"Adventure, we're going on an adventure!" The blindfolded Clailip sang, he was being held by Alon. They were currently standing in a line, waiting to enter the human town.
"We haven't been moving for like a few minutes now, what's going on?" Clailip whined, he couldn't see his surroundings due to the blindfold, and could only feel the motions, so he wondered why exactly the spirits stopped moving.
"There's a line." Alon spoke in a soft voice, her voice was quiet, she wasn't used to talking with her mouth yet, so she kept the answer short and simple.
"Yes, it seems the humans are bringing their spoils from the forest back to their settlement." Aery, who seemed to get the hang of speaking quite easily, answered with a deep but friendly voice. He was beside Alon, behind him were the two senior spirits, Simoy and Lawod, they were going to pretend to be Aery's guardian spirits that he had received from a minor church of Diana.
The ice spirit, Glacies, was unusually silent, he just looked forward and was positioned in front of Alon and Aery. Clailip wasn't used to Glacies this quiet, when he tried to poke at him and initiate conversation, Glacies would answer but always make sure to end the conversation quickly.
'Did I do something wrong? Is he upset?' Thought Clailip. He didn't understand why the ice spirit was being so cold, he felt upset, he couldn't think of anything that he did that might have been the reason for Glacies negative feelings towards him.
"This line is way too long." Collin said in a posh accent, his way of speaking and his clothing dripped of sophistication and class. He was currently using the identity of a rich nobleman guildmaster's son to infiltrate the town. So he made sure to act the part, he copied his arrogant master's way of speaking, and wore clothes that his guild, The Ignis Leos, provided for him.
Beside him were two summons, both at least upper C-Class in strength, they served as his chauffeur and were guarding him. They both looked like big-bodied butlers made out of twisting vines and branches, they wore clothing that were adorned with fragrant yellow and orange flowers, and had no facial features except for a mouth that stretched from ear to ear filled with razor sharp bark-like teeth.
They immediately took this as an order and accompanied Collin to where the line was being held up. Collin walked with perfect poise, and his posse was intimidating, it was a sight that would make anyone think he truly was a nobleman's precious child, and so the people cleared a way for him and froze in his presence. Jijian nobles weren't known for their patience and kindness after all, one could get beheaded with a simple transgression when interacting with them.
"How peculiar, a dianian child and five spirits." Collin muttered as quietly as he could, he stopped for a second to look at them and memorise their appearances. This was all to make sure he doesn't lose them in the human town, he still needed to bring back a child to Gael to be promoted to B-rank. 'The orphanage could use some more children…' He thought before he turned to his escorts and walked with them once again.
As he walked, he felt the gaze of the numerous adventurers on him. He could tell some of them had dark intentions, but most were just wondering if he'd be the type to post several high paying commissions. Collin hummed as he stopped at the town's gate, he gazed at the guard with eyes full of disdain for the common man.
"I'm tired of waiting. Let me in now." Collin spoke. The guard was about to decline the boy's entry, but he saw the crest on the escort's flowery suits. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief, he wondered why such an important person was here right now. He coughed off the nervousness away and immediately welcomed Collin in with a smile.
He walked inside the town, and inspected it, he didn't expect much from a town that was already abandoned by the kingdom. But he was very surprised to see that everything was nice and clean, well kept and the buildings even looked comfortable. The bounties of the surrounding forests was more than enough to let this town thrive, it seems.
Collin walked through the town and saw a group of children crying, running towards the town's entrance. He always had a soft spot for children, so he went on over to them to try and find out what was wrong.
"Hello there, are you guys okay?" Collin softly said to the crying children, he temporarily lowered his act and decided that helping the bawling kids out should be prioritised.
The children shook their heads, signifying a no, the oldest out of them, a ten years old girl, explained to Collin that their guardians, three adventurer women, were found dead today. The children explained that the women just went out for a job a few days ago, and never came back.
"Is that so?" Collin asked, his heart ached for the poor children, he briefly contemplated taking them to Gael to admit them to the orphanage he himself grew up in. Though, he knew that the kids were still grieving their loss, so he just planned to take them when he's done with his job here and he inevitably goes back to his home Kingdom. He briefly said his condolences and gave them a pouch of coins, around fifty silver coins to be exact, that should be enough to scrape by for a few days, and he didn't mind having fifty less silvers with him.
He resumed his walk, right now his main goal was to try and find a place to stay while conducting his mission. He was used to run-down inns and motels but he knew that a noble child wouldn't tolerate a place less than perfect, so he opted to go to the Guild to try and find the best place to stay at.
The guards at his side intimidated any kind of unfriendly people that were looking to cause him trouble, so the short trip to the Guild went smoothly and without any hitches. Collin stared at the sign of Jija's General Adventuring Guild and sighed, he was used to the large Guild building of the Ignis Leos, so he didn't really know what to expect inside.
The Ignis Leos were a Guild that only took in those with massive potential and elite adventurers, so it's only understandable that they would have fancy and large buildings and lodging for each of their members. They were the top guild in Gael and were contesting four other guilds for the spot of the top one guild in the Eastern Isles. Just becoming a member of this guild was already a feat that most Gaelans consider incredibly impressive.
'It's surprisingly more organised than I expected.' Collin looked around and saw a tidy and orderly guild. The adventurers looked okay too, though he couldn't find anyone strong enough to be a C-rank. That bothered him a lot, the town was surrounded by dangerous nests of monsters and even a Danger Zone, he found it odd that there weren't any adventurers, mercenaries, or even guards, that could serve to fight off anything above D-class monsters.
He adjusted his clothing and went up to a desk to try and find a place to stay for a while.
Clailip and the spirits were now inside of the town, they looked in wonder at the houses and buildings, the spirits looked around in wonder, they've never been to a human town before. They looked in wonder and had expressions of whimsy evident in their faces.
Clailip wanted to take off the blindfold and look at what the spirits were so dumbfounded about, he was curious, he wanted to know why they were so excited. He stopped himself, though, knowing full well that if he did that they'd all be killed pretty much immediately.
It was almost night time now, most of the people in town were already inside and taking a rest, those outside were mostly people like adventurers, guards, and mercenaries. They couldn't afford to be found out while surrounded by these kinds of people.
Thankfully, Clailip robbed the corpses of the three adventurer women they encountered a few days ago, he recovered thirty silver coins and a dagger. He didn't know how much that was, but it was something. He wished they could get lodging with that amount, he didn't really think anything through prior to getting here, he didn't expect that they'd actually find the town the three adventurers were from.
The black rock he picked up a few days ago was gone, he didn't know where it went, it just disappeared with absolutely no trace. He wanted to sell it to a jeweller since it looked kind of like a gem of sorts, maybe it would have fetched a good price, they wouldn't have to worry about money then.
He thought for a second and decided to ask the spirits to inquire about possible inns they could take a breather in.
"Ay, Alon, can you please ask the people around us where we can stay for the night? Like an Inn of sorts? I heard from my grampa that's where adventurers sleep, and we're adventurers, so…" Clailip politely asked the water spirit, who nodded and took Clailip with her as she walked towards a man clad in cheaply made armour.
"Excuse me." Alon tapped the man on his shoulders, "Can I ask you a question?" She asked.
The man looked at Alon and gave her a small smile, "Sure." The man answered.
"Are there any inns in this town?" Asked the nervous Alon.
"Oh? There's only one inn in this town." The man replied, he then gave Alon the directions to the Inn. Alon politely excused herself with a small curtsy, she then walked towards the other spirits who were waiting by a nearby house.
Alon let out a heavy sigh and gasped for air, "Talking to humans is absolutely nerve-wracking." She complained as she passed Clailip to Aery, "Hold the young master for a second, I'm wavering…" Her physical form was visibly flickering a bit. After a few seconds of recovering from talking to a human, she finally recovered and cleared her throat.
She then motioned for the others to follow her, and they walked through the town, looking for the inn. Minutes of walking later and they finally arrived at their destination, water holds memory, and so it seems water spirits also have impeccable memory.
"Aery, use this money and ask the clerk for a room, Kay?" Clailip instructed the spirit on what to say and do when they came in, Simoy and Lawod wondered where he got the knowledge from, but just assumed that his grandparents had taught him.
'Where did you get the money?" Aery asked. This made the other spirits wonder where exactly the boy received thirty silver coins, they had absolutely no idea that it was from graverobbing.
"Don't ask questions you will not like the answer to. Now go!" Clailip whined and made the wind spirit and the others come inside the inn, he was getting very impatient, he didn't get his afternoon nap and he was very drowsy.
And so they checked into the inn, Aery was a lot more confident than Alon and wasn't nervous at all so they got in fairly quickly and without any problems.
The night went on and Clailip laid in bed sleeping, dreaming of dreams.
