Chapter 5 Guild Application

Simon couldn't sleep for most of the night, he was too twitchy for some reason. He got up, paced the room, went back to bed and repeated. He also tried sleeping on different places on the bed and in different positions. He spent most of the night frustrated and trying to lull himself to sleep. Then it finally happened, just as dawn broke he collapsed on the floor, sound asleep.

He found himself floating in a black space.

'Where am I?' he thought, 'oh right I'm dreaming.' He said slapping himself in the head. He felt a chill run down his spine, he turned, to see that there was nothing behind him.

'You should return.' He heard someone say, he yelped and turned to see Siela standing to the side of him.

'It's you … but what are you doing here?' He asked.

'Return.' She repeated.

'Where?'

'Sakriny, you must return to Sakriny.' She demanded.

Simon hesitated in a response, she was being too vague. 'I'm sorry … I can't return.' He finally responded.

'Why not?' She asked sternly.

'I promised someone …' he began.

'Is it your skeptical friend?' She asked. He didn't respond, she scowled at him.

'Please understand,' he begged, 'she's worried about my well being, since I don't have a memory and have the traits of those who'll get exterminated, so I have to run.'

'Fool.' She spat, her back turned to him.

'Wait … what are you doing in my dream?' He asked, 'Just who are you anyway?' she turned back to him.

'Let's just say that you and I are one in the same … Simon …' She said, 'What an interesting name choice. Oh, you could always join a guild if you have nothing to do.' She mused to herself before disappearing.

'Siela! Wait!' He shouted, then the black empty space changed to a plain, in the middle of winter, snow fell gently. He looked around wondering what happened. He shivered when a light breeze blew by. He walked forward looking for something. Then he came across a girl in black, a veil covered the back of her head entirely, so he couldn't see her hair color. She knelt in front of what looked like a grave marker, crying. He wanted to reach out to her, but he couldn't move or say a thing.

He snapped awake, he looked out the window, through the rain, he couldn't tell what time of day it was. He walked downstairs to see a man instead of Lediemn in the front desk.

"Excuse me, do know where I can get a job?" He asked the man.

"Not many places have been offering jobs since the depression." Explained the man, "If I were you, I would try to apply for the guild, or if they're not looking for recruits, ask for employment assistance."

"Thank you." Said Simon. He left the inn with a destination in mind, 108 gates street. He followed the same directions he as Frederick's except he doesn't take a turn, he stops at the corner. A concrete building with some windows that loomed three stories high was in front of him. He peeked his head into the building to see a tanned man with silver hair, dressed a bit sloppily, sleeping on the front desk. He entered the building, and walked up to the front desk.

"Um … excuse me …" He said, no response from the man, he noticed a bell right next to where his feet were placed. He tapped the bell, no response. Then he compulsively ringed the bell, making the man jump and fall out of his chair.

"Ow … what the hell was that for? I know it's a slow day but-" The man moaned getting up off the floor, then he spotted Simon. "Oh sorry about that." He excused. "It's Voltday*, business is pretty slow today. Are you here to fill out a request?"

"No … actually … I'm thinking of applying for the guild." Said Simon.

"Been turned down by other companies? Not that I blame you, with this economic depression it's been hard for people to find a job." Sighed the man.

"No … I haven't been turned down by other companies … yet …" Said Simon, the man raised an eyebrow. "I've been told that at least applying here now, as opposed to later is my best bet."

"You have guts kid," muttered the man with a smile, reaching under the desk and pulling out a paper. "Fill this out." He ordered giving him the paper as well as a pen and ink bottle. Simon looked over the paper, he filled out one space where it said "Name," but became confused about the two extra spaces after his first name. He skipped it and filled out "18" where it said age, he skipped the "Date of birth" entry. He wrote down that he was from Moslin, and he was a refugee. He skipped any other questions he didn't know. He tapped the pen to the table. "Is something wrong kid?"

"Um … I don't know what some of these things mean …" He explained, "I've lost my memory recently so I don't know my date of birth, previous employers, special skills, and medical conditions."

"Just fill in "Amnesia" for medical condition, as for the rest, just leave blank for now, and write down your residency." Said the man, looking rather nervous Simon did just that. "We'll get back to you as soon as we can. So in that time, go find another job kid." Simon nodded but he had a feeling that they won't get back to him.

"Um … thank you for your time." Said Simon leaving the building. It started raining again, so Simon ran to the nearest shelter, it had a help wanted poster on the window. He seemed rather interested but was nervous from the reaction he got from the receptionist at Ad Libitum.

"Is something wrong sir?" Asked someone. A blue haired young man, around 16, wearing something similar to Simon's attire except patched up stared at him rather curiously.

"Well … I've been thinking about working here but … I have amnesia and I'm just worried about getting rejected because of it." Explained Simon.

"I don't work yet, but I know that a disability like that will definitely hinder you, unlike Cademeca, Speg doesn't offer assistance to people with amnesia or any other mental disability. So … you're pretty much jobless. You can try to get an education … but these days education is expensive. I had to drop out because it was expensive. "

"I see … its hopeless unless I can remember anything …" sighed Simon.

"Yep, though the guild does take in people like that … Well if they can prove themselves ..." Said the boy. "But if that doesn't work out the factory can always employ a few disposable meat shields." He laughed, making Simon nervous.

"I was just at the guild." Said Simon, changing the subject. "So you're saying that there is hope for me at the guild?"

"Yup, I hear the guild tests you with some jobs then you're in. Though I'm probably romanticizing it, there are probably some jobs where you have to exterminate monsters."

"Then I guess I have to prepare for the worst." Simon laughed. "Thank you very much um …"

"Robin … my name is Robin." The boy introduced.

"Simon." He introduced offering a handshake, Robin took it and then ran off into the rain waving good bye.

*Voltday is the equivalent of Monday in this world.

I should probably warn you that some of the tales characters may not be very recognizable... I might have to put up references somewhere.