Chapter 10: City and Guild

"...this is annoying" Yuu commentated as he and Lyo were waiting on line. Although he still was short for his age, he had grown up a bit in the last two years. Lyo had as well though, and while he was short himself, he was about a quarter of a head taller then Yuu, even though he was short for a wood elf, which on average are supposed to be shorter then humans their own age.

Although at first it had not bothered Yuu as much, there was now a few more centimeters difference between their two heights, and it was causing him to develop a hieght complex. Of course, the reason for his stunted growth in the first place was the abuse he had suffered as a child in the slums.

In fact, it was from this very city where he was taken by adventurers and abused...a bit before he regained his memories.  The city of Arxis.  He remembered it well.  Last time he was here, they were using recent technological advances to build a clocktower in the center market, had been working on a new magical tool production plant, and had been properly refurning the roads using stone bricks to make it smoother and better on both feet and carriages.  They even had been training their knights to be stronger, faster, smarter.  Even the slums got a bit of a rework, or was getting it.  It seemed a lot of effort was being made, so Yuu was actually curious how much progress they had made.

He was actually still missing fragments of Yuu's memories from the slums here and there, including those right before he regained his memories of his previous life. It felt a bit weird at times...

While thinking about this, the line got moving, and eventually they made it to the guards. Seeing the traveling group of two children, the two guards were a bit confused.

"What are you two kids doing on your own?"

"They might have been from the slums..."

The two currently had their hoods up, so the guards did not see Lyo's ears. Of course, they could still see some of their faces, and the sun was out, so the guards did not think much of it.

However, in truth, the two guards that checked them out also thought the two were girls, not boys, due to their heights.

Although one of the guards looked at them as he licked their lips. Yuu had to do everything he could to keep his emotions under control...but his shadow still shifted a little.

He had learned a little bit, how to control his shadow, and even turn it off and on...sort of. He couldn't order it to attack yet, but he could stop it from attacking. It took a lot of tests against bandits to finally learn it, but he did.

After all, if his Shadow went around and killed everyone who had malicious thoughts towards him, the town would become a bloodbath and it would get problematic fast. And then Lyo might pout a lot.

Well, that last reason was really the majority reason for Yuu.

The guards at the gate didn't pay that much attention to two girls (boys) who looked younger then they were, and they quickly got waved by. However, one of the guards near the back, who had an eye for things, noticed the clothes they were wearing were clearly of unusually high quality, like something nobles would wear. However, they had already gone around a corner and into a crowd before he could react...still...

"...who the hell was that girl in the blue cloak?" the guard next to him asked.

"Girl? Huh..." he said, as he had noticed their footwear looked more like boy's footwear. "I dunno, but they had really nice threads. Nobles maybe..."

"That isn't what matters! We...we need to make a report to the lord of the town!"

At those words, the guard looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I could sense it...there was a dark power eminating from that blue cloaked child..."

Incidentally, there had been a man wearing a priest robe in the crowd Yuu had passed, who had frozen stiff upon seeing that boy...and had immediately started to sweat as his face showed fear, as he began to run to the church.

The city had a sort of vibrant feel to it in the morning, as people ran around to get things done.  The recent addition of the clocktower was helping to keep things organized and on time, and had also provided a few more jobs, mainly for the children.  For the poorer families that need help meeting ends meet for the winter, when most people hole up inside for most of the day, or just for those who wanted to make some spending money, there were plenty of jobs for children.

Messengers was a common job for the children of the city, delivering objects and letters from one place to another.  There were also the Clockrunners.  They were in charge of reporting to people at the specific time, letting them know it was that time.  Then there were others such as Rathunters, and other small jobs.

Each city was unique in its own way, and Arxis had its own highlights and charms.  Due to being in an area with plenty of dangerous magical beasts, but also having a direct route right to the capital, the trade for those magical beast parts were abundent, and exotic dishes made from monster meat were common and diverse as the spices they could get from the capital.   And with a number of new species recently migrating to the area or being discovered in general, the city was in the middle of a culinary revolution.

Meanwhile, Yuu had finally reached the adventurers guild with Lyo, who almost wandered off several times and got conned by conmen several more.  The Adventurer's Guild....Yuu had made it a habit to avoid this place after his previous incidents with adventurers, but three years had passed since then.  He was stronger now, faster, he had Shadow and Lyo, and all of his memories.   

A boy with a red and white cap holding a staff, who appeared a few years older then them, walked out before they walked in, appearing to be in a hurry.  It looked like the Guild Hall was quite busy, but that was fine for Yuu.

Plus, in a way, he was going to enjoy it.

"Yuu...your making a very scary smile right now" Lyo warned him, as they entered the guild hall.  True to its word, there were a few adventurers here and there sitting at tables, discussing things.  There was also a bar in the back, and at the counter were beautiful and handsome receptionists.  There were three female receptionists and two male, and all of them were breathtaking in their looks it would be easy to believe if they were declared to be angels.  This is the face of the guild.

Yuu and Lyo went and walked up to female in the center, as Yuu smiled and asked her to help them register as Adventurers.  The female receptionist, however, looked shock the moment she saw Yuu...especially his smiling face.

What the hell?!  What the fuck?!  This brat should be dead!  How....how is he alive?!  His death was confirmed, I was told!

The receptionist, or rather, a former adventurer who had survived a great ordeal and returned to the city to retire and became a receptionist because of her looks, thought that to herself.  Of course, that was only natural.  After all, four years ago, she had used that boy to test some poison, make sure it was not a dose that would be lethal to herself, in order to feign an injury to get out of a required quest to deal with a force of orcs that made base near the city, saying she encountered a strange monster variation she had never seen before and slayed it in the process.  It was why she got such a large reward, and was given a receptionist job, in fact a leading receptionist, and likely to become the next Assistant Guild Master when the Guild Master retired and the current Assistant Guild Master became the Guild Master.

It was a well paying career, and would guarentee a great job where she could send others into danger in her place.  But all because of this achievment, and because she had a reasonable excuse for why she avoided that last quest.

And so, the reappearance of Yuu, now of all times...was the greatest threat possible.  And she absolutely could not let him become a regular in the Guild Hall.

She thought to herself, and spoke up.

"Now now, you are far too young to become an adventurer" she mentioned.  Technically, there was no age limit on becoming an adventurer.  However, most didn't really bother until they were older, double digits in age at least.  Although there were plenty of eccentrics that defied the norm.

There were other adventurers who were also watching.  With Yuu's hood down, a number of people recognized him.  Some went pale, because they had done terrible things to him years ago and thought he was dead and maybe back from the grave to haunt them.  Others felt sadistic, wanting to mess with their "toy" once more.  And others, the ones with a higher amount of intelligence, began to sweat bullets.  After all, while Yuu had been abused and beaten by many to relieve stress or just for other reasons, the fact was that he had survived in the wilderness for three years on his own, or maybe with that other boy.  He had made the clothes they were now wearing, which they could tell was made of drakeskin.  That they survived in a wilderness full of monsters.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

They understood right away that this boy, Yuu, was strong, dangerous...and to come back here, there was only one reason they could think of: Revenge.

One mage even pissed his pants after sensing the amount of magical power radiating around Yuu.

So many people wanted the receptionist to deny him for various reasons, however...

"Now now, they are fine!  I will vouch for their abilities myself!"

A voice rang through as a muscular man entered the Guild.  Everyone went and looked at him, and saw it was the A-Rank Adventurer, James Jameson.

The Receptionist twitched a little the moment she heard that.  After all, if an A-Rank adventurer vouched for their abilities, it sealed all possible excuses she could make to deny them Guild Cards.  She had no choice, though...since yuu had not said anything, maybe he did not remember her?  Or maybe...just maybe....it was a different person?

"R-right...well, then, I will need you to fill these o-out.  If you need help, a receptionist can do it for you".

"No thanks, I am good" Yuu said, taking the paper and pen and writing in the common language.  That said, his handwriting...it was certainly readable, but it was not that great.  Yuu then looked over at Lyo's, expecting his to be worse...but it was better!  No, fancy even!  It looked perfect!  Yuu's writing looked even more embarrassing by comparison!

"Oh my...what cute girls!" one of the female receptionists said, having seen them list their ages as nine although they were short.  James snickered a bit behind them.

"...we are both boys actually..." Yuu commented, annoyed.

"I can also vouch for that, as surprised as I was" James mentioned.

"You didn't need to add that last part!" Yuu retorted.

The Receptionist, and many others, had practically gone full red alert mode now.  After all, somehow, at some point, Yuu had made connections to the A-Ranked adventurer that had come here two and a half years ago, James Jameson.  As an A-Ranked adventurer, he actually held quite a bit of political power and say, and was like a psuedo-noble.  In fact, some have even said he might make S-Rank soon, because he had been getting weirdly stronger.

Incidentally, the cause of that was the fights Yuu and James had whenever James visited them.

This meant though that Yuu now had a very powerful friend who could easily crush them.  And many of them had known others were doing bad things to him, and yet did nothing to stop them.  Others had been the ones who did those bad things.

It was a sign of the apocalypse, but to others, it felt like it meant they had to kill Yuu, before he could point them out to James.  After all, they knew his personality.  The way he acted towards them...once he learned who did what, heads would roll.

As for the receptionist, who confirmed Yuu's name, she practically wanted to faint.  She knew for certain, she had to kill Yuu...before he ruined her plan, and her career!

But either way, the next thing James said made hte impact worse.

"Also, please put them at C-Rank.  I might say B-Rank, but you two do need time to learn about the intricacies of city life and noble society first".

"Right..."

"Yeah..."

"Oh, and that reminds me!  Another boy came to town recently, I think you would get along great with!  He also uses a sword, as well as magic, after all, and he looks only a bit older then you...well, for Yuu, maybe a lot older".

"Hey!"

"Anyways...ah, right!" he said, looking at the receptionist.  "Anyways, the Guild Master should have told you I would be stopping by and to listen to my request.  This is it, so please do it".

The receptionist did remember that...but to think it was this request!  Still, she had no choice.  She quickly upgraded both of their Guild Cards to rank C.

"Now, come on!  I have been waiting two years to show you something!"

Hearing that, Yuu rolled his eyes, while Lyo looked on in excitement.  They followed him out of the guild while people were still pissing themselves and panicing, with a number of adventurers who had not known anything or only came to the city in the past three years being confused.

However, as James was leading them, he began to talk.

"So, this place is the home to many churches.  But among them all, I think you might enjoy this one Yuu".

"Why is that?"

"Because I think its your namesake!  Its one of the few gods that has two names you see....the God of Friendship, Joy, and Cheerfulness..."

As they turned a corner, Yuu stopped dead in his tracks as he saw something that should not exist in this world.

"...Koruko Yuuki!"

And it was the face of his previous body, on a naked stone statue clad only in some weird cloth slash that coiled around it, smiling as it stood there.  The name Koruko Yuuki was written on a plague on it, and under that, it said "The God of Friendship, Joy, and Cheerfulness".

But, that was clearly his face, his body only without the scars he had recieved from his parents, and his name, from the previous world.

His brain immediately stopped working, his face went both pale and red at the same time, and on the spot, he fainted and fell backwards.

"Yuu!"

"Ah...maybe it was too much for him?"

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There were a number of Religions in the world.  Most were polytheistic, that worshipped multiple gods.  Though there were some groups that only worshipped one of those many gods.  Among them were beings such as The Great God of Souls and Life, depicted as a young boy, Avalon.  It was he who first brought otherworlders to this world, known as Elios, and who brought the gift of Magic and Martial Development, which was a trick using mana that could allow one to gain strength and physical abilities without becoming muscular.

There was also the Great God of Light and Purity, Roshu.  He was depicted as an old man (and a stubborn senile one according to Avalon), although his status as a great god was hoisted up by the Church of True Light, which was predominantly human if not entirely human.  It is said that this god has allowed the summoning of Human Heroes from other worlds, allowing them to gain legendary figures in times of need.

And then, the last of the three, Mirabell, the Goddess of Skill and Wisdom.  She was declared a great god after she defeated several other gods in a tournament in the divine realm once, proving her superiority in combat and power.  She then proceeded to instruct her followers to learn skills and techniques, not from any strange scroll or magical system, but through the refinement of techniques and weapon skills.  It is said that her teachings have helped improve the combat abilities of individuals, and that without her, several people would have never become S-Rank adventurers.

It was in this place that the priest from before had run to, hoping to speak to the Arch-Priest, who was the highest authority of the faith in the entire region.  He reported right to the Council of Bishops, led by the Arch-Bishops, who were second only to the pope.  He had been there for several years, and as a priest, he was one of the closest confidantes of the Arch-Priest.  He knew many secrets, including one very severe one.

"Arch-Priest Ryland!" he said in an urgent yet weirdly hushed tone, as he walked up to the man who wore fancy white robes with golden borders, golden earings, and held an ornage golden staff that could also be used to cast magic.

"Yes?" he said, realizing the strange tone.  "What is it, Priest Soko..."

"The boy...Yuu...has returned to the city!"

Almost immediately, a vain appeared to pop in the man's forehead.  He dropped his treasured golden staff as he stood, his eyes wide with worry and rage.

"What?!  But...we were told he had died!  That the..demon brat had been subjugated!"

Rather, Ryland had ordered it himself.  In fact, it had been a crucial part of cleaning up this city...among other things.  A lot of plots had hoisted, and many backroom deals had been cut.  Very few knew about those though.  Only that a boy who was rumored to be cursed and thrown out of the orphanage, Yuu...he had been blamed for many things, and then disappeared from the city.

He was confirmed to have died.

But now, he had returned to the city?  Alive?!

This was the worst situation possible.

"Where was he heading?"

"...I think....maybe...in the direction of the adventurer's guild".

Ryland took that back mentally.  Now it was the worst situation possible.

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Meanwhile, in the lord's manor, a man appeared from the shadows while the lord of the city, Margrave Alibaster, was sipping tea.

"I assume this must be urgent, if you have come here".

"The boy commonly refered to as the 'Cursed Child' or 'The Demon Brat', believed to have been successfully assassinated three years ago, has returned to the city alive".

Alibaster dropped his tea cup, with it shattering on the floor it a clatter of sounds, the moment he heard that.

"What?!  But I was guarenteed he had been killed!"

The Margrave also was enraged.  If Yuu was still alive...if he told the truth about a certain situation, and the right people heard it...he could get ruined.

Of course, obviously it was not like Yuu had some sort of evidence, and what he saw was only a small fragment of the truth...but that fragment could link everything together.  If it became known, he could be ruined.  Or worse...

"I want you to hire some people, make sure its clear his death was never connected to me".

"Understood, my lord".

As the man disappeared, the Margrave gripped his fists.  And then, he took a look at that letter.  And he had to wonder....if it was a coincidence, or someone's plot...

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The Merchant Organization Red Road had a rather large branch office in Arxis, and right now, one of his merchants who also handled more...discreet operations...had informed him of something that made his eyes bulge.

The report was that "The demon brat, Yuu, had returned to the city alive".

The leader of the organization, Tarkan Rooste, nearly spat out the wine he was drinking when he heard that.

After all, he was told the boy had died, and that everything would be smoother now.  A useful scapegoat thanks to that curse of his...that Shadow.

Although he kept his merchant face up, deep down he had gone full panic mode.  If certain deals got out...if certain truths came to light, then others would as well...and everything would be revealed.

If that happened, everything would fall apart.

"...gather intelligence, and then take him out.   But since he seems rather stubborn, I want you to spread the word.  About how he is cursed, filled with bad luck and bad mojo.  That selling him anything could spread the curse to you.  That even being nice to him could result in disaster.  That he is a true demon".

"Of course, we will begin at once".

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A boy in a red and white cap looked on playfully as he sat on the clocktower of the city, looking down at Yuu who had just passed out as he giggled.

"I have been waiting a long time to see that look on your face, Yuuki!" the boy said with joy.  "Sorry for the shock, but I just could not help it!  Well, think of it as my fee...for reincarnating you, after all".

As he said that, a small spark of light flew down from the clouds and hovered around his shoulder.

"Avalon!  There you are!  I have been worried silly about you!"

"Sorry, sorry, but I am busy right now".

"The other gods still want answers for what you were doing with that soul!  And also about many other things!  Furthermore, Roshu's followers are attempting to do another Hero Summoning!"

"Seriously?  Didn't he already have like three heroes summoned in the last few years?  And a lot of other people have been pulling it off as well...well, I will just leave it all to Mirabell!"

"...master...."

"Now now, I am properly doing my work!  This city...it has so many plots brewing in it, I am worried demons are doing some bad things here.  So, I need to deal with it...ahhh, Yuuki!  Get stronger so you can face Divine Level threats and I can meet you in my God Form!  Well, I can always use my human form as well...ahhh".

The spark then began to pull on Avalon's ear.

"If you are going to do something here then dont sit around and go do it, master!"

And so, like that, a god giggled as the day continued onward.