Chapter 16

♪ Hold up, Wait a minute ♪

From the perspective of [Night Guard Captain], Slain:

Me: “Isn’t that the shape of a [Guavgrog Bear]? They can only be found in the center of the [Abascan Upper Shelf]! Don’t tell me your master sent you there…?”

Tru: “Ah, yeah. I’m supposed to be getting stronger, so I imagine he wanted me to start there to grow some backbone. That bear was my first actual fight after being teleported… anyway, would this be enough to get me in the city?”

I can’t believe he would be sent there, to [Bahamut]’s domain. What was that old fool thinking?! Tru must have received his storage item from his master too. I think I’ve heard of that sort of thing happening before, a master giving his apprentice parting gifts… how fortunate for Tru that he made it out alive, and with such legendary things like the storage item. Masada was a great find too. I hope they become a fighting force for the city of Valleyport.

Thankfully, I caught myself before he pointed out the dumbfounded face I subconsciously wore. Clearing my throat, I responded, “*Ahem* It’s impressive if that was your first battle. They are classified by the guild as a tier 2 level threat. That being said, the [Guavgrog Bear]’s meat is a delicacy. I’m sure the [Margrave], Dustin Ray, would be happy to purchase it himself, if only we could get an audience. Undoubtedly, The Canteen would purchase the meat from you as well, but the adventurer’s guild will give you the best price for the materials, if you’ve kept the [Monster Pearl] that is.”

Tru tilted his head and questioned, “Monster pearl?”

Me: “You know, the material that absorbs mana ambiently and forms the monster based on the amount of arcane absorbed prior to animation.”

________________

From the perspective of Tru:

Shoot. I guess the books I read earlier didn’t exactly go over ALL of the basics. “Huh-uh. I don’t know about it. Think you could tell me?”

Captain Slain: “Well, I don’t know much as a city guard. You’ll learn more about that from any guild receptionist with the Monster Hunter and Adventurer guilds, but the pearl is typically located in place of the monster's heart.”

Me: “Interesting. I haven’t stripped that from the [Guavgrog Bear] yet. Will that sell for more than all this bear meat?” hopefully I didn’t destroy it when I shoved Masada through its chest.

Captain Slain: “At the adventurer’s guild, yes. But if you want to join the Monster Hunter guild, you best not sell it to the adventurers, even if it gives you the better price.”

Me: “And why is that?”

Captain Slain: “They are both stout rivals. They’ll only ever be seen working together on emergency requests, and even then, they don’t get along.”

Me: “Then to the Monster Hunters they go. I really appreciate you doing that for me. We showed up without a passport or guild card and you still received us warmly. It was unexpected quite frankly.”

I gradually relaxed my posture throughout the interview. This guard captain seems like a good man from the attention to detail he displays in his job, as well as caring for the interviewee’s situation with compassion and understanding. To be honest, though, I’m getting a bit tired of all the socializing. Can’t I just get to hunting monsters?

At my statement, Captain Slain replied, “I’m relieved to hear you say that. You may wait in here or you can go back and wait with Masada until my men return with your money after the sale of goods. Just leave Masada sheathed in the moss. I think people will get anxious again if you wield him at the gate.”

I stood up, following captain Slain’s lead, and said, “Sure. I’ll go check on Masada. Thank you for the water from earlier by the way. I’ll leave the rest to you.” It isn’t like it would be a big deal if they just took all the money for themselves anyway. I’ll just trust them since I’ll be fine regardless. With that thought, I tread tiredly towards the door behind the couch I had been sitting on. Walking towards the door, I heard the captain call for Jeffardo again, who rushed inside the closing door once I cleared the threshold.

_______________

Me: “Hey buddy. Did you have a good nap?” Masada wasn’t asleep anymore when I put an arm around his furry hilt. “Kuru~!”

As time passed, a trickle of people began to flow to the Valleyport gate. I tested out [Analyze] on each of them to try and get a better grasp on how it works.

[name: Merchant. A typical, traveling, general goods salesman.],

[name: Shopkeeper. The owner of a shop selling specialized goods.],

[name: Slave Trader [H]. Buys and sells other sentient beings.],

[name: Slaver, Lackey [H]. The apprentice of a [Slave Trader [H]].]

Wait a sec… I pull up the notification that analyzed the [Kobold]s from a couple days ago.

[name: Slaver, Lackey. The apprentice of a [Slave Trader].

What the heck is that [H] supposed to mean? But just then, I overheard the two speaking of the shop in town and needing to register with Valleyport as ‘honorable slavers.’ Hmm… I guess the H means honorable, while the [Kobold]s were illegally getting slaves? Then why don't I have an H with my class? Whatever… I’m sure I’ll learn more later. This world isn't so straightforward as the RPGs I used to play.

The two slavers had no one with them, so at least they aren’t bringing in any slaves. Definitely not something I ever saw back on earth. On another note, I suppose what that old elf told me can't be completely relied on, at least in human territories. So far, every person has a class!

[name: Stone Fist. A monk archetype specializing in earth magic in combination with martial arts.],

[name: Malady. Caretaker of a noble house.

race: Dark Elf [~Select~]

class: Rogue Maid [~Select~].]

“What?!” I couldn’t constrain my immediate surprise at the notification I just read. Malady? Seriously?! What is she doing here? She should still be recovering, I would think. Malady was still far in the distance on the trail heading to Valleyport, but what’s obvious is that she doesn’t want to be found out. A baggy cloak hid her figure to the point that you couldn’t even tell if she were male or female, human or elf, Joe Shmo or Jane Doe. That she was alone made things a bit disconcerting, given recent events. My first reaction was to pull Masada from the moss and sling him over my shoulder, against Slain's advice. I started energetically walking towards her but quickly slowed to a stop.

“Kuruu?~”

You’re supposed to be the calm and collected guy. Be cool, man. Throughout college, I discovered that the ladies don’t always appreciate being chased. They typically like a stout, strong man that can take care of himself and so I conclude, I’ll just pull a light-post-in-the-parking-lot lean against Masada and try to create a little mystery. Masada was placed back into the moss and promptly leaned up against.

[name: Malady. Caretaker of a noble house.

race: Dark Elf [~Select~]

class: Rogue Maid [~Select~].]

'bling'

[name: Malady. Caretaker of a noble house.

race: Dark Elf [~Select~]

class: Rogue Maid. A handmaiden trained in cooking, cleaning, espionage, and assassination techniques.]

Well dang! she's beautiful and capable. It'd be somethin' if she came all this way just because she missed me. A minute or two went by before her figure crossed my path and looked right at me. That’s my queue. I tilted my head and posed the question somewhat under my breath, so as to not blow her cover, “Malady?”

Her face straightened to the front as she froze for a moment before looking back at me, “How?”

Me: “Huh?”

Malady: “How did you know it was me through my [Cover-Up] skill?”

Me: “First, answer a couple questions. What are you even doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be recovering?”

Malady looked somewhat annoyed as she reluctantly answered my question while looking slightly to the right, her hood slouching forward to cover more of her face, “Firstly, good morning to you, Sir Tru,” then looked over at the Greatswordstaff against my back, “Sir Masada,” and back to me, continuing with, “I’m sure lady Lyrieth told you that I was recovering, which was partially true. However, milady had me develop both the [Mental Resistance(minor)] and [Mental Recovery(minor)] general skills as a part of my maid training. Thanks to those, I resist mental effects, weakening lasting trauma and can recover from mental trauma quickly.”

I held a tilted head, still questioning her current circumstances, when I asked, “If you had resistance to it but were so heavily affected, does that mean something reduced your mental defenses? I guess it could just be that what you had gone through was incredibly difficult, to begin with… but maybe you could enlighten me?”

Malady let out a soft sigh, “Surely you aren’t from anywhere with [~Slaver~] class types. Every [~Slaver~] class comes with mental control skills. They influence the targets mind to let them steal away your ability to make choices.”

Me: “So, the reason you were so docile on our trip back was due to the lingering effects. You definitely seem like a different person entirely.”

Malady said something that I couldn’t quite hear as a result of her soft-spoken words, “So, you’re no longer interested in me then…?”

Me: “Sorry, what was that?”

Malady: “Oh, it’s nothing. Will you tell me how you knew it was me in the crowd?”

It seemed like she was avoiding something about that topic, so I respected her wish and let it go, Is she hiding something there? Eh, whatever. First, I looked to the right with suspicious eyes and then to the left before looking sternly into her eyes, “I’m not really sure if anyone else has a skill like it, but do you know of the [Analyze] skill?” I could potentially look pretty silly here if it's something common.

Malady canted her brow with a questioning look adorning her difficult-to-see face, “Hmmm I haven’t. Is it similar to the [Evaluation] passive skill attached to any guild card? But that shouldn’t tell you a person’s name… They only show class archetypes of other people with a guild card, and Tr levels to help adventurers and the like evaluate danger levels or form parties. Please explain the difference, Sir Tru.”

Me: “The names are similar, but I’m guessing the skills are very different. First of all, mine is a unique skill and doesn’t show level or archetype, granted, it’s only level two. What I can see is a bunch of windows over basically every object in my line of sight. Each window gives a brief description of whatever the item is.”

“Oh wow. That's quite useful!” Malady excitedly proclaimed before shrinking back into her hood.

“I know right? But that's not all. For living things, it’ll display their class name first, if they have a class. If they have no class, it tells me their race. At least I think. I haven’t gotten to test it much yet. If I know their name, then it’ll display their name with a description, then give their race and class with [~Select~] options next to them so that I can view those descriptions too. The last thing I know about it is that if a living thing died with a name, it can display their name with a brief description of the person, except for the [Kobold]s. They only gave a class description and the [Guavgrog Bear] I slew only gave its race. My working hypothesis is that if it died, it only describes the last window of info displayed to me before its death. What doesn’t make sense is why it gave Masada Schaffer’s name but not the kobolds… because I never analyzed Masada before he died. Do [Kobold]s not typically have names?”

She put her hand over her mouth and looked downwards in thought. Seemingly ignoring my last question, she said, “Maybe you saw him once as a child. That skill sounds like my class’s worst nightmare. Can you see what class I have?”

Me: “There’s no way I saw him before he died hundreds of years ago. But yes, I can see your class. I actually didn’t use it on you or Lyra previously, so I didn’t find out you were a [Rogue Maid] until just now. Regardless, you’ve nothing to worry about, my secret agent friend, so please don't kill me.”

She let out her captivating laugh before regaining her composure and saying, “Not even lady Lyra knows of my actual class. My confidentiality is in your care.”

As she waited for my response, I couldn't keep that nagging question in my head anymore, “Why are you here?”

Malady looked at me with a straight face and with no hesitation, said, “Lady Lyra sent me to accompany you.”

…

During an eternity of awkward silence, wind could be heard picking up as the moss beneath our feet swayed in the breeze. “Let me get this straight, lady Lyra sent you here to watch me?”

Malady lifted both of her hands, vehemently waving them at me, “No, no, no! You misunderstand, Sir Tru,” and with a whisper, that I was able to hear this time, said, “Milady said it was for my sake.”

Oh ho ho! I see where this is going. Don't just pounce on her though. I mean, it's way too soon to make any conclusions. Just let things build up slowly. Self-control, Tru. Self-control. “I suppose it can't be helped then. Welcome to 'Truck-kun's Party.'”

Malady: “Thank y-,” Malady's voice was abruptly interrupted in my mind by a window that appeared in front of my face along with the notification jingle.

'bling'

[Requirements met to unlock the achievement, [I am the party].]

'bling'

[Requirements met to unlock the [Title], [Party Leader].]

[Select this [Title]?]

Yes / No

Uh, [Title]? I didn't even see that as a menu option. But yeah, sure. Note, I needa figure out how to access the title menu.

'bling'

[You have accepted the [Title], [Party Leader].]

'+10 SP is granted to Intellect and Spirit.'

Malady: “Sir Tru? Is everything alright?”

I shook out of my appeared stupor, swiping away the notifications, to reply to the stunning [Dark Elf] standing before me, “Ah, forgive me, I just got some notifications. I look forward to working together with you in our newly born party!”

Malady shot a bright smile at me which showed clearly through her concealed face, “As do I. Please take care of me,” She said with a slight bow.

I nodded in response. “There are just too many things I don't know about on this... continent, so you'll more likely be taking care of me. At least in the start. Would you mind if I got some more info from you about the area? I've done a bit of research but still have so many questions.” Malady answered with a simple nod of the head and asked, “What would you like to know?” when captain Slain returned to interrupt the conversation.

Captain Slain: “Ah, Tru... this an acquaintance? Forgive my rudeness. I am [Night Guard Captain], Slain. If you intend to enter the city with Tru here, please show me your guild card or passport.” Malady pulled out a greenish-looking passport. Adamantite? Emerald? Jade? I wonder... but that thought was immediately answered by the captain, “It's an honor to be of service. Having an [Adamantite Passport], you must be coming from a noble house, no? It may be a good idea to visit the [Margrave] upon entry.” Slain turned and yelled to the other guards, “Let these two pass! Jeffardo, show Tru and Masada to the [Monster Hunter Guild] and accompany them until they relieve you of your service today.” Turning back to me, he held out a small leather bag that had the joyous jingle of coins and said, “This is for you, Tru. The [Guavgrog Bear]'s meat sold for 9 [Silver], 3 [Wrought Iron] and 4 [Copper] coins, but the [Monster Pearl] was missing, most likely from whatever created the hole in its chest. Since the entry tax is 3 [Wrought Iron], only the [Silver] and [Copper] are in the purse. Also, here's a cloth to cover Masada. It wouldn't be right to walk around in a city with a massive unsheathed sword in the open air. Just wrap this around the sharpened blade and we'll call it good.”

Extending my hand to shake Slain's wasn't a gesture that he had ever seen before, but still shook my hand as though his hand were a dead fish. I guess it's to be expected of someone who's never shaken hands before. To relieve the awkwardness in the air, I thanked him and changed the topic, “Dude, thank you so much for all your efforts. Since you're the [Night Guard Captain], I take it your shift is over soon?” The suns have all risen for the day, giving me the impression that the 'night' shift is over. Which it is.

Captain Slain: “Your assumption is correct. If you see me in town, you're welcome to ask any questions you might have.”

Unsheathing Masada, I wrapped the cloth around his edge before resting him across my shoulders. He still looks hopelessly threatening, but whatever puts the guards at ease.

Me: “Will do. I'll see you later then cap'n.”

Captain Slain: “And I, you.”

The captain walked back into the guard shack and Malady grabbed my left forearm to head into the city with a young, disgruntled guard in tow.