"What do we have here?" The Guild Master asks with crescent-shaped eyes.
"Nobody doing nothing," I respond before she accuses me of anything.
"If nobody's doing nothing then, by definition, someone is doing something.
Damn it!
"We're sitting patiently, not doing anything-"
Slam!
Several adventurers burst in through the door, one of whom is covered in blood.
Thank god someone is here to distract this crazy Guild Master from harassing me.
"Travis, what the hell did you do this time?" The Guild Master frowns at the large black man leading the way.
"Cut me a break, Jezabel. We happened to be passing by when this guy's party was attacked by a Metapardus.
"Why were they in the forest?"
"That's the thing, they weren't even past the treeline. The Metapardus jumped out of the forest and just started attacking him."
"First a Griffith and now this? What the hell is going on in the Argon Forest?" Jezabel ponders to herself. While she is talking to Travis, several healers run over from the other side of the room. In only a few seconds, the injured man is as good as new.
"I'm not sure."
"I wasn't asking you, dumbass. Of course, you don't know." Jezabel wheels around and marches through the crowd and disappears into a door near the back of the room.
"Thanks, Travis. I'd be dead if you weren't there to help us."
"Don't worry about it, Scott. I'm just glad you're okay." Scott smiles awkwardly as Travis towers over him and pats him on the back.
"I've got your contracts," Ashley exclaims as she excitedly runs over to our table.
"Who's that?" I ask as I point to nod toward Travis.
"Oh, he's a Gold rank adventurer named Travis. He's been contracted by the guild to handle the more difficult quests that other adventurers won't take and is also the teacher for the beginner adventurer class."
"What's that?"
"It's a class that teaches you how to make a safe living as you start out and move up in rank. I'd recommend it if you want to take your career more seriously."
"Why didn't you mention this last time?"
"You seemed pretty confident so I figured you already knew about it," Ashley explains with a shrug.
"How do I sign up?"
"There's an entrance fee of one thousand Denarii but that can be deducted from quests you take in the future."
"I'd like to sign up for that then."
"Me too."
"Me three!"
Josh and Sakura add, respectively.
"Are you two sure that's a good idea? Maybe you should talk to your parents first."
I look back and forth between the kids but they are hesitant to respond.
"Well, Josh's parents won't care... much." Sakura's voice trails off as she looks down at the ground. I sigh internally as I unveil the hidden turmoil Josh faces at home. Perhaps he gravitated toward me in order to escape his home life. Either way, it pains me to see such a kind person being mistreated.
"Then we'll sign up together and look out for each other. How's that sound, Josh?"
"And me too!" Sakura practically jumps over the table in order to inject herself into the conversation.
"What about your parents?"
"My daddy will do whatever I say." The pink-haired girl proudly declares.
"Then it's settled. Let's all sign up for the beginner adventurer class." I nod toward Ashley.
"That's great. I'll get that paperwork as soon as we finish signing Josh and Sakura up to be adventurers." Ashley pushes the documents forward and directs the two kids on how to fill them out. While she's partially distracted, I start digging for information.
"Jezabel and Travis seem close." I mention off handedly as I observe Ashley's reaction.
"Really? That's surprising."
"What makes you say that?"
"Let's just say, I haven't seen her smile in the few months I've been working here."
My brows furrows as I recall the sadistic smile smeared across the Guild Master's face every time we talk.
"She sounds depressed."
"There's a lot of that going around." Ashley looks ominously at the ground as she speaks.
Jesus, what the hell is happening in this town?
"I get it, having that dangerous forest so close must be scary."
"No, if anything that's the most exciting part of living here. The forest is the only thing keeping this town going."
"Really?"
"What else is there? No one can farm due to the threat of monsters and there isn't any mines or dungeons; there's nothing!" Ashley exclaims in exasperation.
"That seems hopeless."
"Yeah, it is." She gathers the kids papers and stacks them together. All the energy has left her voice. "Class starts in two weeks. You can drop out or cancel at no charge up until then. Oh, and welcome to the Adventurer's Guild."
I watch the dog-eared woman slouch off to the counter. Her ears, which are normally set comfortably atop her head, are now slumped down. Seeing her so sad almost makes me laugh and I struggle to bite back a smile.
[That's not nice. You shouldn't laugh at people because they're sad.]
It's not that, I just see so much of myself in her is all.
[Yourself?]
I ignore the kid's question and turn back to Josh and Sakura. They look almost as depressed as Ashley. I finally allow the smile to fill my face and shift the energy in the air.
"This is great news!"
"Weren't you listening to her? There isn't really anything here."
"That's more than nothing; plus, just think about how much we've changed in the last few days. If we keep up this pace of improvement then I'm sure we can figure something out."
Sakura slaps her cheeks adorably and pumps herself up.
"You're right! We can't give up when we haven't even tried." She stands up from the table and clenches her fists.
"We can change." Josh throws in his opinion with a renewed fire in his eyes.
"Yeah! Me and Josh can do anything!" Sakura moves closer to him as she speaks.
Children are so easy to manipulate. I'm glad I didn't join some old cynical party. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to shift the perspectives of those adventurers huddled together on the other side of the guild.
We are products of our environment. We choose the easy path and avoid risk. We do as we're told. I empathize with people that tried to do everything right and still ended up struggling or miserable. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers in life.
Right now, I can create an environment and mentality for my team to grow. I don't want to imply that everyone else is a lost cause but it's much easier to make up someone's mind than it is to change it.
"Alright, let's head to the courtyard and try out the equipment that the guild has!" I jump on their excitement and head outside.