Chapter 115: A Queen Does Not Search

The Adventurer’s Guild was not an impressive building from the outside. Many of the inns we had passed had drawn the eye far more. Its front doors stood wide open, and the crowd gathered before them was thick enough that the building's entrance itself nearly vanished behind it.

"We need a healer!" a broad man with a white beard called out over the heads of the crowd. "We have two tanks and a mage! One healer! Sigil or above!" His cries drowned beneath a dozen others.

"We’re looking for a tank! Doesn’t matter what kind! Just has to hold his own!"

"Fire marks! Anyone with a fire mark who wants a proper showing at this Hunt!"

There were more cries, from a dozen different throats. From humans, Beastkin, and Lizardfolk alike. Two Elven men stood atop a crate, demanding anyone with a "beast-taming Cipher."

Arianrhod had said we would find the rest of our party in Azareth. No, she had said there was no better place to find them. If this was what the woman had meant, then I was not impressed. Solara let out a large chirp from atop my head. No doubt she was just as unimpressed as I.

We left the criers to their crying and entered the Guild Hall proper. Noise washed over us.

The mess hall at the Academy had certainly been loud. Hundreds of children, dozens of conversations, all fighting over one another. But those had been children. These were grown men and women, and though there were fewer of them, their voices carried far more.

Solara let out a loud chirp from atop my head, and for once, it did not ring off the walls.

The main floor of the Guild Hall held two dozen circular tables, and almost all of them were full. Between them, men and women moved from one table to the next, or toward the long counter at the back of the hall, where women sat behind a barrier of glass. Great braziers burned along the walls, and these burned blue. I had surmised by now that one could go nowhere in this Azareth without finding a brazier.

And there were Essences. Dozens of them, carrying so many tastes at once that it was difficult to pick out any single one. Half the people in this hall flared their power as openly as any demon in my fortress had ever flared their mana. Doubtless for more of this "recruiting."

"This really brings back memories," Ash said under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear. "Gods, it even smells the same, somehow." The Hero’s voice was strange. It was not sadness, but something that lived close to it.

I had never seen one of these Adventurer’s Guilds, though adventurers had clashed with my kind a thousand times and more. "Is that a bad thing, Ash?"

"No." The Hero shook her head. "The more things change, the more they stay the same, you know?"

I did not know. But I would trust her.

"So what exactly are we supposed to do here?" Alisa muttered. The girl’s chin sat especially high. She was looking everywhere at once, her head twitching nearly as fast as Solara’s sometimes did.

"We could start asking around," Ash said, and pointed. "Look. See the way those people are moving between tables?"

I followed her pointing to one of the pink-scaled Lizardfolk, who went to a table, exchanged a few words, rose, went to the next table, exchanged a few words, and rose again. She was hardly the only one doing it.

"This is just like outside," Alisa sighed. "What are we supposed to do, then? Find a table and hope someone walks up to us?"

I strode forward, past a Beastkin whose turned back barred my path. Ash and Alisa hurried to follow.

"Lys, where are you going?" Ash asked when she was beside me again.

"Those women at the back, behind the glass. They are officials of this Guild, correct?"

"They’re probably Guild Receptionists," Ash said. "If they’re anything like what I remember, they more or less run things. Why? What are you thinking?"

"Rather than hunting for someone adequate ourselves," I said, "it would be wiser to ask someone whose business it is to know."

Alisa hurried to keep pace with us. There was conversation on every side, and only some of it held any interest at all.

"Can’t believe she hurt Big Ben like that. Broke his damn arm. And all he did was ask," one man grumbled.

"You know what they say about half-demons," another answered. "Most of ’em ain’t right in the head. Never have been."

Their eyes went wide when they saw me. Most of the looks I had drawn in this Azareth had been tame things. Few had lingered on my horns. These two men stared at them outright. Perhaps their fear was simply fresher than everyone else’s. It was no great wonder that there should be another half-demon in this city. Perhaps she would prove a worthy fourth. I did not see her in the hall now. We walked on.

Several of the tables motioned toward us as we passed. From one of them, someone called out.

"Hey! Never seen marks that color before!" A Beastkin with the face of a toad, halfway down the hall. A red Sigil sat on his right forearm. Even at Sigil, the branchings resembled fire. "Both of you have two Sigils? Come here, let us get a look!" Beside him, a Beastkin with the face of an arachnid clicked her chelicerae. On her arm was a yellow Crest in the form of a great spear.

It seemed that even without our Identification Cards, our arms alone would gather some level of interest. They did not know the meaning of our marks, only that they were odd. These people were certainly more astute than the ones in Koralis. That was good. It would make what came next far simpler.

We ignored them and moved past. Alisa drew in closer to us, and her chin dropped, just slightly. Her stride flagged, until I was taking two steps for every one of hers. I paused and turned back. She would not meet my gaze. Ash stopped when I did, and we both looked at her.

"Girl, what is it?" I asked. Solara let out a large chirp. She was asking the same thing.

Alisa glanced around us, then back. "You turned down two people with strong marks," she said. "They wanted you. You didn’t even have to walk up to them. So why didn’t you-" Her jaw shut, and whatever she had been about to say died behind her lips.

I did not understand what the girl was saying.

"Alisa," Ash said gently. "We agreed to take you with us, and we meant it. It doesn’t matter who makes an offer. The only thing we’re here to do is find a fourth."

The girl stared at the Hero and slowly nodded. I understood something of this now.

"Girl, I am not a liar," I said. "I have said a thing, and if I say a thing, it will be so. Do not shame yourself and me by doubting it."

Alisa’s chin rose again, and she stood taller once more. A smile touched her face for one moment and was gone the next. "How many times have I told you not to call me gi-"

I had already turned. The glass was only a few paces off. It was the Hero’s turn to stop this time. She had paused before a large wooden tablet hung on the wall beside the counter, glowing text running down it from top to bottom. Four others stood reading it as well.

"They used to just use paper," Ash murmured. "I guess this is better." Then, lower, in a whisper only I just heard, "And they weren’t called Quests, either. We called them that. The Guild called them Jobs, so nothing got confusing with the System."

F Rank Quest - Exterminate the rats beneath Madam Yerin’s bakery. Payment: 20 Glints.

D Rank Quest - Find missing snow leopard. URGENT. Payment: 7 Shines.

D Rank Quest - Assist Farm Repairs Payment: 10 Glints

The entries grew grander the farther down I read. The last of them, an S Rank, called for a full party to clear something named the Mirrored Labyrinth. The System had stopped giving these people their Quests, and so they had given the name to the nearest thing they had. Perhaps that was the least strange thing I had learned since waking in this new world.

"What are you two whispering about?" Alisa stepped in behind us. "I thought we came here to find someone, not take a Quest."

"We did," Ash said. "But there’s no harm in looking. This city is expensive. You never know."

"Hmm. Our funds might become a problem," Alisa allowed, frowning at the board.

"We’ll worry about that later," Ash said. "Come on."

There were four women behind the glass, and three of them had long lines of warriors waiting before them. I went to the fourth, who sat apart, far more occupied with the thing in her hands. A book, I saw as I drew closer. My shadow fell across its pages, and she looked up.

She had a soft face, and the softness reached her eyes. She wore large round glasses that made those eyes look larger still. Her gaze flicked to my horns, or perhaps to Solara, who sat between them. "I’m very sorry. If you want to take a Quest, you’ll have to go to one of the other recep-"

"Who here is strong, girl?" I asked, arms folded. Solara let out two chirps. She was adding something to my question, though what, I could not say.

"Who here is-" The woman adjusted her glasses. "...Many people?"

Ash stepped in on my right. Alisa stepped in on my left. Ash slid her Identification Card beneath the glass. "We need a fourth. For the Hunt," she said. "There are only a few days left, and we were hoping you could point us in the right direction."

The woman adjusted her glasses once more. "I see. You’ve only just arrived, then. Late. Almost too late. Most people come far ear-" She paused, staring down at the card. She squinted. She removed the glasses, rubbed her eyes with the back of one wrist, and set them back upon her nose. "You have a Sovereign mark." She looked up at Ash with something close to wonder.

"I do," Ash said simply.

"Well... normally there’s a process to this," the woman murmured, one hand on her chin. "You make a name for yourself with a few Quests. People come to you on their own. Or you go to the ones who already have a name, and you ask." She glanced past us, at the crowded tables. "This close to the Hunt, what you see out here- Well, I shouldn't be saying this, but they're everyone who's left. People who should have had a party months ago and don’t, for one reason or another, hounding anyone who walks through the doors. In other words-"

"Anyone strong will not be here," I finished for her. "Or they will already have a party of their own."

The woman smiled thinly. She glanced about, and only then did she nod. "Maybe you could talk someone into leaving their party for yours. Before the Sacred Charge, anything goes, really. But..." She slid the card back toward Ash. "You should have come here earlier."

"I see," Ash said. She turned and looked out over the hall, at the many who waited at tables and the many who went to them. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought." She sighed to herself. Solara let out a chirp from atop my head. She did not look forward to what awaited us either.

I had sifted the strong from the weak for centuries. But there had been strong left to sift, then.

"Well... I did see a few Crests walking around," Alisa said. "Maybe we start with them. Look over there. What about him?" She pointed at an Elf who stood against the wall in the hall’s right corner, arms folded, one boot braced against the stone. He surveyed the room with a sneer. His Crest was in the form of two arrows split from a single shaft.

"Hmm." Ash looked thoughtful. "If that mark does the kinds of things I think it does, maybe. Though..." She turned to me. "The one thing we’re really missing is someone who can stand out in front. What do you think?"

It was late to be asking, though I agreed with her assessment. "I would prefer a frontline fighter as well. Someone like M-" My mouth closed. He had refused my hand already. "Someone who can take blows would serve us far better."

"Her, then?" Alisa pointed again, this time at a Beastkin moving between the tables, a woman with the features of one of those squirrel creatures, and very nearly Malachor’s own height. I could not see her mark, but surely she could take a blow.

Solara let out a chirp from atop my head. A loud one. Her rejection was clear and immediate. "Solara does not approve," I said. "Though someone of her make would be useful."

Alisa frowned up at the bird, but accepted her judgment with a shrug.

"I’ll go talk to some people," Ash said.

"Wait."

The Hero paused and looked back at me. Then she smiled. "Oh? Had an idea?"

"I did."

I stepped past her and regarded the whole of the Guild Hall. All of these warriors, flaring their Essence the way my demons had once flared their mana. Those demons had gone still whenever I passed among them. And on the rare occasions I had bothered to flare my own, they had trembled.

What had Ash said? The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. The Hero was wise beyond her years.

I took a breath and reached into the Ember Core. Into that humming thing as familiar to me now as my own heartbeat. I drew on the Cradle, and only the Cradle. And then I let my Essence spread outwards. A foolish use of power even in this time. Nothing more than a beast puffing its chest. I did it anyway.

My Essence left me in a wave, spreading outwards through the hall. A man two tables down went sideways off his chair and did not rise. Everyone walking between the tables froze mid-stride. Behind me, past the glass, came a small strangled sound. The soft-faced woman had both hands pressed flat against her counter, her book fallen shut, her glasses sliding down her nose.

Beside me, Alisa gasped and caught herself against the glass. Her knees bent. Her chin, to her credit, did not.

Ash alone stood untouched, though I could see the faintest of strain on her face. Solara sat warm between my horns, and through the bond came something unmistakably smug.

It was good that I had used the Cradle. The Requiem would have put half this hall on the floor, and some of them to sleep besides.

It was pleasing to see that not everyone in this hall cowered in fear. The Elf finally moved away from the wall. He stared at me in something that was more surprise than fear. That same expression was matched on other faces in the hall, almost all of them Crests. Yes, perhaps there was some hope after all.

"We require one more for the Hunt," I said. My voice carried in the silence. "Someone strong. If there is such a one among you, then find us. We lodge at an inn called the Overripe Melon. Come tomorrow morning, and present your case."

I swept my gaze across them one last time. "If you wish your name carved into a Namestone, then come. I require only one of you. Only the best of you." I tilted my head. "That will be all."

I stopped flaring my Essence, and moved back towards the entrance. Still, nobody moved.

"Come, Ash," I said. "We are done here." Ash fell into step at my side. Distantly, I heard Alisa hurry after us.

"You should have just shown them your card if you wanted that much attention," Ash said with a grin.

"That would take time. And I would rather use it to see more of this Azareth," I said.

Solara let out a chirp from atop my head as we reached the doors. She was saying goodbye. And this time it rang off the walls.

Alisa said nothing. The girl looked distinctly pale. Perhaps I should have tried to shield her from my power, in some fashion. The girl would do well to recover soon.