The city of Rozen was magnificent; even Naya had to admire it.
Those roaming the streets appeared well dressed, or at least not in rags, and the markets she had ventured by had been bustling with activity.
She made haste toward the Adventurer's Hall, both to turn in the Flameclaw quest and to inform them she would be hunting the Necromantic Which herself. She figured it would be good to get gold and a higher rank while she was at it.
Getting through the crowds was easy, given how most would make way for an Elf with only stunned stares.
Naya had Rula's hand tightly gripped in her own; it was a real fear she may end up lost in the crowds of people. Rula watched everything they went by with a sense of awe, and if Naya hadn't led her, she would have easily been left behind.
After a while of walking through the city, they finally arrived at the plaza that held the Adventurer's Hall.
Yet something was clearly happening since a crowd of people had congregated at the front of the guild hall.
"The fuck are you miserable whelps doing at my hall?"
Naya heard the Hall Master's deep, enraged voice.
"It is --OUR --duty to hunt Witches, not some backwater barbarians!"
--Seems like Sanctum is already here, but that isn't Sophia's voice.--
It was the voice of a young man; if Naya had to guess, he was about her age.
She felt an odd sense of loss at that.
--You're adorable.--
[Silence.]
Sophia had a power she couldn't comprehend, and Naya wanted to learn more.
"This backwater barbarian will fold you like a twig, bitch!"
"Not before I turn you into an oversized roasted pig!"
Naya pushed through the crowd with ease, and some recognized her from the last time she was here and had knowing smiles on their faces.
[Why are they smiling at me like that?]
--I think they believe you have a penchant for violence.--
[Absurd.]
When she got to the front, she saw the Hall Master with no shirt and black pants tied with a white belt, practically screaming to the world he was a martial artist.
She did not like it.
[Do humans enjoy being half-clothed? ]She recalled Sora's first appearance but quickly shook that thought away and focused on the other person.
--I dunno; maybe some people find it liberating.--
The man had short red hair and wore a red robe tied at his waist with white outlines around the robe and a flame symbol stitched on both shoulders.
--A relatively high-ranking member of Sanctum's Hall of Flame.--
Naya remembered. Sanctum had different branches based on a primary magic type; she had learned that when she met Sophia's group.
"Oh, if it isn't Naya!"
The Hall Master uncrossed his arms and gave an exaggerated nobleman's bow toward her.
"Elf!" The young man looked at her ears, eyes widened, and mouth open slightly. He bowed the same as the Hall Master, "Please forgive my uncouth words, Madam Naya."
[He behaves like that human man in the Silent Forest. ]While she could tell the Hall Master was being theatric, the man before her did it like he wanted to win her favor.
--Matthew, the adventurer who got killed by Carla. --
"Are you here to turn in your quest, Naya?" The hall master spoke with emphasis and implication.
As expected, the man's eyes widened, and he darted up. "Madam, you're with these disgusting barbarians?!"
"Being an adventurer is cool!" Rula shouted at him.
The man glared at her in disgust. "I was not speaking with you, Ha-" He stopped, not only as his gaze rested on Rula's hand in Naya's but in horror at the sight before him.
"Woah, there."
Naya stared in shock as the Hall Master had his hand out, blocking her punch. It felt like her fist had just suddenly stopped, and she had never felt anything even remotely similar in any opponent.
"I don't like 'em either, Naya, but best not to cause an incident."
Naya removed her hand and glared at the man. "If you speak ill of her again, I will kill you."
--I do hope your hypocrisy is visible to you.--
Of course, it was. Naya knew how she always referred to people by their race, even if she attempted to stop it. Her annoyance at it being done to her and her anger when it was done to Rula highlighted the hypocrisy; she would have to be a fool not to notice.
Old habits die hard, and she knew she had to stop.
[But it doesn't matter; I still will not allow her to be demeaned.]
--Beings are hypocritical things; you don't have to be perfect as long as you realize the errors in your ways.--
The man looked as though holding back his rage, and he dipped his head. "My apologies for my careless choice of words."
"Do not let it happen again." Naya glared at him.
The Hall Master opened and closed his palm. "Damn, you pack quite the punch." He smiled at her.
Naya glared at him as well. His choice of words was obviously intended to show the man Naya was a part of the Guild. While true, it did not sit well with her. She would not be beholden to them.
--It's just showboating; it's not like you were lied to. The Guild cannot command you.--
[Good.]
"Anyway!" The man cleared his throat. "Sanctum will take care of the Witch plaguing Rozen, and I once again ask for any relevant details."
"And I'll tell you again, ya arrogant prick, we will not share anything with an organization only concerned with lickin' the shit off of nobles' boots." The Hall Master crossed his arms and started defiantly at the man.
"How dare you!"
"Wanna fight pipsqueak?"
Naya didn't care for it.
"It doesn't matter; I will kill the Witch."
"You?" The Hall Master raised his brow.
The man stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. "No, Madam Naya, the Witch is Sanctum's duty, and it would not sit well with me to make a noble Elf dirty her hands." He placed his hand on his chest and bowed.
"Ew~" Rula did not hide her disdain, "You'd never be able to kill a Witch; not enough meat on your bones."
The Hall Master jovially laughed at his expense.
Even Naya smiled. It was a juvenile insult, but Naya was happy to see Rula placing more bite into her words and not taking disrespect lying down.
--You'll influence her well, though I do hope it doesn't get too far.--
"You-" He caught Naya's vicious glare and cleared his throat. "Sanctum has been fighting Witches for centuries; we're more than prepared and able to take one on."
Rula snorted.
Though his face twitched, he did not say anything.
"We got the quest from Lord Rilious and were just about to put it up before this twig showed up." The Hall Master gestured toward the red-robed man.
"Defeating Witches is Sanctum's purpose; we do not need your approval! Rilious summoned us himself!"
"Lord." The Hall Master glared at him. "Lord Rilious. You won't do well around here if you forget that."
--I guess the people here like him. He did seem like a pretty good guy, but you never know since nobility usually have multiple faces.--
They glared at each other for the next few seconds.
Naya looked toward the Hall Master, "I am here to turn in the Flameclaw quest and get information about the Witch."
The Hall Master quickly recovered his professional demeanor. "Of course; head inside and speak with Sal."
"Madam Naya, Sanctum will happily assist you with the quest!"
"I do not need your help."
Naya pushed through the two quarreling men and stepped into the Guild; many people were directly before the door and watching the heat outside.
"Miss Naya, you nearly killed the man!
"Good, fuck them Sanctum pigs!"
"Do ya think they'll come to blows?"
She was immediately greeted with a cacophony of questions and remarks. It seemed the people in the hall were already treating her like one of theirs, which left Naya unsure of how she should feel.
On the one hand, she liked the positive attention, but on the other, she didn't want to be beholden to the organization.
--Some treat it like their home; others treat it like a place to get quests. That's the beauty of the Guild; it has a place for everyone.--
"Good job sticking up to the prick, Rula!"
"Never let em' treat you bad; you're an Adventurer now!"
Even Rula got an assortment of praise, which left the girl feeling giddy.
Naya pushed through the crowd and toward the reception desk, where Sal was already waiting for them to show up with a paper in hand, her hazel eyes shining with curiosity.
"I heard what the Hall Master said, so I rushed to grab the quest for you guys." She slid the paper across and smiled. "Normally, this wouldn't be allowed; quests are meant to be first come, first served, but..." She sighed dejectedly. "This Witch is the Necromantic Witch."
"What do you know of her?" Naya asked.
"Our preliminary investigations have been compiled into this." Sal slid over a small book with the title Necromantic Witch. "This is everything we know from all the sources we could find, no matter how unreliable the info. This booklet has everything."
"That much?" Rula exclaimed at the size of the booklet, which was about the size of a thumb.
"Never underestimate our information networks," Sal spoke confidently, with her chin held high.
"How much is usable?" Naya asked dubiously.
"Haha, a rough estimate says maybe 40%, but we still need to ensure we get everything!" Sal's confidence didn't vanish.
--Even seemingly useless information could be useful for a quest of this magnitude. --
Naya was doubtful. She flipped the book open to a random page, which held the account of an anonymous Dwarf claiming to see an undead crawl through his smithy in the dead of night, and it had stolen one of his iron swords.
[Stealing an iron sword? An undead? This is absurd.]
--Too bad the identity is anonymous; we need to question some of these people ourselves.--
[This will be tedious.]
Naya closed the booklet and handed it to Rula, who looked eager to read it herself.
"The first step is to head to the Church of Sariel; they've been reporting dead bodies being stolen from their undercroft for a few months now," Sal explained; she seemed ashamed by the information.
"Months? You didn't think it was the signs of a Witch?" Naya also didn't know what Sariel was, but she figured Lia would explain.
--Sariel is the human goddess of death. She... --Lia stopped. --She is the one believed to be responsible for judgment and the ultimate destination for the human soul.--
[Is she real?]
Lia was silent.
But that silence told her it must be the case.
From what she understood, the other gods were either all absent or just didn't communicate with the races anymore. Even Aleria rarely spoke to her people, but her existence could not be called into question.
--I do wish I could discuss this with you, Naya.--
[It's fine; I'm sure Mother intends for me to learn in time. And one day, I will get to personally speak with Aleria.]
Sal scratched her head and avoided looking into Naya's eyes. "W-well... we aren't the ones responsible for investigating crimes."
She seemed ashamed, even if that were the case.
"It doesn't matter; I will go to that church now and see for myself."
"After that, check the graveyards!"
Naya nodded.
"Wait, don't forget the Flameclaw quest!" Rula slammed the book shut and put it in her ring.
"Oh, right!" Sal's face lit up. "I'm assuming the quest is completed?"
"Yes! And I have one of their bodies." Rula said.
"You do?"
"When?"
Sal was shocked, but so was Naya since she did not recall picking up the corpse. As much as she hated Soranulam, she didn't want one of her experiments in human hands.
"Yeah, we get a lot of gold for a body, so I picked up the one I killed."
"You killed?" Another shocked expression on Sal's face as she eyed Rula up and down.
"Of course! I'm an Adventurer too!" Rula held her chin up and grinned.
Sal laughed. "Right, my bad... come with me to the back, and I'll handle the details."
Naya's ears twitched; the sounds from the crowds at the entrance had suddenly gone totally silent. "Rula, take care of the quest; I must ask the Hall Master a question."
She lied.
Naya slid Rula her adventurer's card. She assumed it had to have the dent removed.
Rula looked at her suspiciously. "Okay... but don't be surprised when I take all the gold!"
"Right this way, Rula," Sal said with a now business-like smile.
Naya nodded and turned to walk back to the door; the crowd easily parted ways for her to get through.
--Well, I guess this was expected.--
Standing before the Hall Master, blocking his view of the red-haired mage, was a certain human with long golden hair glaring daggers at the man, and even he looked at least a little respectful of her.
The red-haired man had a smirk on his face, suddenly filled with confidence due to the person in front of him.
"So, [Hall Master], care to tell me why you refuse to share your information with us?" She didn't give him time to answer, and her voice was tinged with impatience. "I'm sure it's not due to some petty political nonsense, right?
Her red coat was draped over her shoulders, her arms crossed before her chest.
Naya opened the door and stepped out; it was exactly what she expected might happen.
"Paragon... your people only want what we have to curry favor with Lord Rilious. Even for you, I will not-"
"Never mind, don't need it!"
"Paragon?!" The red-haired boy said in shock.
--Finally!--
Sophia instead turned to face Naya's shocked expression. "Hello gorgeous, I missed you!"