Second-in-command sounded a lot nicer as a title when ignoring the fact that being second in a guild-to-be of two people meant being last. Otto claimed to be busy managing "logistics" while he handed most of the actual work onto Curt. Work apparently meant trying to sell off guns and dumpster diving for spare parts.
Several weeks have passed since Curt first arrived in Sanora's capital city, Endyre. The bustling city was an entirely different sort of beast from Gold Glade or Ore Town. Throngs of people crowded the streets, and the entirety of Gold Glade was no bigger than a single district of Endyre, and Endyre had six: Low Town, Mid Town, High Town, Market, Guild, and the Castle District.
Otto took Curt straight to Low Town upon arrival, where apparently he and Kirina lived in a rent-free room right alongside the city's great, white walls. Supposedly the old owner of the room was "persuaded" to move out by Kirina when she first landed in Sanora two years before Otto had.
The Yulian woman was in her late thirties now, and apparently was a gunsmith for the Yulian army before she fell during an ambush from the Hawks. She had a serious looking face, and kept her long, blond hair tied up in a messy bun, held in place with a screwdriver. Kirina got away with just a broken leg when she fell through the sky. Her left leg still was no good, and she had to walk with a limp, but considering the height of the fall, she got off lucky. She figured most Dusters and Yulians who fell probably ended up dead. She didn't know any other survivors until she saved Otto.
Otto was about as lucky as Curt was when arriving to Sanora. His fall was broken because as a scrawny kid he managed to make a makeshift parachute with his clothes before he plunged into the ocean. He washed ashore soon after, where Kirina found him while searching the beach for washed up debris she could use to craft a gun.
"I kind of regret helping him out, you know," Kirina had remarked during her retelling. "If I'd known he was your stereotypical, sleazy Duster, I would've left him on the beach for some other sucker to pick up."
Sleazy or not, Otto was the only fellow Duster, even coming from the same town, that Curt knew in Sanora. And according to Otto, with Curt among their ranks, they could make it big in Sanora.
"This 'ere is virgin territory, Curt," Otto had said. "A land untouched by blackpowder. Yeah sure, they ain't exactly primitive and they got magic, but I'd bet on a gun over magic. Y'see, magic takes some time to cast and years of learnin', but guns? One pull o' the trigger, and bam! Other guy's dead — as long as you're a good shot, of course. Mages are as human as us gunslingers. I'm sure once the people 'round here get that, we'll get richer than Yulian royalty down here."
It was apparently Otto's idea to go around Sanora to peddle guns made by Kirina to earn some money to upgrade their current living situation. Unfortunately, sales were terrible. In fact, Curt wouldn't be surprised if he'd never sold a gun in the past thirteen years he was down here. Apparently, guns sold bad in a continent during peaceful times. While there were apparently monsters out in the wild, organizations known as guilds seemed to take care of them well enough without guns.
Kirina, on the other hand, seemed like she couldn't care less about making money. She seemed oddly content living in a dingy room tinkering with scrap metal. She claimed making guns was her love in life, and didn't seem to be as finicky as Curt expected a Yulian to be. Even now she was busy with her current research on fusing magic crystals with guns.
Otto's current plan now involved forming a guild. Not only could guilds pick up well-paying commissions and bounties, high ranking guilds received a stipend from the kingdom. Otto also saw it as a great advertising campaign. If tales spread of the usefulness of guns, demand would undoubtedly increase, and then they'd finally be turning a profit.
The only wrench in the plan was the steep initial cost for registering a guild.
"200,000 gold?" Otto asked in outrage as he and Curt stood outside the Holy Order's church. "That's outright robbery! Surely that's considered a sin by the Order?"
The priestess just sighed. "Look, the price won't change no matter how many times you visit. The fee is required to process all documentation and update our records. We also want to make sure only those properly prepared can create a guild."
Without waiting for Otto's reply, the priestess waved in the next client.
"200,000 gold pieces," Otto said as they walked back outside the church. His eyes glazed over as he stared off into the horizon.
"How many do we have?" Curt asked.
Otto slowly smiled. "Zero."
"Zero? Zero?! Then where have we been getting all our food from?"
Otto pointed back to the church. "Soup kitchen."
So all this time, Curt had been living off charity. Though it seems like ever since he arrived to Sanora, he'd been relying on others.
Curt sighed. "So, surely you and Kirina have made some amount of money in the past decade. Where'd all that go?"
"Parts and those magic crystals Kirina's been working with," Otto said with a shrug. "I thought it was a good investment, but the guns never sold. We do have some nice pistols if you need any, though."
The duo began their walk back to their base in Low Town. The Holy Order's church was situated all the way up in the border of the Guild District and High Town, and the difference in affluence was striking.
Roads were clean and paved with smooth stone; folk wore fancier stuff; there were no beggars on the street corners or muggers shadowing the back alleys. The proximity to the Guild District also had a lot of adventurers walking past wielding all sorts of weapons: swords, tonfas, axes, staves, and spears, though no guns. Except for two, dirt poor Dusters.
"So, do you ever get homesick?" Otto asked, breaking the silence.
"Not really. I've been down here only a few weeks anyways. Got no one to miss or miss me back home. And it's not like my life was much better than it is now. Though I do miss having some spare change for a drink," Curt replied. "You?"
Otto tipped his hat slightly lower as he smiled. "Not at all. I was a grubby street urchin in Ore Town, but here in Endyre? I could become someone. Someone who matters. I think it was fate that I dropped outta the sky. I'm gonna be someone important down here. I'd have been nothing back up in the Dusts."
A large man stepped out of a side alley and blocked their way. The figure towered over both Curt and Otto — something neither of them were used to. The man was easily twice the size of either of them, and the extra mass seemed to be entirely muscle. He had long, golden blond hair that shimmered in the sunlight, matching his equally shining and golden armor. He had a large cross strapped on his back that was nearly as tall and broad as he was.
The stranger seemed to be glaring down at the both of them. Judging by the bulky man's appearance, Curt doubted they were getting mugged. They were barely out of the Guild District after all. Could it be trouble with the law? Somehow, it wouldn't surprise Curt if there was a wanted poster of Otto somewhere.
"You there." The man gestured towards Otto. Curt began to weigh his options. Plead ignorance to Otto's misdeeds, which was the truth, or try to run? "Did you mention… dropping out of the sky?"
"I might've," Otto replied.
The man's eyes narrowed further at Otto. Then, he turned to look at Curt, staring for a moment. "If you did come from above the sky, then I'd like to talk to you. Though, your white-haired friend here seems to fit the story I heard better."
"What story?" Curt blurted out.
"I was in Gold Glade not too long ago. Heard a rumor there that a tall man with white hair who wielded two, strange weapons fell out of the sky."
Curt had to stop himself from slapping his palm to his face. Celia. It had to be Celia. He doubted Luke liked to gossip, and he figured when Celia realized he was no undercover angel, the truth was fair game. Well, it's not like he was trying to keep it a secret.
"That would be me," Curt relented, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Please don't tell me that's illegal here or something. I'm new here."
The man shook his head. "I wouldn't worry about that. I'm just a member of the Holy Order. I've been following the faith blindly for too long though. During my studies, I've come across some troubling information. I'd like a chance to verify some of it. I'll even pay for the information," he added, holding up a small coin pouch.
Otto's hand snatched out and grabbed it. "Of course, we'd be willing to talk. But as you might expect, rare, first-hand information like this won't come cheap."
Otto dumped the small pouch's contents into the palm of his hand, and quickly counted up the coins. "A hundred gold's worth of information will only get you a few sentences from us, I'm afraid." Otto closed his eyes and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "Hm, but I believe something like… 100,000 a story would be good. So 200,000 gold would be worth both of our stories."
"200,000 gold?" The stranger asked in outrage. "That's a small fortune you're asking for!"
"Well, it was nice meeting you then." Otto dumped the coins back into the pouch and began to walk off. Curt hurried after him, knowing that the poor man would have no choice.
"Wait, wait." The man caught up with them, this time holding a sizable coin purse. "It's all my savings, but I'll pay. However, if this turns out to be nothing but falsehood…"
Otto pocketed the purse with a smile. "You've got nothin' to worry about, friend. Him and me? We're genuine articles from up high. For your generosity, I'll even throw you a freebie. We ain't the only ones. There's one more, a woman, who's also from above the clouds. You might be interested in hearing her tale too, especially since she's from a different continent than us back home."
"Another one? A different continent? So there really is—"
"But," Otto went on. "She's not the talkative type, so she probably won't share her tale with you 'til she gets to know you. Don't worry about her though, I've got an idea to help you get her story. Oh, but where are my manners! I'm Otto, and this 'ere is Curt. What's your name, friend?"
"Bauph Thywekauss," he replied, shaking Otto's hand.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Bauph. Now before we talk — it'll be quite a long story — Curt and I got an errand to run. Our home's in Low Town, right by the wall next to Pedlar's Inn. It's got a cart out front. You can't miss it. We'll meet you there in a few."
Bauph seemed reluctant to trust Otto not to run off with all his gold, but nodded and headed for Low Town in the end. Curt was sure that he took a good moment to study their faces, in case he needed to put up a bounty on them later on.
Once Bauph was out of sight, Otto clapped Curt on the back. "We did it!" Otto cried out, nearly giddy as he shook the heavy coin purse in the air. "Let's hurry up and register our guild before the wheel o' fortune turns again."
"Ah, but first," Otto stopped and spun back to face Curt. "A great guild like our's is gonna need a name. Help me think of one."
"You didn't have a name planned out already?" Curt asked in disbelief. "Surely you've had years to think of one."
Otto grinned. "Honestly I didn't think of making a guild 'til I met you. But whatever, that's not important. C'mon and help me think of a cool name. So far all I've got is 'The Great Dusters', 'Dusters Rule', or 'Killer Otto'."
"Well, let's first think of what our guild is going to be like. I doubt it'll just be the two of us, so calling it after 'Dusters' isn't really right. And 'Killer Otto' honestly sounds like a criminal name so maybe not that. What kind of guild were you hoping for anyways?"
"What kind of guild I want, huh." Otto frowned in thought. "I want it to be a guild of gunslingers like us. I guess they don't gotta be Dusters too. But I'd also like to prove that us gunslingers aren't cowards who only fight at a range like how Yulians fight. We'd show 'em the Duster way of fighting where range don't matter. We're as good point blank as we are from afar."
Otto began to nod. "'Point Blank'. I doubt Sanorans down here know what that means. Let's show 'em in style."
---
The priestess glanced at Otto doubtfully as she took the coins and handed him the papers to fill out. She seemed to be considering reporting the wealth as theft, and Curt wouldn't blame her. Not an hour ago they had left here penniless and returned with the exact sum.
"Point Blank. It's finalized," Otto declared as he signed off the last paper. "We're on our way up now, Curt. Just you wait, we'll be living the good life up in High Town in no time!"
Curt glanced at the sheet of paper handed over to the priestess. "I thought you said this was going to be guild of gunslingers only? Why'd you add that Bauph guy to the members list?"
"I told him I'd help him get Kirina's story, didn't I? What better way than to be in the same guild as us? He might not be gunslinger material, but I'm sure he'll prove himself useful. Beggars can't be choosers after all. There's a 3-man minimum for a guild after all."
"Kirina's not in the guild with us?"
"She'd kill me if I signed her up. Anyways, she can't fight with that leg o' hers."
Curt followed Otto back to their base in Low Town without complaint. If anything went wrong, he'd just say he was tricked by Otto into following him. If things went well, then he has nothing to worry about.