An Old Face Brings New Chances

Madre looked at the board with disappointment, the only thing up there was a notice about the guild organizing requests and prepping the sheets for being brought to the attention of those using the guild’s services. She knew that the central authority that oversaw guilds could barely justify this guild’s placement, they basically kept it here because of the area having a history of being hazardous every few decades and thus the requirement of an early warning site. It wasn’t too bad, usually, because the area was so slow most of the time that usually meant pretty easy jobs that paid more decently in areas with noticeably higher populations. As to why the guild building wasn’t in the town almost a half-hour away, the lord of the area at the time had a very poor opinion of Adventurers being barely a step or two up from typical mercenaries, so the guild building had to be what they considered a reasonable distance from town. Thankfully, an inn, which was known for its odd placements at times, had been up for a few years prior to the guild’s construction, so they just set up shop near there to save on costs related to making and maintaining sleeping quarters.

Madre didn’t look it, most of the time, but she was well-educated and had extensively researched the area before heading to this area. While her people were typically social in nature, her herd did have a rite where they sent younger members out to learn self-sufficiency and about the world beyond the savannah they called home. Madre liked it here and had no intentions of returning home anytime soon because she actually couldn’t stand her herd most of the time. Madre had trained at a Monk academy on the plains her people called home when she was young, spending almost all her personal finances at the time for those early lessons, her herd did not approve of her going out of her way to learn combat arts that were not passed down through the herd itself, even going so far to threaten exile and banishment from the herd if she were to ever teach the arts to the rest of the herd when they found out how extensive her lessons were. Her herd was so stubbornly traditionalistic that they actually were known for choices that actively went against their best interest or objectives.

“So,” said Marin with interest as she came up next to the centaur, “where did you hear that little tidbit?”

“You’re merchant friend,” said Madre as she turned away from the board, “she’ll probably be here within a day or two, when I last saw her she was negotiating with one of the farmers and he looked stubborn enough to probably argue and haggle things out for a few days, she must have said something in her inventory that really caught his interest.”

“Much appreciated,” said Marin, “if a relative of the royal family is coming, or at least rumored to do so, then that means our nearest church will likely want to do a quick safety check with us and the inn. The guild master is a bit busy at the moment, so I’ll let her know what we’ve discussed here.”

“Thanks, let me know everything is done. I’m going to head over for some food, has the innkeeper come into ahold of any new recipes?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” said Marin, “but then again, it’s typically not my job to keep tabs on his recipe list.”

“Alright,” said Madre, “I think I’ll let him tell me. Oh, and let me know when more requests are on the board, you know how I tend to get antsy with extended waiting periods.” She gave a courteous bow and made her way out of the structure, when her back was turned she couldn’t notice the salacious grin Marin and the guild staff were giving her because of their thoughts of how her corruption could go. Madre only got a vague feeling of the nature of the grins on her back as she made her way out of the door.

Marin was a little annoyed she didn’t have more “sisters” to play with now, the imps were more akin to her own offspring or nieces, still pretty hot but not as hot as sister demons could be. A combination of Delvin’s own caution and a lack of meaningful females corrupt had played into that. Hilthrika shivered with excitement at the prospect of Delvin corrupting an entire temple, and later church, into loyal sluts. The idea did send an erotic shiver up her spine. Returning to her office in the back of the main floor, Marin returned to her true demonic form and extended her senses out to keep tabs on what was going on outside the room, her door was mostly closed but left open enough of a crack to make it look like it was closed without letting anyone know it was actually open.

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Madre entered the inn to see Delvin by the threshold to the kitchen looking over some documents, it wasn’t uncommon for the guild to pass along missives to him every now and then, after all, the in and the guild did have an established working relationship. “Any new cuisine options come your way recently,” inquired Madre as she made her way to the area of the inn that was designed to accommodate those with noticeably less conventional physiologies and prop herself down next to a table. Her DD-Cup bosom was slightly above average for a human but was well within the average for female centaurs.

“Unfortunately, no,” said Delvin as he stashed the papers away in one of the boxes that he kept under the counter, “any rumors I should be aware of?”

“The cousin of the royal children will be passing through the area,” said Madre, “something about getting experience as an adventurer at her mother’s insistence, she’ll likely be here by the week’s end or early next week. That traveling merchant friend of yours and the guild told me that, she should be here in the next few days.”

“Well,” said Delvin, “if that rumor has any merit to it, our neighboring church will likely send a letter of intent for inspection, they get pretty serious about that sort of thing.”

“I don’t understand why,” said Madre, “the princess is the official captain of the royal castle’s personal Paladin corps, there are next to no ties to the church.”

“It’s not because it’s the princess,” said Delvin, this earned Madre an interested yet confused head quirk, “it’s her closest traveling companion,” the sound of him mixing something could be heard, “her best friend is the latest appearance of the Saintess, the church has a significant investment in the survival of the one with that title.”

“And since she’s almost always seen traveling with the princess,” said Madre putting the pieces together, “the church has a vested interest in the safety of the princess’s group because the one they really care about is in that group.”

“That’s right,” said Delvin as the sound of the oven’s door opening and closing could be heard.

“What’s in the oven,” inquired Madre.

“Something new I came up with a moment ago,” said Delvin, “I seem to recall you enjoying my cooking experiments last time you were in.”