City of Atris — Lichstein Kingdom
I spent another two hours trying to find the Mercenary Guild...But found nothing.
For some strange reason, the System Window was still glitching.I figured it had to do with Quincy's latest update, so I just kept walking around, clueless.
Still, it was frustrating as hell being in an unfamiliar place where no one would help you.
sigh —Where's the kindness in people?
Not knowing where else to go...I ended up walking into a tavern without realizing it.The place was full of people.
Some were sitting at the bar, others at tables playing cards.When I saw the card game, I thought:
"Yay, minigames."
But the real surprise was that they let me in—even as a kid.And without me noticing, the random guy who'd told me about the Mercenary Guild came up to me again.
This time, I got a good look at him:Tall, dark-skinned, and shining bald like a damn mirror.
He said:
Neil Obraham: —"You finally made it."
—"Huh?"
Neil Obraham: —"Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself.Name's Neil Obraham. I'm 23, and a Bronze-level mercenary."
—"What? I don't get it..."
Neil Obraham: —"Sorry, I meant... in the Mercenary Guild, we use metals to rank ourselves."
—"Can you explain that better?"
Neil Obraham: —"Like I said, Bronze is Rank D.Below me, there's Copper (E), and below that, Wood (F)."
—"And above?"
Neil Obraham: —"Silver (C), Gold (B), Platinum (A)...And then there's our Guild Master—Diamond (S)."
—"Why metal rankings?"
Neil Obraham: —"Because most of us are, or were, escaped slaves."
—"... Really? So that's why you helped me."
Neil Obraham: —"When a slave runs, they usually got no one.Being alone is brutal. I just wanted to spare a kid from that."
—"Thanks.But... are you alone?" (Please don't be another perv... Seriously, I hate this world. I trust no one anymore.)
Neil Obraham: —"Nah. Actually... here, come with me."
Still kinda suspicious, I tried accessing his Status Window—But for some reason, I couldn't.Like the ability was still glitching.
I figured it was Quincy acting up again,So I went with my gut.This guy didn't seem bad.
I followed him to a table where others were seated.He introduced them:
Neil Obraham: —"Kid, this is Debora, Noelle, Jeff... and that idiot over there's Brock."
Debora had dark hair, slightly elegant clothes, and two old-school pistols from like... the 18th century.
Noelle was a beastwoman—stupidly attractive.Silver-gray hair, wolf ears up top, and a fur outfit that looked expensive as hell.
Jeff looked young, short, with a thick brown mop for hair.
And Brock?He was big as hell, dark-haired, and had a giant warhammer.He wasn't at the table—he was playing cards with some other dudes.
I was already nervous...I still couldn't access their Status Windows.But I forced myself to chill.
It was probably just Quincy.
Anyway, the group welcomed me. They introduced themselves:
Debora: —"Hey there, little one. I'm Debora Aragón. 18. From the Gregorian Empire. Silver-ranked mercenary."
Jeff: —"I'm Jeffrey Sounders. 17. Half-dwarf from Enath Kingdom. Copper rank."
Noelle: —"Noelle Fandvalen. 16. From the northern nomadic beastfolk tribes. Bronze rank."
And from his seat, Brock yelled:
Brock: —"Brock Durham. 31. From Nordkrieger Kingdom. Silver rank."
—"Hey, I'm Sam Raymond. I'm 12."(…I won't even ask why three out of five of them are teens.)
After intros were done, Debora asked:
Debora: —"So what made you wanna be a mercenary?"
—"I didn't have a choice.Plus, it's the only way I can make money."
Debora chuckled at my answer and said:
Debora: —"Yeah, right."
Noelle: —"If you're a slave, you don't get choices."
—"That's fair..."
Neil Obraham: —"Feeling comfortable yet?"
—"I guess so." (Meh. Could be worse.)
Debora: —"He's kinda cute, right?"
Noelle: —"He's a kid, Debora."
Debora: —"That's not what I meant, Noelle."
—"Okay…I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear any of that."
Noelle: —"Don't worry. That's just Deby being Deby."
—"Deby?"
Debora: —"That's what my friends call me."
—"And...?"
Debora: —"Nope, not yet. You're still just our kohai."
—"Come again?"
Debora: —"We're your seniors. You owe us respect."
—"Wait—say that again?"
Debora: —"What? Kohai?"
—"Yeah, that...Where the hell did you learn that word?Why are you using honorifics?"
Jeff: —"What are you talking about, newbie? We all talk like this."
At that moment, I paused.
"Makes sense... Technically, War of Kingdoms was developed as a collab between Koreans and Japanese."
Even though politically and culturally they don't get along,this world clearly inherited both of their folklore.
Wait... now that I think about it,Arcade hires only the best, no matter the nationality.
But honestly, that's a problem.
When cultures clash, it can ruin workflow.If there's anything I learned from growing up in America and spending three years in Japan, it's this:East and West are NOT the same.
I hope Arcade implemented a system—like the one I used while building the Mur Group—to keep things in check.
Because even though they share some traits,the gap between East and West is huge.
...That bastard Nelson is probably having a blast.It'd actually be fun to work at an Arcade HQ with that much cultural tension.
(Damn it… I might actually envy that idiot.)
Noelle: —"Hey... hey... HEY!!"
—"Ah! W-What?"
Noelle: —"You didn't hear what Jeff asked you?"
—"No... What did he say?"
Neil: —"What's going on?"
Debora: —"Did you see that? The kid spaced out for, like, three minutes straight."
Neil: —"Really? I didn't even notice."
Jeff: —"Hey kid, I asked if you got your badge yet."
—"What? What badge? If it's important, where do I get it?"
Jeff: —"You need it to sit at this table."
Neil: —"Relax, Jeff. Kid—just go to the bar and register."
—"Alright..."
I went to the bar to sign up.They gave me a wooden badge.
The cranky old man running things introduced himself as Bang.
Bang: —"Bout damn time we got a new errand boy."
—"Excuse me?"
Bang: —"Sorry, brat. But I'm never giving you high-level missions."
—"Why not?"
Bang: —"You're too weak. From now on, you're the delivery boy of this branch. You should be thankful."
—"Wait... branch?"
Bang: —"You didn't know?"
—"Nope. I'm new, remember? Old man?"
Bang: —"Ignorant little shit. The Mercenary Guild is continental."
—"What does that mean?"
Bang: —"It means, you tiny illiterate,there is no other Mercenary Guild on this continent.To keep things organized, we divided it into branches.You're in the Lichstein branch right now."
—"And there's a bunch of these?"
Bang sighs
Bang: —"There's one in every city. We need fast couriers."
—"Why couriers? Aren't there, like, communication spells?"
Bang: —"Sure. But we like to do things old school. For security."
—"Why?"
Bang: —"You ask too damn much! You want the job or not?"
—"Yes, I do."
Bang: —"Then scram. I'll call you when I need you."
—"Fine..."
At that point, I was surprised the system didn't give me a pop-up.Technically, I'd just changed jobs.
But then Quincy explained:
[Master, once you are no longer a slave, the notification will appear.]
—"So that means..."
[Yes, Master. As long as mercenaries remain slaves, they're always at risk of being recaptured.]
—"Thanks, Quincy. That helps."
[You're welcome, Master <( ￣ ︶ ￣ )>]
—"Wait... you can do emojis now?"
[Thanks to my boosted intelligence, I'm much more efficient (◠ ‿・)—☆ ]
—"And way cuter and sassier."
[Thank you (>.<) Master]