Nine years after the destruction of John's hometown-
The sky was a deep dark blue.
The stars shone so brightly despite the sky's dark contrast.
Everything was quiet, the only thing of importance was a lone girl.
She had messy blonde hair along with a red cross marking on her eye, wearing robes with strange symbols while muttering to herself.
She was walking, all alone. The lamp posts in the street were the only thing guiding her way through the dark ghost town.
She kept walking despite the awful smell and chilly piercing air.
While looking forward with an empty expression she kept muttering, "Forward...yes, forward... I trek on forward until I can move no more…"
***
"Hello there, are you here to register for a job?"
"That I am."
"Okay then, please let me know which job you would like to take on."
Before the man could turn and walk towards the job board, she continued,
"I will need to see your Adventurer's License to prove you are qualified, however." The woman at the reception desk reached out her hand which made the man stop in his tracks. She gazed at him through squinted eyes.
"Sorry, I almost forgot."
He thought to himself about how he hadn't been in an Adventurer's Hall in a couple of weeks. The loud bustling atmosphere filled with comradery and drunk idiots caught him off guard.
He started digging in the big bag he had strapped over his shoulder, quickly pulling out his license and she read it aloud after taking it.
"It says your name is John Selvic, being 22 years old and you're a B- Rank adventurer." She glanced at him and then back at the card.
On the card, the picture of John showed off his sharp jawline along with his smooth blonde hair that looked neat and well-kept. However, his current look was anything but. His blonde hair, depicted as smooth and well-kept in the picture, was now ruffled and very neglected. Along with his hygiene, it was clear he had seen his fair share of troubles recently.
"Very well, your registration checks out. You may take on any jobs B rank or below." Her voice and the look she gave him were both full of pity.
He grabbed his card and put it in his bag before thinking, 'I know I look rougher and kind of dirty okay! I haven't been able to make enough money to stay in any nice inns... I've had to sleep in stables! Freaking stables!'
Despite John's frustrations which were enough to make him release an exasperated sigh on his way over to the job board, he was pretty excited. Finding a town with a functioning Guild along with job requests was a sight far and few over his recent journey.
After reaching the board he skimmed over most of the jobs in the C rank and D rank sections before checking the B rank section more intently.
John put his finger on his chin, his eyes straying on three job posters in particular. One detailed the slaying of a nearby monster that was estimated to be threat level C. Another one explained his task was to do a hit job, but the flier said more details would be given when the employer and adventurer met in person. The last was a bodyguarding job for a wealthy family, like the previous, more details would be given when meeting in person.
He looked at the board, deep in thought, The monster slaying job wouldn't be impossible but I would still prefer to do something that pays better than simple cleanup..... I'd rather not do a hit job, that kinda thing would weigh on my conscience... ah, I think the bodyguarding job is the safest bet, yep. Plus, there's always the chance I could get extra since I'd be bodyguarding a rich family, and I'm not the type of fighter who goes down easily. Sounds perfect!
With his logic being as sound as ever, he confidently scooped the flier off the board as he walked back towards the reception desk. John was about to blindly hand in the flier when a question popped into his head. "Miss, before I take this job could you tell me how long the request has been here?"
The receptionist responded astutely. "I'd say you lucked out. Someone had just come earlier this morning to tell us the commission details."
Well, that's reassuring. If she said the poster had been here longer than a day, I wouldn't have taken it. Something as simple as bodyguarding, even if it was just a B-rank mission should've been long gone. At least now I know it's just by chance I was the one to grab it first. He thought to himself.
After walking outside and now with a chip on his shoulder he was greeted by a bright sunny evening. Kids were running around, playing, and laughing in the streets. Vendors were on every side of the road, their eyes darting quickly amongst the passing citizens; clearly itching to sell their wares.
'This town has a nice vibe to it. Very peaceful yet protected, evident by the Guild building being nearby.'
With a smile and hope imbued into him, he now started his brief journey toward the location his employer wanted to meet at.
Two hours later-
He stared up, awestruck at the huge gate in front of him. But even more than the huge gate he was more awestruck by the gigantic mansion that lay behind it. It looked grand not only in scale but in design. While not having the most flashy color scheme, having more of a simple color of white to dress its exterior, there was not a crack or sign of lack of maintenance to be found.
John must've been standing there, staring for at least a minute when a sound caught his attention. At the mansion, doors were opened as a woman wearing a maid uniform walked out of it. She slowly and gracefully made her way over to the gate with her hands clasped together behind her. The woman had hair as white as silk and eyes as blue as ice; her lips as pink and soft looking as a peach.
John gazed at her, completely captivated by her beauty, Wow. She's beautiful… She doesn't look old either, so if she has white hair she must be an Abhuman…
After reaching the gate, she respectfully bowed and John snapped back to reality, bowing back. This would look like a strange greeting seeing how they were on opposite sides of the gate however it was natural protocol in this circumstance.
After raising herself from her bowed position she spoke. "We received word that an adventurer had accepted the job. Would your name happen to be John Selvic?"
"Yes, I am him."
She didn't say anything else for a little while, just staring at him. John realized she was sizing him up.
"Despite your exterior, I can tell you're fairly strong."
Exterior? Is she talking about how filthy I am? I already know, jeez. John glanced down, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
"Would you mind showing me your Adventurer License?"
"Sure, but why?"
"Mainly because while I can tell you are strong; if you were impersonating John Selvic we could be letting a secret assassin in."
"All right, I understand."
After grabbing his License and checking it she returned it swiftly.
"I apologize. I didn't genuinely believe you to be an assassin. If you were, you could have easily smashed through this gate, coming in by force or just sneaking in. It was just a formality, now, follow me this way if you will, Master Selvic."
With a simple raise of her arm, the gate opened and John walked in behind her.
'I gotta say her reasoning is pretty sound. She seems pretty strong herself too, she might be around high C Rank Adventurer Level.' He thought to himself.
As he followed behind her into the mansion he stared in awe at the décor. Inside the mansion, the floor shone silver, and there were golden streaks all over the walls and tables, which was the complete opposite of the somewhat humble design choice on the outside. While the two progressed through John looked to his left and right, seeing exotic painting after exotic painting, as well as sculptures that he knew were designed for an acquired taste.
He saw many other maids strewn about but unlike the one who greeted him, he could tell they were considerably weaker in comparison; most likely being hired strictly for maintenance of grounds rather than defending important persons.
The pair continued navigating through the mansion, passing through a few more corridors before finally reaching a flight of stairs. The maid stopped abruptly which caused John to accidentally bump into her due to him being so distracted by his surroundings. He'd never been in a place like this before so who could blame him?
After their minor collision, he quickly apologized but she brushed it off with a polite nod. Now that his attention was on her once more, she outstretched her hands, pointing up the flight of stairs before them.
"My master will be waiting to converse with you privately. He should be inside the room directly down the hall. I guarantee you can't miss it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do."
"Thank you."
She gave one more polite nod before turning around and walking back down the hall from whence they came. With the woman now out of sight, John set his attention to the stairs before him.
With every step up he grew increasingly nervous. The main thought running through his head was curiosity at what kind of person his employer would be. As John was making his way up the stairs he quietly muttered to himself. "Okay John, don't mess up your first impression, you can do this! You saw how large the reward would be despite it just being a B Rank mission. If you complete this you won't have to worry about money or shelter for at least 3 months."
His minor pep talks aside, and after getting up the stairs fully, John eventually reached the large set of doors at the end of the hall. After taking a deep breath he steeled his courage. While flashing a determined smile he confidently opened the door.
The room was wider than he'd expected. He looked to his left to see a big shelf with nothing but books. There was also a white wolf head mounted above the bookshelves on the wall along with other animal heads and skins.
"Hello, nice to meet you!" The voice calling out to him was light and squeaky. He turned to his right, seeing a big desk with the one sitting behind it being a little girl. Her head was barely visible as she was too small to fully utilize the chair she was sitting in.
His determined smile as well as confident demeanor faded almost instantly, being replaced with one of surprise and confusion. The little girl he was looking at couldn't have been over 11.
As he gazed at her somewhat absent-mindedly he noticed some of her features such as her clear blue eyes as well as dark brown hair. She was smiling from ear to ear but the longer the silence between the two grew, the more strained it became. Her smile faded, being replaced by pursed lips and squinting eyes.
"Hellooo? You know it's rude to stare without saying anything right?"
Snapping out of his thoughts at her words he stood at attention, "Yes, um, it's nice to meet you too."
The young girl gave a look oozing disappointment at his weak-willed response.
"I'm a little confused…" John stopped halfway through his sentence. He had wanted to ask if she was his employer but he didn't want to possibly offend her by showing he didn't know if she was.
The young girl hopped out of the chair to walk up to him; she barely reached up to his waist. She squinted, sizing him for a couple of seconds before leaning forward slightly. After giving a sniff, her cute eyebrows scrunched up along with her nose as she backed away from him.
"Ew, you stink. Goodbye." With those words of judgment, she brashly turned and walked out the front door of the room in a hurry.
John, now dumbfounded, stood staring at the door the girl had walked out of, reflecting on the encounter with a look of disdain. He thought to himself frantically, What am I supposed to do now? Was she my employer? If so, does that mean I'm fired just because I smell a little bad!? Well... maybe not a "little" but still!
Before he could think and much less do anything else the same door opened again; this time an older man walked through.
The older man was wearing an expensive-looking all-black suit that had deep blue stripes going across the chest along with gold insignia. The insignia had an eagle with snakes around it in a diamond pattern.
John could instantly see he had a different air about him.
He didn't seem to be a fighter or an adventurer but he held a certain noble composure. Without skipping a beat, the man walked up to John, extending his hand out toward him.
"My name is Cobalt Meyers, it's a pleasure to meet you Selvic. Can I call you Selvic?"
Now that he was closer John could see him more clearly. He could spot the deep dark bags under his eyes. It was evident something very heavy was weighing on him.
John gave the man his firmest handshake before replying.
"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. Meyers and yes that's fine with me. I'm a little curious though, are you my employer?"
"That I am. Why? Is something the matter?"
"Oh, not really, it's just that a little girl was sitting at your desk over there."
John pointed to the desk to his right, and Mr. Meyer's eyes followed where he pointed. His eyes lit up in understanding.
Now releasing a chuckle, Mr. Meyers slowly went to sit at the desk. He outstretched his arm.
"Please take a seat Selvic."
John did just that and the man continued. "That was my daughter, Laura. She can be quite forward so I hope she didn't give you too much of a hard time."
"Yeah... she only said I stink which I can agree on."
"Well, if it's any consolation you may use the room to the left of this one. It's empty and there is a bathing room for you."
John's eyes lit up at the word bathing room. "I would appreciate that, thank you."
"Okay, so after you're done with that, I'd like you to come back so we can fully discuss the details of this job."
John nodded in agreement and politely exited the room.
'Ah, I can't wait to get clean again!' He thought to himself cheerfully.