“I didn’t steal this shirt, if that’s what you're wondering.”
Kale stopped his fork that he was using to push the peas to the side.
He looked at me with one eyebrow up, stupefied by what I said.
“Hahahaha! Stealing from my brother? The Xalen Winters? Do you hear yourself?”
As he laughed, I could hear his voice was full of pride for his brother.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t suspecting you. My brother’s been in Dresia the past few years and you don’t seem like someone from around there.”
Kale pushed aside his plate, and leaned forward with his hands on the table.
His red eyes were brimming with excitement.
“I wanted to talk to you, to offer you a job as a mercenary. At the guild that I work at, of course.”
“…”
I leaned back on my chair, wary of the situation.
It was our first time meeting, and he knew nothing about me.
From reading the story I already knew that Kale was working as a mercenary in Sonia, but I didn’t know anything about the jobs he did, or what kind of person he was.
“Don’t look at me like that, I have my reasons why.”
He held up his right hand, pointing his index finger up.
“First, is the fact that you’re a new face in town. Most people who’ve been around, don’t really… like me or the work I do. It makes it hard to find help when I need it.”
He held up another finger.
“Second, is this furry ferret that’s stealing my food right now.”
Rene looked up and growled at Kale as she continued to nibble on a piece of corn.
“Having a familiar around must mean you know a thing or two about magic. And mage mercenaries are always hard to find.”
Kale’s face turned calm, as he looked down at my shirt.
“And last, and probably the most important is that you got that shirt from my dad. My dad is… a strong person. He would never give away Xalen’s shirt to just anyone. To be completely honest, it might be more impressive than stealing it from Xalen.”
Kale looked up at my eyes.
“At the least, you must be trustworthy in my dad’s eyes.”
I flinched from a pang of guilt, as I looked at Faye.
“…I get your reasons but even if you knew that I was a mage, how do you know I’m skilled enough?”
“Haha you don’t have to worry about that. As long as you know a few one circle spells, you’ll be fine.”
Although I did receive a pouch of gold coins from the lady of house Ducre, I would eventually have to worry about how to make money. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a try… Worst case scenario, I could just quit.
“What kind of jobs does your guild take on?”
“Hmm…”
Kale looked to the side, as he tapped his finger on the table.
He seemed slightly troubled by my question.
“I’m actually about to head over to the office. You can come with me if you have time… Peter can explain it better- Oh, Peter is the guild’s broker. He’s the one who finds all of the jobs for me to do.”
“…Alright.”
We got up from our seats, and walked towards the exit.
“By the way… You know mine, but I never asked for your name.”
“You can call me Vyn.”
“And I’m Rene!”
***
“This is a joke, right?”
“Hahaha…”
“Haha…”
I let out a sigh as I looked over a big stack of papers.
I followed Kale to the guild without holding high expectations, but didn’t realize I had to expect the worst.
‘Requesting help in cleaning the sewage trash in the slums’
‘Please help me find my ring that I dropped in the ocean’
‘Looking for a babysitter at xxx orphanage for the weekend. Warning: There are a lot of kids.’
The long list of jobs looked more like a dump of random help messages from people living in Sonia.
‘No wonder Kale said the locals didn’t like his line of work… it was because no mercenary would ever take on jobs like this.’
Not to mention the pay was heartbreaking. The most I saw written was 2 silvers… How many jobs would I have to complete just to make 1 gold?!
My expression got colder and colder as I read further, and I could hear the two anxious members of the guild fidgeting in their seats.
“A- Another reason why I thought you were perfect for this job, is because you have a heart of go-“
I looked up and glared at Kale to stop him from saying more nonsense.
Rene was shaking her head as she read the list of jobs. While Faye was glowing, ready to burn the papers at my command.
“Why don’t we all calm down for a second, and have some tea?”
Peter, the guild broker said as he slid a cup of tea towards my direction.
Peter was a man in his 30s with short brown hair. He was wearing thin rimmed circle glasses that were slightly crooked to one side. He was wearing a comfortably fitted suit, which I could tell had been worn many times.
I put down the stack of papers, and picked up the chipped tea cup.
I took a sip of the jasmine tea, and was glad that it was actually delicious.
I looked around at their messy office, which was only big enough to fit a handful of people. There were papers scattered on the floor, and signs of overnight stays.
“Are the members of this guild… just the two of you?”
“It’s the three of us, now that you’ve joi- mmph!”
Peter put his hand over Kale’s mouth.
“I realize this may not be what you were expecting, but we do get a few jobs now and then that pay quite well.”
Peter spoke in a soothing voice.
“If you agree to join us, I can promise to give you the first say on solo jobs. And the ones we do as a group, you can take 60% of the pay.
Kale looked at Peter with a pained expression, as if he’d been betrayed. But he didn’t go against Peter’s decision.
I could tell Peter was trying his best to make the conditions favorable for me.
“And I don’t know if this changes your mind… But most of the work we do is for the unfortunate folks in Sonia. People who can’t afford to find help elsewhere come to us. We might not be in the favors of the nobles or the rich…But I believe what we do matters a lot.”
Peter's voice sounded so strong and proud, it made me nod in agreement.
After a few moments of silence, I spread out the stack of papers out on the table.
“So which one are we doing first?”
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