Megumi had only ever been inside one Adventurer's Guild, and that had been at Northpost, she looked around and was amazed at how different this one was. First of all, it was humongus, the small common room in Northpost was only about a third of the size and the furnishings were much nicer. There were people eating and talking at the various tables, and she saw two large fireplaces that kept the place nice and toasty. She found herself unconsciously rubbing her cold hands together and enjoying the feel of being in such a nice temperature. It wasn't exactly the warmest time of year and being up in the mountains only made things worse. Beautiful tapestries that with intricate geometric designs hung from the various walls and she found herself gravitating closer to one of the fireplaces.

The ever self-righteous heroes guild sure must have spent a lot of GP to build this place. 

She ignored the people who were openly staring at her as she strode towards the fireplace. At this point in her life, she was used to getting weird stares. They probably wondered if she had a request or if something was wrong. Megumi was sure that none of the people staring at her would believe that someone as young looking as she was would be here to join up. A large request board was set into the wall near the fireplace and she looked it over while warming herself. The Villain's Guild had a similar setup, albeit the board had much fewer requests and was smaller in scale. That didn't say much, however, as the guild where she had been assigned was for low level villains.

The requests were partitioned off by rank. Her villain guild had a similar setup as this, although the board was much smaller. The large labels above each section ranged from A to F, and she wondered why there were no requests for ranks higher than that. Were those requests somewhere else, or were there no higher ranked adventurers around here than Rank A? She didn't know a ton about the Adventurer's Guild, but she knew that the ranks went all the way up to S++. Megumi wanted to have a better look at the kinds of requests that were available, and so she forced herself away from the warmth of the fireplace and stepped close enough to read the requests. Hideki was only Rank C, so she was curious as to what kinds of jobs they could do and how much they paid.

Will Megu start at Rank F?

She spent a couple minutes looking over the quests and saw that a lot of them at this rank were mundane things like escorting goods further up the mountains or down to Oleander. There were also some quests to clear out monster dens and standing requests for various monster types. Proof of kills had to be provided; it seemed that you needed to bring in ears to prove the kills were legitimate. Most of the requests for the ranks lower than Rank C were for extremely mundane things like gathering wild herbs. She had absolutely no interest in doing stuff like that. None of these quests were going to make them rich, but if they worked at it, they would be able to make a fair living off of this; more than your average laborer by far. 

Now where is that orphanage request? 

She scanned through the Rank B requests and found it after a couple moments. It was halfway hidden at the very bottom of the board in a corner. Even though it was ranked as B, the reward was pitiful compared to all the other requests of the same rank. A mere 1000 GP, compared to the rest of the board that averaged at least double that amount. The difficulty and rewards of Rank B quests compared to the Rank C ones were dramatically different. If she really wanted to live comfortably, then Poro-tan would need to rank up sooner rather than later so they could take more of these Rank B ones.

No wonder the request has been ignored for so long. Rank C adventurers can't take this one on, and Rank B ones would definitely rather earn more money by doing these other things. Seems that these do-gooders are not as lofty as they claim to be, if what Kieren said is to be believed. Megu should go find the leader of this place or whatever soon so that she can sign up. 

It was also starting to bother her that no one had even approached her to ask what she wanted. She had rushed past the receptionist, was that so far against the rules or something? Why were they just staring at her? She left the request board and was headed to one of the more packed tables to ask who she needed to see about joining, when a woman approached her from the side.

"You must be Megumi."

Her face twisted with disgust; a look that Megumi was all too familiar with. Everyone looked down on her because she was a necromancer, it would probably even be worse here than in the Villain's Guild. She was resigned to the fact that no one who knew what she was would like her, and at this point she told herself that she didn't even care. She wasn't here to make friends, after all. This was a means to an end; nothing more. The woman's look still got under her skin a bit and she made a mental note to burn the guild hall to the ground when she was done in this country. That would make her feel better, she was sure of it.

When Megumi didn't answer right away, the woman continued, "Are you interested in joining our guild?"

"If Megu joins, will she be able to take on any requests that she wants or do you assign them for new members?"

The woman glanced briefly over at her pet who Megumi noticed had only just now come into the guild hall behind her; he must have been talking to Kieren or something.  "You're welcome to take on any requests that you like, however we don't allow people to take on requests above their rank unless you're part of a team where the highest rank member will set the bar for the requests you may take. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but generally that's the way it works. This is for your own safety. Stick to the newbie stuff and work your way up like the rest of us had to. You'll live longer. So? What do you say? Want to join?"

It was clear to Megumi that this woman didn't actually want her in the guild, but that didn't really matter. She must have been required by someone higher up to even offer to let Megumi into the guild. This much was very clear. It sounded like there wouldn't be a problem with them going on the quest to take care of the orphanage, so that was good as well. It suddenly crossed her mind that the ones experimenting on orphans were very likely to be members of the Villain's Guild. Nefarious operations like that one were said to be common things for higher ranked members to take on. It made her sick that someone would want to experiment on kids; even more so helpless orphans who didn't even have their parents or family to protect them. People who experimented on children were lower than scum as far as she was concerned.

She had already stepped on a lot of toes by what she had done in Northpost; so what did it matter if she pissed off the guild even more. For all she knew, she was already wanted as it was. She wasn't scared of a fight. If anyone came after her, she would kill them. It was as simple as that.  "Fine. Megu will join your guild." She held out her hand to the woman as a gesture of good will, but the irritable woman sniffed aloud and ignored her hand. She started to walk and when Megumi didn't follow, she turned around.

"Well? Come on, already. We'll need to get you a membership card. If you lose it, then a replacement costs 1000 GP and you will also go down a rank. If you drop below Rank F, you will be removed from the guild. Despite your... strength, you'll be starting out as a Rank F adventurer. Everyone starts at the bottom, no exceptions. You'll have to work your way up the ranks."

Megu figured as much. 

It was clear that she could expect no favors from this woman. She silently followed the disgruntled woman until they reached a room near the back of the facility. Poro-tan had taken a seat in the common area, so she was alone. The small room that she was ushered into was some sort of filing room. Stacks of paperwork covered a large desk and books lie in stacks around the room. She saw half-empty shelves in dissarray as well, but what caught her attention most was the woman whose head barely poked up over the mountains of paperwork who was stamping things loudly. Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Beera. Stop what you're doing for a minute. We have a new recruit. Set her up with a membership card, will ya? I've got some other things to tend to, I expect you to finish that stack of paperwork today. We're way behind as it is and Irenicus has been up my ass about our branch being so behind on the paperwork." She turned and exited the room without even saying goodbye to Megumi.

Tch. That stuck up bitch is going to be the first one Megu obliterates when we're done with this place!

The thin, gangly girl with the large spectacles stood up from behind her desk and came over. She leaned down and got uncomfortably close to Megumi's face and then stepped back and introduced herself. "I'm Beera. Nice to meet'cha. Our local guild leader has a bit of a stick up her ass, but don't let her scare you off. She's just under a lot of pressure from the regional Guild Manager. We can always use more adventurers. Hold still for just a moment and I'll need to hold your hand, okay?"

Megumi nodded and let the woman take her hand. Beera pressed a plain looking card into her outstretched palm and held it there while she uttered a short incantation under her breath. Megumi immediately felt a chill run through her entire body and shuddered. It only lasted a second and then the woman let go of her hand. The card now glowed with a golden light and pulsed brightly for a couple seconds before going out. Beera smiled at her handiwork and after inspecting the card, held it up in front of Megumi's face.

"There! All done. Here you go." Beera pressed the card back into Megumi's hand and gave her a warm smile. 

"Thanks."

Megumi was shocked at how membership cards were handled here. The villain's guild marked your body physically to depict what region you were from and under whose allegiance you were aligned. She had a small tattoo on the small of her back that was blood red and in the shape of a bat. She stared at membership card in amazement; it had been filled in with her information. It even had a picture of her in the corner. Her name and age were in bold beneath the image and for some reason she was smiling in the photo even though she hadn't been when the spell was being cast. It felt... like a bit of a violation. The age on the card was wrong and reflected the age she had first taken someone's life essence with Sanguine Infusion for the first time. Everything else on the card had been filled out accurately, even her class and level. 

	Adventurer's Guild Membership ID Card
Name: Megumi	Class: Necromancer
Age: 15	Level: 23
Rank: F	Description: 4'9" tall. Silver hair. Violet eyes. Thin build.

"You know, you've got a really cute smile!" Beera had moved behind her and was staring at the newly minted membership card over her shoulder.

Megumi forced herself to go into nice mode and replied, "So what does Megu do next? Can you show me around?"

The woman's face took on a somber look as she pointedly looked at the mountain of paperwork that still stood in large stacks on the desk. Megumi felt a pang of guilt for even asking for a tour.

"Wish I could, but as you heard earlier, I have to get all that done today. It's never ending, you see. A lot of guild members use this guild hall as a hub and so we get a lot of requests turned in here. I'm sorry. Feel free to explore the building, most places aren't off limits, but the west wing of the guild hall is not open to anyone below Rank S. So just avoid going there and everything will be fine. They get a bit testy if people go there when they're not supposed to. Welcome to our guild, Megumi!"

Beera patted her on the back before letting out a large sigh as she went back to her mountain of paperwork; grabbing the large rubber stamp off the corner of the desk before sitting down.

"Oh, right! One more thing. You're welcome to pick one of empty the rooms in the dormitory as your own. Just come back later and let me know what room you picked and I'll give you a key so you can lock the room."

"Thanks."  

Megumi gave the cheerful clerk a wave and headed back to the common area of the guild where Poro-tan was sitting at a table eating a large plate of what looked to be sausages of various sizes and types. As she approached and sat down, she couldn't ignore the strong smell of spices that wafted towards her. She didn't know how he could eat that spicy crap all the time. Did his taste buds die when he did or had he always been this way?

"Everything is all set. We have until tomorrow to familiarize ourselves with this place. Megu also should go meet that.... Lady Undine woman and see what she wants."

It was impossible to keep a sour look off her face as she thought about going to meet a member of the aristocracy. A small pang of worry also filled her stomach and she pushed it down.

Megumi was happy to find out that as a member of the guild, she could eat here for free. They had a chef on site who could make just about anything, and so she ordered some food as well. She had ordered strawberry crepes, and they were pretty good. Once they finished eating, they spent some time exploring the large guild hall. The place was pretty impressive she begrudingly admitted to herself. It would be a shame when she had to burn it down. She was still pretty sure she would, but at least Beera had been nice to her; even after seeing that she was a necromancer.

Everything any adventurer would need could be found here between going out for requests. They passed several training rooms on their way to the dormitories and she saw that each room held large racks of weapons, weights, and areas where people were punching bags or fighting eachother hand to hand. Poro-tan seemed to light up when he saw these rooms. Megumi was happy to see that there was a large laundry facility so she could finally get her growing collection of blood stained clothing clean and then was further excited to find that the guild owned hot springs.

She would definitely be visiting this part of the guild often while they were here. She stood outside and watched as clouds of steam floated continiously up off of the water. The hot springs were divided into male and female sides, so Poro-tan had to wait outside while she had come to check it out. There were several women using the hot springs at the moment and a few of them waved to her in a friendly manner. She waved back and then left to get on with her self-guided tour.

The dormitories were also divided into male and female sections, so the two of them split up to find rooms for themselves. She found that most of the rooms were taken and locked, but she found one that would suit her needs after a little looking. It was on the second floor and in the back of the building. It looked like she would be able to get out the window and escape if worse came to worse. The room had its own bathroom and there was a large empty closet filled with clothes hangers. She noted that there was also a large dresser and the bed looked comfortable as well.

After all that time living like a mole in the ground, Megu can't wait to relax and get cleaned up! This place is like some fancy resort or something!

She made a mental note to spend some time relaxing as soon as she was back from meeting the noblewoman. Megumi changed into a clean outfit before going back to Beera to get her key. Her room was 7E and she commited it to memory.

Megumi sent out a mental command for Poro-tan to meet her at the entrance to the dormitories and when he got there he looked a little irritated at her. He must've been in the middle of choosing his room still or something?

"What do you need?" he frowned.

"Just wanted to tell you that you're free for the rest of the day. Megu will go to meet this high lady on her own." She couldn't help but smile as his face turned a little red from irritation.

"You know, I was doing my business when you dragged me down here. I only just barely got my pants back up as my body dragged itself down here. Can't you call me in a way that doesn't force me to come running? I almost fell on my face!

She could no longer hold back from laughing and almost doubled over. She felt a little bad for doing that. "Sorry! Megu will remember to be a little more, discreet in the future unless its important."

She chuckled as she walked away from her pet once more. After a bit of a detour for getting her key and putting away her belongings, it was time to be on her way.

According to Beera, Undine's estate is up a large hill at the back end of the noble quarter of the city. At least the place isn't far away. Megu will go there and see what the woman wants and then get to enjoy the rest of the day relaxing at the guild hall!

With resolve in her step she marched off towards her destination. People bustled about and the streets were quite crowded, but she made her way through all the traffic and towards the woman's estate. The whole mess with that dungeon core and the confrontation in Bridgeport had nearly ruined a decade of her trying to keep a low profile. She needed to be more careful. Things could go very badly for her, especially in this country, if someone recognized who she was. Even if someone took special interest in her and did some digging, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to uncover things about her that she would rather leave hidden. 

She mused about this and many other things as she walked along on autopilot towards her destination. After a short while, she arrived before the large estate on top of the hill. Two guards in brightly polished steel plate mail stood at attention before her. Their coat of arms was painted ornately onto their breastplates and featured what looked to be a water nymph.

"What is your business here, girl? Our lady doesn't accept solicitors. From your appearance, you don't belong around here. Be on your way."

"Megu was asked to come see the High Lady. The Adventurer's Guild told me that Lady Undine requested that I come to see her."

The two middle-aged men exchanged a look before reluctantly agreeing to let her pass. The one who had spoke pulled a heavy key ring off his belt and inserted it into the lock on the small gate to the right of where they were guarding the larger entrance. "We were told to expect someone from the Adventurer's Guild, but didn't expect you to be so... young. Follow the road up the hill and you'll reach the manor in a few minutes."

Megumi nodded and followed the path as it wound upward. The grounds were truly beautiful and a small creek flowed along the property with plants growing alongside it. She saw several nicely crafted statues and fountains along her walk as well. The lady's home was more like a keep than a manor, as it, like everything else in the city, was built for defense. 

Once she finally reached the entrance to the place, two more guards blocked her way briefly as she had to repeat the same drill as she had earlier before being allowed inside. This was turning out to be a huge pain in her ass. She was taken to a reception room and told to wait. Megumi fidgeted with her dress nervously as she waited. 

Megu should have just ignored this infernal request. This is a pain in the fucking ass and it's too risky! She ground her teeth in frustration when the master servant who had showed her to this room returned. 

"The high lady requests that you meet her in her courtyard. I will show you the way."

She stood up and begrudgingly followed the servant. He silently led her through a maze of corridors before they arrived in a small inner courtyard. There were several fountains and pools of water surrouded the edges of the area with small waterfalls flowing down into them. She wondered how the whole thing worked. A woman with luciously long blue hair sat on the edge of a fountain and was trailing her fingers through the water. The woman turned to them as they approached and Megumi noted that the woman's eyes were a striking blue, almost the color of sapphire.

Undine smiled in a friendly way. "Welcome to my home. You're dismissed, Bernard."

The servant bowed deeply and walked away. Megumi performed a curtsy and dropped her cutesy habit of referring to herself in third person for the sake of appearances. "Thank you for having me. What is it that you wanted to see me for?"

Undine stood up and came close, looking her over appraisingly. "Are you really the one who took that dungeon core from Northpost? The kingdom is grateful for the relic that you've brought to us. However, the country of Windlemire is far from happy about this situation. I've been authorized by the king to offer you protection from extradition. In return, you'll need to hand over the ownership of the dungeon core. You see, we've longed to have a dungeon of our own in this small country for centuries now."

Straight to the point. Not that I care about the dungeon anyway. Joke's on them. "You can have the dungeon. I already gave up ownership, though so its currently under its own control or whatever. All you have to do is go and claim it for yourself."

The woman narrowed her eyes at that. "You set it free? Don't you know what can happen if a dungeon is left to run wild?"

"I don't. If it's a problem, just send some people in there and take ownership again. It shouldn't be that hard, the dungeon is weak. If that is all, then may I be excused?" She didn't want to be here anymore. Her urge to murder this woman for just being a noble was steadily rising every second that she had to stare at her.

"You may not. I'm not done with you yet." The woman waved her hand dismissively and water flowed from the fountains and through the air forming into the form of a throne behind Undine before freezing solid. The infuriating woman took a seat primly on the ice and gave Megumi a knowing smile. 

An Aquamancer? This whole room is just one big trap then! She's showing me her power so that I know that I can't just leave! Megumi moved her hand to her side reflexively, readying herself to cast Eldritch Blast if this came down to a fight. She wouldn't have time to drag out her staff, she might really not make it out of here alive.

"There's no need for that. Put your hand down at your side, please. If I wanted you dead, I would've done it already. I've asked you here because..." She stood back up and came close. She pointed her index finger at Megumi and poked her in the center of her chest. "I. know. what. you. truly. are."

Megumi went pale at the woman's words and her breath caught in her throat.

What does she know? Play dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the act. I know that you have a villainous heart beating in that tiny chest of yours. I know for a fact that you aren't some misunderstood hero and I have eye witnesses in Bridgeport who can attest to that. I can read people pretty well, you see and I have some special work that needs done. You will be well paid and I'll ensure that you get to keep that pretty little head on your shoulders. The job isn't an easy one, and you'll have to travel to the capital. What do you say? Would you help me?" The woman put on a self satisfied smile and sat back down on her icy throne.

Megu knew it! Every single one of these damned nobles are trash. Not that Megu minds killing as many of these pieces of garbage as she can, but it's irritating that this woman want's to use me and that she could cause problems if I don't agree!

"Who is the target? How much will you pay?"

Undine leaned in close, her soft lips brushing against Megumi's ear as she whispered, "The king. 30,000 GP."

Her eyes opened wide with surprise at the request.

The truth is, Megu had this intention all along. Killing that old fool was the main reason that we chose to come to this specific country.

She had no choice but to agree to this woman's demands in any case, though. If she said no, then she would have a fight on her hands and considering she was unprepared and surrounded on every side by water, she wouldn't have very good chances of beating the woman, much less excaping all the guards on her way out if she did. "I'll do it. This will take time and I cannot go off and do this right away in any case."

"Of course. Go ahead and play your little games in the Adventurer's Guild. When the task is done, I'll make sure you get the reward you deserve. It goes without saying, but if you breathe a word of this to anyone, not only will they not believe you, but I'll have the entire country hunting you down immediately. Got it?"

Megumi nodded.

"Good. Now that we understand eachother, you're free to go. Don't dare to come back here until the job is done unless I call on you." Undine waved her away dismissively before turning to walk back to her fountain. The woman hummed a soft melody and Megumi stood there staring for a moment before stomping off irritated as hell at what had just happened. At least the woman hadn't known anything about Megumi's real secret. She had simply wanted to blackmail her into doing her dirty work. That was preferable for the moment.

You don't know what you've just gotten yourself into, Undine! Megu will gladly kill the king, but when all is said and done, you'll be the next one to go! This I vow!  

She continued fuming on her way out of the keep and all the way to the guild hall before she was able to compose herself again. She had to focus on the important work she had decided to take on before letting herself worry about the king and Undine. She needed to relax. At least the guild hall had some nice hot springs that she could use. She opened the door and stepped inside.