My search for work was actually fruitful, surprisingly. Usually, people wouldn't trust strangers enough to allow them to handle things, but these people seemed... confident.

Took me a moment to get it, too... these people were Adventurers, and so had the Blessings of a God already. They weren't afraid because they thought they could kill me where I stood, no contest.

In the first hour, I had chopped lumber for a blacksmith, and made 100 'Valis', (which I saw as basically a dollar coin, made of iron, because those potatoes were 200 Valis for a serving,) then I hauled water up from a well for an elderly woman, and made another 100.

I took a break, and walked up to the potato stand.

The person working the stall, (a small girl with purple eyes, brown pigtails, and a rather disproportionate chest,) looked up at me. "How many, sir?" She asked in a lilting voice.

I hummed. "Just one, please." I handed her the two coins, and she nodded.

She picked up a basket, and then a potato, cutting it in half and sprinkling salt over it, before handing it to me. "Enjoy, sir!"

I nodded. "Thank you, miss."

I sat on a bench next to Johnny, and handed him half. "And now, we Feast, Abu!"

He grumbled. "I ain't a monkey, ya bastard."

"Eh, I did the work, I get to pick the puns." I shrugged.

"Thanks for the food..." he grumbled again.

"Well, I can't let you starve, you know. You're the only person here who knows me." I smirked.

He chuckled and took a bite of the potato. He stopped for a moment, then looked up. "Hey, this is pretty good, you know?"

I blinked and bit into mine, interested. "Oh! Wow! That ain't a normal potato! Very nice." I grinned, and scarfed the rest down, licking salt off my hands.

He laughed at me, calmly eating his half. "Youngsters, always in a hurry."

"Shaddup, old man." I laughed back, and stood. "Well, I'm gonna find some better work. You head back to Apollo's place, yeah? I'll be a while."

He nodded. "Sure. Be careful."

"When am I not? You're the one who always gets hurt." I chuckled.

Dotty appeared, surprising me, and licked some leftover salt off of my cheek. Then she leapt onto Johnny's shoulders, and gazed at us both unflinchingly.

Sadie appeared soon after, and grinned. "I knew she would find you! You guys didn't think you were just disappearing, huh?"

"No, I was about to look for some work for currency, actually..." I shrugged.

She nodded. "Well first, we have to register you as citizens, before we do anything else. Come on." She started walking towards the tower, and we followed her lead easily.

---

We entered the tower, Johnny and I examining the entire room, which was indeed impressive.

Almost 200 feet tall, if I was any judge, the walls lined with walkways and stairs and ramps, leading off into different places. Elevators were also at several parts, which amused me.

"Elevators... so they do have some Technology." I grinned.

Johnny nodded. "Seems it's not run on electricity, though. No wires."

I shrugged. "Maybe Magnetic Polarity?"

"It's just Magic Stones, dummies." Sadie sighed exasperatedly.

I hummed. "Which are...?"

"Stones from inside a Monster in the Dungeon. It's what gives them life. We use the leftover magic in them to power machines." She smiled.

"Okay so it's a battery, holding energy to power a monster, only it's used instead to power other things... interesting. Wonder what I could make with that..." I grinned.

"You said you weren't good with mechanics?" She glared at me accusingly.

"I'm not good at repairing things, nor building them, no, but I've got quite the mind for Imagining them." I refuted, grinning excitedly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Come on." We boarded the elevators, and went to the second floor.

We were now inside the largest office I'd ever seen. "It's like the DMV, times 100,000, and ." I chuckled.

Johnny nodded easily. "Yeah. Kinda exaggerated, but yeah. Crazy. Which line should we get in?"

"Screw lines!" Sadie laughed, and dragged us both up past everyone, to the main counters. "Hello! I'd like to register two new citizens to Orario?"

A small red-headed boy with elfin ears squinted at us, then nodded, picking up a large book and hugging it to his chest, leaping off of his stool. "F-f-follow m-me, please!" He stuttered gently.

We followed him as he toddled into a back room, and sat down on the couch he pointed to. "M-my name is Guild Rep-re-... grrr... Guild Representative Oscar!" He forced it out, and made an adorable angry face.

"Hello, Guild Representative Oscar." I nodded respectfully.

"Hello." Johnny nodded as well.

"Good! And I am going to be your Li-Son during your stay he-here in Orario. S-ould you choose to stay per-nantly, I will contin- to be your Li-A-Son on a more per-nant cap-...capac-ty. Is that ass-accep-... acceptable?"

Sadie launched herself across the gap and cuddled him impulsively, giggling. "You're so adorable!!! Can I keep you?!? I promise I'll cuddle you every day you adorable ball of happiness!!!" She laughed loudly and kissed his cheeks, hugging him.

He squirmed, but we all froze when a woman's Icy voice snapped out angrily. ""

I looked up, and a tall, red haired elf woman was glaring down at us from the balcony I hadn't seen.

He squirmed free, and toddled up the stairs, finding his way to her quickly. He then hugged her leg, sniffling gently.

She sighed, her tone softening. "Oscar, what have I told you, a thousand times?!?"

"Uhm... l-lots of th-things? You re-eat yourself a lot..." he said softly.

She smirked. "True. Here's the one I meant: Never go to the Front Desks without my permission! You know you're only an Acolyte, boy, you cannot assist at the desk, and you definitely cannot be anyone's Liaison! I will take care of them, you go help the Counters, okay?"

He nodded, hugging her, then toddled off again into the back rooms.

She sighed and stepped down the stairs quickly, sitting opposite us as Sadie reclaimed her spot between Johnny and I. "My apologies for that... he is trying hard to be accepted by the Guild... maybe hard, I'd say."

"What, he isn't old enough yet?" I asked, curious.

She gazed at me slowly. "Not quite... The reason he isn't accepted is because of the fact that he's Half-Gnome, and his father wasn't a member of our Guild."

I nodded slowly. "Okay... making more sense. Anything we can do to help, you only have to ask. Now how about those papers to make us citizens? I was told it's of Paramount importance."

She nodded. "It is. And thank you for your offer. The 'papers', as you say, is simply your Signature and some of your blood."

She set two scrolls on the tables, which unrolled themselves. "And... what is written on these?" I asked, squinting at the letters.

She blinked, clearly shocked. "You do not read your birth tongue?"

I chuckled. "This isn't my birth tongue. My birth tongue is Italian, my dear, and then English. Not... what is this, Runic? Elvish?"

She hummed slowly. "Ahhh, true foreigners... that makes sense..." she removed the contracts, and walked to the wall, replacing them, then taking two different ones down. "And these should be legible, yes?" She opened them, and I nodded as I read English.

Johnny nodded. "Cool, so this is a list of laws, so to speak? It lists different things that are punished by jail time, death, fines... basically, by signing this, we say that we understand the laws of Orario, and that we'll obey them?"

She smiled pleasantly. "Precisely. Your name, sir?"

"Jonathon St.Vincent Gyllenhaal III, miss." He smiled charmingly.

She nodded and wrote his name in a flowing, cursive script, then her own just below that, and signed after. The final step was to prick her finger, and press it to the designated box. "Just sign and a little bit of blood, and you'll be all set, then, Mr. Gyllenhaal." She smiled.

He hummed and nodded slowly. "Some of these laws are... odd? What's this 'Accosting'?"

She nodded. "Yes, a terrible thing to do. It's also called a 'Monster Party', among other things. In the Dungeon, certain times you may find running before superior numbers to be your best option, which will lead to monsters chasing you. If, while these monsters are chasing you, you pass another adventurer, the monsters will attack them, instead of you."

"Sounds like a dick move." I hummed. She raised an eyebrow, and I cleared my throat. "Very rude... and unethical." I clarified.

She nodded. "Yes. Highly unethical. if the Adventurer you pass them off to is a lower level, and dies as a result. The punishment for a proven death-by-Accost is six months imprisonment on the 13th floor, without weapons or armor."

I grinned. "Which, I take it, is more than enough to make most people think twice about doing it?"

She nodded. "We can only hope."

Johnny signed his contract, and then pricked his finger on the Quill, like she had, and pressed his thumb to the paper.

She nodded and rolled it up, sealing it with a tab of wax, then her signet ring. She placed it on the table, and smiled at me. "And now for you, Mr...."

"Xavier... Leopold ... Dorian." I grimaced.

She smiled a little, and wrote my name as well, in that beautiful script. "You don't like your second name?" She asked curiously.

I sighed again. "It's an old wound, no need to bother reopening it. Let's just say that having a name like mine made me grow up tough, physically at least." I signed my name, then pricked my pointer finger, pressing it to the spot she indicated.

She hummed softly. "I think I understand. Children can be cruel about the oddest things. Well, with that, you are certified members of the Community, and you will have a monetary account with the Guild within the week."

She took both scrolls, and placed them in a tray against the wall, only for a small section of the wall to open, and a small hand to snatch them into the darkness.

I jumped a bit, and she smiled. "That's only Zaz, the Guild Archivist. Now. Are you planning on entering the Dungeon?"

"Not currently. We do not have a Familia, nor a God's blessing. We're currently looking for physical work?" I grinned.

She hummed gently. "I can refer a few places that always need assistance, and pay well, I'm sure... Now have you begun your search for a God at all? Or have you not looked yet?"

"We went to Apollo, but his Familia is simply massive, so he's not accepting new members right now... and that's as far as we got. We've only been here for a few hours, at most." I chuckled.

She nodded. "Well done, getting this accomplished in just a few hours... alright, well, I can refer you to gods and goddesses that are accepting new applicants, but it's not guaranteed."

I hummed. "Is... Loki, accepting applicants, by any chance?"

She blinked. "Always... but whether you're accepted is in the air. Loki is, after all, a Trickster God."

I nodded. "That's fine. I'll go apply tomorrow... we only have free room and board with Apollo until Sadie and her father leave..."

"I see, you didn't bring any money with you at all?" She asked softly, as if to make it private, even with Johnny watching avidly, and Sadie grinning like a fool.

I shook my head. "No. didn't get the chance. I came here... rather suddenly, and then Johnny was injured, and I had to pay Sadie's Father, Dr. Pickett, for his treatment... so no, I have not even a single coin to my name."

She hummed. "The Guild can give you a loan, which you would then pay back in increments. For low level adventurers, Interest is rather low, only 1%."

I nodded slowly. "Interesting... I'll give it some serious thought, ma'am... what's your name, by the way?"

She smiled and held out a hand primly. "My name is Isabelle Vivaldi. You may call me Miss Isabelle or Miss Vivaldi, whichever you prefer."

I shook her hand. "Then I say well met, Miss Isabelle. Lovely to meet you."

She blushed slightly, but kept her composure, and nodded seriously. "And you as well, Mr. Dorian."