Act I

  “Cheers! Cheers!”

  Within a cozy hall of hides and logged planks.

  More than a few dozen souls merrily drank, sang and played games with each other.

  On the stump tables, on the hide rugged plank floor or even the couches covered in woolen square pillows.

  “This is good, sweet for a beer but I do prefer sweeter brews.”

  The largest of those on a table of five, spoke gently as his eyes wandered the medieval Inn that he was in.

  His voice was soft, yet even with the bustle of the hall everyone heard him.

  Seated on his hide covered chair with a pristine white robe and brown waving hair.

  He sipped slowly the ice cold, yellow amber frotting beer until it was all gone.

  “Tell me, what was your group doing in a place that dangerous?”

  I asked the four youths that invited me to this incredible rustic hotel-like place.

  Honestly I didn’t much care but I do want to make sure if my guesses of this place was right.

  Before I start jumping to conclusions, and accidentally become some kind of murderhobo.

  But no one answered me immediately, even Elira, the young lady I saved, was silent.

  Still I wonder, are they really young university kids? or do they only look young.

  Hopefully their not centuries old tolkenian elves.

  I always hated that trope in Titans and Towers, of them being three centuries old yet they’re still level one.

  Cough* My thoughts broke as the leader of the group coughed, getting my attention.

  She looks to be the oldest in the group but it wasn’t by much.

  Compared to others she looks like a new intern in the company I worked in.

  It took me a moment as I remembered her name, it was Amorette.

  “We were hunting Draconids, for their fangs.”

  Tap* tap* The spear girl said as she dropped six finger size fangs on the table.

  “Oh? Your monster hunters, that explains alot.”

  I said happily, praising my self restraint.

  Thank Hestia I didn’t say adventurers or some other fantasy trope like word.

  “Yes? But we don’t only hunt monsters, dear priest. . . The four of us. . .”

  Their leader hesitated, making my brows curve.

  Are they deserters? They did look like they're from some kind of medieval army.

  “We are Sellswords dear priest, we mostly kill things for money, or do missions for the town guilds.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The one who spoke was the red haired soft hearted Darius.

  Leaving Amorette to frown at his words but stayed silent.

  I barely noticed the interactions they went through, as questions came to me.

  Sellswords? Is that their term for adventurers? And guilds? Not just one guild?

  “Is there an Adventurers guild?”

  I tested as my thoughts changed from these being a fantasy shonen world where nothing bad happens.

  Into a more jaded grimdark place, that would get me enslaved if I say the wrong word.

  My thoughts broke as I noticed they looked confused.

  “Dear priest, are you talking about the Exploration guild formed by the scholars?”

  It was Celestia, the other girl that uses a sword that was shorter than her arm who spoke.

  “Exploration guild? What are they?”

  I was puzzled, and a little shocked that an adventurers guild truly wasn’t a thing in a world with magic and monsters.

  No one answered, and as Darius was about to speak again Celestia stopped him.

  “I used to be an assistant scribe in the guild. . .”

  The girl with dark blue hair paused, before shaking herself and continuing.

  “They’re mostly scholars from the city of Trynil who wanted to explore the ruins here.”

  I took a sip of the sweet apple flavoured beer as Celestia spoke.

  “Eventually other scholars came here to explore the ruins, not just in the city center but districts in the mountains, forest and the one near the main aqueducts."

  I nodded as I understood what a guild was in this place.

  “So they formed a guild, with the help of the mayor of this place to officialize the exploration missions they’ve been doing.”

  I finished Celetia’s words, making her pause and turning the table silent for a moment.

  “Marble town doesn’t have a mayor Dear priest, we have a knight captain in charge of keeping this frontier town alive.”

  Amorette spoke with a tone I’m not sure of but it did not sound good.

  Act II

  “Goodbye dear priest! See you later.”

  The four youths left the young man as he waved at them.

  “Nice kids, hopefully they get a good price on those fangs.”

  I said to myself as I stood up and went to the bar counter.

  “Hello, I want to ask if I can rent a room for the night here.”

  The bar woman I was asking was well muscled, her ears were long.

  With a heavy build, and fuzzed on her short neck she strikes me as odd.

  I smiled, amused at how alien a bunny girl would actually look like when face to face.

  “An entire room? Sorry love, but we don’t rent individual rooms, just spaces on beds.”

  What? Why. . . Is that normal? I looked at the woman unsure if she’s joking but saw nothing humorous on her pink lips.

  “Alright, how much for your best spot?”

  I asked, still unsure of their currency.

  I’ve only seen the copper coins Amorette used to buy the drinks and simple meal they treated me with as thanks.

  “Ten copper royals for a night and no bartering love.”

  The woman said as she checked the amount of beer in a barrel by tapping its side.

  “I’m new to these lands, I just got to Marble town more than an hour ago.”

  The woman looked at me again, examining my clothes and looks before nodding.

  “You do look foreign love, let me guess you're from the kingdom to the south? They’re the only ones that I know of that still have missionaries that travel to other lands.”

  I smiled, not answering her because I don't even know how to answer her without being labeled insane or some kind of spy.

  “Can I ask about your coins? I’m not sure how valuable they are.”

  The woman looked at me and then poured me a mug of beer.

  Why did she. . .

  “I’ll open a tab for you love, here look at these.”

  The woman said as she placed a copper coin, a silver coin and a gold coin infront of me.

  Each one much bigger than the other, the copper being the smallest and the gold being the largest.

  “These are Royals, I’m not sure what your homeland uses but this is what we use here.”

  I nodded, accepting her kind words.

  “Three coppers can get you a decent meal, atleast in my Inn.”

  She pointed to a board above her bar.

  “These are the prices of the brews I serve.”

  [1C Grain Beer]

  [3C Sweet Fruit Beer]

  [10C Hard Beer]

  [1S Fruit Wine]

  “Is the wine considered expensive?”

  I asked as I read her sign, making her eyes sparkle as if she noticed something valuable.

  “Yes, it's a luxury only the merchants and guild bosses can afford to buy from me.”

  She paused before thinking for a moment.

  “You're educated, so I guess you only need to know a silver royal is worth a hundred coppers, while a gold royal is worth ten silvers.”

  The woman smiled.

  “Having ten gold royals is considered rich here in Marble town, dear Priest of the south.”

  I mirrored her smile as I looked at the tattoo on my arm.

  She looked at it too for a second, but she did not comment on it.

  Within a few moments of silence, as she served another patron.

  “By the way can you tell me about the other shops in town?”

  I asked the kind innkeeper, which made her smile and refilled my mug.

  “Better to experience them, than to ask about them, love.”

  With that smiling reply, she started explaining the guilds.