Chương 133: Sumeye?

June's imposing shell loomed over the tired receptionist. His thoughts and physical exterior stood leagues apart, as he silently panicked without expressing it. 25 to 100 Lenites was a small sum from what he could ascertain; however, June's mind still swelled with worry. Mainly because he came to the hall under the impression that registration would be free and straightforward, as Mortimer's notebook stated.

Several paths opened up to him within his mind, and little to none of them fit the character he created for his alias to be distinct from his real self. The specialist and common options seemed self-explanatory to him, yet he was conflicted on whether or not to repeat himself. Fortunately, the droopy clerk heard his previous question clearly and had formulated an answer after a brief pause. Her exaggerated tone faltered into monotony.

"The common licence is the basic tier; it allows licensed workers to access our job board… If you get a reputation, you can be promoted to a specialist, or you could just apply as a specialist and get access to a more diverse range of contract types." She looked at June for a moment, before remembering to resolve his confusion regarding the fee.

"If an applicant wishes to register, but does not have the funds on hand, under article 49A of the new Guild guidelines, the applicant may take an unresolved contract of the corresponding clerk/receptionists choosing…. Do you have the funds for an application?" June held in the urge to pinch his brow, but kept his mind in line since he didn't want to shift the shell haphazardly. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He swallowed a cough and imbued his Will into his voice.

"I do not have funds."

"..." The woman waited for him to continue speaking, but he didn't, so she did.

"Do you wish to take an entry contract?" He tried to nod, but remembered that the shape of his helm made vertical head motions indistinct, so he gruffed instead as a backchanneled agreement. The woman crouched down under her table and stood back up with a thick stack of unwanted contracts. She dropped the pile of paper on the table with an audible thud, kicking up dust and grime that built up from weeks, maybe even months of neglect, and spoke.

"Do you have any preference picks for contract types? The more dangerous types often pay more, but most newbies see paying off the application in one go as the easier route to getting started." June gently pressed the shell's gauntleted finger on the stack of paper; he used the technique that Voice taught him pre-simulation to see without eyes, considering that he wasn't tall enough to see out the helmet's slits.

This way of vision wasn't particularly special compared to his regular sight; it was an extended sense similar to how he learned a rudimentary echolocation during his earlier days as a Dreamer. It simply provided an expanded field of vision around himself. It was as good as a pair of mundane eyes, so June had a weird moment of disconnect when he started squinting his actual eyes by habit when he couldn't see the contract properly from the height his vision technique stood.

He gingerly spread the papers, being careful not to tear or mar them in any way, and after several moments of looking, he tapped on one of the papers and spoke with his voice imbued.

"This." The clerk pulled the half-buried contract out of the somewhat disordered stack, waved it in the air a few times, letting plumes of dust flop off, and cleared her throat before reading it.

"Urgent! Sumeye beast extermination below water channel ways! Upwards of 450 Lenites if sufficient proof is brought back!" She took a look at the towering bone knight in front of her and opened her mouth before closing it, then opened it once more.

"This… shouldn't be in the unwanted contracts pile considering how urgent the matter is. I… If you are a newbie, I'd recommend not taking this contract quest." She seemed to doubt her own words; his imposing look seemingly made her feel as if she was preaching to the choir. The 8ft demon wearing jagged bone armor in front of her would probably find a few Sumeye as an afternoon snack. June's statuesque shell stood deathly still.

'What the hell is a Sumeye?'