Mina carried me into the otherwise unoccupied tavern kitchen and shut the door behind her with just barely enough loudness to not technically be slamming it. I hadn’t really gotten to look at this place before, but it was quite large. A few large boxes covered in runes glowing both red and blue were installed in the walls, some humming softly. Perhaps they were the ovens and fridges of this world? Pots, pans, and various other kitchen necessities hung from the ceiling, with countertops and sinks crowding the floorspace into small, aisle like section,

There was a note on top of one of the many counters, folded to stand up and hard to miss. Mina let me down onto a nearby table, snatching up the note and reading it. After finishing the note, she rolled her eyes. “Yeah right, like that’s gonna happen…” She muttered grimly, tossing it onto the table within my eyesight.

Don’t forget to eat lunch Mina, it’s in the same place as usual. Some meat scraps for Soot, too! Why didn’t you tell me you named that cat? You wound me. Anyway, your father and I won’t be back until late, swamped with meetings about that dang summoned hero and the guild. Hope you’ve had a good day so far, and if not, hope it gets better!

Love, Mom.

Mina disappeared behind a corner as I read the note, a loud metallic clattering ringing out followed by numerous varied curse words. She returned holding a decently large wooden tray, holding her head with her other hand.

“Stupid fucking hanging pans…” She grumbled, setting the tray down. It appeared to be a modest charcuterie board, a small assortment of meats, breads, cheeses, and fruits. She set a small bowl filled with a few pieces of meat aside for me, and we both began to eat lunch. Not much conversation, most likely because it was just a wee smidge impossible, but that was fine by me. Talking had always been rather exhausting anyway; it was too easy to fuck up a conversation with the wrong words, and it ruined everything when it did happen. Mina didn’t seem the most cheery person right now either, she was still rubbing the newly sore spot on her head, eating her cheese as aggressively as possible, and her customer service persona was wearing thin before she went on break.

“This meat would be better hot.” She complained, as if she didn’t have the ability to stick it in the weird rune-oven thing. Perhaps I should forcefully liberate one of said meats from the charcuterie board. I had finished my own, and I’d appreciate it far more than Mina would. The supply on the board was rapidly dwindling, I’d have to plan it out. Wait for her guard to be down, and then strike. Only one shot at this.

Mina let out a sigh like her soul was deflating and leaving her body, and she would crumple to the ground any moment. Perhaps not the best idea to steal from her while she was like this, on second thought. But maybe it would break the monotony for a bit and cheer her up? And I’d get more food. Worth the risk.

I began to inch closer and closer to the platter, stealthily approaching the meat with my intentions undetected. But they didn’t need to be detected for me to fail, unfortunately. Mina scooped me up before I could act, hugging me close to her in a way she hadn’t done before. Was mildly uncomfortable, to be honest. I squirmed a bit, but to no avail. Her fearsome hugging restraint was too much for me to break out of, but after a moment of adjusting, it wasn’t too bad. Maybe even nice, I suppose.

“Alright! Gotta head back out there. It won’t be so bad, I got this.” Mina reassured herself. Brushing a few stray hairs to the side and taking a deep breath, she walked back into the guild hall, head held high. The waiting adventurers all looked up as she did, quite a few irritated looks among them.

Mina sat down, placing me back atop my blanket, kneading the fabric a few times, I settled in to watch the line. Break over, the day resumed, and the line began to move forward once more.

A woman in her 20’s with a crossbow on her back approached the counter.

Begaruta, “Experienced Hunter”, human ranger, level 48.

“Hi! Welcome to the adventurer’s guild! How can I help you?” Mina said cheerfully.

“‘Bout time you got back! I’d like to join the guild” Begaruta responded.

“Of course! Lemme just ask a few questions first.” Mina answered, conducting the standard short interview I’d seen dozens of times by now. After a bit, Begaruta (dumb name) was a part of the guild. Riveting.

I was asleep for the rest of the day, but from what I saw it continued in a largely similar fashion to the first half. Line moves up, someone wants to join, they say this is the best day of their life or something, line moves up again. Only notable changes were people being a slight bit snippier than before, and Mina reaching over to pet me more. No complaints on that second part. After a few more hours the line seemed just as big as before. The sun was setting, and it’d take Mina days of work to get all these people signed up. She seemed to know that, as the most recent new adventurer turned away, she took a deep breath and hollered as loud as she could.

“WE’RE CLOSING FOR THE DAY. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. COME BACK TOMORROW!!!” She yelled, not wasting a second before beginning to reorganize her now rather messy countertop.

The adventurers who had been waiting around all day were, understandably, a bit peeved. A murmur of complaints washed over the line, as most people dejectedly walked away. A few of them continued to stand in their spot as if their refusal to move would let them sign up. One sole teenager sauntered towards the counter, face red with anger.

Chet, “Esteemed First Born Son of the Tysoon Family”, human aristocrat, level 30.

Oh great, what’d this rich kid want to say?

“Hey, we’re closed, as I’m sure you heard.” Mina said cheerfully, not looking up from the papers she was organizing.

“Yes, I most certainly did hear. What’s the deal with that, huh? Just going to disrespect all of us who spent our valuable time waiting here? Do you know how unprofessional that is? The line has been moving at a snail’s crawl all day too, and then there was the whole business with you just leaving us for no reason. Appalling. What could have been so important that you’d abandon your job?” Chet complained, loud enough for the people still mulling about to look over at the commotion.

Mina just smiled and nodded, still organizing her papers and desk drawers. She picked up one of her charcoal pencils, looking for a place to put it. “I was having lunch. Also, we close every day at this time, it’s very clearly posted on the door.” Yeah, look at the door Chet, get your life together.

“Having lunch? What made you think that was a good idea? Does it look like any of us in line had time to get lunch?” It did. Several people had been eating sandwiches and other meals throughout the day, someone had even made soup with fire magic. Food aside, Chet continued to rant. “No! We’ve all been stuck waiting for YOU to hurry up! My time is valuable! Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Nope.”

“What? How can you not? Look at my goddamn title.” Chet sputtered.

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” He spat, incredulous.

“I can’t look at your title. Not sure what else you want me to say.” Mina stated, her eye twitching a bit as she clenched her fist around the charcoal pencil she was holding.

“Everyone can look at titles, even a toddler knows how to use Insight.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I was completely unaware. If that’s all, please leave. The guild is closed for the day.” Mina said cheerlessly. Fuck ‘em up Mina, pretty much everyone who was still in the building was watching now.

Chet’s eyes narrowed. “Are you… disrespecting me? First you waste my entire day, then you play dumb, is that it? You’re trying to make a mockery of me?” This fellow seemed just a bit insecure, to say the least. He began to sneer; “And who are you to do such things? Just some useless guild girl, you’ll never understand the greatness people such as myself are destined for. One day, you’ll see my glory as I become a renowned adventurer.” This was getting a bit off the original topic.

Mina glared at Chet, quietly seething. She took a tension-filled second before responding, her words cold and threatening. “If I wanted to mock you, I’d hardly have to try.” Get his ass, the gloves are off after hours. “Also, as a ‘useless guild girl’, I can keep people like you from ever becoming adventurers. I believe it goes without saying that you shouldn’t bother to come back tomorrow after all this.” She stated, smiling with sinister sweetness.

For a blissful second, Chet didn’t speak, his face getting progressively redder. Not sure how it was possible, but he managed. He leaned forward, his hands slamming against the counter as he got uncomfortably close. “No no no no NO! I won’t take this from some lowly worker!” His hands began to crackle, electricity arcing over them as he curled them into fists. That’s bad. That’s worse than bad, actually. I doubt Mina had lightning fists of her own, and this guy seemed unstable enough to use them.

Chet continued to rage, but it was hard for me to listen as I began to (quite reasonably) panic. An almost wild light was shining in his eyes. Had that always been there? Mina was inching backwards, warily looking at Chet’s fists and subtly shifting her pencil to brandish it with the point facing him. A few adventurers were shifting around uselessly, like they weren’t sure if they should step in. Cowards. Was no one going to do anything about this? He raised one of his fists threateningly, all but screaming now. I still wasn’t listening to the words. Something about disrespect, teaching lessons. His raised fist began to hum, even more electricity surging around it. My heart was beating fast through my fur. No one else was going to help. Normally I’d just sit on the side, but Mina had shown me nothing but kindness and generosity so far…

I let out a hiss and lashed out. My claws connected with his other hand, piercing his skin. I recoiled as the electricity zapped me, singeing my fur. Chet recoiled back as well, his lightning fizzling out and his hand bleeding a bit. He let out a rather pitiful wail, grasping his scratch and glaring back at me and Mina. Tears were welling up in his eyes, and I’d be doing the same if cats could cry. Getting electrocuted isn’t fun in the slightest.

By fulfilling the required criteria, you have unlocked a new skill: Scratching

Alright, cool I guess. Not the time for that.

“T-that cat is a feral beast! I’ll be back!” He blubbered, rushing out of the shop. Mina let out a relieved sigh, prying herself away from the back wall and addressing the uselessly onlooking adventurers.

“Alright, everyone out! Store’s closed, show’s over!” She yelled shakily, slumping her head down on the counter, trembling a bit.

She began to pet me softly, so I shuffled a bit closer to her. All the bystanders made their way out, leaving the guild hall silent except for the sound of Mina’s crying. I grimly thought back to her mom's cheery note from the lunch break.

The day had not gotten better.