Eleanor Deveena

It’s been a few days since Eleanor arrived at the harbor. Mizelda wasn’t lying when she said working for her was going to be tough. The short mage felt her muscles strain underneath the heavy crate she carried.

The sweat stained her sailor shirt, making it nearly see-through.

She stumbled upon a box. It was the final crate she needed to bring to the ship. It was her final day working under Mizelda.

The moment she placed the crate with the others, her legs collapsed. She rested against the crates like a wall. Her breathing was labored but slowly started to go back to normal.

Everything felt like a hazy blur after her last day at work with Mizelda and her company. She was exhausted and desperately needed sleep. A bit of energy returned to her however, as Mizelda paid her a good amount of gold coins and gave her a small magic bag.

She didn’t want to think anything bad of Mizelda, as she had been very accommodating, but the captain was, at times, strangely close, as if she had no sense of personal space. If Eleanor hadn’t known any better, she’d have thought Mizelda was flirting with her. Either that, or she was falling to the curse.

Eleanor had hoped it was neither. Surprisingly however, Mizelda let her go quite easily.

Mizelda was also generous enough to rent her a room for a few days by the inn close to the seashore. There was a bit of a distance she had to cover with the carriage, but it was only by a couple of miles, so she could still taste the saltwater in the air.

Getting closer to her destination, she noticed the inn was called “House of the Sailor”, which Eleanor thought suited the ship captain quite well.

The food there was…passable, Eleanor thought. That was just her being cordial though. The bread they served was as hard as a rock and only barely passed through her esophagus when dipped in hot water. She had a slight stomach ache after that.

Her destination, one of the branches of the Adventurer’s Guild, was by the edge of the village near the shore, so she took this opportunity to just sleep and gather her strength up. Eleanor didn’t think she’d be able to stand eating the inn’s food any longer. The bedding was horrible and she could’ve sworn she could smell mold. Tears welled up in her eyes.

The pillow reeked like dried mucus, but the covers were even worse. She thought back to the Academy, how everything was cleaned and handled by maids.

She recalled her professors. Her friends. Veronica.

She never thought that as a noble, she’d be subjected to this. Eleanor had lost everything: the prestige of the academy, her friends, her home, her girlfriend, and the pleasantries of life.

Subconsciously, Eleanor squeezed the bedsheets. She felt a trapped frustration fester inside her. This place was like a cage that weighed down on her. The more she stayed here, the crazier she’d become.

The strange silence suffocated her. Even though she should’ve heard rambunctious adventurers and travelers in the thin walls of the inn, the darkness seemed to silence them. She let go of the pillow and cradled her head in her hands.

She recalled those soft hands. When she laid below Veronica, there was a hot happiness in her chest. Eleanor held on to that feeling. It was going to be the only way to survive.

Time passed slowly. There was a thumping in her head, like a tiny jackhammer rattling in her skull. It wasn’t too painful, but her body just wouldn’t go to sleep.

Almost immediately next morning, Eleanor left the inn. She couldn’t stand a single second more there. She was even wary of the baths and dental hygiene they offered. Begrudgingly, she used them, never feeling grosser in her entire life.

The lack of sleep left her feeling ragged and slow. Everyone was moving at twice the speed she was used to.

Using a few bronze coins, she had ordered another carriage, entering the Laurel Village. The guild was between the village and the city, almost like an intermediary.

As the carriage passed through the village, she noticed dozens of villagers demanding answers out of an adventurer party. It was like an ambush. Something big was going on in the village, Eleanor wondered.

After an hour, the carriage finally stopped. Her butt was sore from the terrible ride, and Eleanor was definitely in the mood to stretch a bit. Eleanor was met face to face with the Guild building. It had two black feathers - the emblem of the Adventurer’s Guild, inscribed into the wall itself.

In and out, the mage told herself. Once she got the Adventurer card, she’d go out and buy some life and adventurer necessities from the coin she earned working under Mizelda.

She saw a lot of people scrambling in and out of the building. It must’ve been a busy day. She stepped into the building when a burly adventurer bumped shoulders with her, completely ignoring that he almost dropped her. He was dead in a hurry.

One of his teammates apologized but left just as quickly.

The redhead noticed it was even more chaotic in the guild than outside. There were mages attempting to reconnect divination orbs, workers returning several letters, villagers trying to submit their requests, and adventurers arguing with the guild receptionists.

She caught a glimpse of a request.

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[ Request Name: Jacob Jacobson of Laurel Village: Find Missing Wife and Daughter. Reward: 15 Silver Coin]

Taking her eyes off of the request, she waddled into a line. After standing in line for another hour, Eleanor finally managed to talk to a receptionist. The female receptionist was in a hurry, so her tone was curt. Eleanor couldn’t really fault her for that, though.

“Hello, I’m here to register as an adventurer. I’m a student and part of the council at-”

The receptionist shoved a barely-working orb in front of her. Eleanor was stunned at the sudden action but quickly placed her palm over it as the receptionist glared impatiently at her. The ball dinged and turned blue, detailing Eleanor’s information at the Academy. “Here you go, C-rank adventurer,” she shoved a card at her face. It held Eleanor’s Academy picture and some other minor details about her, including the “C-Rank: Provisional” title. "Don't get yourself killed, lots of Academy brats die in the first few days."

The divination orbs were connected via a network that was handled by several different organizations, such as the King’s Castle, the Adventurer’s Guild, the Merchant’s Guild, and several other educational facilities.

Eleanor noticed the crystal ball she touched was just barely working though.

She felt peeved at the receptionist’s attitude, so she briskly started walking away when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

“Cousin?” Eleanor turned to her right, noticing a girl just about her height, if not slightly taller. Her red hair was slightly lighter than hers and was wrapped in a ponytail. Her freckles made her seem almost squirrely. Unlike Eleanor who was graciously gifted in the chest department, this girl was almost flat. Her hips were wider though and she was definitely much more fit as her muscles peeked out of her arms and diaphragm.

Eleanor couldn’t breathe. As if heavy pressure tightened her lungs, she just barely managed to whisper, “Eloise?” amongst the loud crowd. Eloise seemed to catch it when she ran up and tightened her hug around her older yet shorter cousin. She felt the cold steel of Eloise’s breastplate hit her.

“What are you doing here, cousin?!” Eloise squeaked, nearly crushing Eleanor under her embrace. She pressed her cheek against the mage. “We have so bloody much to talk about!”

“Um, hi, Eloise,” caught off-guard by the sudden change in mood, Eleanor put on a stiff smile. She saw her cousin, who had lived as a common adventurer, happy as a free bird while Eleanor herself had been grieving because she was now put in the same position as Eloise. Realizing that, a sick puddle of bile formed in her throat, but she pushed it down.

Eloise pulled her to a food stall literally next door to the Guild. She bought a kebab and handed one to Eleanor, who sheepishly picked at it. She wasn’t used to common outdoor food. “So, tell me, whatcha doing here, cousin? Wasn’t expecting you here for another two years.”

I don’t think I ever had plans on coming here at all, though? She shook her head. Eloise tended to say odd things from time to time.

“I just registered as an adventurer,” she said, putting a bit of distance between the two as she revealed her fresh adventurer card. “I’d like to learn some of the basics from a professional, if you’re willing to teach me, since you’re here.” She grimaced, her voice and tone felt robotic and awkward. She hoped Eloise wouldn’t notice. Then again, Eloise was pretty dense. She shifted a bit of her red hair below her eyes so Eloise wouldn’t notice her eyebags.

“Of course I would!” Eloise squeaked, but her voice went lower, “...but, you came at a bad time. Like, really bad time,” she emphasized with her hands, twiddling her fingers. Eloise had always been pretty expressive in her hand movements.

“What do you mean?”

Eloise blinked, as if surprised. “I’m surprised you don’t know. Apparently, there had been an attack on the King’s Castle. There had been…rumors of the summoned Hero turning traitor.”

“What?!” That was shocking news. It was like the whole world was falling apart. Her world, and now her country’s.

“Yeah, so the Guild is having a tough time with the divination network. Not a lot of info’s getting through to the orbs.” Eloise shaked her hands, making a circle motion depicting a crystal ball.

Eleanor sighed, “So that’s why everyone’s in such a hurry in the Guild. But what about the village? They’re pretty far removed from the Castle and yet they look like they’re in a frenzy.”

“Yeah, about that, apparently, when the Hero was summoned, a bunch of hidden relics and forgotten temples were awakened, as if alerted by the Hero’s presence. Creepy shit, right?”

“And one of those relics has awakened in Laurel Village, is what you are getting at?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Bingo. A dungeon suddenly started going haywire in Laurel Village around the time the Hero was summoned,” Eloise lowered her voice as if she was letting Eleanor in on a little secret. “And ever since then, there have been reports of women going missing near the site. Lots of villagers have been getting antsy, especially fathers and husbands demanding the Guild to do something about it.”

So that request on the board must’ve been about that, “And they’ve barely been able to gather enough manpower to help the Castle, so they cannot help the villagers, am I right?”

“Yep,” Eloise confirmed with an emphasis on the “-p”. She then started to explain, “We’re stretched pretty thin. The villagers here are being outpaid by the royals, so not a lot of adventurers are accepting the village requests. They want that big coin.”

“What about you? You seem awfully invested in this.”

“Oh I totally am. I’ve had my own conspiracy theory about the culprit behind the Laurel Village kidnappings since this whole shenanigan started.. It’s totally a vampire. It could be fantasy Dracula.” Eloise smiled.

Eleanor raised a confused eyebrow, “Dracula? Are you talking about that made-up character you told me stories about when we were younger?”

Eloise nodded, “Yeah, there’s got to be a vampire involved in this. Maybe a vampire sealed away unless broken by a powerful summoning spell? That totally sounds about right.”

“I don’t know, seems a little far-fetched to me. Vampires kidnapping people to a less-than-hospitable cave sounds more like what a goblin would do. They like castles. So unless this dungeon is a castle filled with riches, I can’t really imagine a vampire doing that. It also isn’t how magic works. Even if there was some way for the summoning to interfere with a spell, the radius of the spell is too far away from Laurel Village for it to mingle with the seal’s mana.”

Sometimes, Eleanor felt like Eloise took everything in stride too much, or at the very least wasn’t serious enough. However, she did have to admit that Eloise had what it took to be an adventurer. She survived two years as an adventurer without the knowledge of the Academy. Eleanor had to give credit where it is due.

Eloise didn’t seem convinced by Eleanor’s logical explanation and in fact seemed even more determined to investigate. She reached out a hand, “Even so, I want to find out what’s going on. How about it? Want to explore the cave with me? It’s a call to adventure.”

“I’d like to,” Eleanor responded, “But I need to buy some things first. The essentials, armor, a wand, and a place to sleep in. The one by the port is not…great.”

“Ah, the House of the Sailor right? Yeah that one’s crappy.” With a thoughtful gaze, she looked at Eleanor, asking her, “How about you crash at my place? I got a teammate who’s a roomie too. Probably got enough room for one more. Probably.”

“...Would that be alright? Your teammate wouldn’t mind?”

Eloise shook her head, “Nah. For the few days I’ve known her, she comes and goes, hardly ever sleeps in the same room. Only really helps me out in exploration quests. We can also go shopping.” She offered her hand.

Finding something to distract her from her current problems, Eleanor nodded and shook Eloise’s hand.

“Yeaaaaaaah, girl’s night out!” Eloise shrieked.