"Oh, back from your trip already?" A guard stationed at the gate greeted Reizo. "You were away for quite some time. I thought you might disappear for a couple years again." The guard chuckled.
"I see you've even brought back some friends." He said as he glanced at the two teenagers behind him, one was wearing a mask with a poorly drawn smile on it and was full of energy while the other had a strange set of eyes and looked dead inside. "Real odd pair you got here."
"Not friends. These two got on a juvenile gardvern and ended up lost in a forest."
"Good grief, I thought it was common sense not to hop on a random monster's back." The guard shook his head. "You two should consider yourselves lucky that Reizo found you before you got eaten by a monster."
"Don't worry, we're going to become vanguards so we'll be extra responsible from now on." Saliza said with her chest puffed out.
"Ah, sorry to burst your bubble kid," the guard said regretfully. "But I'm afraid all rank 4 and above vanguards are out of the country for a mission and they won't be back for quite some time, so there won't be any vanguards suitable to be your trainer."
"What about Reizo?" She pointed at him. "He said he'll be our trainer."
"He did?" The guard gave him a surprised look. "Last time you told me that you weren't interested in having trainees."
Reizo shrugged. "I decided to reconsider after what happened during my trip."
"Man, I really gotta know just what kind of trips you go on." The guard laughed as he opened the gate. "Anyways, try not to cause Reizo here too much trouble."
"We won't!" Saliza happily skipped onwards. As Zeigel walked past the guard, he noticed that he had a bracer that looked similar to Reizo's one, only his one was half the length and devoid of colours.
----------------------------------------
Much to Zeigel's surprise, the country of Mezio looked surprisingly modern. The best way he could describe it was a less technologically advanced version of Earth that compensated for the lack of technology with monsters and whatever strange materials they had. Luckily for him, Even the way people dressed here was nearly identical to that on Earth which made his outfit consisting of a plain blue t-shirt, black shorts, and grey slippers not stand out.
Maybe adapting to this place wouldn't be as hard as I thought. I'm still gonna miss having a phone and a PC though.
"Here we are, the vanguard headquarters of Mezio." Reizo stopped in front of the largest building Zeigel had seen in the country, towering over everything else. It looked almost like a white corporate building made with stone and glass.
Saliza could barely contain herself and immediately rushed into the building. Zeigel followed along and as he entered through the glass door, he was met with a pleasant surprise.
Wow, I thought this place would look like an adventurers guild. I didn't expect it to look like an office lobby, and they even have air conditioners!
He threw himself onto one of the sofas, taking a moment to relax after a long walk through the forest. Saliza on the other hand was excitedly jumping up and down in front of the receptionist.
"HimynameSalizalemmejoinvanguardspleaseReizosaidIcanjoinandIreallywannabevanguardsocanIvanguardnow!"
"Calm down! I don't understand a word you're saying!" A lady wearing a neat green uniform behind the reception counter pressed her hands down on Saliza's shoulder to stop her from jumping. "Is there something important you need to report?"
"She's here to become a vanguard." Reizo said as he slowly made his way to the receptionist, grabbing Zeigel by the arm on the way and dragging him off the sofa. "This boy too. I'll be the trainer for both of them."
"Wait, really? Oh, Testra is going to be thrilled finding out that you're finally training new vanguards! I also thought it was high time someone like you became a trainer."
The receptionist opened a drawer behind her and pulled out two forms. "Ken! We've got two people who'll be training as vanguards under Reizo! Go get Meitre!" The receptionist yelled behind her.
"Wait, really?" A male staff peeked his head out of the room behind the counter. "Oh my god! You weren't kidding Jae!" He exclaimed. "I'll go get Meitre asap!"
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Jae placed the forms on the counter along with two pens. "Just fill up your name and age and you'll be registered as vanguards."
Saliza happily filled out the form and handed it back to the receptionist.
"Alright, just to confirm, your name is Saliza Graytus and you're 16 years old, correct?"
"That's me!"
"And you," Jae turned to see Zeigel staring at the form with a grim look on his face. "Do you need help with that boy?"
If I fill this out then I'll be forced to work a job that puts my life in constant danger, but at the same time, this is probably the only decent paying job I can get. Maybe I can convince Saliza to let me live in her house while I figure something out.
Zeigel turned to Saliza, putting on his friendliest smile. "Saliza my dear friend, would you be so kind as to let me stay in your house for awhile?"
"I don't have a house."
Zeigel's smile quickly turned into a frown. Oh of course you don't have a house, of course!
"Are you by any chance from an orphanage?" Jae asked.
"Oh uh, yes. I didn't like the place so I told everyone there that I wouldn't come back, so it would be embarrassing if I had to return." Zeigel nervously laughed.
"Then join the vanguards, you get a free room here you know."
Zeigel's eyes widened. "Free room?"
"That's right, you get a free room once you fill up this form." Jae tapped the empty form sitting infront of Zeigel.
"But do I have to pay any rent?"
"Don't worry, we don't charge rent here." She reassured him.
"What about bills?"
Jae gave him a confused look. "What bills? This isn't a restaurant, why would we make you pay bills here?"
Okay, this changes everything. If I get a free place to stay then I'm definitely joining! I'll just take on an easy job every once in awhile to get money for food and I'll be able to sustain myself until I figure out how to get out of this world.
Zeigel filled out the form and handed it to receptionist.
"Finally" She muttered under her breath. "So your name is Zeigel Etend and you're 16 years old, is that correct?"
"That's correct."
"Alright then," Jae opened a drawer and took out a small rectangular device with a button on the top right corner. "Hold still while I take your picture."
Jae aimed the device at Zeigel's face and with a click of a button, a picture of his face appeared on the device.
"Looks good enough." She muttered before carefully peeling the picture off the device and pasting it on Zeigel's form.
Oh wow, they even have cameras in this world.
"Can you remove your mask so I can take your picture?" Jae asked with her camera pointed at Saliza.
Saliza shook her head. "No can do. It's really important that I keep my mask on at all times."
"Ah, you're one of those people who want to remain anonymous as vanguards. I guess it's fine then." Jae said before taking Saliza's picture and pasting it on her form.
"Once Meitre is here, she'll bring you to a room to complete the final step to becoming vanguards. She's a little busy so you might have to wait awhile." Jae explained as she slipped the forms into a folder.
"Aw man, how long do we have to wait?" Saliza asked impatiently.
"Oh, nevermind. She's right there."
Saliza turned around to see a middle aged lady watching her. She wore a fancy green suit with her hair in a neat bun, and she looked nearly as tired as Reizo. On her right arm was a bracer identical to the one Reizo had.
She bent down to inspect Saliza, taking note of her messy appearance and dirty clothes.
"Where did you meet these two?" The woman asked.
"In the forest." Reizo answered.
"I see." The woman turned her gaze towards Zeigel before turning back to Saliza. "And how long have you been in the forest?"
"Uh, I dunno. I lost track of time." Saliza said nonchalantly.
"But do you remember when you met the boy?"
"Actually," Zeigel chimed in. "We hopped on a gardvern together and got lost in the forest."
"Is that so?" The woman took a step towards Zeigel and inspected him for a few uncomfortable seconds.
"Quite an interesting pair you found here Reizo." She said as she pulled Zeigel and Saliza into her arms and carried them up like a pair of luggages.
"Go to my office and write down everything you need to report today Reizo, then go get some sleep once you're done." The woman ordered. In a blink of an eye she rushed up the stairs with the two in her arms, climbing up flights of stairs faster than Zeigel and Saliza could blink.
Once they reached the top, the woman sprinted towards a room with a guard stationed in front of it.
"Good afterno-"
"Sorry, in a rush!" The woman yelled as she kicked down the door. The walls of the room were reinforced with steel, and the only thing inside the room was a cauldron filled with golden liquid. She set the two down next to the cauldron and created a flame in her hand to heat up the cauldron.
"That was awesome!" Saliza laughed. "Can we do it again?"
"Please... don't do that again..." Zeigel begged while clutching his beating heart.
The woman ignored them and took out two blue crystals in her pocket. "My name is Meitre," She introduced herself. "I'm the head vanguard of Mezio. Everything that goes on in this country will be reported to me so please, try not to increase my workload too much."
Once the liquid was bubbling, she tossed one of the crystals into the cauldron and created a metal rod to stir it. The crystal melted inside, created a thick blue spot in the boiling gold liquid.
"Now, I need one of you to place your arm inside the cauldron."
"Okay!" Saliza enthusiastically replied as she plunged her arm into the boiling liquid with no hesitation and began screaming in agony. Meitre held her arm in place to prevent her from pulling it out. "You're doing good, just bear with it for a little bit more."
The melted crystal began swirling around her arm. After a few more seconds, Meitre released her grip to allow Saliza to pull her arm out of the cauldron. On her arm was the very same bracer that Reizo and Meitre had.
"This is the vanguard bracer, the main source of every vanguards strength."