My weekend was somehow busier than the weekday. Our family pastor just got a kid and my mom just had to go see him. And I got roped in. Let's just say it took a long while.
"And without further adieu, the mish mash rush of a chapter I put together at the dying minute of the day.
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We're here to become adventurers!" Maple's voice echoes through the guild hall. Silence immediately arrests the guild as even the usual noise making insects seems to be shocked by the bravado coming from this tiny girl.
"N..Not so loud." " T.. They're staring." The twins behind her stutter as their faces flush red from embarrassment.
Chrome who is standing behind them simply chuckles.
"I wouldn't expect any different. Glad to see you're alright.......Maple ".
While it was obvious that Maple was still shaken, Chrome had decided it was better to restore some sort of normalcy for Maple's sake.
The rest of the journey to Furan was without issue as Maple and her guild members got into the city. Yui and Maple had wanted to spend the day sight seeing but Chrome and surprisingly Mai insisted on getting to the adventurers guild.
After asking for directions from a few vendors, They finally made it to the guild.
Chrome stands hesitantly at the entrance, scanning the room full of seasoned adventurers. Mai and Yui slowly leaving their hiding place behind Maple.
Maple takes in an excited breath and makes her way to the reception desk, where the guild clerk greets her with a welcoming and curious look.
"Welcome to the Blue Beri Guild." She smiles. "I'm Corey, the guild clerk." She takes a good look at the group. Three little girls and a scary man. "Which one of you is becoming an adventurer?" She asks, just barely resisting the urge to sigh in frustration.
"All of us." Maple answers with a face that holds no doubt.
*Sigh*
Unable to hold back Corey sighs, then she asks. "Will you be registering as individual adventurers or as a party."
"Uhm.....can we do both?" Maple asks with a bright smile.
"Unfortunately, no you can't. Well you actually can, however you have to either register as an individual or a party first and after the first six months of adventuring you can then register for the other." Corey reaches into a cupboard and selects five copies of a certain document.
"Oh I see. Then a party, definitely as a party. What do you guys think." Maple immediately answers as she turns to her friends with a questioning gaze.
"We wanna team up with you Maple." "Yes, let's make a party." Yui and Mai practically scream in delight, the adventurers wincing at their bright optimism at what is basically a dangerous vocation.
"Oi, are they serious?" "Those little things are gonna be adventurers?" "Hey is this a joke." "That's a knight right? Does that make them nobles?" The guild immediately erupts in murmurs as everyone is still shocked at the sight before them.
*Sigh*
Chrome smiles. "Whatever you decide, Leader."
////Corey POV////
I..I can't believe this. He called her leader. Isn't he her guardian or something, that would have made her a young miss. But he called her leader.
I should ask just to be sure.
"So uhm, who will be the leader of this party and what will the party be called?" Come on kid, be reasonable. This isn't exactly a fairytale.
" That's me, I'm the gui....i mean the party leader. And our party is called the Maple Tree party." She immediately answers me with a smile.
The others as well, they're also smiling!! What the hell is wrong with these people? Oi Sir Knight, aren't you supposed to stop her? You might be strong but you can't protect her if she's the one running headfirst into dangerous situations.
Sigh
They don't understand, adventurers die every damn day. It's why I put on this smile, why I give them at least something to be happy about, even if it's only a conversation. It very well maybe the last I have with them. These girls still have their lives ahead of them, they shouldn't waste it here.
" Okay sign here, here and here." I can only pass the forms with a heavy heart. Nothing I can think of to change their minds.
"Oi Oi Oi, seriously. You're gonna let this little pipsqueaks into the guild? The hell are you trying to pull." Ohh? Rollo to the rescue, good job Rollo.
Just in the nick of time, Rollo grabs the Knight's shoulder."This isn't a game, you should know better. I ain't against a woman becoming an adventurer. Suha knows the lot of em could kick my ass." Yes tell them Rollo, that's why you're my favorite.
"Hey Rollo, please calm down." Keep going Rollo. Maybe they'll listen to an adventurer. Ehh? Is it getting colder.
////Normal POV////
The silence continues to exert it's dominance upon the guild as Rollo stares down the Scary looking knight.
"No Corey, he's gotta know what he's getting into. As their guardian...." Rollo feels a sudden chill wash over him.
"You would be advised to remove your hand." Chrome's entire demeanor changes in an instant. The guild hall suddenly buzzes as some adventurers expect a fight while some are disappointed that the knight is acting so ungrateful when all that Rollo is doing is trying to stop them from making a mistake.
What no one noticed, well no one but Chrome, is that Maple was trembling. The adventurer's words had brought up the incident with the bandits within her.
Chrome's gaze turns cold and everyone in the guild can feel a sudden pressure press down on them lightly, and then slowly the weight increases.
Chrome notices a few adventurers appear behind Rollo, a blonde man with a long sword on his hip, a woman with red hair sporting a bow, a raven haired lady wearing a priest's garb and a dark skinned elf.
Chrome slowly scans their faces, considering the pros and cons of engaging them.
His right hand twitches, about to summon his cleaver.
"Miss Corey, is there a way for us to prove we can take care of ourselves." Maple's voice instantly blows away the tension.
"Huh?" The guild clerk is completely caught off guard and let's out a shocked sound.
" Well yes, there is the rankers test. It's for whenever an adventurer wants to rank up or in your case when we want to test out the strength of a new adventurer." She quickly finds her self though, a testament of her experience in her work.
" Okay then, we'll take that. What do you think girls." Maple places her hands on her hips with a smile.
" That sounds fun." " There's no problem Maple." Yui and Mai immediately voice their opinions.
"Well? You heard them." Chrome smirks.
Rollo and his party walk back to their seat "Tch" though he's not happy with this development.
"I'll go get the guild master." Corey sets up the documents after Maple and her team are done signing and immediately run up a set of stairs right next to the quest wall.
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Thanks for reading my book. I am touched that you all actually give this the time of day.
Thank you