‹ Darshan ›
"Come on people, get a move on!" - Gate guard
It had taken us a whole four days on foot to reach the closest frontier city, Saphren.
Now standing in queue to enter the city, I fiddle nervously as I dreaded what was going to happen next.
Suddenly feeling a rough but pleasant hand on my cheek, I smile.
"Stop yer worryin'. It's going to be just alright" - Yrmel
Taking a deep breath I glance at the smiling Yrmel.
"(Sigh), Yeah... I just really do not think the future is spelling out to be all that good for us."- Me
"Geez! Why did we seriously have to spare on expenses and not bring any horses, my feet are killing me!" - Elias
"Shut it, Elias. Without the money from the alpha rabbit's horn retrieval quest, we couldn't spend money on anything not strictly necessary or we wouldn't even be able to eat for the next few days." - Me
"Yeah, yeah, I know..." - Elias
Sighing when looking at the despondent expression on Elias' face, I return my attention to the city gate.
Now finally our turn, we hear the voice of a city guard that was holding a quill and some parchment.
"Already registered? If not, name, occupation, and reason for entry." - Gate guard
"We're already registered, adventurers Darshan Fenren, Yrmel Veld, Hannard Silverarm, Elias Alde" - Me
Saphren was the frontier city where all of us had partied up. While I knew Hannard from my father, I met Yrmel and Elias here in this city.
This was the place where we all had set out on our goals to become adventurers two years ago.
Seeing the guard wave us to the gate, we entered Saphren.
Saphren was a smaller frontier city of Mordria but a prime location for new adventurers.
With close to half of all the people on the streets being adventurers, it was obvious what kind of things were being sold in the many stalls of the marketplace.
Anywhere from armor polishing to selling your unwanted rare monster genitals, could be done here.
Beelining straight for the guild house shared with the Mordrian military guard, which is a giant building in a wide and open square in the heart of the city.
Moving past crowds we finally manage to enter the open and spacious guildhall.
Hearing the boisterous noise of people laughing and drinking, other calling out request for open spots in a quest or other guild-related stuff, I smile slightly.
"Yo boss? Can we wait just a bit I need to take a dump." - Elias
"Are you fucking kidding me? Like seriously can't you just wait a little, we need to get this done as soon as possible." - Me
That guy can literally do the most inappropriate things in the most serious of situations. But we're still very good friends and our banter never gets to us, Elias can just simply be a dolt sometimes.
Seeing the pained look on Elias' face I turn the receptionist now ready for us.
"Hello! How can I help you?" - Receptionist
While not beautiful, she was definitely the cute type.
"Um, hi. We have urgent information to report to the guild master here." - Me
Upon saying that the receptionist suddenly adopted a very serious look on her face.
It was absolutely no easy matter to meet the guild master of a guild house. And for someone of our status, it would be virtually impossible in normal circumstances.
But with the news of a potential sanguinite queen, which could potentially threaten a kingdom if left unchecked in longer periods of time, it was something more than worth a guild master's time.
"If your report is not of utmost significance then calling upon a guild master without valid reasoning is a grave offense. Are you sure you want to call the guild master of this establishment?" - Receptionist
"Yes" - Me
Hearing my affirmation she looks down at a round obsidian-like rock and uses her finger to draw a circle on it which creates a faint blue glow that slowly dims out.
Waiting a few seconds, the circle of blue glow blinks once more and then disappears.
"Okay, the guild master ready to meet you now. Follow me" - Receptionist
Seeing the receptionist wave another girl over to take her spot and begin walking towards a staircase situated for personally only, we followed her nervously.
One of the reasons why it would be a grave offense calling upon a guild master if because of the sheer power they wield.
Any guild master of any guild house are all at least E-rank adventurers.
While the ranks of adventurers are largely based on the power ranking of the system, they are still a bit different.
The rank an adventurer holds is the level of ability that they possess. So, for example, adventurers with F-rank level of abilities which could be anything from combat to information gathering, they are most suited for quests of equal rank in a party of F-rank adventurers.
While the guild master of Saphren is one of the weaker guild masters since they're of a smaller city, they're still someone to be feared.
Stopping at the end of a long hallway, the receptionist knocks on the wide wooden door.
"Come in" - ???
A distinctly feminine and relaxing voice spoke from inside the room.
Upon hearing the woman's voice the receptionist opened the door.
Walking in, I noticed that to the side of the room where a table stood, was an absolutely stunning beauty pouring a drink.
She was very tall, coupled with a slender waist, it made her long pale legs somewhat covered by a mix of black leather.
Down to the base of her shoulder blades was hanging smooth jet black hair.
And oh boy, did her figure seem that of the perfect combination between athleticism and that of a woman.
Two small round mounds on her chest, although small was in absolute perfect proportions to her body shape.
With her taught and firm ass and a beautiful angular face, literally everything about her played harmony with each other.
Noticing we were staring, I looked the Elias and Hannard.
While no surprise that Elias was practically drooling, I was surprised that even Hannard, the battle-hardened man, was also stunned to an extent by the beauty before us.
Seeing the annoyed look that Yrmel shot me, I immediately sobered up and stopped the other guys from angering two women who might just be strong enough to beat us all up.
Noticing that in the room were nobody else, I immediately realized I probably had mistaken the guild master for a man.
Finally turning around from her assortment of beverages she walked over to the big chair seated behind a wide oaken desk and sat down with her drink.
Motioning with a wave of her hands, we all stand in line before the desk.
"So. What is so important that is requires my attention?" - ???
Taking a slight step forward I speak up.
"W-we have a report about ominous signs while out on a quest at the glades of Mordria." - Me
Squinting her beautiful emerald eyes, she spoke.
"Ominous signs? What the hell could be so ominous that it requires my attention?" - ???
Taking a deep breath, to steady myself, I let it out.
"We have reason to believe that a sanguinite queen has appeared around the glades of Mordria." - Me
Suddenly, without any warning or time to react, the guildmaster disappeared and reappeared right in front of me.
Startled I instinctively take a step back. But before I manage to do so, she grabs my arm with an unshakeable grip that holds me in place.
"Is what you're saying true?" - ???
Her voice had now turned to ice, and the gaze of her emerald eyes felt as if it was cutting into my flesh.
"Y-y-yes" - Me
I manage to get out, under a palpable pressure that had begun to descent down upon me.
Hearing that, the guild master adopted an unreadable expression on her face as she let go of her grip on my arm.
Returning to her place behind the desk, she now seemed extremely worried and tired instead.
"What made you believe a fucking sanguinite queen has appeared in glades of Mordria?" - ???
Recollecting my composure, I straightened my back and laid out my report.
"Upon returning to rest in a nearby village, our scout Elias, had his danger sense activated and knew that someone or something was stalking us. But when Elias used his skills of stealth and sought out whatever it was, we were unable to find it. So we thought of it no more at the time.
We had finally got to the village and later, after night had fallen, we heard a scream. The town's healer had been killed in the dead of night. But what was something very odd about it. It was the fact that his gaunt appearance looked like he had been sucked dry with almost no blood left. Upon inspecting the body we found only a single puncture mark on his thigh. We do not know of any other monsters that are big enough to devour that much blood from a human who also hunts in that way, other than a sanguinite drone." - Me
"Fuck, how long has it been since it happened?" - ???
"We were traveling on foot the way here so four days." - Me
Looking away, the guild master picked up some parchments.
"We have to immediately inform this to the Mordrian military. But the biggest frontier city in the vicinity of Saphren is Eldenheim, which is 10 days away on foot. It seems I have to spend a use of our city's communication amulet (Sigh)" - ???
All cities of Mordria has a communication amulet that can transfer instant information to any city within Mordria. However the amulets have limited uses since all magic is rare and to allow people without it to use it, is very expensive. Not to mention that the number of archmages that exist within the kingdom is sparse, so only the biggest cities can communicate freely.
Giving us a scrutinizing look, the guild master spoke.
"You and your party need to stay here and wait for the extermination squad, so you can escort them back to the scene. The guild house will provide food and accommodation for you until then." - ???
Seeing the downcast expressions on all four of us upon hearing confirmation that we'd have to act as guide, she spoke up again.
"Stop with your sour expressions, you will be rewarded handsomely for your loyalty to Mordria, in taking responsibility instead of running." - ???
Leading us over to the wide wooden door, she let us all out and paused before closing the door.
"I'm Lily, the guild master of Saphren. We will be meeting again, soon enough." - Lily