"Good morning," Kevin greeted as I woke up. He was sorting out clothes to wear. Edmund was seated in a corner, dressed in different clothes from what he had on last night. They must've woken up early. Or perhaps had no sleep at all.
"You didn't sleep?" I asked as I stretched.
"I did. I just woke up earlier," he replied.
I looked closely at his face and the flow of his Qi. Liar. He must've stayed awake all day. Edmund seemed to have gotten enough rest; his Qi was balanced.
"You know we're not going to catch that Felipe dude today, right?" I asked as I stood up.
"And the relative of Old Man Kyne. We can't just go asking about that immediately," I added.
"Yes. We have to sign up as adventurers, get approved, and get to know people before we can get them to tell us, since it's someone important," he replied, counting his fingers as he listed them out.
"Hah..." he added under his breath.
"Here," Edmund said, stretching his hands.
He'd picked some decent clothes for me already. How considerate.
"Thanks," I replied, taking them from him.
"I fetched the water already. You just have to take your bath," he added.
Oh? Would you look at him? He's become so considerate.
He must really be eager to become an adventurer.
"Can't wait to become an adventurer, huh?" I asked, giving him a smile.
He smiled back. He was clearly excited about this.
"You should take your bath," Kevin said as he flung dust off his clothes.
"You couldn't even help in looking for clothes for me," he said to Theodore, pouting.
"We'll get better clothes later. And we'll be staying at an inn, so we won't be coming back," I added as I walked off.
"An Inn?" Edmund asked excitedly.
"Do we have enough money for an inn?" Kevin asked.
"If 50 gold is not enough money, I guess we'll have to sleep on the streets," I replied.
I could hear them gasp. It was a lot more than 50 gold, but they didn't need to know.
I think it's around 300. Haha.
I quickly took my bath and headed in.
After changing my clothes, grabbing the bag, and making sure we were ready to move out, we set off for the adventurer's guild.
"Do you know the place?" I asked Kevin as we moved out.
"Yeah. I've been there on an errand for Old Man Kyne once. To deliver a letter," he answered.
Good. Let's go see the strength of this sect of adventurers.
---
It took about half an hour for us to get to the adventurer's guild.
The building looked grand, and I could feel the aura of multiple adventurers in the building.
Deep inside, I could feel a stronger qi. Qi belonging to a Peak-rate martial artist.
Hoho. This would be fun.
We walked in amid stares from some of the adventurers.
"What are kids doing here?" some of them whispered as we walked towards the lady at the reception.
"Good morning, pretty," I greeted as we got to the lady.
"Pretty?" she replied as she smiled.
"Well, you're the prettiest lady I've seen today," I replied.
Bringing my head in and motioning her to lean closer,
"I hope this group of sweat-producing meatballs is not giving you trouble," I added.
She smiled, and after checking out Kevin and Edmund.
Edmund awkwardly tugged at his sleeve, while Kevin looked away, embarrassed.
"So Mr. Glib-tongued, how can I help you?" she asked, laughing.
"Glib-tongued? That hurts my soul," I replied, bringing a hand to my chest.
"We're here to register as adventurers," I answered, this time raising my voice with a little qi to make sure everyone heard.
"Hah? Adventurers? How old are you guys?" the guy seated at the reception with her asked.
He wasn't paying us any attention when we walked to the reception. I ignored him.
Kevin and Edmund were kind of confused about how to answer.
I turned to Kevin,
"Chill, I've got this," I told him.
Before coming here, I'd read their bone age with qi.
"He's fifteen," I replied, pointing to Kevin,
"Thirteen—" to Edmund,
"and me, pretty... I'm fourteen," I answered.
"You're such a flirt," she replied as she laughed.
Of course. Do you know how many ladies fell head over heels for me in Murim?
The conqueror of all wasn't just because I conquered Murim. Hmph.
"I'm very sorry though, Prince Charming. Based on the rules, we can only allow your friend, who's an adult, to become an adventurer," she replied.
"What if we're strong enough?" Edmund cut in, asking.
He looked serious.
"Pfft... strong enough, my ass," the guy at the reception laughed. We ignored him again.
"Can we see the guild master?" Kevin stepped forward and asked.
"The guild master is busy with a guest," she replied.
I spread my Qi sense to take a peek inside.
The guild master must be the strong man inside.
The other one had Qi but barely around the level of being considered second-rate.
He seems to be dressed very nicely. A noble?
Before I could withdraw my Qi sense, the guild master turned sharply in my direction.
He must've sensed it. Oh?
"Don't worry—" I replied to the lady,
"He's already coming."
"What?" she and the other guy replied, surprised, and before long, the guild master appeared from the room.
They looked at me surprised before greeting him.
"Greetings, guild master."
He answered their greetings swiftly and walked towards me.
Tall, well-fit, white hair like mine.
He looked powerful, and his aura was solid.
He should be around his mid-thirties.
He must've trained a lot.
He's better than the average Murim Peak-rate warriors.
There were murmurs amongst the adventurers present.
I looked around. He seemed to be well-respected.
"Was that you?" he asked.
I let out my Qi again for him to feel.
His eyes widened.
He looked at Edmund and Kevin.
"Not bad," he muttered.
He turned to the receptionist,
"I'll handle it from here," he said as he directed us towards the room he came from.
"See you later, pretty," I waved to the receptionist as we left.
She stood there, dumbfounded by what just happened, waving me bye as we left.
---
As we entered the room, a man, tall, good-looking, and well-dressed, prepared to leave.
"I'll take care of things on my end, Seb," he told the guild master as he left.
"Yeah. Let me know if anything comes up, my Lord," the guild master replied.
"You're doing it again. Aren't we close?" the man laughed as he moved towards us.
He smiled and winked at us as he left.
"Have a safe day, Lord Stark," the guild master said as he left.
"You too, Lord Sebastian," the man replied, laughing as he exited the room.
Was that the Lord of this region?
He looked young.
I thought he'd be an old man.
I turned to Kevin and Edmund to check how they were doing.
Kevin was staring back. He looked amazed.
Edmund just kept looking at the room, amazed by the designs and furniture.
"Have a seat," the guild master commanded as he took his seat.
We took our seats, and he cleared his throat,
"This is the first time in this region I'm seeing kids as strong as you guys," he said,
"Are you guys from some noble house?" he asked.
Kevin shook his head.
"Hmm... Truly unbelievable," he exclaimed as he looked at us.
"You're already at the level of a C-rank adventurer, but that'll be outrageous and might cause some trouble for you if we gave you that," he said to me.
"I can take care of myself," I replied.
"Yes. You most definitely would," he answered,
"what about your friends? You wouldn't want them to face trouble because of you, right?" he added.
"So... I'll give you a D-rank badge," he said as he walked towards the desk and brought some badges and papers for us to fill.
"And your friends will be E-ranks. They're stronger than an average E-rank, but they're not as strong as a D-rank," he added.
I looked at Edmund and Kevin. They looked dissatisfied.
"It's just a matter of time," I answered.
He nodded.
With the knowledge from the mage, writing and reading were already a piece of cake.
I filled my paper and watched Kevin fill his and Edmund's. Truly impressive kid.
"Ah," he exclaimed as he took the papers from us,
"forgive my rudeness. I was so amazed by your strengths that I forgot to introduce myself. I am Sebastian," he added, stretching his hand for a handshake.
"Was that the Baron?" Kevin asked.
"Oh. Yes. They're assisting the adventurers guild in investigating the death of somebody.
We already know the culprit; we just have to find them."
"Felipe," Edmund blurted out.
"What? What did you say?" he asked.
"Nothing," I cut in.
"You must've heard wrong," I added.
He stared at us for a brief moment and brought out a paper from his pocket.
"There have been reports of goblins terrorizing the Green Plains at the outskirts of town—"
"Goblins?" Kevin cut in.
"Would we be able to take them on?" he added.
"Yes. With your strengths, it should be possible," the guild master answered.
Kevin and Edmund looked excited.
"And it's a hundred copper per goblin, so one gold if you can bring back proof of killing ten," he added.
Wasn't that too measly a price?
Garrick must have stolen a lot of money.
Now I get a grasp of just how rich we currently are.
"Okay. We'll make sure to wipe them out," I replied as I stood up.
"Wipe out?" he asked.
I smiled at him.
"Let's go, guys," I said to Kevin and Edmund as I walked out.
They both positioned their badges on their chest as they stood to leave.
They looked excited for their first adventure.
Let's see what these monsters will amount to.