《The Adventurer's Guild(master)》


 Prologue

    For as long as he could remember, Owwen Draumur wanted to be an adventurer. After learning to read by himself, the only books he had were those filled with adventurer tales and adventurers themselves. Perhaps the book he kept closest was his book on the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. He would stay awake at night, imagining himself as an adventurer, walking into the guild, victorious, after finishing a quest. He knew these dreams of his would one day be reality.


    Despite protest from his parents that he should seek a more secure lifestyle, he was adamant. It didn¡¯t take long for his ambition to turn into reality as he had finally turned 16, an age considered by many to be the turning point from childhood into adulthood. Begging his parents for a blessing before he departed to the city, they hesitantly gave it just as he left, as well as providing him with a couple of supplies and the family pendant.


    He held the pendant in his hand as he walked, thinking about the importance of what he had been given. The pendant itself wasn¡¯t very pretty, but he knew it contained unimaginable value. Not only was it a family heirloom, it was a magical item, not a common object for a family of potato farmers. Due to the rarity of magical items, his parents never had it checked in order to find out the enchantment that the pendant held, afraid it would be stolen. However, if the power he could sense from it was any indication, it was not something weak. He sighed briefly and put the pendant into his shirt pocket, a reminder to look more into what kind of power it possessed later.


    It was bright, and the sun was about to reach its peak when Owwen finally arrived. The town of Anderess, the last city of the kingdom before its boundary with the wilderness. He knew of a couple of settlements that were much closer to the border, but none as big as Anderess. The city itself had garnered a reputation as town that was always growing; this was mostly because construction was commonplace in most of the city. Since the city was close to the border, it was prone to being attacked. It had only been a couple of months since the last invasion, so the buildings were teeming with construction equipment and materials.


    The main streets were just wide enough for wagons carrying supplies in and out of town to pass through. Even the smaller side streets could have at least two people walking side by side. Street vendors could be seen selling their wares in the city¡¯s unofficial marketplace, this made the town a bit crowded, but today there were a lot more people than usual. Owwen didn¡¯t know if the construction happening had reduced the walking space or if everyone had just decided to go out that day. Either way, crowds weren¡¯t too much of a problem for him.


    The town never looked the same for too long, and the destroyed buildings being renovated gave it an air of hopefulness. Owwen loved the city because of this, though this did remind him of a small oversight in his part. Where would he live? He pondered for a minute before remembering that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild had an inn, and they had discounts for adventurers!


    Perfect, now all I need is money! He thought.


    He was honestly just making up his plan as he went along. He had brought some food, water, and basic supplies, but other than that, he was broke. Being the son of poor farmers had a few drawbacks after all.


    Maybe I can try selling some of my food, or maybe¡­


    His mind wandered, he did not know how to make reliable money. He entertained several thoughts before the image of his family pendant flashed before him. Shaking his head slightly, he dismissed the idea as soon as it arrived.


    I can¡¯t sell my pendant! It might be worth a lot of money but it belongs in my family. Plus, who knows what kinds of powers it has?


    He was not about to let something as important as his family heirloom get sold off, even if it meant sleeping on the street.


    What about¡­ no. Oh and if I¡­ no that won¡¯t work¡­ But if I¡­


    Lost in his own thoughts, Owwen ran headfirst into a large and burly man. The man¡¯s appearance was rugged and his clothes could¡¯ve used a bit of washing, but his calm attitude indicated that he probably wouldn¡¯t knockout Owwen for running into him. Probably.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. Just a small accident right? But be careful. The street is no place to get distracted.¡± He said calmly, while tapping Owwen¡¯s shoulder with his hand.


    Any fear that he had vanished and he realized that the man was an adventurer. Instantly he began to think of questions to ask the man, but the shock kept him from asking any of them. Leaving him there standing in silence, his mouth only barely open.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Dorus, we¡¯re going to be late!¡± Chimed a woman standing behind the adventurer he now knew to call Dorus.


    She wore purple robe with intricate embroidery at the sleeve, in addition to that, the staff she carried and slightly oversized hat indicated that she was a student of magic. However, most importantly, she was also an adventurer. Beside her was man with a beard, from the look on his face and the daggers at his side, Owwen quickly figured out that he was a rogue. Most rogues kept to the shadows and worked as thieves, but some had decided to take a nobler path in life and devote themselves to questing and adventuring.


    ¡°Excuse us now, we have to get going.¡± Dorus said.


    ¡°Oh right. Sorry! I¡¯ll get out of the way¡­¡±


    Avoiding running into more people and taking a step back, close to a street vendor, Owwen gazed at the group heading most likely to their next quest. He couldn¡¯t help but stare even if he was the only one on the street doing it. They held a confident gaze while they walked, a gaze he knew he would soon have as well.


    ¡°Hey kid! Are ya gonna buy anything?¡± Asked the man tending the stall.


    ¡°Uh¡­. No, I don¡¯t have any money, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Then scram!¡± The owner screamed.


    Owwen held his backpack as he ran away from the angry man. He could still hear screaming coming from behind him.


    Geez! You don¡¯t have to be so angry! You¡¯re not gonna get any money with an attitude like that.


    Not that he had any personal experience with selling things, but he knew that customer service was important. Had the angry old man screamed any louder at him, he would¡¯ve forgotten the reason he came to the city in the first place.


    Now to start my life as an adventurer, I just need to find the guild. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard. The guild hall is one of the most famous buildings in the city after all.


    It was true that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild had quite a reputation in Anderess, and it was even known across the kingdom, but he had never seen the building itself. He knew that the guild itself was made up of three buildings that sat side by side, the Tavern/Guild, the Inn, and the Shop. This made it look like a single large building rather than three separate ones. This is all he knew since the books he read as a child had no drawings of the guild itself. But he kept walking, trying to find the largest building he could. Many caught his attention, like the Builder¡¯s Guild and the Town Hall, which were the largest buildings he had ever seen, but still no signs of the adventurer¡¯s guild.


    Maybe it¡¯s not that big. Since adventurers are humble, they wouldn¡¯t want to spend too much money on three large buildings. So I¡¯ll just keep looking.


    An hour of wandering later, Owwen was starting to get tired, even after looking more carefully at the smaller buildings in town, he still couldn¡¯t find it.


    How am I supposed to finish quests and become an adventurer if I cant even find the building!? But I¡¯m not giving up, I have to¡­


    He froze just as he turned a corner on the street. Owwen found himself staring at the same vendor who had screamed at him earlier.


    Did¡­ Did I just go in a big circle?


    ¡°Get out of here Carim. What did I say about setting up shop in front of the guild?¡±


    The voice came from inside the building behind the stall. A man, probably in his late twenties, early thirties, walked out and began arguing with the salesman.


    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon Gherson! You know that I don¡¯t get any business in the marketplace.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get any business here either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a tough week! People don¡¯t wanna buy used wares anymore!¡±


    ¡°Maybe they would buy something if you didn¡¯t scream at them so much.¡±


    The argument kept going back and forth but Owwen stopped listening as soon as the man said ¡®guild¡¯. Looking at the building behind the shack, he could clearly see it was large. Despite the construction going on in the entire city, it seemed well maintained, even more than the Builder¡¯s Guild. Right in front of it there was a sign written: ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Tavern¡±.


    So if that¡¯s the tavern, then that means¡­


    To the sides of the building there was another entrance with a sign: ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Inn¡±, and to the other side a third entrance to what he assumed was the Adventurer¡¯s Shop.


    It was here. It was here this entire time. And I missed it. Just because of that old man screaming, I missed it.


    After getting over his initial shock, he realized the vendor was already packing up and leaving after losing the argument with the man. He didn¡¯t catch his name but reminded himself to thank the guy later for getting rid of that particular nuisance. Not wanting to waste any more time, he hurried into the tavern, doing his best not to run into more people on the way.


    Walking in he stopped, not expecting to find that the inside was as bright as it was. He always thought taverns would have at least a candle or two to make up for the lack of natural light. However, it seemed the large windows brought in enough light for the whole room. The place was larger than he was expecting, and he was already expecting something quite big. Adventurers of all kinds sat around the tables scattered across the left and the middle of the room. Waiters brought food and drinks and took back empty plates and orders for more food. The tables ranged in size from just enough for two people to large wooden platforms that could seat at least a dozen. Near the back he could see the bar and more alcohol than he ever knew existed. Just behind it, closer to the middle, was the door to what he assumed was the kitchen.


    On the right side of the tavern there were no tables but instead there was a large balcony with a sign written: ¡°Information Desk¡±. Just behind it, pinned to a wall, was the largest notice board he had ever seen, filled with all kinds of papers and posters. He assumed those were quests. He knew there was an abundance of quests to be done but had no idea there were so many. Next to the desk was another smaller notice board titled: ¡°News¡±. As he walked closer, he saw that it was also filled with different kinds of warnings and the latest reports that could be useful for someone going on an adventure. He decided to read one of them.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°WARNING: Goblin camp spotted in Grove Valley. Avoid unnecessary encounters.¡±


    Wow, an adventurer really needs to be prepared for anything. I guess this board is going to be very important for me in the near future.


    Glancing at another warning, he walked towards the information desk. The attendant behind the desk was busy looking at some papers so she didn¡¯t notice him immediately. She was cute. Her hair was short, barely reaching her shoulders, and the guild uniform she wore was modest but stuck a little bit closer to her form than he was expecting. He didn¡¯t want to interrupt her but after almost a minute Owwen cleared his throat hoping she would notice him.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry! How can I help you?¡±


    He was caught off guard by her warm cheery voice, so after stumbling a bit he prepared to say the words he had wanted to say for so long.


    ¡°I want to be an adventurer!¡±


    His heart was pounding. He had no idea if this was because he had just stared at the cute attendant for about a minute or if he was just excited to begin this new part of his life. Either way, it was not a bad feeling.


    ¡°A new adventurer, huh? We don¡¯t get a lot of new people here but it shouldn¡¯t take long to get the paperwork ready.¡±


    ¡°Ummm, paperwork?¡± There¡¯s paperwork to become an adventurer? This was not in any of the books I read.


    ¡°Yeah, its hard work to keep track of the number of adventurer¡¯s who come through here daily and what quests they might have finished or failed. So we have to fill out paperwork to make sure that we know exactly who you are and what you¡¯ve done.¡±


    It sounds like they¡¯re making a criminal profile for me. But it makes sense, I cant expect them to know what hundreds of adventurers are doing without some form of organization.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going to ask you some questions and please answer as honestly as you can.¡± The attendant said with a smile.


    ¡°O-ok.¡± Owwen stuttered, trying and failing to smile back at her.


    ¡°Name?¡±


    ¡°Owwen Draumur¡±


    ¡°Age?¡±


    ¡°Sixteen¡±


    The questions she asked were very basic so he didn¡¯t really struggle to answer any of them. It really was just boring old paperwork. He was almost a bit glad that he wasn¡¯t going to be stuck behind a desk and he would soon be off fighting monsters or helping people. Just then he remembered.


    ¡°Umm, small question I have.¡± Owwen chimed. ¡°Who was that man who got rid of that cranky salesman?¡±


    ¡°Oh that was Aurus Gherson, the guild master.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but¡­¡± Did she just say that man was the guild master? ¡°That was the guild master?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s the boss of everyone around here.¡±


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t seem that old or...¡±


    In his mind, the guild master was someone with a lifetime of experience. Whose wisdom and leadership led and inspired the rest of the guild. The man he saw was barely in his thirties, and he didn¡¯t look anything like he imagined. He didn¡¯t have lots of battle scars, each one with a story behind them, or a huge frame like many legendary warriors of the past had. If anything, the man he saw was average. Short brown hair, dark brown eyes, average build, and just slightly taller than average, very slightly.


    Still trying to wrap his head around this new image of a guild master that formed in his head, Owwen thought of a good question.


    ¡°But why was he the one out there arguing with the vendor? Isn¡¯t he someone who is very busy?¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s the only one who can get rid of him. When we try to do it he leaves for just a few days, but when it¡¯s the boss we can go almost two months without seeing him here.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I guess there are some things only the guild master can do. ¡°Can I thank him later for doing that then?¡±


    ¡°Sure! Now we¡¯re almost finished with these documents, so once you pay the fee I can go ahead and hand them over to my supervisor.¡±


    ¡°Fee?¡± I forgot the fee.


    ¡°Yes, the beginner¡¯s fee. All adventurers have to pay for it.¡±


    ¡°Right¡± The fee, how could I forget? ¡°I¡¯ll just pay for it.¡± How am I supposed to pay for the fee and still have leftover money for the inn? I would have to sell everything I own or¡­ the pendant. I cant sell it, its too valuable! But if I don¡¯t do it I might never have enough money to actually become an adventurer. But I don¡¯t even know what it does!


    ¡°Can you give me a few minutes?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll just hold on to these papers for now.¡±


    Owwen sat at the nearest empty table and removed the pendant from his shirt pocket. He stared at it all the while thinking of some way of securing his life as an adventurer without having to sell his most prized possession. His mind pondered idea after idea but it all seemed in vain. He would have to sell his pendant, or at the very least offer it as payment until he had enough money from quests to buy it back. Of all of his ideas, this one seemed the least risky since the chances of someone else buying the pendant were very low. This was now his plan, all that was left was for the attendant to accept it as a way to pay the fee. Making his way back to the desk, he griped the magical item in his hand.


    ¡°Will this do as payment?¡± Owwen showed the woman the trinket.


    ¡°Hmmm, it doesn¡¯t seem very valuable.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a magical item. It has been in my family for generations. Please, can this be my form of payment?¡± Desperately hoping she would accept.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to check.¡±


    Getting up she walked towards a door in the back of the room. Owwen was surprised he didn¡¯t see it earlier. The Information Desk was so big it actually reached towards the back of the whole area, and at the end of it, on the back wall, there was a door, probably leading to the management area upstairs. The girl opened the door and screamed.


    ¡°Hey Nia! Need your help with something!¡± She made her way back and sat down.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Nia?¡± Owwen asked meekly.


    ¡°She¡¯s my boss.¡±


    ¡°I thought the guild master was your boss.¡±


    ¡°He is. He is also my boss¡¯ boss. Nia¡¯s his assistant.¡± The cute girl replied bluntly, with a look on her face that seemed more annoyed than anything.


    Moments later a beautiful girl, not much older than the attendant, showed up. Her hair was longer than the attendant¡¯s was. It light brown, as were her eyes. In fact, at just the right light her eyes almost seemed golden. Her uniform was well fitted so it didn¡¯t stick to her like it did with the attendant. She had a slightly annoyed look on her face, almost as if she had been interrupted from something important. If Owwen wasn¡¯t already nervous in front of one cute girl, two pretty girls made him even more jittery.


    ¡°I was in the middle of some important stuff, but what it is?¡± She asked with a small sigh.


    ¡°This young man here wants to be an adventurer; he probably doesn¡¯t have any money and wants to pay with this thing.¡± All of the niceness of her voice was gone. Did she even realize he could listen to everything she was saying? What happened to the cute, cheerful attendant that sat before Owwen not long ago?


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so blunt about it you know. Other people¡¯s financial situation is none of your concern.¡± Nia said in a matter of fact way.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t have patience with people who try to waste my time; he shouldn¡¯t have come here if he had no way of paying for the fee. I even filled out all the paperwork!¡±


    Is that why she¡¯s being so cold to me right now? She could¡¯ve just told me about the fee before asking any of those questions.


    ¡°This is the ONLY paperwork you¡¯ve done in the past week. I don¡¯t know why you are complaining. Now what is this ¡®thing¡¯ that you want to pay with?¡± Nia asked, turning her attention to Owwen.


    Stuttering a bit, ¡°I¡­ uhh¡­ this pendant. It¡¯s been in my family for years, and is an incredibly valuable magical item.¡± He stuck out his opened hand, with the pendant resting on his palm. The woman he now knew as Nia examined it a bit before taking it into her own hand.


    ¡°Hmmm. It does seem to fit the characteristics of a magic item, but we¡¯ll need to check more closely to make sure it¡¯s not fake.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m absolutely sure that it is not fake!¡±


    He hadn¡¯t ever used this assertive tone before, but after hearing the accusation that something his family held in such high regard was fake, he could not hold it in. He probably spoke a bit too as a few people sitting closer to the desk turned towards him. Realizing he was making a scene, he blushed in embarrassment and went back to being mostly quiet once again.


    ¡°I believe you.¡± Nia said with a smile. ¡°Looking at it closely I can feel some sort of magic within, so it must be something, but we still have to check to see what it is exactly. I¡¯ll go give this and the paperwork to the guild master to have everything finalized.¡±


    ¡°So this means¡­¡± Owwen said, not really believing what he had heard.


    ¡°This means that in a few minutes you¡¯ll be an adventurer.¡± The attendant said impatiently, going back to whatever she was doing before Owwen arrived.


    ¡°You can stop by the shop and get a beginner¡¯s pack while you wait. Its cost is covered by the fee so all you need to do is ask.¡± Nia said, sweeping up the paperwork from the desk walking back towards the door.


    I can¡¯t believe it¡­ its happening! Owwen thought as a huge smile made its way through his face.


    He stumbled to the shop, barely containing his excitement. Just before he entered, he saw the sign in front of it: ¡°The Shop Shop¡±. He was a bit confused. Wasn¡¯t this the shop? He walked inside and sure enough, he was greeted with rows and rows of items all on display. From regular weapons and armor, to potions and ingredients. He even saw a few, extremely expensive, magical items on sale. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t see his pendant there one day, and if he did, he hoped he would have enough money at the time to buy it back. Not wanting to spend more time between him and his destiny, Owwen got the beginner¡¯s pack and headed back to the tavern to wait for the news.


    Sitting at one of the few empty tables, he kept his eye on the desk, waiting for Nia or someone to show up with the news that he was now an adventurer. Thinking about how the guild ran on a lot of paperwork he realized he was probably going to wait a while until he received the greenlight to go on quests. Looking over his beginner¡¯s pack, he saw it contained the essentials for an adventurer, a short sword, a small leather pouch for herbs or ingredients, and a few small health potions, nothing too crazy.


    Seems like everything I need to start out, but I have a strange feeling I¡¯m forgetting something¡­ Oh right! I have to thank the guild master for getting rid of that annoying old guy!


    Walking back to the info desk, he stood before the same attendant that had lost her patience with him. He didn¡¯t even remember to ask for her name and her annoyed face just discouraged him for asking at this point.


    ¡°Excuse me; I¡¯d like to thank the guild master for dealing with that old man.¡±


    ¡°The GM is very busy, but you can leave a message for him if you want.¡± The attendant replied, not even looking up from what she was doing.


    She really doesn¡¯t like to waste her time, either that or she was faking the whole cheery thing from the start. At least she is being nice enough to let me leave a message.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to leave a message for him then!¡± Owwen tried his best to sound cheery.


    ¡°Leave a message for who?¡± Asked Nia, who had overheard him speaking just as she entered the room again.


    ¡°Oh! Umm. The guild master, I want to thank him for getting rid of that street vendor.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll write it down somewhere and hand it to him when he¡¯s not too busy. Speaking of busy, what are you doing Karla!?¡±


    Her name is Karla then, I should probably remember that.


    ¡°Just reading a magazine.¡± Karla said with disinterest.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have any work to do?¡±


    ¡°I can do it all later, besides this is a new edition it has all the gossip directly from the capital.¡±


    She was reading a gossip magazine this whole time!?!?


    Owwen¡¯s outrage was short lived however as Nia¡¯s next words made such an impact on him he completely forgot about Karla.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what you see in those magazines. Either way, here you go!¡± Tuning to Owwen, Nia reached out, she had a small bronze badge in her hand. ¡°I officially announce you a new member of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild!¡±


    Owwen had to keep himself from tearing up at those words. The small bronze badge was proof that he was now an adventurer. He knew bronze was the lowest rank in the guild but he took the badge and placed it on his chest, proudly. He finally did it.


    ¡°There are a few quests here that should be beginner friendly. If you work hard you¡¯ll start climbing the ranks in no time.¡± Nia added just before making her way back upstairs.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Owwen struggled to speak those words without choking up.


    Looking at the huge notice board, he tried to figure out which quests were the easiest, but the sheer number of them just made him confused. He kept trying to look until he ran across a piece of paper pinned up with a green border around it. It seemed to be a quest to help nearby farmers harvest their crops, and it actually paid decently. Most farmers were poor, so they probably would not be the ones giving the gold. Owwen remembered how the guild sometimes liked to provide community service using their quest system.


    Sounds easy enough, I have been helping my parents harvest the crops for most of my life. It seems a bit ironic that the first thing I do as an adventurer is work part time as a farmer, but I have to start somewhere.


    ¡°Hey, I want to do that quest.¡± Owwen said, pointing at paper. ¡°The one with helping farmers harvest their crops.¡±


    ¡°Sure. There aren¡¯t a lot of people doing it since it doesn¡¯t pay well, so there should still be reward money by the time you come back.¡± Karla said, reaching underneath the desk and handing him a copy of the paper on the notice board.


    It doesn¡¯t pay well? That seemed like a decent amount of money for me. Just how much do these quests pay anyways?


    ¡°So how will you know that I¡¯m done with the quest when I come back?¡±


    ¡°The farmers usually send a letter as proof, sometimes a gift from the harvest itself. It varies, but we know.¡±


    ¡°Ok thank you!¡±


    Owwen set out with a huge smile on his face. He stepped out into the open street; the city was just as busy as it had been when he arrived in town. He started walking by a building with large cranes taking up supplies, intent on making his way to his quest. He was about to start his new life, his new life as an adventurer. He was finally fulfilling his dream and nothing would stop him now. He was on the path towards his destiny and he felt good*CRASH*

 Chapter 1

    The day was bright. He didn¡¯t really mind bright days, it made working in the office easier. No need to light candles before sunset or use magic lamps. Dealing with paperwork all day left him tired, but then again he was always tired. There was always paperwork to do, always something to resolve, always some stupid, dimwitted adventurer making his life even harder. Maybe at some point in his past he actually liked adventurers, he shuddered at the thought. Handling them was always a pain. Then again it wasn¡¯t just adventurers that got on his nerves. Anyone could be a pain to his life; he learned that the hard way after having to get rid of the salesman who had set up shop in front of the guild.


    It¡¯s like they are trying to make my day worse. They probably have some group meeting every week intent on figuring out how to drive me crazy.


    The paperwork sat on his desk, and Aurus knew that staring at it would get him nowhere so he started working, as he always did. Being guild master wasn¡¯t hard, at least it wasn¡¯t supposed to be, but the amount of work he had to do daily was tasking. He read over a report from town hall about adventurers causing a ruckus in the marketplace. This was the third report of its kind that he had read that week.


    What makes them think they can have discounts just because they are adventurers? He sighed.


    Complaints about adventurer¡¯s rarely resulted in disciplinary action. This was something the guild masters of long ago figured out: adventurers never take the blame. Throwing them in jail only made them more mad, and sometimes more dangerous. The last thing Aurus needed was a wizard flinging fire spells in town or a warrior breaking everything in the tavern, again. Normally all he had to do was threaten to keep them from the reward money, which was enough to satisfy them. He placed the report back in its specific pile, wanting to deal with that hassle later. Looking at another file, he saw it was an accident report, sent in by the Builder¡¯s Guild.


    If they actually bothered with using proper equipment maybe we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about accidents from the construction.


    A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.


    ¡°Sir? Can I come in?¡± Nia spoke as she opened the door.


    ¡°Yeah sure. You already opened the door, so why not?¡± Aurus answered, deadpan. He was already used to her barging into his office, but just because he was used to it didn¡¯t mean he liked it.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just that we have a new adventurer who just signed up and I¡¯m here to bring you the paperwork and his payment.¡± She placed the files on an empty spot on his desk and grabbed a pendant from her pocket, placing it on the files.


    ¡°I assume that¡¯s the payment.¡± Aurus looked at the small item.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s magical so I thought it would be enough to pay for the fee.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thank you Nia.¡± He said while picking up the files.


    As she left he decided to go over them. This would normally be quick as all he had to do was sign a few of the papers and make copies to be catalogued. However, the way Owwen paid for his membership was unusual, he paid with an item. Dealing with magic items was perhaps the bulk of the work the guild master had to deal with. From the items that were sold or bought in the shop, to the items that were sent to storage, to items given to them or handed to them after an adventurer passed away. The process for handling items was long, but that was necessary considering the volatile nature of magic.


    He was wary of items being used as payment for things, most of the time they were fake, but his assistant accepted it, and he trusted her judgement on most things. The pendant wasn¡¯t very flashy or big for starters. It was silver with a blue gemstone in the middle. The pattern around it also didn¡¯t seem very complex. Overall, it looked like a simple trinket, at most, some kind of jewelry used by lesser nobles; though it was set apart from regular pendants due to the magic it emanated. Aurus sensed it soon after he touched it, not something very common. Most magical items gave a faint trace of their magical nature, but normally not enough to be noticed just by touching. He was already used to examining these things so he was keener on noticing magical power, even if it was faint. This gave off a lot more than just a faint trace. Had Nia not placed the pendant on the files with her hand he would¡¯ve been a lot more cautious around it.


    This thing seems pretty powerful, but something feels off about it¡­


    He wanted to take a closer look and so, put on his glasses. He never needed glasses to see better, but these were special in that they were also a magical item. Specifically, they could be used to identify more accurately what kind of magic certain items had. They weren¡¯t 100% precise, but they allowed him to skip experimenting with the item, trying to find its particular nature. Looking at the pendant revealed somewhat the kind of power it had.


    Why am I not surprised¡­ Either way it is not completely useless so maybe the kid won¡¯t have to pay the fee, or at least not all of it.


    ¡°Boss can I come in?¡± Nia asked, once again opening the door as she did.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He took off his glasses and put them on the table.


    ¡°I have a message from the new kid. He wanted to thank you for getting rid of that street vendor.¡±


    ¡°Oh, alright.¡± He said, raising his eyebrows a bit. ¡°When he comes back from his first quest tell him that the pendant is enough for part of the fee, but he can pay the rest using his reward money.¡±


    Receiving gratitude for his work was one of the few things that surprised Aurus. Though his surprise usually came in the form of his serious expression changing to a slightly less serious expression. Even so, receiving gratitude did not change the fact the pendant was not valuable enough to pay for all of the fee.


    ¡°Only part of the fee? It felt powerful to me. What kind of magic did it have anyways?¡± She asked, genuinely curious.


    ¡°Illusion magic.¡± Aurus said, throwing her the small item. ¡°The pendant uses illusion magic to make it seem powerful to whoever is holding it.¡±


    ¡°So it creates the illusion of being a powerful item.¡± Nia looked at the pendant closely. ¡°While in reality the magic inside of it is small.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, whatever magic it has is being used to sustain the illusion that it is a strong item. It¡¯s not completely useless though since the silver and the gemstone of the pendant itself are real. That¡¯s why it will only pay part of the fee.¡±


    ¡°That sucks a bit. It looked like the kid really held this in high regard.¡± Nia frowned a bit.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s life for you.¡± Aurus said, looking through the piles of papers. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell him about it if you don¡¯t want to; just tell him that he has to pay some extra fee. Also can you schedule a meeting with the Builder¡¯s Guild?¡±


    ¡°The Builder¡¯s Guild. Got it.¡± Nia made a mental note. ¡°Any particular reason you want to meet with them?¡± She smiled once again.


    ¡°I want to stop receiving this.¡± He said, showing her the accident report. ¡°If they bothered to use proper equipment for their construction, I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with accident reports every few days. I want to meet to make sure they understand that their negligence and slacking off has caused five accidents in the last week.¡±*CRASH*


    The room went silent for a second.


    ¡°Six accidents in the last week.¡±


    The silence settled again but was quickly broken by people muttering outside.


    ¡°Nia, would you please go outside to make sure everything is alright?¡±


    ¡°On it.¡± She left the room as quickly as she came in.


    He waited for a few minutes, only listening to the commotion coming from outside. The window of his office faces the street, and it was on the top floor of the building so he would have been able to see what was happening. Instead, Aurus just sat on his chair, reading over a few more papers, trying to get as much work done before having to manage whatever was happening down below. He could hear people talking, they had probably gathered near where the accident was, someone probably got hurt or worse. With his luck, it was probably worse.


    Nia walked into the office silently. Not a good sign.


    ¡°So¡­ well¡­ remember that ummmm¡­¡± She struggled to find the right words. ¡°The new adventurer we just accepted was crushed by a pile of bricks.¡± She spat out as quickly as she could.


    Aurus furrowed his brow, staring at her for what seemed like an eternity. He finally spoke, giving her the instructions he had just thought of.


    ¡°Try to disperse the crowd outside as best as you can. Make sure no one steals anything he had on him. Also you don¡¯t need to schedule a meeting with the Builder¡¯s Guild anymore. I¡¯m going there now.¡± He folded the accident report and put it in his pocket.


    ¡°Ok, I can¡­ wait, did you say disperse the crowd?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aurus said as he left.


    Nia stood in his office with a frozen expression.


    ¡­Shit.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    He knew, full well, Nia didn¡¯t like crowds. She did not technically dislike them; she was actually comfortable even in a crowded marketplace. It was the fact she would have to speak to them. Public speaking wasn¡¯t her strength, in fact any sort of thing that required confrontation wasn¡¯t her thing. Any and all fights in the tavern were resolved by either himself or the chef when the latter was not busy making his next culinary masterpiece. Aurus shuddered at the thought of having to test the latest dish of that madman again. Either way, he knew that by the time he came back the crowd would still be there. Nia was reliable regarding a lot of things, but not that. However, it was still her job to do, and whether she liked it or not she had to do it, or at least try. Maybe she would even learn from the experience.


    Dispersing a bunch of curious people shouldn¡¯t be too hard. She¡¯ll be fine¡­ Probably. He glanced at the sky to get a general idea of the time. I may have some time left over to do it myself when I come back.


    While walking, he started to think about what to say to the idiots at the other guild when he got there. Threatening with violence wasn¡¯t an option. He had to find a way to get them to understand that these ¡°accidents¡± had to stop. He was tired of the deaths and injuries, and most importantly, he was tired of the paperwork related to those. Keeping tabs on adventurers was already tasking enough, that and the fact they had to issue out notices for every death, and make sure the family got their personal items, and bury them in the cemetery properly, and a million other things that also happened whenever someone died.


    Still thinking about all the paperwork he had to do a familiar voice rang from behind him. ¡°Got any spare change sir?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Get a life Andrew.¡± He said without even looking back.


    ¡°Oh sorry Gherson! Didn¡¯t know it was you.¡± Andrew said, walking up beside the guild master. He looked dirty. Not just his clothes but also everything about his appearance was just unkempt. ¡°So how¡¯s the guild?¡±


    ¡°Same as always, but you already knew that.¡± He said, without even looking to the side. ¡°When are you going to start doing some quests?¡±


    ¡°When they stop being so much work. Do you have any idea how much money I make asking for spare change? It¡¯s ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°If you make so much money why do you look homeless?¡±


    ¡°Because no one gives spare change to someone who looks like they have a job. If I just looked like a regular adventurer people would just spit on my face.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they should.¡± Aurus¡¯ expression through the whole exchange remained the same.


    ¡°Well I see you¡¯re just as serious as ever.¡±


    ¡°I have a reason.¡± Many reasons to be honest.


    ¡°You know. You should just enjoy life a bit. Smile!¡± He smiled trying to get the other to do the same.


    The glare he received back could have sliced a man in half. Andrew remembered why he never tried to cheer the guild master up.


    ¡°Oh well, look at the time. Nice catching up with you. Bye!¡± He waved quickly before going back to peddling.


    All adventurers got on his nerves in one way or another. Andrew managed to do that with the sheer amount of laziness he had. He used to be a decent fighter, part of an adventurer group that managed to do some impressive feats. Even so, his laziness eventually got the better of him when he realized he could make the same amount of money from people in the street than he could on dangerous quests. At least that is what he told himself. Quests paid a lot better, but the man was too lazy to care.


    Aurus tried getting his mind off it, which was easy because he had reached the Builder¡¯s Guild Hall. The large building stood near the center of the city of Anderess. It contrasted with the rest of the buildings in that it was not under construction. It was solidly built; made to withstand a lot of damage, so it made sense that it was one of the few buildings not under any renovations.


    You could say what you want about their work ethic, but they sure know how to make a building impressive.


    He read the inscription of the builder¡¯s creed above the doors: ¡°Build the Future¡±. The only thing prettier, and larger, than their building was the Town Hall, and they were the ones who built that as well. It did take them 20 years, but they got it done.


    Their creed should honestly be ¡°Better Late than Never¡±.


    He walked up the steps of the building, the door wasn¡¯t on ground level like most other places. A sign was posted on the door: ¡°Always open¡±. He knew this was a lie. Their guild was only open on weekdays for a few hours before they closed for lunch, and then only for another hour before calling it a day. The great oak doors that led to the inside of the guild held intricate patterns, patterns Aurus was all too familiar with since this wasn¡¯t his first time coming here to complain. The doors were closed, not something very common. He tried opening them but they wouldn¡¯t budge. He decided to knock instead. No answer.


    The guild should be open at this time. Lunch doesn¡¯t usually last this long.


    ¡°Hello Aurus! We weren¡¯t expecting you.¡± A voice pulled him away from his thoughts.


    A bearded man poked his head out of a window near the entrance. He had a smile on his face, excited to have a guest.


    ¡°The door isn¡¯t opening.¡± The dry remark did nothing to wipe that expression off the man.


    ¡°The doors are stuck. Why don¡¯t you come in through here?¡± The man gestured to come inside as he opened the large window all the way.


    ¡°Sure. Not the most ridiculous thing I¡¯ve done all day.¡± The sarcasm went completely over the head of the man.


    After struggling a bit to enter the large building through a window, he wiped the dust off himself.


    ¡°How are you Roren?¡± Aurus asked.


    Roren was a simple man. A simple, 7 foot, extremely bulky, very muscular, tower of a man. He wore simple clothes actually befitting of a builder, despite the fact he wasn¡¯t one. He was in fact the servant/butler of the Master Builders, who had taken him in at a young age and trained him to be the caretaker of the building. He was not the smartest, there were probably rocks that were smarter than him, but he always did his best, and Aurus could appreciate that.


    ¡°I¡¯m good! How are you?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t complain.¡± Once again, the sarcasm was lost to Roren. ¡°Where are they?¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Roren replied with a confused look on his face.


    ¡°The Master Builders Roren.¡± He struggled to keep frustration off his voice.


    ¡°Oh! They are right this way!¡± The excitable man led the way.


    They walked through a few large corridors, all of them carefully crafted to seem as beautiful as they were large. Though Aurus did prefer a simpler design, he still enjoyed the Builder¡¯s Hall for what it was. They came to another set of doors, except these ones were open. Inside was a massive dinner table, placed horizontally to the entrance, completely filled with all kinds of expensive food and drink. This was a lot more extravagant than usual. He managed to spot several bottles of expensive wine and even a roasted pig that had not been fully eaten. The table looked neat but the chairs surrounding it were less so, almost as if they were in the middle of eating but left as quickly as they possibly could.


    Figures this is where their money is going. Fancy dinners.


    ¡°So where are they?¡±


    ¡°Let me check.¡± He walked over the one end of the table. ¡°Hey sir? Are you still down there?¡± Roren leaned down to look underneath the table.


    A hushed voice came through, ¡°Shut up Roren! I¡¯m trying to hide from that bastard! Didn¡¯t I tell you not to let him in?!¡±


    ¡°I forgot, sorry¡­¡± The giant man¡¯s smile fell a bit.


    ¡°Now, please get out before he finds¡­¡± He froze as he spotted Aurus staring right at him.


    ¡°Hello David. Nice to see you too.¡± The disdain and sarcasm in Aurus¡¯ voice was evident to all except Roren, who went back to smiling.


    David got up from underneath the table and tried his best to diffuse the situation in which he had found himself. For a Master Builder, he looked nothing of the sort. His attire was similar to that of lesser nobles. His physical appearance was nothing worth noting, except for the fact he was extremely clean. Aurus¡¯ first thought was something along the lines that a builder should probably not be this clean, especially with all the work going on in town, but he already knew that the name ¡°Master Builder¡± was only a title. David probably never picked up a brick in his life, as all he did was manage the money, and from the look of the dinner table, manage it badly.


    ¡°What do I owe the pleasure of having the Guild Master of The Adventurer¡¯s Guild in our esteemed hall?¡± He opened up his arms as he emphasized the grandeur of their building.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mock me David. You should know why I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°Give me a break Gherson. The last thing I wanted today was to have to work.¡± His mannerisms took a much more tame aspect after being confronted.


    ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the week, and all I see around town are actual builders doing their work. The cost of this lunch is probably more than any of them make in a year, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a bit weird.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I do my fair share of work around here.¡± He tried to justify himself.


    ¡°Sure you do. Where are the rest of the Master Builders anyways?¡±


    David crossed his arms and his face contorted into a smug grin. ¡°For your information they are all working right now. Working very hard to make sure the reconstruction of the town goes according to plan.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Roren exclaimed. ¡°I thought they were all hiding from Aurus.¡± His smile didn¡¯t falter, but David¡¯s expression took a severe blow. Aurus¡¯ face remained the same, but his eyes looked even more tired than before.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to pretend I didn¡¯t hear that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you¡­ So what do you want?¡± David said with a defeated look on his face.


    ¡°I want the construction incidents around town to stop happening.¡±


    ¡°You want¡­ accidents to stop happening?¡± David looked at him as if he was crazy.


    ¡°No. Accidents can¡¯t be avoided. I want the incidents caused by your negligence to stop. We have had six ¡®accident¡¯ reports in the last week alone. Four of them resulted in extreme injury. Two of them in death, one of which just happened not long ago right in front of my guild.¡±


    ¡°So you want ¡®incidents¡¯ to stop, not ¡®accidents¡¯. I really don¡¯t see what the difference is.¡±


    ¡°The difference is that one of them happens at random because of unforeseen circumstances. The other one is cause by negligence. Your negligence. If any of you bothered to buy proper construction equipment for the workers we would have a lot less incidents to deal with, and I would stop receiving so many of these.¡± Aurus got the accident report he had in his pocket and put it on the table. David looked over it.


    ¡°I want to help but our budget just doesn¡¯t allow for newer equipment. We are already short on money this month.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you wouldn¡¯t be short on money if you didn¡¯t decide to spend all on so much food.¡± Aurus gestured towards the table.


    ¡°Well¡­ Here¡¯s the thing, I don¡¯t see why we should struggle with a basic necessity like food. It is something that we must have every day. Right? Why shouldn¡¯t we enjoy some of the basic pleasures in life?¡± He smiled meekly.


    ¡°I would hardly call roasted pig and fancy wine basic.¡±


    ¡°We are just trying to enjoy everything that life has to offer, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°You know, enjoying it a bit less wouldn¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°But what kind of man would I be if I were to die without having done everything I wanted to do in life?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be exactly the same as everyone else.¡±


    They continued to argue. Aurus started to become impatient; he had not come here to discuss the merits of enjoying life at great monetary cost. He came here to make sure that the Builder¡¯s Guild would actually do its job properly. Thankfully, he already knew exactly how to make them do that.


    ¡°You know what, you¡¯re right.¡± Aurus placed a hand on his chin.


    ¡°Yeah of course I am¡­¡­. WAIT WHAT?!?!¡± David¡¯s expression was of pure shock. The man who had been a thorn on his side for so long had actually agreed with him.


    ¡°Maybe I need to start doing some of the things that life has to offer.¡±


    ¡°Uhhhh...... Uh yeah! Definitely! I¡¯m really glad we agree on something for once!¡± David was actually happy. A little scared of the sudden change of attitude, but still happy.


    ¡°I know just where to start as well. I¡¯ll increase our spending on food. Just like you guys.¡±


    ¡°That is not a bad idea.¡± David was becoming excited. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind I have a few recommendations of my own when it comes to wine and¡­¡±


    ¡°But to do that I¡¯ll have to cut the funding we provide to the town.¡± Aurus planted his fist on his open hand, as if he had just came up with the idea.


    ¡°¡­food and many other¡­ Huh?¡± David interrupted himself to see if he understood Aurus correctly.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll have to cut the funding we provide to the town to be able to pay for my meals. That means the money that goes to maintain the water supply, the drainage system, the garrison, even the funding we provide for the reconstruction of the town itself.¡± Aurus wasn¡¯t listening to David anymore.


    ¡°What are you¡­¡±


    ¡°That would also mean we would cut the money we spend on construction materials. I know that most of the materials used by the Builder¡¯s Guild is provided by us, but it is a small price to pay for my enjoyment in life.¡± He paced around the room a bit, thinking about this as loudly as possible.


    ¡°You can¡¯t¡­¡± David was starting to become distressed.


    Turning to him, Aurus said, ¡°I know you guys have been having financial issues lately, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find the funds to buy construction materials from someone else. I am sure the government of our kingdom can provide official funding. Just be warned, they take forever to process anything you send them, so a requisition for additional funding may take a couple of years to go through.¡±


    ¡°Years!? We don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I just hope that business will be as good in a few years. Who knows whether the town will need the builders in the future as much as they do today, with all the reconstruction happening and all¡­ Either way I¡¯m off to live my life!¡± Aurus turned around and started leaving but felt a hand grab his shoulder.


    ¡°Wait don¡¯t!!! Please don¡¯t! We need that funding!¡± David exasperated.


    ¡°But how am I supposed to live my life to the fullest if I¡¯m keeping you financially stable?¡± Aurus turned towards the Master Builder, keeping up the act as best as he could.


    ¡°You¡¯re not! Please! We can¡¯t afford to lose our biggest supplier! Please!¡± David was almost in tears.


    He finally dropped the act. ¡°Will you start spending your money on better construction equipment?¡±


    ¡°Yes! We will buy the best stuff available!¡±


    ¡°Will you stop spending money on fancy dinners for yourselves?¡±


    ¡°Yes! We¡¯ll do anything!¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Aurus pushed the hand on his shoulder away. ¡°Glad we agree with each other for once.¡±


    David sat down again, with his head on his hands. ¡°Roren would you please show Gherson the way out?¡± His voice was barely above a whisper.


    ¡°Sure thing sir!¡±


    Roren had just been standing there the entire time. Staring off into space, or towards the dinner table, he was hungry. He listened to the entire conversation, and even when he didn¡¯t understand any of it he knew when it was over because it always ended the same way. One of his bosses sitting with his hands on his face and Aurus waiting to be escorted out.


    Probably won¡¯t have to deal with them for some time, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll find a way to piss me off again. The incidents should stop happening so frequently, so at least there¡¯s some good news. I wonder how well Nia¡¯s handling the crowd right now. I¡¯ll start worrying about that when I leave.


    They had walked back through the large halls and now stood before the entrance. The stuck wooden doors.


    ¡°Here we go!¡± Roren said excitedly.


    ¡°Roren, aren¡¯t these the doors that are stuck?¡±


    ¡°They are only stuck from the outside. You can unstuck them from the inside with this!¡± He pulled out a key from his pocket.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use that before?¡± Aurus asked through gritted teeth.


    ¡°They told me to leave it stuck for you.¡± His smile unwavering.


    ¡°Of course they did.¡± Aurus pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. ¡°Can you let me out through the door instead of the window please?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± He placed the key in and opened the doors easily. ¡°There you go!¡±


    ¡°Thank you Roren.¡± A question popped up in his mind as he remembered that the doors of the guild weren¡¯t usually locked. ¡°How did you know when to lock¡­ make the doors stuck? Because they aren¡¯t supposed to be stuck for anyone else.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy. My bosses always leave someone watching the street so then they know when you are coming.¡±


    ¡°Of course they do.¡± Why am I not surprised.


    He said goodbye to Roren, probably the only honest worker in that building, and made his way back to the street. Aurus paused a bit to scratch his eyes to let them get used to the brightness. For all of its beauty the Builder¡¯s Hall wasn¡¯t as well-lit as the Adventurer¡¯s Tavern, or his own office for that matter. He prepared himself mentally to face the crowd of people that would still be there when he heard a familiar voice behind him.


    ¡°Got any spare chang¡­¡±


    ¡°Get a life Andrew!¡±


    ¡°Will do boss!¡±


    He didn¡¯t believe for one second the man¡¯s empty promise. The quick sound of footsteps behind him indicated that Andrew had ran away. Meeting each other twice in a day was unfortunate, for both of them. Aurus was reminded of everything he had to do that day and made a small sigh. He wasn¡¯t one for sighing, but the day seemed to be bent on making it as hard as possible. He looked up; eyes used to the bright sun, and made his way back to the guild.

 Chapter 2

    Why is carrying a dead body so hard?


    Nia was struggling to carry the corpse of the recently deceased adventurer to a quieter place. The crowd outside was a bit more than she could handle. At first, she was unsure how to approach them but it didn¡¯t seem she needed to, they were removing the pile of bricks sitting on top of the body all on their own. She was actually a bit moved by the gesture, a simple reminder that people respected the dead. Maybe she wouldn¡¯t have to speak with any of them at all. That is, until one of them screamed.


    ¡°I WANT HIS SHOES!¡±


    ¡°GIMME THAT SHIRT!!!¡±


    The crowd erupted into chaos as they tried to take everything they could from the dead boy. Nia was already unsure of herself before they started screaming. Now she was terrified. She watched closely as the group quickly went from trying to take as many things as they could to fighting each other for those things. The least she could do was grab the body while it was still intact, as intact as a body could be after being crushed by bricks. Then at least she wouldn¡¯t have to speak to anyone, just make her way through the crowd and back.


    She was already used to the crowds of the city. Even so moving through a group of people tearing at each other was no easy task, but she did it all without a scratch. Sometimes she surprised even herself. Now came the hard part, carrying the body to a safer location. The only places she could think to store a dead body until Aurus returned was either the inn, which wouldn¡¯t please most guests, or the upstairs of the guild. She decided on the upstairs of the guild, but before going, she decided to cover Owwen¡¯s head with a bag. She didn¡¯t want to look at his face, partially out of respect, and partially because it did not look good after getting crushed by a pile of bricks. Though it did make her look like a kidnapper, dragging a half-naked body, with a bag on it¡¯s head.


    Despite receiving several stares from adventurers in the tavern, and even Karla who looked up from her magazine, no one really questioned her. She questioned whether they did this because they trusted she knew what she was doing, or they just didn¡¯t want to get involved and have to work on anything extra. It was probably the latter. Dragging the body by its feet, she managed to make it halfway up the stairs before stopping to breathe.


    This shouldn¡¯t be that hard. He¡¯s only 16. Why is he so heavy? She sighed before resuming the climb.


    The upstairs office above the tavern was quite large. Very few people managed to see it since it was employee¡¯s only. Several desks were lined up, all of them with documents and other important files piled up. Behind the desks there were chairs for the working staff and behind those several different filing cabinets, filled with even more paperwork. If someone who had never seen the office before walked in it would seem like a lot of work was being done, but this was one of the few days where things were quiet. At the end of the office was a window facing the street, where the commotion was still taking place, it was also where Nia¡¯s desk was. Next to her desk on the right side of the room there was a door leading to the Guild Master¡¯s office.


    Office workers were either upstairs dealing with quest related issues and other paperwork or downstairs staffing the Information Desk. There were two people working there that day beyond herself and her boss. However, it was menial work, just putting away and organizing files that had already been signed or looked at. Neither of them questioned Nia when she walked in with the corpse, but they did seem to speed up their work and leave as fast as possible. Nia had never seen them work so fast, in fact most people in the office slacked off whenever possible, something she was not keen on doing. She reached her desk but quickly realized that moving anything would ruin the organized mess she had made for herself. She looked towards her boss¡¯ door.


    I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t mind. His room is the safest place to keep things.


    She hesitated at first but opened the door to his office and looked in to see if there was any space available for a corpse. The office was large. On the left there was a window looking towards the outside and on the right a huge bookshelf, filled with all different kinds of books and tomes. In the middle of the office there was a large coffee table with two chairs, both facing the window. Near the end of the office was Aurus¡¯ desk, facing the entrance, still piled up with papers and behind that another bookshelf with a few items on it in addition to more books.


    Thankfully the coffee table was empty, a perfect spot to put a body. She dragged it in and placed it on the table, thinking about how to explain it best to her boss why there was a half-naked body in his office.


    At least they didn¡¯t steal his underwear.


    Nia was thankful the crowd outside had some sense of decency when stealing things from the dead. She wandered around the office while thinking, something she did often when deep in thought.


    What do I tell him? What do I¡­


    She sat down on her boss¡¯ chair, hoping it would improve her thinking skills. Nothing like that happened, but the chair was really comfortable. She could still hear the people fighting outside.


    Maybe keeping it on the table isn¡¯t the most sanitary thing¡­ But where else would I keep it?


    She spun around eyes wandering towards the bookshelf behind the desk. It had a few items on display, nothing too interesting until her eyes closed in on a glove on one of the higher shelves. It was more of a gauntlet than a glove if she was being honest with herself. It was beige colored and had a few patterns engraved on it, some thick lines running through its length. She knew it was a powerful air magic item, but since so few people knew how to activate air magic it was left exposed on his shelf. A plan started forming in her head.


    Hmmm¡­ What if I used the glove to make the body float? Her eyes brightened at the prospect of being able to solve something with magic, but she hesitated. I¡¯ve seen Aurus use it like that before. I think¡­


    She carefully picked up the glove and put it on her left hand. It was a bit loose and her fingers did not reach the end of it, but it was still enough to keep it secured on her upper arm. She walked up towards the coffee table, deciding to place herself with the large bookshelf behind her and the two chairs on her sides. She had a nagging feeling on the back of her head, telling her this was a bad idea, she usually listened to this feeling but this was one of the few times she would be useful using magic. Pointing the glove towards the body, she froze.


    ¡°What was the spell again?¡± She thought out loud. ¡°I know it¡¯s a word, most air magic is activated using spoken words.¡±


    Unlike other kinds of magic that required certain materials or specific motions to be activated, air magic items relied mostly on spoken words. This should have be great for Nia since that meant she didn¡¯t have to go looking for anything specific to use it. All she had to do was remember the right phrase, which she didn¡¯t. So she stood there, her open palm facing the dead boy, thinking as hard as she could about the word she needed to say.


    ¡°What was it!¡± She cried in frustration. ¡°It always ends with ¡®en¡¯ I remember that, but what is the rest. It¡¯s not ¡®Fa¡¯, or ¡®No¡¯, wait maybe it was ¡®Fa¡¯¡­ Urghhhhh!¡±


    Maybe this wasn¡¯t such a good idea after all¡­


    A thought popped in her head like a balloon. ¡°¡¯Sho¡¯! It was Sho¡¯en!¡±


    She barely had any time to react before her back slammed into the bookshelf as a deafening air blast erupted from the glove. The sound was incredibly loud, had it been louder her ears would have been ringing. She almost fell to the ground as the air was knocked out of her by the kickback. She looked up trying to catch her breath. Her eyes widened in shock. The whole office was a mess. Papers were flying everywhere, the coffee table had slammed against the opposite wall, and the windows were broken. Nia did not notice any of this. In fact, she was staring at the outside, her mouth half open as her mind tried to understand what was happening.


    Her eyes were fixed on Owwen¡¯s body, flying across the street. The world went silent as it did. Nia had no idea a corpse could fly so well, if she wasn¡¯t completely mortified by the scene she would¡¯ve been impressed, both at the aerodynamics of a flying body and the force of the air blast. The spell was strong enough to send the deceased kid out the window and across most of the street before crashing down. The silence persisted for a good second before she heard screaming from down below.


    ¡°HE¡¯S STILL ALIVE! RUN!!!¡±


    The chaos got even worse as people started to flee in different directions, trying to avoid the wrath of the flying boy. Nia had made her way to the window just in time to see the last few people run away from the scene. Silence settled again. She could see that the people in their panic had left everything they had taken from the kid, in a way she kept them from stealing everything. The body also looked a bit more broken than before. She was pretty sure legs were not meant to bend that way, or arms for that matter.


    She removed the glove, paying careful attention not to say another word, and placed it back where it was on the shelf. Certain that no one would try to steal anything else after that, she decided to clean the mess she made as best as she could. The office was mostly intact. The only things that moved around were the papers, the table, and the chairs, which were knocked back a bit. She finished organizing everything quickly. The only thing that she couldn¡¯t fix was the broken window, she would have to find a good explanation for that.


    She made her way downstairs and was not surprised to see most people in the tavern staring at the body across the street. Karla¡¯s eyes were wide as she turned to look at Nia.


    ¡°I know I didn¡¯t like the kid but don¡¯t you think you¡­¡±


    ¡°You are not going to say a thing. Understood?¡± Nia replied, doing her best to keep the embarrassment out of her face.


    She finally managed to confront someone on her own. She just had to desecrate someone¡¯s corpse and cause a crowd of people to run away screaming. She walked outside and gathered the pieces of clothing the people had left behind in their panic before going to the fallen body to figure out what to do.


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to put his clothes back the way it was before. He¡¯s too¡­ mangled. She really wished there was another word to describe what he looked like.


    She fidgeted around, trying to find the best way to pick him up. She was just about ready to do it when she spotted the last person she expected to see walking towards her, the mayor.


    Mayor Rickett was a strange man, and by strange she meant one-step away from being completely insane. He looked and acted normal enough, but after some interacting with the slightly chubby man, she realized why Aurus disliked dealing with him. Not only was he one of the few people who outranked her boss, he was also one of the biggest donors of the guild. The missions he requested of the guild, which would become usually high priority quests, paid extremely well, and gave a large amount of fame to the adventurers who completed them.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Hello Nia! How are you this fine evening?¡± He excitedly asked the assistant. His voice was articulate and his mannerisms calm, something that gave a very good first impression, but not to those who already knew him, like Nia.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright, considering the circumstances.¡± She glanced at the dead body, still trying to think of an excuse for her boss.


    ¡°That is great! And who is this young man?¡± He looked at Owwen¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°That¡¯s our newest adventurer. He had a bit of an accident.¡± She tried playing off the severity of the situation.


    ¡°That is unfortunate. I hope he gets better soon. Is Aurus here by any chance?¡± He asked.


    ¡°He went over to the Builder¡¯s Guild. He should be coming back sometime soon.¡±


    ¡°Understandable. I¡¯ll just wait for him in his office.¡± He glanced up at the office window. ¡°I see he finally got rid of the windows. I¡¯m glad, they¡¯ve always annoyed me.¡±


    ¡°Ummm¡­ Yeah¡­ Well, we¡¯re getting new windows very soon.¡± Nia made a mental note to replace the broken windows.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s sad. I really hoped he would keep the windowless look. I quite enjoy not having windows. And curtains as well, don¡¯t get me started on those damned curtains.¡± His serene expression turned into a scowl as he looked up at the broken windows.


    ¡°I am aware of that sir.¡± Nia remembered the time Rickett broke every window of the Town Hall. It took the builders weeks to replace them all, mostly because he kept trying to break them again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be going upstairs now.¡± His expression was calm again. ¡°Have a great evening Nia. Also a great evening to you young adventurer.¡± He spoke to Owwen¡¯s body. Not noticing at all how dead he was.


    The mayor made his way inside the tavern while Nia stayed outside doing her best to dress him in his clothes again. The oddly shaped limbs did not make things easy, but after some effort, she finally managed to dress the corpse decently again. Wiping a drop of sweat off her forehead, she saw Aurus walking towards her. She tried smiling but the thoughts of what had transpired left her more embarrassed than glad.


    ¡°I see you managed to take care of the crowd.¡±


    ¡°Ah well. I was easier than I imagined.¡± She tried avoiding his gaze, knowing he would be able to tell something was off.


    ¡°Hmmm, so it was easy. Mind explaining why he has a bag on his head?¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s¡­¡± I forgot about the bag!!!!! ¡°I thought I¡¯d cover his face out of respect.¡± Saved it!


    ¡°Ok. Then explain why his limbs are all folded the wrong way, and also why my windows are broken.¡± His expression remained the same and his eyes never broke contact with Nia as he pointed up towards his office.


    ¡°Well¡­. That was¡­ Uhhh¡­. An accident. It was all an accident.¡± Nia became more and more red with every word she stumbled.


    ¡°Then I assume these traces of wind magic were also accidental.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Well no¡­. Look its¡­¡­¡±


    They stood there for a minute. Nia, looking like a tomato, staring at the floor, and Aurus, looking at her trying to get some information of what had happened. Until a voice from above broke the stalemate.


    ¡°Aurus!¡± He looked up to his office window. ¡°I really like what you¡¯ve done with the windows!¡± He did a small wave in acknowledgement of the man inside his office.


    ¡°When did he arrive here?¡± He asked Nia.


    ¡°Not too long ago¡­¡± Nia was still red, but managed to spit out the most basic information she remembered.


    ¡°Aw crap.¡± Aurus whispered under his breath. ¡°I¡¯ll see what Rickett wants. When you calm down enough you can tell me everything that happened. I called the undertaker on the way here so you shouldn¡¯t have to guard this body for long.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­¡±


    He went into the tavern leaving Nia alone outside. She knew he would figure things out quickly, but not that quickly.


    How did he even know about the wind magic?


    It didn¡¯t matter. She would have to tell him the truth, even if her head exploded from all the blood rushing to her cheeks. She sighed, trying to calm down after being interrogated. At least she wouldn¡¯t have to talk to the Mayor.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    They sat on the chairs near the coffee table, a spot Aurus only sat in when he had guests. He had handed him a cup of tea and was serving one for himself before he sat down. The room was actually well organized, except for the missing windows, and the shuffled papers on his desk. The papers themselves were not a complete mess, but he could see that they were not the way he left them. He would have to ask what happened to Nia as soon as he was done with Rickett.


    ¡°I want tea.¡± The mayor chided.


    Aurus glanced at the cup of tea he had just handed him. He really wanted to snap back at him, but the mayor was the highest-ranking government official in Anderess. Not only did he outrank Aurus, his various contributions kept the guild running in desperate times, something that the guild master was not keen on forgetting. So he resisted the urge to say anything that might be taken as an insult.


    ¡°I just gave you tea.¡±


    ¡°I want better tea.¡± He looked at the contents of his cup. ¡°No insult to your tea of course, but I have been craving some high quality tea as of late.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure I can find some better tea next time you come over.¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± He drank some of it before continuing. ¡°I have just the place where you can find it, that is why I¡¯m here actually.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re here to get better tea?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. I want you to make a quest for it as soon as possible.¡±


    Quests in general were either given out by the guild themselves based on gathered information, or petitioned by people. The guild made little distinction between the importance of a quest given by a farmer who needed help with crops, or by the town guard who wanted temporary reinforcements. However, quests given by the mayor held a high priority spot on the Info Board, mainly because he always paid very well, both the guild and the adventurers who completed them. Rickett also oversaw important documents that needed to go to the kingdom capital. He barely understood any of them but being in his good side usually helped speed up the process. Aurus was used to receiving weird quests form the mayor, so a quest to gather tea leaves seemed a bit too normal.


    ¡°Sounds¡­ ok. Shouldn¡¯t be hard to place a high priority quest for tea leaves. Are you looking for any specific kind of tea?¡±


    ¡°Yes I am.¡± He nodded approvingly. ¡°You¡¯re as sharp as ever Aurus. The leaves I¡¯m looking for are form this one particular plant that grows in Grove Valley. It¡¯s leaves are a pale yellow with a shade of green on the sides.¡±


    ¡°Grove Valley?¡± Aurus did a double take just as he was about to drink.


    ¡°Yes, I heard the plant only grows this time of the year there so put a time limit on the quest if you can.¡±


    ¡°A time limit¡­ on a quest to Grove Valley?¡± He questioned.


    ¡°Yes. A time limit on a quest to Grove Valley.¡± Rickett repeated for emphasis.


    Aurus paused to think a bit. ¡°Rickett, no disrespect, but Grove Valley is currently inhabited by goblins. I don¡¯t think a quest there is a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± He laughed a bit as he said it. ¡°I¡¯ll just increase the reward and everyone will be happy.¡±


    It was true that adventurers would take the most ridiculous quests if it paid enough, but goblin camps normally had 1000 to 2000 goblins at a time. Even an experienced adventurer group would have a hard time getting into the valley and getting out without being seen. Goblins were notorious for being aggressive and territorial. Just being close to a place where they had set up camp was enough to rile them up. Aurus did not like the sound of this at all.


    They sipped on their tea silently. In this short time, Aurus had already thought of a few ways this quest might work, but they were all extremely risky, and he did not like taking unnecessary risks. While Rickett just sat back and enjoyed the opened up office.


    ¡°I really like the no windows look. It gives this place nice breeze.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting new ones soon so it¡¯s not going to last.¡±


    ¡°That is a pity. I quite like to enjoy the breeze of a windowless room, especially without any clothes. It is also the reason I hate curtains. They keep the air from coming in.¡±


    ¡°I sorry I don¡¯t share the same love of breezes like you do.¡± Aurus said sarcastically.


    ¡°You should! Oh how the flowing air sweetly caresses every inch of skin. How it freshens the softest private¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop! I don¡¯t need to hear your speech on breezes again. I understood why you love them the first time.¡± Aurus had tried to suppress the memory of that speech, but it always came back.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you did then, I don¡¯t like to repeat myself.¡± Aurus knew this was a lie. ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me I have to get going now. I expect the quest to be done in no less than two weeks. Have a good day Aurus.¡± Rickett finished his tea and threw the cup out of the window before heading out.


    ¡°Have a good day Mayor.¡± Aurus said as the mayor left the office.


    He kept sitting there; half expecting to hear the cup hit someone¡¯s head. With the luck he was having today, it would not be too much of a stretch. Thankfully, all he heard was the cup shattering on the floor down below, he would have to ask someone to clean it. He finished his tea, and sat on his desk.


    A quest for tea leaves in Grove Valley¡­ This is not gonna end well.


    He was about to start doing paperwork again when Nia walked in. Her head hung low, but her face was not as red as it once was. She made her way to his desk. They stayed in silence for a few moments before Aurus broke it with a single word.


    ¡°Explain.¡± His voice was direct, but not angry.


    All he really wanted at this point was an explanation. Nia breathed in and began explaining to him the collection of events that led to the mangled body outside, and to his broken windows. When she mentioned using the magic item, he interrupted her.


    ¡°You used the Gale Glove?¡± He pointed to the glove sitting on his shelf behind him.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    He got up and grabbed the glove, placing it on the desk between them.


    ¡°You used this. To try and carry a dead body?¡± He pointed to the glove again.


    Her face reddened a bit. ¡°Yes¡­¡± She responded meekly.


    He sat there for a minute, his expression unchanging. Nia tried to see whether he was angry, surprised, shocked, or all three, but his face told her nothing as he placed his hand on his chin and looked at his desk. This silence was even worse than the one before it. Nia was tempted to break it by filling the air with excuses, but before she was able, Aurus asked her the last question she expected him to ask.


    ¡°What spell did you use?¡± He looked up at her.


    ¡°Huh!?¡±


    Nia was surprised. With a single question the air of tension in the room dissipated. She was confused by the curiosity of her boss. She was sure that he would have been angry at her for using one of his magical items without permission, but here he was asking her what spell she had used. Maybe he was using that question to hide his anger. Aurus raised his eyebrows a bit and tilted his head forward; indicating to Nia that she still hadn¡¯t answered his question.


    ¡°Ummm¡­ The spell I used¡­ Oh! It was Sho¡­¡± She clasped her hands in front of her mouth. She would not make the same mistake again.


    ¡°Hmmmpff¡± Aurus replied, with a relaxed expression. ¡°At least you learned something about magic today. Either way, it could¡¯ve been a lot worse.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡± She blinked a few times. ¡°You¡¯re not mad?¡±


    ¡°No. Not anymore. Maybe when I first saw my windows broken, but I understand that you were trying to help. Besides, it was my fault for leaving such a powerful item exposed in my office, especially one that can be activated with words.¡± He picked up the glove and placed it in a drawer on his desk. ¡°Consider this a learning experience about the dangers of magic, and how risky it is to use it without fully understanding it.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­¡± She stammered a bit, recovering from the tension that had plagued her. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be punished?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a reason to punish you. No one got hurt, and you¡¯re already going to have extra work hiring someone to replace my windows. If you want, think of that as your punishment.¡± He started going through the paperwork on his desk, getting back into the working rhythm.


    ¡°Thank you sir!¡± She bowed.


    ¡°Mmmhmm.¡± He replied. ¡°Now back to work. We have a new high priority quest from the mayor; this one has a time limit.¡±


    ¡°How long do we have to finish it?¡± Nia stood up also getting back into a working attitude.


    ¡°Two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Two weeks? That¡¯s not a lot of time.¡±


    ¡°Which is why we need to get this quest filed and out there as soon as possible, especially considering what the adventurers are going to have to do.¡±


    ¡°Alright. What are the details?¡±


    ¡°Acquire high quality tea leaves.¡±


    ¡°Tea leaves? That doesn¡¯t sound too hard.¡± She interjected.


    ¡°From Grove Valley.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Nia¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Aurus tapped the desk slightly. ¡°This is going to be a high priority, high risk mission. No silver adventurers or less. We don¡¯t want them killing themselves for the reward.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Nia was still trying to process the information. ¡°I¡¯ll write this down as soon as possible and send it over to the quest desk. What do the leaves look like specifically?¡±


    ¡°Yellow, with a shade of green at the sides.¡±


    ¡°Ok. That is a rare color combination.¡± Nia considered what the leaf of this plant would look like. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on it.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now come on. We have a lot of work to do.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± She was about to leave when she remembered. ¡°Boss. How did you know about the wind magic when you were still outside?¡±


    Aurus looked at her and answered plainly. ¡°Every magic leaves some sort of sign. See enough of them and you¡¯ll start noticing them better.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you!¡± She turned and left his office.


    Nia smiled as she made her way out of his office and back to her desk. The paperwork stacked there rivaled the one on her boss¡¯ desk. Her smile faltered a bit as she remembered all the other tasks she had yet to do. Looking outside she could see that it was barely past noon. It felt to her that it should¡¯ve been a lot more late than it was considering all that had happened. Some days were tougher than others that was for sure. She sat down on her desk getting ready to write down the details of the mayor¡¯s mission when she heard a crash come from downstairs. Some days were A LOT tougher than others.

 Chapter 3

    Of the many celebrities and famous people that made up the elite of the kingdom, two in particular made their success through the form of music. The Love Bards, as they called themselves, was a group consisting of three bards, all playing different instruments, who went around the kingdom doing shows and performing. The other one, Death Paladins, were also incredibly popular in the music scene because none of the members were actual bards, but instead, people with different jobs who just wanted to play music. Many would argue for hours on end which of these two bands was the best. These arguments could sometimes get people really stirred up, especially if alcohol was involved. However, it was very rare for them to escalate into full-on brawls. Unfortunately, for Aurus¡¯ patience, the adventurers at the tavern got into one of these arguments, and it did escalate, a lot.


    As soon as Nia had left his office, only to be interrupted once more by a crashing noise. Unlike the crash he had heard earlier that day, this was a sound he was very familiar with, a chair being thrown on the ground. Aurus knew it could only mean on thing, the adventurers were fighting again. The reasons were always stupid, and he was always the one to clean up their mess. Sometimes he really hated his job, but sadly he was the only one who was capable of doing it. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out the glove he had put in just moments before.


    This should do the trick.


    He put the glove on and left his office. Nia was not on her desk anymore. She was probably downstairs, trying to figure out what caused the fight. It didn¡¯t matter to Aurus why the fight started, only that it had to end. He made his way downstairs and found the entire tavern fighting each other. It wasn¡¯t just warriors or rogues fighting, it seemed even the mages got into it as well, casting buffs and healing when needed. The bards were swinging their musical instruments around like weapons, hitting anyone that dared to disagree about who the best band was.


    He spotted Nia a few meters away from the whole thing, next to Karla who was cheering. In fact, most of the workers of the Info Desk and the kitchen staff were cheering on the fighting, some were even placing bets on which side would win. From where he stood, Aurus could not see any sides to this, not that it mattered much since he still didn¡¯t care for the reason behind the fight. He got as close as he could. His serious look did not break even as a chair flew by him and crashed on the floor. He lifted the glove towards his face and placed the base of his thumb near his mouth.


    ¡°Thu¡¯en.¡± He whispered.


    The glove didn¡¯t seem to do anything, that is, until he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. The sound of the snap reverberated like thunder across the tavern, silencing everyone in a few seconds. A few chairs dropped to the ground as the adventurers realized that before them was the guild master. Two of the more experienced adventurers approached Aurus.


    ¡°Gherson! Good thing you¡¯re here. Tell this idiot that The Love Bards is the best band in the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°You must be crazy if you think Gherson likes such a stupid band. Death Paladins is obviously better.¡± The other adventurer replied.


    ¡°How stupid do you have to be to¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Aurus silenced them both. ¡°I have an announcement for everyone.¡±


    They made their way back and sat down on half broken chairs. Getting them all replaced was going to be painful for the budget, but Aurus decided it was better to think of that later.


    ¡°We have a high priority quest currently being processed and it will soon hit the Info Desk.¡± Most of the tavern lit up. High priority meant a high reward, and a lot of recognition. ¡°This one will be a bit different from the usual high priority quests.¡± The tavern quieted a bit at those words.


    ¡°Most of them are open for everyone to participate, but this time it will be limited to gold level adventurers or above.¡± A visible groan could be seen in the tavern as silver and bronze adventurers became bitter. ¡°We are putting in this limit because of the nature of the mission.¡±


    ¡°But what if someone in our group is gold level but the rest is silver.¡± A mage interrupted.


    ¡°Then technically he can accept this quest and the rest can tag along, but this will not be easy. So if you think you can rely on the skills of the single member of your party that is gold rank or above, then you are wrong. The objective is simple enough: gather tea leaves.¡± The tavern grew loud again with the sounds of adventurer¡¯s sighing in relief and talking amongst themselves.


    ¡°Listen up!¡± Aurus quieted them once again. ¡°A few problems will make this hard. The first is the time limit. We have two weeks to finish this quest. The second problem is where you will be gathering them: Grove Valley.¡± The tavern was silent but didn¡¯t seem to react too much to the news.


    ¡°If any of you have been paying attention to the News Board, you would know that there is a goblin camp currently camped out in Grove Valley.¡± All of the adventurers stirred. ¡°Judging from your reaction you didn¡¯t know this. Well, now you do. Please read the News Board, you might keep yourselves from getting killed, which is why I¡¯m saying this quest won¡¯t be easy. You¡¯ll need to go in and get out quickly, without being seen.¡±


    ¡°Goblins are not that hard to kill. Why do we need to worry about sneaking around? Do ya think we aren¡¯t strong enough to take on a few goblins?¡± A dwarven warrior with a proud look on his face spouted. Most people there agreed with him.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point. I¡¯m sure you are all perfectly capable of handling a few goblins.¡± Barely capable if I¡¯m being honest. ¡°The point is we all know how persistent they can be. You alert one of them and you risk bringing the entire camp to the city, and we have spent enough money on the town reconstruction. It also might not make you the most popular adventurer if you are the reason that civilian¡¯s lives are put in danger. I¡¯m sure all of you can defend the town fairly well.¡± Not really. ¡°But someone who has to hide in their house all day while the city is being invaded might not see it the same way.¡±


    He managed to convince quite a few of them with that. All he had to do was target one of the things they most valued, popularity. Aurus learned very quickly that appealing to the adventurer¡¯s sense of purpose or some sort of noble honor didn¡¯t work quite as well as saying that it wouldn¡¯t make them popular. Despite that, he saw that some of them still seemed intent on rushing the camp. He knew exactly how to deal with that.


    ¡°And if you, for some reason, still believe that you can rush in the camp and not agro all of the goblins there consider this. For every goblin you manage to bring back to town, there will be a reduction in your reward money.¡± Aurus said dealing the final blow to the second thing adventurers valued the most, money. The tavern grew silent.


    ¡°Any questions?¡± He said, once the silence had settled.


    ¡°What do the leaves look like?¡± A rogue asked from behind a knocked over table.


    ¡°They are yellow with a shade of green at the sides. They are not common at all so distinguishing them from the other plants should be easy.¡±


    ¡°How much should we gather?¡± A young man asked.


    ¡°Enough to make tea.¡±


    ¡°What if someone is already heading there?¡± A woman with cleric robes questioned.


    ¡°Then they¡­ What?¡± Aurus paused.


    ¡°Yeah, I heard Dorus¡¯ party was heading in that direction.¡± Someone from across the room noted.


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t the quest they took closer to Gavel Forest?¡± An elven archer added.


    ¡°Yeah, but I heard they were going to take a shortcut through Grove Valley to get there.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s so much quicker through Gavel Pass; it leads directly to the forest.¡±


    ¡°Not during spring season. Gavel Pass is a nightmare to cross through the spring season.¡± They began arguing about the logistics of reaching the forest, while Aurus processed what the cleric had said.


    ¡°How long ago was this?¡± Aurus pointed towards the cleric.


    ¡°A few hours ago at most.¡± She replied.


    That idiot is going to provoke the entire camp! Aurus¡¯s eyes widened, he furrowed his eyebrows, as his expression grew even more serious.


    ¡°Critical priority quest!¡± Aurus screamed at the arguing adventurers, they all fell silent. ¡°Whoever can stop Dorus¡¯ party from reaching Grove Valley gets one thousand gold!¡± He pointed towards the door.


    As if they had just been fired out of a gun, all of the adventurers left the tavern, not even bothering to fix any of the mess they had made just moments prior. Aurus could not have cared less; in fact, his mind was racing to figure out how long they had to set up defenses just in case the quest failed.


    ¡°Should I warn the people?¡± Nia asked from behind him, her eyes just as wide as his.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll go warn the town guard and the garrison. All of you should know what to do.¡± He shouted to the rest of the staff, who promptly began to clean up and prepare for the worst.


    He stepped outside and looked up. If all went well, they should be back with good news just before sunset. If his luck that day was any indication, the goblins would probably arrive around that time as well. He immediately stepped on some broken glass from his office that hadn¡¯t been cleaned yet. The goblins were most definitely going to arrive at that time. Things couldn¡¯t exactly get much worse than this. He held back a sigh and headed towards the garrison.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    The sun was beginning to set, marking the end of one of the worst days in Aurus Gherson¡¯s life. The amount of things he had to fix and take care of during this day was equivalent to about a week of regular work. He wondered if he had been cursed when he woke up this morning. He had spent the last few hours talking with the commander of the town garrison and organizing the city for defense. It didn¡¯t help that none of them believed him until the adventurers returned with the news that the goblin camp had been alerted. His mind wandered as he stood, arms crossed, watching over the empty street from the inside of the tavern. The windows were partially barricaded. Giving him enough space to see part of street from the inside, but not enough space for anyone to jump through them should they try.


    The critical priority quest had failed like he expected. By the time the adventurers had reached Grove Valley the whole camp was already after Dorus and his party members. Despite risking their lives constantly for gold or recognition, the sight of about 1000 goblins rushing towards them was discouraging. They ran as quickly as they could back to the city, with the goblin army in pursuit. Thankfully for them, goblins aren¡¯t the fastest runners so by the time the army had reached Anderess the defenses were already set. It was also quick work alerting the citizens, thanks to the town guard, who made their way through the streets warning everyone of an impending attack.


    Now the streets were empty. All of the guards had positioned themselves along the city wall; the adventurers remained outside ready to fight with the support of the city¡¯s defenses. The people in the city were hiding inside bars and taverns around town; even if their homes were comfortable places to hide in, it was easier to manage a lot people if everyone knew where they were. The guild tavern in particular had quite a few people hiding inside of it. The tables and chairs were arranged to provide cover just in case the invaders made their way inside, and the people sat comfortably near the back. Aurus knew this was a bit of overkill; it was already quite unlikely that they would even breach the wall surrounding the city, but one could never be too careful. Even from inside the building he could hear the occasional explosion outside the walls. Probably another volley of cannon fire or a magic spell.


    Aurus had armed himself with a sword, hanging on the left of his hip, and the Gale Glove, still on his left hand. He had put on a dark blue long coat, the symbol of all official guild masters. He did not like it, mainly because it was very itchy around the neck area, but wore it anyways since he had to be easily identifiable by the town guard. That was the standard procedure for any attack on the city, but he still felt the coats could be more comfortable.


    The guild workers sat together with the townspeople and talked amongst themselves as if it was just another regular day. Even a few merchants were nearby and decided this was the best place to hide. A familiar face approached Aurus; it was the same merchant he had to drive away earlier that day.


    ¡°Hey Gherson. That is a nice coat. Would you be willing to sell it?¡±


    ¡°I would if I could.¡± He scratched his neck. ¡°It¡¯s an official coat. Can¡¯t sell it.¡±


    ¡°What about that fine lookin¡¯ glove? I¡¯m sure we could agree on¡­¡±


    ¡°Not for sale Carim.¡± Aurus interrupted the man.


    ¡°Alright. Alright. I get it.¡± He stood beside Aurus. ¡°What¡¯s the sword for? Are you gonna fight with it?¡± He asked in slight disbelief.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m going to stab myself with it.¡± Aurus replied, keeping his gaze focused on the outside.


    ¡°Well. Then can I keep your coat and that pretty glove when you do?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon! You¡¯re not gonna need it where you¡¯re goin.¡±


    Aurus stared at Carim before replying. ¡°Don¡¯t you have someone else you could be annoying right now?¡±


    ¡°No one there has anything good to sell, plus they don¡¯t want to buy anything!¡± He pointed towards the group of people near the back of the tavern.


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to sell them things¡­ inside the guild?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Well¡­ you see¡­¡±


    ¡°Go back there and stop bothering people before I throw you out of here.¡± Aurus said calmly.


    ¡°I gotcha.¡± Carim replied confidently before going back to the group.


    Aurus was sure that he wouldn¡¯t stop trying to sell his garbage wares, but at least he was leaving him alone. Nia was next in line to come talk to him.


    ¡°So? How are things looking?¡± She asked curiously, looking outside.


    ¡°Seems fine. I can still hear the occasional blast, but nothing out of the ordinary.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± She said cheerily. ¡°I got rid of the warning for Grove Valley on the News Boards. I don¡¯t think we need it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Good job.¡± Aurus said while keeping his gaze outside.


    ¡°Can¡­ Can you¡­¡± She hesitated a bit. ¡°Can you fight? I mean¡­ can you fight well?¡±


    ¡°Well enough to defend the people if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡±


    ¡°Oh ok. It¡¯s because I always see you with that sword whenever there¡¯s an attack but I¡¯ve never seen you fight.¡±


    ¡°I was an adventurer before I became guild master, so I know a thing or two.¡± He glanced at her.


    ¡°Yeah, but even when the walls were breached in previous attacks you still didn¡¯t fight.¡± She pointed out.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I didn¡¯t have to. During most of those invasions there were at least a few adventurers and soldiers inside the city.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right¡­¡±


    It was true that this situation was a bit different that previous attacks. For once, all of the adventurers were outside the city. There were a few town guards inside but they were stationed near the Town Hall to protect the mayor and in front of some of the larger bars. There was no one visible in the streets, a sight that made Nia a bit uncomfortable. This wasn¡¯t a usual attack from a rival kingdom or a mercenary army, it was goblins. In most cases, goblins are preferable to the other two, but this attack came out of nowhere, and the town had barely any time to prepare. If they had known beforehand about this they could¡¯ve easily requested reinforcements from a nearby city or even the capital. The highest ranked adventurers were off on long-term quests, so their help couldn¡¯t be summoned on time. They were fighting with what they had in hand, this made Aurus more worried than usual.


    ¡°Maybe I should get a short sword. Just in case I need to fight.¡±


    ¡°Can you fight?¡±


    ¡°I know a thing or two.¡± She smiled.


    ¡°Then get a short sword. I¡¯m pretty sure we have a few spares at the shop.¡±


    ¡°Maybe later. I want to practice a bit more before I start swinging it at actual¡­ you know¡­ living things.¡± She scratched her forearm as she said this.


    ¡°Mmmhhmmm.¡± Aurus replied. He listened to another explosion and his attention redoubled.


    That last one sounded closer than the rest. Another explosion fired further away, calming Aurus down.


    Adventurers, for the most part, were complete idiots, but they were good at fighting. Even Aurus recognized how much damage a group of adventurers on a quest could cause. He had seen firsthand how they jumped into most situations thinking about the loot first and then worrying about surviving. Sometimes they had what he called moments of clarity, where they would recognize how insane the situation was, and think about survival first. The events happening outside of town was evidence of that. He half expected them all to fight the goblins in Grove Valley. Instead they opted for the smart choice of leading them to the city, where it¡¯s defenses could give them the edge. Even if the risk of the goblins making it into the city was high, it was still better than letting several dozen adventurers perish.


    ¡°Seems like things are getting pretty heated.¡± Nia commented.


    ¡°Looks like it. At least it¡¯s on the outside, not that it should¡¯ve started in the first place.¡± Aurus spoke a bit resentfully.


    ¡°At least we won¡¯t have a goblin problem in Grove Valley anymore.¡±


    ¡°True.¡± He conceded. ¡°How are the people?¡± Aurus looked back at the gathered townsfolk.


    ¡°They¡¯re fine. Nothing to worry about.¡± Nia replied confidently.


    Aurus could see that the townsfolk were getting restless. A combination of being forced to stay in the tavern and surrounded by people they didn¡¯t like was probably the cause. The mood had definitely soured since they had first arrived, and some people certainly did not help. Carim, the old vendor, was still trying to make a profit by selling stuff to an annoyed looking woman. Meanwhile some children had decided to play a game Aurus could only describe as screaming incoherently for as long as they could. None of his workers attempted to calm them at all and seemed to be enjoying sitting on the bar and gossiping. He spotted somewhere among the small crowd a man sleeping on the floor. How he wished he could do that.


    ¡°Nothing to worry about.¡± Aurus replied sarcastically.


    ¡°It could be a lot worse. It could be like the crowd this morning.¡± Nia shuddered as she remembered the image of a bunch of people ripping the clothes off a dead body.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the crowd this morning was a lot calmer than these guys before they started fighting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ They almost seemed respectful of the kid.¡±


    Before Aurus could say anything, there was a knock on the door. Because of the noise, only Aurus and Nia heard it. Glancing outside, they could see that it was an official messenger, probably bringing some news about the fighting.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go outside to see what it is. Try to get at least one of those idle idiots to calm these people down before we have a third fight in our hands.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± Nia replied. She wasn¡¯t going to fail again.


    Aurus walked outside to greet the messenger. His attire was mostly green and blue, the same blue of Aurus¡¯ coat, with the kingdom¡¯s seal sewed on the shoulder. This was the official government Post Office attire, which allowed people to recognize him as someone who delivers messages, letters, and packages. Despite all of the magical advancements society had made up until this point, communication magic was still very rare. The Post Office, in addition to handling everyone¡¯s mail, was in charge of distributing any important information across the city as quickly as possible. To maximize efficiency they provided most of their postmen with stamina potions, but the fight outside demanded that most of them be used for the soldiers defending the city. The young man looked tired and out of breath.


    ¡°I¡­. have¡­. news¡­. for¡­.¡± He spoke in between breaths.


    ¡°Just breathe for a minute.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡­.¡± The man barely whispered.


    The messenger¡¯s face was bright red and his breathing was heavy. Aurus could see the sweat pouring from his face to the floor as the man was bent over with his hands on his knees.


    Did he really run that far or is he just too used to stamina potions? Probably stamina potions. These guys barely do their jobs without them. Aurus thought while looking at the sad state of the man.


    The man stood for a few more moments panting as if he had run an entire marathon in a few minutes. Aurus winced as he heard a chair hit the floor inside the tavern.


    Nothing to worry about, riiiight.


    ¡°Whew¡­ Got some news for Aurus Gherson.¡± He got up breathing a lot better but with his face still red.


    ¡°That¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Just needed to confirm it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wearing the official outfit.¡± Aurus pointed to his itchy coat.


    ¡°True, but someone might have stolen it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying someone would go through the trouble of stealing the coat and impersonate me perfectly; just to hear the news about a fight I have nothing to do with.¡± Aurus said with a straight face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know maybe¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell me what it is Elwin.¡± He interrupted.


    ¡°Ok! Sorry Gherson! They are almost done dispatching the goblins, so it should only be a few minutes before they give us the all clear signal. Also, the mayor is calling a major assembly for everyone once the fighting is over.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Aurus turned to go back inside as the man ran off to his next destination.


    The tavern was quieter than when he had left. Nia stood near the entrance smiling proudly.


    ¡°You took care of it.¡±


    ¡°That I did. With a little bit of help of course.¡±


    ¡°I assume the chair hitting the floor was part of the help.¡±


    ¡°That was Karla¡¯s definition of being ¡®nice¡¯ with the people, but I reminded her that whatever she destroyed, she would have to pay with her own salary.¡±


    ¡°Good job.¡± Aurus said, slightly impressed.


    ¡°So what are the news?¡±


    ¡°The fighting is almost over.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡± Nia breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge it was almost over.


    ¡°And the mayor has called in an assembly once we get the all clear.¡±


    ¡°Great¡­¡± Nia¡¯s sigh of relief turned into hesitance. ¡°I hope he doesn¡¯t talk about breezes again.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡± Aurus tried hard not to remember that speech, to no avail.

 Chapter 4

    ¡°I would like to congratulate all of the adventurers and guards that participated in the protection of our esteemed city.¡± Mayor Rickett¡¯s voice boomed from a stage in the town square.


    The sun had almost fully set and lamps now illuminated the whole square. Almost everyone in the city had gathered and were now applauding at his words. Even Aurus, who was standing among the crowd, clapped a bit, recognizing that they had indeed defended the town.


    He motioned to the adventurers who were standing closer to the stage. ¡°Most importantly I would like to personally thank all of you for bringing me my tea leaves. I was ecstatic when I heard that some of the goblins killed were carrying with them the exact leaves I was looking for, and it is for this reason all of you will receive the reward for the quest!¡±


    The adventurers started cheering and screaming. Some of them even throwing their things in the air. Aurus wondered if the mayor had that much money to be able to pay almost a hundred adventurers, knowing him though, this probably meant that the single reward would be split among all of them. Aurus could already picture several dozen adventurers coming to him to complain about the gold received. He decided to think about that nightmare later. The cheering quieted down and the mayor prepared to speak again.


    ¡°It is with great honor that I would like to call up to this stage the ones who worked their hardest out of all of us. Dorus¡¯ party! New Frontier!¡±


    The crowd once again applauded and cheered for the three adventurers making their way to the stage. Nia, who was standing beside Aurus, clapped slowly before asking him.


    ¡°Wait how did they work harder out of everyone?¡±


    ¡°No idea.¡± Aurus answered stoically, eyes fixed on the adventurer group.


    ¡°These two brave men and one brave woman, masterfully planned to have all the goblins routed and brought to the city to be exterminated. It was thanks to them that I was able to get my tea delivered only a few hours after I put out the quest. So it is with true pride that I present Dorus, Drieva, and Riesh with the official Kingdom¡¯s Honor Badge!¡± The mayor bellowed just before handing one to each of them.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t plan any of this. Did they?¡± Nia asked.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°But Honor Badges are really valuable. It means they are officially recognized by greater nobles.¡±


    ¡°The mayor is a greater noble.¡±


    ¡°Yes but, umm¡­ he¡¯s different. The Honor Badge gives you the recognition among all greater nobles in the kingdom. These guys didn¡¯t even plan anything!¡±


    ¡°Mayor Rickett once announced a chicken to be the Captain of the Guard because it made him laugh. I¡¯m not surprised by anything that man does anymore.¡±


    She lifted her eyebrows in shock.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m not used to it like you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll get there someday.¡± Aurus responded deadpan.


    The mayor finished placing the badges on New Frontier before turning to the crowd once again.


    ¡°And now to commemorate a victory we should have a celebration. I was planning to throw a city party tomorrow but now is as good a time as any. I even called in a few favors to get a special band to play. I welcome to the stage: Death Paladins!¡± The crowd erupted into cheers as the music group got on stage.


    ¡°Let us revel!!!¡± The mayor screamed just before jumping into the crowd.


    This is going to get messy. Aurus thought


    The moment the mayor joined in on the party was usually the time where it grew out of control. This time the party had started with him already in it, not a good thing in the eyes of the guild master. He glanced at a few people already bringing out the barrels of beer and decided to take his leave. At least for now, taking care of this mess was not his job.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving. You can take your leave too, work day is over.¡± Aurus told Nia.


    ¡°Alright. I think I¡¯m going to stick around for a bit. I kind of like Death Paladins.¡±


    ¡°Ok just don¡¯t oversleep. Lots of work tomorrow.¡± He said just before walking away.


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± He heard Nia say from behind him.


    He moved his way through the people, hands in his pockets to protect his money pouch. Despite being a town filled with adventurers and otherwise strong people, there were thieves here and there. He never carried any more than what he would need in an emergency. It was only about 10 gold, but Aurus was not going to take his chances. Even so, he had heard rumors of a supposed thief group that had established themselves somewhere in the downtown of the city. Sending adventurers on quests outside of the city was one thing, but quests in the city itself carried with it several risks.


    ¡°Hey Gherson!¡±


    He turned to see a familiar large man walking towards him with a grin on his face.


    ¡°Hey Roren. You look¡­ good.¡± The large mas was completely covered in blood. Goblin blood Aurus hoped. ¡°What¡¯s with all the blood?¡±


    ¡°My bosses sent me out to fight with the adventurers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s odd. Normally they have you defending the building, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I was surprised too, but they said something about not spending more money on the reconstruction in case the goblins made it in.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯m off. See you Roren.¡±


    ¡°Ok bye¡­ wait I forgot. Here you go.¡± Roren handed him a few papers he was carrying with him. ¡°They told me to hand this to you.¡±


    Aurus took the papers and eyed them over. It seemed to be shipment orders for construction equipment, directly from the capital. The Master Builders probably sent this to him to confirm that they would be keeping their end of the deal.


    ¡°Thanks Roren. Anything else you might have forgotten?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah! They also said never to show up there ever again.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that I¡¯ll do that as soon as I can be sure that they can do their job without me, and that I¡¯ll be there sometime tomorrow to go over these shipment details.¡±


    ¡°Alright! I really like it when you visit. Everyone plays hide and seek. Bye Gherson!¡±


    ¡°Bye Roren.¡± Aurus decided not to dwell on that idea for too long. His only worry now was going home and going to sleep.


    He resumed his way back to the guild. As he walked, he looked up. As the sky darkened, it began to reveal all of the stars that had been hiding during the day. Hundreds upon hundreds of different colored lights painted the night sky. If Aurus had to choose one word to describe it, it would be magnificent. He didn¡¯t really stop to look at them all that often but when he did, he felt a strange sense of peace. In this particular moment, peace was exactly what he needed, so he stared at the sky for a few more minutes before reaching the guild building. His gaze turned from the stars to his upstairs office; the windows were still broken. He would get someone to replace them tomorrow.


    The guild was fully lit when he walked in. Unlike the lampposts outside, the lights inside the guild were of magical origin. Light magic was rare the further away one moved from the capital, but the guild had collected quite a few light magic rocks throughout the years. This allowed them to keep using these light-emanating stones at low cost, something that Aurus was always keen on doing. A few staff workers and the bartender of the tavern were still there, particularly those who worked in the inn and the tavern. They were probably taking some time off since most of the townspeople were in the assembly/party the mayor created.


    Aurus made his way to the door that led upstairs when he heard noise coming from the kitchen. The only person who would be in the guild kitchen while a city-sized party was happening would be the chef. He decided to ignore the noises until a head popped up from the kitchen door.


    ¡°Aurus! Just the person I wanted to see!¡± The man jumped out.


    Marc Tonellus was an extremely skinny and tall man. He wore an apron that had a few stains on it and a small white hat, of his own making. According to him, the hat distinguished him from the rest of the kitchen staff, though even without it people would notice how tall he was. He had an odd look in his eyes, an artist¡¯s gaze he called it. Maybe at one point in his life he wanted to be an artist, but for whatever reason, he became a chef. Most of his dishes looked good, but Aurus knew from experience that they were closer to being fertilizer than actual food.


    ¡°I have a brilliant idea for a dish!¡± The man said, smiling more than Aurus had in his whole life.


    Of course you have an idea, just when I¡¯m done for the day.


    ¡°Fine. What is it?¡±


    ¡°I was sitting on the kitchen thinking about my next dish, when a thought occurred to me.¡± The man gestured as he spoke, almost as if in a theater performance. ¡°We have a lot of adventurers, and a larger number of regular people who come here to eat everyday correct?¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Aurus folded his arms and stared at the eccentric man.


    ¡°I believe we may be able to use certain specific ingredients that will allow us to feed everyone and make the food here magnificent.¡±


    ¡°And what do you need me for?¡±


    ¡°You are the connection I need to acquire those ingredients. Just today, there was a major battle outside the city, and I believe we can use the remains of the goblins to their fullest¡­¡±


    Aurus¡¯ eyes widened.


    ¡°We are not cooking goblin meat.¡±


    ¡°Oh, but it doesn¡¯t have to be the meat. We could also use¡­¡±


    ¡°We are not cooking goblins!¡± Aurus leaned forward as he raised his voice.


    ¡°There is so much wasted potential and ingredients that we could use. We would be missing an opportunity to create a true artistic expression in the form of a culinary masterpiece.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You need to rethink your definition of masterpiece. If you recall, goblin meat, or any other part of goblins is incredibly toxic. Just a bit will leave a man incapacitated.¡±


    ¡°But pain is inevitable when creating art. Just think of it.¡± He put an arm around Aurus¡¯ shoulder and reached his other arm outward. ¡°A plate of food so delicious it leaves you bedridden for days. Pain and pleasure, mixed together perfectly.¡± Aurus removed the arm from his shoulder and faced him again.


    ¡°The only perfect thing about this idea is how perfect of a disaster it is. I will repeat myself. We are not cooking goblins! We have good beef and chicken already in our supplies. Use that for your next dish.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so boring though. Regular meat has no real artistry to it. One can only go so far when using it.¡± He whined.


    ¡°Consider it a challenge for your incredible talent then.¡± Aurus turned to go upstairs.


    ¡°I will hesitantly accept that challenge.¡± Marc declared as Aurus walked away. ¡°Now I have to get rid of all these ingredients I brought in.¡±


    Aurus froze for a second before deciding it was better not to think about what kind of things were infecting the kitchen at that moment. He had better things to do, like sleep. He made his way upstairs and into his office. The unfinished paperwork sat at his desk much to his surprise. He expected the wind from the lack of windows to have blown them all on the floor. He would have put them all away or at least covered his desk with a sheet to keep that from happening, but during the rush to make sure the town was prepared for the attack, it completely went over his mind. Thankfully, there was no additional wind and the papers sat there, mostly unorganized due to the events that had happened earlier during the day.


    He sat on his chair and quickly piled them up accordingly and placed them inside the various drawers on his desk. Even with the overwhelming desire to sleep, he knew that this was necessary. Keeping documents organized was incredibly important, especially considering how much paperwork flowed through the guild on a daily basis. Finishing his work, he started at the door for a few moments before looking to the left of his desk, to an exposed part of the wall just past the bookshelf facing the windows. He touched a key in his pocket and a door seemingly appeared out of nowhere, in the previously empty spot on the wall.


    A small bit of illusion magic Aurus had devised some time ago. The door remains invisible to anyone who is not holding the key that can open it. Once the door is open, anyone can see it, regardless of whether they are holding the key or not. Everyone knew that he lived in the guildhall itself, but only a few people knew where his room actually was. Not that it would have made much difference if they knew. The door was reinforced with several enchantments, in addition to the invisibility, to keep anyone unwanted out, and only the key could open it.


    He went into his room and locked the door behind him. Despite referring to it as his room, there were actually two separate rooms in his home. One larger loving room with a window facing the back street behind the building, and the smaller bedroom where he slept. There was also a bathroom but it was small so he didn¡¯t really consider it a third room in his house. The walls were lined with all kinds of maps, and the tables in the living room were filled with different books, some closed, some opened. Among the organized mess, there were all sorts of materials and items laying around. These were all part of different kinds of researches that Aurus did on magical items. As someone who was in contact with magic regularly, he liked to make sure he understood it. The last thing he wanted was to be surprised by some unknown magic of mysterious origin. If he could understand it, he could deal with it, whether ¡®it¡¯ was a novice mage who accidentally fired off a spell or an enchanted item that was causing unwanted chaos because it was not used properly. This attitude and the fact that he had studied in the Wizard¡¯s College, gave him quite a bit of experience in the matters of magic.


    He took out the Gale Glove from his jacket pocket where he had stored it and placed it on one of the tables.


    Have to make sure I don¡¯t forget this out in the open again. Good thing the only spell Nia remembered was Sho¡¯en.


    He stared at the dimly lit room thinking to himself. He knew creating a magic item came with risks, and the glove was proof of that.


    I need to be more careful the next time I make an item. Also, need to find a way to reduce the power of the glove.


    This wasn¡¯t a new thought, he had already thought of a few ways of doing that after witnessing how powerful the glove made, otherwise weak, spells stronger. The current idea in his mind was to use magic transference to achieve that. It was one of the cornerstones of magic application, and how he managed to create the glove in the first place, but considering how strong it was he wouldn¡¯t have the time to set up everything to transfer part of its magic into another item. He would probably have to store it in the Guild Warehouse for the time being, the one place where it would be completely safe from anyone stealing it.


    An unexpected yawn snapped him out of his thoughts and reminded him of how tired he really was. He had been going up and down the city all day and it was only now that the exhaustion caught up to him. It was as if someone had turned off a switch and suddenly he felt ten times heavier than before. It honestly didn¡¯t matter to him if anything happened downstairs, he was done for the day. He went into the bathroom and took a bath, almost falling asleep in the process. As he finished and made his way to the bedroom, he heard singing coming from downstairs.


    Some people probably decided to take the party from the town square to the tavern. This was nothing new. The parties the mayor threw usually spread way beyond the place where they started and it once made its way outside the city walls and into a nearby settlement. The villagers were helpless as a group of drunk adventurers, and even some regular townspeople, destroyed their homes and accidentally burned down their farms. All of which the guild had to pay for since most of the damage was caused by the adventurers themselves.


    Aurus at this point couldn¡¯t be bothered. They already had a hard enough time listening to him when they were sober, now that they were drunk there was little he could actually do without making some extreme effort. Effort he would not be making considering his legs felt like they were made of steel. He would leave whatever destruction they made, a job for tomorrow. He jumped into bed, hearing the sounds of singing and partying turning into the sounds of crashing and fighting. Before he could even register that the party had turned into a fight, he was knocked out by his own exhaustion.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    Cleanup is one of the things Aurus actually enjoyed. Not the cleanup he had to do every time someone messed up their job, but rather the physical act of cleaning. It was something he could do mindlessly, without thinking or worrying too much. The only reason he didn¡¯t do it more was because he didn¡¯t have time, one of the many reasons his home was a mess. On an off day he would gladly spend time organizing his things, and maybe even cleaning up the tavern. Unfortunately, cleaning up a tavern filled with passed out adventurers and hungover townsfolk was not something he enjoyed doing.


    If it wasn¡¯t bad enough that the room looked like it had been turned upside down, the stench of spilled alcohol and vomit was icing on a very disgusting cake. The real issue wasn¡¯t that the tavern looked like this, it was that the whole town looked like this. It usually took upwards of two days for the whole town to recover from one of Rickett¡¯s parties. From what Aurus could see, when he walked downstairs, this time it would probably take three days for the city to go back to normal.


    Even with the work he had to do, he decided there was some time to clean up the tavern. Grabbing a bucket and a mop, he began by clearing the floor between the knocked out patrons. Every so often, he would poke someone laying on the floor to get them to move so he could clean better. He knew that trying to get them to wake up and leave all at once was not going to work, so cleaning was the best option he had. Waking up a few of the guild employees from the floor, he ordered them to help as well. It all seemed to be going smoothly until he heard loud stomping come from the outside.


    ¡°GHERSON!¡± Dorus screamed as he slammed open the tavern doors.


    A few people who were on the floor grumbled and complained a bit from the sudden loud noise. Aurus was actually surprised that Dorus seemed to be composed and not hungover like most of the town. It was probably the effect of a potion giving him the feeling of alertness, or he didn¡¯t drink much last night. Knowing Dorus though, it was most likely the first option.


    ¡°Someone stole my badge!¡± Dorus raged as he approached Aurus.


    ¡°Then just get a new one at the Info Desk.¡± Aurus responded as calmly as he could. He had seen this happen a bunch of times.


    ¡°No not my Adventurer¡¯s Badge! My Honor Badge! Someone stole my Honor Badge!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t just drop it somewhere while partying?¡± Aurus continued to mop as he spoke.


    ¡°NO! It was pinned to my shirt. I didn¡¯t drop it!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you lose your shoes without realizing it during parties. I¡¯m pretty sure dropping a badge pinned to your chest is not hard.¡±


    ¡°Gherson! Someone stole it! I want you to put out a quest for it. I¡¯ll pay extra if they bring me whoever took it.¡± His speech was beginning to slur.


    ¡°If you are so sure that someone took it, then maybe it was one of your party members playing a trick on you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m completely sure it¡­¡± Dorus drifted off as he stopped to think about what Aurus had just said.


    ¡°You¡¯re still drunk aren¡¯t you?¡± Aurus turned to look at Dorus.


    ¡°I may be¡­ a bit¡­¡± Dorus began to stumble a bit as his speech became more and more slurry.


    ¡°You know drinking potions to increase your tolerance doesn¡¯t last forever, right?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ It was a potion to¡­¡± Dorus looked like he was about to fall over. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go¡­ talk to Drieva¡­ Riesh¡­¡±


    He stumbled his way out of the tavern, leaving Aurus and a few employees to clean the mess. Eventually Nia showed up and began helping as well. From her attitude and demeanor it seemed she was one of the few people who didn¡¯t take part in the revelry of the previous night. She was also one of the few people who took their job seriously; the main reason Aurus hired her in the first place. Seeing that more employees were waking up from their stupor and joining in, Aurus decided to go upstairs to grab some documents before heading to the Builder¡¯s Guild.


    Those pompous slackers are probably completely hungover. This should make things easy for me.


    Hiding was a lot harder to do when your head felt like a ton of bricks, so Aurus knew that he would have no trouble in finding them all easily, laying on the floor of their Hall. He would get stuff done quickly since they all would be begging him to leave as quickly as possible. If all went well he would be able to finish talking with the Master Builders before lunch. This would leave him with plenty of time to do the paperwork he wasn¡¯t able to do properly the previous day. There were still a lot of item descriptions that needed to be verified and quest reports that needed to be read.


    Despite the mess that the town was probably in, it brought with it something that Aurus was thankful for, peace and silence. Most people were too hungover to do anything crazy, and, with the exception of a particular adventurer who liked to indulge in potions, the only thing people wanted as they recovered was silence. He walked outside and breathed in. The air was fresh, and for once Aurus was glad he was wrong about the smell of the city. Even with the few people laying on the ground near the street, it seemed that it was mostly vomit free. Compared to some of the other parties that the mayor had thrown the street actually looked nice. Something in the back of his head told him this would not last, so he decided to enjoy the general quietness of the city as he made his way to the Builders Guild.


    As he made his way to the next street, the air began to turn fowl. His suspicion was right after all, the city was going to smell as bad as he had imagined. The street the Adventurer¡¯s Guild was in, seemed to be the exception. Part of him was glad; the other part was warry that the smell would make its way there. He still had no windows after all. As he turned to go to down another street, a very young man, probably not even in his twenties approached him. He was wearing a weird outfit Aurus had never seen before, but other than that he looked completely average.


    ¡°Excuse me. What happened here?¡± The young man asked worriedly.


    ¡°Not from around here are you?¡± Aurus wanted to confirm what he already knew just by looking at him.


    ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± The kid did a half smile.


    ¡°A bit. This is what happens when the mayor throws a party.¡± Aurus was about to keep walking when the young man asked another question.


    ¡°So¡­ does this happen often?¡±


    This kid doesn¡¯t know anything about Anderess. I should probably answer any questions he has. Otherwise I might have another problem to deal with later, I am tired of having to call the undertaker.


    ¡°Not really. The city functions properly most of the time.¡± Aurus responded.


    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like a beginner town!¡±


    Aurus furrowed his brow a bit at those words. Anderess was founded quite recently compared to the other cities in the kingdom, but calling it a beginner town seemed weird to him.


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± The kid fumbled a bit as he saw Aurus¡¯ confusion. ¡°It¡¯s a town that¡¯s good for starting out, like a new life.¡±


    ¡°Depends on what kind of life you want to live.¡± Aurus said, his expression of confusion dissipating.


    ¡°Well, I want to go on quests and fight monsters and stuff. Is this town a good place for that?¡±


    Aurus held back a sigh as he realized that this kid wanted to be an adventurer. He held nothing against people wanting to follow that path in life, he followed it at one point as well, which is how he got his job in the first place. Despite his generally dismissive attitude, he never really discouraged anyone from becoming adventurers. Even with all of the extra work they gave him, adventurers sometimes provided the kingdom with great services, like the defense of the city from a goblin attack. Even if they were the cause of the goblin attack to begin with.


    ¡°I guess it is.¡± Aurus answered his question. ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Guild is that way. Mind the fact that everything is a mess.¡± He pointed towards the guild.


    ¡°Thank you! Umm¡­ What¡¯s your name? Mine¡¯s Ren Saibara!¡± He extended his hand in a friendly manner.


    ¡°Aurus Gherson.¡± He shook Ren¡¯s hand. ¡°If you have any more questions someone at the guild can answer them. I have work to do, so have a good day.¡± Aurus said curtly, trying hard not to sound like he was getting rid of him.


    ¡°Alright! Thank you Aurus!¡± Ren said.


    Aurus kept walking, thinking about the quick encounter. With that name and those clothes he must be from a kingdom that is really far away. He seemed respectful enough though, so I don¡¯t think I have too much of a problem. Just another kid wanting to be an adventurer.

 Chapter 5

    It had been a week since the citywide party and, as expected, things were back to normal. Construction had been going smoothly all around the town, as was expected after Aurus discussed the shipping of new equipment with a room full of hungover Master Builders. The only thing that was still in Aurus¡¯ mind from last week and that was the Honor Badges given to the adventurer group, New Frontier. He initially didn¡¯t believe Dorus, when he barged in the tavern claiming his badge was stolen. Unfortunately, after a day of recovery from the drunkenness and the hangover, his whole party came in saying their badges were gone. If it was just one badge, Aurus could have brushed it off as a result of the partying, but all three at once seemed awfully suspicious. It didn¡¯t make things better when, even after a whole day of searching and retracing their steps, the adventurers could not find their awards


    Aurus knew that rumors of a thief group were becoming more and more common with each passing day. He wasn¡¯t one to believe in rumors but some events in the past few weeks had made him wary that they were true, and now this only confirmed his suspicion that there was indeed a criminal group inside the city. Dealing with bandits on the outside of the walls was one thing, but inside of the city was another thing entirely. One had to consider the risks involved in not only making sure no civilians got hurt, but also to minimize the damage done to surrounding buildings, in case a fight broke out. The last thing Aurus needed was to spend more money on materials for the Builder¡¯s Guild. He sat in his office, blankly staring at a sales report from the shop, thinking about these things before focusing his attention back on the piece of paper.


    Sales were quite high this week. A lot of people bought potions and small magic trinkets. I¡¯ll have to get a shipment of new ones soon.


    Potions and trinkets were typically bought from the Wizard¡¯s College where they were produced, and since he knew the headmaster it wasn¡¯t too expensive. Aurus eyed over the amount of things sold over the last three days.


    Seems like A LOT of people bought potions and trinkets. These numbers are really high.


    He wondered how much of that money was rewards from quests. The guild liked to make sure that they never overcharged adventurers since the rewards from quests were one of their only sources of income.


    If sales continue like this we might be able to increase funding to the city, in addition to increasing some of the rewards.


    He placed the sales report on his desk and picked up a recently turned submitted file for a quest. Apparently, someone¡¯s house in the city was haunted and they wanted adventurers to get rid of the ghosts. Aurus ignored these kinds of quest submissions since there was no evidence of ghosts existing. Hauntings could be explained using logic and magic. Ghosts were never a problem for anyone who didn¡¯t have delusions, so when Aurus saw that this was the same request someone had submitted three times previously he decided to read it. Partly for his own sake of mind in making sure that this was nothing serious, and partly because he didn¡¯t want to be bothered by it ever again.


    The report read:


    ¡°My house has been haunted for months now. I¡¯ve submitted this a few times and received no answer and now my house is trying to kill me! Ever since the party in town the spirits in my home have even tried to set fire to me and my neighbors. I can¡¯t sleep anymore because of the shaking, much less live there. Please do something!¡±


    The file also contained the day it was submitted and the location of the house, a small village to the south of the city, among other things like the file number and a space where he would write the day it was approved or denied. Aurus thought it over. Fire was unusual for ¡°ghost¡± reports; generally, it was just visual illusions and a few objects moving on their own. He decided to approve it and make a low priority quest. Specifying the requirement to have a magic user present in case it was something of magical origin. Writing his signature on it, he placed the file on the corner of the desk where he kept approved paperwork that was ready to be processed.


    The rest of the work on his desk consisted of item categorization and management. Over the 300 years that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild had existed, it had accumulated an incredible amount of magic items. The less dangerous ones were usually kept at the Guild itself and either sold in the Shop Shop or rented at the Rent Shop. Both shops were in the same physical place, but Aurus liked to make the distinction between each of them since the process of handling items was different. At the Shop Shop, items were bought and sold with little regard to the final destination of the item, so the things sold there were usually not strong enough to cause too much trouble, if it was sold to someone with bad intentions. The Rent Shop had more powerful items that required a monthly payment to be used. Similarly both shops had limitations on what kind of items were sold to people, non-adventurers could buy general potions and non-magical items from the Shop Shop, but magical items and the Rent Shop was reserved for adventurers only. Even the more powerful items up for rent were limited to gold level only. This kept people who were inexperienced with magic from getting their hands on something that might cause chaos.


    The more dangerous magical items, those too dangerous to be wielded by even high-level adventurers, were sent to the Guild Warehouse. A large, heavily defended, highly secured, building located in the capital of the kingdom. But luckily for Aurus, it seemed none of the items he had to process that day were dangerous enough to warrant it being sent to the capital. He looked over the file for the seventh magical staff someone had sold to them that week.


    Whoever is creating these staffs really needs to think of a better way to apply magic. I¡¯m going to have to send these to the College if we keep getting them.


    The guild unfortunately had a ¡°we buy everything¡± policy, something Aurus¡¯ predecessor had thought of. Sometimes when enough of a certain item was bought by the guild, instead of selling them in the shop, it would be sold to the Wizard¡¯s College, so the mages there could transfer the magic to other, more useful, objects. These objects would then be sold, or kept, by the college at their digression. Just as he finished that file and started looking at the one for the eighth magical staff they had bought, he heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°Hey can I come in?¡± Nia asked just as she walked in.


    ¡°You already did. So why not?¡± Aurus replied sarcastically.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Nia apologized with a meek smile. ¡°It¡¯s just that there is someone here who needs to see you.¡±


    ¡°Tell whoever it is that I¡¯m busy.¡±


    ¡°I did, and he insisted that he really needed you.¡±


    ¡°Then insist that I am very busy, and will see him when I stop for lunch.¡±


    ¡°I did that too, but he...¡± She was interrupted as a gruff looking man pushed his way past her and into the office.


    ¡°Are you the guild master?!¡± The man said in a loud voice. ¡°Because I made a request yesterday and I don¡¯t see it on the board downstairs!¡±


    ¡°All requests take at least 48 hours before they are fully processed and become fully fledged quests. This should have been told to you when you submitted your quest application.¡± Aurus answered calmly.


    ¡°Ok, but this isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve done this! There hasn¡¯t been a single time where my request was accepted! How am I supposed to sleep in my house if you don¡¯t send any adventurers to get rid of the ghosts?¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m sure that¡­¡± Aurus paused as he processed that last sentence. ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s having the ¡®ghost¡¯ problem in his house?¡±


    ¡°Yes! This is the third time I¡¯ve tried to get any of you to do anything! And now my house is throwing fireballs everywhere, even my neighbors are scared to go near it.¡±


    ¡°Fireballs? The file only said something about fire. Nothing was mentioned about fireballs.¡± Aurus questioned, slipping into deep thought.


    ¡°Well the walls are throwing fireballs everywhere. And floor doesn¡¯t stop shaking, and the¡­¡±


    ¡°Have you gotten any items in the time this started happening?¡± Aurus interrupted the man.


    ¡°What? What does that have to do¡­¡±


    ¡°Have you acquired any items in the time your house started being haunted?¡± Aurus interrupted him again, with an even more serious expression than usual.


    ¡°Um¡­ Yeah, a few things why?¡±


    ¡°Anything unusual? A gift from someone, maybe?¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it yeah! A broomstick from a friend of mine who goes on quests sometimes. Wait¡­ is the stick haunting my house?¡± The man¡¯s face grew white in horror.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s a lot worse than that.¡± Aurus sighed. ¡°Go back to your village and make sure no one comes near your house, don¡¯t go in it yourself, and wait for me. I will be going there in a few hours once I¡¯m done here to try and fix your ¡®little¡¯ problem.¡±


    The man nodded as he left the office and headed downstairs, his face still in horror at the thought of a haunted stick. Aurus began writing on a piece of paper. Nia, who had been standing near the door the entire time, walked in.


    ¡°What was that about a haunted stick?¡± She asked hesitantly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a haunted stick; it¡¯s a faulty magic item.¡± Aurus corrected her as he kept writing.


    ¡°How can a magic item fire off spells on its own? Or make the walls of the house do it?¡±


    ¡°It can do that if the magic inside the item is leaking.¡±


    ¡°Magic can leak?!¡± She said in complete surprise.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aurus replied still writing. ¡°If an item isn¡¯t made correctly, the magic placed into it begins leaking into the area around it. First into the air, then into any solid object around the area.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°So then everything around the leaking item becomes magical and begins casting spells if an activator touches it.¡± Nia said as she connected the dots.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Aurus said handing her the piece of paper he had been writing on. ¡°This is a list of things I need to transfer all of that magic from the man¡¯s house into something less dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Got it! When are you leaving again?¡±


    ¡°During lunch. That way I¡¯ll be back before noon and won¡¯t miss any work.¡±


    ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll go get the things right away then.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Aurus said just as she was leaving.


    He picked up the transcripts of items that were bought and sold that week, and once again started looking through them. He placed the file he had just finished inspecting, before he was interrupted, into one of the various piles and picked up the next one.


    Another magical staff. That makes nine. Maybe they would be more useful if we were to sell them as broomsticks.


    Aurus pondered the idea until he realized that if that were the case, he would have to deal with a lot more ¡°haunted¡± houses and ¡°haunted¡± sticks. He placed the paper on the same pile as the other ones and picked up another unread document. Another staff. He lifted the stack and pulled the last file from underneath. A file for the purchase of a staff. He placed his hands on his head with a sigh.


    I really need to find a way to get rid of our ¡®we buy everything¡¯ policy.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    Aurus had taken one of the horses from the city stables once he had the materials and left. The ride to the village was quick, about 30 minutes on horseback. The people living there were potato farmers whose ancestors had settled about 100 years ago, just before Anderess was founded. Calling it a village was a bit of a stretch since less than 100 people lived there, but it was still very well kept since it was so close to the city. Aurus had arrived to see some of the people gathered near the foot a hill, and on the top of the small hill sat an isolated house. He assumed that was the problem area since most of the villagers seemed to be gathered around it, probably waiting for him. The old man who barged into his office was the first to notice he had arrived and ran from the crowd towards him.


    ¡°Guild master! You¡¯re here!¡± He said in surprise.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± He questioned.


    ¡°Well, not a lot of people would be willing to handle such angry ghosts.¡±


    ¡°I told you it wasn¡¯t¡­ Nevermind. Why is everyone so close to the house? I thought I said to keep people away from it.¡±


    ¡°They wanted to see an exorcism in action! I¡¯m also very curious about it too. How are you going to get rid of the haunted stick?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a haunted¡­ You know what, I don¡¯t have the time.¡± He whispered under his breath. ¡°I am going to do a magic process to get rid of it, but to do that safely I really need everyone to back off.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s sad. We were just about to start a potato roast. We even lit a bonfire and everything.¡± The old man said, dejectedly.


    ¡°You lit a what?¡± Aurus asked deadpan.


    ¡°A bon¡­¡±


    The old man¡¯s words were interrupted as screaming was heard from the small group of people. The small house started shooting fireballs in their direction and all of the villagers were running away into their own homes, some of which were being hit by the flaming spells. It actually surprised Aurus how the walls and the door of a house could shoot fireballs in more than a single direction and not catch fire at the same time. However, before trying to understand the nature of magic houses Aurus turned to the old man.


    ¡°Can you go grab a bucket of water, please?¡± He said calmly.


    As the terrified homeowner ran to get water Aurus got off his horse and pulled a small metal shield from one of the packs he brought with him. He looked at the bonfire they had started near the hill before fastening the shield to his forearm.


    ¡°Are you really going to put out all those fireballs with a single bucket?¡± The old man returned with the bucket.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m putting out the bonfire. Take the horse somewhere safe.¡± Aurus said as he grabbed the bucket and walked towards the flame-shooting house.


    He knew that by starting a bonfire they had inadvertently started dispersing ash into the air. Unfortunately for them and for Aurus, wooden ash was the main activator for fireball spells and the wind was just right to send all of that ash into contact with the surface of the house. He kept his gaze on the house as he walked, staying alert to any fireballs coming in his direction. A few came close and one even whizzed past his head, crashing into the ground behind him. He was close to reaching the bonfire until one headed straight towards his face. He raised his shield to cover his head and kept walking. The fireball dispersed completely as it made contact with the shield, not even making the noise of impact it usually did. He lowered it as he reached the burning pile of logs and dumped the water on it, drowning out the flames. Despite that, the house kept firing off spells for a few more seconds before finally stopping.


    Aurus turned around to see how much damage the volley had caused. The other houses were singed but none of them seemed to be at risk of catching on fire. The advantage of having dispersed magic over a large area was that the magic was usually weak in comparison to magic concentrated on a single item. He walked back to his horse, which the old man had taken to the edge of the village.


    ¡°I guess the stick really doesn¡¯t like bonfires.¡± The old man said as Aurus approached him.


    ¡°Yeah, something like that.¡± Aurus said, deadpan, as he led his horse to the once flame-shooting house.


    Nearing the house itself, he started removing several different things from the pack on the horse. A few round stones, several different shaped rocks, a few rope coils, some long pieces of string, a binding agent, and various pieces of chalk, all of them in different colors. Thankfully for Nia, Aurus already had a few of the items with him in the guild so it didn¡¯t take long to buy what was missing. He put on the glasses he used to identify different kinds of magic and examined the house, being careful not to bring any activators with him as he entered it.


    Fire magic. All of it. I would¡¯ve thought there would be some earth magic mixed in since the owner mentioned the floor rumbling but it¡¯s just fire magic. This makes things a lot easier.


    Moving outside once again, he started placing the stones evenly around the house. He then got the rope and put in on the floor around the rocks, forming a circle around the whole thing. Grabbing one of the chalks, he wrote symbols on each of the stones surrounding the house. Aurus noticed the people had returned to where they were before, but now they were all staring at him intently. Attention wasn¡¯t something he cared for, he had a job to do.


    He walked inside the house with a few more materials. He started writing the symbols on each large piece of furniture, and a single large symbol on the walls, ceiling and the door. Moving all of the furniture out of the way, he drew a few concentric circles on the floor in the center of the house, connecting each circle with a few lines of chalk in different patterns. Had the magic imbedded in the house around him not been purely fire magic, but mixed kinds of magic, the patterns would have been a lot more complicated and the color of the chalk would have made a difference.


    Grabbing the string and the binding material, he began connecting each thing he had written on to the center circles, making sure to glue the string on a precise location on each chalk symbol. The smaller items around the house didn¡¯t need anything to connect them to the center since that¡¯s what the larger circle around the house was for. Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t a lot of large furniture so he didn¡¯t have to use too much string.


    Aurus looked at the room once again through his glasses to make sure he didn¡¯t miss anything. That was when he spotted the supposed haunted broomstick. Picking it up, the first thing he noticed was how little magic it contained, the second thing was how much it looked like a regular magic staff that someone just turned into a broom.


    It doesn¡¯t look too out of the ordinary. Whatever they did to concentrate all of that fire magic into this, clearly wasn¡¯t enough.


    Putting the broom back where it was, he proceeded to walk to the center of the house. He searched through his pocket and got out a few small rocks, each of them small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. He picked a marble-sized one and put the rest away, drawing a small chalk symbol on it before placing it at the center of the concentric circles. Checking one last time for anything wrong, he maneuvered his way out of the house and walked toward the small crowd of people. There were about a dozen villagers there, all of them either too old or too young to work the fields.


    ¡°Is it over? Did you get rid of the haunted stick?¡± The owner of the house asked.


    ¡°No, I need one last thing.¡± Aurus said as he walked towards the remains of the bonfire and grabbed a bit of ash.


    Walking back to the house, he sprinkled the ash on the center circle right above the small rock. Immediately there was a small rumble as a low humming noise began emitting from the house itself. Aurus backed off, doing his best not to touch any of the strings or move any object. Looking at the house form the outside he could see this would take at least an hour. The small group of people were restless now that the house was humming.


    ¡°I don¡¯t recommend going near it or starting anymore bonfires for now. In about an hour it should be done.¡± Aurus told the homeowner.


    ¡°What did you do? You angered the stick ghost!¡± The old man yelled.


    ¡°This is part of the process, and I didn¡¯t anger anything.¡± Aurus replied calmly.


    ¡°But how do you know that the stick isn¡¯t angry at what you did?¡±


    Aurus stared at the man trying to think of a response that would not get him kicked out of the village.


    ¡°Maybe it was a spirit that was stuck inside the stick.¡± One of the villagers replied.


    ¡°I think the real question is whether the ghost haunting the stick was the spirit of the stick or a spirit from someplace else.¡± An older woman suggested.


    ¡°You¡¯re assuming that the stick has a ghost to begin with.¡± Another one replied.


    ¡°Of course sticks have ghosts, they came from trees right?¡±


    ¡°But why would it use fire then? See? It makes no sense. It¡¯s obviously an outside spirit.¡± The old man said.


    Aurus had already walked away as the villagers began arguing about the origin of a non-existent spirit. He had better things to do. Going back to his horse, he grabbed a handful of papers from the pack and began reading through them. Even out here, he was going through paperwork, but it was preferable to having to hear the nonsensical conversation the townsfolk were having. He was nearly done reading through one of the files before a fight broke out among the small crowd. He sighed before putting away the papers and heading towards them to break it up.


    Once everything had settled down, he spent the next hour explaining to them that it wasn¡¯t a spirit but rather a magical item. It actually took him fifteen minute to do that, but the villagers had so many questions that he spent the rest of the time trying to answer them. Most of the questions were about the nature of ghosts to which Aurus kept replying that ghosts didn¡¯t exist.


    ¡°What about just general spirits though? Do they exist?¡±


    ¡°No they don¡¯t.¡± Aurus responded.


    ¡°Can spirits use magic?¡±


    ¡°I just said they didn¡¯t exist.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you didn¡¯t say if they could use magic.¡±


    Aurus stopped again to think of a reply that wouldn¡¯t get him kicked out.


    ¡°Can spirits be made?¡± A young kid asked.


    Aurus froze. He was genuinely surprised at the question. Thinking about how much he could explain in the short time he had, he spoke.


    ¡°No. They can¡¯t.¡± He replied, cutting his answer a bit short. ¡°Any other questions?¡±


    Thankfully, before they could ask any more, the house stopped humming, which meant that the process was complete. He ended the small learning session, in which no one learned a thing, and went back into the house. He examined the house to see if there was any leftover magic, but fortunately it was all concentrated now on the small rock he had placed in the center circle. Picking it up, he placed it in a padded metal box he had brought. After quickly cleaning up the chalk marks and gathering the rest of the materials, he said goodbye to the old man.


    ¡°Thank you so much guild master! Let me give you some sort of reward as thanks.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. If anything I should be paying you for this magic I gathered.¡± Aurus said patting the backpack where he had placed the box in.


    ¡°Naw. It¡¯s yours. Besides, keeping that magic around might bring more ghosts to my house.¡± The old man replied.


    ¡°Yeah. Sure.¡± He said, deadpan.


    He said his farewells to the townsfolk, who seemed to be very grateful, before heading back to Anderess. It was just past noon, which meant he still had about half a day of work ahead of him. Breathing deeply he looked at the blue sky as his horse broke into a steady trot. The kid¡¯s question about whether spirits could be made, still in his head.


    No, they can¡¯t. At least no spirit that you have ever thought of. He finished the answer in his mind.


    Pushing back the question, he focused once again on the work he had for the rest of the day. He still had a ton of paperwork, a thieves group to handle, and stupid adventurers who would make everything a lot harder than it needed to be. He really didn¡¯t have the time to answer those kinds of questions.

 Chapter 6

    ¡°What kind of last name is Alyssum?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not very common¡­¡± Nia said trying to hide her embarrassment.


    ¡°Oh! No! I¡­ uhh¡­ I mean¡¯t that it¡¯s unusual that¡¯s all.¡± Ren tried to salvage his attempt at small talk.


    ¡°I would say your name is even more unusual than mine.¡± Nia retorted with a smile.


    ¡°Ah... well¡­ I¡¯m not from around here, so it makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Where did you say you were from again?¡± Nia asked.


    ¡°A kingdom that¡¯s really far away. Like¡­ across the ocean far away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories of kingdoms on other continents, but no one has ever gone that far to verify if it¡¯s true or not. Since you¡¯re here you could tell me more about what it¡¯s like over there!¡± She said excitedly.


    ¡°Ummm¡­ It¡¯s actually a bit further away than that¡­¡± He stumbled.


    It had been a whole week since Ren had arrived and he had quickly adjusted to life in Anderess. He quickly got rid of his old, off looking clothing, and bought suitable garments for an bronze level adventurer. He had even found himself a small party, also eager bronze adventurers. Despite coming from a far off kingdom, he seemed to be prepared with enough gold to buy everything he needed, and then some more. Nia thought that maybe he was from a rich background, but more than that, she was curious to know more about this faraway kingdom. She didn¡¯t usually get the opportunity to talk to someone who was from a distant land, so she used her lunch break to try to learn as much as possible.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t really that much to say about it if I¡¯m being honest. I¡¯m more curious about this place. Is there anything big happening?¡±


    ¡°Big? Nothing really. I mean, the kingdom is always looking to expand its borders so adventurers are always needed to help out, but other than that things are at a relative peace right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s a bit surprising. I¡¯d think that a kingdom like this would be at war trying to expand its borders.¡±


    ¡°We were at war with the neighboring kingdom, but that was a while ago. Now we are trying to expand into the wilderness, which is why Anderess was created.¡±


    ¡°But I heard the city was like, 100 years old.¡±


    ¡°The wilderness is very dangerous. Progress is slow, partially because there is a lot we don¡¯t know about it and partially because of the cautious nature of our guild master.¡±


    ¡°Aurus right? I met him when I first came into town. Didn¡¯t take him for someone too cautious, just too serious.¡±


    ¡°He is a bit too serious.¡± She said with a laugh.


    ¡°But still, 100 years is a long time to expand. This place should be a lot bigger than it is.¡±


    ¡°Well, soon after Anderess was founded we went to war with the neighboring kingdom. Since they border the other side of our territory, all of the resources were taken there. So the town really didn¡¯t start growing until about 50 years ago when we declared peace.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Ren said quietly.


    ¡°Enough about my kingdom. Are you sure there is nothing you can tell me about yours?¡± She asked, still curious about where he was from.


    ¡°There are a few things I could probably explain if I¡¯m being honest.¡± He said scratching the back of his head.


    From what she could gather about what he told her, it seemed his kingdom wasn¡¯t a kingdom at all. The people choose the leader in a sort of voting process. The people also lived in very large cities, probably as large as the capital, she figured. The most surprising thing to her though was that they did not have any magic.


    ¡°So your kingdom doesn¡¯t rely on magic? At all?¡± Nia said incredulously.


    ¡°No. We rely on other things, but not magic. That was something I was very interested in when I came here actually. How does magic work?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡± The question hit Nia all too suddenly. She didn¡¯t know much about magic, she only knew that it worked.


    ¡°Like, do people use mana?¡±


    ¡°Mana? Like the bread?¡± Nia was puzzled why people would need to use a type of bread to cast magic.


    ¡°No. I mean¡­ can anyone do it?¡± Ren rephrased his question.


    ¡°Of course. As long as you have a magic item and an activator you can use magic.¡± She replied, still thinking about the bread.


    ¡°But can people use magic without items?¡±


    ¡°No. Magic can only be found in nonliving things.¡± That was what Aurus told her when she asked that same question, so that was what she told him. ¡°Except for a few plants and insects, I guess.¡±


    ¡°What kind of magic system is this?¡± Ren said under his breath. ¡°Can you teach me more about these activators?¡± He quickly asked before she could process what he had said.


    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t really know all that much. You should ask someone who does know. Don¡¯t you have someone in your party who knows magic? You could ask him.¡±


    ¡°I did, and he told me to go read a book. I¡¯d really like if someone actually taught me instead.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you go to the Wizard¡¯s College? I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll accept anyone who is willing to learn.¡±


    ¡°College is the last place I want to go to right now. Even if it is a wizard¡¯s college. Isn¡¯t there anyone with magic experience who would be willing to teach me?¡±


    ¡°Well. Aurus has a lot of experience with magic, but I¡¯m not sure if he would be willing to¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. I¡¯ll ask Aurus to teach me magic.¡± He interrupted her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that is a good¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much Nia! I have to meet with my party soon so we¡¯ll talk later.¡± He ran off, interrupting her once again.


    She was left alone, sitting on a table near the bar. There was definitely something off about him. She couldn¡¯t quite figure out what, but she knew there was more to him than he let on. For once, his kingdom seemed extremely weird to her, especially the fact they didn¡¯t use magic. Everyone used magic to a certain extent, whether that was healing magic for bruises, fire magic to cook things, or light magic to brighten up the night. Doing things without magic just seemed like a lot of extra work. Nia decided to try to figure this all out later, because right now, her lunch was getting cold, she hadn¡¯t even taken a bite out of it yet. She looked up quickly as the self-proclaimed artist chef sat directly in front of her.


    ¡°Nia. Do you know when the boss will be back?¡± Marc asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s been gone for about an hour so¡­ I¡¯ll guess it will be another hour before he comes back.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. I really wanted to try this new piece without him around.¡± He said in relief.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s a good idea?¡± She said worriedly. ¡°The last time you changed something on the menu half the adventurers got sick, and you got a lecture from Aurus about it.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, but it won¡¯t be a permanent change. I just need to know how much rat poison a regular person can eat without getting sick.¡±


    ¡°Marc no!¡± She yelled at him. ¡°Why are you even using rat poison as an ingredient?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare say it¡¯s for the art.¡± She cut him off.


    ¡°¡­curiosity.¡± He said meekly.


    ¡°Please Marc. You already used rat poison as an ingredient before. You should already know how much makes a person sick.¡± She pleaded.


    ¡°Yes! But I don¡¯t know how much DOESN¡¯T make a person sick! Don¡¯t you see? I¡¯m going to be using it as an ingredient again. All the flavor of rat poison, without any of the negative effects.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure rat poison does not taste good in any quantity.¡± She tried reasoning.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t had it properly prepared and served. All these people use rat poison for is for killing rats. Some of my best taste testers were rats, so I¡¯m going to show them how good it can be for other things.¡±


    ¡°I really hope you are kidding.¡± She responded. ¡°Is there anything I can say that would change your mind?¡±


    ¡°No. Even if there was I already put rat poison on most of the orders I¡¯ve gotten today so it would be too late either way.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me I must observe the audience for a bit.¡±


    Nia stared at him with a blank expression as he left, before slowly looking at her plate of food. Looking closely at it she could see between the pieces of meat in her plate were a few pellets of what she initially assumed were spices. Lifting one of the lettuce leaves, she found more rat poison pellets. She slowly pushed the plate of food away from her, thanking Ren in her mind for having her talk about the kingdom instead of eating. She heard a thud as the fighter sitting on the table next to hers slammed his head on his plate of food. The priest sitting opposite to him stood up and began asking him what was wrong, before gripping her own stomach in pain. People all throughout the tavern began to show different signs of poisoning. While some doubled over in pain, others began vomiting profusely, while other just fainted completely. Nia got up and quickly ran to the bar where Marc was seated. He had a small notebook in hand and seemed to be really focused on writing down everything he was seeing.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°What kind of rat poison did you give these people?!¡± Nia almost screamed at him.


    ¡°Regular rat poison of course! Well, that and a few other kinds of poisons I thought would make good ingredients later.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re unbelievable! How did you even get a hold of so many poisons?¡±


    ¡°Someone left the door to the poisons cabinet in the Shop Shop open so I thought I could use some of them.¡±


    ¡°Someone left the... but why would you? I can¡¯t¡­¡± She breathed deeply before speaking again. ¡°You¡¯re going to help us clean everything when it¡¯s all over and so help me if anyone dies I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry my dear! I know how much poison is enough to kill someone. Remember I¡¯m doing this to find out how much DOESN¡¯T kill.¡± He posed while speaking; only now taking the time to look at her in between notes.


    She stared at him. Her near-golden eyes that normally looked serene now held in them a piercing look. He was a bit taken aback at how different she looked when she was angry. Her usually calm demeanor had shifted into a glare that sent chills down his spine. It lasted for less than a second, as it was gone just as quickly as it had come. Nia tried to calm herself as more and more adventurers collapsed around them, until a voice rang in from the direction of the entrance.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? You all started a celebration without me?¡±


    She turned around with her eyes wide, to see Mayor Rickett entering the building with a large smile on his face. She turned to Marc.


    ¡°Find a healer who is not currently vomiting everything inside them and start fixing this mess! I¡¯ll go deal with Rickett.¡± She whispered the last phrase to him.


    Marc groaned, but accepted he would need to do more tests later, before getting up and trying to find someone to help him with this situation. Meanwhile Nia had already made her way through the sick crowd and stood right in front of the mayor.


    ¡°Mayor! What are you doing here all of the sudden?¡± She said, putting on her best fake smile.


    ¡°I had an idea I wanted to discuss with Aurus, but I had no idea you were all planning a party!¡±


    ¡°Well, you see¡­ It was just so sudden. We didn¡¯t really plan anything. Aurus isn¡¯t here right now but you can wait upstairs if you like. He shouldn¡¯t take too long to arrive.¡± She did her best to get him out of there; this was already a terrible situation.


    ¡°I could, but I¡¯m more interested in what is going on down here.¡±


    ¡°Oh this is nothing. Just a¡­ training exercise! A training exercise¡­ yes! We are trying to figure out the proper precautions to take in the event of mass food poisonings.¡± As she said this, a ranger fell on the floor behind her, knocking down a table in the process.


    ¡°Oh, that sounds a lot less interesting. I think I shall take your advice and wait upstairs. Thank you Nia!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± She said with a smile.


    I probably didn¡¯t have to lie about all this. Knowing him, he would probably join Marc in writing down notes. But I can¡¯t have him here making things worse, so I guess this is a good solution for now.


    Most of the adventurers seemed to have collapsed already, and the few healers who weren¡¯t poisoned enough were now tending to them. This would probably not be too hard to clean up if it weren¡¯t for the fact most of the lunches they had eaten was now on the floor. She spotted Marc smelling a puddle near one of the adventurers, as he saw her he gave small smile and a thumbs-up. Perhaps in his mind this was a success.


    We really need a new chef. She thought before making her way to the broom closet.


    She comforted herself in the fact that Aurus would probably not have been able to prevent this. She grabbed a mop and a wet cloth, starting to clean the floor from the edges of the bar. Whomever left the poison cabinet open would pay dearly; she would make sure of it.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    Aurus arrived in Anderess quicker than he had imagined. The whole trip to ¡°exorcise¡± the magic house only took two hours in total. Leaving the horse in the town stables, he carried everything back to the guild. He dragged the bag filled with stones on the ground behind him while he carried the backpack with the more sensitive things. Specifically the box with the pebble currently holding all of the fire magic that used to be in the house. Considering how much magic it held, he wouldn¡¯t risk it putting the box with all the other rocks.


    I still need to figure out what to do with all that magic. Definitely not put it into a staff, maybe the Wizard¡¯s College could use it better¡­ I¡¯ll figure this out later.


    He remembered once again that he had quite a few sale documents to look over. He would usually glance at them but they were less than a month away from handing in the full financial report to the government. This was usually done in person at the Royal Bank, so Aurus had to make sure it was perfect, otherwise he would spend a lot more time than necessary over at the capital. It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if it was just sales sheets, but the financial report included any and all gold and items given or received for quests. It also happened to include the progress of said quests, since most important ones were done for the expansion of the kingdom itself. He already hated dealing with bureaucracy, having to see the ones responsible for most of it, for extended periods of time, sounded like a nightmare.


    As he turned the corner of a street he saw Ren and his party talking amongst themselves, most likely about their next mission. Ren broke away from the party when he spotted Aurus, approaching him eagerly.


    ¡°Aurus, just the man I wanted to see.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because I have a request to ask of you.¡±


    ¡°If you want to submit a quest you should ask the Info Desk.¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s not a quest, it¡¯s a personal request. I want you to teach me magic.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Aurus said as soon as the words left Ren¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Why not?¡± He said surprised.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t have time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are very busy, but are you sure you don¡¯t have the time just to teach me some very quick magic?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure, and magic isn¡¯t something that can be learned quickly.¡±


    ¡°Not even what activators are and stuff?¡±


    ¡°Even if you knew the specific activator of a spell, knowing when and where to cast are completely separate.¡±


    ¡°Then you can teach me about that!¡±


    ¡°Like I said, no. If you want to learn magic so much, read a book. There are tons of books on the applications.¡±


    The wizard in his party, who happened to be listening in on the conversation, shouted to Ren.


    ¡°What did I tell you! Hmmm?¡± He said with a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°Shut it Almer!¡± Ren turned to his friend.


    A small argument broke out as they started discussing. Aurus decided this was the perfect opportunity to slip away. He had made it halfway across the street before Ren ran up to him once again.


    ¡°Wait! Are you sure there isn¡¯t anything you can teach me? I am completely unprepared! What if I need to cast a fire spell? Or fight a magical creature?¡±


    ¡°Magical creature?¡± Aurus furrowed his brow and stood silent for a second before speaking again. ¡°Do you know the fundamental theory of magic?¡±


    ¡°The fundamental what?¡± Ren tilted his head in confusion.


    Aurus sighed before speaking.


    ¡°There are two orders, or energies, or forces, whatever you want to call them. Magic and the soul. The organization of magic leads to spells and enchantments. The organization of the soul leads to life. They do not mix. The most complex life form you will find with inherent magic are a few kinds of insects. So, I wouldn¡¯t be worried about fighting ¡®magical creatures¡¯.¡± He explained rather quickly. ¡°I taught you something, now I have to get going.¡±


    ¡°Nia said something very similar to that, but I¡­¡±


    ¡°Then you should¡¯ve listened to her. That is the first thing you need to know if you are to ever use magic.¡± Aurus interrupted him, holding back the annoyance in his voice.


    ¡°But what about mana? Are there any spells that use mana?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that there are no spells that have bread as the activator.¡± Aurus answered as deadpan as ever.


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about¡­ is there seriously no mana in this world other than bread?¡± He whispered to himself.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to the Wizard¡¯s College?¡± Aurus suggested. ¡°They¡¯re always accepting new students, even those that have no experience with magic.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ College of any kind sounds really boring to be honest.¡± He said quietly while scratching his cheek.


    ¡°Then how would learning magic from me be any different?¡± Aurus asked him.


    Ren pondered the question before Aurus asked him another one.


    ¡°Why do you want to learn magic?¡± He asked, now turning to face him.


    Ren seemed to freeze, even more than the first question.


    ¡°I want to become a great adventurer who helps people!¡± He said triumphantly.


    ¡°You want to help people? Then learn healing magic, or take a few community work quests. I¡¯m sure there are lots of small villages who could use the help.¡±


    ¡°Community work¡­¡± Ren said to himself before he felt a hand on his shoulder from one of his party members.


    ¡°We have to go Ren. We are going to be late.¡± The female paladin said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Aurus.


    ¡°Wait Denna. I still have questions!¡±


    ¡°You can ask them later.¡± She said in a serious tone. ¡°We have dire wolves to kill.¡±


    Even if you did have the time to ask, I wouldn¡¯t have the time to answer. Aurus thought to himself as he saw the young adventurer being dragged by the much stronger paladin.


    Aurus was sure that this was not the last time Ren would ask him to teach magic. He never figured himself as a teacher. The only reason he taught Nia anything about magic was that it was a job necessity. Handling magic items on a daily basis without understanding how they function was the first step towards disaster. He sighed, adjusting his backpack as he began once again walking towards his ¡°favorite¡± place on earth.


    He arrived at the tavern and was surprised to see that everything was a lot cleaner than it was before. It also seemed a lot emptier than usual. The usual sounds of talking, laughing, and arguing were replaced by an off-putting silence, as most of the tables were empty save for a few people. They didn¡¯t exactly look in the brightest mood either, with their faces covered by an expression Aurus could only describe as nauseous. He eyed the room a bit more before Nia came up from behind the Info Desk.


    ¡°Boss! How was the ¡®exorcism¡¯?¡± She asked cheerily.


    "It went well. Did something happen here?¡± He asked while surveying the tavern.


    ¡°Ummm¡­ Someone left the poison cabinet open, and Marc got his hands on some of it.¡± She reeled a bit at the memory of what had happened and Aurus widened his eyes.


    ¡°Did anyone¡­¡±


    ¡°No one died! Thankfully. Almost everyone is at the Priest Hospital receiving healing.¡± She interrupted him


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Aurus calmed down. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°The mayor is waiting for you upstairs. He said he had an idea to discuss with you.¡±


    ¡°Just what I needed. More ideas from him.¡±


    Aurus made walked up to his office, still dragging most of the things along behind him. His thoughts were now on what Nia had told him.


    Who would leave the poison cabinet open? Of all the dangerous things to do¡­


    His thoughts continued even as he walked in to the Mayor sitting on a chair, enjoying a cup of tea.


    ¡°I see you got new windows. I¡¯m sad you ignored my advice.¡±


    ¡°Unlike you I work better when there isn¡¯t a breeze in my office.¡±


    ¡°Pity. I would visit a lot more often if you went with the windowless office model.¡± He sipped his tea.


    Glad I replaced my windows then.


    ¡°What did you want to discuss with me anyways?¡± He asked. Putting most of the things behind his desk.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t remember! Hahahaha!¡± Rickett broke into laughter.


    Great¡­ Another waste of my¡­


    His thoughts were interrupted as Rickett spoke in a loud voice.


    ¡°I may not remember my idea but there is something that I need to give you.¡± He said pulling out a letter from his pocket. ¡°Someone gave me this letter addressed to you.¡±


    Handing over the letter Aurus could see that it wasn¡¯t particularly fancy. In fact, the paper of the letter seemed to be a bit old and scrunched up. He didn¡¯t know whether that last detail was simply because of Rickett or not. The back of the letter simply had written: ¡°To the Master of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡±.


    ¡°When did you get this?¡± Aurus asked.


    ¡°This morning actually. For some reason it was in my pocket when I came here.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t think that is the least bit weird?¡±


    ¡°Not really. I have had worse things placed in my pocket when I wasn¡¯t paying attention. This one time¡­¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to know and besides, don¡¯t you have an idea that you wanted to discuss with me?¡±


    ¡°Right! The idea¡­ hmmm¡­ I seem to have forgotten! Hahahahaha!¡± Ricketts laughter filled the office once more.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you come back later when you remember?¡± Aurus said, thankful that his distraction worked so well.


    ¡°Of course, of course. Have a good evening Aurus!¡±


    ¡°You too Mayor.¡±


    Just as the mayor left his office, Aurus pulled out the small box carrying the fire rock and placed in one of his drawers. He would decide what to do with that later. Grabbing the letter, he opened it, and was surprised that there in terms of content. The entire letter read:


    ¡°Thank you for the poison "


    -The Thieves Guild.¡±


    He stared at the crudely drawn smiley face, trying to process what he had just read. Whatever doubts he had left about the existence of an illegal group in the city disappeared. There was a Thieves Guild in Anderess and they had stolen poison from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Not only that they were most likely the ones who took the Honor Badges from the party New Frontier.


    This is not good. Aurus thought, placing the letter back on the desk. This is not good at all.

 Chapter 7

    It had been a week since the Thieves Guild made themselves known, and the town was ablaze with gossip and rumors about them. Aurus decided that keeping that information a secret was probably not a good idea. The more people knew about them, the harder it would be to do anything in secret, as thieves usually did. Unfortunately, this also meant that they would get very popular. For some forsaken reason, people are unusually fascinated by villain groups, especially one that opposed the largest guild in the kingdom so boldly. So despite halting their activities temporarily, Aurus had inadvertently made them famous. However, this didn¡¯t make him regret his decision. He already knew this would happen, but it was the price to pay to get some time to think.


    He had already came up with a plan, part of one at least. The first thing he needed was more information, and a lot of it. He talked to the captain of the guard to share whatever they might know, and in turn, the city guard would provide assistance. Aurus also made an open quest to the public, offering reward money for any kind of information they could provide. Of course, that meant the whole office would have to go through piles of false information and leads and try to find something real, but in the end a little bit of truth was better than nothing at all.


    Once Aurus had enough information he could go ahead and start planning how to take them down. It would take some time, and they would probably continue their activities in the meantime, but stopping a criminal group that had established itself in the middle of the city was hard. Specifically because just going after them directly could result in a fight and civilian casualties were the last thing Aurus wanted to happen. He needed to be careful, and work with the city guard as best he could to arrest the thieves with the least amount of confrontation possible. However, looking at the latest information report, it seemed like this might take a while.


    ¡°My cousin knows a guy who says there are thieves living in his basement! I think you should do something about that.¡±


    The report also had the name and address of the person who gave the information. Aurus would have loved to believe the note, but unfortunately, whoever said this didn¡¯t seem to provide any evidence other than ¡°P.S. I heard this from my brother so you gotta believe me.¡±


    If only they brought something other than ¡°trust me¡± as evidence. My job would be so much easier.


    He was going to look over more reports when Nia walked into his office.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone here who wants to speak to you directly about the Thieves Guild.¡±


    ¡°Tell him it¡¯s someone really special!¡± A familiar voice echoed from behind her.


    Aurus sighed, as he knew very well the identity of the person behind Nia.


    ¡°Thank you Nia. Come in Andrew.¡±


    The lazy, homeless-by-choice adventurer walked in looking as dirty and unkempt as ever, and sat down on a chair facing Aurus¡¯ desk.


    ¡°What miracle brings you here?¡± Aurus asked.


    ¡°The only miracle that I really care about. Money.¡± He answered with a smile.


    ¡°Hmmpff.¡± At least he¡¯s honest. ¡°And how do you plan on making money this time?¡±


    ¡°With information of course! It¡¯s the easiest way to make money other than peddling on the street.¡±


    ¡°What kind of information can you offer that you needed to speak with me directly?¡±


    ¡°The kind that is the most important, a real lead on the Thieves Guild.¡±


    Aurus furrowed his brows a bit, ¡°You seem really confident about it.¡± He crossed his arms, ¡°Humor me.¡±


    ¡°So here¡¯s the thing. I don¡¯t usually peddle near the poorer parts of town for reasons you might be able to guess on your own. But this day there seemed to be a lot of people carrying around spare change so as I begged I eventually found myself near downtown. Now I¡¯m not one to complain, but there was this one guy who was just obnoxious. He was making up sob stories and tearing up trying to make people give him more money, but the stories contradicted each other, and I know I beg for money but I have a little more respect towards myself than¡­¡±


    ¡°Andrew, get to the point.¡± Aurus interrupted the ranting.


    ¡°Oh sorry. That guy just gets on my nerves. So as I was getting away from him, I run into some random person. It was more like he ran into me, I was really annoyed. I mean, who doesn¡¯t look where they are going in a town like ours. You either go where you need to or¡­¡±


    ¡°Andrew!¡±


    ¡°¡­Sorry. Either way, as I was walking away from the second guy, I heard him talking about something to do with poisons and the such. Since I know that they stole a bunch of those from you guys, I thought I would trail him a bit and try to overhear some more stuff. Long story short, I got you an address.¡± Andrew said handing him a scrunched up piece of paper. ¡°Heard the guy saying it was a meeting place or something.¡±


    Aurus looked over the note. If he remembered correctly this was the address of a small warehouse near the north side of the city, where downtown was located.


    ¡°This¡­ is actually really useful. Thanks Andrew.¡± Aurus said in genuine surprise. ¡°I¡¯ll get some adventurers to investigate it as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Awesome. So about that reward money.¡± Andrew said expectantly.


    ¡°Go talk to Nia. She¡¯ll arrange something.¡± He said while grabbing some empty files to prepare the quest immediately.


    ¡°Great. By the way, I spent the last money I had on the tavern before I came in. I really wanted to save the money from the incredibly useful information I gave, so would you happen to have a spare gold coin or¡­¡±


    ¡°Get a life Andrew!¡± Aurus said loudly, still focused on writing up the quest.


    ¡°Understood boss!¡± Andrew said, leaving the office in a hurry.


    I am tempted to go investigate on my own. The last thing I want is to have to clean up another mess. Aurus thought, already writing the quest forms. I won¡¯t risk it, something seems off about this.


    ¡°Hey boss? Andrew is telling me that you agreed to give him a reward?¡± Nia asked, walking into the office.


    ¡°Yes. He actually gave some useful information.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I¡¯ll arrange for a reward then. What was the information by the way?¡±


    ¡°The location for a possible meeting place of the Thieves Guild, an abandoned warehouse near downtown.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. Sounds promising. Hopefully this whole thing will be over soon.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully.¡± Aurus said, finishing the preliminary quest form. ¡°Nia. I¡¯m going to the garrison to discuss this with the captain of the guard, make sure no one goes into my office.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°No one also means you. I would like to keep my windows intact this time.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir¡­¡± She blushed in embarrassment.


    Grabbing whatever essential documents he needed, Aurus headed out towards the garrison. It was already past noon, and the clouds were beginning to show hints of yellow as the sun made its way slowly towards the horizon. The town had been extremely active the last few days. Business seemed to be booming, more and more adventurers began their journeys, and there were even talks that soon the kingdoms borders would be expanding. Aurus knew that this particular subject would be brought to attention during the yearly meeting at the Royal Bank, which was drawing nearer with each passing day.


    Ignoring the fact that there¡¯s a criminal group in the city, expanding the borders of the kingdom might not be a bad idea. It would take quite a few resources and time to establish a proper well defended town further into the wilderness, so I don¡¯t think it will be happening this year.


    Thinking of the wilderness, Aurus wondered when he would ever have some time away from work. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he had set off to gather materials and activators for his experiments, or just travelled anywhere for the sake of enjoying the sights. He didn¡¯t mind the city. In reality, he had come to like it in his own way, but something made him wish he could have just a little time off, and by something he meant his job. He sometimes just hated his job. There were few days where he could just relax, there was always some last minute credit report to turn in, or property claim someone at the office forgot to include in the tax form. And when the issues weren¡¯t paperwork, it was adventurers, or townsfolk, or the mayor, or any number of people. Aurus was just tired, and in desperate need of a vacation.


    ¡°Hey there GM!¡±


    Aurus turned to the eager looking Ren who had walked up beside him, ¡°GM?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s Guild Master. GM. Get it?¡± He said excitedly.


    ¡°Oh alright.¡± Aurus said continuing to walk.


    Ren seemed to have gotten better equipment since Aurus last saw him a few days ago. In fact, his whole team seemed to have improved weapons and improved armor as well.


    They must have completed quite a few quests ina week.


    For whatever reason Ren was now walking beside Aurus, with his party just trailing behind him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Look what I just got.¡± The young man showed him a silver badge. ¡°I¡¯m an official silver level adventurer now.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Did you know that no other adventurer ever reached silver as fast as I did?¡±


    ¡°Yes I did know. I¡¯m the ¡®GM¡¯ after all.¡± Aurus¡¯ expression remained unchanged.


    ¡°Oh right¡­ so I heard that there was a Thieves Guild lurking around. I was thinking, since I reached silver so fast, that I might help with taking them down.¡±


    Aurus paused before speaking, ¡°Maybe once we have enough information. Right now the last thing we want is a fight with them.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because fights are dangerous. Especially fights in the middle of the city. We could have a lot of property damage and even civilian casualties if we aren¡¯t careful.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense¡­ but we have to do something about them, otherwise they might keep stealing stuff.¡±


    ¡°We are doing something, gathering information. Once we have enough I might consider letting you help with the arrests, but right now we need experienced adventurers who know how to investigate and gather specific details about the situation.¡±


    ¡°More experienced than a silver adventurer?¡±


    ¡°More experienced than gold adventurers.¡± Aurus said glaring at Ren.


    ¡°There¡¯s a level above gold?¡±


    ¡°Two levels. Platinum and Emblem.¡±


    ¡°Emblem?¡±


    ¡°You know there is an Info Desk at the guild right? I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve told you this before.¡± I¡¯m not even going to bother asking why he¡¯s following me.


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re just so filled with wisdom and knowledge and¡­¡± Ren said, trying his best to flatter the annoyed GM.


    ¡°I¡¯m not teaching you magic Ren.¡±


    ¡°Aww c¡¯mon! I have potential! Just look at how quickly I got this badge.¡± He showed him the badge once more.


    Aurus turned to look at his party, wordlessly asking for confirmation of what he had just said.


    ¡°He did reach silver faster than we did.¡± Denna the paladin said.


    ¡°And he did kill most of the trolls in our last mission too.¡± The fighter added.


    ¡°But he was the fastest to run away when the large troll showed up.¡± The mage interjected.


    ¡°Shut it Almer!¡± Ren pounced on his party member.


    The rest of the group began laughing at the scene, except for Aurus who remained stone-faced.


    ¡°Ren, just stop bothering the guild master. He¡¯s really busy.¡± The priestess in his party chimed from the back once the laughing had ceased.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Ren said dejectedly before turning quickly to Aurus. ¡°But at least tell me what the Emblem tier is!¡±


    ¡°Fine, so as long as you never ask me to teach you magic ever again.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡±


    The rest of his party drew closer before Aurus began his explanation. He looked at them confused before speaking.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you all know what Emblem tier is?¡± He asked the rest of the party.


    ¡°We¡¯ve only heard superficially about it but never bothered to look into detail, but since we¡¯re focusing on ranking up now, we are very interested in knowing what the highest rank is like.¡± Denna said as the rest of the party nodded in agreement.


    Of course they never bothered to look into it.


    ¡°Once an adventurer completes a certain number of large scale quests or performs enough feats as a platinum rank they become eligible to acquire the Emblem rank. A special council at the capital then evaluates you and if you are found worthy, you rank up. The Emblem rank rewards the adventurer with a title, usually designated by their primary class, like Swordmaster or Archmage. Once you have reached Emblem rank, you can do all quests available in the guild, and you can even be called in to do special quests given by the king himself.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a problem when a lot of people have the same title?¡± Ren asked.


    ¡°It would be if enough people reached the Emblem rank, but as of now there are no repeating titles yet. The closest we have to a repeating title are two adventurers who earned the titles Swordmaster and Spearmaster.¡±


    ¡°How many Emblem ranks are there!?¡± Almer asked, eyes wide.


    ¡°Around 23 last time I checked.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so few. No wonder I¡¯ve never see one at the guild.¡± The priestess remarked.


    ¡°They usually work with extremely difficult tasks. Some are on diplomatic missions with the neighboring kingdom, some are in the Far Wilderness exploring, and others are at the capital performing tasks. The guild still keeps track of them, but once an adventurer becomes an Emblem they rarely return to town.¡±


    ¡°What about you Gherson? Were you an Emblem ranked adventurer before you became guild master?¡± Ren asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Why not? You¡¯re the guild master!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be an Emblem to be guild master.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird¡­ What rank were you then?¡±


    ¡°Platinum. Now is there anything else about the Emblem rank that you might want to ask? Because I am not answering anymore questions in the future. You¡¯ll have to go to the Information Desk.¡±


    ¡°No. I think that¡¯s it. Right?¡± Ren turned to his party members who all nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Great! C¡¯mon guys! That cave isn¡¯t going to explore itself!¡± Almer said excitedly as the party began to go on their way.


    As Aurus walked away from the silver ranked party, he wished never to have to answer questions like that ever again. Especially considering that these kind of questions were the main reason he made the Info Desk existed in the first place. Before he became guild master it was only known as the Quest Board, but as the number of adventurers grew, so did the number of doubts about various different things. Which is the reason he revamped the old Quest Board and turned it into the Info Desk. Now he just wished people would use it more instead of taking away his own time.


    Fortunately, the whole situation passed by fast enough since he reached the garrison fairly quickly from where he was interrupted. The building itself was directly attached to the wall since it allowed the soldiers to be quickly deployed in case of an attack. It was large compared to the buildings surrounding it since it was also the official barracks of the city and had to house most of the soldiers on duty. This meant that the garrison was the most defended place in Anderess, a perfect place to discuss strategy with the captain.


    Captain Eranor Marlowe was also one of the few people in the city who took their job seriously. If he wasn¡¯t so eager to arrest anyone who so much as sneezed in his direction, him and Aurus would get along perfectly. Preventing him from flooding the downtown area with soldiers when he was first told of the Thieves Guild had been taxing, but at least he came to agree that they needed to know more before rushing in.


    ¡°Gherson! Anything good? Tell me we have a lead!¡± The rough looking captain answered.


    He was in his office, standing near a table with the map of the city. Years of self-imposed training in the wilderness made the captain one of the strongest in the barracks. His disposition also helped him land his job with ease, that and the fact he came from a line of soldiers who fought valiantly during the war 50 years prior. Oddly enough, even during the time of peace, he and his whole family seemed to be preparing for another war, not that there would be another one anytime soon.


    ¡°We have a lead. Sort of.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean sort of?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just an address. An abandoned warehouse.¡± Aurus said, handing the captain the paper with the address. ¡°From what my adventurer heard, it¡¯s a meeting place.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send over a battalion right away!¡± Marlowe said excitedly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Aurus replied calmly. ¡°I¡¯ll send over a few adventurers to investigate.¡±


    ¡°You think a few measly adventurers can arrest an entire guild of lawbreakers?!¡±


    ¡°Not arrest, investigate.¡±


    ¡°Why would we need to investigate? We have to¡­¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a trap, which is why I¡¯m sending them to investigate only.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think that?¡± The captain lowered his tone.


    ¡°A few things have been off these past few days. First the letter they ¡®gave¡¯ to me, thanking me for the poison.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s off about that?¡±


    ¡°Thieves work in shadows. Revealing their activities so abruptly is odd, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°They gained quite a lot of popularity with that letter. Besides, they¡¯re stupid thieves who thought they could pick a fight with your guild. What¡¯s new?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s new is what they did after the letter. Nothing. All suspicious criminal activity ceased in the week since we were made aware of their existence.¡±


    ¡°Well, we did double the guards roaming the city, so they wouldn¡¯t try anything.¡±


    ¡°Yes you did. But if they were stupid, or trying to increase their popularity, like you said, wouldn¡¯t it make more sense to continue to steal things right when we are focused on finding them? And let¡¯s just say that they aren¡¯t that idiotic and realized they bit off more than they could chew. Why would they discuss a meeting place so openly on the street? Even novice thieves know that you don¡¯t talk about these things during the middle of the day. Either they have severe discipline issues or¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re planning something.¡± Marlowe said in a low voice as he caught on to the point Aurus was trying to make. ¡°But it could just be discipline issues, I know my soldiers need a kick to the face every once in a while. Don¡¯t you have discipline issues in your guild?¡±


    ¡°I do¡­¡± Aurus tried to suppress the years of mishaps caused by adventurers, ¡°But if it was discipline issues, they wouldn¡¯t be organized well enough to steal poison from the guild shop during broad daylight. My point is their lack of activity makes me think that they are planning something. The warehouse might be a trap, but it might also be a dead end, either way it¡¯s a distraction. Sending a lot of soldiers there would just be diverting them from other places they could be standing guard over.¡±


    ¡°Playing directly into the thieves hands. Those sly bastards!¡± Marlowe slammed his fist on the table.


    Aurus ignored the sudden display of anger as he continued to talk, ¡°Our best bet right now is to keep a watchful eye on the entire town. It should make whatever they are trying to do or steal much harder. For now, I¡¯ll send the adventurers to investigate the warehouse, worst case scenario it¡¯s a trap and they¡¯ll have to deal with that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll post a battalion of soldiers nearby...¡±


    Aurus gazed at him with a piercing look.


    ¡°I¡¯ll post just a couple of soldiers nearby in case they need help.¡±


    ¡°Good. If it turns out it¡¯s a dead end we¡¯ll just have to keep looking for more leads.¡±


    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll make the rest of these weak pansies I call soldiers understand that they need to watch the entire city. Good work Gherson!¡±


    ¡°You too.¡± Aurus said with not even a fraction of the enthusiasm of the captain.


    Walking outside the garrison, he saw that the sky had turned a light shade of orange. The day was almost over. Aurus was thankful for the lead, even if it didn¡¯t go anywhere it still helped him realize that the thieves were planning something. Now what that could be was anyone¡¯s guess. Aurus wasn¡¯t one to trust his instincts but his gut told him that they were planning something big, and for once he almost agreed with it. All that was left was to find out what it was and stop it before it could happen. Aurus¡¯ thinking was interrupted, as the next thing he knew was that he was on the ground. A sharp pain on the back of his head cut off any train of thought he had up until a moment ago. As he tried to get up, he spotted what seemed like a boot making its way to his face before everything went dark.


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    Aurus awoke with his head still throbbing from the pain, listening to two people argue. Initially he couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying, but as he regained consciousness everything started to become clearer. He was tied to a chair, with his hands bound to his back, and in front of him, a few meters ahead there were two men arguing about something. Well, one seemed to be arguing and the other seemed to be listening. They both looked unkempt, but the one shouting at the other was a bit taller and had a regal looking coat on, and the other was shorter but looked stronger.


    ¡°Could you be anymore stupid!?¡± The taller man screamed


    ¡°I thought you would like this¡­¡± The shorter one said in a low voice.


    ¡°WHY!? Why would I like what you¡¯ve done?! You kidnapped the one person we were supposed to stay away from!!!¡±


    ¡°But maybe he knows something about our score.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, maybe! But now he knows what we look like! That and EVERYONE in this stupid city is going to be looking for him! Which means they¡¯ll be looking for us!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°And that will make our jobs even harder! We wanted them to keep their attention on downtown, but now they¡¯ll be looking through the whole city!¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­. Leave. I need some time to think.¡±


    The shorter of the two men left the room while the other sat on a table facing Aurus. Despite that he didn¡¯t seem to realize that Aurus was already awake.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah! This could actually work!¡± His face twisted as a grin made its way across his mouth.


    A bit of the lingering pain from his head made Aurus grimace. The tall man noticed this and realized that he wasn¡¯t alone anymore.


    ¡°Oh didn¡¯t notice you were awake there. Did you sleep well?¡± The grin was still on his face.


    Whatever anger he had previously was now gone and his face shone brightly as he realized the true potential of having the guild master as a hostage. Aurus remained silently staring, as the tall man moved closer. Despite the poor lighting, he could see the man¡¯s face clearly, though it wasn¡¯t anyone he knew.


    ¡°Ah where are my manners! Aurus Gherson, welcome to the Thieves Guild!¡±

 Chapter 8

    You have got to be kidding me¡­


    ¡°Welcome to the Thieves Guild!¡± The tall man said with a smile. ¡°My name is Taffeen.¡±


    Aurus remained silent and stared at the thief. Being kidnapped was the last thing he expected so his mind was still foggy. The hit he received on his head and face didn¡¯t help either.


    ¡°You must be a bit confused for sure. I must apologize for the behavior of my assistant. He¡¯s not the most tactful person when it comes to dealing with others, but I can assure you that you will be treated fairly here.¡±


    ¡°Fairly? I¡¯m a hostage. There is nothing fair about that.¡± He said after a second of silence.


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ What I meant to say is that you are going to be treated with respect.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tied to a chair with my hands bound to the back of it.¡±


    ¡°Semi-respectfully.¡± Taffeen corrected himself again. ¡°Look, this is the first time we¡¯ve ever kidnapped someone so please be a little patient.¡±


    ¡°Patient¡­ sure.¡± Aurus said sarcastically.


    ¡°Ok, let me start over. I¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey boss! Are you done thinking?¡± The shorter man Aurus assumed was the assistant, walked in.


    ¡°What did I say about walking in without knocking?!¡± He turned around in anger.


    ¡°Oh right¡­¡± They both stood silently for a moment. ¡°Should I leave and then knock? Or should I just stay¡­¡±


    ¡°Just tell me what you want!¡±


    ¡°Oh ok. A fight broke out between two guys and everyone is cheering them on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He said to Aurus.


    Taffeen quickly left with his assistant and Aurus was alone. He could finally take a closer look at the room and try to find a way out, or at least something that would tell him where he was. Despite being dimly lit, he could see everything quite clearly. It seemed like a storage area of sorts. Boxes and crates lined the walls to his sides and piled up on each other unevenly. Close to the ceiling, on one side of the room, there were small horizontal windows, just large enough to let light in and it seemed like they could be opened somewhat, but not enough to be able to climb through. Very faint light was pouring from them. He judged that sunrise had just begun.


    The only visible exit was the door the thieves had just used to leave. The table Taffeen had sat on had a chair pulled up next to it, judging it from where it was relative to the walls, it seemed like a makeshift desk. Taking all of this in and the conversations he had overheard, Aurus assumed he was dealing directly with the leader of the Thieves Guild. He found it surprising that thieves could follow someone else¡¯s orders, but he supposed that if they were organized in any way they would need a leader.


    His hands were bound tightly, and so were his feet. Escaping wasn¡¯t an option at this point, so he would have to take advantage of this situation as best as possible.


    I guess my best course of action would be to gather as much information as I can. I already got everything I could from the room, now I have to get as much as I can from their leader. Besides, what kind of name is Taffeen?


    As the minutes went by, Aurus kept on thinking about how to get info out of someone like Taffeen. Judging from his demeanor, he carried himself like someone important, or at least he thought he was important. Probably had an anger issue or two, remembering his reaction to the news that Aurus was now their hostage and the fact his assistant walked in without knocking.


    I guess he¡¯s their version of a guild master if he¡¯s being called to settle a fight, and that he has an office.


    Aurus could try to relate to him on that level. He knew personally how much it annoyed him when people walked into his office without knocking. But he was growing impatient, and the little empathy he had was running short. He was missing too much work being tied up like this, and that bothered him to no end. He could probably get by with sarcasm and irony as well as he would¡¯ve with empathy and niceness. Maybe if he pushed Taffeen¡¯s patience enough he would say something useful in his anger, something to help him find out what they were planning. Aurus had made up his mind, and as if to confirm his thought process, the leader of the thieves had walked back in the room with his hand on his head followed by his assistant who remained silent.


    ¡°The things people fight over. Honestly! Don¡¯t they have any common sense?!¡± He complained to himself before looking at Aurus. ¡°Sorry to leave you waiting. Where were we?¡±


    ¡°You were introducing yourself.¡± Aurus responded dryly.


    ¡°Yes right! As I was saying, my name is Taffeen. From this situation you might have guessed I am the leader of the Thieves Guild.¡±


    ¡°Kind of obvious. What kind of name is Taffeen?¡± Aurus asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him.


    ¡°I am very glad you asked! It is my very own thief name. How can a great thief go by using their real names after all?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m not a thief. The name just seems weird to me.¡±


    ¡°We actually call him Taffy.¡± The assistant chimed in from behind him.


    Taffy¡¯s smile contorted as his entire body froze. Aurus seized this moment of weakness and turned to the assistant.


    ¡°What¡¯s his actual name then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Nilbert. I don¡¯t know about his last name though¡­¡±


    ¡°What did I say about using my real name?¡± Taffy said in a low voice, through grated teeth.


    ¡°Oh right. Sorry Taffy.¡±


    ¡°That one is even worse! GET OUT!¡± He was instantly facing away from Aurus as he began screaming.


    Before Aurus knew it, the assistant was gone and the multi-named leader of the thieves was now facing away from him, breathing very heavily. Taking a minute to compose himself once again, he patted his clothes and ran his fingers through his messy hair, trying to put it back into place.


    ¡°Sorry about that. It won¡¯t happen again.¡± He turned with a smile on his face once again.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t¡­ Taffy.¡± Aurus noticed a twitch on the man¡¯s eyebrows as he said that name.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let that one slide since you are our very special guest.¡±


    ¡°Hostage.¡±


    ¡°Hostage. Right. Well, I already introduced myself twice. How about we skip your introduction since I already know you are and get to the good stuff?¡±


    ¡°The good stuff?¡±


    ¡°Yes the good stuff! You know, questions like: Where am I? Why am I here? Why does it smell so funny?¡±


    Aurus raised one eyebrow as he heard the last question and stayed silent.


    ¡°I think we can ignore that last one¡­ Well¡­ Aren¡¯t you going to ask any of them?¡±


    ¡°For the first one, I¡¯m pretty sure we are in the side room of a warehouse. So my question is: Am I still in Anderess?¡±


    ¡°Yes you are.¡± Taffy answered with a smile.


    ¡°Ok. Then regarding the second question, if the conversation I heard before was right, my being here was a complete accident on your assistant¡¯s end.¡±


    ¡°You are right.¡± He continued. ¡°Until I realized that this was an accident I could profit from and proceed with our original plan.¡±


    ¡°Did your plan revolve around stealing the Honor Badges from my adventurers?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, that was just a bit of practice. Honestly stealing the badges from two drunk adventurers was really easy.¡±


    ¡°Two?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We tried stealing it from that Dorus guy but he was sober the entire night and extremely vigilant to boot, so we just gave up.¡±


    Then who stole it? It could be that he lost it like I originally thought but he just said that he stayed vigilant the whole night. Aurus stayed deep in thought for a moment.


    ¡°So? Any other questions?¡± Asked Taffy excitedly.


    ¡°Any chance you would tell me your plan then?¡±


    ¡°Of course! My plan is something I have been plotting for quite some time. It all started when I was a child¡­¡±


    Shit¡­ I¡¯d rather be tortured than listen to this.


    ¡°I was asking about the Thieves Guild original plan, not your life¡¯s plan.¡±


    ¡°Oh but they are one and the same! My plan is to become the greatest thief of all time!¡±


    ¡°The greatest thief? The Thieves Guild plan is to make ¡®you¡¯ the greatest thief ever?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I mean. If you wanted to get really technical you could say that my plan and the guild¡¯s plan are different, but they have the same goal. It¡¯s why I founded it in the first place, to achieve that goal.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°Do your members know this?¡±


    ¡°Of course they do, but fortunately for me all they care about is money. So if everything goes according to plan. They will be rich, and I¡¯ll be known as the greatest thief of all! Greater than even Lyssa herself!¡± He said, stretching his arms outward, with a large smile on his face.


    ¡°You want to be greater than Lyssa?¡± Aurus asked sarcastically, almost in disbelief.


    ¡°Yes I do.¡±


    ¡°The only thief who ever managed to break into the Royal Bank and not get caught, Lyssa?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that Lyssa. I want to be greater than her.¡± Taffy crossed his arms.


    ¡°Here?¡± Aurus was shocked but his expression remained unchanged. ¡°You want to be great in a city like Anderess? What makes you think you can achieve that level of infamy here?¡±


    ¡°Because I have a plan. You see I actually started my thieving career in the capital and I was one of the few people to ever work with Lyssa.¡± Glancing at Aurus¡¯ expression, he could tell that the tied-down guild master didn¡¯t believe him. ¡°Ok, I mean, I didn¡¯t work with her exactly, it was more of a case where I worked for her.¡±


    Aurus expression remained unchanged.


    ¡°You see I am special, and she sought me out because she recognized my¡­¡± Taffy looked once again at Aurus, whose face practically screamed doubt. ¡°Ok fine. I saw her in action this one time.¡±


    ¡°Now that sounds more plausible.¡± Aurus commented.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± He paused. ¡°The focus and seriousness of her eyes the moment I looked at her was bone chilling, but inspiring. There I was, a fledgling thief, content with the small things I was stealing, when I saw her leaping from one rooftop to the next. This happened about five years ago and it drove me to become better, to become someone who could be recognized by his acts of thievery!¡±


    He paced the room and his arms accompanied his speech as if he was performing in front of an audience. Aurus thought about how this reminded him of Marc, except in that case of Marc his arms were usually in an exaggerated pose, meanwhile Taffy seemed a lot more controlled, less ¡®artistic¡¯ as Marc would put it.


    ¡°I thought you said you wanted to be the greatest thief when you were a child.¡±


    ¡°I did. It was just at that moment that I realized that if I ever wanted to reach that goal. I would need the same focus and intensity that she had. I would need to do something that not even she did, to steal from the only place she didn¡¯t. The only place in the kingdom that is more defended than the Royal Bank, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild Warehouse.¡±


    Aurus raised his eyebrows slightly, pausing before speaking, ¡°And you expect me to help you?¡±


    ¡°Oh goodness no. I¡¯m not ¡®expecting¡¯ anything, for now. But just by having you here makes things a whole lot easier.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how stealing from a warehouse located in the capital while your entire guild is here could be any easy.¡±


    ¡°Here is the thing. I heard from a very good contact of mine.¡± Taffy pulled a piece of paper from his coat pocket and waved it a bit before putting it back. ¡°That the Guild Warehouse has two entrances. One located in the capital and a second, very well hidden entrance right here, in the guild itself. We tried looking for it before but we couldn¡¯t find it, so we just contented with stealing some poison.¡±


    ¡°An entrance? From the guild to the warehouse?¡± Aurus questioned.


    ¡°Exactly. We hardly believe anyone would take the time to build a tunnel from here to the capital. So I¡¯m sure that the entrance is magical, and since you know a thing or two about magic, I¡¯m also sure that you can tell me where it is.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you weren¡¯t expecting anything of me and besides there is no magical entrance in the guild.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m sure that you are lying, because my contact is very reliable.¡± He tapped the pocket where he placed the paper he had shown just before. ¡°And about expecting anything from you, I¡¯m not! That¡¯s why a have this.¡±


    Finishing his sentence, Taffy took out a dagger from his belt. The blade itself looked normal except for a faint black glow that emanated from it. The hilt also seemed engraved with a few patterns that seemed familiar to Aurus.


    ¡°You know what this is?¡± Taffy asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a magic item.¡± Aurus responded deadpan.


    ¡°Not just any magic item. This knife here is enchanted.¡±


    ¡®Enchanted¡¯ was the word most people used to refer to a magic item that had passive magic transferred unto it. Aurus knew better than anyone how rare and valuable items with passive magic were since they didn¡¯t require any activators. The last item he had seen like that in recent memory was a pendant with weak illusion magic a kid used as payment for the beginners adventurer¡¯s fee. The guild warehouse was filled with these kind of items because of the danger they posed. Armor plates that could increase the strength of their wearers, swords that could cut through nearly anything, and nearly unbreakable shields, in addition to the already huge list of active magic items that could cast nigh world ending magic if activated. If any of these were stolen and distributed, the situation in the kingdom would grow chaotic very quickly.


    ¡°Do you want to know what it does?¡± Taffy asked smiling deviously.


    ¡°I have a feeling you¡¯re going to tell me.¡±


    ¡°You are right! This dagger is infused with what I like to call ¡®pain magic¡¯.¡±


    Pain magic? There is no pain magic.


    ¡°Any wound, as minor as it is, made with this knife has its pain amplified by about 50 times the normal amount.¡± He said, holding the knife on one hand and tapping the tip of it with his finger. ¡°So you see, just a tiny poke and you¡¯ll be.. Shit! AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!¡±


    The dagger clanged on the floor and Taffy dropped it and held his now-poked finger.


    ¡°I think you might have tapped it a little too hard.¡± Aurus said calmly to the screaming man.


    ¡°OWWWW THIS HURTS! WHAT THE HELL KIND OF¡­ AAAAAHHHH!!!¡±


    Aurus watched the thieves¡¯ guild master fall on his knees screaming and swearing while holding his finger. Despite really wanting to, he kept himself from saying any more snide remarks. The pain Taffy was going through was probably enough, probably. After a good minute the screaming ceased and the future ¡®greatest¡¯ thief got up.


    ¡°So¡­ That was a demonstration of the power of the dagger.¡±


    ¡°Very informative. Glad to know what awaits me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ You should be scared¡­ Heh¡­¡±


    ¡°Boss how¡¯s the torture going?¡± The assistant asked as he opened the door.


    ¡°The torture is going perfectly. Now what did I say about knocking?¡±


    ¡°Right sorry. Just wanted to know if you wanted water.¡± He said, putting a glass of water on the makeshift desk.


    ¡°Yes I would love some water. Thank you.¡± Taffy picked up the dagger as the assistant walked out. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯ll go drink some water while you and your maybe dry mouth watch.¡± He said in a mocking tone.


    Aurus watched as Taffy placed the dagger in his belt without looking, nicking the side of his leg through his pants.


    ¡°Awww! SHIT! MY LEG AAARRGGGGHHHHH!¡± He tossed the dagger to the side as he fell on the floor, doubled over in pain.


    Aurus once again sat back and enjoyed the sight of someone getting a taste of their own medicine. Looking at the size of the scrape, this would probably take a lot longer than the previous injury. He now had some time to think about what to do about his situation, if he could manage to hear his own thoughts through the screaming, that is.


    He actually knows about the entrance. That is not good. Only a few people in the kingdom should know about it. If one of them is the reliable contact he talked about, this could be very bad. On the other hand, who¡¯s to say that he isn¡¯t bluffing this entire thing and hoping I take the bait. It would be one hell of a stretch though. Hmmm¡­ I need to see that paper in his pocket. Then I¡¯ll know for sure whether I should be worried or not. Even if he ends up torturing me, I¡¯m never letting on about the entrance. It¡¯s too important to let him or anyone else find it.


    After around ten minutes, Taffy shakily got up from the ground, breathing heavily.


    ¡°So¡­ what do¡­ you¡­ think? Terrifying¡­ isn¡¯t it¡­¡± He said between breaths.


    ¡°It looks really painful.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ haven¡¯t seen¡­ anything yet¡­¡± He picked up the dagger and carefully put it back in its hilt. ¡°Let¡¯s try something else¡­ for now.¡±


    ¡°Seems like you guys are prone to accidents.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ well, we are lucky above all. I mean, that whole accidental letter we left to you worked in our favor.¡±


    ¡°Accidental letter? You mean you didn¡¯t plan to reveal yourselves?¡±


    ¡°Oh no. We thought about it, and even made a first draft of the note which is what you got, but the plan was to remain unnoticed as much as possible.¡± Taffy was back to smiling once again.


    ¡°Huh.¡± I kind of overestimated them. At least they seem to be aware of their mistakes. ¡°So the leak about the location of one of your meeting places was intentional or not?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡­ Wait, what leak?¡± His face froze in a half twisted smile.


    ¡°The leak that I assumed was false info you guys*creak*¡± Aurus stopped mid-sentence, both guild masters turned in the direction of the noise.


    One of the windows near the corner had been opened and through it poked the face of a ranger Aurus had seen in the tavern sometimes. The room fell completely silent as the adventurer stared at the two surprised men.


    ¡°Hey Gherson.¡± The ranger said; his voice barely above a whisper.


    Aurus nodded slowly in reply, his face in almost shock, as the man retreated from his spot, slowly closing the creaking window, and leaving the room once again in silence as the both guild masters tried to process what had just happened.


    These idiots actually leaked their own location. Not a distraction. Not an intentional false lead. They just talked about their meeting place out in the open.


    ¡°Oh shit.¡± Taffy said, running out of the room at top speed.


    Aurus could hear screaming coming from outside the room, a mix of anger, disappointment and desperation all directed at the thieves who were now probably packing everything they owned as quickly as possible. He knew adventurers were idiotic, but they were smart enough to understand a hostage situation when they saw one. If Aurus had to guess, they probably came to investigate under Nia¡¯s orders since he never came back after the meeting with the captain of the guard. Now that they knew that he was a hostage, who knows how many of them would attempt a rescue. Not because they cared about him, but because of the recognition that came with rescuing the guild master himself. The last thing he wanted was for things to get messy in the middle of the city, now that he was involved; things had just taken a turn for the worse.


    ¡°Hey remember the question about it smelling funny in here?¡± Taffy spoke very quickly as he walked in with his assistant.


    ¡°I never asked that¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because we have access to the sewers from here, so let¡¯s go before your entire guild descends on this place.¡± He said as he began packing the things on the table and in a few of the corner boxes.


    ¡°You say that as if I¡¯m in a position to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. Hostage. Right. Untie him from the chair but leave him bound, don¡¯t want him to run away on us.¡±


    ¡°Yes boss!¡±


    The nameless assistant moved over and quickly untied Aurus from the chair, but left him just bound enough not to be able to run away. His feet were tied in a similar way to prison chains, which did allow him to walk, but with very short steps. His hands were bound in front of him, rather than behind, so now he had a bit more freedom to move around.


    ¡°Ok! Let¡¯s move.¡±


    Taffy finished packing up, and the assistant grabbed Aurus by the ropes on his hands, almost dragging him behind him. They moved through the warehouse and Aurus finally recognized the place as the actual warehouse they had leaked just the day before. Except that it was now full of thieves moving around frantically, carrying boxes up and down, figuring out what to take and what to leave behind before the adventurers arrived. An older thief with barely any hair and a groomed mustache approached Taffy and began talking to him while they walked.


    ¡°There is a bit of a problem with the sewers.¡±


    ¡°What problem?¡± The leader of the thieves asked quickly.


    ¡°There is too much flammable gas in there! We don¡¯t really know where it all came from but the moment we opened the door there was a lot of gas. We won¡¯t be able to use torches down there unless we want to explode the entire underground of this warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll just use the light rocks we stole from the guild. We have enough. Now let¡¯s go!¡± He called the other thieves, making them move even faster.


    Aurus stared at him. Last time he did inventory he didn¡¯t notice any missing light rocks.


    Taffy noticed the look and answered. ¡°We stole them from the Builder¡¯s Guild not yours.¡±


    Aurus was slightly relieved that he wouldn¡¯t have to do inventory on the light rocks again, but it was still something they stole that he would have to either replace or return, hopefully the latter.


    They reached two large metal doors that Aurus recognized as a sewer access entrance. They were large to allow the city workers to go in easily for any repairing that needed to be done on the underground ducts and tunnels, and now they were being used to smuggle who knows how many stolen goods, and the entire Thieves Guild, with Aurus in tow.


    As they opened the doors, a horrendous smell hit everyone, making them grimace. Aurus had been down to the sewers before but it never smelled this bad. He could feel his eyes burning slightly at the horrible smell that came up, and he completely agreed with the old thief, if they cause a single spark down there the entire place would go up in flames. Not only that, if this was something that was happening around the entire city, the whole sewer system was in danger of igniting. Despite all of this Taffy seemed intent on going through the sewers, even though the slightest spark could kill them.


    They began heading down. Taffy first, followed by his assistant and Aurus and then the rest of the guild, carrying whatever they could that was valuable enough. Even though the smell only grew worse as they headed down, mess of the sewers could give Aurus the chance he needed to take the paper about the reliable contact from Taffy¡¯s pocket. All he needed was an opening, and if he wasn¡¯t given one, he would just have to make it.

 Chapter 9

    ¡°It smells like crap.¡±


    ¡°I think it smells a lot worse than that.¡±


    ¡°How much crap have you smelled before?¡±


    ¡°Actually I used to be a plumber before I became a thief.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty cool. Hey, my bathroom has been clogged for a while. Do you think you can take a look?¡±


    ¡°Shut up you two!¡± Taffeen screamed at the thieves. ¡°It¡¯s already bad enough in here without you two talking about shit!¡±


    ¡°Sorry boss¡­¡±


    As much as it pained Aurus, he had to agree with the thieves. The sewers definitely smelled a lot worse than usual. They hadn¡¯t reached the main waterways yet and the smell was already unbearable. He would have a lot of trouble taking that piece of paper if he couldn¡¯t even breathe properly. From the looks of it, the Thieves Guild were going to be relocating their entire operation to another place. This probably meant he was going to stay a hostage for a bit longer, so even if he couldn¡¯t manage to take the information from Taffy here, he would still have plenty of opportunities. He lifted his hands to cover both his nose and mouth.


    Where is this stench coming from? This smells worse than one of Marc¡¯s dishes. Did the whole town just decide to go to the bathroom all at once? Why is it so¡­ are you kidding me.


    As they reached the main waterways, Aurus saw, lit up by the stone-light, dozens upon dozens of goblin corpses. Heaps and heaps of goblin carcasses, all laying in the sewer system and all of them decaying.


    ¡°Woah. You guys have a bit of a goblin problem here.¡± Taffy pointed out to Aurus who had a frozen expression.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ we do¡­¡±


    Those idiots. Those absolute idiots.


    It was bad enough that the city dealt with an unnecessary goblin attack two weeks prior, now Aurus had just discovered that they had disposed of the goblin corpses the worst way imaginable, by dumping them all in the sewer. Judging from the sizes of the piles, he could tell that it was like this all across the city, all 2000 goblins that were killed that day, now rested underneath the streets of Anderess. This would have been excused had they been attacked by anything other than goblins, whose bodies produce immense amounts of gas once they start decaying. This was why the sewers smelled so bad, and why the tiniest spark would ignite all of the gas.


    A spark here won¡¯t just start a fire or cause an explosion where we are. It will ignite the entire sewer system underneath the town. Considering how these tunnels were built its unlikely that the explosion would destroy them, but there are many weak points scattered across town that could be severely damaged, and hurt a lot of people in the process. I have to fix this¡­


    Aurus¡¯ mind was now trying to figure out how to resolve the sewer problem, not only that, he was still thinking of a way of finding who could¡¯ve leaked the entrance to the guild warehouse.


    This would be a lot easier if I could breathe properly. Aurus winced as he caught a slightly larger scent of the decaying corpses. There¡¯s no way to grab that paper here.


    He would wait until they reached wherever it was they were heading towards. Looking at Taffy, he noticed for the first time that his outfit had a symbol on the shoulder, two daggers crossing with a snake curling around them.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the symbol on the coat?¡± He asked curtly.


    ¡°Oh this old thing? It¡¯s our very own symbol representing the Thieves Guild. I made it myself.¡±


    ¡°That snake looks it was run over.¡± A few people stifled their laughter behind Aurus.


    ¡°If my dagger wasn¡¯t partially made of flint I would have stabbed you right now.¡±


    At least he isn¡¯t stupid enough to pull out a dagger made of flint in a tunnel filled with gas.


    They continued making their way through the tunnels, turning a corner every few minutes. As they turned a corner, Aurus recognized a goblin corpse that looked a bit familiar. They were walking in circles, and he was tired of having to breathe in air that had come from inside of something¡¯s intestines. He wasn¡¯t going to complain though, at least he had more time to think of a plan.


    After about an hour of rounding familiar corners and looking at the same piles of goblin guts and bodies he had enough. This was probably worse than anything that ¡°pain¡± magic knife could ever do to him. That is, until they reached a smaller sized tunnel that seemed to lead upwards. As they made their way up a familiar setting stood before them. Another warehouse, this time filled with different kinds of boxes than the previous one. If Aurus had to guess, they weren¡¯t very far from their old place, especially since the design was almost identical to the other one. He was taken quickly to a side room filled with boxes and was tied to a chair just like before. A desk was brought in to inaugurate the new office of the leader of the Thieves Guild.


    ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me there is a lot that need to be done to make sure that we can start operating again to our fullest potential.¡±


    ¡°Do what you have to do.¡±


    Once again Aurus was alone. This time without his head throbbing from an injury. Clearing his mind, he focused on how to get out of that chair. He knew that if he waited too long he would end up being tortured, and being tied down made sure that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything but suffer through it. He wasn¡¯t dexterous enough to grab the paper with his hands tied, so the first thing he needed to do was break free. As he was about to try the old fashioned technique of struggling against his bindings, he noticed a figure standing to his side. A familiar smile looked at him as Aurus looked back at the head sticking partially out from behind the crates in the room.


    ¡°Roren?¡±


    ¡°Hello Aurus!¡± The man said with an unfailing smile.


    ¡°Why are you standing behind a bunch of crates?¡±


    ¡°I was doing some lifting work.¡±


    ¡°This warehouse belongs to the Builder¡¯s Guild?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! They asked me to come over and help.¡±


    ¡°Why not just hire someone else to do it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember very well, but it had something to do with food.¡±


    ¡°Food?¡± Probably cutting costs elsewhere to keep having feasts. They never learn. ¡°Ok, and why are you behind a bunch of crates?¡±


    ¡°I was taking a nap. And then I woke up, and heard a bunch of strange people moving around and then I saw you! You know there are a lot of adventurers outside looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Outside?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! They said you were in a warehouse across the street, but they were wrong cause you¡¯re right here!¡±


    Across the street? My guess that we weren¡¯t far from where we started was right, but this close? These guys really need better backup locations.


    ¡°Roren, can you untie me please?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡±


    Stepping out from behind the crates. The giant man untied Aurus with ease and now stood beside him.


    ¡°Thank you. Do you know of a way of getting out of here without being seen?¡± He said, rubbing his wrists.


    ¡°Yeah! There¡¯s a backdoor behind one of these boxes. It¡¯s how I got in but then I got sleepy and decided to take a nap.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± That makes things a lot easier. I still need to stay here and get that letter, or note, or whatever Taffy has in his pocket. ¡°Can you so something else for me then?¡±


    ¡°I was going to get back to work, but with all these weird people here I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to. So yeah!¡±


    ¡°Go to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and tell them to stay away from the sewers.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go tell them? The backdoor is right here.¡±


    ¡°Yes it is, but I still need to do something here. If they ask you why tell them I sent you, and if they don¡¯t believe you, hand this over to Nia.¡± Aurus took his glasses from his pocket and handed them to Roren. ¡°That should be enough.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Got it!¡± Roren turned around to leave.


    ¡°Do you remember what you have to tell them?¡±


    ¡°Something to do with sewers!¡±


    ¡°To stay away from the sewers. Don¡¯t forget it. Also tell them I¡¯m fine and will be there soon so I won¡¯t need rescue.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Bye Aurus!¡± Roren said, this time actually leaving through the hidden door.


    He grabbed the rope that was previously keeping him secure to the chair and sat back down, arranging it as well as he could to make it seem like he was still tied. Hopefully, this would convince Taffy long enough for Aurus to surprise him and steal the paper before the torture could begin. It wasn¡¯t a perfect plan, in fact, it was far from that, but he wanted to get this over with and start focusing on other problems, like the ticking time bomb underneath the city.


    Now if everything goes right. I should be out of here in less than an hour¡­ *BOOM*


    An explosion rattled the room, for a split second Aurus thought the sewers had ignited but the ground barely shook. Soon he started hearing the sounds of people fighting just outside the room, before he heard the voice of a familiar adventurer from a distant kingdom shout.


    ¡°Where is Aurus!?¡±


    Oh no¡­


    _______________________________________________________________________________________________


    Why doesn¡¯t he teach me? Ren thought as he struck an ogre with his sword.


    I mean, yeah, there is a bit of stuff to memorize, like magic types, and activators and all that. He parried a blow from his enemy.


    I really want to learn magic, but I also really don¡¯t want to go to college, even if it is magic college. He jumped over another swing from the ogre.


    I mean, there must be a reason I was sent here after all, and I¡¯m pretty sure it wasn¡¯t to go back to school. Ren swung at the ogre¡¯s head, killing it swiftly.


    This enchanted sword is pretty good! I guess I don¡¯t need to learn magic to use it, but then I won¡¯t be able to shoot fireballs out of my hands.


    ¡°Ren!¡±


    Oh right. Can¡¯t shoot them out of my hands. Magic and living things don¡¯t mix and blah blah blah. This is stupid! Why is there no mana in this world?


    ¡°Ren!¡±


    This would have made things so much simpler! Why was I sent to this world? Shouldn¡¯t there be a better one with better magic out there? Why won¡¯t he teach me!?¡±


    ¡°REN! Stop daydreaming and help us!!!¡±


    ¡°Oh right, sorry.¡±


    He moved on to help his team dispatch the rest of the ogres. The cave exploration proved a little more challenging than originally expected, but even with the surprise encounters, the monsters were no match to the adventurers. It had only taken them about an hour to map the whole area before returning to town, successful in their latest quest.


    ¡°You need to pay more attention to what¡¯s going on, Ren. We really needed you back there.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Denna. Just was a little distracted.¡±


    ¡°Still thinking about the fact you will never learn magic?¡± Almer said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Actually, I was thinking about how I haven¡¯t smacked you today.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do that to your best pal though, would you?¡± He placed his arm around Ren¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°No I wouldn¡¯t. Thankfully you are not my ¡®best pal¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Ouch. My heart. You need to learn to be nicer. Maybe then Gherson will actually bother to teach you something.¡±


    ¡°But I was nice! I pushed a bit, but only because I was eager.¡±


    ¡°If you were really eager you would have considered going to the Wizard¡¯s College.¡± The priestess, Ilina, commented.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been a fan of the whole ¡®school¡¯ thing. Plus Almer keeps saying how it was boring and a waste of time.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I never said it was a waste of time. I just said it was like being drained of my will to live slowly as the days went on in a dull haze of stress and boredom.¡±


    ¡°See? That¡¯s what college is. A place where people go to abandon their hopes and happiness.¡±


    ¡°Ok, but explain to me how Gherson teaching you would be any different than learning magic at the college.¡± Denna said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just that I always thought the guild master was supposed to be a mentor figure of sorts, not some overworked jerk.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he doesn¡¯t think you¡¯ll make a good mage.¡± Yorven, the fighter of the group chimed.


    ¡°Or maybe he doesn¡¯t think you¡¯re good enough.¡± Almer added.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Not good enough¡­ I am sort of new to all this other world stuff. How do I make myself good enough then? ¡°I¡¯ll figure something out. Also let¡¯s stop by the market, there are a few things I want to buy.¡±


    ¡°Alright, we are running out of health potions and other supplies anyways.¡± Yorven checked his backpack.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your sword was beginning to dull, Denna?¡± Ren asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯ll just sharpen it until I have enough money for a new one.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, I can buy you a new one.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? You already bought most of our equipment.¡±


    ¡°I have enough gold to spare.¡±


    ¡°Geez. Just how rich were you in your kingdom?¡± Almer asked.


    ¡°Not very. There are people who are a lot richer than me there.¡±


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t rich by their standards I really want to visit your kingdom.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll just think you¡¯re a hobo, Almer.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! Just think of the spare change they give to their hobos. I would be the Andrew of Ren¡¯s kingdom.¡±


    ¡°The who?¡±


    ¡°The¡­ right you don¡¯t know him. There¡¯s this guy who is part of the guild and he¡­¡±


    Their conversation carried on as they reached the town. Even without the sun, the city was still lit up partially by the street lamps. Ren wasn¡¯t used to such a rustic atmosphere, but he grew used to it quickly, he was living the dream of being an adventurer after all. After a quick visit to the market, the party made their way to the guild inn to rest for the night. As they moved to the front desk of the inn, Ren spotted Nia talking to one of the attendants. After paying for each of their rooms, the tired crew made their way upstairs while Ren waited to speak to the assistant.


    ¡°Hey Nia. I¡¯ve never seen you here at this time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just waiting for Aurus to come back from a meeting with the captain of the guard.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost midnight. Do you usually wait this long?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Have you seen him?¡±


    ¡°No sorry.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Something feels off. He usually gives a warning, or sends someone with a message when he¡¯s running late.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he just got distracted.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­ I¡¯ll go check with the captain, he¡¯s probably still there.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea to interrupt a meeting like that?¡±


    ¡°I do it all the time, and I really need him to sign these before I leave for the night.¡± She tapped a small stack of documents on the desk.


    ¡°Alright, good luck with that. Good night.¡±


    ¡°Good night.¡±


    Ren headed upstairs and collapsed on the bed. Even in a world of magic and adventure, the best thing he had experienced so far were the beds. He had never slept so well in his life, though that was probably the exhaustion from questing all day. Either way, as soon as his head hit the pillow he fell asleep. Him and his party slept for a few hours uninterrupted before they were awoken by the sounds of commotion coming from the guild tavern. Quickly suiting up and heading downstairs they found all sorts of adventurers readying their gear and leaving quickly. Nia, sitting at the Info Desk, seemed to be organizing everything.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ren asked her.


    ¡°I talked to the captain last night and Aurus wasn¡¯t there, said he had left towards the guild a few hours before. We sent a small group to investigate a warehouse and they found him hostage to the Thieves Guild.¡±


    ¡°You found him what?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re sending everyone available there now. Are you coming or not?¡±


    ¡°Of course I am!¡±


    The group set out towards the warehouse and reached it quickly, but not quickly enough, as it had already been empty by the time they arrived. The mood was sour amongst the rescue party, as the keener adventurers investigated the area, trying to find any evidence of where they might have escaped.


    ¡°Where do you think they could have gone?¡± Ren asked Nia.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We should have mobilized the town guard before going back to the guild, even if they couldn¡¯t stop the thieves from running it would at least tell us where they went.¡± She looked down.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Well if it makes you feel any better I¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey Nia!¡± The voice of a large man interrupted Ren.


    ¡°Hey Roren. What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sending a message from Aurus to you and the guild.¡±


    ¡°Wait. You have a message from Aurus?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Here are his glasses to prove that it¡¯s true.¡±


    She took the glasses and her eyes widened.


    ¡°Where is he? What¡¯s the message?¡± She asked, almost tripping over her own words.


    ¡°He¡¯s in that warehouse over there.¡± He pointed towards a building that looked incredibly similar to the one they were investigating. ¡°He also said to stay away from the sewers and something about not rescuing him.¡±


    ¡°How long ago was this Roren?¡±


    ¡°About a minute or two.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank goodness.¡± Nia breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t need rescue then he must have everything under control. But why stay away from the sewers? What do you think Ren? Ren?¡±


    She looked around for the young man and found that she was alone with Roren. Looking at the building the giant had pointed to, she saw the whole party running as fast as they could towards it. Ren turned to Almer.


    ¡°Destroy that wall!¡±


    ¡°On it!¡±


    The mage quickly pulled out a pouch and grabbed a handful of what looked like ash mixed with sulfur. As they ran, he threw the mixture at the tip of his staff, igniting the upper half of the item as a huge fireball erupted from it. It flew straight towards the wall destroying most of it with a large blast. The whole group stepped inside the warehouse and saw the scared faces of several dozen thieves staring at them.


    ¡°Where is Aurus!?¡± Ren screamed.


    ¡°RUN!¡± A tall man with an odd looking coat shouted from the back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let any of them get away! I¡¯ll go find him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you.¡± Denna said.


    They moved through the chaos as the rest of the party began fighting the thieves. The fighting quickly escalated as more and more people from both sides joined in, the adventurers, hearing the commotion from the outside, and the thieves, who decided not to go down without a fight. Ren saw a few thieves ducking into a side rooms, and followed suit, seeing as Aurus wasn¡¯t anywhere in the main area. Walking into one of the rooms, he saw the guild master tied to a chair, looking at him angrily.


    ¡°Aurus! I¡¯m here to¡­¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you get my message from Roren?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he told us where you were and then we rushed over here to save you.¡±


    ¡°No you didn¡¯t. The full message was to stay away from the sewers and to NOT rescue me.¡± He lifted his arms and revealed he wasn¡¯t tied at all.


    ¡°Oh! But if you were already free why didn¡¯t you escape as soon as you could?¡±


    ¡°Because there is something about them I need to find out. Also who is shooting fireballs?¡±


    ¡°That would be Almer.¡± Denna replied.


    ¡°Then go tell him and the rest of the mages not to use any fire magic unless they want us all to die.¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Denna left the room quickly to warn the rest of the rescuing force.


    ¡°Cmon Aurus! I¡¯ll help you out of here.¡± He grabbed the guild master¡¯s arm and began leading him to the main area.


    ¡°No.¡± He pulled away just as they stepped outside the room. ¡°I still have to find out who they work for before I¡­¡±


    ¡°Before you what?¡± The tall man said, grabbing Aurus from behind and holding a glowing knife at his throat. ¡°Before you escape? You¡¯re my hostage, MY ticket to becoming the greatest thief!¡±


    ¡°Let him go!¡± Ren shouted.


    Aurus also saw as he was being held, that one of the thieves had managed to open the doorway to the sewers, but from the looks of it no one dared go inside it because of the smell.


    ¡°And who are you to give orders like that? I am the great thief Taffeen! The leader of the Thieves Guild! And it seems I have the upper hand. Come any closer and I kill him.¡±


    The threat seemed to scare Ren, as he lowered his sword and took a step back.


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to kill me! I¡¯m a hostage for a reason you idiot. The most he would actually do is poke me with it.¡±


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± Taffy said, poking Aurus in the stomach with the magic dagger.


    ¡°Arrrrghhh!!!¡± Aurus doubled over in pain as the knife poked him on the side of his chest, slightly releasing him from Taffy¡¯s grip.


    ¡°Aurus!¡±


    Ren charged Taffy and tackled him, sending both of them to the ground while Aurus just barely managed to stay standing.


    ¡°Me and my stupid mouth¡­¡± Aurus winced and saw how close they both were to the sewer entrance.


    Taffy swiftly kicked Ren in the stomach, sending him a small distance away. This gave both of them enough time to stand as the adventurer readied his sword and the thief pulled another dagger from his belt. From what Ren could see that one wasn¡¯t glowing, and therefore wasn¡¯t magic. They began exchanging blows as the priestess, Ilina, cared for Aurus¡¯ wound.


    ¡°Ren! Don¡¯t let that knife near the sewers!¡± Aurus tried screaming, to no avail. The kid was too engrossed in the fight to hear him.


    Ren had seen his fair share of fights ever since he arrived in this world, through a human enemy wielding a magic weapon was a first. He was unsure how to do this, but as the fight went on, he realized this was just like fighting a higher difficulty monster. His magic gauntlets of strength and his magic boots of jumping also helped immensely, making his parries and blows very quick while also making him a lot more mobile.


    Maybe if I beat this guy one on one, then Aurus will think I¡¯m good enough to be taught magic.


    He dodged another one of Taffy¡¯s swipes and countered with his own that the thief also dodged.


    Hmmm maybe I don¡¯t need to know magic. I¡¯m doing pretty well against the leader of the thieves guild.


    After another unsuccessful swipe, Ren managed to disarm Taffy of his regular dagger, leaving him with just the magic one. At this point most of the thieves had been dealt with, meaning they were one of the last ones still fighting. The adventurers began cheering for Ren, while the tied up and soon to be arrested thieves, cheered for their leader. Having that many people cheering for him wasn¡¯t something Ren was used to, but the confidence boost was very much appreciated. They clashed blades and were now staring each other down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know when to give up do you?¡± Taffy asked.


    ¡°No. I really don¡¯t.¡± Ren said before using his boots to jump over his opponent.


    Taffy fell forward, thrown off balance by the sudden missing weight in front of him while Ren landed behind him and struck his head with the hilt of his sword. He fell to the ground, dropping the knife just out of reach. Taffy tried crawling for the dagger before a foot stepped in front of him and he saw the tip of a sword pointed towards his face.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know when to give up do you?¡± Ren said.


    The room went silent for a few seconds as everything that had happened started to sink in. Ren had defeated the leader of the Thieves Guild. The adventurers all began shouting and cheering even louder than before, as Ren stood over his opponent, victorious. He breathed in for a few moments as his mind caught up to everything he had said and done.


    HOLY CRAP THAT WAS SO COOL! Yeah, I don¡¯t think this world is so bad after all, just look at all these people cheering for me. I guess after that one there is no way I¡¯m not considered ¡®good enough¡¯.


    He glanced at Aurus, who breathed a sigh in relief. The fight was over, and now he could get to fix the problems currently rotting away beneath the town. He was still unable to stand very well, and even after the healing done by Ren¡¯s party member, he still held one arm to his stomach, where he had been stabbed. Whatever that ¡®pain magic¡¯ was, it was strong, and he wanted to know how someone managed to create it. The dagger was secure on the floor away from Taffy, so he shifted his priority to taking the paper from the fallen guild master¡¯s pocket.


    Ren walked over keeping his eyes on Taffy and picked up the glowing dagger, examining it closely. It glowed eerily dark, and the engravings on the hilt looked odd to him as well. Whatever it was, it was not a good thing. His first encounter with an evil/cursed item. He knew very well how dangerous they could be, or at least how dangerous they seemed in all the movies and games he played. Thinking deeply about what to do with such loot, he heard Taffy mumble from among the cheering adventurers.


    ¡°My dagger¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not yours anymore, thief.¡±


    He heard another voice from among the cheering, Aurus was looking at him and seemed to be walking towards the both of them.


    ¡°Ren¡­ the dagger¡­ don¡¯t let it¡­ near the¡­¡± He said, between breaths.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry Aurus. I won¡¯t let it near anyone ever again.¡± He reared up and threw the knife towards the entrance of the sewers.


    Aurus did not even have time to scream no before the blade left Ren¡¯s hand. He stared in horror as the flint-based weapon flew across the opened doorways and into the dark hall leading to the waste disposal of the city.


    All he could do was scream, ¡°TAKE COVER!¡± Before a bright flash of light and a huge blast sent him towards the ground, knocking him out.


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    Aurus awoke underneath a bit of rubble, feeling like he had just been hit with a large carriage. Getting up slowly, he brushed off the dust from his clothes, not feeling the pain from the poke anymore but now feeling pain everywhere else. As his vision cleared, he saw that everyone around him seemed to be in a similar state of distress. The warehouse was mostly destroyed but the roof had somehow not collapsed; they probably would have died if it did. He headed towards Taffy and Ren, both laying on the floor. They were the nearest to the entrance but after a quick look Aurus was surprised to see they were still alive, if not a little bloodied and battered. Even then, he was amazed to see that the most they had received in terms of burns affected only their clothing and armor.


    The explosion must have had more impact than it did fire. Makes sense considering how long this hallway is. Now to make sure that this was actually worth something.


    He knelt beside Taffy and searched through his partially burnt coat. Pulling out a slightly crumpled, folded piece of paper. Taking a deep breath, he opened it, gazing upon the true nature of the only clue he had, regarding who hired these idiots to steal from his guild.


    Blank¡­ It¡¯s blank¡­


    He reached for his pocket trying to grab his glasses to see if this wasn¡¯t some illusion, but he found nothing.


    Right¡­ I gave my glasses to Roren¡­ to prove I was ok and didn¡¯t need to be rescued.


    He looked around once more and saw that other people were regaining consciousness.


    What good did that do?


    Walking outside he saw that things were in a state of disarray. He could hear people shouting in the distance as smoke columns were rising in different points of the city. Breathing in slowly and letting out a large sigh, he walked back into the warehouse, trying to get people out from underneath rubble and helping them out into the street. This would take quite some time to fix, and now that the Thieves Guild had been disbanded, in the most violent possible way, he had time to fix it.


    I really need a vacation. He thought, helping an adventurer to his feet. I really REALLY need a vacation.

 Chapter 10

    ¡°Nia, have you seen my lunch?¡± Karla asked.


    ¡°Umm¡­ Nope.¡± Nia said, quickly swallowing the last remains of her friend¡¯s lunch.


    ¡°I can¡¯t find it anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Have you tried looking behind the desk?¡±


    ¡°That was the first place I looked. Oh well, I¡¯m not going to eat here. Want to eat somewhere in town?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really hungry, but I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    The two friends left the guild and made their way to through town. Just two days after the sewer system erupted, the city seemed to be moving back at a normal pace. The ongoing reconstruction was becoming a common sight for most people, and thanks to a few meetings between the Master Builders and the guild master, accidents were kept to a minimum. Surprisingly, no one was killed during the explosion. Most of the weak points scattered throughout the city had been evacuated, thanks to Nia warning the city guard of Aurus¡¯ message. She didn¡¯t understand why it was necessary but since it was an order from her boss she did it anyways.


    They reached the marketplace, bustling with activity from the midday crowd that gathered around the stalls. Part of the square was sealed off as some workers were setting up a familiar stage, the same one where the mayor gave out important announcements.


    ¡°Did you hear? The mayor is calling a major assembly later today.¡± Karla mentioned.


    ¡°Yeah, I heard.¡± Nia said, looking over some wares.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the least bit excited? These assemblies almost always have parties afterwards.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the biggest fan of revelry.¡±


    ¡°Well you should at least be excited that the mayor is going to be rewarding the guys who defeated the Thieves Guild.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I mean, I¡¯m glad the Thieves Guild is gone.¡± Cause it makes my job a lot easier. ¡°But I don¡¯t see why the mayor is rewarding the guys who almost destroyed the city.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that. I read in the newspaper that the thieves set up the explosion.¡±


    ¡°Sure, an unreliable newspaper filled with drama articles and little to no evidence.¡±


    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have any evidence either since anything in the sewers was burned up.¡±


    ¡°I think several eyewitness reports from the thieves we arrested and the guild master himself is more than enough evidence.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re thieves! They lie all the time. And I¡¯m pretty sure Gherson would blame bad weather on adventurers if he could.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating. I¡¯m sure there are plenty of honest thieves out there.¡± They laughed. ¡°But jokes aside, he isn¡¯t one for lying like that, especially since this ¡®lie¡¯ would actually be bad for the guild.¡±


    ¡°How would it be bad?¡±


    ¡°Because having to discipline adventurers is a lot of work. Work I am sure he does not want to do.¡±


    ¡°Well, then he should be glad people think it was the thieves. Instead of being the usual grump he is. In fact, I think he actually got grumpier these last few days.¡±


    ¡°Getting kidnapped doesn¡¯t help, but if I was in his place I would be the same. I¡¯d much rather have people know the truth and give myself more work than have a bunch of dangerous adventurers being showered with praise.¡±


    ¡°Woooow. You are soooo morally righteous.¡± Karla said, waving her hands in the air.


    ¡°Shut it. I¡¯m serious!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m seriously hungry, let¡¯s go eat.¡±


    ¡°But I already¡­ nevermind, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Eating two lunches was not something Nia was used to, but the food was good so she couldn¡¯t complain.


    ¡°Since when do the food vendors charge so much for snacks?¡± Nia asked, nibbling on her sandwich.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The quality of the food is getting better so I¡¯m fine with spending some extra gold.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but still¡­¡± Everyone seems to have more gold lately. Maybe it¡¯s because the thieves are gone.


    ¡°Oh, did you hear about the latest gossip in the capital?¡±


    ¡°No, and I don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s just that the grand nobility is hosting a¡­¡±


    Karla dragged on with the latest news from the kingdom¡¯s capital. Nothing that Nia actually cared about, but nodding and occasionally grunting was a lot easier than getting her friend to shut up. She spent the next half hour enjoying her second and third lunches while her friend barely touched her food. Every few minutes she would focus on what the other was saying just to see if it was anything important, it wasn¡¯t. Once their lunch break was over, walking back to the guild was quick, and abandoning the conversation was as easy as saying ¡®I need to get to work now.¡¯


    Her desk was filled to the brim with files, the same as when the day had started. Going through the financials of most of the guild was boring, and tasking, and a pain, and boring, did she mention boring? At least this amount of work only really happened once a year, when they needed to prepare reports for the annual financial meeting in the capital. Thankfully, the job of talking to the Royal Bank representatives fell solely to Aurus, who was also swamped with paperwork since the meeting would be happening in a few weeks.


    The hours went by as the piles of paper on her desk slowly decreased until there were only a few left. Sadly, those few would have to wait until the next day since the time for the assembly was drawing closer. Setting aside the unfinished work, and putting everything away, Nia walked into Aurus¡¯ office.


    ¡°Boss.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± He said quickly from behind a large pile of papers.


    ¡°We have an assembly to go to.¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­ Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll be right out. Just finishing some late reports.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll be waiting¡­ ummm¡­ I do have a question though.¡±


    ¡°Ask.¡± He said, not looking up.


    ¡°Why did you stay in the warehouse? From what I heard, you could¡¯ve escaped with Roren, but you stayed. Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I wanted to find out who hired the Thieves Guild.¡±


    ¡°They were hired!? To do what?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they were hired. Apparently they wanted to steal from the guild warehouse.¡±


    ¡°¡­but the guild warehouse is in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s what their leader told me when I was a hostage, and I believed that by staying there I would have the chance of figuring out who hired them to do it.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t they interrogate the leader of the thieves?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but he refused to talk. Even with the less than approved methods of interrogation the captain uses.¡±


    ¡°Sounds scary¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mostly annoying. He screams in your ears for about three hours nonstop about justice and peace.¡±


    ¡°That sounds even worse.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± He picked up another file to inspect. ¡°Nilbert, the leader of the Thieves Guild, is being taken to a prison near the capital as we speak.¡±


    ¡°Seems a bit much for someone who didn¡¯t even steal that much.¡± He wasn¡¯t even the one who exploded the sewers.


    ¡°True, but they think he was responsible for the sewer incident.¡± He placed the document down and picked up another one. ¡°In spite of that, I do have an idea of who might have hired them.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain but I think it¡¯s most likely a noble in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ That¡¯s bad. That¡¯s very bad!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But I am going to the capital soon, so I might be able to find out more there.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll have time? Those financial meetings can take a while.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make time if I have to. This isn¡¯t something I can just ignore.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. How are you going to do anything about it though?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still figuring things out; besides, I have a lot on my plate already.¡± He set down the papers in hand and paged through another pile.


    ¡°True, I¡¯ll be waiting for you to finish downstairs.¡±


    She closed the door and headed down to the tavern. She would usually prod him into putting down whatever he was doing, but there was just so much to do, she didn¡¯t bother.


    Someone else wants to steal from the warehouse, and they hired the Thieves Guild to do it. And that someone is probably a noble from the capital. This is a huge problem. Hmmm¡­


    The waiting didn¡¯t take long, and soon they were making their way to the town square. Most of the people were gathered in front of the stage, with a few people selling snacks on the outskirts of the crowd. Moving along the multitude, they stood just a few meters from the stage as the mayor began to talk.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming!!! When I heard that the Thieves Guild was defeated, I was ecstatic! I wanted to throw the biggest party I could right away! Sadly, the destruction caused by their heinous plan delayed my plans for celebration, but now that everything has gone back to normal I am proud to reward those responsible for uncovering the wretched villains and defeating them, the adventuring group Alliance!!!¡±


    The crowd cheered as walking up the stage was Ren and his party members, all of them dressed in nice outfits, ready to receive whatever honors awaited them for their recklessness.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°I would have loved to hand them Honor Badges but after the thefts of the last ones I gave out the capital has rescinded my ability to do that¡­ So instead, I¡¯ll do the next best thing, and allow them to rank up immediately! To help me with this honor, I¡¯d like to call on stage one of my best pals, the guild master of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, Aurus Gherson!¡±


    Aurus sighed as he walked up on stage and began helping the mayor award each of the young men and women with golden badges, ranking them up from silver to gold level adventurers. Nia watched quietly as the rest of the crowd cheered. She hated this. She absolutely hated all of this. Watching a bunch of kids, who almost destroyed the city, get that kind of recognition and praise, made her angry and left her with a sick feeling in her stomach. If it wasn¡¯t for her hesitance in talking to a group of four people or more, she would have scolded them severely. Although this was a job better suited for Aurus, who was too busy with everything else to do something about it.


    She pushed her anger aside. There wasn¡¯t any meaningful thing she could do about it now. Maybe have a conversation with Ren later? Judging from the happy expression the kid had on his face, he probably thought none of what happened was his fault. This was not a conversation Nia wanted to have, especially now, with work pilling up more and more every day.


    Aurus finished the task and walked off stage as the adventurers cheered amongst themselves. The mayor was going to be announcing a party soon, Nia was sure of it. She met with the guild master and they both began walking away from the crowded mess before things got too out of hand. After quickly saying their goodbyes, she started making her way back home. The sooner she made it to bed the earlier she woke up, meaning more time to finish all the reports she hadn¡¯t yet done. Her inner thoughts were interrupted as she felt a hand poke her on the shoulder.


    ¡°Hey Nia! You aren¡¯t sticking around for the party?¡± Ren asked, looking a little out of breath.


    ¡°No. I have a lot of work tomorrow.¡± She answered half-heartedly.


    ¡°Are you sure? We are going all out this time. It¡¯s going to be a lot of fun!¡±


    ¡°No thanks. I¡¯m not really a party person.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s alright I guess. Hey I was wondering¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey Ren! It¡¯s starting!¡± Almer shouted from behind his friend.


    ¡°Oh alright. I better get going then. See you Nia!¡±


    ¡°Bye¡­¡± She hesitated. ¡°Hey Ren?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± He turned around.


    ¡°You know that what you did was incredibly reckless, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I mean, we still saved the day.¡± He said before running off.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not what I meant.¡± She finished her sentence as the adventurer ran off once again.


    Sighing deeply, she began heading back to her house. It wasn¡¯t too far from the festivities but was still a fifteen minute walk. At least it would give her time to reflect. She looked up, enjoying the sight of the sunburnt sky. The shades of orange and purple melded perfectly as the day ended and signaled the beginning of the night. This was her favorite time of day. Even if the twilight didn¡¯t last long, it gave her enough peace of mind to calm down after getting worked up during the ceremony.


    I hope those kids realize how reckless they were¡­


    She rounded a street corner and kept walking. She was very close now, just a few more blocks and she would be home. Her mind however kept replaying the scenes of the last few days, the desperation of rescuing her boss, the fear and confusion born of the explosion, the tiredness of all the following paperwork, the indignation that the ones responsible for the chaos being treated like heroes. Too much was happening too quickly, and she had a feeling it was only going to get worse.


    At least I have the sunset to help me through all of this¡­


    ¡°Hey Nia! Can you help us out?¡±


    So much for my emotional health¡­ ¡°Yes. What is it?¡±


    She turned to face two old men sitting near each other, on the outside of a bar. Ever since she had moved in from the capital, she had gotten to know her neighborhood well, maybe a little too well. Stanley and Walter were what could be best described as, old coots. They weren¡¯t as angry and as resentful of the youth as other senior members of society, but they still had their altercations with other people and themselves. Usually in the form of inane arguments that did nothing but waste other people¡¯s time.


    ¡°We need to settle an argument.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an argument when I know I¡¯m right!¡±


    ¡°Shut up Stan!¡± Walter turned to his ¡®friend¡¯. ¡°So basically, we are discussing whether anti-aging magic exists.¡±


    ¡°Anti what magic?¡±


    ¡°Aging! I saw this skin cream being sold directly from the capital that said it had anti-aging magic. Since you work so closely with magic and other stuff like that we were hoping we could settle this.¡± Stan interjected.


    ¡°Of course anti-aging magic doesn¡¯t exist! It¡¯s obviously reverse-aging magic!¡±


    ¡°Shut it Walter! How can any magic reverse aging? It clearly stops you from getting older so it¡¯s anti-aging!¡±


    ¡°How would you know? You wouldn¡¯t even notice magic if it was all over your wrinkly face!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk! Your face has even more wrinkles than my entire back!¡±


    I did not need that picture in my head¡­


    ¡°Guys!¡± She interrupted them. ¡°So you are arguing for anti-aging magic, and you for reverse-aging magic. Did I get this right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and if you tell this old fart here that his idea is stupid and not true. I¡¯ll pay you a gold coin.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me. I can hear you!¡±


    ¡°I thought you were deaf in that ear.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the other ear idiot. You don¡¯t even know your left from your right, how can you know anything about magic?¡±


    ¡°My right thumb knows more about magic than you.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t had a right thumb since the war!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if I still had it I¡¯d be shoving it in your eye right now!¡±


    ¡°Well, then I would get my walking stick and shove right up your¡­¡±


    ¡°Guys!!!¡± Nia did want another image like that in her head. ¡°There is no anti-aging or reverse-aging magic. It¡¯s clearly anti-wrinkle magic. They only say it affects aging because you end up looking younger. Happy now?¡±


    ¡°See? I told you your idea was wrong.¡±


    ¡°Yours was too idiot! Thank you for telling this moron his idea was stupid.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Now where is the silver piece I promised?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t promise a¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah! Here we go. One copper piece for you.¡±


    ¡°¡­Thanks.¡± She stared at the coin in her hand before pocketing it. ¡°I¡¯m going home.¡±


    ¡°Be careful out there! Heard that the flying kid has been seen around these areas.¡±


    ¡°Flying kid?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just an urban legend this old coot believes in. Don¡¯t pay any mind.¡±


    ¡°Urban legend my ass! My nephew¡¯s friend¡¯s daughter saw him! He flies around and steals clothes from people. Some say it¡¯s because they stole his clothes a while ago and he came back for revenge! They also say it all started in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild! So you be careful out there Nia.¡±


    She stared at Stanley blankly before her mind flashed back to a time where she accidentally launched a dead body out of the window of the guild. As the memories of almost destroying the body of a young adventurer flooded back, she held back her embarrassment as best she could.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ stay put¡­¡± She turned her blushing face away.


    ¡°Good.¡± The old man scratched his head before turning to his friend. ¡°You know, I wonder how the anti-wrinkle magic works. It probably gets rid of wrinkles as fast as you get them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s preposterous. You stop getting wrinkles entirely but keep the ones you already have.¡±


    ¡°But that would be reverse-wrinkle magic, and she clearly said anti-wrinkle!¡±


    ¡°Well maybe she got confused! Nia can you explain to us how that magic¡­¡±


    Unfortunately for them Nia had quickly walked away as soon as the new discussion began. Walking away from the older men was easy considering how much practice she had over the last year she had lived there.


    She approached her building, a medium-sized three-story housing complex with stairs leading up to the rest. This was one of many buildings that housed multiple people in Anderess. Only a few people could afford their own house inside the city, so multiple people living in the same building was commonplace. She trudged along the stairs going up to the second floor, where she lived. If she had to go up another set of stairs, she would just sleep on the floor. She reached the door to her apartment and stared at it.


    18 months living here¡­ Have I really been living here for almost two years? Why does it feel so much longer than that?


    She opened the door into her small living room. Despite the small size she had a bit of furniture for herself, a small couch to rest, a dinner table in a corner and a small table near the entrance with a potted plant on top as decoration. A door led further inside to her bedroom. A few trinkets and baubles littered her table, mainly small objects that she found interesting but didn¡¯t really have any value beyond that. Everything was in place, except for her patience. She was still angry at what had taken place, but sighed and headed to her room.


    It was lightly furnished, just like the living room. A small bed was tucked next to a wall facing opposite to a small window, and next to it, a bedside table with a few drawers built in. A somewhat large closet stood near the foot of the bed, also facing the window wall. She sat on her bed and placed the copper coin on the small table before unwinding her hair from the braid she usually kept. Hanging her coat and uniform in the closet, she made her way to the bath. Afterwards she quickly changed into more homely clothes before sitting on her bed, still pondering over what she had learned that day.


    The Thieves Guild, or at least their leader, was hired to steal from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild Warehouse.


    She reached into her bedside cabinet and opened the drawer.


    According to Aurus, a noble in the capital probably hired them.


    She put the copper coin in the drawer before reaching further in.


    Nilbert refused to talk, even with torture. Which means it¡¯s most likely someone who has enough influence to reach him in prison.


    Reaching in further she flipped a switch that opened a small compartment further in the drawer, and took the item inside.


    If all of this is true, then that means¡­ I have to do something about this. I¡¯m a bit swamped with work but I think I can safely take a few days off to go to the capital. Looking around the nobility might be dangerous.


    She held up and gazed at the item previously hidden in her drawer, an Honor Badge, as clean and shiny as the day it was given to Dorus.


    But I have a feeling this will help quite a bit.


    She smiled as she remembered the day she took it from the large adventurer. It was just a matter of waiting for the right time between sobriety potions to swipe it from him. She was glad the group was able to recover the remaining two badges from the thieves, since it meant they might get even more jail time, but she wasn¡¯t about to give the badge to those undeserving adventurers anytime soon.


    She had always been careful to only swipe things that people wouldn¡¯t really miss. She did occasionally steal a few coins but never enough to rouse any suspicion. Most people don¡¯t count their silver and copper pieces as well as they count their gold after all. Money wasn¡¯t the issue, in fact, she did have a good quantity of gold stored away for emergencies, and the salary from the guild was enough for food and other things. She just took things because she liked it, and because it kept her sharp while she prepared for her real job. Her job as an assistant started around a year ago, just some time after she moved in from the capital, but her real job started way before that. Her true ambition was something that was in the works ever since she managed to steal from the Royal Bank.


    To break into the Adventurer¡¯s Guild Warehouse was a job that required her to not only infiltrate the guild itself, but to gain the trust of the guild master. Work her way to the position of assistant and eventually, if possible, gain access to the warehouse through the guild. She knew there was a magical entrance in there somewhere, but after a few months of searching, she realized it was going to be harder than originally thought. It was a secret held by the highest members of the kingdom after all, so it wasn¡¯t surprising. What did surprise her was that someone else hired the thieves.


    During her first few months of preparation in the capital, she received contact by someone who wanted to hire her to steal from the warehouse. However, she had never needed anyone¡¯s help to steal things so she refused. She did not imagine that same person would attempt it again with a larger group. Now she knew it was a noble, and considering the fear Nilbert had about saying anything, it was a noble with many connections. She got up and paced around the room.


    If I don¡¯t do something about it, whoever tried to hire me and those thieves is just going to try again. And the more they try, the more cautious Aurus becomes, making my job even harder. I¡¯m not really the best at confronting people head on, so taking them down on my own is out of the question¡­ However, I could help Aurus take them down. It would get rid of this thorn on my side, and if I do this right, give me an opening to get into the warehouse while in the capital! I wouldn¡¯t have to find the magic opening in the guild after all!


    Putting away the badge in the secret compartment, she laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.


    I AM supposed to be the one who takes care of things here while Aurus is gone¡­ but a few sick days in a row should be enough to help him out. But I don¡¯t want to raise any suspicion with him¡­ I¡¯ll have to stay in the shadows. I do NOT want to know how he will react if he finds out who I am.


    Despite her plans, she did not want him to discover her real identity, The Great Thief Lyssa. She actually hated that title, ¡®Great Thief¡¯. To herself, she was just Lyssa. She never liked the spotlight. Getting too much attention always made her nervous, but she always did make a point to leave something behind from the places she stole, just so they know she had been there. Just so that they know that there were no limits, walls, or gates that could stop her.


    Even with her grand plan in motion, that was exactly what she planned on doing. In and out of the warehouse, little to no witnesses, maybe an item or two she found interesting, and something left behind so they would know she had finally done it. But even after the job was done, she did not want Aurus to find out. Seeing how far he was willing to go to protect that place, and how competent he was at his job, made her incredibly wary of turning him into an enemy. Besides, her poor boss could not catch a break, which is why he would never know who she truly was. She even planned to keep working at the guild for a few more months before quitting.


    It would be suspicious if I quit just after the heist. So, I¡¯ll probably lay low and keep doing my job as an assistant. Not the worst decision I¡¯ve made in my life. Plus, after all this time, I think I got the hang of filling out different forms and making spreadsheets pretty well. Even with the long hours, and endless stacks of documents, and crazy coworkers, I¡¯m kind of going to miss working at the guild.


    She reminisced a bit more about her assistant duties and the work she had to do tomorrow as her eyes slowly closed, finally feeling the weight of the workday ending. Her mind echoed the conversations she had had that day. From Karla and her ¡®problems, to Ren and his cluelessness, to Aurus and how hard he was working. She wondered how he would react to the news she broke into the warehouse. Not well, she assumed. Her thoughts now switched to the various times Aurus had warned people about how dangerous magic could be.


    If I think about it, the only thing I need to do is break in and leave something behind. She yawned, sleep finally catching up to her. Maybe I won¡¯t take any items in the end¡­ just the knowledge that I¡­ broke in... is enough¡­