I could only see a small part of from my standpoint. Judging from the size of the building that I saw from the outside, though, I could tell that there was a lot more space being used than is visible. I could easily tell how well they can manage high volume traffic. I liked this place.

As a matter of fact, I found myself enjoying most of the architecture of Rasenbur. While, of course, there were a few odd buildings, the journey from the edge of the city to the Guild hall close to the center was filled with simplistic, yet elegant houses. Many of them were two stories high, but there were a good number of four, even five story structures. Going off of hunches and my vast experience of exploring various cultures, I could tell that most of those multi-story buildings were actually apartment complexes. How fascinating...usually, in a world of sword and magic, one would not even think of the concept of publicly sharing living quarters like this. Sure, there would be the typical inns with all their rooms for guests to sleep in and a common area where the innkeepers serve food, all of which could be viewed in the same light as a hotel in ‘technologically advanced’ worlds, but having an entire home, a private residence, linked up with other residences in such a fashion? In a world where up and coming magicians experiment with forces beyond their control, and warriors practice with lethal weapons? Highly unusual indeed. ‘Swords and magic’ and ‘apartment housing’ tend to be mutually exclusive.

Our walk to the Guild was completed in silence, but it seemed natural as my head operated on a swivel taking in all the sights and I already pegged Cornelius as the ‘silent but deadly’ type, not very good with social interactions and only speaking out when he needs to.

Which is why I was utterly baffled when he started interacting with Gracey.

He was smiling...and laughing.

This just feels...wrong.

“So this guy came in yesterday, literally waving around a handful of severed Duckmine heads with this goofy expression on his face, and before I could even call him out on his stupidity he’s already slamming the whole thing onto the desk!”

“Wow, what an idiot,” Cornelius says. “But wait, I don’t see any scorch marks anywhere, were they all duds? No one got hurt, right?” He seemed genuinely concerned. I guess I would be too...if I had any idea what Duckmines were.

Gracey shook her head with a bright smile, it was quite adorable. “Nope, no one got hurt, but they weren’t duds either! He was just amazingly lucky that the beaks didn’t hit anything with enough force. Didn’t stop me from nearly having a heart attack though!”

Cornelius’ face eased with relief. “Oh yes, incredibly lucky indeed.” There was an edge to his voice when he said that, one so subtle that I doubt many people would have picked up on it. Gracey certainly did not seem to. “Otherwise, I would have had to track him down and kill him for hurting my friend.” Cornelius had a small grin on his face at that moment, as if he was only joking around.

I could tell that he was completely serious.

Gracey, on the other hand, laughed and said, “You would have to beat Hank to him first, you know how he is.” Do I detect...a friendzone?! Poor Cornelius. “But yeah, I think we forgot about your friend here. That guy is basically why I’m on this shift today, I can tell you the rest later, how about we get...sorry, what was your name?”

Oh, finally they remember my existence, I was wondering if Cornelius was just going to fail-flirt for the rest of the day. “I’m Zareb Sindile, nice to meet you Gracey.”

She smiled at me, it was truly a kind smile. I wonder how she has survived in what is essentially a customer service job for so long with her bright demeanor. Then again, there are just some people who are like that. “Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild, Mr. Sindile. Or do you prefer just Zareb?”

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“Zareb is fine, I’m not much for formal addresses.”

“Very well then Zareb, you’re here to be registered today, am I right?”

I was fairly sure our purpose was obvious, so I was tempted to be snarky, but then I reminded myself that it is always better to be polite to service workers so long as they are polite to you. After all, without service workers we would have...no service. It really is counter-intuitive to mistreat the people who handle your documentation, food, laundry, whatever the case may be.

Before I could say anything though, Cornelius stepped up and intervened. “Gracey, he needs to be registered today.” At his emphasis on the word, Gracey gave him a perplexed glance before her eyes widened in understanding. “Ah, I see,” she said softly. “I will be right back then.” She stepped back and turned up the narrow staircase behind her seat. All the desks were supported by thick pillars that reached all the way to the higher floors. Each pillar has its own ‘hidden’ staircase like the one Gracey just ascended, I presume for access to individual storage spaces. It was quite the ingenious architectural design, in my opinion. Once she was out of view, I turned to Cornelius, who was still gently smiling, and said, “She’s pretty cute, huh.”

His expression returned to the stern one I was accustomed to seeing, but hints of gentleness remained. “She is,” he replied. After a distinct pause, he added, “Don’t even think about trying something with her.”

I smirked at him. “Like what you’re already doing?” I teased. He scowled at me, but did not continue. I nearly laughed. “Hey, don’t worry, I already figured she’s in a relationship by the whole Hank thing.”

This time Cornelius chose to clarify, “That’s not why I said to not bother her. Even if she was single, I wouldn’t trust you to take care of her. She is my friend. I have no intention of letting careless guys take advantage of her.” Huh. I see, okay, I can understand his character a little more then.

“So I take it Hank is an upstanding specimen of the human race then?” I asked a little sarcastically.

I saw a frown flash across his face for an instant before it returned to normal. What was that about? “He is...okay. Leave it, though.”

I wanted to ask more, but at that moment Gracey came back down. Did he sense her coming or something?

Gracey held out an item to me. “Please channel some of your mana into this. If you don’t have conscious control over your mana yet, I am qualified and happy to assist you.” My mind still pondering the exchange I just had, I didn’t think to give her a response and simply stretched out my hand. Making contact with the metallic card in her grip, I easily poured a few points of mana into it. In hindsight, I should have really asked what the device was before freely giving away my mana, but thankfully it didn’t turn into a disaster.

The metallic card grew warm and gave off a soft glow for a moment before returning to normal. “There,” Gracey said, “this will serve as your Adventurer’s Card from now on. It is bound to your mana signature, so no one else can use it to steal your identity. This card will reflect your status screen; when activated, it will display everything except your basic stats. To activate it, simply channel some mana into it like you just did. The effect will remain visible for any length of time, depending on how much mana you use. Go ahead, take a look and verify that it is working properly.”

I glanced down at the card that now rests in my hand and noticed that it did indeed show only a part of my status screen. Name, titles, class, fame, level, and-

“Uh, my age…” I didn’t know exactly how to address the matter, but on the card it clearly says that I’m 25 years old! What exactly is going on here?

Cornelius quickly said, “Your age is correct, Zareb. There are no mistakes when we register.” His expression was quite suggestive, as if he needed me to understand something quickly.

I certainly understood, alright. The Adventurer’s Card in my hand must be specially made for Re-Iterated folks like us. Judging by his reaction, I gathered that Cornelius also has the same problem with his age, though I should verify that in the future. Our cards must work to hide information that would be difficult to explain if we were normal inhabitants of this world. No wonder everyone insisted in me going here first. If the Adventurer’s Guild was responsible for suppressing information on Re-Iterated, then it would be prudent to cover my discrepancies as soon as possible.

“Ah...yes, everything is in order,” I nodded to Cornelius and Gracey.

“Good,” Cornelius said. “Now, Gracey, before we all forget, can you give- umpf!”

A pair of arms suddenly sprouted around Cornelius! For a moment I had the impression that he was spontaneously sprouting arms - wouldn’t be the first time I saw it happen - but then I realized that those arms belonged to the person who just hugged him from behind. I couldn’t see the person’s face, of course, but I got the distinct feeling that it was a girl. Quite curious.

Cornelius did not seem surprised in the least. “Hi, Kitkat,” he said softly, while gently stroking those arms. I thought that he was being easy with Gracey before? She and I might have well as been the same piece of dirt he needed to scrub off his foot compared to how his demeanor turned when this Kitkat person appeared. Sorcery, I claim! Dark magic in the works!

“Meow~” came the response from behind him. What the hell?

Placing his hand on top of hers, holding her in place, Cornelius casually turned back to Gracey and continued as if nothing happened. “Can you kindly explain to Zareb the things he needs to know as a new Adventurer in this world? Also, try to be especially thorough about the matter with Inventory Cores, since that’s how he ended up in trouble in the first place.”

Gracey only laughed, not saying a word about the interruption, and prepared to give me what promised to be a long speech. Many of my questions should be explained, but at the moment there was only one at the forefront of my mind.

Who in the world is this girl?