Morning came with the sound of roosters crowing and the bustle of the city waking up.
Yuki stretched, she could sense owen stirring in the Beast Space. He signalled to her telepathically about wanting to come out the beast space.
"Not yet" she thought to him. "It seems unlike our world, dragons aren't rare here, but hold a significant presence nonetheless"
Lyra was already up, strapping on her daggers. "Let's move. The Adventurer's Guild is probably already open."
The Adventurer's Guild was located in the heart of the city, a large stone building with a wooden sign depicting a sword crossed with a staff. They could see some Of their world's Hunters and the NPCs moving in and out of the entrance, some carrying weapons, others hauling crates of supplies.
As Yuki and Lyra approached, Yuki noticed the atmosphere shift. The NPCs inside the guild turned to stare at them, just like at the tavern the night before.
"Why are they staring?" Yuki whispered.
"Well, two modern day beautiful women walk into some scruffy building in the miedival world" Lyra said as she chuckled. "I'd feel insulted if they didn't"
Inside, the guild hall was spacious, with a large quest board on one wall covered in parchment notices. Tables were scattered throughout, occupied by armored NPCs and a few hunters.
And there, standing near the quest board, was Lucien.
He waved enthusiastically when he spotted them. "Yuki! Lyra! Over here!"
Beside him stood two other hunters wearing Gate Zero colors, a big man with a warhammer and a petite woman with a bow.
Yuki also spotted Isaac in the corner, standing alone, his shield resting against the wall. He gave them a nod of acknowledgment but didn't approach.
Lucien bounced over to Yuki and Lyra. "I'm so glad I found you guys! This is Mars" he gestured to the big man. "and Celeste." The archer gave a small wave.
"We've been here since last night," Lucien continued. "The NPCs are super suspicious of us. They keep asking if we're 'agents of the Northern Kingdom' or something. It's wild!"
Lyra crossed her arms. "Have you seen any Glory Road members?"
Lucien shook his head. "Nope. But we heard from some NPCs that there are three major kingdoms in this world, Northern Kingdom: Averion, Southern kingdom: Great Zerath, and Eastern Kingdom: Sillawells. We're currently in a neutral trade city called Fort nox, which is within Averion."
"And The Dragon king?" Yuki asked.
Celeste, the archer, spoke up. "Missing for three weeks, according to the NPCs. His dragon egg was stolen from his royal vault in the Southern part of the continent. The kingdoms are blaming each other. Tensions are rising. Some NPCs think war is inevitable."
Maren grunted. "A ticking time bomb"
Lyra's expression was grim. "This is the Story, then. The missing Dragon king and the stolen egg. Our job is to find one or both before the kingdoms tear each other apart."
Isaac finally approached, his heavy boots thudding against the wooden floor. "Or, maybe, the story is to win a war and we need to worry about which kingdom we side with"
Lyra met his gaze. "Well, we won't know that until we start making choices."
Yuki felt a stirring in her mind, Owen, fully awake now, curious about what was happening.
"Yuki? What's going on? Where are we? Looks like an adventurer's guild? Awesome!"
"I'll explain everything soon" she replied telepathically. "Just... stay in the Beast Space for now. The NPCs here are already suspicious of outsiders. I don't want to draw more attention until I understand the situation better."
"Fine. But if things get dangerous, I'm coming out whether you like it or not."
"Deal."
An NPC guild receptionist with a Stern-face and graying hair, approached their group. "You're the outsiders everyone's been talking about."
Lyra stepped forward. "We're travelers. We're looking for work."
The receptionist's eyes narrowed.
"Travelers. Right." She pulled out a ledger. "If you want work from this guild, you'll need to register. And you'll need to prove yourselves. We don't hand out quests to just anyone, especially not during times like these."
"What kind of proof?" Isaac asked.
The receptionist smiled coldly" There's a bandit camp three miles north of the city. They've been raiding merchant caravans for weeks. Clear them out, bring back proof, and we'll consider registering you."
Lucien's cheerful demeanor faltered. "Hmm, sounds too easy, which makes it even more dangerous"
"It is" the receptionist said flatly. "That's the point. If you can't handle it, then you certainly can't handle what's coming with the kingdoms almost at war."
Lyra and Isaac exchanged glances.
"We'll do it" Lyra said.
The receptionist nodded. "Good. Return before nightfall with proof of the camp's destruction."
As the group turned to leave, Yuki felt Owen's presence surge in her mind.
"Bandits? Yuki, this is perfect. Let me out. I can handle them easily."
"Not yet" Yuki insisted. "Let's see what we're dealing with first. Then we'll decide."
But deep down, she knew Owen was right. It would be better to just rely on Owen's power, to have him raze everything to the Ground, but somewhere within her was a stubbornness, fueled by her broken ego and cowardice that drove her into entering this story dungeon as a C-Rank, just because she feared her Ex-Husband.