"What can I do for you?" Catherine asks to put the conversation back on track.
"Wait, you know the guild master?" Martin ignores her to interrogate me.
"Yes." I'm not one to beat around the bush, so I just answer honestly.
"Why? How?!" Martin seems genuinely upset.
"I think she just likes beating me up. She makes me and my party come to the guild early before class and trains us." I can see the gears turning in Martin's head. It looks like he's piecing something together.
"You're the one that killed the Dracoterra!" He points at me while shouting. A number of people have noticed the commotion and are now watching us.
"Stop yelling."
"Sorry."
"I was in a party of six people, so I can hardly take credit. Also, it was hit pretty hard by the Monster's Bane I threw, so it wasn't in very good condition, to begin with." I elaborate.
"Oh, that makes sense. I'd be really surprised if a kid took down a Dracoterra alone. So, do you want me to show you the ropes in the forest? I can give you a few tips." Martin returns to his arrogant behavior, which is almost a relief after watching him freak out. I can see Catherine cover her mouth while watching me.
[At least she's enjoying herself.]
"Maybe another time. I'm busy today." I try not to argue with idiots, so I just deflect to end the interaction.
"Well, feel free to ask us if you need any help."
"I'll keep that in mind." I wave off the protagonist party and head over to the main counter where Shelly is working.
"Have you seen Sakura and Josh?" I ask.
"Hmm..." She covers her chin with her hand as she thinks. "I don't think so. I was working in the back, so I can't say for certain whether they've been here or not."
"Okay, thanks." I could ask around to see if anyone saw them, but the thought of talking to that many people wears me out. In the end, I decide to just take a seat and wait. I sit down at our table in the back, and a waiter quickly comes to help me.
"Do you have any juice?"
"We certainly do," she says with a smile."
"Perfect, let me just get some juice and water."
"That'll be fifteen, Denarii." I pull out twenty-five and tell her to keep the change. I want to establish a name as a good tipper so I can get helped quickly, even if they're busy. She thanks me and runs off to the back.
I watch her leave before moving my attention to the crowd of adventurers in the hall. The winding threads of their lives fill my imagination; what brought these people here? What motivates them? The wildly intense emotions of people willing to risk their lives for money fly about the room, from tragedy to heartbreak and excitement to euphoria. The very edges of the human experience are all collected in this one room. One particularly depressed group drops off a single fungus before sitting at a table and dividing up the meager spoils.
[Maybe I should work with some of these other parties. It couldn't hurt to build my reputation, and I could always use a few people owing me a favor. I don't need to get invested. I can just help them make some quick cash and give them some pointers. This is better for everyone.]
I talk myself into making a mistake and head over to their table. I can hear some soft bickering from the four young adventurers in front of me, likely due to financial problems. I stand by the table and glance over them to get an idea of their situation. There are two men and two women in the party. The older-looking woman with violet hair seems to be the leader as she's the one handling the money. From her garb, she looks to be in a support position, likely a healer. Her once elaborate robe is now tattered, and I even see some holes in her gloves. The rest of the party is actually in worse condition. The tall man to her right is missing his left arm just before the shoulder. His short black hair looks disheveled, and a few scratches remain on his face. If the leader is a healer, as I suspect, then the fact that he still has wounds means she had to use all of her MP earlier, potentially to heal a severe injury. His leather armor is missing most of its pieces and based on how ragged it is, I'd say he's the tank. The last two look like siblings. They both have deep blue hair and are wearing matching expressions. It's almost comical how they're both sitting with their arms crossed and pouting. The boy has a rusted sword and shield on his back, while the girl has a bow, so it's easy to imagine their positions. I realize I've been staring at them for several seconds, so I open my mouth.
"Hi." I try to sound cheery to hopefully lighten the mood.
"What do you want?" The violet-haired woman asks.
"So you're clearly all fairly experienced adventurers, but you're squabbling over a few copper coins. I guess I'm a bit confused. Presumably, you're the healer, but you don't have enough mana left to heal his wounds?" She grinds her teeth. It appears I touched on a sore spot.
"So, what? You just gonna make fun of us?" she accuses.
"Actually, I'd like to help."
"We can't afford to train some kid how to survive in the forest. We're struggling enough as it is." I frown at her response.
[I thought it would be easier to work with people than this, but I guess I can't blame them for being suspicious.]
I pull out the pouch of money on my waist, exposing several gold coins.
"I think you misunderstand." Their eyes dart toward the pouch of money, and I notice their posture shift.
[Money talks.]
"Let me repeat myself; I'd like to help you."
"What do you want?"
"I just told you." I can feel myself getting a little annoyed at this point. I've already put myself out there, and now I'm facing much more resistance than I expected. I'm half tempted to just call the whole thing off.
"We accept." She only thinks for a moment before replying.
"But, Susan!" The tall man to her right makes a fuss.
"Mikey, we're about to kill each other over a handful of bronze coins. We don't have much of a choice." Susan hisses.
"..."
"I'll take that as a vote of agreement. Any against?" I take control of the situation and give those involved one last chance to back out. While frustrated, no one declines. "Perfect, I'm Nick–"
"Susan may not know who you are, but we do." The blue-haired sister interrupts me.
"Interesting. Do I have some kind of reputation?"
"You mean other than the fact that the only party to work with you came back with nothing and had to quit adventuring?"
"Yeah, anything else?"
"There's a rumor that you're sleeping with the guild master."
"Pffft." I almost choke on my own spit while trying not to burst out laughing. "That's fucking hilarious; anything else?"
If any of these rumors are as good as the last one, then this venture will have already paid for itself. I start planning everything I can say to Jezabel to piss her off. She's been in a good mood recently, so there's a chance I might not get strangled to death.
"Um..." She seems genuinely taken aback at my reactions. I smile and give her a moment to collect herself. "I heard that you're working with the fairies?"
She adds a lilt to the end of her sentence as if she's asking a question.
"Oh, well, whatever. By the way, what are your names?" It doesn't seem like I'll get any more good answers out of them, so I change the subject.
"I'm Susan. This is Mikey to my right, and that's Terry and Kerry. We're Blackfoot." I assume the boy is Terry and the girl is Kerry since she didn't clarify. It doesn't really matter because I'll probably forget their names anyway.
"Great, nice to meet you. I know you already went out to the woods today, but why don't we do it again? I'll show you how it's done." The exhausted party glances around at each other before agreeing. With that, we decide to meet near the North gate in an hour.