New Additions

I followed Sofia down the stairs of the red tower back to the first floor. We returned to the University’s lobby, where Alice and Lucille were already waiting for us. The man from the gate was nowhere to be seen.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“Fine, I guess,” shrugged Alice. “They swapped his bindings out for some magic ones and tossed him into a warded cell. They said he’d be tried within a few months.”

“Is that a normal timeframe?” I asked.

“It’s a bit longer than usual, but not particularly alarming,” Sofia said.

“How did the meeting with your father go, Sofia?” Lucille asked.

“It went really well. Thanks for asking,” smiled Sofia. “He’s gonna come to the guild bar to drink with us later.”

“That’s wonderful to hear,” said Alice. “The more the merrier.”

“We should get going, then. Hopefully Flora hasn’t gotten herself into any trouble,” I said, opening the front door to the university. The others followed behind, chatting amongst themselves. The old man at the gate opened it without a word as we passed by, in a far more somber mood than before. Lucille had told him that his son was dead, so it was to be expected. Nothing we can do about it.

Exiting the upper quarter, we headed back down the giant staircase to the lower quarter where our destination resided. Waiting by the bottom of the staircase was our own Flora.

“Oh, hey guys! You all finally done?” she waved, seeing us.

“Indeed, Flora,” said Lucille. “Excellus and the bandit boss have been turned over to the proper authorities. Unfortunately, the mages weren’t as happy about it as the city guard was, so we only received a reward for the bandit.”

“We got a reward!?” Flora exclaimed.

“Yeah, we ended up with a 150 gold bounty,” I said, hefting the sack of coins I had received from Mia.

“That’ll be more than enough to last us a bit. Maybe we can even invest in some new equipment,” said Flora.

“We can talk about all that tomorrow,” said Sofia. “I need a drink.”

“I second that,” Lucille said. We all chuckled, heading towards the guild.

The guild HQ looked the same as ever, save for a few guardsmen hanging about in the tavern section, likely brought along by their captain, Mia. Eager for drinks, I went straight to Anna’s desk to get business out of the way.

“Hey Anna! We’re back!” I said eagerly. The blonde clerk’s eyes lit up upon hearing my voice.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite young party of adventurers!” She said with a smile.

“Oh come on, favorite? You must say that to every party,” Sofia said skeptically.

“I do not!” Anna replied, indignant. “...alright, fine, but you’re definitely at least in my top five favorites.”

“I guess I can accept that,” I chuckled. “We have two new party members to register to the guild.”

“Wow, two? Not what I expected, but good work nonetheless,” said Anna, applauding our efforts. “Alrighty, let’s see here...”

Anna mumbled to herself as she shuffled through a few documents. She eventually pulled out a pair of blank adventurer’s cards, handing them across the counter to Alice and Flora.

“Sign your names with this in the name spot, and watch the magic happen,” Anna said, handing the two a pair of quills. They did as she said. Alice’s card glowed with a shining golden light, while Flora’s had a green hue. Alice was designated as a Cleric by the card, while Flora was determined to be an Adventurer as well.

“So Flora is also an adventurer?” I asked.

“Well, that’s just the base class for those without prior specialization before joining up. For those with prior training, like a graduate of the Arcane college, or a former soldier, or some such, they’d be registered as the class closest to their current abilities,” Anna explained.

“Good to know,” I said. “How about changing classes? How does that work?”

“Just a simple fee of 100 gold and the guild can get someone out here to take care of it for you,” said Anna, smiling.

“Guh!? That’s steep!” I exclaimed.

“Not when you consider all the things those fees go towards,” said Anna. “The class change fee, the tavern profits, and the guild’s cut of the requests all go to paying employee salaries and providing the services we do to our adventurers.”

“Such as?” Alice asked.

“Mainly, the guild facilitated the requests, ensuring we get paid for our work, as well as providing a reliable reputation for people to trust. People trust and respect the guild, so they send us their requests and pay the money that keeps us all going. Aside from that, we provide medical, reconnaissance, legal protection, and fincancial aid, among others,” said Anna. She made a good argument.

“But what if we don’t utilize those services? Why should we have to pay all these extra expenses,” said Sofia. She also made a good argument.

“Look, I don’t make the rules. I just work here,” said Anna, preempting the conversation from spiraling out of control. “Now go on, you’ve got people waiting on you. I’ve got paperwork to finish.”

“You should come join us for a few drinks when you’re done. On me,” I said. She smiled.

“Sounds fun. Sure,” she said, waving is goodbye as she turned back to her work. I pulled out my guild card.

“Before I forget, here. Both of you touch your hand to the back of my card, so you can officially join the party,” I said. Alice and Flora did as I asked, and my card gained two new icons under the party section. A yellow staff for Alice and a Green boot for Flora.

“Dad! You came!” exclaimed Sofia, rushing over to meet her dad at the door. While she went about introducing her father to the others, I went over towards the person waiting for me, City Guard Captain Mia.