"Huh?! The fuck you be doing with those carts you mother—"

"There ya go pal." A helper went through the door they just come our of, lowering a barrel with a thud.

"The hell did you get those?!"

"We found some thieves on the way here and looted their hideout..."

Hal's old man's eyes widened as he stared blankly at the helpers coming in and out, dropping more and more barrels. Hal and Bid's removed armors were also thrown over the barrels as they entered town, nobody likes being seen like that.

"Oh, right. Pops, this girl here is Necro, she's been travelling with us since we saved her from a wolf."

Necro swallowed dry, her eyes and those of the old man crossed, and she knew one thing for a fact, he recognized her.

"Long time no see, Lotus-girl."

"Have we met?" Necro asked, her heart thumping in her chest.

"Oh, we did. A long long time ago. You probably don't remember me though. You were but a small kid back then."

"Eh? You know her pops?" Hal was surprised. His mentor was not known for being overly familiar.

"Yeah, she's the daughter of an old old friend of mine who saved me as a child."

"Oh, I see..." With his words, Hal decided he should leave it be. 'Is her father an old man? Pops is around his 50's already...' He couldn't brush aside the oddness of this sentence, but he knew very well it was none of his business.

"I'm Gabor, an old acquaintance of your father." Gabor cleared his throat, before addressing the rest of the group. "Now, why don't we bring it all in at once so that we can assess what you have here?" And without as much as another word, he walked out the door.

"Man that was a scary guy..." Necro murmured as she turned to face the now closed door.

"Yeah... Hal's old boss is wild."

"Boss?" Necro was confused by Ace's whisper coming from her side.

"Ah, yeah, I guess you didn't know. That guy was Hal's mentor for quite some years before he quit to become an adventurer."

"I guess I ain't built for haggling and bargain." Hal shrugged.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I thought he was—" Necro tried to say something,

"My father? No way!" but Hal interrupted her. "My parents own a small shop in another town to the north, so they sent me here in hopes I'd give up on becoming an adventurer. Pops was the guy who took me in and raised me for a while. He's kind of a father to all the helpers here."

"I see..."

"Y'all talking bout me?" And as if it was a joke, the large man barged through the doors, carrying two whole barrels on his arms. Truly a sight to behold. And as if they were as light as feathers, he laid them down on the floor without a sound.

"This should be it." He said, as the pair of helpers come in again, carrying the pile of swords.

"I guess we gotta unload." Bid said.

"Jesus fucking christ! Did you guys raid a town or something?!" One of the assistants cried out as Hal, Bid and Necro unloaded all the stuff they were carying. Rather, Necro pretended to unload the items she was carrying on her ring. Showing the Commerce Guild that you had means to carry stuff was a no-no.

"Dang..." Gabor scratched his head. "Good grief the villagers got delayed. Don't think I'd have the money on hand to buy all of this." He walked around, prying the barrels open and taking a peek or sniff at the contents. "You got an almost full wine barrel, one of vegetables, one of dried meat... I think Orc, armors, swords, pelts... I'll take a while sorting this crap and rating all of it... Can you come back later in the afternoon?" The old man looked at the group, surprised. It's not that he couldn't deal with the amount... But that the variety was way larger than he'd consider normal.

"Sure thing. See ya later pops." Hal quickly turned around, taking Bid and Hal with him. Ace followed them slowly, taking a peek at Necro, who stayed behind. She nodded at her, and Ace followed the group outside, leaving only Necro, the bulky man, and his assistants, that quickly ran off to do something else.

"Thanks old man."

"What for?"

"Not mentioning who my father is."

"No need. I figured your situation. Your father sent us all a quick letter a day or two ago. You have friends even further than you imagine."

"Thank you, regardless."

"As I said, no need." The tone of their conversation was totally different from that before. Moreover, a thick atmosphere surrounded the two as they spoke. "If you need anything, just ask."

"It's all good thanks to those guys. But I do want a favor."

"Speak."

"I have some things I'd like you to relieve me of."

"Come." Contrary to Necro's expectations, the old man turned around and led her deeper into the guild.

"Where's Necro?" Bid asked as soon as he saw Ace leave the Guild alone.

"She wanted to talk to the old man about something. I guess related to her parents."

"I see... Probably about her family or something." Ace shrugged.

"Yes." Bid's expression turned a bit grim, as he thought about how they found her.

"Anyhow, people. We gotta deliver these carts." Mary talked over them.

"No need, I've already gotten them paid for." Hal spoke nonchalantly.

"We know you dumbass! But didn't you make a security deposit?!" Mary yelled at him.

"Ah... I forgot that..." Hal gave off a dry laugh while turning his face away.

"Come on, become more reliable! That's my booze money!" Mary yelled once again, as they set foot to wherever they were going.

"Ace, you not coming?" She asked, looking behind as she saw Ace stand still near the door.

"Yeah... I'll wait for her. She doesn't know the town."

"I see... See ya later then."

"Yeah, see ya."

"We meet at the guild at noon then." Hal yelled, as for her to listen, as they drew distant.

"Sure." Ace nodded, almost silently. So long as it got the message across, she didn't care for being heard. "I'll wait a bit." She muttered to herself, ruminating over Necro excluding her from the conversation.