A discomforting number of eyes were set on Abe as he returned to down. However, since none of them questioned or confronted him, he ignored them and continued toward the Slayer branch.

The woman behind the counter wore a startled expression when he entered, no doubt surprised to see him hauling back the corpse after just receiving a question that entire companies of sporelings had failed to find for weeks now.

“Job complete,” Abe grunted as he dropped the fake corpse on the floor before the reception. "Payment?"

“Yes, I-I... ah,” the receptionist said, cupping her mouth and gasping as her eyes trailed down to the nether regions of Abe’s fake corpse. “It's just…just…”

“Yes?” Abe said, fighting back a smirk.

“I just need to,” she swallowed. “Get the guild appraiser,” she nodded, snapping her gaze away from the corpse. “Yes, that’s it. I need to get the guild appraiser to confirm this is the body we’re looking for.”

“How many ghouls do you get in this place?” Abe said.

“Not that many, but–”

“But what? Wouldn’t you have felt it if another deathly energy source had entered the domain?”

“We would have, yes,” she nodded.

“Then pay up. We both know there’s only one person this could be.”

“Yeah, it’s just that–”

Clanging against the wall, a door at the far end of the room leading up to the second floor swung open, and a man with a ball of light, curly hair bobbed out.

“Excuse her,” he said, extending a ringed hand as he bounded down the stairs while fixing his bowtie. “Nice to meet you,” he continued, thrusting his hand into Abe's and eagerly shaking it.

“Yeah, same,” Abe flashed a forced smile.

“The name’s Niles, Branch Manager Niles, and you are?”

“Ab’el,” Abe stiffly replied. He certainly didn’t want to pretend to be Mor’kel again, and not knowing what sporeling names should sound like, he decided to alter his own and hope for the best.

“Come, Ab’el,” Niles said, pointing up the stairs he had just come down. “Let’s continue this discussion in my office.”

“Sure,” Abe said, nodding at the counter girl before heading upstairs.

The office was split by a rather long table down its middle, with several lava-lamp-like displays around it and a large window that looked out over a small courtyard.

Niles sucked in his chest and shuffled through the narrow room past Abe as he entered after him.

“Please, take a seat,” Niles said, pointing at the chair opposite him.

“Sure. So, my pay?” Abe said as he lowered himself into the chair.

“Yes, I have already ensured that Tey at reception will have it ready for you when you leave.”

“Great.”

“You didn’t come all this way just for that contract, did you?” Nile’s fuzzy brow rose.

“Do you have something in mind?” Abe said, leaning back. Was it really going to be this easy to get a contract out of this domain, he wondered?

“Good, good,” Niles nodded. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we struggle to recruit Slayers here, which isn’t great for us. The budget for our little branch here is dependent on the number and size of contracts we manage to sign and complete. Now, bear with me for a moment. I know what I’m about to see may sound questionable for an upstanding sporeking like yourself. But hear me out. The intentions are good. I’m sure you realize how a well-funded Slayers branch helps this domain and its surroundings by bringing competent Slayers to the region that can fight away threats. It would be bad for everyone if we were shut down or our funding was reduced so low we could not fulfill our duties, don’t you think?”

“I suppose,” Abe nodded, unsure what exactly any of this had to do with him. “What exactly does that have to do with me, though?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I’m getting to that,” Niles strummed his fingers against the table and then reached down and pulled out a draw. From it, he removed a scroll and stretched it out across the table.

“What’s this?”

“A contract, a very important and valuable contract, to be precise. It’s a request to hunt down a very dangerous and pesky Vale entity. It’s an infamous jellyfish known as a Thistlebottle. Now, I know what you might be thinking. An entity like this is a dangerous opponent for even the strongest of adventurers, but don’t worry, I’m not expecting you actually to kill it; just accept the mission. By doing so, we will have handed out our contract, and that alone will give us some breathing room. And if you do decide to meet up with the rest of the party, all the better.”

“Are you suggesting I’ll earn my pay just for accepting this contract?”

“No, not quite. The actual reward is 100,000 ducats for each Slayer that joins the mission. However, there’s also a significant reward for my branch just for handing this out, not to mention it will give us room to take another contract. For that, I’ll pay you 250 ducats, and you can decide whether or not you want to attempt the mission.”

“I get it, so you’re scamming your own organization.”

“Hey, keep your voice down,” Niles leaned forward. “I know what it might look like, but we’re doing this for everyone’s benefit. Can you imagine the lawlessness that might reign around here if our branch were to disappear?”

Abe sighed. The tiny branch looked like it had been carved out the back of someone's house, and he had yet to see another Slayer.

“Fine, whatever,” he waved. Abe didn’t see any point in turning down free ducats, and maybe he could win this branch manager over as an ally, which might come in handy later.

“Great,” Niles beamed with a toothy grin. “Please, sign here,” he added, turning the scroll around and pushing it before Abe.

Grabbing a quill from his side, Abe scribbled his fake name.

“I knew you were a sporeking I could work with the moment I saw you,” Niles said, snatching up the contract.

Yeah, right, you wormy little man.

“So, what about a contract I can actually finish?”

“Contract?” Niles said as he pushed the signed scroll down a tube, which shot it away.

“Yes, contract,” Abe grunted. “The reason I’m here.”

“What do you mean?” Niles said, turning back to Abe. “You just signed one. We can’t give you another contract until it’s completed. That’s one of the core tenets of our organization. Without it, everything would be a mess. You have read the tenants, haven’t you? Anyone, even non-official Slayers, is advised to read the tenants before taking missions.”

“But you said…” Abe's words trailed off as he remembered what Niles had said.

“But I said what, exactly? When you see Tey on your way out, she will pay you everything I promised. Nothing has changed,” he smiled and locked his fingers as he sat back down.

“And say I want to try and complete this jellyfish hunting mission; how exactly do I get to it?”

“I’m not sure. I suppose the harbor will open again shortly now that you’ve found that pesky ghoul corpse, and you can buy a ticket,” Niles shrugged. “This mission is for C tier and above. We don’t usually provide any assistance to higher-tier Slayers. It is expected that you can find your own way to mission locations.”

“Great,” Abe groaned and leaned back in the chair.

I suppose it’s not that bad. Nothing has actually changed, and I got free ducats. As long as the harbor reopens, I can still leave this place. And it’s not as if I planned on working for the Slayers in Lantern anyway.

“Anything else I can help you with?”

“No, that’s fine,” Abe said, rising from his chair.

“Don’t forget this,” Niles said, handing over a rolled scroll. “The mission details, in case you decide to check them out. Although, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’d almost certainly die.”

“Geez, thanks,” Abe said and took the scroll.

As promised, Tey had a good-sized sack of coins waiting for him as he returned to reception.

“We also offer banking services if you provide your details.”

“What do you mean?”

Tey tilted her head with a perplexed curl to her brow.

“The banking services?”

“You’re from Lantern, aren’t you?”

“I am, but,” Abe cleared his throat. “I spent most of my time in seclusion. At my master's request.”

She’s not going to buy my bullshit, is she?

“Oh,” Tey nodded. “I’ve heard some take their growth very seriously in places like Lantern. Must be some very special training to not know about banking growing up in a place like Lantern.”

“Yeah, it was,” Abe grimaced.

“Well, it’s easy, really. You can set up an account with us or one of our associate corporations and access your funds anywhere a branch is available. It’s a little easier than carrying giant sacks of ducats around.”

It is probably not a good idea to attach myself to these Slayers when I’m not an actual dreamer myself. But maybe one of these associates would be a good fit.

Abe asked about the associate corporations, and a good minute later, Tey was panting as she finished regurgitating the impressive list of associates they worked with.

“What about that Ebonguard you mentioned?”

“Ebonguard?” Tey echoed as her mind blanked momentarily. “Why would you want to know about them?”

“They are one of your associates, aren’t they?”

Slowly, she nodded.

“So?”

“No one ever asks about Ebonguard. They work mostly with the living dead. We’re only associated with them because some of the more powerful Slayers travel deep into territory controlled by those evil things and require banking facilities. It’s really not an organization I would recommend you open an account with.”

“Do they have a branch in Lantern?”

“Did you listen to anything I just said?”

Abe nodded, “I did, but I have a jellyfish to kill, and I think these Ebonguard would be useful,” Abe said, trying not to sound like he was bullshitting too much.

“Really?” Tey furrowed her brow. “Sounds like a bunch of huff,” she sighed. “I suppose yes, they do have a branch in Lantern. But so do most banks.”

“So, can you set an account up for me?”

“You’re not listening, are you? Fine, whatever. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Abe smiled as Tey released an exasperated sigh and began pulling out paperwork.