"Okay, you know something about those guys from before?" - Mira

After we reached my "safehouse" down in the sewers, Mira turned to me and asked with a stern face. At this point, it should be safe to spill the beans, so I did. I didn't mention the nightmare spider though. It's sorta like my secret weapon at the moment.

After I finished telling my tale, Mira gave a loud "WHAT THE-!?" before falling into her chair as she started to mumble to herself. She looks damn shocked over the whole event.

"You know something?" - Garami

"Nothing more than what I already told you. Maybe you're just cursed by "Deadroll" Jim?" - Mira

"Who?" - Garami

"Oh, I remember that. Some of the people from the casino were shouting something among those lines." - Bloom

They did? I can't bother to remember the howls of the loser dogs.

"Jim is known for having the worst luck at the casino since Velantas was first built. That, combined with that he was lousy even as an adventurer, it didn't take long before he took his own life due to depression and debt." - Mira

"...was he your ancestor?" - Bloom

"How rude! I came from Solomar! And even if my luck isn't at its best lately, I'm still an awesome adventurer!!" - Mira

"Yeah, yeah. Getting back on track, I do not think Master was chased because of any curses." - Bloom

"They tracked us with a fake entry pass." - Garami

"HUH?! How did you end up with something like that!? Didn't you get a temporary pass when you arrived here? In the city, I mean." - Mira

"Temporary?" - Garami

"Oh, that is right. Normally, people who travel to a new city without any identification need to pay for a temporary pass, which they can trade in for a permanent one in any Union they are affiliated with, or at the city hall. But Master obtained a permanent one right from the start from one of the guards at the port. He said that the first 100 persons would be given one for free, as part of the celebration that lake Velantas had returned to normal." - Bloom

"I've never heard anything about that! And I'm a regular visitor to the guards' station!" - Mira

"You end up in fights that often?" - Bloom

"NO! I capture the crooks and go to the station to collect my bounty!" - Mira

That's a way to earn some cash, I guess.

"If Mira knows the guards as well as she thinks, and she doesn't know about the free passes...then it's likely the whole set-up is done by a bunch of crooks posing as the city guards?" - Bloom

"That's...maybe? I think so?" - Mira

I'm feeling so secure hearing her confident response.

"But it's not like we need to risk our butts to check it out." - Mira

"You got a plan?" - Garami

"Yes, I do! But we need to wait until tomorrow." - Mira

Oh, right. It's prolly past midnight by now.

"So, where am I sleeping? Of course, I have nothing against sleeping together with Garami~," said Mira as she hugged-afjakrskart-!?!?!

*Throw*

*CRASH!!*

"W-why...*faint*." - Mira

*Pant, pant*, wh-wh-where d-did...

"Aha. So I see. 'People who have lived for years without proper physical contact with people tend to reflexively throw the first challengers into the wall'. I have to write this down." - Bloom

"Huh... I'm sorry!!" - Garami

The rest of the night went on helping Mira with her wounds before we went to sleep... Worst. First(second?). Impression. Ever...

---

After we woke up and exited the sewers, Mira guided me to a huge building. It has a sign of a sword and a staff crossed over a shield.

"What is this place?" - Garami

"The Adventurers' Union." - Mira

"Why?" - Garami

"Why we're going here? It's not like we can uncover a conspiracy on this scale on our own." - Mira

"What if this place is in on it?" - Garami

"No way that's possible~," replied Mira as she went in on her own. Grr, am I the only one who's worried about this kinda stuff?

While wearing a bitter expression on my face, I followed Mira into the building. I was greeted by a huge, open area, which could be said to be divided into two parts. One of them looks like a post office, with many counters manned by people who look to be employers of the Union. The other half looks like a tavern. Some adventurer-looking people are having a drink in the middle of the day there.

Mira had gone over to one of the counters where a girl with...cat ears? Never thought I'd see real ones. Anyway, the receptionist catgirl talked with Mira about something that I couldn't hear from over here, so I walked to them.

"-and then... Oh, this is the girl I was talking about," says Mira as she dragged me by the arm to the counter. Hold on, me. Don't make another mess like yesterday! Don't. Freak. Out!

"Yes, yes...oh." - Receptionist

Don't freak out, don't freak-...hmm? The receptionist reacted when she saw my face.

"Alright, I will call the Union Master right away." - Receptionist

"Sweet!" - Mira

...did things just escalate in the blink of an eye?

---

After a few minutes, Mira and I were taken to the upper floors of the "Union Hall", as they call this building, and were guided to the office of the so-called "union master"-guy. Oh, boy...

The office was...messy. Tons of documents were spread all over the floor in large stacks. Are all the written materials in this place gathered here? Did we make a wrong turn and end up in the archive?

"Union Master, I have brought Mira and the rumored girl." - Receptionist

The cat-eared receptionist talked to someone sitting at a huge desk, signing documents with the speed of a race car. Or maybe a "race printer" in this case? From their looks, I would determine that they're...an elf. Wow, I'm seeing lots of fantasy staples today.

"So it was Mira. No wonder. Did you slay your wallet at the casino and needed a big job to recover?" - Union Master

"Do you guys think I'm only doing a good day's work when I'm broke!?" - Mira

You have that feeling to you.

"Wait, what did I do this time?" - Mira

...true. What are they talking about?

"Come on. Silver-rank or not, to think you have cleared a secret quest without knowing about..." - Union Master

"Eh...Karion? What's this about a "secret quest"?" - Mira

"Call me "Union Master"...no matter." - "Karion"

This "Karion"-guy rose from his desk and looked at me. He's...not exactly what I'd imagine a leader of a group of monster-hunting adventurers. He's dressed more like an artist from the Italian renaissance, complete with a monocle over his left eye.

"*Cough*, I am called Karion Grusheim. Young lady, I assume you are the one called "Garami", correct?" - Karion

How did he know that!? I never gave my name in this city except to Mira!

"...why you ask?" - Garami

"No need to be such on guard. We were given your name by a figure who suddenly appeared in our city in our times of need. They wanted to locate you and confirm your safety." - Karion

"...who did?" - Garami

"It was a talking dove named Breeze. They met you at some grassy plains." - Karion

Huh? ...oh. Now I get it.

"Never heard about them, but I do know a talking crow named Gust who I met in some caverns." - Garami

"Great! It is you. Gust will be happy when he hears the good news." - Karion

"The "talking bird"-part was real!?" - Mira

"Anyhow, Mira, Miss Garami. Could you please explain how you two met? Gust mentioned something that Miss Garami was trapped in a Dungeon or something...?" - Karion

"Eh?! A Dungeon!? What about the card jerks?" - Mira

"Cards?" - Karion

...this is gonna take a while. Also, I'm gonna pluck that bird alive when I get my hands on him. Spewing out my personal information to the first and best...

---

"Hmm, now I understand the gist of it all. For now, accept my gratitude for assisting in saving the great lake of Velantas, Miss Garami." - Karion

The first thing the elf Union Master Karion said after we finished sorting out our stories was that. Well, I didn't mention that I was the one who dealt the final blow on Glavras, but participating in dismantling the Dungeon seemed to make the elf see me in a good light. Let's hope this leads to some sweet rewards.

"...then back in that cave..." - Mira

Mira mumbled something for herself, but I didn't quite catch on to what she was saying. Probably nothing too important.

"Unfortunately, since there's no other proof than Gust's statement, even if it has some degree of backing behind it, I cannot grant any big rewards through my authority as a Union Master." - Karion

Ah, Gust did mention once that his "owner" is some influential person on a different continent...or something among those lines.

"It's fine. I don't want to catch people's eyes." - Garami

"After what you said you have experienced, I cannot blame you. Also, allow me to offer my apologies. To think that happened to you after you entered Velantas..." - Karion

The elf looked visually pained when he heard the news of me being attacked before, and that it's possible through a plot created by the city guards, or someone who infiltrated them. I guess he's quite the upright guy. Good for him.

"As for those "card soldiers" and the infiltration of the city guards, we will make up a plan to take care of that. In the meanwhile...how about you enter the Adventurers' Union?" - Karion

Huh? Me joining the Union? Now I wished I'd brought Bloom with me instead of keeping her in sleep mode. I didn't wanna spoil all my cards when I entered this place, so I made an excuse to Mira that Bloom had other things to do today, so she couldn't join us. Her knowledge could be damn helpful now...

"Karion, aren't you getting too greedy~? Trying to headhunt someone as fabulous as Garami~?" - Mira

"It is so that we can borrow her strength to take these people down without making them wary of our plans. Having someone regularly enter the Union Hall without requesting assistance from us would make her suspicious, no?" - Karion

He has a point there, and I am sorta interested in this whole "adventurer" business...

"I can quit whenever I want to?" - Garami

"Why, of course. Freedom is what the Adventurers' Union respects the most." - Karion

"Alright, I'll give it a try." - Garami

"That easily!?" - Mira

I'll just make a mess of this place, maybe throw some vials of hydra venom at them, and flee the town if they try to force me to stay against my will.

"Very well! Let's move on to the training grounds." - Karion

Training straight after joining? They respect freedom, yet are quite macho in their way of thinking.

I followed the elf to an underground floor with Mira in the rear. We arrived at a huge, underground room with good lighting and a dirt floor, despite the city being built on a metal plate attached to a huge, strange tower. Talk about being picky on the details.

There were some adventurers here already, but they made a way when the elf talked to them and waited at the sidelines. Mira went there as well.

"Garami, you need to defeat several opponents that we will provide you with. You can give up whenever you want to, but the stronger the opponent you defeat, the higher your ranking in the Union will be." - Karion

That's quite straightforward. Yet, it is still a little too "macho" for my taste. I'll play along though.

"Go ahead." - Garami

The elf nodded to my reply and started to do something in the middle of the field. He placed a crystal on the dirt ground, and then, said dirt grew up around the crystal and transformed into a humanoid shape.

"A golem?" - Garami

"Correct. Defeat this golem within the time limit. Are you ready?" - Karion

I simply nodded, and the elf went to the outer side of the field where a huge hourglass stood.

"Begin!" he shouted while turning the hourglass. The golem started to walk toward me...but this is too easy.

*Splatt* *Drag* *Crumble*

"...what?" - Karion

Come on, Union Master. It's not that difficult. I just threw some of my newly evolved spider threads at the crystal located on the golem's chest, most likely its core, and pulled. That made the crystal pop out from the golem's chest, which made its body crumble back into the dirt.

"......okay, stage 1 is cleared. Time for stage 2...can I have the magic stone back?" - Karion

So that's what it was called. Okay.

The elf then proceeded to create a bigger golem and started the countdown again. This time, the crystal is protected by a block...but I simply glared at it, threw some [Cutting Threads] at it, removed the barrier, then a rinse-and-repeat of the first stage.

*Crumble*

The elf looked like he'd seen a bad joke. Sorry~. But I was right in choosing this new Magic Eye while I was busy making clothes for myself.

Skill: Magic Eye of Fragility Skill Type: Magic Skill Tier: 2 Attribute: --- Effect: Inflicts the "Fragility" status ailment to a single target within the user's line of sight. Consumes MP, and requires more MP according to the target's higher resistance abilities.

"Fragility" is the defense-version of "Weakness" that the [Magic Eye of Weakness] skill inflicts. The latter reduces the target's attack power, while the former reduces its defensive powers. Simply weakening enemies by staring at them, these skills are perfect for me~. Maybe I should also think about investing in the [Magic Eye of Slow] as well...?

"......okay, no more silk gloves!" - Karion

The third golem was much bigger than the first two, and the crystal...is deep within the chest. However, there are some scribblings on its forehead. It says "emeth"... For real?

"Begin!!" - Karion

While feeling a little more than "just a tad" insulted, I produced a [Darkness Dagger] and threw it at the first "e" on the golem's forehead, making it say "meth", as in "death" instead.

*Crumble*

Three times the charm and all, but this is getting boring.

"...!! Stage 4!" - Karion

"The Union Master's pride as a golem builder's getting demolished with his golems." - Peanut gallery

And boy, don't I love that.