Previously
Willow giggled at that, sounding like heavenly, little bells. "Perhaps we should eat first. What do you say, Raegis?"
Raegis never nodded her head so fast. Then, they both got up as Raegis twiddled behind Willow, knowing that right there, she had never felt so right before. Before she walked through the door, she turned back to the small room and took a long, hard look at the only window Willow had opened for her.
It was then that she swore to always protect Willow. Surprisingly, Fluffy seconded the vow and howled loudly.
Then, the doors closed, and they went for lunch.
The Adventurer's Society, HighTown Branch
Not even a few days off really changed the Adventurer's Society. There was still the majority of drunk adventurers yowling by their tables, a bunch of milkmaids who were a lot stronger than you'd think them to be, and finally a line of people who wanted to try their luck at being an adventurer.
I would have been in such a line, if it weren't for the fact that I was someone the star receptionist of the guild considered interesting. The receptionist saw me, gave a big smile to me along with Raegis, before pressing a button which allowed a hole to appear, allowing me to walk into the receptionist's space.
As I walked in, I realized something was strange.
"A Veil?" That's right. Right now, I could faintly sense the veil of magic cloaked around the space, a veil that had been imbued with the protection of illusions so that it'd looked like we weren't even here.
"So you can even sense that, huh?" The receptionist told me, slowly unmasking her illusion. Golden white robes, along with gray hair and a shiny platinum badge were the first things I saw.
"Illya!" I said, loudly.
"And, here I thought you'd already forgotten about me," Illya Goodfield, the Master Of Illusions, smiled gently at me. Then, she turned her attention to Raegis, and was surprised to see how clean she actually was.
"Oh, you look visibly better now, don't you, child?" Illya tapped her eyes at Raegis. "Your eyes look a lot much clearer."
"Mmn."
Illya's smile widened. "And, you can talk too." She turned back to me, and had a sad glint in her tired eyes. "Some wounds take longer than most to heal, but I'm happy to see this one's managed to keep it together at least."
"And, here I thought I'd have to get involved if you screwed up."
Did anyone else just get a shiver up their spines? I really didn't want the future mother of illusions to rain nightmares upon my delicate, little mind.
I shook my head, and tried my best to appear confident. It was a little hard speaking with a magical veil covering my entire face, but I'd have to keep it on unless I wanted the entire Society falling for me. Was that narcissistic? Maybe. I didn't care.
The magical veil was something of a gift in the storage pouch Ivanka had given me before I'd left, and it had the enchantment to be invisible in another person's eyes, as all they'd be able to see was just a somewhat adorable, feminine-looking boy. But then, even if it was a magical veil, an illusion on the rank of gods, I was still a little worried wearing it before the Master Of Illusions herself but it looks like my worries were unnecessary.
"Raegis is happy with me, aren't you girl?" I gave her a small pet on the head, something she responded to by nuzzling up against my hand. "See? Everything's totally under control."
"Right," Illya rolled her eyes, which was hilarious considering her age. But then, she was considered a really chic woman despite her age even in the game. I could totally see her with sunglasses and some chains on, dropping a jam in a subway station.
"You're here to get the legal stuff outta the way, right?" Illya turned around, clicked some buttons on her desk before an orb-like crystal rose out of the desk. "Just put your hands over it, infuse some of your racial energy into it, and the crystal will do the rest."
One might consider her explanation to be a little too brief, but I much prefer it like this, since I've already gone through the detailed version too many times, trying to set a new score for my speedrun of the game. Basically, the crystal was made out of a special ore that the dwarves mined in the north, molded by a dragon's breath, enchanted detection magic by the elves, enhanced durability by a beastkin's aura, and finally, all is synergised with a human's prana. Of course, later on, as there were more minor races, they all added their own little things to it which is why it is able to detect what class of an adventurer you would be best in, no matter what race you were.
The crystal orb, although a necessity for my future plans, was also somewhat of a hindrance because I really could not reveal my constitution as the Maiden under any circumstances. Anyone could imagine the reason why.
Due to the crystal being able to detect every race, and therefore, almost every racial energy system, I couldn't exactly chi my way out of this. In fact, Ivanka specifically told me not to use chi as much as possible, because the way of the martial arts is already long dead, and should stay that way. . . .unless I wanted rabid seekers of knowledge up my ass, literally.
What should I do?
In the game, Willow never really had to join the Adventurer's Society and never had any contact with them other than a few side quests, very minor side quests. The game made us focus more on the erotic content happening once every few scene-cuts.
My veil. An idea popped into my head, or so I would like to say, but it was more superficial hope than anything. Although I don't really understand much of what the veil can do, I do know it's something of godly origin, which was why it could even deceive someone so deep into the world of illusions. If my theory is correct, then it should be able to deceive the orb crystal in front of me too.
Or, did my veil just hide my face? I didn't know, and I didn't have enough time to think so all I could do was to focus my thoughts on hiding my constitution, hoping that the veil picked up on my will.
"Do you want me to touch the orb for you now?" Illya shook her head. "Hand on the orb. We don't have all day now."
I took a deep breath. I really hope this works. With trepidation in my steps, I leaned forward, willing one last time into my veil before touching the cool, smooth texture of the orb. For a second, there was nothing out of the ordinary before it started to glow.
Red, Green, Blue and all the other colors visible to sight, started to roll around inside the orb and when the color of pink and white started to make itself known, I almost despaired at how I was going to be outed. . . .until I felt my veil's energy shift, transferring to the orb, before finally, the color of gray settled.
"A supporter?" Illya said, a hint of surprise in her voice. "But that doesn't make any sens-No, it must be something else, then."
The look on Illya's face looked similar to my father when he didn't understand why the leaky faucet was, well, leaky. Spoiler alert, it was me who did it.
"What?"
"Huh?" Illya furrowed her eyebrows, before catching herself. "Oh, was I-Forgive me. I tend to mumble a little when I'm surprised. Anyway, you got the role of [Supporter], congratulations."
"And, here I thought you'd get an [Attacker]," She mumbled underneath her breath. For the moment, I decided to ignore it, and more importantly, celebrate inside at how my plan had worked. I swore to myself then, the next time I saw my beloved, I was going to show her a very good time for all the shit she pulled me out of.
"All you have to do as a [Supporter] really is to observe, analyze and lead in whichever exploration you go, with whichever party you find yourself in," Illya chuckled. "I still don't know why they call the most important role a [Supporter]."
"Now, for the little one," Illya said, turning to Raegis. I stopped fondling my veil, and turned around too, only to see that Raegis had an oddly determined look on her face.