Rem walked up to the front desk of the Adventurers Guild, her Shadow Fall Fox resting in her arms. The hall was quiet, as her boots echoed on the stone floor. Rem looked at the counter and spotted a small brass bell sitting on the corner. Lifting her hand not holding the fox, she brought it down three times.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
A voice rang out from somewhere in the building. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Rem turned her head, expecting footsteps from upstairs or the creak of a door behind the counter. Instead, a puff of smoke burst up from directly behind the desk. Out of it stepped a young woman balancing a stack of papers so high it nearly toppled over. She coughed, waving her tail to fan the dust away.
"I knew I should have cleaned under this desk sooner," she said. "Look at all of this dust from the old reports. The Guild Master's going to have my butt if I don't get these organized soon." The woman said setting the papers down with a heavy thud, then she finally looked at Rem.
Rem's eyes sparkled with sudden happiness, narrowing into slits. She raised a finger, pointing straight at the woman in front of her. "You are a cat girl, aren't you?"
The woman's ears twitched sharply. She rolled her eyes, her voice edged with irritation. "We prefer the term cat demi-human, thank you very much. The colloquial term 'cat girl' has not been used to describe my species in hundreds of years. Even the nobles stopped using it. So don't call me a cat girl, please."
Rem waved her free hand dismissively. "A cat girl is a cat girl. You can't escape it, that's your fate. You have cat ears and a cat tail, and that makes you a cat girl."
The woman sighed hard, her tail moving behind her. "Miss, what can I help you with? If you don't need assistance please leave, I'm busy cleaning up the mess from the previous receptionist. She was unceremoniously fired for submitting late paperwork."
Rem tilted her chin slightly, speaking with sincerity. "My name is Rem, and I'm here to register myself and my servant Amaia as adventurers. Could you please sign us up?"
The demi-human straightened up immediately, slipping into a professional smile that showed the tips of her small canine teeth. "Welcome to the Adventurers Guild. My name is Cindy Lou it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Rem. You would like to sign up? I can certainly take care of that. All new adventurers begin at F rank. From there you can climb to A rank, and if fortune favors you, even to S rank. Beyond S there are higher tiers, but you don't need to know those for now."
Rem's mouth curved up faintly into a smile, her tone approving. "Well, you are certainly straightforward."
Cindy Lou's eyes drifted to the fox in Rem's arms, its two tails curling lightly against Rem's wrist. "Are you going to register your pet as well? If you plan to cross borders under the Adventurers Guild's banner, all pets must be registered. Otherwise she could be confiscated as an illegally domesticated animal. Many kingdoms and races enforce strict rules on pets and battle mounts."
Rem frowned and glanced at Amaia. "Do you think we should register her Amaia?"
Amaia rolled her eyes slightly. "You have to name your pet first, my lady, before we can even register her."
Rem froze, as though struck by lightning. She has been calling this fox Shadow Fall Fox since acquiring it, but she has never given her a real name. Straightening up, Rem put on a confident expression. "I know she needs a name Amaia. I've been thinking about that this whole time. What kind of leader would I be if I did not know that?"
Amaia's gaze softened, though her lips pressed tightly. Internally she sighed. This is exactly why Rem is beloved by humanity: her foolish bravado somehow always turns into charm, endearing her to all those around her.
Rem looked down at the fox in her arms, stroking her silky black fur while its eyes glowed faintly back at Rem. After a long moment Rem spoke decisively. "I will call her Ciara meaning shadow. She's is clearly a creature of the shadows."
Rem's eyes lifted back up to Cindy Lou. "Yes, I would like to register my fox under the name Ciara."
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