The receptionist of the Adventurer's Guild has been marked as my mortal enemy. I'll be back, you bastard.

So, Otto and I are walking through the streets, trying to find an inn. Seriously, what is up with this city? The place seems slightly dead.

It's almost evening now, so we really need to find a place to settle in for the night. Maybe grab some dinner. I still have some supplies that I liberated (pilfered) from the farm, so I don't really need to find a food stall.

I tried talking to people as they walked down the road, but they mostly ignored me. I didn't notice before, because I was to caught up in seeking out the Adventurer's Guild, but the atmosphere around here really is terrible. Not that it's smoggy, but that everyone seems a little on edge.

After walking around for about half an hour, Otto and I found someplace that looks like an inn. I think it's an inn? It seems like everywhere I go in this city the only places I can find are normal looking except for the sign on the door. "Sleepy Tree Inn" is the name of this place. Here's hoping it's not trash.

I open the door, and hear a bell ringing above me. The place seems pretty similar to the adventurers guild, except there's a different guy at the reception counter, and he's talking with someone else already. The second guy seems a little bruised. 

"Seriously, are you trying to make me want to hit you?"

"I'm telling you, that guy had his level disguised! There ain't no fucking way a guy of his level would be able to beat a flesh golem of that size. It's impossible, but it's true!"

Ah.

Shit.

Is it really...?

I immediately use appraisal.

Ah.

Shit.

So he's here now.

I almost close the door, from just not wanting to get involved. But I changed my mind after listening to what he said.

I'm stronger than my level?

Huh. I'M A CHEAT, FUCK YEAH.

God, you lazy bastard, you never truly abandoned me.

Well, that's a topic for later. 

Look who found some clothes! I wonder how he got past the guards? Maybe he can tell me. I don't want to lose a silver every time I go through the gates. It's bad for my purse. Maybe he has connections? Never underestimate the powers of evil organizations.

"Frank! It's good to see you again." I walk over and put my hand over his shoulder. 

"Who?"

Frank looks at me.

Time seems to pause for him.

Frank looks back at the receptionist.

He looks back at me.

"Ah. Hello." Error 404. Frank is having trouble understanding reality. It's okay, buddy. I don't understand why I'm here either. The universe just wants us to be friends! This time, I won't leave you behind. Since we ran into each other, you're destined to be my companion! Destiny and shit.

"I'm glad to see you made it back here. I was worried after I saw you out there. In the state you were in, you could have caught a cold!" I smile and begin to laugh. "I'm so happy you were able to catch up. Now, let's have a little chat, okay?"

"Uh... Yeah, sure..." Aw, Frank, you seemed so manly before, with your blunt as fuck spear, acting super defensive! Where's that gusto now? Guess that happens when you beat the shit out of someone and kill their allies.

Wait, that's kind of fucked up. I'm not turning psycho, am I?

...

Well, that's the world's problem to deal with, not mine. 

I turn to the receptionist, who seems a little suspicious. That, or confused. We'll get out of your hair. "Hey, how much for a double room?"

"... It'll be 25 coppers for a night."

I decided to take a risk for a second. I don't know the exchange rate in this world. I need to figure that out somehow. So, I'll just toss him two large copper coins with five normal ones and see if I got it right.

"... Upstairs, room 102." He reached under the counter and tossed me a key. "Have a good talk."

After I do that, the receptionist doesn't say anything and pockets the money. Okay, I got it right. Unless it's worth more than that, and he's taking the extra.

Let's just hope he's not as scummy as everyone else.

Ah, who am I kidding. He's friends with Frank! They're probably scummy friends, talking about and doing scummy things together. Don't worry, I'll be straightening out Frank tonight. I won't let him stay like you. You're welcome.

"Well, come on Frank." I say, putting a hand over his shoulder. "You too, Otto. It's time to catch up a little."

We walked up the stairs and found our way to the room. Not bad. The room has two beds and a window. There's also a small table with a candle.

Good. I can work with this.

"So Frank--" I began.

"I'm sorry, please don't hit me." Frank was cowering. What the hell? When did his attitude do a one eighty? It's creeping me out.

"What the fuck are you doing?" 

"After discovering you had defeated my comrades and the flesh golem, I formed a deep respect for you... Sir."

Sir. I like it. Man, having people fear you is so convenient. I'll have to try this out more often.

"Great, great." I start getting some answers. I place my hand back on his shoulder, and look him in the eye with a smile. "Now, what did you tell your pal downstairs?"

"I... Nothing!" I call bullshit. I narrow my eyes a little, and he starts sweating bullets. "I told him about someone defeating the flesh golem, but I didn't say it was you! I didn't give a name! I would never want to put my life at ri-- I mean, I would never sell you out when you were so kind as to spare me!"

His eyes are darting between me and Otto.

Good. He understands how kind and merciful I am. He better keep understanding, or I don't know what I'll do.

"But, I think Kane didn't do the same." 

I started frowning. He looked scared. Don't worry, it's a simple question now.

"Who the fuck is Kane?"

"The man your friend clubbed."

"Ah, him."

Yeah, well that's a crock of shit.

"Do you know where he is?" I'm giving him a death stare.

"YES! I do! I'll Guide you to him!" He's back to full blown panic mode.

"That's good, my new friend." My grin comes back, now a little wider. "Now, I think I need a little information from you."

* * *

Since I ran into Frank again, I figured I'd be running into Silver Leaf for a while. I needed information on the scale of this group, as well as some of their bases, so I could liberate (pilfer) some more funds. It's part of my retirement fund. I need to bribe a lot of officials to make sure no one will bother me once I save the world.

Frank easily gave up the information. Smart man. You'll do real good someday. He gave some information on the bases around here, but he did give me some surprising information.

"Your farm was the main drug farm for Silver Leaf?"

"Yes." He said, averting his eyes. "It was a good location, far away from paths normal people would walk on, surrounded by thousands of flesh golems. We had some people stationed there most of the time, but they ended up leaving when you had showed up because the guys who normally came for the week's supply had disappeared. Because of that, they decided to deliver the supply themselves. We weren't expecting someone like you to show up out of no where, but I'm guessing you killed the normal pick up guys and seized the opportunity, right?"

"Nope, I was just wandering around deep in the woods." Honesty is important in friendship. Also, it helps when getting information out of someone. If you feed him false information, he may accidentally feed you false information.

Frank is confused. "... Then, why did you destroy the farm?"

"One of many random whims I have. I didn't want any accidental evidence of me to be left around, other than you guys. Also, because I wanted to hide the fact that I robbed all your shit. By the way, I robbed all your shit."

"..." Frank is holding his head in his hands. Yep, everything is grand. I brought you an excuse to leave the illegal drug smuggling ring. Now, you are free. You're welcome.

"You've ruined my life. On a whim" Frank is not happy. Hey, don't accuse me of things like that. It's rude. 

"Hey now." I'm frowning again. "That's not right. You're doing a lot of illegal shit anyways. What did you expect? Karma's a bitch."

"What's karma?" Frank is confused.

Yeah, let's not bother with this shit. I guess karma is an Earth only concept. Or, it's an eastern concept that the west learned about after the middle ages. Yeah, they may have it somewhere else right now. Can't expect these plebs to know shit. Wait, do they even have an education system here? Signs point to no... Fuck it, I can just ask.

"Hey Frank, what's the education system like here?" 

"Education system?" Frank is still confused. "Like school? I don't know, I've never been to one."

Fuck, it's the dark ages. At least I won't be required to go to high school. 

Well, that got off track. 

After a couple of minor tangents, and maybe a couple of vague threats, I got the location of some Silver Leaf bases in the city. Interestingly enough, this crappy inn was one as well. Also, I learned why the city is on edge.

"Monster wave?" I asked in a puzzled voice.

"Yeah, a huge one from the looks of things." I still don't understand. Frank, explain. "For the past couple of weeks, the forest has been devoid of any kind of threatening monster. It looks like they've been gathering for some reason. Pretty soon, we'll start to see some major damages done by them. With how long they've been gone, we can assume that the wave is going to be massive. People have been getting out of town while they can, but not everyone is so lucky that they can pack up and leave. I'd be leaving soon as well, but I don't have any money, since you have it now. I need to gather some funds, and run. I'd suggest you do the same."

Wait, so the monsters in the forest aren't abnormally weak? Maybe the wolf I saw once was the norm. If the real standards for monsters around here is higher than that, Otto and I may be fucked if we stay here. God, you lazy bastard, did you plan for this shit to befall me or something?

"Well, thanks for the information." And fuck you, god.

"So," Frank is acting a little nervously again. "Can I go now?"

"Hahaha..." My hand is resting on Frank's shoulder again. "Frank, my bud. I'm gonna need you to guard my room for the night. Otto and I have some work to do in the meantime."

I grin as Frank continues to sweat bullets. Time to knock this guy out again.

* * *

So, I once asked myself, how do you get someone to guard your stuff when they don't want to? Well, there are a couple ways to do that. One way is by using threats. One is through rewards. Those are classics. But, there are much more creative options as well. For example, you could chain their foot up nearby, and tell them that if you come back and find things messed up or missing, you'll make some terrible horror descend upon the Earth. But, one of my favorites for getting people to stand guard has to be "The Hider."

The way "The Hider" works is simple. You just have to make sure that the guy you want to guard your stuff doesn't want to leave the area, or have anyone come near it. There are a couple of ways to do this, but I think that the best one has to be embarrassment. So, How did I pull off "The Hider" with Frank?

I knocked him out and stole his shit. 

Including his clothes.

The plan is, he won't leave because his friend his downstairs, and if his friend learns he's naked... Actually I don't know what will happen, but it'll be great. Probably. Hopefully, he just stays in the room. I don't have ropes to tie him up with, so this will have to do.

I'm going to be known as a pervert soon if I keep stripping everybody down. Whatever, I'll find a place to sell his shit one day. I promise.

Goodbye Frank. See you soon.