We finally got to the guild after another half hour of walking. The city was large enough that the trip there was a full hour, or maybe even longer.

The walk there was really loud though, as Reco apparently vented the pain from eating the tamale coated in pepper sauce via complaining about everything.

‘Why’s the guild got to be so close to the center of the city?’

‘Why does spicy food’s sting last so long!?’

‘Maladrain, we’d just be faster taking the main road’

“You ran out of water?! Why haven’t we invented public water distribution!?”

Maladrain sighed, still walking down the pavement. “We do have water fountains. You do know that, right, Reco?”

“What do you -Wait, we have what!?” Reco said, almost as if the fact frustrated her.

Maladrain stopped. “How do you not know this, Reco? If we can create intricate waste disposal systems, we can also create fountains. See, there’s one right over there?” He pointed to an outhouse. “Drink from one of the sinks.”

Reco just sighed and kept walking. “Grr...let’s get going.”

What, did she want fresh spring water from the Descate Mountains?

Both Maladrain and I looked up at the building not far away labeled the ‘adventuring guild building’. Reco looked back, confused, only for Maladrain to mock her once she finally noticed. “How did you miss that?”

Reco grumbled.

The building was about thirty feet wide, and difficult to miss. I had seen the dueling guild earlier, though, and knew that this building was significantly smaller than that one. It was built of the same white stone that was common around the city, and fit in with the same boring rectangular design the rest held. The biggest difference between it and the other buildings was the decorations. It had a variety of flags posted on the roof, the lawn was filled, almost overgrown with a variety of plants, many that I hadn’t seen before, and the windows were mixed with stained glass and normal glass in a mismatched pattern. Honestly, it looked a little shabby.

Reco lunged ahead of us, walking down the few stone platforms embedded in the lawn, which led to the building itself.

Maladrain and I entered the building, revealing a much more refined interior. The white stone that made up the walls and floor was polished, shining cleanly. There was an open double doorway that led into a hall, four granite tables, and a chandelier above it all. The windows colored the fairly homogeneous room with a comfortable level of light, scattering colors about the room.

Sitting at one of the tables, reading a book, a 16 or so year old girl in a nice brown and black skirt leaned into her chair lazily. Not far away, a bucket of cleaning equipment sat, evidently recently used.

When she saw us she immediately stood and placed a fist to her heart, bowing her head for a half-second. “Reco, Maladrain! It’s good to see you two back!”

Maladrain walked past her, patting her head as he passed by. “Hey, Tiffany.” He was about a head taller. He walked around the lobby, readjusting to a familiar environment, then leaped a good four feet to tap the bottom of the chandelier. “Home sweet home.”

Reco did the same, batting the chandelier for some reason. “Home sweet home,” she repeated.

I tried to do the same, but I wasn’t nearly tall or strong enough to tap it.

It made me frustrated, especially since it reminded me about how I had lost my [life wing].

Maybe with a certain dragon hybrid’s help, hmm? hmm?

I looked back to Cobaltio, but he seemed to think I was being stupid.

“So, Tiff, what’s been going on while we were gone?” Reco asked the girl, who seemed accustomed to the strange tradition.

She waved Reco off. “Oh, nothing much. There was a breach of [giant]s in the north, so we had to send the two people out to handle them. It’s good you two are here, we’ve got a big pile-up of jobs.”

“Understaffed as usual, huh,” Maladrain noted. “Well, you can add another job to the list, one that’s a high priority.” Maladrain pulled a paper from his pack and handed it to Tiffany.

She glanced at it with an exaggeratedly tired expression. “Joy...oh, its a junior job. Should we really be sending Reco on a small mission like this, though?”

Maladrain shrugged. “Don’t forget that Reco is less valuable as an adventurer than me.”

“Excuse me?!” Reco butted in. “I’m level 24, you’re level 17! Plus, I’m just more skilled.”

“18, now. And I mean as an adventurer. You’re slower than me on the road and less experienced in survival, tracking, and other important things. You are a great mascot, though, so you’re more integral overall.”

Reco grumbled but didn’t protest the fair assessment.

Maladrain continued, “I’ll take whatever mission is the next highest priority, as long as its reasonable for me to handle alone. Meanwhile, Reco will inspire the kids and give them some experience in the field on their mission to the Blackstone Mines.”

Tiffany finished looking the file down. “If it were anyone weaker that might be too dangerous, but Reco should do. I’ll bring this up with the guildmaster right away. You all sit tight...actually, who’s the kid?” she pointed to me.

Maladrain put a hand on my head, which I shoved off. Treating me like a kid in private was one thing, Maladrain just treated everyone that way, but I wanted a nice, fresh introduction to this Tiffany person. I held up my slate to her, {I’m Saya ([mute]), I’m joining.}

Tiffany looked to Maladrain. “You recruited this girl?”

He nodded. “Yeah, she’s probably going to end up living in the dorms with Thraisly”

“You picked up another orphan, Maladrain!?”

“Heyheyhey- Dota is far from an orphan, so that makes Julius the only other orphan I helped into the guild! Plus, both of them are exceptional fighters.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes in a ‘that’s just like you’ way. “Ok, fine, Mally. We will see how the guildmaster reacts.”

“Thanks a lot, Tif.”

Tiffany walked through the door on the far end of the hall.

We waited at one of the tables for a good ten minutes before Tiffany returned, then led us to the door, where she opened the same door to reveal an office room.

The room had two file cabinets in the corner, a desk with paper spread across it, and strange rocks used as paperweights. It had a beaten-up carpet, a collection of many more rocks in the right corner, propped in a fountain with perpetually falling water, a bookcase, some strange plants with purple and black stems set inside equally strange flower pots, and a window behind the desk, boarded up in a makeshift manner that didn’t fit the room’s design.

Sitting at the desk in a swivel chair was a [dwarf], like the [drake] tamer(who I guess I never mentioned was one). He looked at us like we were just an annoyance when we walked in.

“Who is this? The girl?” he asked without pleasantries.

{I’m Saya ([mute]), I’m joining.} I held up, since it was already written down.

“Right. And who decided that?”

There was a nervous silence for some reason as Tiffany, Reco, and I looked at Maladrain, waiting for him to say it was his idea. The [dwarf] just waited in silence for him to speak up. Eventually, he gave in to peer pressure. “T-that would be me, Gruan,” he said nervously.

Maladrain slowly nodded.

Gruan cleared his throat. “Come here.” He held out a hand in an almost challenging way, waiting for Maladrain to walk forth.

Slowly, Maladrain took timid steps towards the guild master, a look of resignation on his face, as if he had accepted some horrid fate. Then, his hand inched closer and closer to the [dwarf]’s.

Without warning, the stout man gripped Maladrain’s hand, making him jump with a sharp yelp. I felt a menacing aura from the [dwarf] as he glared with scary, wide eyes at Maladrain. “Maladrain, is this another orphan?”

“K-kinda.”

“And do you want her to be trained and live in the dorms?”

“Yes.”

“Is that your wish, your determination?”

“Uhh...y-yeah.”

“Are you ready?” The [dwarf]’s hand visibly gripped tighter to Maladrain’s.

“M-” Before Maladrain could respond, Gruan, quick as lightning, threw his other hand onto Maladrain’s upper arm, then kicked his desk, sending his chair careening to the other side of the room alongside Maladrain, who was dragged around like a ragdoll, then chucked him into the boarded window. Maladrain smashed through it like thin paper, then tumbled through the dusty training grounds behind the building with the speed of a mad [dragon], only stopping, almost forty feet away, because of a chain fence.

Gruan cleared his throat once more, nonchalantly kicking back off the wall, and back to his desk. He quickly sat back into his chair, and put his elbows on the desk, interlocking his fingers. “Let me speak with the new recruit, alone, please.”

Reco casually walked to the broken window. “Should I get Mally?”

“No. He will be fine.”

“Riiiight.”

Reco walked back through the door, and Tiffany followed. “Aww man, I’m going to need to patch that window up again,” she complained, before shutting the door.

Click*

The click of the door locking pushed me out of my stunned half-smile, and I immediately sprang for the door, frantically trying to open it. Don’t leave me with this psycho!!

“No need to worry, I don’t defenestrate young, [mute] little girls,” he said, leaning on his desk with an amused expression. The way he said it made me wonder if he only deigned not to because I was both young, a girl, and [mute].

I looked back at the chair on the other side of the desk, then back to the [dwarf]. Unconvinced, but with no way out, I slowly slid atop the stool, while Cobaltio leaped from my back and onto the desk.

The guild master looked at the [drake] with curiosity. “What’s this little one’s name?”

{Cobaltio}...{sir.} I added.

“We don’t use formalities in the adventurer’s guild, Saya. Just call me Gruan.”

I nodded, then edited my previous statement to say ‘Gruan’, because, unlike words, you can take back writing.

“Well, he’s a cute fellow. Onto the topic, why do you think you’d be good for us?”

Huh? {I don’t know what you mean.}

“This is an interview. Don’t tell me you’re a country girl used to having jobs handed to you.”

...

“Uhh, I mean...err...its fine if you are.” He leaned back in his chair, clearing his throat again. “In that case, just talk about yourself, and why you’re here.”

I slowly put chalk to my board, hesitating.

“Ahh, I see.” I looked up to see him, seemingly reading his menu. He looked back at me. “No need to hold back, girl. Nothing you say is going on file, and I can already tell you’re an [oathbreaker].”

I nodded, then began to explain how I had gotten to where I was, in general detail. I got to practice writing it out when I talked to the [drake] tamer, so I had learned to make my story more clear and concise. It didn’t take long to exposit the important stuff. I wasn’t sure if it was the best idea to tell him it all-it was a risk, for sure- but I told him most everything nonetheless.

At the end, he nodded in understanding. “So you’re a Silent Angel who lost their unique skills because you saved a [drake] against Seraph’s will, thinking she wanted you to...and you also saved Maladrain’s life and gathered valuable information on the Mudmule.”

I nodded.

“You’re a peculiar one, for sure, but that’s what we honestly look for in our adventurers. Remember the four S’s of adventurers: Style, Survival, Strategic, Stalwart.”

I was impressed he said that without breaking a smile.

“Now, with introductions aside...what do you bring to the table, Saya? How can you help the adventurer’s guild, as an individual?”

I thought for some time, then responded in the only manner I could think of.

{I’ll win. No matter what, no matter how battered and bruised I might be, I’ll come out on top.}

He nodded. “And how will you achieve that ideal?”

Uhh...{through strategy and grit.}

He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I mean. Imagine you’re sent on your first mission, and its to the edge of Hell, collecting searwood for one of our clients. Suddenly, five cryhounds surround you and your two companions and attack. How do you achieve victory?”

After some thought, I responded. {I immobilize whichever ones I can before they close in on us with an ally’s help. Then I split us up and fight the hounds individually before killing the others.}

“And what if your two companions lose? What then?”

{Then I lost.}

“But you said you would win, no matter what, correct?”

I nodded, thoughtful. He gave me time to think and revise my strategy. {I would instead take vanguard against the three while my allies supported me.}

“But then, it could be a three, or even four against one. Do you think your allies can keep you alive without getting close?”

{I would not die.}

“And, if, say, the fight dragged on, and the immobilized cryhounds circled and struck an ally?”

{I would fight it before it could.}

“All five? At the same time?” he asked, surprised.

I nodded. {I will win.}

He stared at me, concerned, for a good minute. I nearly started sweating under the pressure, his glare making me doubt myself. Still, my pride was too strong to make me back down, so instead of averting my eyes or something, I let myself fall into a trance as I glared back, ignoring the quelling anxiety he gave me.

Then, he burst out laughing, his quizzical persona vanishing. “HA! That’s the spirit, girl! Sure, I guess fighting all of them works! Bear the burden of the world if anyone else needs to, fight against reality if that’s the need, win no matter how outmatched, and come out more alive!” He let out one last, solitary chuckle. “I like you. I don’t know if you’re a dullheaded fool or a legend in the making, but I want to see where your guts take you, whether they’re splattered or fighting.”

A little graphic, but it was an encouraging speech. {Thanks?}

He placed a hand on my shoulder, making me flashback to Maladrain’s...fate. “It was nothin’.” He gestured to the door. “Well, I was going to take you in unless you had big red flags, but now you’ve got me curious. I’ll leave you in their hands, now.”

I looked back to the door, which was locked from the outside.

“That lock’s broken, it’ll open if you shake it enough. Its just for privacy, but uhh...” he looked to the side sheepishly. “Someone put it in backward. I wonder who...-”

{Who?} I asked, pressing him.

He cleared his throat nervously. “W-well, that’s all the time we have, so if you don’t want to be defenestrated you can leave.”