24 Chapter Twenty Three: Rat, Enter Nariko, Future Friends?

Nariko had finally made it into Vlison city, the guards seemed nice, and they only asked to see her ID and the reason she was coming to the town. But by the sword strapped to her waist it wasn't a surprise for the guards to hear that she was going to become an adventurer.

They had even been kind enough to give her directions to where the Adventurers Guild was.

Of course Nariko could guess where it was, a mass gathering of people with strength beyond what normal people had told her where the guild was.

So, with a sack over her shoulder filled with stuff that she needed, she made her way towards the guild.

…

Fumiko entered the guild, the double wooden doors swinging open easily with a push from her.

Some turned to look at her, but others kept to themselves.

Fumiko was calm right now, but for some reason she felt that wasn't going to last long.

She walked up to a free desk where a person on the other side stood.

When the man behind the counter saw her, he straightened up and repeated the greeting he had prepared for everyone who was new. "Welcome to the Adventurers Guild. I see you're new here. Are you here to post a quest for others to take? Or are you signing up as an adventurer?" The man asked, pushing the glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Signing up." Fumiko says simply, she just had a feeling that this conversation was about to become really annoying.

The man nods his head, before holding out his hand. "I need your ID to create your Guild Plate."

Fumiko sighs in resignation, so this is where the annoyance would come from. "I don't have one."

The man pulls his hand back and squints a little at her. "Everyone has one. Listen, if you're not giving me one because you have a record, it doesn't matter. As long as you don't do anything again. You can still join the guild." The man says reassuringly.

"I don't have a record. I really just don't have one." Fumiko says back to him.

"How did you get in the city then?" The man questions. "The guards wouldn't have let you in if you didn't have an ID, and if they did let you through then they would have got you a new ID card."

Fumiko groans in annoyance in her head. Even after getting away from those idiots they were still causing problems for her. "Well, they didn't give me one."

"You sure?" He questions.

"Yeah." Fumiko says back confidently, a hand now resting on the desk in front of her clenched tightly.

"Well, maybe you're a rat." The man accuses. And although Fumiko isn't exactly sure what he means, she knows it isn't good. "Rats are always finding new ways to get into this city."

"Well then maybe you should get someone to clean out the rats." Fumiko says, squinting her eyes at him. "You know what? I'll even help."

The man scoffs as he shakes his head, fixing his glasses again. "I didn't know rats were willing to turn their back against their own kind."

Fumiko feels the annoyance in her getting stronger as the man speaks. "You know what." Fumiko says slowly. "Come to the other side of this desk, let's see if you keep up all this talk." She challenges him.

The man seems to smirk in victory at that sentence. "Are you threatening me?"

Fumiko only grows a grin at that statement. "No, I don't make threats, only promises. So, come over here. Say it again, why don't you?"

The man leans in, and Fumiko does the same, and speaking with venom in his voice he says it again. "You're a rat."

Fumiko goes to grab the man by the scruff of his shirt, the chains around her forearms making noises as she did so.

But before she could, a wrapped hand grabbed her arm and stopped her.

It wasn't a strong grip, and Fumiko felt that she could easily break out of it. But for some reason she didn't, and let the hand guid her arm away from the man.

When Fumiko turned to see who had stopped her, she stopped for a moment.

Both of them were the same height, or close enough, but that seemed to be where the similarities ended. This girl, around the same age as Fumiko, had light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She had a sword strapped to her waist, and a sack strapped around her back.

And unlike the others in the room, Fumiko couldn't tell how strong this girl was.

"What's going on? I don't think people should be fighting in here." The girl said to the two of them.

Fumiko scoffed at that, it seemed that this person just loved to meddle in things. Although she didn't even know who this person was, so maybe she shouldn't judge so quickly.

"You're right." The person behind the counter said. "But it seemed this rat worked her way into the city. But without any form of identification I can't let her join the guild."

Fumiko clicked her tongue at that. This little shit was acting like she was in the wrong, when he was the one to antagonise her.

"So, if we get her an ID she can join?" The brown haired girl asked, letting go of Fumiko's arm seeing as Fumiko was getting uncomfortable from the hold on her.

The man looked at her a little surprised but answered anyway. "Yeah, I guess so."

The girl smiled. "Great let's go then."

And she left the guild with Fumiko following alongside her for some reason.

It was silent before the girl spoke to break the silence between them. "So, what's your name?" Before Fumiko could retort about 'introducing yourself first' the girl spoke again. "I'm Nariko Kamata. In case you're wondering."

Fumiko just scoffed at that, not even sure why she was still walking with Nariko, but answered anyway. "Fumiko Genji." She answered curtly.

Nariko smiled at that. "That's a pretty name. It suits you." She complimented.

Fumiko just turned away from the compliment, not really taking it to heart.

"By the way, what gate did you enter from?" Nariko asked. "If you entered through a gate without an ID they should've made one for you."

Fumiko sighed in annoyance, she'll have to see those idiots again. "Over by the south side." She informed Nariko, and they both started to head in that direction.

Fumiko didn't know why she didn't tell Nariko to 'go away' or 'she could get the ID herself'. Nariko just had this aura, Fumiko couldn't really explain it, but it was calming. Fumiko could still feel the anger of 'Wrath' underneath the surface, the calm that Nariko radiated was only suppressing it.

And although Fumiko enjoyed the anger that 'Wrath' gave her, as it felt like she could express herself better with it, having the calmness she felt right now didn't seem too bad.

…

Nariko would be the first to admit, this wasn't how she expected her first trip to the guild to be.

A person working there arguing with someone else.

Of course Nariko felt a need to step in before it got physical, so she did.

The girl she had stopped from fighting the person behind the desk had calmed down when Nariko had touched her arm.

And Nariko had forgotten that she was holding the girl's arm, but had let go when she felt a pull.

Turns out it was just a simple misunderstanding. The person behind the desk was just doing his job and couldn't let a person without an ID join, although to Nariko it seemed like he was a bit of a jerk as well.

While the girl, who at the time she didn't know the name of, had gone through the gates but didn't get a replacement ID from the guards working there.

So, Nariko managed to calm down the conversation which was about to turn into a confrontation, and went with the girl to the gate she had entered through.

The girl's name was Fumiko Genji. Fumiko, Nariko thought, suited the girl well. She had even said so to Fumiko. Although Fumiko had turned away, Nariko couldn't see if she was happy with the compliment or if she was embarrassed because of it.

But in Nariko's opinion they were getting along well for only knowing each other for a few minutes. Fumiko seemed ready to blow a fuse when Nariko first saw her, and now she was just calm and didn't look like she was going to blow a fuse anytime soon.

That was, of course, before they got to her gate. And when they did, Nariko could kinda understand why Fumiko seemed to be in such a bad mood.

…

"Oh!" A guard said in surprise when he saw Fumiko. "Your back already. Was wondering when you would come back and get your ID. You forgot it before you left last time."

Fumiko could only take a breath, as she tried to remember that this guard was an idiot. "I didn't forget it. You didn't tell me I needed one, and you didn't even mention it before I left." Fumiko reminded him.

"Really?" He said quizzically. "Well, anyway, I was going to look for you but I decided not since you would be back anyways. And then after you there were a bunch of people-."

And then both Fumiko and Nariko had to listen to the guard go over the last few minutes of his job as he looked through drawers in search of Fumiko's ID.

"There you go." He said to Fumiko, handing her the card. Before he turned around for a second in case he forgot something on his desk. "Now, where was I with my story?" There was no one there to answer him when he turned around, as both Fumiko and Nariko had left as soon as she had got the card.

Nariko was honestly surprised at how well Fumiko dealt with that. She could tell that Fumiko was just looking for an opportunity to shut the man up, so was Nariko but in a… less violent manner then what she could tell Fumiko was going for.

And then when she had gotten the card both of them simultaneously agreed to just run away without telling the man they were going. It seemed like the safest option to Nariko since it guaranteed less talking from the man.

And then both of them reappeared in an alley away from the guard and gate he was stationed at.

Fumiko looked over at Nariko with narrowed eyes. "You're fast." She commented.

"I could say the same for you." Nariko retorted.

Nariko had also noticed the chains around Fumiko's arms, it was hard not to when they were making noise even if it was quiet, and was surprised how it didn't get in the way of her running.

Fumiko just started to walk out of the alley after that.

"Hey, where are you going?" Nariko asked as she caught up to Fumiko.

"The guild obviously. Even if I have to deal with that little shit hiding behind the counter again, I'm still joining the guild." Fumiko told her, putting emphasis on 'the little shit', Nariko could make an educated guess and say it was the person she saw Fumiko talking to before.

Nariko started to walk faster to catch up to Fumiko, striking up a conversation. "Well, no need to walk so fast. We can go together, I'm becoming an adventurer as well." Nariko pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed." Fumiko said, her eyes looking at the sword strapped on Nariko's waist.

"Oh, come on." Nariko said. "No need to say it like that. I'm only making conversation."

Fumiko just rolled her eyes at that. "Well I'm not in the mood for talking." Fumiko rubbed her head at the end of that sentence. A headache starting to form from the ramblings of the guard from before.

Nariko only just smiled, clearly not knowing about Fumiko's brewing headache. "Well, I think it's important for friends to talk to each other."

Fumiko paused in her walking at Nariko's sentence, looking at her in confusion. "Since when were we friends?"

Nariko looked at Fumiko like the answer was obvious. "Since I met you at the guild, obviously."

"We're not friends." Fumiko said to Nariko. "And if you think we are then your taste in friends is terrible." Shen then continued walking, although Nariko kept pace beside her, not leaving despite her rejection of friendship.

"Well then," Nariko began as she shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I just have an acquired taste."

Fumiko didn't say anything to that, but also didn't try and run away from Nariko despite a part of her wanting to.