Three weeks later.
"Thanks for your stay," Luz said with a forced smile, leaning against the counter as the customer left the store.
After he heard the door closing, Luz's forced smile vanished in a mere second from his face, and one could hear him furiously cursing the customer. "That fucking bitch… if that noble lady dared to be so rude to me outside of the shop, I swear Lewis, I would have beaten the shit out of her."
Lewis, who had been busy cleaning, chuckled. "Ay, Ay. Stop crying. Bro, remember you were the one begging me to join my current workplace."
"Yeah, because working alone on the fields was boring," Luz sighed before dropping onto a chair. There he immediately continued cursing his circumstances. "Also, you were the one who told me that this job would be easy money. But dealing with customers is such a pain in the ass, especially if they try to barter. Common, man. I can't sell you this low-ranking magic potion for a sheep."
Luz continued wallowing in self-pity, regretting choosing his current job instead of something more interesting that relied upon hard work. 'If only I didn't have trusted the fucking job description. I remember clearly reading that I would be working alongside a high-ranking magician and that I would even have the chance to gain some insights into their craft. Instead, I ended up as their goddamn shop assistant.'
Seeing how depressed Luz looked, Lewis immediately tried to cheer him up. "Bro. Look at the bright side…"
But before Lewis could continue, Luz immediately cut him short. "You better shut the fuck up. I'm the one who has to deal with these miserable customers while you sit in the other room, cleaning stuff and enjoying the silence."
Lewis laughed before continuing, "The pay is better here, and we also don't have to work on our weekends."
Author note, "Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is now canon, and god created the world in seven days. Don't expect me to create a goddamn new calendar system for a fantasy novel. I might change the number of months but not the goddamn days."
Luz nodded before stating, "I see… Wait… today is Friday. What the hell will we do in our free time?"
"We!? I don't know about you, bro, but I will be doing a few quests alone," Lewis casually commented while gazing through a glass. "Yep, it's sparkling clean."
Luz's heart fell into pieces upon hearing such news, and he immediately grabbed Lewis's collar before pleading. "Please…"
But this time, Lewis cut him short. "No. I'm not gonna take you with me."
"Wait!! Let me finish my sentence at least before cutting me short," Luz cursed with his grip still on Lewis's collar.
"No. I already told you, I'm not gonna take you," Lewis continued cursing.
The two continued bickering for a few more hours and only stopped whenever a customer entered. Nevertheless, Luz won, and Lewis gave in. After their shift ended, the duo headed immediately to the local adventure guild.
While Luz was happily summing a folksong, Lewis, on the other hand, wasn't in the best mood. It wasn't that Lewis despised working with Luz. It's just that he was an introverted person who was looking forward to enjoying his peace.
Sighing, Lewis began berating his partner on how he should behave there while explaining to him other general stuff regarding guilds, even if Luz got the hang out of it already.
"Generally, there are a few dozen guilds in every bigger city. But they aren't all technically the same. For example, there is often a distinction between local, royal, and continental guilds," Lewis explained.
"Wait, continental guilds? They can be so connected!?" Luz immediately asked in curiosity.
A smile formed on Lewis's face before he continued. "Yes, but we weaklings aren't welcomed there since we two can't even afford their quest fees. But they still offer their services to us. In the form of carrier services, for example. Think of them as the Amazon of this mage world."
"I see," Luz replied while gently stroking his beard before asking the next question that was bothering him. "Why the hell do royal and local guilds exists?"
"The answer to that is simple," Lewis replied before continuing. "Local guilds are cheaper. Also, the quests they offer are from their area and are generally easier. But when it comes to the local craft guilds, such as the alchemy- and mage guilds, they exist to create market monopolies."
But before the two could continue on with their chattering, they finally reached the city center, where most of the guilds were. The buildings there were over three stories high, much larger than the rest of the buildings in the city.
Smiling, Lewis announced, "We're here at our local guildhall," and the duo entered. Inside, the atmosphere was lively. People were sitting on benches all over the guild to eat and drink. The walls were made of dark oak while also being decorated with the heads of various monsters.
"Are you sure we are in the right place and not in some tavern?" Luz immediately whispered to Lewis, and the latter nodded while his gaze was on the guild receptionist who was waving at Lewis.
Slowly the two strolled at her, and Lewis and the female guild receptionist immediately began small talking, leaving Luz in the dust.
The receptionist had a warm smile that would melt anyone's frozen heart. She had short hazelnut brown curly hair that would send every tomboy lover to their knees.
Upon having a closer look, Luz only thought, "Damn. Not only does she look adorable, but she has style, unlike Lewis, who seems to have a crush on her."
She wore a green dress with white trims going down to her ankles. Over her dress, she wore a half apron while also wearing a bonnet that fitted her clothing style.
But unfortunally, their small talk continued, and Lewis felt left out. But nonetheless, he remained patient. After all, one should let their bro shoot their chances. However, it didn't take long for Luz to become impatient. 'I've remained quiet for goddamn 15 minutes,' shot through Luz's head before coughing loudly to gain their attention.
"Erena, this is my brother, Luz," Lewis introduced Luz while placing his hand on his shoulder. "I, or rather he, would like to register so that I can have some peace from that boy," Lewis continued.
Erena answered in amusement while taking out a few documents. "Well, if Luz is like you, he will definitely earn a lot of money here."