CH: 4

Shiro and I turn towards the source of the voice and see a young man smiling at Shiro, completely ignoring me.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Shiro asks in disbelief. The man just chuckles to himself and repeats, "Would you like to join my party. Surely a... Fine young lady like you would accept?"

I don't like this guy. He has suspicious written all over him. I turn to warn Shiro, {Don't accept. I'm getting a bad vibe off of this guy. He wants something from us.}

Shiro closes her eyes in thought, before reopening them, "I'm sorry, but... I'll have to decline." The man just chuckles and steps towards her, "You must not know who I am, if you think that you have a choice you stupid animal." He says.

That was when the receptionist came back. She sees us and asks, "Is there a problem? I can go get the guild master if needed?" The man seems to jolt at the mention of the guild master, "No! No. I was just having a minor disagreement with my new party member! Yes, a minor disagreement. Nothing to worry the guild master over."

Shiro looks taken aback at the Man's claim, "I am not a part of your party, and I never will be after what you just called me." Shiro says angrily. The receptionist looks concerned, "What did he call you?" She asks.

"Oh, not much, just a 'Stupid Animal.'" Shiro replies sarcastically. The receptionist covers her mouth in shock, then looks at the man with anger.

"Oh, this is so getting reported to the guild master. Racist sayings towards others is against guild conduct." The receptionist says, angry. The man looks terrified at her words.

"Wait! Surely you can reconsider... With this?" He says as he pulls out a small bag from seemingly nowhere. The receptionist looks at him with even more anger, "Guess I'm adding trying to bribe guild officials to the list too!"

The man looks like he's about to faint from fear, "I-I... I... Please don't report me to the guild master! My father will have my head if you do!" The receptionist gains a smug look on her face, "Why shouldn't I? It is my duty to report these kinds of things. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an adventurer that actually follows guild rules to attend to."

The man grits his teeth and storms out of the hall. The receptionist mutters something and huffs, before going back behind the counter, "Sorry about that. Just the lord's son causing trouble again."

"It's no problem. Just didn't expect it, that's all." Shiro says while rubbing the back of her head. The receptionist nods in understanding, before handing over a clipboard with a few pieces of paper on it.

"Here's the paperwork you need to fill out for the quest, and the paperwork for your rank up." Shiro looks excited at that last part, "I'm ranking up already?" She asks confused.

"Not a whole rank, just a sub rank." The receptionist tells her, which causes Shiro to calm down a bit, "Thats good."

After Shiro hands back the completed paperwork, the receptionist asks for her adventurer ID. Shiro hands it to the receptionist and waits.

The receptionist then goes into the back, soon coming back with a silver tag with an F on the back and her name on the front.

The receptionist hands the tag to Shiro, along with a pouch filled with something metal, which is giving off an oddly nice smell.

Shiro opens the pouch and nods to herself, before putting it in the satchel attached to her belt, and putting the tag around her neck, "Thank you for your current and future service. Have a good rest of your night." The receptionist says to Shiro.

"Thanks." She replies, before going towards the exit, with me following her. We leave the guild building and head down the street to a building called the 'Sleeping Elk Inn.'

We enter the building, with the inn keeper greeting us, "Hello! And welcome to the Sleeping Elk Inn. How may I help you today?"

"How much for a two-night stay?" The inn keeper smiles, "That would be ten silvers. Keeping familiars or pets with you will cost an extra two silvers." Shiro sighs at the price and opens her satchel to grab something. Whatever is in her hand, smells really good.

"Here." I hear the clinking of metal, followed by a satisfied huff, "Thank you for your patronage, now, I'll go get your key." The inn keeper says, before I hear footsteps walking away from the counter.

After a bit of waiting, I hear the inn keeper's footsteps walking back over to the counter. I look up and see the inn keeper handing an old-fashioned key to Shiro.

"Here is you room key, your room is upstairs on the right. Have a good night." The inn keeper bows a little. Shiro thanks him and walks over to the stairs next to the counter.

I follow after her up the stairs and into a room on the right side on the hallway. Shiro closes the door after me and locks it.

{So how was your first day of adventuring?} I ask, curious. Shiro beams, "It was everything I had dreamed of! Minus the encounter with that noble's son, but details, details." Shiro then looks down at herself and frowns, "I need to get new clothes. Preferably ones with a cleanliness enchant. And armor."

I sit down by the bed, {Hey, Shiro?} Shiro looks at me and she sits down on the bed and begins taking her boots off, "Yes?"

{What was it that you handed the inn keeper? And why did it smell so good?} I mutter that last part. Shiro looks at me, confused, "What do you mean? I only handed him some silver coins- Ah shit."

I tilt my head, confused, {What are you 'Ah shit'-ing about?} Shiro looks at me with concern, "I forgot about a dragon's lust for valuable stuff. They can literally smell it when it's near."

Shiro then takes something out of her satchel and shows it to me, "This, is a silver coin. It is worth 100 copper coins." I barely hear what she is saying as my eyes are fixed on that silver coin.

She must have noticed, because she quickly put it away, snapping me out of whatever trance I was in.

{Sorry, what were you saying?} Shiro sighs and repeats what she said before yawning, which makes me yawn.

"We should go to bed." Shiro says before getting up and walking over to the yellow crystal on the nightstand and touching it, causing it to dim down until it is no longer giving off light.

Shiro lies down on the bed, with me doing the same on the floor, (Which is surprisingly comfy.) Shiro wishes me goodnight and goes to sleep, {Good night, Shiro.}

---Somewhere...---3rd Person---

"Hah... Today was tiring, especially with that brat from the local lord's family causing trouble." Says a blue haired woman dressed in green clothes as she is walking down the street, "I probably should've reported him to the guild master before checking out for the day, but..." The woman yawns as she walks past an alleyway, "I'm just so tired... Maybe I should go back and finish this paperwork... Nah."

Suddenly a black blur runs out of the alley she just passed and runs up behind her, covering her mouth with a cloth and accidentally knocking her receptionist's hat off.

The woman tries to break free, but soon falls unconscious. The shadow covering her attackers face disappears, revealing a cloaked man dressed in black attire, a dagger resting on his hip and knives strapped to his chest.

He grins under his mask, "Easiest kidnapping I've ever done. That brat will be pleased." The attacker then proceeds to drag the woman's unconscious body into the alley, the woman is not going to be seen again for a long time.

---In the morning---Kaida's POV---

I open my eyes to the light of the sun beaming down through the window. I stand up and stretch, before looking at Shiro, who is sleeping sprawled out across the bed. I sigh and decide to wake her up.

I walk up to her head and growl in her ear, causing her to shoot up into a sitting position, "HUH?! WHO, WHAT?!" She looks around, her eyes soon landing on my laughing form.

"You! Ugh!" Shiro crosses her arms and turns her head away from me with a huff. After apologizing and getting ready, we leave the inn and go to the adventurer's guild.

When we arrive, we take a look at the quest board, 'Subjugate ten Goblins, gather herbs for the local alchemist, and find and kill bandits.' I think for a second.

'Killing humans did give me a lot of EXP before.' I tell Shiro about the bandit quest, "Yeah, that sounds good."

Shiro grabs the paper and walks over to one of the receptionists, "We'll be doing this quest please!" The greyish purple haired receptionist looks at the paper and silently grabs it. The receptionist nods quietly and puts the paper down before grabbing another paper and writing something down on it.

"Y-you're good to g-go. G-good luck..." The receptionist says quietly, while slowly bowing. Shiro thanks the shy receptionist and leaves the guild building with me in tow.

We leave the town and head into the forest, Unaware of the trouble following behind.