Ascending a brief stone pathway, I found myself standing before a vast edifice, surrounded by a courtyard decorated with various plants, all trimmed into elegant shapes.
The outer walls were sculpted of polished silverstone, pale as moonlight, interrupted only by the soft arches and intricate sigil of the Adventurer's Guild emblazoned above the entrance, deeply carved and gilded at the edges.
Tall quartz columns flanked the double doors, wide enough, perhaps, for an entire caravan of adventurers to pass through at once.
"Woah. All of this is still so surreal. To think I'd have made it this far, finally…"
My thoughts lingered on the scene in front of me, still in awe.
Eleven years have passed since my reincarnation into this world.
Everything I've experienced has all led up to this significant moment in my life.
Now, all that's left is to put my skills to the test and see if all of that strenuous, grueling training was for nothing.
Well, that and actually signing up to be an adventurer, of course. Wonder if it's similar to getting a job?
Pushing these thoughts behind me, I fell into step, keeping Seraphina close by.
Her fur was much cleaner now that we had time to properly clean ourselves, and if I had to be honest, my chest swelled with pride seeing it.
The room we got ourselves situated in was one of modest decor, belonging to a supposedly reliable and trusted establishment frequented by travelling adventurers for the proximity to the guild building and amenities offered.
Though I hadn't gotten a proper chance to test the bed, everything else seemed nicely made and comfortable.
All in all, I was just happy to be able to finally take a shower again… Especially these past two months spent with Alis. Finding a good enough time to get fully naked, clean myself, my clothes, and find some time to allow them to dry was a tall task, to say the least, considering that by nightfall I was already tuckered out.
So, unless I wanted to sleep buck naked, things had to be that way.
But not anymore!
Miraculously, the room also had its own washer and dryer. Talk about good fortune, eh?
Now, my sleek, relaxed attire would seem like so and less rugged.
Admittedly, there was a bit of wear and tear that accompanied the journey, but it was hardly noticeable.
My equipment would all have to be replaced, anyways, but that could come after things were settled here.
Eventually, I arrived at the double doors of the building, and they opened seamlessly for me, seemingly triggered by some pressure-based mechanism.
Neat.
Stepping in, a rush of cool air lightly tousled my hair, raising goosebumps on my skin.
Well… the parts of it that were exposed, anyway.
My breath held as I silently drank in the incredible sight.
The word that instantly came to my mind was organized chaos.
Marble floors stretched in all directions, pristine yet worn smooth by countless feet. An impossibly high ceiling soared overhead, marching upward in elegant curves, leaving sunlight to filter in softly through artful windows onto the waiting crowd—and there were chandeliers that swayed just slightly in their draft.
To my right, a short, wide corridor led to a lounge filled with long tables and chairs, which all seemed perfect for a variety of reasons like planning.
Likewise, situated to my left, near the very corner of the large building, a sweeping staircase curled upward to a balcony, offering basically the same amenities, though the stairs did still continue onwards after that, leveling out and continuing beyond my view.
Lines of people formed near each of the sectioned booths manned by guild clerks clad in a familiar blue, white, red, and black color scheme; each uniform tailored to suit each body, whether man or woman, human or elf, lean or well-muscled.
…Mostly, the women had caught my eye, however.
The elven ones in particular had a certain grace to them, with their serious, professional expressions that somehow seemed to accentuate their slightly curvy bodies in a dynamic that seemed almost jarring.
And that wasn't even considering the adventurers, who wore more revealing clothing that was easier to move in.
Truly, I knew my type well, hehe.
…Wait. What was I talking about? Right, back on topic!
I could feel the air pulsing with the busy energy of the crowd. Some people were patient, sometimes restless, all awaiting their turn to speak.
There were seasoned mages in battered armor, fledglings barely out of their domiciles or homes, and those who permeated a sense of absolute strength, yet was maintained and hidden well by their demeanors and flawless control of their bodies, all converging in a living storm of purpose.
All in all, it was an incredible sight to behold.
Shortly after making these observations, my eyes trailed over to the Quest Board sections that dominated the central hall, crowded with—from what I could tell—requests for work, help, notices, warnings, and the occasional urgent summons.
A curious thought ensued.
This guild hall was nothing if not a crucible where ambitions met reality… whether or not they were to be crushed on the battlefield, however, would be something only you could decide.
Locking eyes with a sign that pointed me in the direction for newer adventurers looking to sign up, I let out the breath I'd been holding, and steeled myself.
Ever since my reincarnation, I figured I'd gotten over my anxiety that would surface whenever surrounded by large crowds.
But, being here made me consider otherwise… for just a moment, though.
It wasn't long before I found myself standing in line for the chance to sign up, neck still craning and swiveling in a way that made my foreignness apparent.
After about ten minutes or so of waiting, I was finally offered my turn to speak with the clerk.
Uh.
She's… not like the other ones here, is she?
Just what exactly happened to my land of well-endowed figures?!
"Welcome to Goldshire's Adventurer's Guild. I am Sasha, pleased to meet you. How may I help you today?"
A slightly monotone voice said, undermined by the appearance of the person it belonged to.
I cleared my throat. "Hello, yes, pleasure to meet you, Lady Sasha. Excuse me, but I was wondering if I could sign up to be an adventurer?"
The young girl's—well… seemingly young—pastel pink eyes were removed from the sheet of paper they were simultaneously scanning with a focused expression, this time landing on me for a few seconds.
She quickly scribbled one last thing before sliding it to the side and pulling up an empty folder of sorts, reaching into a drawer and retrieving about four pieces of paper total.
The most unnerving thing about seeing someone with such a child-like appearance working in such an established place like this was the fact that throughout this entire interaction of ours, she hadn't blinked once.
"Hm. Very well then, that can be arranged swiftly. No problem at all," she began, brushing a lock of her short, pastel pink hair behind an ear. My attention perked, hearing this.
"Really? That'd be great then, if I could just sign up, take the test, and then—"
"Ah, about that. Sorry, but as of now, you'll be unable to take the Rank Assessment Test."
"...What? Unable to take the assessment… What do you mean?"
It took everything I had to keep my voice from betraying the storm of emotions that suddenly brewed in my stomach.
Sasha looked at me, undeterred. "It's exactly as it sounds. The Rank Assessment Test is currently unavailable to you… Well, although to be fair, it's not just you. To all newcomer adventurers. So don't feel bad."
Excuse me, what?!
The hell does she mean unavailable? Just what in the damnation is happening!?
"Uh… Miss Sasha. May I ask why that is, if you don't mind?" I put on the most polite smile I could manage.
She eyed me questioningly for a few seconds before responding.
"You want to know why? Hm… Well sure, it's not like the information is private. The reason why is because of the issues happening further up south, near the capital city, and spanning even further down."
I stood silent, waiting for her to continue.
"...Judging by your expression, I'm assuming you're either completely new around here, or just severely uninformed." She sighed.
"The situation is like this: there has been a recent spike in the formation of gates around these parts lately, making it much harder for people farther inland to come outwards—such is the case now. Consequently, it's also affected the nearby lands in such a way that makes it harder to find more magic beasts, like a scale of sorts has been tipped unfairly. One of the places affected by the exchange, for example, is the Ravatogh Forest. An area like that doesn't usually have so little magic beast activity, yet it's been observed as such for the past two months, or so. Basically, the sudden, rapid opening of gates have made it harder for the test examiners to actually arrive here in Goldshire, thus slowing down their travel progress significantly."
"A rapid opening of gates…" I whispered, repeating her words more to myself than anything.
"Yes, that's correct. It's been described as a strange phenomenon that's been the result of undecided factors, as of now, but the kingdom's researchers are looking into it."
Gates…
Large portals that lead to strange areas or domains—typically dungeons—that pose a dire risk to humanity, particularly when left uninterrupted.
They're a completely different ball game than the activities most adventurers take on, that being board requests that primarily revolve around helping around within the normal world, and as such, the requirements to venture into one are much more strict.
Only highly skilled adventurers are permitted into them, due to the danger they present.
The most obvious difference between regular dungeons and gates are in how they function.
While each real world dungeon typically consists of the same, cavernous spaces filled with magic beasts with slight differences, gates can be entirely different, and as such, are mostly referred to as domains.
For example, you could enter a gate that could lead you into grassy plains, snowy fields, or even land you near a land ridden by volcanic eruptions.
The chances of you encountering such domains are low, but never zero.
If a gate opens and isn't taken care of within 14 days, a Gate Break occurs, in which the gate shifts from a blue-purple hue into a dark or sometimes bright red one instead, allowing that which is contained within to escape and wreak havoc on the waking world…
Alternatively, on extremely rare occasions, a phenomenon called a Double Gate may happen, in which even after clearing the usual necessary requirements for a gate to have been cleared, the nature of the dungeon within may shift into a different domain entirely, requiring you to reclear it, and usually results in a difficulty spike.
This is what makes gates so dangerous—their unpredictability.
There is technology that each kingdom possesses to help mitigate this and warn of the possibility of a gate opening before it happens, but it is still under development, and largely unreliable.
To my knowledge, that is.
And so, it makes sense that a rapid opening of these abnormalities have put such a strain on the activities of the guild; much less being responsible for the lack of any sort of magic beasts during Alis and I's travels.
Deep down, I wondered why the forest was so peaceful, but never explored the thought… I guess that makes sense then.
…I wonder if those traders knew of this. It'd make sense then, considering the timing of their actions.
So, that situation is much bigger than I even thought.
My journey would be a lot more different if I had to accompany that guard to his office and get wrapped up in all of this even further.
I owe Alis a crap ton.
Truly, this world of ours undergoes changes everyday, doesn't it?
I guess it's good I'm on a journey to getting stronger.
"In any case, that's the way things are now. Of course, if you'd still like to sign up, I'd be more than delighted to get you started. Seriously, I would. The thing about that, however, is that you'd be limited to only taking on quests of the very lowest ranking, meaning E-rank. It's a good choice if you're new, in order to build up prior experience beforehand, but the accumulated Merit will similarly be voided if you decide to take the test when they return. Despite that, I'd still recommend it, personally. It's even better because you'll still be permitted to take the Rank Assessment Test when the examiners arrive with only losing Merit as a drawback. Overall, it's a safe choice."
I stayed silent, carefully considering her words for a few seconds.
"And, just how long are they expected to be preoccupied for? When are the examiners expected to arrive? Approximately."
Sasha's eyes rolled around the interior of the building in a strange fashion that seemed to signify she was doing mental calculations. Then, she responded briefly.
"At this rate? I'd say… Three months, give or take. At the beginning of Fall, most likely."
"So that long, huh? I see… So, it's either sign up and spend time accumulating experience with bottom-of-the-barrel quests, or spend two months doing effectively nothing…"
Picking up on my uncertainty, Sasha reiterated her previous opinion, going into slightly further detail about the potential benefits taking on lower ranked quests would give you.
However… I already had my mind set by then.
"I've decided. I'll still sign up, but I won't be taking on the quests… Although, it's not as if I won't be doing anything. Thankfully, I'm a pragmatic person, and there's something I've been needing to take care of for a while now. These two months will be spent in preparation."
"Is that so?" she said, eyeing me half-curiously.
"Well then, I hope your… preparations go smoothly. But, if that's the cast, then we should continue with completing your account. These papers here are for you to sign. They include the details of your registration and deal with the finer prints of it, including the situation regarding your age. While I hate to have led you on slightly, kid, the only way you, realistically, can become an adventurer is if you have a sponsor. Which I'm hoping is the case, otherwise…" Her voice trailed apologetically.
I tilted my head, brandishing my ring with a covered hand.
The sigil Alis had given me softly clunked against the polished wooden desk.
Watching the otherwise expressionless clerk's eyes slowly widen with realization was a sight that I wish I could've saved in order to replay whenever I felt my spirits down.
It was comical, to say the least.
"I believe this should handle it, yes?"
"Uh… Y-yeah, that certainly does handle most of the paperwork…" she began, and I felt my heart swell with pride as I felt a smug grin slowly stretching the corners of my lips. "However… Personally, I wouldn't have displayed such a thing so boldly. Much less in front of an entire hall of people who are quite… receptive to such things."
At that moment, I felt the energy in the guild building shift, as if everyone had stopped right in their tracks, and the gazes of what must've been at least a thousand people bore holes into my very core itself.
Whispers, gasps, and murmurs swiftly filled the hall, as if a grand, historic event had just taken place.
"...No way…"
"...Is he a member of the Vorlet family?"
"...An official sigil…"
"...It can't be real, r-right?"
"...Just who is that guy?"
"...Why is he so tiny?"
"...Don't you mean why is she so tiny?"
"...No dude, that's definitely a guy. Look at his flat chest!"
Hey, bastard!
I heard that one. Damn idiots, just what the hell are you talking about!?
Alis' words suddenly resurfaced, hearing these conversations.
Hurriedly, I stored the sigil back in my ring, wishing for nothing more than to just disappear from all of existence at that moment.
I turned pleading eyes back towards Sasha, signaling for her to wrap this up quickly.
She gave me a half-baked attempt at a reassuring smile that did nothing more than increase my worries.
"Well… that certainly clears up most of the paperwork indeed. All that'd be left is stuff regarding your current address, and uh—ah, right—your name. Forgive me for asking so late, but what name would you like to register with?"
Right, a name.
Up until a bit ago, I hadn't even spared a thought at coming up with a believable name to hide my identity, which led to that somewhat awkward situation with Alis.
After that, I spent every waking day pondering on what I should go with.
Something that didn't feel too detached from myself—enough to represent me—while also not being directly representative.
I didn't start coming up with one until a hint Alis had given me on the day we met.
She said she would've mistaken me as some type of lost prince.
It was then that my nickname had begun to take shape.
I smirked as I proudly proclaimed myself, loud enough for everyone who was curious about my identity to hear it, but not to the point where it would seem too boastful or too conceited, since I didn't want to draw any further attention to myself and potentially cause problems for House Vorlet themselves.
I drew from my teachings as a prince and delivered it with a calmness that didn't seem possible for one of my age.
"Crownless."