As if noticing something, Jessica turned around to see Joe leaning on the door. For the first time, he was showing a genuinely happy face that wiped away the exhaust. Noticing her gaze, he gave a toothy smile, “What you think? Nice, isn’t it? My pride and joy.”
There was really a strong sense of pride when he spoke. Looking around the room once more, she leaned against the wall as she looked through the window. She could feel mana, if she guessed correctly, the windows were one’s that would allow one to look out but not allow someone to see in from outside.
There was nothing else she could say, “It really is. I might not be used to anything fancy, so possibly for that reason. This is a very nice place.”
Seeing his smile extend out, she was bothered by one thing, “Why is it that the door doesn’t even have a lock?”
Finally, the smile on his face was removed. There was a sadness that added to his normally exhausted face. She could feel the pain from his expression alone, “Well, it sort of worked out that way. As you can see, I take pride in this place. Maybe it is funny, however, Mercury City to graded beings is a holy site.”
Moving away from her question, he didn’t go back as if it was part of the answer, “So long as you can survive. I sadly made a mistake, I wanted to make this place the very best. I wouldn’t allow trash in, I stand by that one. But, it was too safe. As someone who isn’t a graded being, I wanted to also come to this holy site and find a place for myself.”
There was a tragic smile on his face, “When I removed the locks, the next guests, well, they had a higher survival rate. It wasn’t the first time, I have gotten used to the ghosts that linger in this place. There are too many to count. As of now, this iteration has twenty-two graduates. There have been a total of thirty-six who have stayed here.”
For a moment, Jessica forgot where she was. That was somewhere around sixty percent survival rate. This was a city, not a dungeon. She felt a chill, staying in a city had always been safe. This was not a normal city. Looking out the window, she watched as two Grade F individuals were fighting.
It wasn’t enough to kill the other, although blood was already raining down on the street. Looking at it numbly, she noticed, the stone was an unnatural dark gray. It was only at this moment she realized everything outside was the same gray, only a bit of discoloring on the ground showed a slight difference.
“Of those that didn’t make it, how many of them were forced to leave?”
She was still looking outside, she didn’t notice at this moment there was a cold look in Joe’s eyes, “Fourteen.”
Confused washed over Jessica as she turned around. It was then she noticed a problem with his earlier words. He said it was the survival rate. She assumed that was how many people were able to move into the northwest. That was again using Joe’s words, graduate, to mean that. That would mean, of those that didn’t make it, all of them survived to leave the city. That didn’t match with the little bit of information she had.
“Graduation, might be a funny word to you. I have run this place for over three decades. Anytime someone leaves the northeast alive, It's something to celebrate. So, good luck.”
Jessica’s first night in Mercury City ended with her walking downstairs with dark circles. She had much to think about. Having discussed it with Leo, she finally decided to stay. This was the fastest way to grow stronger.
Saleh and Joe were sitting downstairs eating. When she sat down, she didn’t really look at the food. She turned to see Saleh, he seemed to have spent the night similarly. Smiling weakly, seeing that she wasn’t eating, he stood up while stretching.
“Come, let’s head over to the northeast branch. Currently, we're not registered. If we don’t register soon, we will be seen as intruders.”
Walking through the city, it was oddly quiet. It wasn’t like there weren’t people. No, in fact, there were numerous people moving around. Every so often, a fight seemed to be about to break out. Words would be shouted before they started to draw attention. Having seen it once, she understood why everyone soon turned mute.
As if confirming her thoughts, “Nobody has time. Those going out in the morning, at least, this early are going to look for a job. Those that already have a request are either not in the city or sleeping in. Joe set breakfast and dinner periodically. Perfectly tuned for the city.”
“What if we’re on a request or get to sleep in?” She had some doubts. How would missing breakfast be perfectly tuned.
Leaning over, he whispered, “Jobs in the city are too safe. They don’t pay enough. If somehow you do, then you likely took a seriously dangerous job outside your means. Joe wouldn’t support someone suicidal.”
Moving with most of the crowd, the two soon made it to a generic looking building. While inside the city, everything from the outside was gray stone. The inside was the really generic thing. Somehow it put her at peace.
While the scale was larger, everything else was the same. She suddenly couldn’t help but smile a little. The first time she had entered an Adventurer’s Guild building was with the old man. He took up a request with her, at that time she had a vast longing for adventure.
Having been read a number of stories. The ones she enjoyed the most, back then, involved crazy adventures. Obviously, the old man had already told her many times. The stories were fables, solely used for entertainment.
Even still, under her constant nagging, he took a few requests. What started with simple requests in a backwater. Soon she wasn’t okay with herb gathering, looking for lost items, or finding a lost pet. They were fresh and new for a short while.
Seeing the hard expression on the old man’s face. She knew she couldn’t coax him into going inside a dungeon. Finally, she found the perfect request. Protection, it was the same for those heroes in the stories. Start protecting a random merchant or client before getting pulled into a world of coincidences that lead to an epic adventure.
