Morning comes and I have a blinking box at the edge of my vision.

  // Selena, I’ve got you booked with an interview with a follow-on shoot for girls in gaming. One of your FoF team-mates just got cleared for ATC upload and we’re taking advantage of it.

  The reminder I sent with this message should give you a few hours to transition and prep if you log out when the reminder alarms.

  Ophelia\\ END MESSAGE

  I don’t love photo shoots, but I’m excited to meet one of my team-mates in person. Well, as in person as I get these days. I check my calendar and it’s about lunch time tomorrow. Good, that gives me all day to stay busy and get good and tired before I sleep for an extra long time in this world.

  The walk to town is typical and an lazy hour with a hand cart.

  “Alright, troll. Hold the cart steady and we’ll look at your eyes.” Two men come up, one to hold a sword toward me and the other to lean close and inspect my sclera. The man looks back and nods.

  “Now smile pretty.”

  I pull my lips back as requested. “Looks clean Sergeant.”

  “Alright. So, if you’re going to be making a habit of coming to town like this. Check out the guild and see about getting an ID. If they trust you with an ID, you’ll get into town easier. They might even have a job for those wolves you’re killing.”

  “Really? Thanks!” Oh man, if there’s a job board with tasks for this I could get paid twice!

  I’m tempted to stop at the Guild first, but I promised the leatherworker that I’d bring him my pelts first. When I get to his shop, he is startled by me once again, but then looks past me.

  “You have more pelts for me?” I nod. “Well bring them in then, but move the cart to the side first. No sense blocking the door or the road.”

  I bring them in and stack them by quality.

  “Mm, this one is too low for my purposes, but I’ll take the rest, assuming this is your work?” I send him my skinning proficiency. “Very well. Ten copper for each low and a silver for the medium.” He puts a silver and sixty copper on the desk.

  Hells yeah! I have money of my own. I’m supposed to start getting parts of my paycheck here, but I think I have to open a bank account first.

  “Thanks again James, you know, for dealing with a troll.” He scoffs and waves me off.

  I suppose I should head to the Guild now and see about an ID, then ask if they think the local bank would work with me. I sigh as I grab the handles to my cart and head to the largest building in town.

  “Welcome to the Guild! How may I . . . troll?” A cute receptionist with a tight bun starts to greet me when she looks up to see my blue, tusky face.

  “I’m nice, I swear!” I say opening both of my hands and showing them to her.

  “I heard rumors but it’s so different to see you in person. I’m Melody, one of three receptionists for this chapter. How can I help you?”

  I smile inadvertently as her chipperness returns. “I’m Zhantsa. The sergeant at the gate suggested I get an ID so I don’t have to get inspected every time I come to town.”

  “I see. To get a Guild ID however, you’d need to join and before that, complete a few public jobs and an interview. Would you like to start the application process?”

  I nod and she starts asking me where I live, what skills I have, and what goals I have for after joining. She seems surprised that I live with Maude and Gertrude, but other than that she just jots down my answers then shows me to the public board.

  I note some gathering quests and a couple of hauling jobs because I have the hand cart, but I notice a lack of wolf quest. I say as much to Melody.

  “That job is posted on the Copper board and can only be assigned to members. However, if you come back with the Wolf Matron’s head, I could give you the reward and mark the job completed on your register.”

  I thank her for her time and decide to work on these jobs instead of spending time at the bank asking questions. The hauling jobs are heavy, but not terribly hard. They similarly don’t pay well. I get initials on my board postings and move on to a gathering quest.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Without training with Maude, I would never have known what these plants looked like, and even so, it took me the rest of the day wandering the edge of the woods along the river to find enough to turn in. Luckily, the gathering quest pays decent and I make another silver and eighty for the day’s work. I’ll have to ask what the cost of things are when I get back to the Healing House.

  “So you’re working for others when you could be pulling your weight here? Figures you ungrateful troll.”

  “Have you been enjoying the meat recently? You’re welcome you cranky old biddy.”

  She scoffs, “I’ll have you know . . .”

  “Now Gertrude, if you want to kick her out, do so. I’m tired of your attitude and Zhansta has been trying to do well by us.”

  “Oh? It’s up to me then? You leave tomorrow.”

  Damn, I thought she’d back off, hell, I’d thought Maude would back me like she always did, but not today I guess. There’s only so much hassle someone as nice as Maude can endure, it seems. I should probably talk to Maddi when get back and thank her and apologize as much as I can so she doesn’t put me aside as well.

  Guess I need to find a cave to sleep in tomorrow. Those wolves are going to see me sooner than I thought.

  ***

  Gertrude is smiling at me when she sees me the next morning. “You finally got Maude tired of you. I never thought the day would come. We should have fed you to the forest as soon as Jeb died.”

  It’s not me she’s tired of, asshole. I snarl at her and bare my teeth and the bitch finally stops smiling. “It wouldn’t be worth it, but don’t push me. I doubt Maude would sugar coat what happened to save your reputation.”

  “Enough. Both of you.” Maude says, coming out with two satchels she helps me put one on and then hands me a small pouch.

  “Maude, you cant! That’s for the House!”

  “It is a stipend from the local magister to take care of her. I have sent a message to the Magisters office that she is no longer under the house’s care, and this is what she is due for the second half of the month. You may have gotten your way, but I will not let you steal from the Magister.”

  Walk over and hug the kindly woman. “Thank you. You’ve been so lovely.”

  “Don’t say goodbye just yet dear, I’m coming with you to town before I journey to the Capitol.”

  “You’re leaving? Now?”

  “I find that I am more angry than I like. I require a rebalancing at the temple and I don’t see a reason to wait. You and the cook should be fine company for each other until the next batch of infirm reach you.” She turns and starts walking. I follow after my thoughts catch up with what just happened.

  Twenty minutes of companionable silence follow as the crunch of gravel sounds beneath our feet. I doubt Maude has had such silence in quite some time.

  “You seemed happy yesterday, before you saw Gertrude. Did something good happen?”

  “Yes, actually. I dealt with James the leatherworker and Melody at the Guild and I felt like a regular person around them. I also finished some jobs around town, so hopefully I’ll stop being looked at like a feral animal sometime soon.”

  “That seems lovely. And please allow our townsfolk some time to adjust. We’ve seen a few feral trolls in our days, but never a civil one. A troll in town has always meant death and despair for us. You’re a bit of a fairy tale come to life. Hard to imagine and even harder to trust.”

  “Blarg. I guess I’ll just keep working toward acceptance through exposure.”

  Maude smiles at me. “Goddess bless your patience child, may it endure. Have you considered what you will do now?”

  “With all of my one evening? Yes, actually. I want to get into a craft that the town doesn’t have and work my way to being a staple resource.”

  She nods. “A worthy goal, but hard to realize, I’m afraid. The only crafts I can think of that we are short of at least an Expert crafter are a potter or a glassier. I suppose with me going on a Pilgrimage, the town could also use an alchemist, but I was only ever into medicine, not general alchemy.”

  “That is certainly something to think about. I actually got alchemy and medicine skills from you.”

  “Great!” She cheers and squeezes my shoulder. “Now, you just have to find a place to live, and somewhere to work.” She chuckles.

  “Any chance you are coming to town to also help me with that?” I hope, I hope.

  She nods. “I messaged a friend, and he knows someone that is willing to rent you a room above her shop for ten silver a week.”

  “I can’t tell if that’s good or not. I have no sense of what money means here.”

  Maude gasps. “Oh, you poor dear. And you’ve been working without knowing rates or anything!” She sighs. “Well, a cheap meal is about ten copper, and a skilled day’s labor is between six and twenty silver, depending on the trade.”

  “So James has been cheating me, good to know. What’s normal rent or a stay at an inn?”

  “Our inn is a silver a day for small room and a bed. A meal is thirty copper, and a bath is fifty.”

  “Oh, so ten silver a week is a good deal if I get a reasonable room and a kitchen to work with.”

  She chuckles, “I wouldn’t bet on that, love, but yes, it would be. As for clothes, which you should consider, you’re looking at ten silver for a nice shirt or a decent pair of shoes. Once you get past the simple items, it depends on who you’re dealing with and what you’re asking for.”

  “And how much am I getting from the Magister?”

  “Two gold a month.”

  That math does not work out. Forty silver for rent, say half a silver a day for food, or fifteen a month and we’re still about half a gold versus two. “That’s far more than basic needs.”

  “Zhantsa, in cases such as these, we do not ask why we receive more than we expect. Instead we thank our generous benefactor.”

  “I’m going to miss you Maude. Thank you for being so encouraging.”

  “We’ll see how you feel after you have to live with the villagers.”

  What the hell is that supposed to mean!?