Shawn

I stare at the fairy in silence for a few seconds before turning towards Aldred with a question on my face.

This is the Guildmaster?

Aldred reluctantly nods his head.

What’s with that reluctant look?

I turn back towards the Guildmaster and give a slight bow before answering, “Hello Guildmaster, it’s nice to meet you.”

The Guildmaster chuckles a little bit before saying, “Alright, let’s head to my office!”

He then proceeds to fly towards the stairs behind the receptionist, who looks like she wants to swat him like a bug right now.

I nod my head towards the receptionist with a look of pity on my face.

She gives me a sad smile before turning back towards her desk to help the next person in line.

"Come on! Hurry up!" The Guildmaster calls from the stairs.

We all follow the Guildmaster in silence after a brief moment of hesitation.

The Guildmaster stops us in front of a basic looking wooden door after a few minutes of walking.

Huh, I was expecting his office door to look a little bit weirder, considering how eccentric the guy is.

I briefly notice Aldred shaking his head at me.

What's that about?

The Guildmaster uses magic to open the door, revealing an office with several severed monster heads hanging from the walls.

Uh... How did he even get those?

Actually, I don't think I want to know.

The Guildmaster flies over towards his desk and takes a seat on the actual desk itself.

Okay, definitely eccentric.

The Guildmaster's face suddenly turns serious as he says, "Time to get down to business."

He reaches his hand out and a card appears in it, most likely from a storage item.

"Insert your mana into this card," he says while handing the card to me.

I hesitantly accept the card before glancing towards Aldred.

After seeing Aldred nod his head, I go ahead and do what he says.

Suddenly, a screen, similar to the status screen, appears above the card.

"This will be your adventurer's ID," Luke says before flying off of his desk towards me.

"An adventurer's ID can be used to grant free access to any dungeon aside from restricted ones, and it is the proof of identity used by the Guild when turning in quests, so don't lose it," he explains before flying back over towards his desk again.

"Aldred," Luke calls after sitting back down on his desk again, "Show him your ID."

Aldred looks surprised for a moment before bringing out his own ID and inserting his mana into it.

"As you can see," Luke says as Aldred's ID appears above the card, "this is a 2-star adventurer's ID."

So, the stars are color coded, then?

Wait, Vamaris?

Interesting.

"Since you already have one star, all you have left to do is to sign a couple of documents to officially become a part of the Adventurer's Guild," Luke says before flying off of his desk and opening a drawer behind it.

He pulls out a couple of papers and flies back to sit down on the desk again before setting them out in front of me.

"This one," Luke says while pointing to the document on my left, "is to declare that you agree to accept at least one quest each week as a member of the Adventurer's Guild, else you will be kicked out of the Guild unless a valid excuse is given."

Luke moves his finger to the other document before saying, "This one is to declare that you signed up as an adventurer in the Drifting Ash branch of the Adventurer's Guild."

I read through the first document before signing it.

The document glows a bright golden color before disappearing.

Magical contracts? I haven't seen one of these in a very long time.

I turn towards the other document and begin reading it.

"What is the purpose of this document, if I may ask?" I ask Luke once I finish reading it.

Luke glances at it before answering, "This one is more for the Guildmasters than for the adventurers. It is basically for our politics and pride. For example, if an adventurer makes a name of him or herself then the branch that they signed up at gets some recognition as well."

I slowly nod my head before signing the contract.

Aldred adds to Luke's explanation, "Some Guildmasters also use it as a way to politically attack another Guildmaster when an adventurer who originated from their Guild branch is kicked out of the Adventurer's Guild or commits some sort of atrocity."

I look up from the contract as it disappears and say, "That makes sense."

Luke claps his hands and exclaims, "Alright! You are now a member of the Adventurer's Guild!"

"Now, I think Aldred still has something he wants to ask you before we move on to the next matter at hand?" Luke says with a smile.

I think I already know what he means.

"That's right," Aldred starts from beside me, "Would you like to join our party? We would love to have you."

That's the question indeed.

Would I like to join?

They did say that I wouldn't have to help them with their Island Lord problem, but would it really be that simple?

Chances are that I might be dragged into their squabble anyways by the Island Lord even if I don't join their party.

I move my hand to the bottom half of my face on habit as I think before remembering my mask.

I take the mask off and set it on the desk.

"You really are a prince," I faintly hear Luke mumble to himself.

"Hmm? I would have thought that you of all people would know that," I point out.

Luke smirks before saying, "Oh, I knew. It's just different to see your eyes for myself rather than to be told about them by someone else."

I slowly nod my head before looking down at the ground.

Maybe I should join them?

After all, there isn't much else I can do on this island due to the problems involved with getting off of it. Not to mention that I have fought alongside them before, and they don't seem to care all that much about my heritage.

Still...

I raise my head and ask Aldred, "Why exactly are two members of the Vamaris family acting as adventurers on an island like this?"

Aldred and Amber both look surprised before Aldred answers, "I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that you would recognize our family name."

He glances towards Amber who nods her head before turning back towards me and saying, "We are acting as adventurers in order to gain some sort of independence from our family."

Independence? That's interesting.

I glance from Aldred to Amber before looking at the rest of their party.

This could be fun.

I smile before looking directly at Aldred and saying, "Alright, I will join your party."