A single step in and she could smell roasted meat. Alicia was already drooling at the mouth, and Claire wondered if it was due to the smell of meat or the thought of drinking her blood but she still made a mental note to try some as soon as they could procure some funds.

There were stands littered through the spiraling road, and along with them, children playing and hallowing whichever way. There were some groups gathered in circles, sitting, standing, many held in their hands thin sticks with juicy meat attached to it.

Everyone walked in differing steps. Some looked as easy going as sloths, walking around with children in tow and seeming as if they were tourists enjoying their time. Others walked as if they were cursing their lack of extra legs. The former seemed to be families and young couples. While most of the later wore some form of armor, whether leather or iron and carried weapons—some even held staffs. The roads were wide, there were no carriages or horses to be seen.

Claire raised her brow, turning her head.

The houses and buildings around seemed to vary as much as she had thought they would. There were some made of stone, and there were some made out of honey-colored wood. Each house was raised along the side of the road, following the continuing incline, on stone bases.

She even saw several flags flying and attached to some buildings, each was the same design as the last. A blue phoenix against a pure white background.

The deeper she went into the city, the more the sky above her was covered with the gray roof of the mountain, and the more the warm lights of what appeared to be lanterns shone.

The spirit of Aclair seemed a paradox. It felt as if it was bustling and calm at the same moment.

———

Clara Stone had become bored as of late. It wasn't that she had nothing to do, far from it, it was because everything had narrowed into monotone. It was as if Goddess Ishtar had stopped time, glanced at her world, and decided to loop it.

She sighed, resting her head in her hand, her emerald eyes watching the area with listlessness.

The interior of the Adventure Guild hall was neither large nor small. Although the building itself could be described as a black box, the actual innards was white—like limestone.

She watched on as the adventures entered and exited. To the right was the same young man as always, coming here during the afternoon and staring at the request board with his red brows furrowed. Soon, his blue eyes would shine and he would pick up a request just as always. To the left, the same rowdy party yelling over one another about whose fault it had been this time that they had almost died—it seemed they had decided it was the rogue's turn to take the blame as the lavender haired girl gritted her teeth and kicked one of them in the shin, sending him flying—as always, they were guaranteed to still take out another request tomorrow and adventure like buddies.

It was bustling, but to her, it all felt tame.

"Excuse me, we would like to take this request." A voice called to her as a parchment waved in her face.

She looked up, there was a standard party—the one with the sword must be the vanguard, the one with the bow must be the rear and acting as a pseudo mage, and the one with a gauntlet must be...well, the striker.

Clara stood up.

"Are you certain?" She asked for confirmation, taking the piece of parchment and glancing over it.

It was a request to help drive out the goblins and imps in one of the city mines. Supposedly, they were running rampant as of late and growing in numbers. Some of the merchants had begun to fester complaints and the economy of the city had lowered a significant percentage. The adventurers were to meet with the owner of the mine and join in with an expedition force to strike through in one clean slate. The request required at least an individual ranking of B- or a party ranking of at least C+.

On the scale of requests, this one wasn't especially hard, only taxing.

"Mhmm," The leader of the party nodded.

Clara asked for their cards, checked them in with the request, and made sure they were of the required ranking

She returned their cards, smiling, and wished them luck.

"Be careful out there."

She had to admit, it wasn't particularly because she cared about the trio, it was simply part of her job, a service.

The party nodded and left, and at that moment, a soft voice tickled against her ears. It was bland, dry, but there was a certain charm to it.

"Excuse me, I and my friend here would like a Sacred Card."

Clara's heart immediately jumped, her eyes widened as she stared at the two girls before her. She wasn't the only one staring, practically everyone took a glance at them before returning to their business. After all, it wasn't every day someone asked for a Sacred Card. But, she felt as if she was the only one that had been given a way out—a liberation from monotone.

Her unique skill, , which allowed her to see who was most qualified for a job was blaring. In front of her, those two girls held a green circle above their heads. They were both the most qualified to relinquish her boredom...

She quickly stopped herself from sitting back down.

Claire stared at that face. The woman had a head of dark blue, almost black, hair and emerald eyes—a strange combination even more highlighted by the two black moles below her left eye. She wore a simple outfit; a black, collared, long sleeve shirt with the right arm folded and revealing tanned skin paired with long, cotton brown pants.

Glancing around the room, she now realized why the gate guards were not surprised in the least by her own looks. Black hair and crimson eyes. In this world...it seemed, she could blend in quite well. Claire smiled at that thought.

She had asked around and finally made it here. There were other guilds she could have gone to, from the Mage Guild to the Alchemist Guild, but the Adventure Guild was supposedly the only one that would give out the cards for free as long as they chose to accept a request along with it. Claire felt the people of this city quite kind and warm, the more time she spent within, the more she came to love it.

The person before her smiled. "Hello, welcome to the Adventure Guild, my name is Clara Stone. A pleasure to meet you."