The awkwardness at breakfast suffocated any chance of conversation.

"Elin--"

She gripped her wooden spoon tight enough that it cracked. "I don't want to talk about it."

"R-right."

Elin wasn't wearing her uniform or armor, but rather a simple tunic. It looked new. Walter didn't see them in the room either, but he had good enough sense to not bluntly ask about it.

The food didn't surprise him. Every meal was the same at Pilgrim's Folly. Porridge. Austerity might be a principle of their church. Then again, it was a medieval world, and food is determined by the season.

She sighed with resignation, before diplomatically following up, "We have to figure out our employment."

Walter nodded. Yeah, the job problem. He lacked the necessary day-to-day knowledge to perform most of the tasks taken for granted.

"We'll visit the Adventurer's Guild. You're not a combatant, but you might find employment there. It's not ideal. Most jobs are for the desperate."

"Like what? I thought you said it was a bad idea?"

The Adventurer's Guild designed their guildhall with informal meetings in mind. The entry was spacious, with tables and adventurer's milling about and exchanging shop-talk. Off to the side were bank-style booths, each with a receptionist. After a short wait in line, they had their turn.

"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild," the receptionist said, "My name is Lucy. I haven't seen you two before, are you here to register?"

Lucy looked like she was annoyed and bored at the same time, but she maintained a fixed smile on her face.

Elin nodded, "Me as a fighter, him as a supplier."

"Excuse me," Walter asked, and raised his hand, "What exactly is a 'supplier'?"

Lucy produced a parchment from under the desk. Elin stepped aside so he could approach the counter.

Huh. That's surprising. I can read this. I wonder if my knowledge was altered after being summoned?

"The supplier job consists of packing commonly required items for adventurers to use. You carry goods from us, sell them, then pay us the original price. Deciding what to mark up the price is up to you."

So, I'm a glorified Avon lady.

Elin nudged him, and Walter stepped aside after the description was finished.

"This is the registration paperwork. Please have it filled out and pay the registration fee. It will be ten silvers each."

After finding an empty table, Walter asked, "How much is one silver?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, how much can I buy with it?"

Elin said, "The crown's 'One Coin Decree' guarantees one silver coin can buy enough food and lodging for one day."

"How many silver coins do we have?"

"The church issued us two-hundred."

"So, we can stay at the inn for two-hundred days?"

"The inn is free, for now, and it would be one-hundred because there's two of us," Elin pointed to her new tunic, "We have other expenses to consider. Plus, we'll have to buy basic equipment to adventure with."

Elin busied herself with filling out the paperwork, and occasionally she sounded out the words. Walter spoke the correct word.

"You can read and write?"

"Seems so. I'm a little surprised."

"Well, it's the language of the heroes. Historians explain we adopted it several hundred years ago."

"I'm not," Walter lowered his voice, "the only one summoned?"

"No. Heroes answered the call for each of the three crusades."

"Was Idrun the First part of the first crusade?"

"The Four Heroes Crusade? No, Idrun was part of the second crusade."

Walter blinked. Why call him the first then?

"Walter? How old are you?" Elin reviewed the paperwork and asked.

"Twenty. How old are you?"

"I turned seventeen last month."

C-crap. I can almost hear the sirens. Elin didn't seem the least bit flustered. Is this the difference in maturity between girls and boys?

After she received the paperwork, Lucy said, "There will be an examination before we can finalize your membership. Because you are registering as a fighter, you will need to demonstrate proficiency with the sword. Please be ready for it."

Walter and Elin walked by several weapon shops before she decided to enter. The further they walked away from the center of the commercial district, the fewer customers Walter saw milling about, and the customers Walter noticed were less enthusiastic.

"Why this one?"

"It'll be much cheaper."

The two individuals inside were a dwarf behind the counter and an elf. Their conversation died as customers entered.

"I'd like a sword," Elin said.

"Well, they're on display."

The only words Walter could use to describe Elin's shopping methods were "impossibly picky." Despite shopping for a cheap sword, she examined each one thoroughly, flipping them several times and looking closely at the details. Unlike the one she used before, none of the ones she picked up looked polished.

Finally, obviously shoving aside her disdain for the poorly made weapon, she brought it to the counter.

"Thirteen silver," the dwarf said.

"Ten. It's clearly a resell."

The dwarf snorted but relented with a nod.

"How much for a trade-in?"

"If I made it? Depends. For that sword? Half the price."

"And a sheath?"

The dwarf thumbed towards the elf and promptly went about his business of ignoring her. The elf was much more cordial, standing up and laying out several sheathes out on a table.

Outside, Walter asked, "What's their deal?"

Elin glanced at him, then focused her attention to affixing the sheath to her belt.

While she fidgeted, she explained, "They might be migrants. During the crusades, the majority of the summoned were human, sympathetic only to humans, so non-human kingdoms fell into ruin."

"Might be?"

"They're probably emancipated slaves."

"Are monsters that threatening?"

Elin didn't answer, she simply made her way back to the guild for the examination.

Lucy led them to a fenced-in field behind the guildhall. Some of the groups stopped their drills to watch Lucy, Elin, and the tester.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you!"

The man administering the test taunted Elin. He was twice her size with a full beard. Elin's only response was to raise her eyebrows and then grip the handle of her new-yet-old sword tightly enough for her glove to creak.

Somehow, it seemed unfair that Elin, in an undyed tunic and a second-hand sword, faced off against a man in chainmail, with a higher quality weapon.

The man's first attack was an overhand swing. No matter how Walter looked at it, the attack was stupidly aggressive. This was a test, right? Something like that could kill someone. Maybe I don't understand the logic of this world?

Elin's sword cleared her sheath, tapped lightly against the swordsman's blade, and parried with a twist of her wrist. Despite the rush of her opponent, her moves appeared smooth and calm. No, she seemed indifferent, like she expected each step.

As fast as she countered, her sword returned to its sheath, and she was already resting as the man continued to stumble forward.

It's not like she moved as she did against the goblins, it was easy to see her movements. She didn't waste any form.

The onlookers chuckled.

"You bitch!"

Why is he taking this personal?

He spun around and swung in a wide arc. Elin didn't move, she was already out of range. His follow-up swing was stopped with the tip of her blade, halted before it could gain momentum.

Now the onlookers jeered, "You're going to lose to a girl!"

Walter realized Elin wasn't only gifted with a sword, but she had extensive fighting experience. You can't be this calm against someone trying to hurt you without dealing with it multiple times.

"I'll kill you!"

At this point, Elin stopped tolerating his fury. The moment he raised his sword again for another lethal swing, she buried the tip of her sword in his forearm and twisted it. Walter winced when he heard the faint pop of a bone.

Before he could charge at Elin, Lucy shouted, "That's enough, Henry! You want to lose your rank?!"

Even though Elin broke his arm, Henry only froze at Lucy's demand. After a spit, he turned and left, cradling his bleeding forearm.

"What the hell was that about?" Walter whispered.

"Do you see many women with swords here?" Elin said under her breath.

Lucy said, "Please accept my apologies. This isn't how a test is performed. Considering you bested Henry, you're at least at gold rank. Unfortunately, I can't promote you directly to gold without a preliminary mission, but I can start you at silver. Once you complete the necessary missions, I'll make sure your promotion is put through."

"My thanks," Elin said.

Lucy turned to Walter and continued, "As for you, we'll get you fitted right away with a kit. Make sure to support her properly."

"Sure. Goes without saying."

Satisfied, Lucy left.

Elin sneered at the blood on her sword before scrubbing it clean.

"That was pretty cool," Walter said.

Elin's sneer disappeared, replaced by one of shock, and then a repressed smile.

"Well, it was nothing."

"You think you could teach me a few things? Wait, why are you blushing?"