Chapter 169: Meeting the Guild Leader
"Umm... the three of us would like to become adventurers, not only me. " Vincent stated.
The receptionist girl flustered again when she realized she made a mistake in her judgment. The receptionist girl quickly reached down at the desk drawer and placed two more wooden needles on the desk.
The receptionist girl looked unprofessional, as if she didn't have much work experience.
[Why don't we let Ester register first? We might get special treatment because of her being half noble. But still, it sucks that she doesn't know about our appointment.]
Kazumi thought it would be a great idea, and after remembering what Ben previously said, the guild has VIP rooms. Maybe they can visit one if a half noble tries to join. 'We can only try.' Kazumi thought.
Vincent understood Kazumi's intention. He leaned over to Ester and whispered, "Do you want to go first? Maybe we will have better treatment with your help."
Ester blushed and picked the needle without thinking. The previous bedroom event didn't want to stop haunting her mind.
*Poke, drip, drip.*
Ester poked her finger and dripped drops of blood on the red Blood Stone. A hologram appeared on the desk, and it showed the same information Kazumi saw in the interrogation room.
The receptionist girl gasped as her eyes almost became teary. She thanked her luck because she knew half nobles without a surname could still have a connection with their noble family.
Some have riches as their birth gift while others something simple. The receptionist girl didn't want any future trouble and wanted to treat Ester with respect.
"Ahem... sir, madam. Could you please follow me? " The receptionist girl said. She omitted Lupa from the respectful pleasantries. It seemed the receptionist girl didn't consider Lupa as the daughter of a noble or someone special. She believed Lupa was a maidservant.
The many people looking at Vincent, Ester, and Lupa follow the receptionist girl started to chatter.
"Could they be nobles? Those two women looked fine."
"Well said. That female beastman looked in good condition. I guess an injured noble wants to play with the big boys."
"Cheers to that. It looks like nobles want to play being a hero. Does he think the result will be good? He looked weak, haha."
*Bam*
"Hic... I bet they can't last a day with those ants. I lost a finger, but the damn ant cheap shot me." A burly muscle head with a massive greatsword and a couple of drinks on the table said as he smacked his wooden pint cup on the table.
"Yeeee cheers, lads."
"Cheers."
A couple of the adventurers mocked Vincent, Ester, and Lupa.
Vincent and Lupa have power enhancing transformations to power up their overall stats. Thus, the two of them currently aren't very strong. However, those at D Rank and above didn't feel threatened by Vincent's, Ester's, or Lupa's presence.
A few minutes later, a group of soldiers entered the guildhall. There were five soldiers in total, and one of them was a Vice Captain with a blue cape and a black colored heart emblem on his armor. He seemed to be sponsored by a noble family.
The Vice Captain noticed no one at the reception desk. He murmured something and decided to announce a quest. Later he would fill the paperwork as required, he decided.
The Vice Captain smacked both feet together and shouted, "Attention!"
The Vice Captain then revealed a paper with a large stamp from the Administration Department. He raised the form up high and shouted, "The Lusterfall Kingdom is offering an emergency quest to slay any remaining ants."
"Our information states that the danger level has become between medium to low. Therefore, participants will be able to exit the city, but only D Rank or higher identifications will be accepted."
"As for the rewards, fifty copper coins for each Soldier Ant's head. One silver for each Acid Ant's head. Lastly, fifty silver for each Royal Guard Ant's head. The ant queen is confirmed to be slain, so no rewards have been formulated."
"Deliver the trophies to the guild for rewards. The Kingdom thanks brave adventurers and hopes for all ants to be eradicated. The Kingdom is benevolent and thus wants to let adventurers gain some coin. Although the lockdown might have brought brave adventurers difficulties, the Kingdom wants to help put food on the table."
"And lastly, water works well as ant acid repellant. So if anyone is injured from ant acid, then rinse with water before it's too late." The Vice Captain finished saying.
*Bam*
"Hic... just say the Kingdom doesn't want to lose any more soldiers." The burly muscle head guy stood up and picked the large greatsword.
"Insolent drunkard!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.
"Stop it. Do you want the C Ranker Drunk Jack to cut you in half?" The Vice Captain warned.
The soldiers shivered at the name of Drunk Jack. The large muscular man appeared to have some notoriety.
*Thud, thud*
Drunk Jack walked past the soldiers and sneered, "Haha, your sponsor owes me a few favors blue draped Vice Captain. Don't make me redeem one."
"Ye-ye-yes... of course." The Vice Captian shivered a response. He knew he couldn't beat Drunk Jack and the mention of redeeming a favor from the Blackheart noble family was the calling of death.
"Let's go hunting, boys, hic..." Drunk Jack said.
Over forty adventurers stood up and followed their leader to hunt ants like a small army of death. Most looked shady and drunk. Even the few women following them owned dangerous vibes.
The soldiers left after leaving a note on the reception desk.
Most of the guildhall now looked empty. Only a couple of adventurers contemplating if they should go or wait a few hours before departing remained.
The few F and E Rankers sighed and looked at the quest board for a quest. They now knew it might take a few more days for the lockdown to cease.
*In a VIP room*
Vincent, Ester, and Lupa sat in a splendidly decorated room meant for rich people. The receptionist girl left them alone to bring supplies needed for the application.
In the meantime, they had nothing to do, but the commotion wasn't that far from the room, allowing Lupa almost to hear everything and then repeating what she hears.
A while later, the door opened. The receptionist girl holding a few supplies entered with a tall man behind her.
The man had gray hair and a gray goatee. On his face was an eyepatch with a slash scar underneath. The man wore a trenchcoat, and if he had a tricorn hat on his head, he would look like a pirate.
"Welcome to the adventurers guild. I heard you want to join the guild from Ben. I'm sorry for the lack of personnel and conduct of our recently hired receptionist." The old man said as he sat on the chair instead of the receptionist girl.
"I'm the Guild Leader of the Lusterfall Kingdom Branch. My name is Gevan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Vincent, Ester, and Lupa. Thank you for helping my old friends as much as you could at the time." Gevan lowered his head while thanking the three for their help.
Gevan was a good friend of Koss from their work together. Not knowing about his family member's whereabouts was giving him sleep problems. His uncovered eye had a tired black color beneath.
The receptionist girl finished placing an Inspection Gemstone, respectfully bowed, and left the room. The Guild Leader Gevan ordered her to leave the process to him for the VIP private application.
'I'm lucky I bumped into the Guild Leader. It seems they really had a reservation. I hope I won't cause any more trouble.' The receptionist girl thought before leaving.
"Thank you for inviting us to this elegant room." Vincent respectfully said.
"Don't mind, don't mind. I heard from Ben how none of you are nobles, but my employee said the one named Ester is a half noble. Did Ben not know?" Gevan looked at Ester and Lupa since he wasn't told who is who.
"I don't know my father nor his noble family. Is it going to be a problem?" Ester asked after mustering her courage. She always thought people would call her a bastard, but she noticed she was wrong. Non-nobles felt intimidated as if poking an unknown beehive. Only nobles might call her a bastard instead.
"It's no problem then. I needed to confirm you aren't a runaway and want to use the adventurers guild as a scapegoat. To be honest, because you know Ben, it happened a few times until we said enough is enough." Gevan truthfully said.
[Hey, Vincent. Why don't you ask about the guild before signing up? I hope there isn't a condition which could prove harmful to our future.]
Vincent understood Kazumi's concern and decided to ask, "Before we register, can you explain the adventurers guild? We don't know much about the rules or ranks."
"As the Guild Leader, I requested a few official documents about you three. Don't think badly of me, but I wanted to know who the unknown people to bring Koss's daughter were. I received the reports about your interrogation this morning." Gevan said.
"A female beastman of the rare white wolf bloodline. A half noble of the Berlucia Kingdom. A mysterious injured and weak man with a never heard class." Gevan stroked his goatee after turning his gaze at Vincent. He looked like a person finding something interesting.
"Before I explain, my biggest question is this, why did you travel from Aero Forest? The forest is like a great wall between the Selos and the Lusterfall Kingdom because of its unpredictable dangers." Gevan curiously questioned.
Ester flustered. She kept silent as her face blushed and her fingers fiddling from embarrassment.
Before meeting Vincent and traveling through Aero Forest, Ester never knew much about how to assess if a person was strong or not. She didn't know if the soldiers she overheard talking with adventurers or about them were high ranked or not.
Not all of them looked the part or had weapons. But as a person living in hiding and surrounded by people hating her, Ester had many things on her plate.
"I heard adventurers travel from the forest, so I decided to do the same. I didn't think it would be very dangerous and with few animals to hunt." Vincent scratched his head, trying to act embarrassed.
Ester peeked at Vincent after he took all the blame instead of her. She didn't know how to feel at this moment. Vincent was making Ester's heart flutter for taking responsibility for her misunderstanding.
"I always suggest about D Rank to travel into Aero Forest with a balanced full party. The three of you were lucky to not meet with Magical Beasts and getting help from Vice Captains in dangerous fights." Gevan appeared a bit frustrated all of a sudden. As if not many adventurers heed his warning and go anyway.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone