Looking at the person at the head of the table Thomas could tell Abigail's demeanor changed from what it was minutes before. At least when she was talking to him, she seemed friendly, but she already seemed less animated than before.

He hadn’t known her for even an hour, but the completely neutral expression spoke for itself. She wasn’t impressed or seemed to care. Nine Hells, Thomas thought you would have to be a moron to miss that she wasn’t impressed.

As she spoke her voice matched her entire demeanor, neutral, completely without any feelings at all. All she said was, “I am Abigail Thorn.”

Tristan smiled even wider and said, “A beautiful name to match a beautiful woman.”

It was silent for a solid five seconds before Liz spoke “I am Liz Rami the guild representative for this meeting, and this to my right is Thomas, newly promoted D-ranked that reported the issue. Mr. Thomas if you would you recount what you told me yesterday.”

“Of course. Like she said I’m Thomas a new D-rank.” And so, he did recount everything, from what the original quest was, to finding a hobgoblin and killing it, as well as the goblins he killed. Not really going into detail about how he did it but laying out the facts around the entire incident. As well as his concern and of what could be deeper in the cave system.

During all this Tristan and Phillip didn’t seem that interested, even dismissive, until he mentioned the hobgoblin. At that point it almost seemed like they didn’t believe him. Steven was paying attention and had a thoughtful look on his face. Making Thomas wonder if Steven was the brains in the group.

Abigail was listening intently, golden eyes locked on him from start to finish. When it was over, she gave a single nod and a half smile and spoke, “just like it was reported, that is concerning.”

Tristan didn’t seem to agree, speaking out with a sneer in his face. “Wait, you actually believe this random D-ranker? That he walked into a goblin nest killed a hobgoblin and made it out with only a minor injury? A feat that would be a challenge to most D-ranked parties. I didn’t hear a last name, so he is probably just some street rat that is trying to get the guild to pay him for information.” With a dismissive wave he continued “if it’s just a nest of goblins we can handle it in an afternoon. Why even hold a meeting about it.”

Thomas closed his eyes and took a deep breath then opened them again. Most people didn’t care if he didn’t have a last name which meant he was an orphan. Nine Hells, it didn’t bother him much but what bothered him was being called a liar and it being for money.

Before he could rebuttal and defend himself, Liz spoke “Mr. Thomas is a member in good standing and brought proof back with him. The meeting is standard procedure to fully brief the next team so they can investigate with full knowledge. Fifteen silvers will be paid upon completion, normal payout for anything else collected. Now.” She paused for a second. Thomas didn’t miss how Liz glanced at Abigail before continuing “Does Dawns Horizon accept the quest?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

During the entire exchange Abigail’s completely neutral face didn’t change. Only her eyes flicking to Liz when she spoke then returning to her notes on the desk.

Tristan finally pulled his eyes away from Abigail. He looked at Liz and said, “Sure that’s fine, so why are you here Abigail? Are you a new guild staff?” He agreed without even looking at his team. When Liz looked at Phillip and Steven, they both just nodded in agreement.

Liz jotted down a note on her packet of papers and finished by saying “Perfect, we are finished here. Unless you have anything to add Miss Thorn?”

Abigail ignoring the questions from Tristan, her demeanor turned even more frigid and cold than before. She spoke up saying, “This correlates with one of the bigger investigations I am conducting. I will be going as well. Thomas, why don’t you accompany me? Make sure we have the right cave? Five silvers for participating. How about it?”

A little flustered from being asked out of the blue, but he quickly realized that was too much money to pass up even if traveling with them for a few hours would be annoying. Five silvers just to show her the way? He answered easily, “sure I would be happ…”

Cut off by Tristan “Anyone who quested in that area knows the cave. Five silvers? Why are you trying to pay him the same as a C-Rank? I don’t want to babysit some street rat.”

With a sigh Thomas spoke “as I was saying Abigail, I would gladly accompany you.” Turning to Tristan, Thomas smiled “Don’t be concerned with babysitting me, I will be fine.”

Abigail smiled and ignored Tristan again and said “Wonderful, lets head out now so we can get this done before dark.”

Anger appeared on Tristan’s face, either from being completely ignored by Abigail the entire time or me not caring about his remarks. Schooling his face, he said “that’s fine let’s head out now. Just to clarify this quest was issued to us so we are in charge while in the field. Is that fine with you Abigail?”

“Please only address me as Miss Thorn but yes matters related to your quest are completely under your purview. I agree we should head out now, be in front of the guild hall in five minutes.” After finishing speaking Abigail gathered her papers and stood strapping the sword to her hip and walked out.

Looking at this point bewildered and a tad angry, Tristan just sat there. Not wanting to waste any time or be asked any questions by Tristan. Thomas got up walking out and shortly followed by Liz who said something to the team he didn’t hear.

Thomas realized that this was going to be a long day. People looking down on him for having no family name wasn’t new and didn’t bother him. Being stuck with someone who did for an entire day would be exhausting.

On the other hand, seeing higher ranked people in action should help him learn something new. So, it was worth putting up with it. If the Steve guy isn’t as rude as his team leader maybe, he could ask for some tips on mana and how to get better with it.

Plus, Abigail was still a mystery, she spoke with authority and said she was conducting an investigation as well. It was entirely possible she was a higher ranked than him, but she wasn’t forth coming about it, so he wasn’t going to ask. If Tristan and his team didn’t question it so he wouldn’t.

Hopefully his desire to learn from these higher ranked teams wouldn’t land him in a bad situation. If he was lucky to get this over with before it got too late maybe he could make it back in time to get some armor like he wanted.