After the slight clash with Moko, somehow she stopped being so fierce towards Grendel, instead seeming to watch and analyse him.
Walking through his enemy's city, the amnesiac Hybrim didn't seem to care. He instead had fun talking to the old ladies about how their sales were and what products were the best and managed to save many coins from their bartering on the way to Mercenary Guild.
The city had a strange shape but was organised well, with all guilds in the northwest and merchants in the southwest.
On the opposite side were the craftsmen in the Southeast and the housing area in the northeast. All the farms are outside the walls and spread in a huge amount.
That gave them no shortage of loaves of bread and vegetables, but it also limited space for the city guard and militia because all citizens were allowed a minimum of an acre per building. They had plenty of soldiers, though the quantity was not of the same calibre as the lord's guardsmen since some of those joined the Order's knights.
"Shall we head out then?" Grendel said with a happy smile, seeing the two following with a strange atmosphere. Moko seemed to be carrying a grudge from him flirting with her, but he felt it was more towards herself for being tempted. While Aruru was just the usual tsundere happy to be with him but trying to pretend it wasn't that.
But both girls just silently walked together. They would look away and stare at the sky as if watching birds, but a glance showed nothing other than blue and cloudless. Grendel just shrugged and kept heading to the mercenary guild, "Ah, another one."
'There have been so many strong Lionetta women in this city—all dressed similarly. Are they some mercenary group? The black armour is kinda sexy and cool at the same time.' Tickling his adventurous spirit, he wanted to know the beauty of the black armour, but she vanished when he looked back towards her. 'Like a ghost...'
"What's the matter, Grendel?" Aruru asked, her pace quickening as she moved close to him, tilting her head with a cute smile. "Ah, just a beautiful Lionetta girl entered my eyes. (Speaking of the knight) But he was smiling at Aruru with a wink.
"Oh? Ehehe, thank you."
"Hmmm? Well... you're welcome." 'I guess she's part of the same tribe, so that's why she's happy.' He then gave a wry smile before enjoying the sight of her lust and affectionate colours glowing brightly. 'Is what I would say if I were a dense idiot. Of course, I implied it was her to avoid her poking further.'
"Princess... how are you so easy...!?" Moko cried out from a distance, but Aruru was too busy holding my arm.
***
We entered the building, tall with a wooden frame and, black and white paint for the pillars and front walls, a huge rusted sign nailed to the front. [Mercenaries Guild - Not for the weak-hearted]
Inside was different than the trio imagined, or rather mostly Grendel, who somehow imagined sweaty men drinking beer and hitting on women...
No, it was the opposite, muscular women with huge magic pools teasing the young men; when they walked passed the bar, they threw him a wink and kiss, even beckoning him over.
But the proud princess cut to his arm and pulled out her tongue to them like a kid.
As he looked towards Moko, there was little need for an answer as she laughed loudly, saying:
"They were flirting with you! Ha! Bitches, Grendel, why not go fuck them and get an incurable disease?" Her modest chest shook as she pouted at him as if victorious.
On the other hand, Aruru was very clear to him, her actions and body language clearly stating: "Don't even think about it! This Grendel belongs to me, you whores!" Her chest pressed against him as she glared back at the woman who dared try to seduce her man.
However, this silly girl probably didn't even realise she did this, causing Moko more anguish as a bad man led the innocent young princess astray.
"Welcome to the Mercenary Guild; although based in Zeuras, we are a neutral organisation and will never take the side of one nation."
A pretty lady greeted them with a clear and concise voice, her hair slightly blue with pointed ears and sharp nails. She could have been an elf, as Grendel couldn't see her name on the Runic Board. Likely an item in the guild to protect them from being spied upon.
"Hello, we have two requests. First, we would like to register as Mercenaries and then learn the terms to create a Mercenary Group. If possible."
"Ah, yes. You three look strong, but I'm afraid you must go through a test first."
"Test?" Moko tilted her head with a bored face, but the two others ignored her. Or rather, they both looked excited!
The pretty lady named Marun handed out three forms where they would write their names and a few other details. They needed to prick their finger and bleed as a card material to make it official.
'I'm glad I waited to use those points... Otherwise, they might see my high stats and cause trouble.' He thought the 20 bonus points were not shown on the card. It didn't take long for them to finish as they sat together, waiting for the lady to return.
Marun didn't take long before leaving with 3 copper colours cards and handed them to the three before politely bowing.
"Yes, for Misses Aruru and Moko, we will have you fight the current rank 1 Mercenary in our guild, but for Mister Grendel, we will have you fight one of our guild's Rank 2 because of a lack of instructors. Is that okay?"
Grendel nodded, he could see there was no plot, and she was just being honest and didn't care much. "So it's a ranking thing... alright, if I lose, can we still register?"
"Yes, you will just be in the lowest rank. I must say, though, that the test is more for people who wish to join the guild as a group, so if you wish to be solo mercenaries, we will only need to test Miss Aruru."
"No, we'll all be tested and aim for a group if possible—I can't let Aruru fight on her own." Grendel wanted to win more points with this girl.
"Ehehehe, don't worry, Grendel; I'm strong enough to fight alone. But I like your consideration."
Moko had a bitter face when hearing that as she looked at her silly princess, who was constantly becoming more enthralled by this damn playboy!
"Alright, let's go to the Arena then." Marun guided them to a large open arena with seats surrounding it.
Two Mercenaries stood up to leave, but Grendel noticed they were in heavy armour and all wearing the same symbol. It was those black armoured knights, the pretty women again.... and seemed like they were the opponents of Moko and Aruru, while his...
The SUPER pretty one from the outside that he saw before!