The town of Allure. A place where people, goods and ambitions are all mixed together to form the bustling town in the land of Andromeda. Today too, it was bustling with activity. One could hear the clamor of the town a good distance away from the walls, even.
A long line of adventurers, merchants and tourists lined out from the main gate. They were all waiting their turn for Allure's trademark inspection. Some lounged about lazily, while others tapped their feet impatiently.
At the very end of a line stood a man who was dressed gaudily. Next to him were two women outfitted in equally flashy garb, presumably his servants. Though he didn't seem too impatient, he was complaining incessantly about the necessity of the inspection.
He was a kind of fool who thought spouting large words made him seem smarter. He went on a length about the incompetentency of the Town Allure strict rules. The nearby merchants struggled to hold in their derisive laughter, but the gaudily-ass man and his two female attendants seemed not to notice.
In the middle of his tirade, a gaudily dressed man began to hear a high pitched noise, one he had never heard before. It sounded like steam hissing out of a pipe.
At first he tried to ignore it and continued droning onto his two servants, but they, along with the other merchants, ignored him. Their eyes were fixated on something behind him. Giving up once the sound grew louder, the man let out a harrumph and turned to see what all the fuss was about.
The man let out a squeal of surprise. An unfamiliar black horse was heading for the city at an incredible speed, kicking up clouds of dust in its wake.
"Run! Run for your lives!"
A commotion broke out among the waiting travelers. Many turned to run, thinking it was a monster, but the black horse was far faster than any of them could have ever predicted. Before they'd gone a single step, it was already upon them.
The gaudily-dressed man stiffened up in fear. Despair colored the travelers faces.
However, just before the horse crashed into the line, it turned to its side and came to an abrupt stop. The force of its acceleration caused it to kick up a massive cloud of dust. As the travelers all stared at the shadow horse in wonderment and confusion, several people left the wagon.
"Man, this line is always so damn long." I said
"Yeah. What can you do, though?"
I stepped out of the wagon, Elias and his party followed up, heedless of the fear and confusion they'd caused. Alta and Cassius followed after, with the guild members coming out last. Cassius' expression is somewhat stiff.
A few days back, the ruler of Town Allure, Lord Phillip Morris, had asked me and my guildmates to go to the northern mountain ranges and search for Cassius. I accepted it, finding Cassius alive in the process. After protecting him from the wrath of a mind-controlled Alta, I'd safely brought Cassius back home.
Cassius bowed uncharacteristically low for a noble and apologized for startling all of the people in line. However, he realized quickly that no one was paying attention to him.
Everyone's gazes were focused entirely on the three beautiful ladies, Catherine, Patricia and Me. The fact that they'd just come out of a speeding black box was of little importance. The men only had eyes from us now. Every time they so much as moved, sighs of appreciation rang out among the crowd.
Elias unsummoned his horse and diminished into thin air, leaving only the wooden wagon that was attached.
The shadow horse was operated via the direct application of mana, so he could control it without actually sitting in the driver seat. Of course, his control wasn't nearly as precise as when he was behind the wheel, but he could still move forward slowly as the line progressed.
Meanwhile, as we approached the gates of Town Allure, I sensed a presence of nostalgia just by stepping at my hometown once again, as we paid out tolls. I was the first to pay my tolls easily, the others were left behind, so I waited at them.
While I was waiting, an old man suddenly approached me, from the gates suddenly recognized me, and saw me thoroughly.
"Wait, is that you? Eirene?... Huh, what an unexpected encounter, I thought you were dead."
"Seth?"
That reunion was not pleasing as it seems, and surprisingly. He is the owner of an animal farm during on one of my butchering days, he was surprised to see me back, even when my appearance literary changed ever since I made Mya the owner of the meat shop,
"Eirene! I barely recognized you now, your attire has changed. I think you're an adventurer now."
Even though Seth is barely a stranger to me, he is a closest friend to my eldest sister, Elicia. He recognized me as her little sister. Back then, Elicia was the previous owner of the Rynd meat shop, she was a friend of Seth, as well as its main provider of livestock. He sells his animals at a very cheap price. And that is the reason why the business was booming.
"Eirene, that beastkin of yours? Was it your friend?"
"Beastkin? Oh, do you mean Mya."
"Yes, that girl Mya. She is now in-charge of the Rynd meat shop, she buys livestock at my farm. As I first met her, she was a total stranger to me. But ever since she admits that she knows you very well. We became close friends."
"Yeah, that beastkin is kind though."
As I recalled Mya since then, I frankly haven't met her over the past few weeks. I never visited my household ever since that day. Only she can run the meat shop easily. I've bet that Mya was mad after my sudden disappearance, I knew that she was worried about my safety more than anything.
The only thing I can think of is to visit my household once again to meet my adopted demi-human, it was none other than Mya. She worked hard to maintain the meat shop, I bet she'd endured sleepless nights during those weeks of business. And I recalled Mya's grandfather's last wishes. "Protect my granddaughter."
Our conversation was cut off by my brother, who pulled me at my collar tightly like a damped chain.
"Hey brother, stop pulling me!"
"Hey! Our mission is to rescue Cassius to safety, am I right?"
"Yes, Brother… but we were in the middle of a conversation."
As my brother and I continued arguing, the other members also finished paying their tolls. All of them were present, they paid their tolls easily with the amount of one silver. The line was grueling, but we still managed to succumb to it.
After we finished arguing, we left the town's walls and paced straight to the Central Plaza of Town Allure. It was packed with adventurers as usual, filled with events, parties and delicious restaurants that filled the open air of the plaza. It was a hint of nostalgia as I returned to my hometown after our quest.
This place was made by Lord Phillip himself, the father figure of Cassius. There, I remembered my first duel with no other than the leader of the guild itself. White Flower, who proposed a duel in that very same place, it was grueling, but it was worth it because I've become their vice-leader in an instant.
Then, Cassius walks up and asks me in a polite tone.
"Eirene, my father was inside of the Adventurers Bureau, inside of that trading post over there."
Cassius pointed out the entrance of the Adventurers Bureau, knowing that he is considered alive and well. His father figure, Lord Phillip, was inside of that office.
The Adventurers Bureau was located at the Central Plaza of Town Allure, this is where I normally take quests and claim bounties from monsters I've slain, especially the spider queen I fought during my early adventuring days. This serves as both the trading post and a setting on Cassius' rescue quest.
Me, personally, I never have stepped inside of the Adventurers Bureau, I only collect rewards from my slain monsters, the only people that can step inside that were only nobles. Since we were tasked by Lord Phillip himself, we can safely enter to collect our rewards.
As we arrived at the doors of the Adventurers Bureau, we were met with two guards stating on the way. The sight of Cassius triggers their response and lets the party inside the bureau.
"Could you gentlemen be the adventurers tasked with saving the noble's son."
"Hm? Yeah, we are, but…"
"I see. Does that mean you've returned from the quest the ruler sent you on?"
"Yeah, that's right… Do you have some kind of message from him or something?"
The guards nodded. They'd been informed by Phillip to let my party through right away. Thanks to that, we can enter the bureau easily. We walked inside the facility and entered Lord Phillip's office.
"Money! Money! Here I come."