Now he knew from personal experience why all the guards and adventurers acted like jerks. Why didn’t everyone carry a sword or something around? It felt great! It occurred to Ichiro then, as he entered the Adventurer’s guild that there could be a legal reason for it. Were ordinary citizens allowed to carry swords? Did you need a permit?
“If you’re here for the
This wasn’t directed at Ichiro specifically. There was a small crowd of people milling around inside the large entry hall. They started filtering through a door in the back. There were open windows, and Ichiro could see the exercise yard they were entering. Target dummies and weapon racks were lined up against the walls. Sad grass trodden down into the mud was green in a few places.
A young boy nervously addressed the instructor. “What if I don’t have enhanced quickness?”
“You won’t be able to learn the skill. It’s okay though, you can still join in if you want. Do you know your quickness stat?”
“No, I’m pretty fast though! I just wanted to try.”
“That’s great! Pay attention to the techniques and do your best.”
“Thanks, mister!”
The instructor was short and didn’t look like an adventurer. Instead of the confidence of a man who intended to back up his words with intimidation and violence, he had the casual confidence of a movie star or a politician. He was small, athletic, and stylish, with long silvery hair that was pulled back and tied into a bun. He wore a silk shirt and an embroidered yellow coat made from shiny, expensive looking cloth.
But Ichiro wasn’t there to learn
“You want to join the guild, today? Well, as long as you’re old enough, Ichiro, I can sign you up. Are you old enough? My name is Oddie by the way.”
“Yeah. I’m old enough.” She hadn’t said how old was old enough and Ichiro didn’t ask. His left hand nervously stroked the hilt of his new baby, the longsword strapped to his hip.
“You know how to use that?” She sounded more curious than skeptical.
Ichiro just shrugged. He had gone to a kendo club for a few months. He wasn’t an expert by any means but he could swing it around if he had to. His new sword wasn’t much like a shinai, but was actually about the same size and weight.
“I have to read you the Adventurer’s Credo and the Admission Scroll, and then you can ask questions, or just add your thumb print by your name.”
Oddie pulled out a leather bound manual and began reading. At first she made an effort to sound confidant and official but gradually lost steam. She was a little slow, and had to start a few of the longer words over again.
“I could just read it myself… if you want.”
“Oh, good! I don’t normally do this stuff but all the officers are off on the search today.” She handed him the book, relieved.
Ichiro sat down at a table to review the material. About a minute later Oddie approached, limping heavily, with another book, the Peoples Militia of Tumas Rules Codex. “You might want to read this too, I know it’s really long.” She seemed to be a little unsure about her disclaimer. The book was fairly large, but that was more because it was handwritten and the pages were thick. With the help of his book of translation it would only take him a few minutes to skim through.
What he learned from all the reading was that the Adventurer’s guild filled a lot of niches. They hunted monsters and were often hired out as guards, but they might also be sent to rescue a cat in a tree or even take part in wars as a quasi military organization. The guild handed out all kinds of assignments with a big range of pay rates.
In the animes Ichiro had seen, adventurers were independent and carefree, killing monsters and doing quests at their leisure. This wasn’t that. There was a chain of command and everything, making it seem more like a mercenary company than anything else.
Ichiro didn’t want to be a soldier, but he wouldn’t have to be one just because he joined the guild. There was always the option to refuse an assignment. It was more like a volunteer fire department, he told himself. And if it turned out badly, he could quit.
He had been reluctant to walk through the door, putting it off for days, but now that he was here he was committed. He had been building up momentum for the decision the whole time, and it was impossible to derail the process now.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Sure, it wasn’t what he had imagined, but that was how real life worked. Nothing was ever what you imagined it was. The point was, he had a sword now, and he was ready use it. Well, he wasn’t ready to kill people. Ichiro made a personal vow not to fight any political battles. If he could avoid killing other people entirely, he would. He only wanted to kill monsters, and maybe do some easy escort missions and stuff.
Feeling satisfied with his convictions, the would be monster slayer looked around for the receptionist. He just needed to sign the paperwork.
At that moment a man rushed through the door, and up to the desk where Oddie waited. He was in a hurry, kind of fat, and wore what Ichiro thought was a dumb looking multi colored vest. He seemed nice enough though, definitely not an adventurer. A craftsmen of some kind, he had strong calloused hands.
“I have a letter… for my… sister.” He panted, like he had run halfway across town to get here.
“Hi Vans. Your sister in Apples? I already sent the boys.” Oddie said apologetically. “Someone could take it tomorrow.”
“Ahhhh… drat. I need it delivered today… can’t you take it? I can pay extra!”
“Sorry, not me! Bad leg you know. And I don’t know who else I could send either. We’re doing a big search for some missing prospectors.”
“Oh. My wife is in labor, you see!” The man declares proudly. “So I need to get back to her side...”
“I could take it.” Vans and Oddie both look Ichiro’s direction. “I could take it. I’ve finished reading this stuff.”
After having him sign his name and swearing him in with an oath, Oddie sent him on his way towards the village of Apples. He had the letter in his bag, and a new white sash around his waist. Ichiro was disappointed he didn’t get a checkered one, apparently there was some kind of trial period before he could be a regular adventurer.
Apples was a village about 10 miles out of town. It was in the same valley as Tumas, next to a river. It wasn’t a hard walk-- just follow the road and it was mostly flat. He’d been shown a map, and of course Ichiro had his own. If he was quick enough he would catch up to ‘the boys’ she had mentioned to the carpenter. Their names were Apa and Bafarinam and he should introduce himself.
It was still only mid morning when Ichiro exited town heading east. He had accomplished a lot that morning, but none of it had taken much time. He hadn’t left Tumas in this direction before, and was surprised at how quickly the signs of civilization disappeared. There were no outlying farms or houses in this direction on the south edge of the valley like there were on the road to the north.
He reached a hilltop a few miles into his trek, and turned around to admire the cool looking keep that perched on it’s lone hill north of town. He should have been able to see his destination from here as well, but the village was lost amongst the trees that sprang up along the distant river. Further along his path a the bottom of the hill there was a wooden bridge passing over a small creek. He could use a drink and so he hurried down.
Goblin Creek flowed swiftly, coldly, and cleanly. The water was delicious. After he had refreshed himself Ichiro was greeted by some travelers coming down the road. Two carts pulled by large goats were loaded with a fruit that was more like a pear than anything else. One of the drivers tossed him one.
“Thanks! Seen any goblins?” Ichiro had goblins on his mind for some reason.
“Haha, nope! The road’s empty today, save for a few of you runners. Ehh, you’re about a mile behind the other two.”
Ichiro was making good time down the road. He credited his enhanced Vigor attribute for the reason he was catching up so quickly, but it probably had more to do with the lack of any actual running from the other delivery boys.
Apa and Bafarinam were trying to stealthily trip each other with their spear butts as they walked down the road, which was silly because you can’t do something stealthily four times in a row. Ichiro was a little nervous about meeting the two of them, but for no reason. They greeted him warmly when they noticed him coming up behind them.
“Look, Bafar he has a white sash too! Hey! Are you new too? I’m Apa! Are you from Tumas? I’m from Burtree! What’s your name?”
Apa was an enthusiastic 16 year old, kind of short but he looked tough. Bafar was around the same age, but bigger and less excitable. Both of them were orphans who had joined the adventurer’s guild as soon as they were old enough. After the introductions the three of them continued on to the lovely village of Apples.
Giant cottonwood trees shaded the village. Moist, sandy soil made the land next to the river very fertile. Butterflies, birds, rabbits, and ants, crawled, hopped, and flapped everywhere. Villagers waved and greeted the three of them friendlily as they passed. They made their way to the biggest building in the village, the inn. It was three floors high, and like a proper inn, Ichiro thinks, the bottom floor was a tavern which acted as the local gathering point.
“We’ll just leave the the deliveries here with the Innkeeper. None of these are urgent.” Bafar declared.
“How do you know that they’re not urgent?” Apa asked before Ichiro could.
“I just know.” Bafar said confidently. “Oddie would have told us. She can read, you know.”
“Makes sense.” Apa wasn’t ever in disagreement.
“Why don’t we ask the Innkeeper if she thinks we should take any of them further?” Ichiro suggested. He grabbed the bag of deliveries, which was kind of heavy actually since it wasn’t all just letters. The Innkeeper graciously accepted the mail and agreed that the recipients were used to picking up their mail there.
“Should we be heading back to Tumas then?” Ichiro asked the other boys. It was probably about 2pm he thought. His feet were tired, but getting back to town that day was very doable for him at least.
“Yeeaahhh. We could do that, and then we could do some sparring tomorrow!” Bafar agreed. “Let’s take a little lunch break first, though.”
They got some free snacks from the Innkeeper and took them down to the rivers edge. It was about 100 yards in width, and there was no boats or bridges in sight.
“This village is idyllic.” Ichiro stated. Everything in Apples seemed happy and full of life. Tumas bustled with life too, but a less wholesome variety of it.
“Idyllic? Hey, do you have any sweet sword moves?” Bafar changed the subject.
“Yeah, sure. I know stab, and chop.” Ichiro said sarcastically. He pulled out his sword and demonstrated for a laugh. HA! *stab*, HEE! *chop* The ‘moves he knew’ were very simple, but practicing the basics was just about the most important thing in sword fighting, at least according to Ichiro’s limited knowledge.
“Nice. Checkout my whirlwind stab!” Bafar twirled his spear around dramatically while he made wind sound-effects with his mouth. Then he performed a triumphant stabbing motion to finish off the routine. HI-YA! That kind of thing would never work in an actual fight, Ichiro thought, but they were just having fun.
“Haha that’s nothing compared to my jump attack!” Apa grabbed his own spear and mocked jumping. He pretended to be flying through the air for about ten seconds. “I haven’t landed yet!” Then he brought the spear down in a slow-motion thrust. HEEEeee-OOWWwwwuh!
While they were joking around they noticed a commotion back by the Inn. People were rushing out of the building, gathering around the well. The three boys went to see what was going on.
A woman was there, crying, panicked, grief stricken.
MONSTER ATTACK!