Of Two Bickering Idiots

Mercedes hurriedly held up her hand as her heart thumped loudly. She hadn't expected that the innocent lost-looking boy would react so strongly to her presence. Or so negatively. She was just here to scout out a potential apprentice.

As shocked as she was, she also approved of his vigilance. It was very admirable in someone as young as this. She wondered just how many battles he had been in to react before the person could even come close to them.

The sharp look in Elias' eyes faded as he saw the shock and admiring expression on the lady's face. Her hands were up in the universal gesture of surrender, showing that she had no weapons. She didn't move an inch.

Wearing leather armour and a scarf headband, the lady gave off a rather tough type of first impression. Her arms were well-defined, and there were callouses on her fingers and palms. Though she was still lean, it could be seen that she had worked hard to get those taut muscles.

Elias pulled back and kept his dagger but didn't drop his guard.

The teen didn't notice how his swift actions had attracted all the attention of the guild onto the two of them from the clear but soft sing of the metal sliding out of its sheath.

All eyes in the guild were currently on the both of them, but when nothing else happened, the bustle of the guild resumed.

"Sorry about that," Elias said, adopting the proper contrite look. The embarrassment from his reflexes made him forget about his crippling social anxiety for the time being.

Mercedes shrugged. "Not your fault. Should've known better than to try and sneak up on someone from the back."

The teen and lady looked at each other. One confused, one appraising.

"You here to join the Crafter's Alliance?"

Elias frowned but cautiously didn't reply.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not trying to kidnap you or use the information against you, alright? It's just that you looked completely lost earlier, so, out of the goodness of my heart, I, Mercedes, tried to help you, but what do I get in return?"

The vigilance that he had up softened slightly seeing the dramatic sadness on her face.

"Thank you," he said awkwardly.

Mercedes grinned, slinging her arm over the shorter kid's shoulders. How cute. She ignored the way he stiffened up under contact, dragging him towards the counter. "Come on. Let's get you all signed up."

"Janey! Help sign up the newbie, would you?"

There was a long-suffering sigh at her words, but Jane nevertheless explained everything obligingly. This was part of her job, after all.

"This is the Crafter's Alliance." Seeing Elias' puzzled look, Jane elaborated for his sake. "The Blacksmith's Guild, Tailor's Guild, Painter's Guild, Tamer's Guild etc. all fall under the Crafter's Alliance. In order to promote their goods, having a wider base is necessary. This way, finding cooperation for whatever crafts they want to make is easier as well. It's also easier to find buyers and sellers, as well as the occasional patron."

Elias nodded to show he understood.

Mercedes grinned, thumping her armour. "This lady here is part of the Blacksmith division. If you ever need anything made, this lady here's your best bet."

There was a hoot of laughter behind her. "Your best bet if you want some substandard stuff! You should come to good old Sylvain here if you want the better goods!"

"Sylvain," Mercedes growled, glaring at the redhead.

"Mercedes," the man repeated, glaring right back at her.

There were practically flames dancing in their eyes as they glared at each other without letting up.

Elias wondered if their eyes were dry.

Jane rolled her eyes, mock whispering to him. "Don't worry about them. They aren't really fighting. They just have some unresolved sexual tension that they're projecting to everyone else in the room. Right guys?" she practically shouted the last part to the better part of the room, getting a following roar of laughter as well as a few hoots.

Elias felt vastly out of his comfort zone here, but it wasn't bad. After all, he couldn't go his entire life trying to live in a box. That wasn't what he wanted. It was the main reason why he was trying to overcome his weakness.

""Jane(y)!""

"Just calling it as I see it," Jane said with a shrug. She continued explaining to Elias, who was listening intently. "The Crafter's Alliance is recognised everywhere in the Kaoriht continent, so you don't have to worry about your membership not being recognised. On the other hand, while you do have a membership, until you receive a license from the CA, you won't get any tangible benefits."

Mercedes and Sylvain continued bickering in the background, all but throwing punches at each other.

"Here. Fill up this form. Don't worry about it being leaked to anyone. Even if you become a criminal, your information will be kept safe. I'm oathbound to keep your information confidential. Do you have a crystal? The one from the bank."

Jane caught sight of the small crystal hanging from his side, nodding. "That's the one. Your Crafter's Alliance membership will be connected to that. So long as whatever you craft contains your imprint from the crystal, we'll know which account to send the money to if you leave your items to sell here with us."

That was very convenient indeed, but Elias didn't know about whether or not he would be doing that.

Elias took the pen from the receptionist, scanning the form and filling it in.

This time, he purposely didn't leave out his last name, putting down the name Elias Neil.

Handing over the form to Jane, who checked it to make sure there was nothing out of place, Elias was watching her face closely, which was why he caught sight of the micro expressions on her face as she read the words 'Neil'.

Last night, Cyrus and Zacharias had divulged that they found out the Neil Clan was actually a powerful clan that no one dared to offend. How they managed to figure that one out, they didn't go into detail, but they said that it was safe to use their clan name even though they preferred to go just with their first name.

Elias caught sight of the way Jane's shock reflected in her eyes, both a bit awed and respectful.

It was quite a surprise that their clan was so renowned. He never felt that there was anything special in the way that they acted whilst in the clan, but then again, they were, after all, in a rather closed environment within the clan.

Elias didn't know if doing this would give him any trouble, but he didn't think it was likely. As long as he didn't go around introducing himself with his last name, trouble wouldn't come looking for him. There were always bound to be some idiots that tried to 'prove' themselves, which he was more than happy to avoid.

Jane was indeed silent. Her control over her facial expressions caused him to feel some admiration. He wondered when he would be able to do something similar.

"So, Elias," Mercedes said, slinging her arm yet again over his shoulders. She noted with glee that he didn't tense up this time. That was a good sign, right? "What's your specialty? Blacksmithing? It's blacksmithing, right? Blacksmithing's cool!"

Sylvain scoffed, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Let the kid answer. With you always steamrolling over other people, it's no wonder that you can never get your apprentices to stick around!"

The female blacksmith snorted. "As if you're any better, Sylvie. Those poor people that you con into being your apprentice always end up running away before long!"

"Don't call me Sylvie, Mercie!"

"Don't call me Mercie, Sylvie!"

Elias watched them, his head turning back and forth as the two blacksmiths continued their bickering.

Jane stayed respectfully silent in the presence of Elias, different from her usual reaction.

Elias frowned as he gave her a look, which she interpreted correctly.

Jane immediately shut the two up like she usually did. It appeared that the Neil Clan scion didn't want to be specially treated, so who was she to refuse? She never liked bowing and scraping before nobles and rich patrons, though the Neil Clan was a different matter.

"Both of you should allow him to respond, at least."

Three pairs of eyes stared at the teen, making him slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes, I'm interested in blacksmithing."

"Yeeees!" Mercedes pumped her fist. "Want to learn from me, kiddo!? I might not be the best, but I'm at least better than that moron over there," she said, tilting her chin in the redhead's direction.

"Bullshit! I'm clearly the better blacksmith!"

Jane rolled her eyes. Why did she have to suffer these two morons every single day? "Why don't you have a competition to show him who's better, then?"

Elias shot Jane a startled look, who ignored him. He wanted to be treated normally, after all…

"Come on kiddo," Mercedes said, dragging the teen with her. "Let's go!"

"Hey! Don't spirit away my potential apprentice like that!"