Threatening Reality (5)

"Shinobu will stay at bronze rank as she doesn't have the accolades of you three quite yet, and I'll make grumpy here Iron rank." Jezabel places a bronze plaque in front of Shinobu and iron in front of Tyrion.

"My name is Tyrion," Tyrion says grumpily.

"Yeah, no one cares, grumpy. Oh, and before I forget." Jezabel turns back to us just as she is about to leave. "With Ironhead in semi-retirement, that leaves you as one of the top two teams at this branch alongside Goldmark. That means I'll be asking more from you in the future."

"Cool, thanks," I say sarcastically.

"That also means you'll have full access to the guild facilities, including the heated shower.

"Cool, thanks!" I say enthusiastically.

"Awesome!" Sakura is so excited she jumps out of her seat. Josh appears to be seriously contemplating the implications of our promotion, or he's thinking about how shiny the coin is; hard to be sure. Either way, I'm ecstatic.

"Dibs on the first shower!" Completely forgetting about the money we're owed, I sprint to the shower while unbuckling my armor. I dive into the shower room, locking the door behind me. My armor falls to the ground, and I cover myself in the heavenly water that flows from the faucet. Caked on blood, most of which is not my own washes smoothly off my skin. A warm bliss. For a moment, I'm transported back to earth; it's eight in the morning, and I need to get ready for work. I'm supposed to be on the way toward my first job, but I can't bring myself to get out of the shower.

'Knock, knock, knock.'

I hear a sudden tapping, rapping at the door. I fade back into reality and crack the door to see who's on the other side.

"Hurry up!" Sakura yells directly in my face.

"Um, I don't have a towel. Could you get me one?"

"Here, I thought you might need this after you ran off so quickly," Shelly smirks as she hands me a fresh towel.

"Thanks." I snatch it out of her hands and close the door. The cold, dry air from the hallway sends a shiver down my spine. I quickly wipe myself down and dawn on my dirty armor.

[I can always come back later with clean clothes and shower again.]

Now that I'm fully dressed, I throw the towel over my shoulder and leave the room.

"What took you so long?" Sakura asks as she pushes me aside. She has a towel and a change of clothes in her hand, showing that she actually put some thought into her behavior.

[I really should learn a thing or two from her.]

Feeling refreshed, it was now time to take care of business.

[I wanted to talk to the kids about this mission, but it doesn't involve them, so it's probably best if I just keep it to myself.]

Shinobu and Josh are still sitting at our table.

"At least the crowd dispersed." I joke about opening the conversation.

"That was annoying, wasn't it? Anyway, here's your share of the profits." Shinobu hands me a pouch filled with gold coins. I gulp slightly while trying to calculate how much I made today.

"Wow, we sure made a killing."

"Yes, we really should thank Inari, shouldn't we?"

"Of course. We'll make sure to do that first thing tomorrow." I agree with her plan and nod.

"Sounds good."

"Okay."

"Now, you two are staying in the basement tonight, correct?"

"Yes, although you're free to join us. Sakura always stays the night with Josh, so if you come, it'd be our whole team!" The blonde girl offers excitedly. It's a tempting offer, but I have a job to do. I'd also like to sleep in my own bed after everything we went through.

"Maybe some other time. I need to head home for now."

"Alright, see you tomorrow then." She lets me go with a smile. My chest hurts a bit as I'm not being entirely honest with her, but I bear it. Only an hour after leaving the forest, I dive back in.

"You're back already."

"And you were expecting me?" I'm only at the edge of the treeline when the leader of the fairies flies up to greet me.

"Something like that."

"I don't know what that means. Either you were expecting me, or you weren't. There's no middle ground."

"I love our back and forth as much as you do, but this isn't the time." Fabulously shot down by her, I take a breath to regain my composure.

"The Count asked me for a favor."

"And what is that exactly?"

"Apparently, the Duke has a bunch of supplies stored in a warehouse near the North gate. He said it has a number of pure mana stones which might be of interest to you."

"That's understandable. I informed Jezabel that I was looking for some," she replies coolly.

"Perfect then. All I need to do is bring you to the warehouse to take those stones and burn the place down."

"I didn't figure you as the type to commit arson."

"All's fair in love and war. Plus, I'd much rather win by depleting the enemy's morale than by depleting their forces." I explain as I shrug my shoulders.

"I see you still have qualms with taking the lives of your fellow humans."

"Surprise, surprise, I'm not a fucking sociopath."

"Then how are we going to get past the guards at the gate?"

"I have just the thing." I pull out a pouch filled with gold coins. A soldier's salary is not very large, so it should be fairly simple to bribe them.

"And where am I supposed to hide?"

"I've got a spot for you in the pocket of my robe," I say as I shake the garment covering my armor.

"We get past the gate guards, then what?"

"Well, then we walk to the building."

"Fascinating."

"What do you want me to do? We've gotten there somehow!"

"So, I'm just supposed to roll around in your pocket like some loose change?"

"I could stick my hand in there if that'd make you feel better." I raise an eyebrow, but she just rolls her eyes.

"I'd rather hang out with your pocket lint."

"Okay, rude. There's no reason to be hurtful. I was just making a suggestion."

"What happens when we get there?"