Andrew lay down on his bed at the Silver Shield Inn and had a right-proper panic attack.

 

 

 

 

 

"[I'm gonna die! THEY'RE GONNA KILL ME! I need to get out of this town!]" Andrew babbled to his familiar.

 

Miriam hovered over him and kept gesturing in a comforting fashion, "[Calm down. It's okay! We got through it. We'll be fine.]"

 

Andrew sat up, "[ARE YOU NUTS? I'm a twenty-first-level unarmed combatant but only FIFTH overall! That is exactly the sort of BS that'll make them think I'm an infernalist!]"

 

"[What exactly is an infernalist anyways?]"

 

Andrew fell back into the bed, "[Isn't it bloody obvious? Me. I'm an infernalist. Or rather, that's what they call any transmigrators like me. The infernal investment is the cheat power those morons wanted to give me!]"

 

"[Huh. You'd think that they'd love someone with a cheat power.]"

 

Andrew rolled his eyes, "[Oh? Imagine me without you stopping me from being a jerk. There's a good chance I would have held back and waited to see what happened. Most people would. I wouldn't have the good reputation I currently enjoy if you weren't egging me on.]" He rolled over on his side, "[Now pick someone more of an asshole. Give him mind control powers and a desire to have his own personal harem.]"

 

Miriam took in a sharp intake of breath, "[Ouch... yeah. I can see that causing hard feelings.]

 

Andrew glanced over his shoulder at Miriam, "[Ya think? Now have a few dozen assholes show up, they all have the same level, a min-maxed race, a power combo of classes, and suddenly you got every government deciding these overpowered monsters have to go.]" He grabbed his hair in frustration as he rolled back, "[When I think how close I was to going with an anima arch-necro-plasmatic sub-psionic ecto-spammer!]"

 

Miriam stared at Andrew with a raised eyebrow, "[I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds horrifying.]"

 

"[It combines the best of a druid that spams creatures, except the creatures are all undead, and then you can add the powers of an ectoplasmic creature to the undead. You can summon customizable, supercharged undead that last for hours.]" Andrew covered his eyes with an arm thrown across his head, "[And if I had gone with that, I'd be dead right now.]"

 

"[Well, you're not dead, you're alive, and we're gonna stay that way because we're not a complete asshole like the others that came before you. Got it?]"

 

"[I am going to have to watch it. I can't let anyone know how strong I am. I'll have to make sure nobody finds out. I mean, I was gonna keep it low-key, but...] Andrew sat up, "[This is ridiculous. I can't believe I came here and have to live with one hand tied behind my back when I go and get work at...]" His voice trailed off.

 

Miriam squinted, "[What?]"

 

"[I need you to turn invisible and go check out the local adventurer's guild. Tell me if they do a status scan when you get your adventurer's license. If so, I bet theirs is better than the one at the gate. If that's the case-]"

 

Miriam rubbed her eyes, "[They'll figure out what a freak you are.]" She vanished and the window flew open. A retreating voice called back, "[On it!]"

 

---

 

Some time later Miriam appeared on the nightstand, "[Bad news.]"

 

 

 

Sitting on his bed, and scribbling some notes in a book, Andrew jumped when Miriam appeared, "AH!" He looked at her, "Don't DO THAT! [I had nothing to put into skills after all my prereqs! My detect checks are crap!]"

 

"[Well, they'll get worse if you go to that guild. They'll behead you on the spot.]"

 

Andrew closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "[Great. Well. Sorry about this, but you'll be laid up in here for the next eleven hours.]"

 

Miriam frowned, "[What do you mean...]" She blinked, "[Wait. I only have one ability that has that long of a casting time.]"

 

Andrew gave her a grim smile as he nodded, "[After all... it IS the main reason your level cost is so high.]"

 

---

 

Andrew and Miriam strolled into the Adventurer's Guild the next day.

 

 

 

It was a rough-and-tumble sort of place. Many of the more grizzled adventurers sat around at tables, talking with one another while they waited to see if any good assignments came up. Andrew looked around and smiled at everyone. Everyone looked back at the odd-looking teenager wearing strange robes and the shimmering, silvery-winged humanoid sitting on his shoulder.

 

He walked past everyone to the reception desk, "Hello?" He rang the bell on the counter, awaiting the typical cute receptionist who always appears in these scenarios.

 

An old man with an eyepatch and a wooden pegleg leaned out from the back room, "Eh? What you on about?"

 

Andrew froze for a second, then recovered and waved cheerfully, "Hello! It's been over a day and my party hasn't contacted me or sent someone to pick me up. I fear I may be stuck here for a while. Could you be so kind as to begin the registration process? I won't take any jobs for a few days, just in case. Wouldn't want to take on a quest then have to abandon it right away."

 

The old man came limping over and leaned on the counter, "So... yer what?"

 

Andrew looked around, "Me? I'm Andrew. I'm usually support. Not sure how this works in this country."

 

The old man sighed, "Wasn't talkin' to you. Already got the heads up from the gate." He took his pipe out of his mouth and pointed it at Miriam, "Was talking to you, lass. I assume you speak the common tongue."

 

Miriam slightly floated down to land on the counter, "I am Miriam. I am a fae. I'm not here to register." She jogged her head towards Andrew, "This child did my queen a favor, and as repayment, I'm to keep an eye on him for..." She thought for a bit, looked at the ceiling, and then tapped her chin with a finger, "How long do you humans live? I forget." She shrugged, "That long. Whatever. I'll be back home before the next festival. I'm sure of that." She turned to Andrew, "You got ripped off if you ask me. Only one lifetime? I would have held out for a few generations of offspring, at least."

 

Andrew held up his hands and shook them towards her, "No no no! I didn't do it for the reward! I already feel guilty. I only accepted because I didn't want to insult Her Majesty, that's all."

 

The old man eyed Andrew, squinting with his one good eye, "What'd you do?"

 

Miriam glared at Andrew.

 

Andrew swallowed and nervously smiled at the old man, "Something I shouldn't discuss." He flicked his eyes towards Miriam and gave an apologetic shrug.

 

The old man squinted at both in turn, "Uhhh.. a'right. Then... I'll list her as... I guess an animal companion?" He scrunched up his lips for a second, then reached under the counter. He pulled out a metal rectangle, "Here. She'll need to wear this so people know she's got an owner."

 

Miriam's eyes flared, "OWNER???"

 

The old man glared at her, "YAH. OWNER. This is a Human Nation. Non-humans need to have work permits to be here." He stabbed a finger at her, "Technically yer a monster, even if you seem rather polite. That makes you open season if someone decides to capture you, or worse."

 

Miriam lept into the air and her scales seemed to stand on end making her look a lot more spikey, "They are welcome to try."

 

The old man smirked, "And I have a feeling they'd lose, but then-" He stabbed a finger at Andrew, "He's the one who will answer for your crimes."

 

Andrew started looking just as pissed off as Miriam, if not more. When he spoke, his voice carried and was easily heard by everyone in the room, "If anyone attacks my companion, Not only would I want her to defend herself, but let me assure you, I'd have no problem murdering someone who preys on the weak and innocent."

 

The old man seemed far less impressed by Andrew's bravado than Miriam's, "I'm sure you would... try." He smirked, "And if someone steals your property, you are permitted to protect it and yourself, HOWEVER..." He leaned in close, "I don't know how they do things where you come from, but you should use a minimal amount of force to defend yourself, and try to take prisoners when possible. Someone offers to surrender, take it. If they then try to attack you after surrendering, then you can kill them, of course." He pulled away and put his hands on the counter, "And remember this, if nothing else sinks in, the local church can speak with the dead. Lying about what happened won't go far."

 

Miriam snorted and folded her arms, "Whatever. Just note, anyone who tries to harm me will be lucky if I only put them in a coma for a few hours. I am bonded to him until he dies." She moved to land on Andrew's shoulder, then amended her statement in an off-handed fashion.

 

"Again."

 

The old man reached under the counter to pull out a crystal suspended in a sort of matrix of hoops. He placed it on the counter in front of Andrew, "Put your hand over this, lad."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew reached forward with his left hand and touched the device.