It is time to test our Bootleg Guild versus the real guild. If the countermeasures work, our members will be able to use the adventurer's guild facilities and hide the fact their allegiance is to the Bootleg one. My plan to get the girls to Mirfield is simple. I'll teleport with them to the empty lot where Helen's parents' house used to be and then get to an inn.

I won't be there as Beowulf though. I'll turn into a dog right after teleporting. A great Dane. The only reason I'm becoming that particular dog that it is the most plausible animal type to have around and the maintenance cost is the least among dogs because of the size difference. I was planning into becoming a warhorse, but horses draw too much attention. I have raised the skill to level 4 in any case.

Night falls, we wait for about an hour and then I teleport with Helen and Marcy. The moment I get there I'll use stealth to retreat to a back corner of the fenced lot and transform.

Unfortunately, there was someone passing by the lot, and they saw us.

"What is that! People appearing out of nowhere!" There is a guy is coming.

What can I do? There is no time to transform, and if he comes closer he'll see a big troll. I can think of two things to do. Gamble on illusion magic to get something to mask me or possess the man. Possessing him would mean postponing a lot of trouble and probably having to kill the poor bystander later. No way.

Goodbye SP. Level 3, {Static Illusion}. Nope. Level 5 {Prestidigitation}. Not yet. Advanced ones. Level 7 {Dynamic Illusion}. Could work but it is too big-scale. Level 9, {Invisibility}. Thanks, RNGod.

I cast the invisibility spell on me and retreat to a dark corner of the lot. There I'll transform.

"Howdy there, good fella! How are we doing tonight?" Marcy greets the interloper.

"What was that THING there with you? A monster!"

"Hey, uncle, how are you, remember me?" Helen runs up close to the man, "Uncle! You have been drinking again, haven't you?" And scolds him right away.

"No, wait, you are Azelius' wheat-haired brat! I thought you were dead, girl!"

"I am alive and well, uncle. But seriously, stop drinking. You are seeing things!"

"I did not drink today! Only a pint or two! It is bloody cold out here, only winter child like you don't mind the cold! I saw something and these eyes of mine lie not! What was that?"

This exchange bought me enough time to transform. I cancel the illusion and walk to their place.

"I told you, there are only us here!" Helen tries to convince him again.

I pass past Marcy and she seems to have an idea, "Wasn't it our dog that you've seen? He is quite big, so you might've confused his shadow with something else. But he is a good doggy!" And she pats my scruff.

"Locusts bite me! Isn't this the biggest dog I've ever seen! This bloody mutt can swallow a child whole!"

"He only hunts rabbits though."

I walk near the man and growl. The guy is so scared. I haven't used intimidation aura, I swear. He is still conscious, see?"

"But mind your tone of voice, he is very sensitive. Uncle, I was just visiting the place our house used to be after all this time. Go home and get some good rest, it is too cold out here for your old bones."

The man puts some spring in his feet and goes away from the great Dane. Me in dog disguise, I mean.

"What luck to get someone out on the streets like this," complains Marcy.

"Wow, I always wanted to have a big dog!" Helen hugs me. Have some licks then! "Whoa! Bad boy. No drooling!" This dog form is so big I think she could ride me.

"It is late, let's get an inn. If only someone had left a house he bought behind, we would have a place to stay. But you know, dogs sleep in the barn."

If we were to enter through the gates, I'd take the shape of a Clydesdale horse. Weights about the same as me and have little combat abilities. I can't hold this dog shape for too long. It is considered a war dog by the system. Its combat stats are strong.

The girls guide me to an inn and I am leashed in the stables.

Skill Stamina Recovery level 6. Skill Max Stamina Increase level 7. Skill Animal Form level 4. Name: ____________ Race: War Dog (1) Level: 20 Prowess: 20 (HP: 165) Agility: 7 (Stamina: 373) Magic: 5 (MP: 238)

I'll have to transform back and hide myself here to spend the night. Hope nothing happens. Morning comes and I return to dog form. The girls come to pick me up and Marcy has a spiked collar and a saddlebag harness for me. It seems she is enjoying herself. Have some drooly licks.

"Whoa, hold it, boy! I know you were lonely last night, but easy! Now there is one problem, how do we call you?"

Helen shows up from behind Marcy and suggests, "Muffins!" I shake my head in denial. It is too similar to Mittens. "No good, right?"

"Mauler?" I'm not a bear! "He didn't like it either."

Maybe I'll write a suggestion on the dirt. There is nobody looking.

"Scuba Dee? What is a 'scuba'?" Helens asks with a puzzled look.

"Scruffy Doo! That is your name now."

Good. The Great Dane, the redhead smarty, the airhead blonde, now we just need the idiotic jock, the cowardly hippie, and the van. It will be hard making a van.

"Right, let's get on the road, time to visit the guild."

I take the wolf tails from the item box and Marcy puts them on my saddlebags. I figured out a slight problem with the Great Dane breed. They are supposed to be a breed of dogs exclusive to aristocrats. C-rank adventurers are equivalent to knights in social standing, so I think there won't be much trouble.

We enter the guild through the courtyard and I am led to the warehouse. The layout of all guild bases is almost the same.

"Marcy, fancy seeing you around these parts after you skipped town during the orc invasion!" A receptionist from back then that survived the equinox greets us. I'll growl at this blatant display of hostility toward my... master. "Wow, big dog you got there!"

"I was bedridden with severe death willow poisoning after carrying an official guild master request. What is your problem with that exactly?"

"Nothing. What brings you here?"

"We have a lot of repeatable quests to turn in. Can you still process them?"

"Sure, I need your party's cards."

Marcy takes five cards out of her cleav... safe storage, and present them to the receptionist. "Here you go. The other three members are camped out in the woods, we are going back there soon."

"Marcy, Helen, Beowulf, Zarr, Shraaizar... Why do you have a rank G rookie in your C-rank party? Dumping ranks? Is this Shraaizar girl some noble you are pushing?"

"It is a new member to our party, could you just process the requests. here are the wolf tails." Marcy takes bundle after bundle of wolf tails from the saddlebags.

"Wow, now I know why people haven't been able to find wolves in the woods this winter. The hungry mutts usually get too close for their own good during winter, but there were very few sightings this time around. But this is bad, you know? You are C-rank, hunt something of the same league!"

"Like these two chimeras?" She takes the dragon snout that is the proof of subjugation of the chimera from the saddlebags.

"Oh, wow! [Apppraise (monster part)]! There is no subjugation quest for chimera though. I'll just process the materials for you." After stowing everything in a cart and pushing it to the back of the warehouse, she returns and passes our cards over a crystal slab. "And here you are. Miss Shraaizar has been promoted to rank F, congratulate her on my behalf."

Marcy picks the five cards and the dozen silver coins the chimera plus wolves netted us and waves, "We are going to spend the winter hunting and training in the southern plains east of the Dragonclaws. See ya!"

"Good hunting!"

We are about to leave the Guild when we bump into Cloude. More like he got word we were here and ran to meet the girls, judging by his tired looks. Wasn't he a warrior? Where did his stamina go?

"Marcy! Helen! Fancy seeing you around without that Hero guy!" He opens up with a big smile.

"Hello there, Cloude," Marcy answers with a detached attitude.

"Have you came to your senses and ditched that asshole? How nice! Wanna hunt together?"

Cloude is different. His aura has changed. I'll appraise him.

Appraise Failed! Skill Appraise (people) level 2.

The brat resisted it? Why? Appraise is resisted by Magic, maybe his magic improved. But to beat my own stat? After some wondering, I understood the reason. I'm using the dog's abysmal 5 magic stat. Keep trying until it breaks through, I guess.

"No. He is out in the woods camping with Zarr. Our winter gear is too heavy to haul back and there so just us girls came to town to turn in monster parts and resupply."

Appraise. Failed.

"What is the deal with this dog? Why is it staring at me?" His hand slides hear the sword handle. I bet I can defeat you even as a dog.

Marcy scratches my throat and pats my head before answering, "Scruffy is tame, he won't attack people. You don't need to fear him," she answers.

"And he is handy to carry stuff!" Adds Helen. Yeah. I can carry as much stuff as a Boing airliner.

Appraisal level 5 and still failing. Stare at it until a hole burns or his status shows.

"Hey, I heard you are C-rank now, how awesome! I have six people already with us, If you two join up, we can get this quest here! It is paying twenty gold coins!"

Heck, twenty gold coins is a freaking lot, even to split between eight people. What is the quest? I can't see the slip from back here.

"What is this quest?"

The receptionist returns and just hands back our cards and a bag of coins to Marcy. She pockets the coins and places three cards in the saddlebag. She then answers, "There is a troll terrorizing people on the road from here to Whitehaven. His name is Grendel and the bounty is from the king Hrothgar himself!"

"What is the troll's name again?" asks a disbelieving Helen.

"Grendel, the troll. It is the same troll that raided the kingdom capital last autumn. He is a smart and mean troll, he can talk. The few victims that escaped from him reported so several times."

Both girls turn to look at me at the same time. I shake my head, lie down and cover my snout with both front paws. It wasn't me, C'mon! Now what the freckles! What is with that blatant impersonation? And Cloude, get appraised already! Level 7 and nothing!

"No way!" Marcy mutters.

"I believe this Grendel troll is the same one that murdered Helmholtz and the Shining Blades. I am going to avenge my heroes! C'mon Marcy! You too heard their death screams in that cursed death willow meadow. I would burn that shitty place to the ground."

The heck. There is a copycat ruining my reputation out there! Why?

"You know that if you burn that many death willow trees the fumes would kill the entire dragon valley and eventually seep here. It would be the doom of this town!" Helen tries to discourage him.

"I know that. I suffered from the willow poisoning too. We are going west down the road to Whiteridge around the Icespear Peaks. The death willow meadow is to the east and was considered too dangerous after everything that happened. There is an order to avoid that place."

"Well, good luck hunting that troll of yours then."

Cloude grabs Marcy's arm, "C'mon, Marcy you can do better than that black-haired troublemaker! If a C-rank scout and magician like you two join us, our chances of success would rise through the roof! At least meet my party!"

Appraise Successfull! Skill Appraise (people) level 8.

Booya!

Name: Cloude Age: 15 Race: [N/A] Human Current Job: Magician (level: 12) Prowess: 14 (HP: 84) Agility: 14 (Stamina: 14) Magic: 36 (MP: 162)

Ugh, how does this retard want to hunt trolls with 12 levels of magician?

"No, thanks. I don't want to fight trolls. Do you, Helen?"

"No way. I hope I never see an angry troll in my life, right Scruffy?" Right! Have some licks!

"C'mon!" Cloude gets near us and whispers, "I bet that with those pets Helen commands it would be super easy to kill some troll. I just heard you have killed two chimeras!"

Marcy is adamant, "No means no, Cloude! And remember what we talked!"

"Can you at least meet my party?"

He goes inside the main building and calls out his party. I swear to you, these tough guys would ace an audition for 'general medieval thugs' in Hollywood. And what is the deal with this sausage party? Do you think I'll let my two lovely brides in the company of these guys?

[Appraise (idiots)] ! It is technically (people). I know.

All of them have general stats for 3rd tier jobs at the early thirty levels. And it seems that Cloude is their main magician. If those guys came to meet me instead of Helmholtz I would not even need to trigger Vitality Booster. Why haven't these guys switched to a 4th tier job already? Just that is enough to label all of them noobs.

"Hey Cloude, are these the girls you were bragging about to us?" They get out into the backyard and spread out to surround us. No, no, no.

"Growl. Bark!" See my teeth? And those claws here? I bet I can one-hit-kill you with my dragon claws.

"Whoa, scary doggy! It would make a nice soup, eh boys?"

"Bark! Bark!"

Marcy tugs my collar, "Easy, Scruffy! We don't want a fight here."

Cloude scoffs and says out loud, "And besides that, Marcy, there is one thing I am curious. When you dumped me in the woods that day, I am sure I heard some voices shouting 'Lord Grendel!' out there. Care to explain?"

Oh. Fuck it.

Now you have done it, sir.

Pray to the dead gods you don't believe in because you are fucking Cursed like the rest of this shitty world.

You are yesterday news now, Mr. Cloude.

Unfortunately I can't rampage here. Time for plan C.