The lounge of the most recommended inn was quite silent this afternoon, as one Earthlain girl was staring out through the window, apparently lost in her thoughts. Almost everyone in the inn has left to register for their guild, or left to travel to the labyrinth.
"Maybe sending Keiko and Demetria to try and register a guild for the three of us was a waste of time... We're not even at a full guild count." The white haired woman sighed.
"I don't get why most of the explorers are so damn full of themselves and want to simply explore Yggdrasil to become the 'greatest explorers' in all of Arcania. Every time I think of it, I keep thinking about him... Ugh!"
She slammed her hand against her head in annoyance, taking deep breaths after a while.
"No, calm yourself, Hilda... You're letting yourself get riled up again. I can't go on with letting my anger getting the best of me." Hilda uttered to herself.
She then perks up when she hears footsteps approaching to see a green haired Therian in a maid outfit place a cup on the table.
"Sorry about the wait, my dear guest! It's been so long since I've made tea, so I wanted to make sure it was just perfect for you!"
"Ah, thanks Jenetta. I haven't had tea in days..."
Hilda raised the cup with care, taking in the aroma of the tea within, and took a sip of it. The taste felt smooth and flowery. It felt like forever since she drank tea similar to the one she had in her hand. She placed the cup back on the table, taking in the after taste.
"Hm? What is it? Is the tea bad? Did I mess it up?!"
"Oh no, the tea is great, Jenetta. I just can't get my mind of trying to find a guild that won't replace someone just because they hinder them... It's just so common I'm starting to wonder why I ever decided to become an explorer." Hilda replied, staring at her cup of tea as she conversed with the green haired Therian.
Sadly, that was a hard earned fact that even Jenetta has seen a couple of occasions. Right in her own inn, of all things. The sad faces, many frustrated and enraged at their previous guilds was quite sad to the usually care-free Therian. Jenetta did try her best to take care of them while they stayed at the inn until they got into guilds on their own, but on occasion, some of them gave up and left Iorys.
"It's hard to say... though I'm pretty sure sure you'll find one that will care for all of their guild members! After all, us Therians have a saying: 'Among the common ores, there's a hidden gem waiting to be discovered!' ...Or, was it found? E-Either way, I'm sure the other Therian guests will return with good news!"
Although Jenetta seems to mess up her own races' famous words, she did try to reassure Hilda to the best of her ability.
"I hope so, cause its getting rather late... The sooner we get into a guild, the faster I can-"
"Hilda, we're back!"
Keiko's cheery voice interrupted her train of thought, as Jenetta and Hilda turned their attention to Keiko and Demetria, along with an Earthlain Fencer and a Celestrian Warlock. Jenetta immediately ran to introduce herself to the new guests of her inn, while the twin Therians walked towards Hilda.
"Ah, more guests! Welcome! I'm Jenetta, and I run this inn! Please make yourselves comfortable!"
"Ah, thanks. We sure will." Hilda was only able to hear the female Celestrian, as she was focused on the news the Therians might have for them.
"So, were you able to get us registered?"
"We weren't able to get to there in time. There's a huge line coming from the guild building, so we had no choice but to come back..." Demetria was the one who replied, with a look of sheer annoyance on her face.
"I see... So, care to tell me why a Fencer and a Warlock came to the inn?" Hilda inquired, motioning to the duo Jenetta is talking to.
"Ah, those two! You see, those two recently arrived to Iorys in hopes of forming a guild, and I'm sure they'll be glad to have us in their guild!"
At first, Hilda was astonished. In all of the Therian's efforts, only two-thousand people denied their request, yet here she is, standing within the one thing she needed to be in.
She had hoped that her hope wasn't being toyed with.
"So Hilda, will this do for our guild?" Keiko questioned, seemingly waiting for an answer of her own.
"...Perhaps. Although my concern still stands. Pardon me for one second, I'm going to speak to that Fencer myself and see if I find his guild worth staying in." Hilda finally replied, after what seemed like months of silence.
"Okay then, we'll leave you to it... Me and Demetria have yet to decide for ourselves, so no pressure if you don't feel like it."
"You make it sound like I need to or I'll lose everything, Keiko." Hilda jested, as she started to get up from her chair.
"Hehe, sorry..."
Hilda then made her way over to the Earthlain Fencer, who was busy taking in the sights of the inn. Although this may be his first time being here, he's going to be visiting this place a lot when they were going to be traveling through the labyrinths.
"If you're gonna stand around and stare, you won't last a day in the labyrinth."
Startled, Korey turns his attention to Hilda, as the white haired woman stopped her movement the moment she was in conversation range.
"Sorry, I can't help it. If I see something good, I can't help but admire it." Korey admitted, quietly looking over the woman before him. Although Hilda's outfit was contrary to a maid outfit, it seemed to radiate an aura of its own. "I take it you're the one Keiko and Demetria mentioned?" He continued.
Hilda nodded without question. "I'm Hilda. I take it you're new to Iorys?"
"Yep. I assume anyone new coming here to explore the labyrinth would say the same thing."
"I see... Well, it's nice to meet you, um..."
Hilda realized mid-sentence that she didn't let the Fencer introduce himself.
"Korey."
Though it seemed to happen almost as if he was kind of expecting it, Korey stated his name to her so she could finish her sentence.
"It's nice to meet you, Korey. I hope you don't mind me asking you a couple of questions..."
"I don't see why not... Though if I may ask, why do you want to ask me questions?"
"It's... just a bit of a backup plan I had after I left my previous guild. Finding a good guild has been hard work these days, and if I can't find people who will accept me, then my hopes of climbing Yggdrasil are quite dim."
Seems like Hilda had been asking a few guilds on her own so that Demetria and Keiko weren't fully carrying the burden once they found her. He wasn't going to claim himself to be someone who needn't be questioned, but Korey decided it would be best to just answer to the best of his ability.
"I see... Then, ask away, I guess."
"Alright then. Is it safe to assume you came to Iorys because of Yggdrasil?"
Korey simply nodded at the answer, since he did want to become an explorer like his parents.
"Then are you sure you won't replace any of your guildmates just because they're injured or trying to look out for a member of the guild?"
Korey flinched in surprise upon hearing the question. He had to silently remember the question in order to even grasp what she meant by that. Though he couldn't help but wonder...
"Of course I wouldn't! Who in their right mind would do such a thing?!"
Korey's anger was understandable. Any newcomer to Iorys would struggle to understand, let alone, find themselves wanting to be in the situation that has been happening here ever since Yggdrasil's reopening.
"It's just that... There are many people who want nothing but to climb to the top, and prove that they're 'number one' and 'wanting their names to be in the history books'. Those kinds of people, will not give a second thought to your feelings when the kick your ass out the door and replace you with someone better than you. That includes my previous guild." Hilda began, her eyes darting to the ground when she started mentioning her previous guild.
"Your... previous guild? So you've been in the labyrinth before?"
Hilda nodded, as her yellow eyes stared back at Korey's blue eyes, continuing where she left off, albeit, in response to his question.
"Yes, I've been in the labyrinth before. But I was only able to get to the third floor, when an F.O.E came out of nowhere and tried to harm one of my guildmates. I jumped in the way to save him and ended up getting hurt... And then my guildleader just replaced me as soon as he found someone capable."
"Oh my god, that's just downright terrible!" Korey uttered, trying not to hurt Hilda's feelings despite not seeing the event somewhere in Iorys.
"It is, isn't it? Everybody but my guildleader in my previous guild seemed to praise me for my efforts of saving my guildmate... It's just heartbreaking and unfair to those who joined a guild in hopes of climbing Yggdrasil. But to me, it's even worse..."
Even worse? How can such a thing be even more heartbreaking than being replaced? Hilda's eyes seemed to hold back from letting tears pop out...
"Because I was dating my guildleader long before we entered the labyrinth. And... you can kinda understand what happened during that day I was replaced, right?"
Despite not having all the pieces of the puzzle, Korey could guess what happened during that day... And it wasn't pretty. Not something he'd like to see happen to anyone ever again. He placed his hand on Hilda's shoulder. Even when she was trying to hold back her tears, she looked right at Korey in confusion.
"Don't worry, Hilda. I'll be sure to cherish each of my guildmates, no matter what the labyrinth throws at us."
"Are you sure...?"
A small smirk came upon his face, almost as if he was attempting to put up a brave act.
"That's a promise I'm willing to die for if the thought ever comes across."
Yet his voice is clear and determined. Why was it so calming to her... She quickly glared at the ground again, trying to not make the situation feel weirder than it was, openly admitting things that happened to her to another stranger.
"Y-You don't have to go that far..."
"I know, but I really couldn't think of a better example..." Korey chuckled, scratching the back of his head, unsure why he had done what he said that. But that was something he was standing by, even if he had only mentioned it once.
"I see... My apologies for that tangent, I should get back to the question. We're on the last question, so..." Hilda sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing on.
"...What is the reason you want to climb Yggdrasil?"
Korey puts his hand on his chin and closed his eyes, which worried Hilda. Did she get her hopes up again just for them to be crushed? Then again, she wanted to ask this question, yet she was afraid of the answer she might be getting...
"...Well, here's the thing;" Korey began, taking a deep breath before continuing, silently recalling what he wanted to say before continuing on.
"Despite all the myths all of our races believe in, and explorers wanting to be number one or wanting their names in the history books, I'm not personally interested in proving the myths, or wanting to be the first to reach the top." Korey continued, as Hilda stared at him in surprise.
"You're not? I normally get people wanting to be the first to reach Yggdrasil's peak or to have their names in the history books, but... Why?"
"Why what?" Korey responded, confused on what Hilda meant by her wording.
"Why do you not have a reason? Are you intentionally toying with my expectations?!"
Korey sighed, as scratching his head as he nonchalantly replied.
"Hilda, what I said is the truth. I may be born from a family of adventurers, but I'm not that stubborn. I've been taught that if I wanted to be first at something, someone else has probably done it first. My mom taught me that sometimes, even if you don't have a destination, it's best to look toward the future with the guild-members that you have. Whether it'd be climbing Yggdrasil, or exploring a forest, a journey is nothing more than a journey that we see with our own eyes. In fact, that reasoning alone can explain why Kyo and I are here today...
"In short, I don't care about the myths, or being number one or being in the history books. If being in the history book happens, it happens, I won't care about it one bit. I'm just here to enjoy the journey with my future guildmates as we climb Yggdrasil. The journey is what matters to me, and if we discover something amazing, that's just an added bonus."
Korey lets out a sigh of relief as he finished talking. It felt like he was practicing a long speech to a single audience member.
"And that should cover everything I wanted to say. Got it memorized?"
Hilda blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to find a suitable response before averting her gaze away. "...Y-Yeah, I g-got it memorized." She finally replied.
"...But, will this guild be worth it?" Hilda couldn't help but hesitate to give him an answer. And to be fair
She felt Korey pat her shoulder as if to comfort her.
"I won't pressure you into joining my guild, Hilda. I'll give you a day or a week to think about it. I'm sure we'll make a great guild that even Iorys will be proud to have." Korey addressed, giving Hilda a small smirk.
"Are you two done talking over there? It's nearly nightfall, we should probably get to our rooms..." Demetria called, getting Hilda and Korey's attention, as Demetria was halfway up the stairs.
"Alright Demetria... Well, Korey, I'll think on your offer... Maybe even ask Demetria and Keiko for their opinion on the offer. I'll... see you later."
Hilda bows, almost apologetically, then grabs her cup of tea and follows Demetria up the stairs. Korey looks around, and sees Kyo conversing with Keiko, before staring at the ceiling.
"Replacing guildmembers... I sure hope we don't run into those types of people during our journey." He uttered to himself.
Demetria stops to look at Keiko, as Hilda reaches the top of the stairs and takes a sip from her tea.
"Keiko, come on already! Can't you be any slower?"
The Masurao looked up towards Demetria as the Rover spoke to her.
"S-Sorry sis, but I was wondering if we could take Korey and Kyo to our room for the night."
Hilda stops right in her tracks as Keiko finishes her sentence. And honestly, even Korey looked at Keiko in surprise.
"Keiko, what are you talking about? I'm sure they've got the currency to rent a room for themselves..."
"Hilda, we've got plenty of room to have at least two more people rest. Besides, we can't waste all of our money resting here all day... We still got a guild to make, after all!"
Demetria sighs, wishing she could go down the stairs and slap her sister if she wasn't extremely tired right now.
"Sis, don't push us into this situation any fur-"
"Let them."
Hilda intervened, not wanting the Therians to argue among themselves. She wasn't in the mood for it.
"H-Hilda, are you sure? What about-"
"I can assure you, having two more people won't be that harmful. Besides, we still need to think on our offer. You, Keiko and I can discuss this offer of Korey's in the morning. Got it?"
Demetria nodded and simply opened the room that the three of them were sharing. "Korey, Kyo, let me show you to our room." Keiko beamed, as she walks up the stairs, motioning Korey and Kyo to follow her. The trio enter the room, as Demetria was the last one to enter. Although the room was small, there were two beds which were likely king sized beds that took up half of the room on each side of the walls.
"So, uh... how is this going to work, exactly? It's not like the inn could suddenly sprout another two beds for us..." Korey asked, pondering how the setup for the night would go.
"Don't you worry Korey, I got the perfect idea!" Keiko chimed in, only for Demetria to sigh and roll her eyes. Beta was lying down on the floor, looking up at everyone for a few seconds before laying his head down back to the ground.
"Oh please, do tell us what this idea entails, sis... I'd be amazed to see you come up with something on your own for once." Korey couldn't tell if she was being overly dramatic or just being extremely sarcastic.
"Well..."
Without warning, Keiko takes Korey and shoves him over to Hilda's bed, surprising him and Hilda altogether.
"Gwah?!"
"Korey can sleep on Hilda's bed, and Kyo will sleep on our bed!" Keiko exclaimed, seeming rather oblivious to what she's doing in the long run.
"Wha-?! Keiko, are you being serious right now?!" The white haired Harbinger questioned.
"Of course I'm serious, Hilda! Would you want out invited guests to sleep on the hard floor or not?!"
"Y-You also know what you may be trying to imply by doing this to us?!"
Keiko's turned her head to the side, as if she was curiously looking at Korey.
"Maybe, maybe not..."
Demetria couldn't help but sigh and face-palm at the sight of what her sister was attempting to do.
"Oh my god Keiko... You're just gonna toss these people on our beds and expect us to share a bed? I was rather comfortable sharing a bed with you cause you're my sis, Keiko, but to add another to the mix is..." The Therian Rover let out a sigh, not bothering to finish her sentence.
"I-If it bothers you, we could just sleep at the ends of the beds... Is that alright?" Kyo suggested, which caused the girls to look at each other for a bit.
"...Yeah, that sounds good. But, we're only doing this once, mind you. When tomorrow arrives, we'll speak about having a bigger room." Hilda elaborated, having a rather serious tone to her voice.
"Alright, I understand. Do you understand, Ko- huh?!"
Upon Kyo's surprise, everyone turned to look at Korey, who was out of his armor and was in casual clothing, already at the end of the bed near the wall. Hilda was just as surprised as Kyo is.
"How did he...?!" Hilda tried to ask, until Demetria interrupted her.
"Wasn't he just RIGHT beside you a minute ago, Hilda?!"
"He was, sis, but... how'd he even-?"
Kyo's surprised face changed to a smirk. She had to admit something, at least... "His luck may be terrible, but he's quite the expert of getting ready to sleep in the blink of an eye."
"Can you shut up about my luck already, Kyo?!"
The brown haired Earthlain's response caused Kyo to laugh, to which Keiko laughs along once the punchline hit her. Beta just looks at Demetria, then back to Keiko before attempting to go to sleep.
"If you're done dawdling over there Keiko, we'd better prepare for tomorrow." Demetria ordered, after Keiko and Kyo's laugh diminished.
"Ohhhh, okay... Let me get changed real quick." The Masurao replied, as she goes into a separate room to change. Despite somehow ignoring his pressense at first, Hilda hesitates on going into bed before she mustered her courage, and hoped for the best as she took the sheets and lied her head on the pillow.
"I swear, Keiko comes up with the strangest ideas..." Hilda finally comments once she felt comfortable enough on the bed. Demetria sets aside her weaponry on a table, before walking towards the bed.
"Yeah, but even if I don't like being dragged along, I want to support her as much as I can. Even if it means dealing with her crazy ideas..." Demetria concurred, allowing Kyo to enter the bed first, before taking the middle spot on the bed. Although she couldn't help it, she looked over to Hilda.
"Are you sure you'll be fine over there, Hilda?"
Hilda nods at Demetria's question before responding. "It's just for one night, Demetria. We'll hopefully work things out from there. Perhaps things will be different... in this new guild..."
Hilda let out a yawn mid-sentence, as she adjusted her pillow before lying her head back on it. Kyo turns her head towards Demetria and Hilda.
"Hmm... Well, I hope you'll join us. It'd be a shame for me and Korey's travel to Iorys be in vain." Kyo began, as Demetria turned to face Kyo, wanting to engage in a quick conversation.
"I can't imagine where or how you traveled from to get here, but Keiko and I traveled from the plains far across Iorys. Took us days than having to get there via transportation." Demetria whispered to Kyo.
"Damn, that's pretty far..."
"It is far from Iorys, after all. I only got dragged out here by my sister because that the ultimate techniques can be learned by reaching Yggdrasil's peak..."
Almost as if she sensed it, the Masurao came out in her casual clothing and immediately got in on the conversation.
"Hey, every Therian believes that myth and you know it, Demetria! Stop pretending like a myth like that doesn't exist!"
"And I personally believe nothing awaits us at the top, Keiko! Doesn't stop me from wanting to travel along with you so I can keep you safe!"
"Well, I-"
"Can you stop... arguing already? You're making... too much noise..." Hilda uttered loudly, getting Demetria and Keiko to be silent faster than a kid whose hand got caught in the cookie jar would be.
"S-Sorry, Hilda..." Keiko whispered, as she climbed into the bed, and attempted to adjust to the bed, now that Kyo was sleeping on the same bed.
"Good night everyone! You too, Beta!"
Everyone said their good nights as the room finally became silent. Keiko pets Beta on the head a few times, before lying her head against the pillow. In the silence of the room, Korey pondered what tomorrow might bring.
He could only hope for the best outcome, despite the odds.