This is a bad joke. That’s what this is.

Elena plodded her way through the morning crowd, her face bearing a sober expression instead of its usual happy-go-lucky grin. She passed through this route almost every day, but hadn’t really stopped at its central attraction in the last few years.

The Guild Hall.

It was the largest structure in all of Haviskali— even larger than the Governor’s mansion —boasting a total of nine floors. Two were below ground, five rose up from the pavement, yet the remaining two floors were a complete mystery. People knew of their existence, but how to get there was on a strict need-to-know basis.

From what she remembered, the building was originally a mansion belonging to the previous Governor, a traditionalist who didn’t acknowledge any non-bremetan as a proper citizen of the town. He’d been extremely intolerant towards the Adventurer’s Guild when they were trying to set up an office in Haviskali, something that would’ve provided more jobs to the general population.

The next— and current —Governor, Shogun Naowa, was a benevolent man. Either that, or he knew how to play the crowd. The man’s first decision was to grant the old governor mansion to the Adventurer’s Guild to set up their offices. A slap to the face for the old governor, if she ever saw one.

Since then, the vaunted office had become a maze of corridors and rooms and cubicles, with traders and artisans and adventurers roaming all over the place. The second floor was where traders conducted large scale import and export of goods, while the fourth floor was reserved for deals made between the wealthy.

Some rich snob she once worked for thought she ought to know there was a private brothel too, but that was neither here nor there.

What she cared about, though, was the first floor. It was an overly large pub, with a bunch of tiny cubicles for meetings to be held by middle-class traders and bounty seekers. She’d tried their ale once, but it tasted like a drunk diabetic’s piss.

Naturally, she had refrained from alcohol ever since.

With her pitiful soul capacity, Elena was practically the lowest rung in the social ladder. So low that it may as well have been buried underground. In adventurer vocabulary, she was one of those people who would die if poked too hard.

And now, she was entering the Guild Hall. To be exactly what she’d always dreamt of.

An adventurer.

And it was all because of Zuken.

Elena never voiced it all that much, but she loved him silly. And even though she could never be anything more than a glorified informant in his life at best, the fact that the Banksi heir went out of his way to fulfill her life’s dream only spoke volumes about him.

She knew that he desired her, and with everything he had done for her, engaging in a few rounds of wild monkey sex was the least she could do. And yet…

Elena pursed her lips. Maybe if everything went alright in this mission, she would finally admit her feelings for him. Even if their relationship would have to be purely physical.

Clearing her head of indecent thoughts, she entered into the antechamber, offering a soft bow in the direction of the shrine above. A display of gratitude towards the god of prosperity and business— who made Haviskali what it was —was a compulsory ritual, mandated by the Guild for every person that walked through its doors.

At least that’s what Zuken told her.

As Elena walked through the doors, she was immediately overtaken by the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Most of them were young, inexperienced spiritists, and given the color of their armbands, users of a water or fire nature.

The cacophonies and screeches of various beasts could be heard from her left. A menagerie, for beast tamers to chain their familiars when they weren’t being used in a fight. Most of the monsters there were defeated and collected from anomalies all over the continent— exotic enough for the Guild to shell out money renting space, and dangerous enough to keep away from the general population.

Apart from the little paper-pushers scurrying around, she could also see several weapon-users in one corner, enjoying giant mugs of ale. Large, able-bodied men with muscles like nothing she had seen before, carrying massive, bladed weapons on their backs. Elena was never any good with weapons, her knowledge on the subject limited to the difference between the pointy end and the hilt of a sword.

“Ellie, there you are!”

Standing on the other side, just two steps from the bar counter, was a smiling Zuken. Beaming, she quickly crossed the distance and embraced him in a soft hug.

It felt... right.

“Come with me,” Zuken grinned. “I’ll take you to meet our third member. She’s waiting for you.”

“Oh!” Elena exclaimed. “Who is it?”

----------------------------------------

Tanya stood alone in the tiny cubicle, staring out the window. The building was laced with several enchantments to prevent sound from leaving the perimeter— everything that happened within the walls stayed within. The same held true for each cubicle, designed so that people could talk without worrying about eavesdroppers with their ear to the door.

As if that would prevent information from leaking out.

The last month had been a roller coaster. Getting hired by the Blues was like a tidal wave— it had come in roaring, increasing her prospective value as an adventurer in the eyes of the Guild. Then, returning from the mission all by her lonesome had, in poetic fashion, snatched everything away from her.

No longer was she Tanya, the golden-haired overachiever of the Guild. Now, she was Tanya— accused of being a traitor and put on probation for three months.

No employment.

No money.

And most importantly, no permission to leave the land until the investigation over the Blues’s disappearance was over.

It was then that the impromptu proposal from Zuken Bansi— of all people —came into her life, like the bright silver lining of a particularly dim cloud. And now she was waiting in this dingy little cubicle, ready to have a meeting that would be pivotal in determining where she’d go from here. If nothing else, she’d at least try to use her wiles on the young nobleman to get what she wanted.

Banksi was barely twenty, and Tanya was far from… plain.

It would hurt her pride, but she was desperate.

The cubicle door opened with a slight creak, breaking her out of her musings. Zuken Banski stepped through first, followed by a lean brunette with hazel eyes. The former was expected, since the entire point of this meeting was to see him. But the latter?

The uncomfortable gait in the brunette’s posture gave away her lack of familiarity with the Guild Hall, and the uneasy glances she shot her surroundings spoke of acute discomfort, or perhaps a lack of faith in herself.

Or the meeting.

Or both.

That was when her pointed ears caught Tanya’s eye.

An elf?

That was interesting, and problematic. Elves had small soul capacities to begin with, but also boasted incredibly high conversion ratios. It was why elven adventurers were almost always a part of elite-teams, never among newbies.

Elves were also notorious for their prowess with compulsion magic, so it was only logical that she grew immediately wary at seeing an elf of all people in this ramshackle. Was the famous Banksi planning to attempt something unprofessional?

She clenched her fists, but sported a polite smile, with no other choice but to play along for now.

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“I greet you, Zuken of the Banksi,” Tanya bowed her head towards him in traditional fashion, none of her inner emotions present on her beautiful face. She was currently a clan-less denizen of Haviskali, and the Llaisy Kingdom at large. That ranked someone like Zuken— a member of the famed Banksi clan —much, much higher than her.

"Let’s not stand on ceremony here,” Zuken waved her off, albeit with authority. “Allow me to introduce my friend and associate, Elena. Elena,” he continued with flair, “this is Tanya.”

That seemed to activate some kind of switch in the elven girl. Nearly jolting in surprise, the brunette proceeded to perform what Tanya liked to call the female once-over. It was a process by which women created a detailed profile of another based on a million different subtle details— clothing, jewelry, makeup, body type — and then decided how much of a threat they were.

At least male once-overs were simpler. They tended to limit themselves to the face, breasts, and bottom.

She knew this from experience.

Her initial impressions formed, the girl— Elena —finally tilted her head, her eyes widened in a mix of caution and disbelief.

“You’re Tanya of the Meewich Gate,” she spoke up in a half-shout, half-whisper, resulting in a facsimile of a croak.

“I… am,” Tanya replied, somehow already irritated by the elf-girl. “I’m sorry. Have we met before?”

“No,” Elena mumbled. Her expression soured as she turned towards her associate, shooting him an angry glare. “I thought I made it clear what I thought of her,” she hoarsely whispered. “You’ve gotta be crazy to add her to the team.”

“You realize I can hear you, right?” Tanya offered.

“You were meant to.”

Tanya’s left eye twitched. That bitch.

“Actually—” the Banksi began but Elena had other plans, as she swiftly spun back towards her. “Did Zuken offer to let you join this group?”

Personally, Tanya wondered how a clan-less elf was on a first-name basis with a clan heir, but she filed that question away for later. It was clear that some of her notoriety had reached the girl’s ears.

But more importantly, why was someone like Zuken Banksi allowing some no-name elf girl to lead the conversation? Was this girl part of his security or something? She was an elf, and elves were powerful mana casters. Or maybe she was part of the Banksi’s infamous intelligence network?

This... could be problematic.

Something was afoot, and Tanya wanted to know what.

“He did.”

That would do for now. The fewer questions, the better. If she was lucky, her answer would put an end to the issues, and they could move on to the business at hand.

“I see,” the brunette spoke, just as slowly as before. “And why would a… Bronze-plate like yourself want to join our group?”

Or not.

“Elena, this is all uncalled for,” Zuken cut in. Surprisingly enough, the elven girl stopped her line of questioning and fell quiet.

It gave her a few ideas.

“This… Bronze-plate is on probation and without a job,” Tanya spoke as blandly as possible. “Your associate offered me a proposal to be a part of a mission, and that’s why I’m here.”

“For the money?” Elena probed again.

She was nearly impressed with this girl, just on the basis of how easily she got under her skin. Even so, two could play this game.

“Well yeah,” Tanya purred, crossing her arms under her chest. “At first, I wasn’t really too sure. But then Zuken here,” she batted her eyelashes at him, “came over to my place and spent some time with me there. He was very… shall I say, persuasive.”

It seemed to have the intended effect, as Elena had an atomic blush on her face. Or maybe it was anger. It was hard to tell.

“Jokes apart,” Zuken coughed out, likely interrupting her little charade to avoid a more serious confrontation between her and Elena. “We should move on to why we’re here today. Standard binding spell and contract provisions before we discuss any further details about this mission.”

Translation— there is something about this that might skirt the lines of legality. Should you get it done, you are bound to hold your silence about the matter in exchange for material provisions and cash.

The placid look on the elven girl’s face meant that she either didn’t understand what he just said, or simply didn’t care.

Tanya wasn’t sure which option was more alarming.

Zuken unfurled a roll of parchment. “If we are in agreement, then that makes the three of us members of the newly formed Team Archleone. For all official statements, I’m the leader of this group. However, I understand that your experience and skill as a spiritist far exceeds mine, and as such, have no qualms in following your judgment while we’re in the middle of the mission.” He paused, as if waiting for something—

“If Zuken has no issues, neither do I,” Elena mumbled.

—Or someone.

Such disgusting loyalty.

“This is an anomaly exploration mission, and all expenses shall be covered by me personally. Upon successful completion, I’ll pay you an extra three hundred gold on top of whatever the Guild is offering for this job. No extra incentives, no commissions.”

That was far more generous terms than she’d expected, which probably meant the mission was going to be a high-stakes one.

“And if something goes wrong?” Tanya openly asked. “My name has already been dragged through the mud. I don’t want that to happen again anytime soon.”

“If the mission is a success, I’ll also get you a written letter of recommendation from the Governor himself. That should end your probation. If the mission is a failure, you get whatever gold the Guild gives us as incentive. That should pay off your bills for the next few months, right?”

Tanya nodded glumly. It was a fair offer, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

“I have another question.” She squarely met Zuken’s gaze. “Why me?”

“According to my companion, it’s because I have a tendency to pick up strays.”

Elena stuck her tongue out at him, making him chortle in response.

Tanya tilted her head, carefully observing the interaction. There was clearly a romantic undertone between the two of them. It would explain why an elf was so comfortable speaking to someone of his status. That being said, something about her told Tanya that she wasn’t just some casual bed-warmer for the Banksi.

Time would tell.

“I feel like we should start by getting to know each other’s strengths,” Zuken began. “I’m a Banksi, and like my ancestors, blessed with earth manipulation.”

Tanya knew that already. The Banksi were famous. Unlike most clans that often chose sides, the Banksi were of a rare breed that existed for millennia despite the great war that ravaged the entire continent all those centuries ago. Their family had their scions thrown apart all over the Llaisy kingdom, each trying to develop their own legacy in a single city. Thanks to their skill at diplomacy and negotiation, they were given an apt moniker.

Arbiter.

And from what she saw about Zuken, he was a quintessential Banksi.

“I’m a wind-type,” Tanya muttered. She had more skills, but there was no need to go into any of that. “And her?” She pointed at Elena.

“Oh, I just walk around and chit-chat and look pretty.”

Tanya blinked.

Then blinked again.

“…Excuse me?”

“Elena, behave,” Zuken admonished, glancing at Tanya apologetically. “Elena here is a changeling— half-elf, half-bremetan. She’s got a powerful sensor as a familiar and is good with research.”

“That’s what I said,” Elena retorted. “Chit-chat.”

Tanya crooked her eyebrows. Changelings were rare, especially considering the fact that elves were notorious for their dislike of inter-special breeding, something that made the elven species appear far more insular than they actually were. Still, she didn’t think that being a mixed breed diminished their sensing ability in any way.

So why did this… girl need a sensor as a familiar? Elves were naturally powerful sensors, after all. Unless Banksi somehow managed to pick the shortest stick of the bunch.

“I have a question.” Elena raised her hand, a stubborn look on her face.

“Yes?” Zuken asked hesitantly.

“How do we guarantee that she won’t ditch us when it gets tough?”

“What are you implying?” Tanya hissed. How dare this uppity little—

“Children, behave,” Zuken reprimanded. “Elena, we need a strong third member—”

“To counter having a useless second one,” Tanya blurted out, sneering at the other girl as her annoyance grew by leaps and bounds. Frankly, she didn’t even know why she felt so irritated with the girl. She just was.

“—to succeed in this mission,” he finished, looking like a deflated balloon. “Look, whatever your impressions of each other are, if we want to succeed on this mission, we’ll need to cooperate. Work as a team.”

“Fine with me,” Tanya shrugged. She could deal with some annoying little girl for a couple of weeks. Money mattered more.

“Elena?” the Banksi demanded.

The changeling exhaled. Loudly.

“I’ll be frank,” the brunette spoke up, frowning at Tanya. “I don’t like you. I don’t think you can be trusted, and I don’t think I can trust you. Not now. Not ever.”

“Elena—”

“Let her speak,” Tanya interrupted him. “It’s better to clear the air between us right off the bat.”

That seemed to take the other girl off-guard. “I’m not sure how great she is,” she continued, “but I trust you, Zuken. And if you trust her, then it's enough for me—”

Ugh. Too sappy.

“—and you’re our group leader. It’s my duty to follow your orders, regardless of my personal thoughts.”

And simplistic, too.

“So I’m willing to cooperate.”

Tanya drew herself to her fullest height, towering head and shoulders above the petite girl, and smiled. “Then it’s settled.” She stretched out her left hand, which the brunette shakily clasped with her own frail grip.

Her smile deepened.

“Let’s get along.”