Three Way Secret (Part 2)
As soon as Alan and Amelia walked into the Town Hall and were greeted by a male NPC employee, they both grimaced.
"Welcome, Adventurers. How can I help you?" the smiling NPC with wolf ears asked, making a slight bow.
Alan and Amelia responded with narrowed eyes instead of words, maintaining a prolonged silence until Ashley intervened.
"Excuse me, we are here to get a Guild's License."
"Did I hear that right?!" a woman exclaimed from a couch at the far end of the room. She paused the enormous video screen showing the idol Miss Cosmica and dashed over to grab Ashley's hand. "I can't remember the last time we registered a Guild! I'm Clara Domínguez, Unus' Mayor, at your service! Fabio, I'll take care of this."
Her NPC nodded and walked away, with Amelia and Alan's gaze following him.
"Is it me, or did looking at that guy hurt my eyes?" Amelia whispered to Alan.
"It's not your imagination. He looks exactly like—"
"What is it?" Clara interrupted them in a jovial tone. "Could it be that you also enjoy looking at my servant?" she asked, puffing up her chest. "It took me a lot of time, but I customized him to be perfect! Isn't he gorgeous?"
"Did you just say 'customized'?" Alan asked, raising his hand as if he were in a classroom.
"You heard right!" Clara beamed, putting both hands on her hips. "I'm not afraid to admit that I'm literally copying the likeness of a very famous guilder." She giggled. "I just hope he never finds out! I'd definitely die of embarrassment!"
"This famous guilder… He can't be the one I'm thinking of…" Alan whispered to Amelia.
"Just as she said…" She sighed. "He's quite famous, and there are all kinds of creeps in this world, so…"
Both tried their best not to pay more attention than necessary to the black-haired NPC who had started to prepare coffee, leaving them with Clara Domínguez, the grinning young woman of brown skin, with pink hair in a bob cut. Her formal office outfit hugged a curvy body and a generous bosom, just like Amelia's, making Alan wonder if the majority of the Novus female population had undergone some 'Avatar customization' too.
Yep… This is the woman depicted in a monument downtown. A very humble mayor, huh?
"As I was saying…" Ashley spoke up. "Could you please give us a Guild Licence, Mayor Domínguez?"
"Oh, right! Sure! But what's the hurry? If you're coming this late to the party, you surely aren't in a rush. Come, join me. I have snacks here and we can watch the latest Miss Cosmica stream."
"Do you have her premium access?" Amelia asked excitedly, looking at the Video Screen.
Clara adjusted her glasses, smirking. "Oho! So am I perceiving positive Cosmic vibes around me?" She suddenly reached out her hand. "Watch out, it's a black hole!"
Amelia did the same. "Oh, no! The worst kind of danger!"
"No, no! Will we have to cross it?"
"Oh, yes! If you take my hand!" They both sang along and giggled.
"Is this a requirement to get the License?" Ashley asked, still standing in her place. "Because I'll have to learn the song first."
"Ah, sorry, I forgot all about it! Fabio, do the paperwork, will ya? And you, my new cosmic friend, what's your name?"
"Amelia Laflamme. Nice place by the way."
"Thank you. I've remodeled it like a hundred times already. I've never seen you around. Are you guys new in town?"
While both girls chatted, Alan helped fill out the digital forms, feeling uncomfortable having the black-haired NPC nearby. He resembles that bastard so much it's unnerving…
"There," Alan said aloud. "We're officially The Phantom Seekers now."
"Hey, that's a cool guild name!" Clara said from her couch.
Amelia smiled proudly by her side. "Thanks. I'm the one that came up with it."
"Did you? Awesome! Back then, when The Novus recently started, I used to come up with a bunch of names for those poor souls without imagination. I easily named at least ten guilds, and like twenty special moves. Maybe you know The Storm Crusaders? That's my sister's guild."
"Never heard of them, sorry."
"It's okay, it's a pretty small guild, and they're now called Crusaders United, anyway. What a terrible name! And the disrespect! It took me time to come up with that name, Sis! How could you change it without asking me?!"
"So a Guild Master and a mayor. Ambition and leadership run through the family!" Amelia smiled, clapping. "How did you get this job, by the way?"
"I just took it," Clara said straightforwardly while reaching for a bowl of popcorn.
"W-What do you mean?"
"It's a funny story!" Clara replied while munching. "There was this NPC that used to run the Townhall, and she'd just stand here all day like an idiot. So I thought: 'Hey, I could do a better job than her!' Then I challenged her to a duel and the rest is history... munch... And then, I got bored with her, and sold her away—"
"You 'sold' an NPC?!" Alan cried, dashing to her couch.
"Y-yeah, that's what I said… Popcorn?"
"Why do you talk about them as if they were things?"
"Because they are? Well, no, they're more like walking dolls. Mine never says no to me." She elbowed Amelia. "If you know what I mean…"
"Let's go, Amelia!" Alan suddenly yelled, stomping all the way to the exit.
"O-Okay! See you later, Clara," Amelia said in a tiny voice, grabbing Ashley by the hand on her way out, as an oblivious Clara happily waved goodbye to the group.
"Come and visit me anytime you want! Geez! What is wrong with that level five?" Clara said to herself while stuffing her mouth with popcorn. "Wait a minute… Level five?"
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Outside the Town Hall, Amelia called Alan's name several times without getting a response. She caught up to him and pulled his arm, earning a glare. "What's going on with you?" she asked.
"Are you telling me there was nothing wrong with her attitude?!" Alan exclaimed, pointing at the building.
"NPCs are traded all the time, Alan. What do you expect? They're just programmed to do as they're told."
"And the worst part! I know where the real Mayor ended up working," he said loudly, ignoring her previous comment. "She's a waitress now, in the Dragon's Belly! Can you believe it?"
"Listen," Amelia said softly, grabbing his cheeks. "That NPC did his job just fine. We got the Guild License, right?"
"Yes, but—"
"The Novus doesn't care who the mayor of this town is. As long as an NPC works in that building, the System provides them with the necessary skills to do the job. They're interchangeable, Alan. They're just code compared to us."
"Could you say that to any of the Slime-folk you met yesterday?"
Amelia's mouth dropped as she let him go. "I-I don't think it's the same situation…"
"Yeah, right," he gruffly intoned, looking away.
Amelia pursed her lips, making her best guess of why he was so upset. She then briefly glanced at Ashley's neutral expression. "Oh, I get it now."
A moment later, Alan got a notification.
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Amelia Laflamme has sent you 20,000 gold.
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"What's this?" he asked while Amelia grabbed Ashley by her arm.
"That junk you call a sword? Go and buy something better while I take Ashley to go shopping. Let's meet at dinner time, okay? I'll send you our location later. And don't spend that gold on something stupid, you hear me?! You'll have to pay back all the gold I've spent on you eventually."
As the two girls disappeared from sight, Alan's mind focused on one thing. He clenched his fists and headed directly to the Dragon's Belly, ignoring all the curious gazes focused on the displayed level above his head.