Chương 18: Incoming Storm

Rain poured over Ambergrad. It pattered against the ground, filling the cracks in the streets. Dirt formed clumps of mud in alleyways, and in the lower districts peons held buckets over their heads. Their voices raised over the sound of thunder, and they called out loudly in the markets. In the upper districts, nobles walked with umbrellas. The devices fanned out above them, preventing their luxury suits and dresses from soaking.

In a passageway betwixt two buildings, a man in a white coat covered his head with his hood. He looked up towards an inn window. Inside of that room, a shadow spell completed, and Elise appeared on the red carpet along with her two subordinates. Her gaze flickered towards Rela and then Tyralith but then towards the window. She slipped into the shadows of the room, opening the curtain a hair. She saw the man below, remaining oblivious to her presence. Interesting, Esmeralda has worked fast.

Her eyes spotted the sun emblem, and she grinned.

"Wearing white to spy on people is quite bold, wouldn't you say?" Rela frowned.

"Should I kill that man, My Lady?"

"No need to be so hasty. Let's take care of the adventurer's guild first." Elise slipped into her elven disguise and a blue umbrella popped out of her inventory. The handle ended in a small white upside down angel, holding her hands out to receive something. It was a water absorbing umbrella known as [Digesting Water Angel], and it came in handy for collecting large amounts of water. She walked out of her room with the other two in tow. When she reached the lobby, the receptionist greeted her.

"Good morning, Madame." Seeing the second elf, the woman's eyes widened in surprise.

"Another elf? Who might this one be?"

"This is Tyralith, and she's my servant. She's planning on joining the Mage Society." Tyralith smiled, her deep blue eyes blinking.

"That's right, my mistress here assured me that I might be able to learn something interesting here. Do you know if they allow foreigners within?" The receptionist waved her hand.

"They do. It's not a problem because Bjorn was founded with the idea that all can get along. Though, I won't be able to promise you that discrimination won't be present. Even if the rules say one thing, some people are different." Elise nodded.

"Oh yeah, I was wondering if the piano in that room was up for sale."

"Oh, so that was you playing that beautiful melody yesterday. The boss heard about that." The woman smiled.

"A lot of the guests were interested in where that song came from." The sanguine queen placed her hands together in prayer.

"Please, keep that under wraps. I don't want to become a wandering musician or anything."

"No worries," the receptionist said with a small laugh.

"Are you going to eat breakfast today?"

"No, we're busy, but maybe another time."

"Alright, well, if you're going outside be careful of the rain." The woman sighed and mumbled to herself.

"I hope it doesn't last long this time." Elise bid the woman farewell and left, waiting for their little spy to follow her through the town. Sure enough, the man crept around behind her and watched her wherever she went. Even when she arrived at the guild, he was on top of a building, watching her like a hawk. Is this type of thing really necessary? Was it because I damaged your pride? She shrugged and slipped into the guild hall. This one was much larger in scope than the one over in Hammerlin.

The guild requests were mounted on a tall wall with adjacent ladders in case someone needed to climb for a request on top. There was an adjoining bar on the side where men and women had already started drinking. The long desk of receptionists was separated by glass dividers in their own little cubicles. It reminded Elise of the bank tellers back on Earth when she would go there to withdraw money. This also might be the work of another worlder. I think it is best to make that assumption.

"Mistress," Tyralith said, "is it alright if I head out to my task now?"

"Of course, if anyone follows you be discreet, and make sure that you don't cause any ire at their little society. Keep your spells minimal, and assume that their highest ranking members are at best level 100."

"As you wish, Mistress." She bowed and left the same way they came in. Elise and Rela had not gone unnoticed in the guild hall. People were already eyeing the two of them up and trying to figure out what they were in for. Their narrowed eyes bored into the two of them as they walked towards the reception.

"Hello," the receptionist said, maintaining a professional stare.

"What can I do you for?"

"I was told to come here at my earliest convenience." She presented her badge of affiliation with the guild.

"I am Emerald, and I just completed an escort request from Hammerlin." This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. A brief reaction of surprise flickered on the woman's face before she cleared her throat.

"Lady Emerald? Yes, we were briefed about you. For why did you not come to collect yesterday?"

"I had other duties to attend to, and I needed to secure a room for myself. You must understand that." The woman nodded.

"I understand." She looked down at a tablet that shown with light, showcasing Emerald's recent exploits.

"You've only completed three requests, but they're in very high regards. It says here that you even defeated demons on your last one." Murmurs started spreading throughout the guild hall at the mention of defeating demons. Elise frowned and narrowed her eyes.

"Please, do not broadcast what I've done so loudly." The woman's face heated up and she bowed.

"Please, forgive me. I didn't mean to offend you, Lady Emerald. It's just that your results were extraordinary. You've proven yourself across three important fields."

"Don't mention it. I was seeing if I could get a collection for those results."

"Oh right, the guild in Hammerlin did finish processing those goblins. On top of that, the baron and others recommended that you are promoted." Elise held her hand up.

"Does this mean I would need to speak to a guild master? I would rather not."

"O-of course, Lady Emerald. If you don't want to speak to any of the higher ups, we can make an exception, but there is a limit to how high you may be promoted without their involvement." Elise shrugged.

"I care not. As long as I get my recompense, then you can promote me to whatever you want."

"Just hand me your old medals, and you will both be promoted. As for you..." She looked towards Rela.

"We still don't know what to make of your promotion."

"If I am to be promoted, she follows me. We are of similar skill anyway."

"In that case, the guild can lift your status to a silver ranked adventurer. It means you will be able to take requests like slaying orcs and potentially ogres." Elise held out her hand and took Rela's iron plate and put her own on top of that. She passed it to the receptionist and waited to see what the woman would do. The receptionist placed both of their medallions along her tablet and put on a pair of silver gloves.

"The Adventurer's Guild recognizes both of these members as Silver Ranked adventurers. Gloves of Transmutation honor the request." Elise watched with narrowed eyes as the tablet started glowing with silver light. A transmutation spell? Was it an alchemist that created these tablets? That makes them very versatile, but what about higher ranks? Surely, they would need something other than gloves for something like Mithril. The color faded from the woman's gloves and affixed to the medallions instead.

The receptionist smiled at the two of them and handed them over.

"Here you go. You're both silver-ranked adventurers now." Elise placed a hand on her chin after accepting them.

"Do all of the guilds have these gloves? Do they fade after each use?" She shook her head.

"They don't fade after each use. All of them have about ten uses before they go. Otherwise, we would need to have many more pairs, but there is no need to worry. People aren't promoted to silver every single day."

"And what about for the higher ranks?"

"Well, those do get a bit more complicated. For the golden rank, I believe they turn damaged gold coins into leaves, but the end product is a small tree." The woman reached under her desk towards a golden tree and pulled it out.

"See?" Elise nodded and looked at the banzai tree with interest. Maybe we could get our own little tree farm in our castle? I don't remember any alchemy ingredient like this in the game. She placed her hand to her chin and considered that thought. This place is a reality after all. It won't be as rigid as game logic. Even if Green Emerald was very in depth, there are not truly infinite possibilities, but what about in a world where that game became real?

Following that logic, is it possible for a low-leveled person to have such mastery over a skill to rival someone much stronger than them? Alchemy is indeed a dangerous skill, especially when transmutations can find weaknesses that stronger people have. Elise considered her own blood manipulation. The spell she used on the journey over here was sort of like alchemy in itself. The arrow struck the target, and it transmutated them from their blood, making the demons into nothing more than flower petals on the wind.

However, Elise herself would never be vulnerable to this type of thing. She could feel the mana shield around her. Anything below a certain level wouldn't be able to damage her at all. Anyone above that level wouldn't settle for such underhanded tactics unless they were already an assassin. After all, it is pointless to imagine a regular person killing me or any of my subordinates.

"Lady Emerald?"

"Sorry, I was just admiring the tree. Now then, if it is possible to get the payment."

"Mm," the girl said, looking over the quests.

"Considering the rewards and your own effort to exterminate the demons, I think the guild can give a payout of 2 mithril coins."

"Why so much?"

"The vanquishing of demons is no small thing, Lady Emerald. Usually, it would take at least a platinum level adventurer to take out even an imp. To be honest, 2 mithril is a modest payout. Now, how do you want the denominations?"

"How about 15 platinum, 40 gold, and 100 silver?" The woman nodded.

"That makes my job much easier. I would have had to get authorization to payout a mithril coin." Elise chuckled.

"I am glad I could help, even if it wasn't my intention." The receptionist left for a moment and entered the guild's vault behind her. She packed up each of the requested coins and placed the denominations in different bags. When she returned, she showed the front of the bags which had a number presented and a caption of the actual coin inside.

"These bags show you how much of each coin is inside. 15 platinum, 40 gold, and 100 silver. It is all there, but you are free to pull them out. Count them if you need to."

"I believe you." Besides, I can feel the magic power echoing from them.

"Do you really have so many of these that you can hand them out freely?"

"These ones are not hard to make, Lady Emerald. It is a staple of the Mage Society, though I doubt you would find many elsewhere. Besides, the guild is anticipating that you'll be a huge benefit to us." Elise chuckled and sucked the bags into her inventory.

"Well then, I bid you adieu."

"Wait, Lady Emerald. There is a personal request for you..."

"A personal request?"

"Yes," the woman reached under her desk again and summoned a sealed letter.

"This is for you. I wasn't given any information, so you will have to review it yourself at your earliest convenience." The queen nodded and placed it in her inventory for later, leaving the guild hall behind her, and stepping back into the wet streets. The clouds and rain had already dispersed by the time she exited, but the man had not. He was still there, watching, and waiting to see where she would go.