“Welcome to The Guild!” Bridgette declared, gesturing to a building that almost seemed to live up to that grand name. It was two stories tall, dwarfing any of the buildings surrounding it, and looked to be in nicer shape than almost anything else in the neighborhood.

Of course, the neighborhood wasn’t really anything to write home about in the first place, but still.

“Come on,” Bridgette said, seemingly oblivious to my silent critique. “Let’s get registered!”

“Wait, you too?” I asked, surprised. “You want to become an ad- I mean, a Guild member?”

“Well, someone’s gotta keep an eye on you,” Bridgette replied.

“Right. I suppose the king wouldn’t want you letting me out of your sight,” I muttered, frowning at the reminder.

“Huh?” Bridgette blinked. “Oh. Yeah, I guess? But mostly I just want to make sure you don’t get your head knocked off. I do care about that sort of thing, you know?”

“Right. Of course.” I looked away, not quite sure why I was blushing. I knew she didn’t mean anything by it - it was simply her duty as a knight to keep others safe. Still, something about her actively telling me she cared just… Well, it felt nice, was all.

“Come on,” Bridgette said, taking my hand and tugging me into the building. “First things first, we’ve gotta check in with one of the secretaries.”

“Right,” I murmured. Guild secretaries were something of a staple in fantasy stories, so I thought I knew what to expect. Namely ladies - for some reason, guild secretaries in fiction were almost always women. Often business-like but caring, and taking no nonsense whatsoever from their adventurer clientele.

Indeed, as expected, the secretary Bridgette took me to was a lady - though I did notice a man manning another station. Not only that, but the lady in question had a prim and proper looking hairstyle, and was dressed in neat attire - what looked to be a blouse and pencil skirt, more or less.

She was also balancing a dagger on her fingertip.

“Hello and welcome to The Guild!” she declared, in a chipper voice. “Are you here to put in a request, or join The Guild?”

“How do you know we’re not already members?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“Other than the fact that I’ve never seen you in here before?” the lady asked, flipping the dagger up in the air and catching it on her fingertip again - or rather, just above her fingertip I realized, looking closer. It was floating in midair.

“We could be travelers from afar,” I pointed out.

“Could be,” she agreed. “You aren’t though - or your first stop would have been the job board. People only come to me if they wanna officially register a request. Or if they wanna turn in a finished request, I guess, but again - I’ve never seen you in here before.”

“We’re here to join The Guild,” Bridgette said, before I could press further.

“Uh-huh. I’m sure you are,” the girl agreed, flipping her knife into the air again. Except this time, after twirling a few times, it suddenly stopped in midair and flew backward, pinning someone to the wall by their sleeve. “I told you not to try and steal my lunch, Tom!”

“I wasn’t planning on it!” the man - Tom - protested. “I keep my lunch in there, too!”

“You didn’t pack lunch today, Tom,” the secretary replied, glaring. Still, the knife pulled itself free from the wall and flew back into her hand. “So stay away!”

“But-”

“No buts!” she snapped, before turning back towards us and speaking in a much softer tone. “Sorry about that. Tom’s an ass, so I’m not letting him eat today.”

“So he did pack lunch?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“Of course he did. The man’s a pig - in more ways than one. Pinched my damn ass this morning, when I was just trying to walk by. He’s lucky I didn’t gut him - figured petty workplace bullying would be more entertaining revenge… and probably won’t land me back in a prison cell, besides.”

“I usually frown on bullying people,” Bridgette remarked.

“Yeah, well, did I mention he also cheats at cards? And on his wife.”

“On his wife?” Bridgette asked.

“I mean, only in his thoughts, mind you - it’s a miracle the man convinced anyone to lay with him without coin involved. I heard he knocked her up - got a better wife than he deserved from it. Honestly, I’d probably be doing her a favor by skewering him - but I’m not a charity and I don’t particularly miss the jail cells so I won’t.”

“Right…” Bridgette’s smile looked a bit strained, but she pushed on anyway. “So, about joining The Guild?”

“Usually it’s six stars apiece, but tell you what - I’ll make a special deal, just ‘cause I like you: a stag for the both of you!”

“Ginny!” boomed a voice, as a rather large woman came stomping down the stairs. A redhead, with a scar across one eye, and a glint of anger in the other. “You wouldn’t be trying to fleece the newcomers, would you?”

“No, Auntie!” Ginny replied, giving her a beaming look. “I was even gonna give them a discount, for joining together!”

“A discount, huh?” the woman asked, eyeing us. “Fine. Five stars, instead of six - and I’ll take the extra from your paycheck.”

“Gah! Lady, you’re killing me here!” Ginny cried. “I was just trying to be helpful and stuff!”

“By overcharging us?” Bridgette asked.

“You look like you could afford it,” Ginny said, shrugging. “Would you believe I’ve got a little brother who’s going hungry at home while I desperately work for tips?”

“Do you?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“No, but if you believe that then I’ve got a whole boatload of things I can sell you!”

“Enough!” the redhead snapped. “Just get them sorted, Ginny.”

“Yes, Auntie,” Ginny grumbled.

“That’s Guildmaster Mollassa to you!” the woman said, before making her way back up the stairs.

“What did she even come down for in the first place?” Ginny complained, reaching under the desk and pulling out a black box, followed by two odd looking stones. “I tell you, she just likes to mess with me!”

“Uh-huh,” Bridgette replied. “Maybe if you weren’t trying to scam people based on their looks, you wouldn’t get in so much trouble.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’d find a way, thanks. Anyway, what do you know about The Guild?”

“Very little,” I admitted.

“A little,” Bridgette said. “Though I’m starting to think I should find another Guild guide…”

“Oh come on!” Ginny pleaded, giving us puppy dog eyes. “Tom’s a sexist ass, and Edwina’s boring.”

“Boring sounds like what we want in an onboarding instructor,” I pointed out.

“No it isn’t!” Ginny protested. “You want fun, and excitement! Someone who will tell you all the tips and tricks! Plus, you know, I actually know shit - way more so than the other secretaries. And I’m bored, so I’ll give you lots of free info that I probably shouldn’t!”

“Why are you even interested in keeping us around?” I asked, admittedly more curious than suspicious.

“Other than the bored thing?” Ginny asked back. “There’s uh… sort of a backroom competition of sorts when it comes to bringing newbies onboard. We compete and make bets on which newbs will do best.”

“And you think we’ll do good?”

“I mean, mostly I just don’t have anyone interesting on the board, but uh… Maybe? Even if you’re personally useless, your personal knight here should be able to take down a monster or two, right?”

“I’m not useless!” I protested.

“And I’m not her personal knight!” Bridgette replied. “I mean, I’m still in training for one thing, and… I… I mean…”

“She wants to be part of the royal guard,” I said. “Something I have no doubt she’ll succeed in, should she put proper effort into it.”

“Yeah…” Bridgette replied, oddly stiffly. “That.”

“Uh-huh,” Ginny said, glancing between the two of us. “Well, alright. Either way. All you really need to know about The Guild is this!”

“I never actually agreed to have you do on onboarding,” I pointed out.

“You really wanna wait on those dumbdumbs to be free?” Ginny asked. “There’s a reason my line was pretty much non-existent, you know! You’ll actually have to wait on those two - and also if you keep shopping around, you might get the Guildmistress upset - and also, c’mon, I’m practically begging here! I’m so bored at this job… nobody ever really dares to make trouble anymore, so I don’t even get to stab anyone…”

“Right,” Bridgette said. “We should probably get in line with one of the others.”

“Pleaaaase?” Ginny begged. “It’s not like you have to go through me every time in the future! Just let me do the onboarding, and write down that I did it - promise you’ll get the best treatment ever! I won’t even stab you!”

“I don’t think that’s as convincing as you think it is,” I remarked, only to falter as the girl directed her puppy dog eyes at me again. “But… I… suppose it wouldn’t do any harm…”

“Really?” Ginny asked, grinning.

I glanced over to Bridgette, wondering if she’d back me up, and received a shrug in return. “I mean, if she really wanted to hurt us, I’d probably be dead. I’m guessing her affinity is metal, after all - right?”

“Yup!” Ginny replied. “Makes me valuable, dangerous, and juuuuust a little bit psychotic! Or maybe the last part’s just me? Who knows! Anyway, back to what I was saying earlier - all you need to know about The Guild is this!” Saying so, she picked up one of the odd stones she’d taken out from underneath the desk. It was largely oval in shape, but curved inwards towards the center, creating a rather narrow point in between the two rotund halves.

“This is called a ‘samestone’ - know why?”

I shook my head, while Bridgette said nothing.

Ginny grinned - and then grabbed both ends of the stone and snapped it in half. “‘Cause both halves are the same!”

Bridgette and I exchanged glances. “I… don’t get it?”

“It’s simple!” Ginny insisted, hold up the two broken halves. Halves that quickly regenerated into two new, identical ‘samestones.’ “What’s your name?”

“Bridgette Coppaira,” Bridgette volunteered, before I could.

Ginny flipped her knife up, and grabbed it by the handle. Then she held the stone with one hand and etched the name Bridgette into the surprisingly soft rock. Even more surprising is what happened to the other stone - even as the name was etched in one, the other mirrored its markings.

“Samestones!” Ginny repeated, as if that explained everything.

“So anything you etch in one appears on the other?” I asked, to confirm.

“Etching is just the start!” Ginny replied. “The second tool we use at The Guild is called a ‘scriber’ - it lets you embed information inside an inanimate object! Watch!” Saying so, she pressed the stone against the black box she’d taken out alongside it. When she did, the stone passed straight through the block, disappearing inside. “Now I just put my hand on this, and I can imprint it with all sorts of things! Your name, your image, your preferred role within The Guild, any specialties you have, and of course your rank!”

“Our preferred role?” I asked, latching onto that in particular. “Like… our class? Such as whether we’re a knight, or a mage?”

“I mean, that’s usually more of a specialty, I’d say? I’m more talking about whether you’re a hunter, a gatherer, a healer, or a freelancer. Sometimes people put up requests for other party members, and helping to make connections is one of the services we offer to our members! Assuming both members are willing to meet, and also pay a… ahem. Small fee?”

“An actual fee, or are you just making it up again?” Bridgette asked.

“That depends - are you looking to make use of that service?”

“I don’t think so,” I admitted.

“Then I suggest we leave it a mystery and move on! For the sake of me maybe scamming you in the future, if nothing else.”

“Right…” I murmured, trying not to frown. I could tell that working with Ginny was going to be… interesting. And likely headache inducing. But it was also sort of fun? Something I hadn’t even realized I’d been missing, amidst my recent life and death struggle to prove myself.

“Anyway, there’s a third magical device we use, called an ‘accessor’ - that’s what lets you actually read the info that’s been put on these stones. Without them, The Guild would be pretty worthless.”

I nodded, mentally equating it to the equivalent of a computer and a monitor. One could inscribe information on the stones, while the other was needed in order to actually see what you were doing.

“You’re not using an accessor, though, are you?” Bridgette asked.

“Nope! I’m doing this blind. Way more fun that way. And also these things are blank, so it’s not like I need to overwrite what’s already on them…”

“That makes sense, I suppose,” I mused. “And it’s a relief to know that there’s some security involved, if not just anyone can read them.”

“Just anyone with a perfectly legal to purchase - but admittedly hard to get your hands on - reader!” Ginny confirmed. “Also, samestones can be split pretty much indefinitely, and they all keep the same markings, so uh… be careful not to break them, okay? Extra copies sound cool and all, but destroying one destroys all of them, and then we’re stuck with only the stuff we’ve committed to paper, so be careful, okay? Not that they’re exactly easy to break in anything but the intended way…”

“Does that ever happen?” I ask. “People’s stones, with all their information, being destroyed?”

“Usually only when The Guild personally kicks you out,” Ginny replied. “But let me tell you about this one time a rank S adventurer pissed off a really petty Guild worker - the end results were not pretty!”

~~~

Author's Notes

Not much to say on this one? We finally got to the guild! And met Ginny. Who I didn't really plan for???? And who I promise to use sparingly (but yeah, we'll see her again.)

I felt like I struggled a bit with both Bridgette and Amy's voices in this chapter, so I hope the end result is alright...?

It's been a pretty bad depression day... didn't fully get out of bed until 4 PM... I'll be alright, though. Eventually. Always am.

PS: As always, you can read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon for as little as $1~! I'd try to hype it up more, but I'm afraid depression is winning this round ;;;