After i finished my coffee session, i said my thanks to Anne, promised her to come again and went strolling through the streets.

[Any more plans for this lovely day? If not, you should go to the Adventurer's Guild. And then i would suggest to secure bedding for tonight.]

Bedding? Sounds fine. The guild, why?

[Two reasons.. No, three actually. You need to change your money to the current currency. The guild does that, usually, as they are used to old coins being salvaged in dungeons and so on. Second, they have 'Alteration Orbs'. Those can be used to unlock your first affinity. More than one they can't but that is not a problem now. Lastly, the current chapter of your quest. To level up means to kill, mostly. Might as well register with the guild to earn money and reputation while getting stronger.]

Makes sense, my fluffy guide.

[Fluffy?]

I needed an adjective. And being fluffy is great, isn't it. Somehow it helps me to cope with co-habitating my mind when i think of you as fluffy, cute pet. Or something along those lines.

[Haha, fair enough. So, will you follow my plan?]

Not that i have much of a choice. After all you seem to know more than me, for the moment. As long as i do not have decent ideas of my own, might as well follow your lead.

[Alright.]

Half an hour and a few questioned strangers later, i stood before a very big building in the better parts of the town. Decent woodwork on the facade, three stories high. Which is high for this era's building standards. The fundament seems to be stone, of good quality. The sign was metal, imbued with gold for the text. A huge double door acted as the entrance.

The Adventurer's Guild sure has money, huh?

I entered.

Wow. Decent decor, too. The welcome hall was half bar, it seemed. A few smaller groups in gear sitting about, drinking beer, or wine. The occasional meal consumed as well. And lively chatter.

Instantly, i vaguely remembered better times, when i was very small and my parents were still around. We used to sit around the table in our small kitchen as well, chatting and eating and enjoying each others company. Well, those days were already long past when i became a thief. Now they were ancient, dusty, in my mind. I can still feel that past, though. It makes my heart hurt a little, after all.

The other part of the room were mostly recipients desks. So i made my way over to one of them. No line to wait in, as most business of the day was already wrapped up, this late in the afternoon, no, early evening.

"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, my name is Fer, how may i help you?" A woman that looked around my age asked politely.

Come to think of it, i still look like twenty, as if the time i spent in the void did not count at all. Whispy interjected without me explicitly asking.

[Yeah, that is because the time in the void does not count as time. Or you would have starved as well. There is more though. Do you remember what the race information of Polymorphs said?]

Yeah..? I mean, what do you mean?

[You are no longer bound by the rules that apply to mortals. Which means you will not age.]

That caught me off-guard so much, it showed on my face.

"Excuse me, Miss, is everything alright? You have stood there for seconds, now you look a bit shocked." The woman.. Fer.. yeah that's her name.. said.

"Ah yeah, i spaced out for a second, sorry." i apologised, a tiny bit embarrassed.

"No problem. So, do you have business with the guild?"

"Actually, i do. I found some old coins in .. eh.. my parents basement. I wonder if can exchange them for current currency?" I lied. Well, it counts as a white lie, right? No one is harmed.

"Let me see them and i can probably tell you. In case i can't, i will call for an expert." Fer responded, now interested.

Wow, she seemed to be thrilled by old stuff. Good for her. I took out one copper of my pouch.

"Here you go." I put it on the counter. Fer took it with great care, lifted it up and looked like an addict who just got his next fix.

"Remarkable! A Grundul Copper Coin! I have seen a lot of them over the years, but this, it looks so.. new.." She got suspicious. "It is not a fake, is it?"

I was caught off-guard again. Damn. They coins did not age as well, of course. Good thing Anne was.. naive? Not that they are fake, they are as real as they come.

"N-No" i stuttered a bit, blushing. Fuck. "They have just been laying in this pouch for as long as my parents can remember.."

Will she buy it? Come on!

"Well, there are spells that experts can use to verify where and when something was created. I am afraid you need to wait here, i will call for an expert now. Oh, don't even think about leaving, the guild's tracking magic will find you anywhere. No one can betray the guild."

Ha! I bet they can't follow me into the void, or even find me there, i triumphed silently. Pretty sure they don't even know it exists. I mean, i didn't, before i stumbled into it. So it ought to be information that is not publicly available.

But i didn't plan on leaving anyway, besides they were real, so what was there to fear? "Sure, take your time. I will wait here, gladly." I tried to sound like a nice customer in spe.

Fer rushed off upstairs. Oh, there were stairs behind her, didn't see them.

A few seconds later she jumped back down the stairs. Well, she is a quick one, isn't she.

"The expert will be here shortly. Do you have any other business in the mean time?" She asked, a bit out of breath.

"Hm, i do. Is it possible to use one of your 'Alteration Orbs'?" Fer gasped.

Did i say something odd?

"You can not casually use orbs like that! They are reserved for higher ranked adventurers!"

Well shit. Thanks Fluffy.

[Hey, i was away for decades, like you. I swear, a hundred years or so ago, they were free for everyone. Well not free, but for money.]

It is alright Whispy, without you i would have been even more at a loss.

[Alright. Maybe you can talk yourself into them helping?]

Yeah, dream on, you outdated-guide.

"I am so sorry, i did not know that. I am not from this.. eh.. country."

"So you took coins from your parents basement to the guild in another country?" Now Fer was in full-on doubt mode.

Fuck, FUCK! This get's messier by the second. Should i tell the truth? Or part of it?

[As long as you do not mention the void, the blessing, the quest or your race, it should be fine.]

So no truth it is, then. Damn it.

"The truth is.. i ran away from home. I was about to get into an arranged marriage and i could not stand it. So i stole some pouches from the basement and ran." I managed two things. First, i told a truth that did not exist a second ago. Second, i cried some realistic tears and managed to look miserable.

"Really?" Fer was still a bit on edge, but it was obvious she no longer thought of me as a bad person.

Ha! Acting finally paid off.

"I do not like talking about it."

"Oh of course, i am sorry. We will just wait for the expert." Hehe, now she tries to comfort me.

"O-Ok." i sobbed. Easy. Too easy.

[As if, she almost got you..]

Shut up, Fluffy!

"Miss Fer, i am here. What is it you want me to verify?" A dark, tall man appeared in the hallway to the upper stories. Voice like thunder, awesome. A 'real' man, it seems.

"Yes, Miss.. eh.." "It is Alira, my name is Alira.." "..right, thank you. Miss Alira here has some old coins that need verification. She claims they are from the Grundul era."

"Grundul? Interesting. Hand one over to me." The expert said as he drew a monocle from his chest pocket.

Fer handed over the one i gave her. The man took a long look, first normally, then through the monocle and started to chant a spell.

"Greater Appraisal" .. Then he slowly looked up. "They are genuine. At least Appraisal tells me so." He said, with doubt drenching his words. "But they look so new. Not two-hundred years old."

Yeah, of course, for the third time i got caught off-guard. Two-fucking-hundred years i was gone?

"Well, m-my family took good c-care of them." I managed to stutter.

[Keep yourself together. A few decades, a few centuries. Not much difference it makes now, does it?]

Yeah, probably true. Once everything is different, don't mind the gap between two points in time.

"How many of these coins do you have?"

"Eh.. thirty-six copper and two silver.."

"EHHHH?" Fer and the man sang in sync.

Well, fuck me.