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Noon beckoned when Erin and her companions arrived at the town resting on the capital borders, which was around the middle of the plain. There was no fortress nor was there a frontier. Only a small town sat between two provinces.

The town itself had no walls nor even fences. The presence of soldiers was minimal. The abundance of buildings and structures served as partitions between the two lands. The town belonged to neither side of the administration. The town itself fell under the governance of a local lowly lord who stood on neutral ground. Though, in the end, all was under the reign of the kingdom.

“There’s a lot of adventurers,” Nivia said as the group walked through the streets of the town, Hismorn. They had left their carriage at a large barn just outside of the town, where all the other transportation was also temporarily kept.

“More adventurers than soldiers,” Lyra muttered. “There’s one soldier for ten adventurers. How is the order even kept?”

“By the locals,” answered Amyra. As she was the tallest member in the group, and also taller than most men, her figure drew a lot of attention. In turn, the gazes were then drawn towards Erin.

“A militia?”

“Not necessarily a militia.” Amyra returned the gaze she drew. They all looked away when they were gazed upon by the Augur. “From the looks of it, most of them are fighters themselves. It’s probably one of those towns where the people take matters into their own hands.”

“Isn’t something like that prohibited by law?” Aera asked. Hearing Amyra’s words, her expression turned worried.

“Who’s going to stop them? The soldiers here are nothing more than trophies. The royal court wouldn’t bother themselves with trifling matters of such a small town.”

“Where are we heading first, mistress?” Siv asked.

“The Guild. It’s been far too long since we last took on a proper quest. We can also use the extra gold.”

“Do I have to follow along?” Aera asked.

“Hmm… Aedan, how about you and Aera go look for rooms while the rest of us head for the guild?”

“Not a problem,” said Aedan.

“We’ll meet at the square in an hour.”

“No need for that. We can communicate with our Spirit Familiars.”

“Oh… right. I do have that.”

Lilian raised her hand. “Can I go with Aedan?”

“You may but… may I ask why?”

Lilian tittered and threw herself at Aedan, hugging his arm. She flashed Erin a grin.

“Ah… I see.” Erin sighed, smiling wryly. “Well, you two have fun.”

“Thank you, Erin,” Lilian said and pulled both Aedan and Aera away by their arms, disappearing into the crowd amidst the street.

“Are you fine with that?” Lyra asked.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to punish them later.”

“Milady is very open-minded,” Amyra remarked.

“As long as it’s just between us.”

“Including me?”

“Including you.”

“Oh, dear. Milady, if you weren’t simply being kind, it would be quite the honour… and pleasure.”

“Honour be damned, Amyra. There will only be pleasure.”

“Milady…” Amyra began to pant. “You are putting me in heat here…”

“For the love of—” Nivia groaned. You two, we are in the middle of the street here, out in the open.”

“Shall we continue this at night?”

“If you would have me, milady.”

Nivia rolled her eyes and stormed past the two.

Giggling, Erin and Amyra trailed behind the Elf while Lyra and Siv followed behind them in a strange mood. No one could tell the feelings of the last two but Erin could. She could smell their desires. Her flirting with Amyra had instilled ideas into their heads but those ideas could only be manifested into reality when night fell.

****

The Adventurer’s Guild of Hismorn wasn’t far from where they were. It wasn’t the tallest structure in the town but one could easily locate it by the flow of the crowd.

“Huh… this is different,” Erin muttered as they arrived at the guild. What greeted them wasn’t a building or any structure. Instead, the guild was more akin to a pavilion and a boulevard. Instead of trees and flowers aligned in rows, it was counters and booths.

“You haven’t seen a guild like this before, milady?” Amyra asked.

“No, I haven’t. Is there a reason for this… peculiarity?”

“It’s not peculiar,” said Lyra. “This is actually more common than buildings. It’s easier to expand the guild or shrink it if they built in this manner.”

“What if it rains?”

“It would be hell for them but how often have you seen it rain here? In this kingdom.”

Thinking back on it, Erin could understand Lyra’s point. “Only once or twice.”

“Exactly. Besides, they have partitions if the weather turns for the worse, though it’s not as effective as walls and proper roofs.”

The space of the Adventurer’s Guild was defined by fences that encircled a plaza. Due to the nature of the guild, there were many entrances and exits. The presence of counters and booths in a large open space reminded Erin of a flea market.

As soon as Erin and her companions trod into the guild’s grounds, many heads were turned. Half of these turned heads stayed and admired the sight of a band of beauties in combat garbs.

Amyra glared back at the enamoured gazes.

Frightened by the Augur’s glare, most of them turned away but some were too entranced by Erin’s beauty to notice Amyra’s glare.

“If you don’t mind me saying, milady, you attract too much attention.”

“And you don’t?”

“I do, but those attentions don’t stay on me for long. Perhaps you should alter your appearance, milady.”

“I have tried but it doesn’t diminish my beauty completely. My height alone is enough to stroke their fancy and curiosity. Unless you have a way for me to completely change my appearance.”

“Changing one’s appearance is an easy task. Maintaining the spell is where the challenge lies.”

“You need not give any of these people a time of your day, Erin,” said Nivia. “They can stare all they wish and that will be all they can do. Just stare. It’s not like any of them have the guts to call upon you.”

“I have met a few who did have the guts.”

“Then, they are fools,” Nivia scoffed.

Perhaps the onlookers noticed the group’s annoyance, fewer and fewer gazes were being directed at them.

“So, where to?” Erin asked, looking around.

“Over there,” answered Siv, pointing at a large board that was tacked full of parchments.

“Alright, then. Stay here. I will go,” Erin said and headed over to the board alone.

The board wasn’t swarmed with adventurers, to Erin’s mild surprise. Then, she realised it was midday. All the worthwhile quests must have been taken, leaving only the ones without much yield. She scoured the board, inspecting every request placed on it. True to her expectations, all that was left were the unprofitable ones. Quests that demanded more than the rewards.

There were also those that were too simple or lowly for the adventurers, such as the ones that required the adventurers to help clean out some dusty old building or clear the drain. These quests were only taken by those who only just started off as adventurers but had no money or experience to spare.

As Erin scoured the board further, she stumbled upon a request with a lucrative reward. Upon reading the details, she came to understand why it was untouched.

“A nest of Wyrms, huh… This will be interesting. But who’s the one who made the request?”

Strangely enough, the requestor wasn’t listed anywhere on the parchment, which made the request even more dubious. However, this only served to fuel Erin’s interest and intrigue. She took the parchment with her and returned to the others.

“Nest of Wyrms?”Lyra mused aloud. “Who’s the requestor?”

Erin shrugged. “It was not listed.”

“Suspicious.”

“I know.”

“I doubt they are Wyrms at all,” said Amyra. “Not the first time people have mistaken some common monsters for quasi-dragons.”

“Mistress, I would suggest we take something… less intense. We are here for respite.”

“We are not in a rush for once, Siv. And it’s been a while since we last did any proper quest.”

“We can start off small. This one will invite trouble that you will surely regret later on, Mistress.”

“She’s right, Erin. Put it back now,” Nivia chided.

Erin sighed. “Fine. I’ll pick something dull.”

Erin retraced her steps and tacked the parchment back on the board. As she looked for another quest, Ruri poked its head out from Erin’s breast pocket.

“What’s wrong?” Erin asked. Ruri had hid itself on its own accord. Erin reckoned this was due to its fear towards the large presence of people. Now, it had shown itself, albeit only furtively.

“Kyu??” Ruri purred, gesturing at a quest with its gaze.

“Something caught your fancy?” Erin followed the Kirin’s gaze, leading her to a certain request. “Ah, so that’s why.” Erin realised the cause of Ruri’s interest. The request in question had a picture of a certain red fruit, drawn in the corner.

“Kyu! Kyu!” Ruri squealed excitedly.

“… This isn’t much. We are to search for and harvest Red Figs, found in the woods to the east near the foot of the hills.”

As suddenly as it poked its head out, Ruri shrunk back into the pocket.

Erin understood why. Someone was approaching them.

“Pardon me, Lady Fae.”

Erin turned around and saw a man standing before her. His attire told her he was part of the guild staff. “What is it?” she asked.

“I didn’t mean to pry nor peek at you but I saw your interest in the Wyrm quest just now.”

“And what of it?” Erin responded curtly. Something about this man compelled her to shed her courtesy. The Spirits weren’t exactly viewing the man unfavourably but Erin couldn’t help but be wary towards the man.

“If you are wondering about the authenticity of that quest, I can assure you that it has the guild’s full approval. In fact, the quest itself is made by the Lord Governor of Hismon himself.”

Erin narrowed her gaze. In her peripheral view, she noticed glances from other adventurers were thrown her way. “And why are you telling me this?”

“This is a grave concern for the town as a whole. More so for the Lord Governor himself.”

“If it’s such a grave concern, then shouldn’t this quest be made overt instead of just being tacked along with the other common quests?”

“The Lord Governor does not wish to worry the good folks of the town. The Guild is aware of your… exploits and your status, Lady Erynthea. We are hoping that you would—”

“Nope. My apologies. I won’t be taking the quest,” Erin said and took the quest regarding the fetching of figs, before walking back to her companions

“Lady Erynthea, please wait. I have yet to—”

Erin didn’t turn around. She simply unleashed her aura and directed it at the guild employee. He immediately halted in his tracks, unable to move even his finger.

“What was that about?” Lyra asked as Erin returned, having seen the exchange from where they were waiting.

“The Wyrm quest,” Erin said and placed the parchment of the quest she chose on the table between them.

“A guild employee approached you regarding that? What did he say?”

“It’s a quest made by the Lord Governor himself.”

“If so, why is such a quest thrown in with the common stuff?”

“Exactly my suspicions. He claimed that the Lord Governor doesn’t wish to make the town panic.”

“Bollocks,” Amyra scoffed. “There’s certainly more to the story.”

“I agree. Which is why I rejected him.”

“And you took this quest in return?” Nivia asked. “Collecting figs?”

“It’s simple and straightforward.”

“Very much so,” said Siv. “But it will suffice. We have been through some hectic encounters lately.”

“Besides, it was the idea of the little one,” Erin said, tapping on her chest pocket.

Nivia sighed. “That thing’s a glutton.”

Erin chuckled. “Isn’t it adorable?”

“It’s concerning. Just how much would it need to eat once it’s fully grown?”

“Well… we’ll worry about that in the future. For now, let our minds rest. Tonight, we shall have a feast.”