Chapter 03 – SSS Guild
A renowned thief in Agni Empire, thankfully his reputation did not extend as far as the Imperial Capital Randall, Leon was on high alert. His hand quickly checked his pocket and casted a swift glance of the floor. He was looking for a possible attack, maybe pickpocket; the modus so far followed his previous modus.
"Is it a copycat of Leon-kun?"
Liza was confused. She didn't know if the atmosphere would allow her to laugh or be concern until G knelt down and cradled the girl that fell on her face after asking with no shame.
"Please feed me."
"!"
They dragged the girl to the next empty seat and Leon ordered the cheapest meal set around 10zel. She was deathly pale but after the scent of the food tickled her nose she started gobbling it down like a wild beast. It was a far cry from her looks. Effortlessly, like a monster in a feeding frenzy and almost immediately, the hefty pasta and tea was gone.
"Uck!"
The three were surprised looking at her angelic face and monstrous appetite.
"So are you going start answering our question now?" Liza started. She was clearly annoyed. Probably because the girl was ignoring her until the food came and disappeared into her stomach.
Leon was busy checking her out though. She wasn't as appealing to the eyes as Liza. Her curves were hidden under her blue-gown designed for monk but the golden rod on her hand reeks of magician. Her already short hair was also covered by a blue veil that extends up her hip.
"Are you a monk?"
"Yes, thank you for your generosity. Oh, right, I am Merith…I'm a priest."
"So what's a priest doing in Randall? From your looks I say you're from Sama Kingdom."
"Yes, about that, I am looking for someone."
She casted her eyes downward and stopped sipping the tea. Liza must've felt her hesitation and told her that it was fine.
"Looking? Is it a boy?" Liza mischievously guessed.
"How'd you know? Yes, I've come to repay debt now that I've become a full-pledged monk."
"Fufufu~I see. I'm sure he will appreciate it since you're a virgin. You're still a virgin, right?"
"Virgin? Yes, I am but is that a requirement to repay debt?"
"Wha!" Leon was assailed by a headache just listening to them.
The girls had their fill but it was mostly Liza toying with the innocent Merith.
"Fufufu~You're a bit off... but fun to be with. Say, is it urgent you repay the debt?" From the direction of their talk, Leon already have an idea on what was on mind of Liza and he readily consented with a nod when Liza casted a glance at him but she was rejected before a proper offer was made.
"Sorry, Liza-san. Yes, I'm afraid I might lose track of him again."
With a smile, Liza snorted, "Okay, we'll treat this as a little investment. If we happen to meet again then we hope you will return the favor."
"Yes – I hope we can meet again…um…anno?"
A question mark crumpled Leon's forehead. Liza was amused by it.
"What? Do you want to know where my room is?"
"Uh, room… why?"
"So I can attack you."
"You're joking, why attack me when you know I don't have money."
Liza held on her temple. These two were both missing a screw.
"Leon-san, G, why don't you introduce yourself as well."
"What? Is that it?" And Merith nodded like of course.
After the short introduction, Leon was of course, disappointed. It was almost a score for the price of a 10zel. Merith bowed for a few more times until Liza stopped her. Leon also added that it was an investment.
"Okay, goodluck Merith."
"Yes, and thank you. I will not forget this and will find you again."
Finally, back on the road, there were no interruption this time and before the sun was set the three of them were standing in front of their inn. Time to change into their proper attire before barging into the guild or so said by Liza.
After a couple of minutes, as the sun was about to set, three shadows exited the inn.
"We only have enough to join the guild, so we need to take quest right away." She confided. Leon, with a grin, placed two of his beloved knives on the sheath on his back. He flipped the make-up black cape to hide his weapon and fixed his orange gloves in place.
"Aye, we already checked-out of the inn so it's fine."
"Good thing we don't have many items, or G here might complain."
"I won't." Still short for words, Liza gave his hair a rub. "G is short for good, so he's a good boy. Fufufu!"
"You two stop having fun."
"Are you jealous?"
He was wearing his newly bought [Water Mail]. This was for when attacked by water magic. Liza glared at his usual outfit as nothing seemed to have changed except for the water mail and the crude cape. He has green pants as usual and his old pair of orange boots.
Liza was as gothic as ever. She wore a black hat with a skull design paired by a black dress which also has beads for a belt with a skull toy attached to it. Black gloves and black coated broom for her weapon of choice, according to Leon, her broom has been with her before he met her and that it was imbued with fire magic.
Lastly G. He was probably the normal type. Liza bought for him a normal vest, black pants and a pair of black boots. On his back, a typical round shield was placed and a plain short sword on his left side.
Satisfied with their starting equipment, they blasted off to follow the road to the SSS Guild.
They finally arrived and saw three statues each holding different items in the entrance. The one in the far right was a male with a sword and shield at hand. On the far left was a female with a staff rose to the heaven and lastly in the middle was another female with a stone-like of a diamond shape on the palm of her hand.
"?" There was a curious look from G.
"That's the SSS Guild, SSS stands for Swordsman, Sorcerer and Summoner… pretty neat huh! Some even called it 3S Guild."
Liza called herself a witch but G noted that she was probably a sorcerer-class type and both he and Leon were the swordsman-type. He looked at the statue again. It was almost like a perfect fit for them.
"What are you smiling about?"
"I – I promise to support Leon-san and Liza-nee." And that earned him another hug from Liza.
Annoyed by the chummy atmosphere, Leon asked for the two to speed things up but G was totally awed by the structure.
"Hey! You can ogle the building later."
"Yes! Yes… Come on G."
He bobbed his head and followed his two senior.
He casted a last quick look at stairs of stone leading to the entrance as wide as two doors. Its size was enough to fit a bull and still have an extra space for a person. And above the entrance door was an emblem with a star shaped design, the staff and swords crossed and in the middle was the gem-like stone.
One should feel the thought of the builder to unite the protectors who were fighting to safeguard the lives of the residents of Elgaia. Uniting the three forces of human was the ideal but in reality that was still in the far off distance and that was one of the aims of SSS Guild.
"This is the symbol."
"G! Hurry up!"
"!"
He hurried to their side and was welcomed by an open space.
"Whoa! So spacious."
A grand hall received the three. On their left were a cluster of some empty seat and table and bar in the upper-left corner. It was half-empty with the tables close to the counter pretty much occupied. On their right side however were message boards.
"See those G! Those will be our rival." Liza directed G to a bunch of people crowding in front of the message boards. About a dozen or so, G counted.
There were two boards, one was attached on the wall immediately next to G, near the entrance. And on the upper right side was a lady in uniform seated behind a desk. There was also a red board behind her and a few paper stuck on the board with star-shaped red marks on them.
"She's the [Quest Manager]. You will know about them later."
He heard Liza explained. He noticed that Liza was quite sensitive and told him things he wanted to know. It wasn't like G was just embarrassed but maybe too afraid to ask, to take risks, or that he wasn't adjusted to his new path.
"…Leon-kun, where are you going?" Liza chastised the almost deserter. And following his line of sight was a blonde-girl raising a glass toward their smirking Leon.
"Grr! Let's go." Without mercy, Liza pulled Leon by his ear with G following behind them. He didn't like to be in the same boat.
"Ah-ao, it hurts… I'm going, I'm going…"
He pleaded but Liza didn't release him until they were in front of a door next to a set of stairs leading to the second floor. There was a door to the right and another on their left but the first door has an occupied tag.
"!" He was nervous. That much was seen at the ghost shadow of G.
"Don't worry G, unless you're a wanted criminal then all is fine."
"That's right, Leon-kun is a thief but he is fine. Stop thinking about it so much… Second room is open. Let's go."
Leon was about to complain but his words turned into pain when he was dragged by the ear again.
"Ouch! It hurts."
Liza knocked on the door with a sign that reads [Registration Room #2] and a voice from inside asked them to come in.
"Hi there! What can I do for you?" A middle-aged man in his thirties or so bowed and fixed his coat before facing the lot with his at-work smile. He has unkempt black-hair and a goatee that flip whenever he talks. Not overly muscular but G saw a definition in his frame and also a foot taller than G and Leon. His tone wasn't as friendly as expected for a registrar.
"Oh! If I remember right, it's Liza-san and Leon-san. Are you here to register into a squad?"
"Yes, the last squad we joined didn't work out."
Leon scratched the back of his head while Liza gave off a bitter smile. There was a puzzled expression in the registrar's face but he didn't say anything about it as flick a glance at the third person.
Liza followed his gaze.
"Yes, but before that – this guy will apply for a membership." Liza replied and nabbed G by the neck.
"Certainly, please wait for a moment." The registrar took a piece of paper below the counter and asked G to fill up the form.
With assistance from Liza, G was able to fill out the blanks on his form and handed it over to the registrar. He scrutinized the form and with a nod, he placed it aside and took a transparent blank card next.
"First let me explain what this card is for. Is that fine with you Liza-san, Leon-san?" The two readily bobbed their heads.
And next was the not so short but detailed explanation on what the card was for.
"G, that's a weird name. Ah – pardon my rudeness. First let me introduce myself, I am Earle and I usually handle new applicants as well as registration for a new squad. I will tell you all about it now but first let me ask G-san. Do you trust these two with your information?"
"?"
"You don't talk much do you G-san. I will take that as a Yes then…"
G was a bit offended with those words and he didn't bother hide his disgust as his eyebrows crossed at Earle's direction. Liza and Leon were indifferent and patiently stood behind G.
Earle bowed for the second time. "Pardon me. But this is a question I must ask or will you decline membership? I can see that you are still no adult so if you say these two are your guardians then so be it but there's no reason to glare at me. Don't you think so?"
G was reminded who was in position. He stared down and apologized meekly.
Earle's face shined at that instant. "I see. You are quite adorable. Liza-san and Leon-san seemed to have found a good squadmate. The reason I asked this question is because I'd like to protect your personal information. It is also the same reason why application is completed in a sealed room. If you don't completely trust them then I will force them out of the room."
"I understand but… no need."
He gazed at the eyes of the youngster and bobbed his head while he brushed his goatee. "Remarkable. Then there's no need for any more questions. Let us proceed with marking. Here."
Earle gave G a tiny needle and pushed the card in front of him. Confused and hesitant on what was asked of him, G tilted his head. "Oh – pardon me. I forgot to tell you. Prick your finger and let a drop of your blood on the card."
He did as told and the card let out a smoke. Suddenly the blood was absorbed by the card and now it was soaked in red.
"Hu – You have the same attribute as ours." Leon showed his own card drenched in a deep-red color and a sword mark engraved behind the card. It was beautiful.
Liza did the same with a grin. Her finger was trying to conceal some part of the name which reads "Itch Liza?"
"!"
The name itch Liza was quite disturbing so she gave her card away for G to see and Leon did the same.
Name: Thief Leon
Star Rank: **
Type: Breaker
Squad: None
Status: Normal
Name: Witch Liza
Star Rank: *
Type: Lord
Squad: None
Status: Normal
"Hmm…This is odd." Everyone was instantly attracted to the voice, not to Earle, but on the card that was in front of him. It was G. His new membership card began to change color, from red to green then blue afterwards yellow then next was white then later black then back to red. Details on the card was then hard for the lot to read.
"What's happening? Is it defective?"
"No, that can't be the case. What to do, maybe I should send this to the technical department?"
After a few moments of deliberation, Earle asked to present the card to the technical team for checking and that it should be ready after a week.
"It can't be helped then but won't that mean we cannot do any guild tasks?" Liza grunted.
"Regarding that matter, no, you don't need the membership card for that. Just press your hand here." A big book which was about a foot thick was brought by Earle and asked G to place his hand on the cover with a hand mark. G felt some sort of heat and then the book let out a *burp sound.
"Thank you so much. Now look here." Earle looked to Leon and Liza who stepped aside leaving G to see what was inside the book. He flipped to a page and showed G a complete detail of himself. His real name was written as well as some information regarding his birth and origin but what really amazed him was a picture of him on the right corner.
"?"
"You're probably wondering how that is possible."
Earle quickly closed the book when he saw Liza and Leon leering to take a peak. Though G trusted them, there were things known as private information.
"With that, the guild doesn't really need your card. It was for your own use to look into your own progress. Here, I want you to read this pamphlet. You will know more about SSS Guild and your membership card with this. Now about your new squad, you've already decided on a name right?"
Leon and Liza exchanged glances and glared G.
"?"
"Hm.."
"Truth is we're still undecided…how about?"
They spouted a bunch of useless names like [Leon's Hellhound], [Beautiful Liza's Bosom], [Leon and the Extras] and many more but none of that went past the judges, basically it was Leon and Liza who were opposing one another until G made a suggestion.
"!"
For some reason Leon and Liza were quiet and in just a matter of second there were smoke leaking out on Leon's eyes.
"How about it… G, any suggestion?"
"No, I don't think I have the right."
"Since you will be joining our squad then gives all the right to suggest."
A beam of light in their eyes, he was truly treated as a comrade and they were shy to show it in front of stranger. The middle-aged guy behind the two, Earle, was delighted to see such atmosphere about them.
"I – I understand… then…" He gave a recommendation.
"Please. Take your time. There's no need to make haste. Name is but your first step but like one said, the first step is the most dangerous undertaking in a journey."
"I don't think we will be able to think of anything better than what G suggested."
"Yeah, better that than your egotistical naming sense."
"You…"
Though it looked like they were always bickering at each other, those were just words, Earle saw through it immediately and like a payment for doing their skit inside his workplace. He let out a smirk and started.
"Leon-san, Liza-san… Are you two by chance going out and having a love quarrel right now?"
"Ack!"
"Geh!"
And there was an awkward silence. "!"
Hesitation cramped Leon. Liza managed to pass something to Earle.
"Well, we will go with that name, you like it too right, Earle-san?"
"Hm, indeed, it's a good name. So will you be the squadleader, Liza-san?"
"!"
Leon stepped forward.
"I see. Do you have problem paying 10000 zel for the squad badge?"
That was quite a sum but Leon and Liza wasn't a bit staggered. They already knew about it.
Liza paid up front. Earle just let out a smirk, received the payment and continued.
"Thank you. Than if you will please wait a minute."
Earle took something below his desk and showed his three applicants a stone tablet with a star-shaped emblem. It has the symbol of SSS Guild carved on it. He poured golden liquid into the symbol itself and when all arms of stars, five branches, were filled to the brim he stopped. He then took another tablet and placed it on top.
They thought it was over until he placed the tablet into a black box.
"What are you doing?"
"Curious. Isn't it, Liza-san? I am simply baking it." Earle proudly explained.
"Bake. Are we going to eat that?"
"Guhaha! Surely you jest Leon-san. The black box contains some intricate magical circle that will imbue the [Squad Badge] with enhancing effects."
*Ding!
The oven lights up and after a minute the rainbow-like colors disappeared and a sound lingered in the room. "Ah, it's complete. Before this was done manually, would you believe the cost was around a million but now with this black box, such delicate tasks can be completed in minutes?"
Three souls were still hung with the process but they recovered soon as Earle showed them the SSS Guild - Squad badge. He flipped the stone, took off the top cover, and Leon feasted on the star-shaped golden badge.
"Whoa… I mean, wow!"
"I know what you mean, it's a beauty!"
It's elaborate design was very much appealing even to the untrained eyes but Leon being a thief have seen many valuables before and Liza who wasn't so easily pleased was giving it admiration.
The symbol of the SSS Guild was imbued on it.
"What do you think G? Does it look good?" Leon took the fist-size badge without warning and stuck it on his chest. Before G responded, Liza already took the badge and poised it on her belt.
"Ehm! I know you were all excited but we aren't done yet. Can I have it back?"
Earle gave off a meaningful wink, something not really in his style so G wasn't sure how to act, but Leon and Liza were ecstatic and eagerly handed the badge for another surprise.
Thanks for reading… and to your reviews.
I've taken it to heart and hoped to improve the story.
