I stared at the request board. There seemed to be many E-rank herb-collecting jobs. I picked one up and brought it to the receptionist's desk. 

“Miss Witchhat?” She said. 

“I would like this quest.”

“Did you remember what we said in the guild master’s office? You are to rest tonight.”

Hmm? He had said something like that? Of course, it was only natural. “Yes! I remember. But I was just taking this quest for tomorrow!” I leaned in closer to the desk. “By the way, if I don’t take a request, where will I stay?”

“Are you serious?”

“I always am!” 

“Well, you can’t take that request anyway. You haven’t been formally processed into the guild. We told you that would come tomorrow. As for a place to stay, we also said we’d reserve an inn room for you tonight. Did you listen to anything?”

Sweat started to form on my brow. I had to be careful to listen from now on. It would be no joke if I was killed for lack of attention. 

“Of course I did!”

“Then, do you remember my name?” 

I looked towards her name tag, but it was not there. Did this world really not have receptionist name tags? What sort of cruelty was this? Could I be killed for lessees faire if I forgot a noble name? 

“Your name,” I said, pausing for dramatic effect. “It’s Mary, right?” 

The receptionist presented her customer service smile once more. Right as I was thinking I nailed it, she crushed my dreams. 

“Actually, my name is Marcy,” she said. “Don’t look so down! You were so close, too!” 

And that’s how I ended up sleeping at the inn on my first night in a real town. I’d tell you about the awkward atmosphere after that conversation, but thinking about it made me want to die. 

The next day, I showed up in the guild and confidently picked up the same herb-collecting quest as before. 

“Mary, please process this request.”

She showed her customer service smile once more. “Actually, it’s Marcy.”

And just as I started to walk away from the desk, I bumped into Wood Beach. However, his reaction was more dramatic than I had expected. He fell hard onto his butt, and the wood floor beneath us groaned. I had to praise his acting skills. It even sounded like I heard something snap. Yep. He was screaming. 

“Ow, ow, ow! What the?” 

Wood Beach looked up in astonishment. Still, I was the one genuinely amazed. This man could win an Oscar. It’s no wonder I had fallen for his naming scheme. Well, not really, since I was smarter than that. 

“I think my tailbone is broken,” he said. “How strong are you anyway, lass?”

“I see what this is. Are you part of a troupe?” I asked.

“A troupe? I am a C-rank adventurer! And I need a medic! My butt is broken!” 

My mouth went wide. There was no way this was acting. No A-list actor was this good, but if he was hurt, I learned some healing magic for plants in the forest. I grabbed his hand, and at the same time, I pulled him up and healed him with my best healing spell. 

“Wait, don’t lift m—?” He looked at me puzzled but quickly shook his head. “Marcy!”

“Actually, it’s Mary,” I said.

Then, they both looked at me together. ““It’s not!””

“Mary, did you process Eerie Witchhat in?” Wood Beach asked. 

“We were just about to do that before you showed up. Why is something the matter?” 

“Yes, she is much stronger than she looks for one, but that’s not the heart of the issue. The issue is,” Wood leaned close to her ear and began to whisper, “I would feel safer if she was in a party.” 

“It is ultimately up to her,” Mary said, looking over as though I couldn’t hear them. 

Now that I thought about it, this whole conversation was weird. They were talking about me like I wasn’t here, and he had fallen dramatically just before. They definitely had to be part of an acting troupe. I wondered if this world had a traveling circus. They could be the main act. Yep, I started laughing. It was too much for me. 

““What’s so funny!?””

“I am sorry. I have nothing to give either of you as a tip,” I said. 

However, when I thought about it, I did have a ton of random stuff I picked up off the ground in my inventory. There were all sorts of random coins in there. I think some were even gold coins. But did it matter if it was a different currency if it was also gold? Thinking like that, I pulled out an ominous-looking gold coin I had meant to eliminate. 

I placed it on the desk next to the circus act. “Here, for making me laugh.”

“Where did you get this?” Mary asked as her mouth flew open. She picked it up, turning it around in her hands. Then she looked more pointedly at me, practically hopping over the desk to grab my shoulders. “Where did you get this!?”

“Oh, I picked it up in the forest?”

She showed me her customer service smile once more. I could swear her eyebrow was twitching. I wanted to run away but feared running would be even worse. 

“Eerie.”

This time, she didn’t call me Miss Witchhat. The atmosphere had become eerie. 

“Yes, Mary?” I asked and gulped.

“You are telling me you just picked up this coin in the forest?” She asked.

I nodded. There was nowhere else I could have gotten it. 

She sighed before handing the coin back to me. “I am going to pretend I didn’t see this coin, and you will pretend that you never showed it to me, okay?”

“Yes, Mary.” I stored the coin away when she handed it back to me.

“Actually, it’s Marcy, and I request that we finish your enrollment. It’s great that you weren’t enrolled a few seconds ago, but now you are!” She passed me a crystal ball. “Please, channel your magic through this.” The next thing she whispered loud enough for me to hear. “And please don’t break it.”

Not breaking things was easy for me, so I obliged her request. It was easy enough to channel magic, at least. And if I didn’t want to get subjugation jobs, all I had to do was hide my magic power! Yep, I am so bright. So, I channeled a minimal amount of magic into the ball. 

When the ball didn’t break, I saw Mary let out a relieved sigh. 

“You are all set,” she said, handing me my guild card with a smile. “Now that you are affiliated, if you show me something crazy, I must investigate it. Please, do take good care.”

“I am always careful!”

“Please, do take good care.”