After returning the books and the tags to Faescia and quickly waving goodbye as she was dragged out by Mike, the dog beastkin guild staff, she was lead down the hallway “This won’t take long, just need to get your side of the story, take care of a small matter and you will be on your way, kay?”

“Mn.” Mia nodded “For the hau-mphf?!”

Mike had quickly knelt down and shoved his paw in her face “Not now, wait just a moment.” He chuckled, then waited for Mia to nod, standing up he continued “you were reading the magic books, yeah?” he held out his paw down the hallway, a quick nod of the head telling her to continue.

Mia stared at him for a second “…Yeah, basics and intermediate.” She said, walking ahead of him towards the stairs.

“Ah, decent starting point.” He raised both arms and in between them a small ball of wind formed “I remember reading that back when I was young and starting out “ he chuckled, the wind ball growing larger “I rushed off to get my affinity checked and got so disappointed I only had wind.”

She watched the ball, wind swirling inside “Only wind? No others?” she asked, wondering if he had any derived.

“Yeaaah” He slammed his arms together, collapsing the ball “never got that far, you?”

“Ice and water.” She raised her open palms and on top of each she summoned a small ball of each element “Not tested yet.”

“Oh ice, nice.” He leaned forward to check while walking “not tested…? Oh, affinity test? Dang, well I think we ca-“

“MIAAAAAA!”

“Hm-Gah!?”

Mia found herself tackled and lifted into the air after hearing the familiar voice of her sister, who had met them at the stairs after apparently running up it.

“Found you!” She held Mia out in front of her, a scowl marked across her face “What did I tell you about running off without telling me? I couldn’t live with myself if I lost you right after finally finding you!”

Mia struggled, trying to get out of her sister’s grasp, unable to even though she had recovered a bit of her strength “T-told inn keeper.”

“…ah, that was what they were yelling for…” Ria looked away, glaring off into the distance.

“How did you find me?” Mia asked, looking over her sister, she noticed she was dressed differently than she was yesterday. She was wearing what looked to be leather armor, complemented by a sword at her hip and a bow and quiver on her back.

“Smell.”

“…what?”

“K-kidding.” Ria nervously laughed “Educated guess, where else would you be if not at the inn?”

“Not to interrupt, but we do have a tiny bit of a schedule.” Mike interjected.

Ria pulled Mia in close, taking a step back from the dog beastkin “…and you are? What do you want with my sister?”

“Mike, guild staff and glorified errand boy.” Mike gave a slight bow “she has a meeting to discuss what happened.” He then pointed up the stairs.

“Mn, yeah, was heading there.” Mia added.

Ria paused, scanning Mike from head to toe before relenting “Can’t be helped.” She rotated Mia in her hands, pressing Mia’s back to her chest as she held her “Lead the way.”

“…let me down.” Mia protested.

“Request denied, I still have to make up for lost time.” Ria proudly stated, gently squeezing her. S

“Ooook.” Mike slowly extended one foot forward then promptly led the way.

The group walked up the stairs and progressed down a hallway, arriving at a wooden door. Mike gave it a quick knock “For the first bit, you-“ he pointed at Ria “Cannot come in, guild policy.”

“What?! Why! I am her sister!” She protested, moving Mia away from him

“Mn, is my sister.” Mia chimed in “Don’t mind, already knows.”

“Mia!~” Ria cried out, hugging her tight.

“…Can you separate for 1 minute? Please?” Mike sighed “It is just guild policy, only those of guild staff and those involved. It is just to avoid unnecessary problems.” He then paused, eyes went wide and smiled “how bout this? Come in, no more fuss, and we will test your affinity, free of charge?”

“Deal.” Mia instantly replied.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“M-mia?!” Ria went slack, allowing Mia to slip out from her grasp.

“And my sisters.” Mia said, pointing back to her.

“Deal.”

“Mia~ wait, getting what tested?” Ria asked, not having a clue what they were talking about now.

Mike opened the door “Mia first, Ria after one minute, in you go.”

“Hmn. Got it.” Mia was then ushered inside by Mike, the door shut tight behind her. She briefly heard Ria say something, but it was cut off as soon as the door shut.

“Mia, correct?”

She snapped to the source of the voice, in the center of this room, furnished by 2 opposing couches and several shelves and cabinets lining the room, one woman sat on one of the couches, writing on a clipboard and rearranging documents placed on a table in front of her. “Yes?”

“Please, take a seat.” She motioned towards the couch opposing her “You are…eight, correct?”

Approaching the couch warily she answered “Yeah? I am eight, why?” She sat on the couch, having ample room.

“Different procedure for those underaged.” She flipped through a few pages on her clipboard, ripping one out, crumbling it up, and then tossing it across the room and into a bin “So many children, I understand the lower haunt level is harmless but when things like this ha- “she stopped herself, briefly cleared her thought and continued “Sorry, was rambling.”

“…it’s ok?” The girl seemed alright, but she couldn’t shake something was…off.

“Guild card please.” The girl outstretched her hand and when she was handed it after Mia retrieved it from her inventory, she looked it over “This…alright.” She flipped through some more paperwork, filled in some information and handed it back to her.

“What is this for?” Mia asked, referring to the meeting.

“Just confirming the abnormalities in this case.” She answered, “If a haunt layer suddenly changes and has traps like THAT appear in it from now on we will have to reassess its danger level, at first that rat beastkin thought she did it, heh, thankfully we had a third party witness what had happened.”

“Rat beastkin?” Mia tried to remember her name but was drawing a blank. “So… if already know, then why am I here?”

“Just getting your side.” The lady reached behind her, pulling out a metal box from somewhere and placing it down on the table “Just answer yes or no when I ask a question, understand?”

Mia stared at the box “What is-“

“Do you understand.” The girl snapped.

“Y-yes.” Mia shot up straight, caught off guard by the sudden shift.

“Good.” She flipped through some papers “When you were in the haunt, you formed a party with the rat beastkin Roxie, yes or no?”

‘Ah, Roxie was her name…’ Mia nodded “Yes.”

“While in the haunt, you did some basic quests before challenging the boss, defeating it. Yes or no?”

“Yes.” Mia nodded “Do I get to-“

“After being confronted by guild staff conducting an investigation on Roxie, you got into a fight with her, where you triggered an unknown trap, getting flung multiple levels deeper into the haunt, yes or no?”

“…” Mia hesitated, it wasn’t a trap that sent her flying, she really didn’t know what it was, but it was definitely not a trap and was more likely to be who ever was talking to her before. But she didn’t know if she should say that, or even how to “…yes.” She chose to lie, it being easier to instead of trying to explain.

“Ok, that is it.” The lady clapped her hand up against the clipboard “Now onto the next order of bus-“

“that’s it?” Mia said in surprise “what was the point of that box?!” She asked, pointing to the metal thing.

“Yup, that’s it.” The lady smiled “unless you need to tell me otherwise…?”

“N-no but what… what about my side? I thought I was going to…I thought…” Mia shook her head, confused.

“Kid, you are eight.” The girl waved her pencil in the air in a dismissive manner “This was just a formality. If you were any older or we thought this was some ruse to get into higher levels early, you WOULD be in a lot of trouble. This was an unfortunate accident.”

Mia fell slack, the tension leaving her body as her eyes fell on the box “Then that is?”

She leaned forward, opening the box to reveal coins “The next order of business, the payout for the quests you did, the boss kill, and the monster you barely killed.” She laid out onto the table 2 gold coins, 6 silver, and 3 copper “Medical fees and your partners sum excluded, of course.” She leaned back, flipping to a relevant page on her clipboard “Roxie declined everything that came from the…monster, only accepting some of the lower quest rewards. Begrudgingly.”

“Oh, that is…” She wasn’t expecting to be getting paid, but it was pleasant surprise “All mine?”

“What is on the table, yes, feel free to take it.” She gestured.

“Mn.” She hopped off the couch and went over to shove it all in her inventory. “What was the monster? How deep did I go?” she asked, curious.

The girl remained silent, tapping on her clipboard “…” She sighed, lightly shaking her head “When you get that deep naturally, you will find out.” She then lifted the empty box, closed it, and then reeled back and chucked it at the door, a loud bang resounding in the room as it slammed into it.

The door slowly opened, then swung open the whole way much quicker as Ria dashed through the open space, swung around the side, grabbed Mia, and plopped them both on the couch “That was a lot longer than a minute.” Ria huffed.

Now in a new position, Mia blinked, before her face slowly morphed into a frown “…Ria, clingy…” she grumbled, calling her out.

Ria nodded “Sorry, sorry. Give me some more time.” She then laid her chin atop Mia’s head, whispering into her ear “I thought I’d never see you again, kay?”

Mia sat quietly, she took a deep breath, then slowly let it out “Fiiiine.” She gave up, finding it hard to be mad at her “Still clingy.” She joked.

“So, I guess that meant you were done?” Mike asked, heading over to the side cabinets.

“Yes, no issues.” The lady then leaned forward, gathering all the paperwork on the desk “Goodbye Mia, and good luck on your future Haunt dives.” She then waved and slowly vanished, leaving nothing but an empty seat.

“Eh?” Mia’s eyes went wide, she looked around the room but found no trace of her, the door was also shut “Where did she go?!” Her attention was then immediately drawn to Mike, who slammed down a metal contraption onto the table.

“Where did who go?” He asked, looking confused “We came here to test your affinity, remember?”

“I…huh?” Mia paused, who was she asking about?

“Where did what now? Wait, wasn’t some one here with you, Mia?” Ria looked around the room.

“Yes? I think…” Mia tried to remember a face, but there was nothing, ‘was there a name…’ she then realized she was never given one. What is-

Mike clapped his paws together “Alright, attention here ladies.” Mike said, tapping the top of the metal device that laid on the table “This thing right here is the affinity tester, which one wants to go first.”

The two sisters had their attention drawn towards the machine “Oh, right.” Mia then tapped Ria’s lap “Ria first.” She said, interested in what it could be. She remembered her aunt and village did say Ria couldn’t use magic, but she was interested in seeing how much of that was true.