The guild hall is bustling with activity. Adventurers of all ranks are scattered throughout, some huddled in groups discussing missions, others boasting about their latest conquests. As the doors swing open, a hush falls over the room. All eyes turn to us, and I can see the curiosity and astonishment in their gazes.
“Who are they?” I hear someone whisper.
“Must be high-ranked,” another murmurs, eyes wide with admiration.
Ayame and I stride confidently towards the guild’s mission board, our armor clinking softly with each step. The intricate designs on Ayame’s suit catch the light, highlighting the golden patterns that speak of her disciplined training and the honor she carries into every battle.
“Look at those two,” a seasoned-looking warrior says, nodding in our direction. “They must be at least Silver rank, if not higher.”
“Probably Gold,” his companion replies, clearly impressed.
That’s right. This is just how good these armors are. The cost of 90 silver might not sound much after talking about 900 gold coins worthy magical items, but for regular people that’s an exorbitant amount of money. Even adventurers will have to work hard for sets like these, unless, of course, they are very high ranked.
Then another one shouts, “no! I know the slave woman! That’s Hana, the beautiful battle babe! The one whose master wanted to name his team Quinlan’s Beautiful Battle Babes! I was there when they were registering, and I had the best laugh in the past decade of my life. My stomach still hurts.
Hahaha!”
Fuck. Our epic entrance got ruined. And I was so into it too. Suddenly I feel someone staring icy daggers into me and I don’t need to look at the perpetrator to guess who it might be.
It’s not like I was trying to hide my identity inside the guild, so I don’t care about being found out. I know that it’s their policy to not allow people to wear their helmets, hoods or masks inside their halls, so there was no attempt at hiding my identity in the first place.
This armor was always intended to be my all-purpose one, I will have to invest into another gear set which is used strictly for illicit activities so that my identity doesn’t get blown as soon as someone sees my armor.
“Oh, then that must be Quinlan! Is he a noble to be able to afford such armor right after registering as an iron plate? He even has a Fujimori combat slave… She really is a beautiful battle babe… We shouldn’t mock him then…”
That hushes the crowd. I see no reason to clear up the misunderstanding.
We walk to the inn portion of the guild and order lunch. We might as well dig in while waiting for the fatty.
…
“Hey, Lardy! Over here! Come eat with your senior.” Grunt calls out to Ian when he and Blossom finally arrive. Grunt was already seated in the inn when I came, his two slaves standing loyally behind him. This time they are not wearing their baggy civilian clothes as they are dressed for combat. Perhaps they plan to move out after the meal.
Grunt seems to be a regular warrior with heavy armor and a warhammer while his two slaves appear to be rogue-types, evidenced by their sharp daggers and dark, hooded robes.
I don’t understand why neither he nor Kai made a better team composition, but you won’t catch me complaining.
“Ah! Brother Grunt!” Ian recognizes him and waddles over, after which he takes a seat and orders three meals.
“Still as good of an eater as before, huh? How was your time with the lovely Lily?”
“Oh, brother, she is just wonderful. I asked her to tell me some tales about her worst clients, besides myself, of course, and she reluctantly obliged. It didn’t even take her ten seconds to begin sobbing helplessly. It resulted in the fattest nut I’ve released in a long time!” He says with a proud grin.
“Kekeke! You are just as despicable as I remember, good. Good!”
The fatty then glances around, “where’s big brother?”
“Oh, he went to our duchy’s, Greenvale’s, capital city to sell that old slave of his. Supposedly the market there is much more abundant and he has some connections there.”
“Oh! How envious. Maybe I should’ve gone there to buy a slave instead of this useless one!”
“You know, my offer still stands. These two and a gold coin for your doggy.”
“I might be dumb but not that dumb! My slave is a level 13 Phantom Canine, a rare class! Yours are barely level ten and are a duo of basic Assassin and Thief!”
Oh? Phantom Canine sounds utterly badass. Back when I bought Ayame I saw an Assassin cat-kin who was level 19, and she cost 20 gold coins. She only had a basic class but her level was much higher, so from this I can estimate that Blossom’s market price should be between 10-15 gold coins at least. I wonder how this tard got his greasy hands on her contract.
Grunt clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Well, it was worth a try. But now you better stop complaining about her uselessness or I swear I will beat you up.”
Ian swallows a lump of saliva in his throat audibly. “Alright…” The pecking order is quite clear; Kai is the big boss, Grunt is the sergeant while Ian is the reject who failed to even become a foot soldier.
They continue merrily chatting while gorging multiple plates of food. Even from over there I can hear poor Blossom’s stomach grumble but, of course, no one pays attention to her. Once they are done, Ian stands and walks over to the quest board, and after a minute takes one paper off.
“Orc movement scouting this time should be good.” He states loudly then walks over to Evelyn who is standing at the reception desk and accepts the quest officially.
Orcs now? Is the county facing the threat of a greenskin invasion or what?
He then throws the mission paper at Blossom. “Go make money!” After that he waddles back to the bar section of the inn.
Blossom gives me a knowing glance before nodding and then turning to leave.