The Path That Glimmers of Freedom

Volume I: Chapter III

Rehmer felt the full weight of the day leave him in the sigh escaping his body, while it hadn't been one of those worst types of days, those were still very much to come, especially with the upcoming expedition from the Loki Familia nearly upon them. While the public and other adventurers might have enjoyed telling stories about those grand expeditions to the lower floors, for the guild it was nothing but trouble.

Mountains and mountains of paperwork that often ended up taking days to shift through, the only silver lining being that the planning for such things normally came months and or weeks in advance. Still, it mattered very little when he was faced with a situation like this.

The Chienthrope raised his gloved hand, black leather rubbing along his temples as he fought back the grimace that was already building on his face. Try as he might, he couldn't keep it away from himself. He didn't like getting annoyed at his subordinates but that didn't mean he wouldn't show discipline when it was necessary. Such as this moment, it had been three days since the last invoice was sent his way by Misha.

He would normally have granted her more agency in these situations, but the invoices for the value of monster stones sent their way by adventurers were some of the most important documents that the guild dealt with. It let them know about the total earnings of the Familia and whether or not they could support tax payments to the Guild for their properties.

In any other situation, he might have been more content to let it pass until Misha figured it out for herself but it was getting to a point where it was ridiculous.

No, that wasn't quite right.

It had been ridiculous after the first day, the second day made it absurd. Today was going from absurd to a liability. He needed those documents and - at this point - he didn't much care how he got them, whether Misha worked through the night or whether the entire team put in an effort to-

"Excuse me? I was asked to deliver these."

His internal ramblings came to a grinding halt, his head moved up towards the direction of the voice and found himself staring at someone in the doorway with a stack of papers in front of him. The most striking features about the teenager in front of him being the pale red eyes and the silvery brown hair, the expression on their face virtually devoid of emotion and more focused than he would have expected from the age.

No, rather than being focused it was perhaps…

It was just blank.

Remembering himself, he cleared his throat and straightened himself out in his seat, eyes drifting back to the papers in the teens hands. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The boy took that as his cue to step into the small office, advancing towards him and presenting the small stack of filed papers and lowering them down onto the desk as gently as he could, then taking a single step back. Speaking once more "These are all the adventurer returns dated to the twelfth." the boy explained the unasked question.

Rehemer raised an eyebrow, that was certainly convenient timing. Though there was still another matter "And those for the thirteenth and fourteenth?"

"Misha is still working through them." The boy explained without missing a beat, his left hand came up slightly as he gestured to the stack "I just finished completing those, she is currently halfway through the thirteenth. She told me to deliver those to you and then come back and start on the fourteenth when I return."

Rehmer frowned ever so slightly "So I see she has roped you into assisting her, has she?" That was slightly troubling, though he wouldn't complain about that in this particular instance. Not when it related to this but all the same, it wasn't a permanent solution. "As grateful as I am that someone is picking up her slack, I should remind you that she has to stand up on her own two feet and be made aware that not everyone will be so willing to put in the effort to bail her out of her own problems."

Having said that, it wouldn't be just her who suffered as a result of procrastination. Her laziness affected everyone. Not that she was a particularly bad worker as much as she was just inconsistent, she would have moments of being as diligent and capable as Eina - those being few and far between, he privately admitted - and then have moments akin to this one.

Where she would let work pile up for days without doing anything about it.

Admittedly, it wasn't like she was sleeping around on the job, but she could have at least gotten a better work ethic. He fought back a sigh, realising he was going on another internal tangent and, in going into a trance, he had just been staring at the person opposite in silence for a good few seconds. Something which was undoubtedly somewhat awkward for the person standing in front of him.

"While I am more than willing to encourage teamwork, I would not like to see coworkers taking advantage of one another." He levelled the quill that had been in his hand towards the teenager. "When I am not there to remind her, please ensure that she performs all of her duties and completes them before the day's end." there was a pause for a moment, then sighed. "On that note, you can return to Misha. I expect the rest of the forms to be completed before the end of the day." he paused for a moment, then added on "And those of today as well. I shall allow you to assist Misha, though it is something that remains your own choice, seeing as how you have assisted her thus far."

"Understood." The teen gave a dutiful nod of the head, a look of focus that he found somewhat nostalgic. There was a time when he was young and probably as eager to please, in fact there was a time when he remembered everyone else currently working under him being like that. So determined to throw themselves into the work and get it done to the best of their abilities.

Except Misha.

She hadn't changed all that much, now that he thought about it.

The boy turned to leave, moving towards the door.

Something clicked in Rehmer as the boy exited the room.

"...Wait a second here." His eyes widened slightly, he shot up from his seat with a sudden thud as his chair was sent scraping backwards, the boy - midway through the exit - paused and turned his body side on, facing the man with a tilt of the head.

"Is something wrong?"

"Is something-?" Rehmer choked out the words as reality came crashing down on his head. His right hand flew up, pointing at the boy in shock "Who are you?!"

"...I'm Sieg."

The complete deadpan expression on the boy's face made him wonder if he was actually being serious for a split second. The silence that followed in wake of the answer all but assured him that he actually was and wasn't joking. The fact he then tilted his head and shot him a slightly worried expression - concern aimed towards him - was something he just had trouble comprehending.

"Is everything alright?" Sieg asked again, turning his body completely towards him and furrowing his brows ever so slightly. "You look shocked."

Rehmer took in a deep breath, calming his nerves, then exhaled and closed his eyes.

"...You do not work here, do you?"

"No."

An instant admission and one that contained neither shame nor guilt, Rehmer cracked an eye open to read the expression of the young man in front of him. Surprisingly enough, there was visible relief on the boys face as though he had been waiting to tell someone that. It was - quite honestly - one of the strangest things he had ever had happen to him. Not least of all because there was a stranger who had apparently been helping around the guild and while they did accept volunteer aid from adventurers, this wasn't that.

"I'm going to ask why you are here." Rehmer opened both his eyes, fixing the boy with a stern glare, the brown haired youth fidgeting for a moment, looking to try and think up the best way he could answer the question. He should probably nip this in the bud before it grew out. "I will remind you that you have gained access to multiple guild records that are not made public knowledge and you were not entitled to know." he added, just to make sure the boy understood the severity of his actions. "I will require a complete explanation as to who you are and what you are doing here." he raised his right hand, pointing a finger towards the boy "And do not lie to me. You are already in enough trouble as it stands and any further trouble from you will result in a more severe penalty."

Sieg looked at him for a moment, then nodded his head once in understanding. That was, at least, something he could be thankful for. Even then, he wasn't sure the boy understood quite what sort of fate would befall him as it stood. The guild took their work very seriously and something like this would mean they'd have to go back and redo all the work he had even breathed upon, let alone had a hand in completing. Depending on how long he had been here, it would invalidate a great many things.

His eyes briefly glanced down to the stack of papers on his desk.

Which meant Misha would have to redo all of those in order to make them official. She would most likely be mad about that.

He noted that Sieg still hadn't spoken, the thoughtful expression remaining on his face as his eyes shifted around the room. Despite that, the boy didn't look panicked and he didn't seem as though he was the type to run away. In fact, he looked a little clueless now that he got a better look at his facial features, either not adept at or not making an effort to hide his trouble in finding a place to start speaking.

Then Sieg paused, nodding his head to himself once and then returning his gaze to Rehmer. "I woke up in an alleyway."

…

That wasn't the answer he had been expecting.

"An alleyway?"

"Yes."

"...When?"

"A few hours ago."

"And how does this relate to your being here now?"

"I didn't know where I was."

Rehmer felt his brows furrow "...You mean you didn't know what street you were in?" The boy didn't look like the type to drink and his clothes weren't in that poor a state that he seemed to have gone for a night on the town. Then again, appearances looked deceiving.

"No." Sieg shook his head "I didn't know what city I was in."

…He what?

"So I followed the crowd of people to see where they were going." Sieg continued on, ignorant to the fact that Rehmer was now having a hard time following the conversation. "And I noticed that some people had strange animal ears on top of their heads or they had tails." he continued on, then pointing towards him "Sort of like you, I hadn't seen that sort of thing before so I got a little curious and followed them some more."

What?

"Then I saw them all coming to this building so I thought I might be able to get some answers as to where I was." Sieg continued on, then his expression shifted into a slightly troubled one "But Misha came out first…I believe she mistook my clothes for the same ones that people who work here wear and she thought I was a new hire." he even made an effort of reaching down and pinching the black waistcoat between his fingers, frowning at the clothing.

What.

"I did try to explain it to her but she didn't really hear me all that well." Sieg sighed, removing the hand and returning his attention to Rehmer "After that it just…I didn't know how to explain I didn't work there. Then she said she needed help with her work and I didn't want to say no to her so I accepted." he shrugged "Then Eina showed up-"

Eina was involved in this now!?

"-And she thought I was also a new hire, I tried to explain it to her but she thought I was just someone that Misha was trying to pass all her work onto." The boy pursed his lips "I didn't mind it but then Eina said that I would be assisting her for the time being in working around the Guild. At that point, she started explaining everything to me really clearly and I didn't want all her efforts to go to waste in explaining that I didn't work here."

It was at this point that Sieg looked genuinely ashamed. "I thought that if she found out she had been wasting all that time on me, she would be upset and I didn't want that. So I agreed and have been helping around ever since." he sighed "I had been trying to tell people but then I realised if I told them, I would end up being a nuisance and would distract them from all the work they were doing, so I just kept quiet about it."

There was a brief pause. "Ah, don't get me wrong, I'm relieved that you found out."

Rehmer felt his expression twitch at the fact the boy actually sent him a smile, the type of smile that a drowning man might give to his rescuer, which just made his head hurt far worse than it already was.

"But now I'm worried about Misha and the others. I haven't finished helping her yet and-"

"Just-!" Rehmer raised a single finger, closing his eyes and cutting off whatever Sieg profound thing that Sieg was going to say next. His left hand remained pointing upwards, then his eyes closed and he brought his right towards them, pushing up his glasses as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and felt a sigh slowly escape from his lips. "Just…give me a moment here."

"Alright."

He was sure he should have been surprised that the boy so readily agreed to his request for silence, he really should have been. But after whatever sordid tale he had just listened to, something that was a mix of bewildering statements and outright claims of idiocy and negligence on the side of his employees he just couldn't come to terms with where to even begin.

He slowly lowered himself back into his chair, hearing it creak under his weight, then leaning forwards he rested his arms on the desk and sighed. His arms tenting to support his head, palms resting on his face and covering his expression, glasses resting on the outside of his hands and perched in the crook where his hands touched his forehead.

Rehmer sat there for what felt like hours, just in silence as he breathed in and out.

When he eventually lowered his hands, he saw that Sieg was still standing in the doorway with that same expectant look on his face that now just reminded him of a lost child. The only conclusion he could come to out of all of this was that Sieg was an easily strung along idiot. That didn't mean he didn't have questions about everything though.

Could it have been a lie?

Maybe but there had to have been more reasonable tales the boy could have told him than the absurdist claim he had just heard. Unless it was some sort of technique to present him with a story so fanciful and seemingly impossible that there was no way he couldn't believe it to be the truth, based solely on the idea that no sane man would ever make up an excuse like that.

The more he looked at Sieg, the more he noticed bit and pieces about him that others might not have noticed at first glance. Firstly, despite wearing more or less the same uniform as the guild members, there was something off about his appearance. Namely the fact that he wasn't wearing the issued pale grey tie or the black leather gloves to ensure they didn't get fingerprints on the parchments.

Looking down, he also saw that Sieg was wearing black smart shoes rather than the shin high boots that the male staff members wore.

If he was trying to sneak in, he imagined that someone would have at least gotten him to look the part.

Sieg was still staring at him in silence.

"...I'm at a loss right now." Rehmer spoke quietly, resting his hands on the desk and staring across to the young man. He didn't have the energy to try and appear angry or intimidating, whatever he had heard sucked all those emotions right out of him and just left him feeling confused.

Confused and exhausted.

He doesn't go to the floor and supervise his workers for one day and they somehow kidnap someone off the street and conscript him into helping out around the guild?

"Were you wearing that uniform when Misha found you?"

"Yes."

"...You didn't know what it meant, did you?"

"No."

"...That's the answer I was expecting." Rehmer found himself saying, more for his own benefit than for anything else as a new wave of exhaustion rolled across his body. This entire situation was just so baffling to him that he wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to it. He supposed there had to be a first for everything but this was just so out of the norm - even for Orario - that he couldn't comprehend it.

"Just…"

He rose up from his seat once more, then pointed to the chair at the side of the room he usually used for visitors "Take that and sit here." He pointed in front of his desk "Don't move…I just need to get someone quickly." As he moved around the table, he paused in his walking and looked down at the boy once more. Finding the power within him to show an emotion other than mystification "Do not run or the Guild will issue a bounty for your capture."

"Alright." And once again, the boy didn't even hesitate in answering the question, though he did pause for a moment after he said that and opened his mouth as if to ask something. The words apparently died on his lips as he closed his mouth again and subtly shook his head.

Rehmer was thankful for that.

He didn't know what manner of weird statement would have come from the boy next and - quite frankly - he wasn't sure he wanted to know either.

Sieg felt as though he should have expected this.

No, he had been expecting it ever since he first got roped into this situation, it was inevitable that someone would have eventually figured it all out that he wasn't supposed to be here. At the same time, he didn't feel all that guilty about it. He didn't think he'd done anything to feel regretful about at the end of the day but at the same time, he knew that it would have only caused trouble.

The Goddess Dia had said much the same thing, something that he had been thinking about as well.

He didn't regret helping, but perhaps he was a little concerned about what would happen to Misha and Eina. They were good people and they shouldn't be involved in something that was his fault for allowing it to continue for quite as long as it did.

Maybe he was a little worried that Misha wouldn't have his help anymore, he'd at least wanted to help her out in the first place seeing as that was more or less the motivation behind his reason for staying in the first place. Everything else just sort of dropped into his lap immediately afterwards.

Which was why he now found himself sitting in a small office, an oak desk in front of him with a few items laying atop it along with the papers he had placed there when he first entered. Positioned directly behind the desk was a bookcase with row upon row of books sitting upon it, there wasn't a single iota of space to be seen from top to bottom. It was actually a little impressive to see all of those books with the knowledge that they all contained something within them.

Each one had information that was important in some capacity, something that a person had contributed to and - with it - made their mark upon the world. Maybe it wouldn't be accessible to everyone but at least someone would see it. He figured that was a nice way to consider it, it was also a little mind boggling for him to wrap his head around all those books being full of the same information that he had been working around all day.

There were hundreds of them.

He'd never read a book before.

Maybe he could ask if he could read one?

Not necessarily the ones on the wall - they seemed important - but just a book in general. He'd confirmed he was able to read the language, which for whatever reason was Romanian, but he'd never read a book before.

That aside, he was just going to sit here and wait until…

Sieg found himself blinking in sudden realisation, he'd never asked the name of the dog eared man. That was rather rude of him, he'd even introduced himself without asking for the name of the other man. They'd engaged in an entire conversation and he'd forgotten basic manners. He blamed his long time without someone to speak with as an excuse.

His lips pulled down into a dissatisfied frown. He'd have to ask when the man got back from doing whatever it was that he was doing. He was certain Misha had told him the name but, in his own error, he had let it slip from his mind or he had just been more focused on doing what she asked him to do.

It was a little late to lament that sort of thing at this point, all he could do was just wait for whatever was going to happen next to happen.

His eyes wandered around the room, his hands resting on his lap as though to appear as inconspicuous as possible. He wondered if Eina would be mad that he hadn't told her the full truth, he didn't think he had lied to her but at the same time he was sure that she wouldn't be all that pleased. All that work she and the others had put into helping him around was going to have amounted for nothing.

Sieg fell further back into his chair as he stared at the bookcase opposite him, though he wasn't truly seeing it at the time. The bookcase just happened to be in the direction that his eyes were looking towards.

Now he really did feel a lot worse than he first thought, perhaps if he had been a little more forceful he could have explained it all in the beginning and they could have avoided all of this worry in the first place. Not that there was anything that could be done about it now, all that remained was to deal with the consequences of his decision, whatever they were.

The door behind him creaked, swinging open as he heard footsteps enter the room. Turning his body around, he watched as the brown haired man with dog ears was the first to enter, the hazel coloured eyes briefly flickering to him for a moment before they moved past him and back to the desk. Continuing on, the man walked into the room with the same stern expression he had when he left.

Sure enough, he spotted the familiar faces of both Eina and Misha entering the room not long after. The moment they caught sight of him, flashes of surprise and apprehension rushed through their faces before settling into something akin to acceptance and resignation, Misha looked a little panicked whereas Eina was giving him a look of concern.

Sieg pulled his lips into a thin line as he stared at her, then turned himself back around to face the man once more. Watching as he slowly walked around the back of the desk and stood there, sliding the chair out of the way so he could stand dead centre and directly opposite him. His hands folded behind his back and his eyes lingering on the two women who had taken up positions either side of him.

"Eina? Please close the door." There wasn't an ounce of emotion in his voice, it was the first time someone had spoken since they had entered the room. Sure enough, he heard a quiet clatter of shoes upon polished stone as the woman standing directly to his left heeded the command of the man and moved the door, the wooden barrier shutting with a quiet click that seemed to echo around the room. "Thank you."

The eyes fell back onto him. "I am certain you are both familiar with the young man sitting in front of me." his right hand came out from behind his back, gesturing directly to Sieg while the face remained blank. "I've had a brief chat with him and it - rather strongly - relates to the two of you."

The eyes flickered to either side of him, Sieg followed their arc and looked towards both Eina and Misha from the corner of his own eyes.

"...W-was there something wrong with the paperwork?" Misha squeaked out "I know he's new but I thought he did a good job-"

"Oh, he's had nothing but praise for the effort you two have put into showing him around." The man cut her off, his expression not even so much as shifting. Then he glanced down at the stack of papers sitting directly in front of him, reaching out and taking the first one off the top and staring at it for a few seconds.

It was strange that Sieg could feel an odd sense of tension around the room, as though he was just waiting for something to eventually happen and he did not doubt for a moment that something would happen.

"Hmmm. Everything appears to be in order." The words of the man broke his concentration, returning to the animal man before him. "If the rest of your work is up to this quality then I suppose I would have no complaints about it." he then looked to Eina "And Sieg has told me that you put in a lot of effort into ensuring he understood everything in relation to the guild, as would be expected of a new employee. Once again, I remain impressed by your diligence."

He exhaled "Though, I am certain, you are wondering quite why I have brought you here if Sieg has been singing your praises, so to speak." there was a palpable tension around the room. "There is one rather glaring problem that needs to be addressed." he pointed at Sieg "He does not work here."

Silence.

Sieg was impressed with how silence could be so loud, if that made sense in any way.

"...Eh?"

"Yes, it seems that the clothes Sieg is wearing here…are in fact his normal clothes." The man paused for a moment "Or so he says. He also has a very interesting thing to tell me, Misha, namely in how he actually entered the guild in the first place. But I would like to hear it from you…What exactly was Sieg, here, doing when you found him?"

"But-he-wha-I-eh?"

"You seem to be at a loss for words." The man didn't even look surprised by the failure of speech that was currently spilling forth from Misha, Sieg turned his head in her direction and felt a pang of guilt shoot through him at the dumbfounded expression on her face. Evidently she had no idea what she was supposed to say if he cracked sentence starters were any indication. "Yes, imagine how I felt when a stranger walked into my office carrying documents that the Guild considers to be confidential."

There was a pause "And consider how else I felt when I find out he's been given a tour of the facilities and has - apparently - been working alongside the staff without anyone being any the wiser as to the fact he doesn't work here. So tell me again, Misha." There was now an edge in his voice as he leaned forwards, his hands resting on the desk and his eyes now fixed solely on the salmon haired girl in front of him. "Where did you find him?"

"...Staring at the guild…but he's wearing-?"

"I'll come back to that first point in a moment." The man cut her off "Take another look at Sieg and tell me what you see. Make sure to look very hard at what his attire looks like compared to...say…mine?" his lip curled up into a smile that most assuredly didn't reach his eyes if there was any indication, Sieg could also see his brow twitch every now and again. "Just humour me."

"But he's-" Misha turned to him, pointing at him and then pausing as she stared at him. Her eyes lingered just underneath his face, then drifted towards his hands. Then with a mechanical slowness to her movements, she turned her head in the direction of the man, now standing up straight to show off his appearance, though both his hands were still resting on the desk. "He's…where…eh?"

"Ah, yes. He's not wearing a tie or gloves." The man sighed, his hand moving towards his face and taking the small rounded glasses off his nose while his other hand moved towards his trouser pocket, fishing out a small white cloth and rubbing the lenses gently to clean them. His tone shifted back to being cordial "Admittedly it was a small thing, but let's go back to your first point. He was just staring at the guild. Did he say anything when you approached him?"

"...He said he didn't know where to go…but I thought-!"

"You thought he got lost, presumably." Another interruption, the man pulled the cloth away and raised the lenses towards the light, peering through the small rounded glass at the light that was coming down from the ceiling, it was actually the first time that Sieg noticed it and his attention was only drawn to it because of the fact the other man had made a point of looking at it.

Up until then, he hadn't given any real thought as to where the light was coming from.

It looked like some sort of light but in the place of a bulb there was some manner of crystalline structure like glass, chipped and carved into the shape of a diamond. Now that Sieg looked closer, the general shape and colour of it was fairly similar to the monster stones he had been seeing throughout the day. He didn't know they could be turned into light fixtures, so that was pretty interesting, he supposed.

"Did he happen to say anything else?"

"But he said he was new!" Misha whined with a touch of desperation, now pointing at Sieg almost accusingly "How was I supposed to know he just wasn't scruffy!"

Sieg looked down at himself "...I'm scruffy?" his voice came out as a whisper, he didn't think that he looked unpresentable. At least, no one had said anything about his attire over the course of the day so he imagined that there hadn't been anything wrong with the way he was dressed.

"Yes, yes. Quite the argument." The man sighed "And I'm certain that Sieg here would have had ample opportunity to inform you of your mistake so I suppose you are not wholly at fault. And if you came in with the statement that Sieg was a new hire, then I suppose others would have had little reason to doubt whatever it was that you were saying."

There was a pause, then the man brought the glasses back up towards his head and fixed them atop his nose once more. "So really, what is there to be said in this situation? Save for the fact that rather than admitting he didn't work here, Sieg instead decided to help you after you - apparently - asked him for help and, if my conversation was anything to go by, he can't say no to people." he paused for a moment, then looked to Eina for the first time in the conversation.

Sieg watched as the woman - who had previously been staring at him with a shocked expression - was jolted back to her senses as the weight of the stare fell upon her from the man. "But you've been with him for most of the shift, I believe. So what can you tell me about Sieg, Eina?"

Eina opened and closed her mouth several times before her head dropped "He seems earnest."

"Earnest…yes, I suppose that's a good word for him. Earnest." The man nodded his head up and down in approval "So a boy lost in the city of Orario having apparently woken up in an alleyway-" that part of the sentence brought noises of confusion from either side of Sieg "-and with nowhere else to go gets sucked up into a crowd of adventurers and then dropped in front of the guild because of it. Where he is then dragged into the building under the mistaken belief he is a new employee, thrown headfirst into work he has no business being near and is undoubtedly underqualified for and the only reason we are having this conversation now is because he waltzes into my office with the backlog of your work."

He aimed the final part of his rant towards Misha, who flinched.

"And as for his reason for not telling people…what was it again?" Sieg opened his mouth to reply but the man held up a single finger. "Ah, yes. 'You didn't want them to feel bad for wasting their time' I believe it was. Not to mention that Misha had asked you for help and you didn't want to let her down, or along those lines."

The man lowered his hand "...Have I missed anything?"

"...I forgot to ask your name." Sieg said after a moment, the man blinked once.

"...Rehmer. I'm the supervising manager for the employees who are currently standing on either side of you."

"Ah, okay." Sieg nodded his head up and down in understanding. At last he had been able to ask the man his name, now he felt much better about knowing it. "I ask because I realised I didn't know what it was after you left. Sorry if that was rude."

"Yes, all that aside." Rehmer shook his head, whether or not he accepted Sieg's apology was something he couldn't quite see but at least he didn't appear put off by it. "I'm going to need the both of you to head back to the floor and go over everything he touched or had a hand in. For the time being, refrain from speaking about it until everything is cleared up. Ensure that all the documents are in proper order and that nothing is missing." he looked back to Sieg "I'm hesitant to ask…but did you bring anything in with you?"

"Rider's sword."

"...A sword?" Rehmer blinked once at him "You brought in a swor-'' he whirled on Misha with a baffled expression, where once had been understanding there was now incredulity. Sieg wasn't sure what had brought about the change, everyone else had been walking around with swords and spears. Then again, he hadn't seen anyone in the clothing of the Guild with weapons. "He was armed with a sword and you still thought he worked here?"

"He said he was holding onto it for a friend!" Misha hastily explained herself while taking a half step backwards, raising her hands in surrender while her face was now awash with panic. "I thought he just meant that he was being saddled with by a lazy adventurer or something! I put the sword in storage!"

"...As long as he's not brandishing it around the guild, that's fine." Rehmer seemingly calmed down, if the long sigh he let loose was any indication, looking back towards Sieg. "That's all I wanted you two here for, you can go back to your assigned tasks. Misha? I expect all your paperwork done by the end of the day, even if you have to take overtime to complete it. You aren't going home until it's all finished."

"Wha-...Yes, Manager." Sieg winced at her tone of voice, it sounded much more defeated than what he had heard from the girl previously. He didn't like that at all.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Misha sent him a half-hearted glare, something he accepted without argument, but from the way in which she turned back around and slinked back towards the door with her shoulders dropped and her head hanging forwards, she was much too tired to put effort into trying to be angry with him. Sieg watched her open the door, stepping out into the lobby, with a frown on his face, grimacing at her attitude before he turned around to face Eina.

She was the one he felt much worse towards, staring up at her as she shocked down at him with an expression caught somewhere between anger and embarrassment. She more than made up for whatever Misha had been lacking with her expression of complete disapproval, she had every right to be mad at him though. All that work she had put into teaching him didn't really matter anymore.

All the same, he really should say something to her.

"I'm sorry for all the-"

Eina turned away from him without letting him finish, moving towards the door and practically barging Misha through and into the room, reaching back and slamming it shut with a loud thud, to Sieg it might as well have been the roar of a jet with the way the room almost shook in his own eyes, his head still positioned to look over his shoulder having followed Eina's retreat from the room.

With both of them gone, he turned back towards Rehmer. The man spoke first before he could get a word in. "I haven't seen Eina look that annoyed in quite a while, it would seem she must have been rather taken with you."

She had seemed to put in a lot of effort into her role in teaching him "...I see. Is it because all her work has gone to waste?"

"Partly. Though it's more than Eina takes her job very seriously, from advising adventurers all the way up to aiding the new members of staff. If she's that annoyed with you, it would seem as though she thought highly of your work ethic and is now feeling as though you've played her for a fool."

"That wasn't my intention-"

"Intention or not, that is the end result and it could hardly be said to be incorrect now, can it?" Rehmer interrupted him before he could even finish speaking, the words dying on Sieg's lips before they even had a chance to manifest themselves. True enough, Rehmer wasn't wrong in the slightest. In the end, it would appear that his good intentions might have brought about the exact opposite to what he had been wanting to achieve. He really hated it when something like that happened.

"I see you understand." Rehmer's voice sounded out again, shaking his head from side to side as he stared down at him. "Well, what's done is done and while you can feel sorry for your actions until the sun sets, there still have to be consequences for them. Though I'm sure you understand that as well."

"Hmm." He gave a single nod of his head, if his actions had caused some sort of harm to the situation or made things worse, then it was only right that he do something he could to make amends. That was the right thing to do when a mistake was made, work to correct it. Though he wasn't sure if an apology would be enough, given as though Eina had left before he had been able to finish it.

There was still something else that was plaguing his mind, especially in relation to Misha and Eina.

"They're not in trouble, are they?" That was something he would be especially displeased about if it was the case. Him getting in trouble was understandable, it was his mistake and therefore it was only right that he accept the consequences for it. Even if Misha had been the one to start the misunderstanding, Sieg hadn't tried hard enough to clear it up. If they got in trouble because of his own weakness, then he wasn't sure how he would feel about that. It certainly wouldn't be good though.

Rehmer raised an eyebrow at him, reaching towards the chair he had pushed to the side and pulling it back towards him without saying a word. The questioning stare remained on him for a good few seconds, during which time the man lowered himself back into the seat and dragged himself closer to the desk. It was only after he had seemingly positioned himself where he wanted to be, that he spoke up again.

"Normally I would encourage you to be more concerned about yourself, however I believe that given our current situation, it would be advice unheeded." The man pointed out, his tone didn't sound like it had earlier, there was still the hint of exhaustion there but it sounded different now. Sieg wasn't sure what he was supposed to make of it but it sounded more conversational now.

"I've been told that before." He replied, Ruler had chided him for being reckless, especially with the Command Seals to change his body. He supposed he wasn't all that different when he last walked on the material side of the world, so the isolation hadn't changed him all that much. He didn't personally know if that was a good or bad thing, though. At the moment he was leaning towards it being more troubling than necessarily bad.

"Hmph. I'd assume so." Rehmer commented, his lips put into a thin line but it looked more as though he was doing it naturally rather than anything else. "In any case, that leaves us with the predicament at the moment. To answer your earlier question, however, that would depend on the effects of what you have done and how salvageable it is. Nothing serious beyond putting in the time to correct everything and put it all in order."

"I see. That's a relief."

"Is that so?"

"It was my fault for not explaining more clearly."

"You will find little argument from me on that part. Though the question of what becomes of you now remains. Especially with your…rather odd claims about your coming to the city in the first place. The rest can perhaps be excused with a fine and sending you on your way…" he paused for a moment "Is what I might say in any other situation, though I am personally dubious as to whether you have anything in regards to wealth."

"Ah, you mean Valis? No."

Rehmer sighed "I suspected as much." he muttered under his breath, reaching out and drumming his fingers against the desk in a pattern, his face set in a thoughtful frown. "You are new to the city and woke up in an alley."

"Yes." He nodded his head once, there was still something that he found rather incredible about all of this. "You believe me?"

"I'm humouring you, for the time being." Rehmer's correction put that idea to rest, the hardness of his words making it clear that he didn't believe him at all but he wasn't actually sounding all that hostile to what he was saying. Perhaps it was a case that there was no other explanation Sieg had offered? That was probably it. "I need something to write down when I file this report. I will also be requiring your details along with any Familia you might be affiliated with…"

"I don't have a relationship with the Gods."

"I didn't think you would, all the same we will need to check." Rehmer thinned his lips "I was merely offering you this as a single chance to be honest, though all we really require is to examine you back for evidence of Falna. Bear in mind that your status is something that should not be known to anyone without the strictest of confidence. All the guild is required to know is your Level…but if you aren't affiliated with any God or Goddess."

Sieg just blinked at some of the new terms he was receiving. Falna? What was that supposed to be? And why would they need to have a look at his back, were they going to examine him to see if there was anything wrong with his body? That was the first thing that popped into his head but it didn't sound like it. He assumed that the 'Falna' was something on his back that would denote a relationship with a God or Goddess but he didn't have an affiliation with one.

"That aside, we would also require any relatives you might have and their current locations. The place where you were born and your race." A sigh, he reached behind his desk and slid out the draw. "Fortunately, I often keep a spare parchment for any lists I may need to make and there is an inkpot and quill on the desk you can use. Fill it in truthfully." Even as he said that, he started to write something down on the paper, scribbling in what looked like different sections for him to fill in, then slid it over towards Sieg.

Looking down at it, Sieg read through the individual sections he'd been asked to fill in.

Name:

Age:

Race:

Family Members:

Place of Birth:

Familia:

Level:

It looked simple enough to fill in, but at the same time he was already seeing some problems with what he was supposed to write. Thinning his lips, he looked back up towards the man, "What if I don't have parents?"

"...Guardians or carers will suffice." Rehmer replied after a moment, a flash of something went through his eyes for whatever reason as he spoke. Sieg wasn't quite sure why his features had softened into something that looked like pity but perhaps it didn't matter all that much, was Rehmer perhaps slightly frustrated that he wouldn't be able to fill out all of the tables?

He could certainly make an attempt though.

Guardians…

People who cared for him then. He had a couple of names for that then, well three now that he considered it. So it was a good thing that he had asked. There might have been a bit of trouble if he hadn't. With that in mind, Sieg reached across the table and slid the inkpot - quill still sheathed inside it - towards himself and removed it.

Already putting ink to paper and filling it out as best he could. Hopefully with this, he could start to make amends for causing trouble. That would be nice, but at the same time he hoped it wouldn't take quite so long. He did have to consider how he got here in the first place and how he was supposed to get back to the Reverse side of the World.

He also had to consider whether the Holy Grail came here with him, if it did then he would have to find it again. Though that might be unlikely, as that would have meant Amakusa Shirou's wish would have been fulfilled and he wouldn't be having this conversation with the man in front of him.

Well, in that case, at least the Grail probably wasn't here.

Wherever here was.

AN: You hang in there, Sieg.

Speaking of, I know for fact it will come up so I might as well tell you what sort of timeline we're looking at here.

This is set a couple of weeks before Bell shows up so we're a little bit before Canon. Just long enough for Sieg to establish himself as a presence in Orario before the real story gets going, you know?

In terms of Power Ranking…

Pre-Galvanism Sieg = Level 1 Adventurer

Active Galvanism Sieg = Level 4 Adventurer

Siegfried = Level 7-8 Adventurer

Fafnir One-Eyed Black Dragon

Now I can already see some of you going "Bug Fafnir could burn down all of France!" and yes, Fafnir could indeed bring forth enough magical energy to destroy france.

You forget one simple thing.

This is Sieg, he might well hold the form of Fafnir but he has not the capacity within himself to really use that much power and eradicate an entire country off the face of the world. It's more like a mental handicap than actual restrictions on his power.

Besides, the OEBD killed pretty much all of the Adventurers of the Zeus and Hera Familia who were in the same scope of power as Servants.

OEBD solo'd all of them.

In a fight against the ordinary Fafnir? Maybe it could go either way.

In a fight against Sieg, the Detached and kind Dragon? Probably not.