The outside, much like the inside, was rather plain, with a few splashes of eccentricity. The room we were in seemed to be a lobby of some kind, with a desk across from the door, and a few chairs and tables of varying shapes and sizes scattered around the room. The wall on the right side of the room was almost completely covered in papers, and there was a sign above the papers that read ‘QUESTS’. There was a staircase on the left side of the room leading up to the second floor.
There was a young girl sitting behind the desk sipping on a mug of something steamy while flipping through a stack of papers that sat on the desk in front of her. The rest of the room was mostly empty, aside from a group of 3 lightly armored people carrying weapons who were examining the quest board.
“What are we doing here?” whispered Valentino as we walked in.
“I am here because I need a new form of identification.” I said. “You are here because you’re being stubborn and trying to get yourself caught, apparently. You really should stop following me.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me the truth.”
I shrugged. I had already made up my mind to tell him at least part of the truth soon, but if I did it too soon, it might be worse than not doing it at all. At the moment, we still had a pretty bad relationship. Whether he knew the truth or not, if he got caught before I tried to fix it up, he would probably have no qualms about selling me out. It wouldn’t be too big of a problem initially, but once the church of Order started searching for myself and the other incarnations in earnest, I would be in trouble. A vampire suddenly appearing after being extinct for who knows how long would definitely alert them of something being strange.
There was also the problem of the identities of the people who had approached us in Valentino’s inn. He had said that they were humans, not beast people, which was strange. It was possible that the king had just outsourced the work of finding Valentino to others, but it was more likely that he would just send his own people. And if they had really been there just to take Valentino home, I wouldn’t have been in any danger, so there would be no reason for [Detection] to level up.
The people from the inn were most likely assassins hired by a third party for some reason, which would mean that my continued travel with Valentino endangered me as well. In that case, I should have just told him the truth as soon as possible so that he would go away and get caught by the assassins. But that didn’t sit right with me. If I knew that there were assassins after him, and still sent him off on his own, knowing that he was not smart enough to avoid them, that would make me complicit in his murder. And sacrificing someone else just for my own survival was a coward’s move.
I was fully aware that it was Valentino who put me in danger in the first place, but I was also fully aware that he was a fool, and that he probably did not fully understand what he was doing. It wasn’t entirely his fault. Besides, I was being very secretive, and opting not to tell him anything after he shared his secret was a bit disingenuous. It was understandable that he would feel that I had been unfair.
And, as another bonus to saving him from the assassins, it would put him in my debt, and I could then trust him to keep my secret. Or at least, I could trust him not to tell anyone immediately. He would probably eventually slip up, or maybe make the connection after hearing about the church of Order’s mission, but he wouldn’t give that information away immediately, so I would have longer before anyone would be looking for me specifically.
The girl behind the desk looked up as we approached.
“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild!” she said cheerfully. “My name is Helen. How can I help you this morning?”
“I’d like to register as an adventurer,” I said.
“Of course, and you, sir?” She looked at Valentino.
“I’d like the same,” he said.
“Excellent!” she said. “Do you both already have classes suited towards it, or will you need assistance unlocking them? If you need assistance, that’s fine. We offer unlock assistance for newer adventurers for a small fee, and if you can’t afford it, we also offer loans!”
“I have a utility class and a few combat skills,” I said. “I don’t know about him, though.”
“I have a [Scout]-related class and skills. I’m all set,” said Valentino.
“Perfect! Then there should be no problems. You came at the right time, too! The branch manager just got in, so she’ll be able to do the interviews as soon as you finish the paperwork.” She handed us each a sheet of paper.
“Don’t worry too much about the paperwork. It’s mostly just a formality, so that we have some information we can put in our official archives. You don’t have to reveal anything too sensitive or private.”
“Thank you. Uh, how do we fill this out?” I asked.
Helen put her palm on her forehead. “Oh, sorry, I forgot.” She reached for something under the desk. “Here you are!” she said, handing us what looked like crude pencils. “You can sit at any of the tables around to fill it out. Just bring it back to me when you’re done, and I’ll look it over and send you up to meet the manager!”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling. After my experience at the temple of Change, it was nice to finally be somewhere that understood customer service.
I sat down at one of the taller tables on the opposite side of the room from the quest board. The group of adventurers were still looking over the quests, talking to each other about which one they would take.
It didn’t take us long to finish the paper. It really did seem like a formality. It really only asked us for the name we preferred to go by and ages, and a few vague questions about our backgrounds. I answered those questions equally vaguely, and filled in my name as Lucille.
“What name should I put?” whispered Valentino.
“I don’t care. Make something up. Make it sound French though.”
“French?”
“Ravelian. Whatever.”
“Oh. Ok.”
We sat in silence for a moment as he thought hard.
“How about Jacques?” he suggested
“No. Anything but that.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to be associated with that name.”
“Oh… How about Rafael?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Ok, I’m putting Rafael.”
“Good for you.”
Once we had our papers in order, we took them back to the front desk. Helen skimmed through them quickly before she smiled and spoke.
“Everything seems to be in order. Now you just have to do a quick interview with the branch manager. It’s nothing serious. She’ll just be making sure you’re not criminals or planning something sinister or anything like that. You should have nothing to worry about. Once she passes you, we’ll give you a temporary registration while we work on your permanent one, and you’ll be ready to go! Of course you’ll be limited to tasks within your rank, but once you’re officially [Adventurers], we’ll give you an information sheet that tells you about it. Now, whenever you’re ready, go on upstairs. The branch manager will be waiting for you.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Valentino and I went up the stairs. He looked noticeably nervous. I was a little nervous as well, but I knew that acting nervous wouldn’t help me, so I remained calm. At worst, if he asked something too sensitive, I could simply refuse to answer. At the very least, for me, it would be impossible for him to compel me to answer.
The stairway opened up to a hallway leading to another staircase on the other side of the building going up to the third floor. There were 3 doors on either side of the hallway, probably leading to meeting rooms or offices or something similar. One of the doors was open, so we walked towards it. When I poked my head in, I saw a woman sitting in an armchair across from a couch, with a small table in between them. She looked completely spaced out and held a steaming cup in her hands similar to the one the receptionist had been drinking.
Even seated, I could tell that she was a tall woman. If she were standing, she would probably be as tall, if not taller than the paladins had been. She was dressed fairly casually, though very lightly, considering the season. She wore a pair of simple brown pants, and a thin, button-down white shirt. From her face, she was at the tail-end of her youth, with wrinkles beginning to form around her eyes and mouth, though she still looked very fit. I also noticed that her left ear, the only one I could see, was missing the top half, as if it had been lopped off. I guessed that there was also a scar on her head just behind it that was covered by her hair.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
She didn’t notice us at first, so I knocked on the door. I tried to do it gently and softly– just enough to get her attention–, but the second she heard the sound, she nearly jumped, and splashed the tea or whatever she was drinking all over her hands and arms.
“Shit!” she said, jumping to her feet while holding her dripping arms out in front of her, so she wouldn’t get any on her clothes.
“Ah, sorry about that,” she said, looking at us. “You must be the new registries. Come on in, I’ll get this cleaned up in a jiffy.”
As we walked into the room towards the couch, suddenly her arms burst into flames, causing us to pause. The flames were not large, and they did not seem particularly hot, and the woman did not seem bothered by them, so after my initial surprise, I kept moving. As I watched, steam rose from her arms and hands, and even some from the ground for a few seconds, before the flames disappeared, leaving her arms and the ground completely dry and unburnt.
She was supposedly the branch manager of the Adventurer’s guild, so I hadn’t exactly been taking her lightly, but when I saw the ease and control with which she used the flames to dry herself, it was a further reminder to make sure not to antagonize her.
I sat down on the side of the couch closest to the door, keeping close to the side, and Valentino sat on the other side, making sure to stay as far from me as he could while still staying on the couch. Seeing the distance between us, the branch manager frowned.
“What’s your relationship?” she asked.
“This guy keeps following me around. I can’t get rid of him.”
“Hey!” he protested, looking at me. He turned to the branch manager. “She made a deal with me, and hasn’t fulfilled her side. I’m just following her until she gives me what she owes me.”
“So you’re not here to become an adventurer?”
“No, I need to do that too. Normally, I wouldn’t have done it with her, but I don’t have a choice. If Ieave her alone, she’s gonna run off, and I’ll never be able to find her.”
“I fulfilled my side of the deal. It’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention to the terms.”
“You intentionally misled me!”
“Alright, enough, enough,” the branch manager waved us off. “So it sounds like you don’t plan on being partners as adventurers, yes?”
“Correct,” I said.
“Yes,” he said at the same time.
“Hmmm. Usually, we do these interviews alone for those who don’t intend on partying up. Helen thought you were together, which is why she sent you up together.”
“We can still do the interview together,” said Valentino quickly.
“We could, but it sounds to me like you are following this young lady around against her will, so unless she’s ok with it, I am going to have to ask you to leave while I conduct her interview.”
“I don’t care. I won’t be able to get rid of him whether I do this with or without him, and it will be faster to do it together.”
“Alright, if that’s what you want.” The branch manager shrugged, and then sat down.
“So, let’s get started. My name is Alyona, but everyone calls me Yona. Don’t call me Al. I am the branch manager of the Adventurer’s Guild branch in Bizet, and I will be conducting this interview.” She pulled a small blue orb out of her pocket and set it in the center of the table. “This is a lie detecting device. If anyone within a 10 foot radius lies, it will glow red. Observe. I have never killed anyone before.” The orb turned red as Yona grinned. “You can give it a try if you’d like.”
I hesitated for a moment before speaking, for two main reasons. First, because when she had said her distinctly not French, or Ravelian name, I had also noticed that her other ear, which was intact, was pointed at the end, just like Valentino’s. Second, was because the moment she pulled the orb out of her pocket, I had gotten a System notification.
[Pride] has nullified [Truth Orb]’s effect
It made sense, I supposed. If it were detecting lies, it probably wasn’t doing it by detecting whether a statement was objectively true or false, but rather detecting whether the one who said the statement believed it or not. That would mean it was a mental effect, so I should be immune to it. That might have been a problem if she had ordered us to lie to it to test it’s functionality, but she seemed confident that it would work, and had only said it as a suggestion.
“You are a half-elf,” I said.
Her smile fell slightly. “That’s true, but it’s not how the orb is meant to be used.”
“I have slain a dragon before,” said Valentino as the orb turned red.
“There you go!” said Yona. “Alright, now let’s actually get this started. I’ll just be asking a few simple questions. First, what name do you go by.”
“My name is Lucille, but I go by Lucy.”
“I-my name is- I go by Rafael,” said Valentino.
The orb remained blue. He breathed a sigh of relief. Yona raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything more about it.
“Why do you want to become adventurers?”
“Money,” I said simply.
“I, uh,” Valentino started to say. The question seemed to stump him. “I suppose it’s because I need a job, and this one seems like something respectable that I’ll be able to do? I guess?”
The orbed did not change.
“Well, Rafael” she said the name as if she knew it were a fake, “with that kind of conviction, you probably won’t get very far, but whatever. Alright, next question: Are you currently wanted by any nation for any crimes?”
“No,” I said.
“No,” said Valentino, after a slight hesitation.
“Good,” said Yona. “Last question: Do you plan on abusing your status as an adventurer or committing any crimes once you get your licenses?”
“No,” we both said simultaneously.
“Perfect,” said Yona. “That does it. You guys are now officially [Adventurers]. You should be getting a System update right about now.”
As she said that, I heard the familiar ding and a blue window appeared in front of me once again.
Status Update!
[Adventurer] has been added to your status.
“If you head on back downstairs, Helen will hand you your temporary registrations as well as your information pamphlets. You are rank 6, so you can only accept rank 6 quests, but if you wanted to, you could go down and accept one right now. You can see more information about how to rank up in the pamphlets. Do you have any more questions for me before you go?”
“Nope. Thank you very much, that will be all,” I said.
Valentino opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but closed it again without speaking.
“Alright, then. Now head on back down. I have stuff to do, and I can’t have you hanging around up here.”
We obeyed and left the room after thanking her one more time and went back downstairs. Helena greeted us with another cheerful smile and handed us each two sheets of paper, one being our temporary registrations, and the other being our information sheets. She must have started preparing our registrations before we even started our interviews.
I looked through the information sheet, but it was pretty much exactly what I expected. We could only accept the lowest ranked quests until we completed a certain amount of them, or we could take higher ranked ones if we were in a party with higher ranked people. After we completed enough of each rank, we would be able to move up to the next rank and taking more difficult quests.
Most of the rank 6 quests were about gathering herbs in relatively safer parts of the forest, or hunting more mundane monsters that wouldn’t pose too much danger, even to newbies. I looked through the quest board to see what would be available, but nothing really stood out. The highest ranked quests on the board were bounty quests for wanted criminals that seemed to be very old. They were mostly rank 2 with one rank 1. The local quests weren’t any higher than rank 3, and the rank 3 quests were all related to the bottom floor of the dungeon in the forest. I left without taking any and Valentino followed.
On the back side of the guild information sheet, there was a list of essential items for adventurers. Much of it, like the rations and cold protection, didn’t apply to me, but I did think that I would likely need a rope, and I would definitely need some more knives, so that I could have some out, and others in [Inventory]. Fortunately, there were a lot of shops around the guild that sold adventuring supplies, so I decided to take a little shopping trip. I still had most of what I had taken- I mean what Jacques had given me, so I would be able to afford decent quality items.
It was a little risky, wandering about so openly with Valentino, but I figured that the assassins wouldn’t target us out in public. Especially not so close to the Adventurer’s guild, where the strongest people in the town frequented. That wouldn’t apply if the assassins were high-leveled enough, but based on my prior experience with them, that didn’t seem to be the case. I doubt we would be alive, or even have noticed them coming, if they were high enough level not to care about the repercussions of killing someone in broad daylight right next to the Adventurer’s guild.
My [Appraise] skill came in handy while shopping. It was low-leveled, but it did at least let me see whether I was being overcharged for simple items. At the blacksmith’s shop, I bought two knives, nicer than the ones Jacques had given me. They were enchanted with simple sharpness and durability spells and ran me 2 gold apiece. I also purchased a half dozen normal knives. You can never have too many knives.
I surreptitiously swapped the enchanted knives out for the mundane ones in my [Inventory] and strapped the mundane ones to my hip. When I did this, [Inventory] leveled up. I stashed the rest of the knives in my bag.
Valentino also bought some supplies, like rations and fire starting materials, and a sword. He kept his eyes trained on me while he did that, to make sure I wouldn’t slip away while he was buying things, but there was no need to worry. He didn’t know it, but I had already made up my mind not to abandon him at least until the assassin issue was resolved.
While we shopped, I tried thinking of what the best way to talk to Valentino was. Obviously I couldn’t just tell him on the street. We would need somewhere private. I considered asking the guild to let us borrow one of the meeting rooms. One of those would probably be our safest option, at least as long as the assassins were around. It was still possible, and probably likely, that the staff would be listening in though, and I would rather not have that.
My train of thought was broken when I suddenly heard a ding.
[Pride] has nullified [Assassin]’s [Compulsion] skill
As soon as I finished reading this I quickly turned towards Valentino to find him staring straight ahead, as if in a trance, still walking forwards. We still had one more shop to go to, a clothing store, so I could get a new outfit or three, but Valentino walked right past it and kept going. They had probably already noticed that I wasn’t, but I tried my best to pretend like I was under the same compulsion as he was, and walked with him as he made his way to a less crowded part of town and eventually turned down an alleyway as I felt a familiar uneasy sensation.
DING
[Detection] lvl 4 -> 5