The Frontier's Most Honourable
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Chapter 3: Settling In
Guild Girl's stylus danced quickly across the form, her signature neat and elegant. A quick stamp from the adventurers guild seal meant an approval for a party's reward. Leaving the desk for a moment then returning with a purse that clinked with the promise of coin, Guild Girl gave a polite smile to the adventurers who thanked her and left. There was now a lull in the activities of the guild, allowing Guild Girl a moment of reprieve. With a tired but satisfied smile, the receptionist of the Frontier Town Adventurers Guild took this opportunity to let her thoughts wander.
Lately, her thoughts had wandered to the newest addition to the ranks of the Adventurers Guild, the Warden. He was a mysterious character. He was a calm but quiet individual, not unlike Goblin Slayer, but he was also a bit more personable and social than the silver ranked adventurer. There was also an authoritative air about the man, as though he was a military commander who had seen many battles and conflicts, but with that there was a sense of deep tiredness. It was something that Guild Girl was curious about and wanted to ask Warden, but most adventurers were pretty tight-lipped about their pasts, unless circumstances dictated that they must share their past with others.
Guild Girl was tempted to ask Warden about his past, but refrained from doing so, feeling that whatever burden the man was carrying, it was his alone and that he would share it when he felt it was time to.
Her curiosity about Warden's past aside, Guild Girl was quite pleased that the newest adventurer had settled in quite well among the adventurers of the guild. There were one or two such who were sceptical about the Warden. Spearman in particular wasn't overly fond of Warden, but he was quickly reminded by his partner Witch just how easily Warden had trounced him in single combat. Some of the other more seasoned adventurers like Heavy Warrior and Female Knight were reserved in their judgement about Warden, but there was a sense of respect for a man who took fighting and combat seriously.
Of course, some questioned why Warden worked so often with Goblin Slayer. Some would say that Warden's Porcelain rank prevented him from taking higher ranked quests which would net him more money. Guild Girl herself thought such a thing could easily be remedied by giving Warden a promotion to the next rank. But more privately, Guild Girl was relieved that Goblin Slayer had a partner going with him on goblin hunting missions as few if any of the higher ranked adventurers took them.
The sound of firm footfalls broke Guild Girl from her reverie and she couldn't stop the happy smile spreading across her lips as she saw Goblin Slayer and Warden walking up to the front desk.
"Goblin Slayer! Mr Warden! A successful quest then?" she asked them brightly.
"They're all dead," Goblin Slayer said in usual distant but polite manner.
"Of course. Why wouldn't they be?" Guild Girl said with a soft smile. "I'll be right back with your reward. Do you have your paperwork?" she asked.
"Right here," Warden replied handing over an envelope. "I'll filled it out while taking watch at our camp last night," he explained.
Guild Girl smile and nodded as she took the envelope. Opening it to peruse the documents, the young woman smiled more widely and nodded in approval. "It all seems to be in order. I'll be right back!" Within moments, Guild Girl returned with a purse of coin, although her smile was apologetic as most of the coins were copper with one or two silver coins in the mix.
"Here you are. I'm sorry it isn't much," Guild Girl said with an apologetic smile.
"It is no trouble, Miss Guild Girl," Warden reassured her as Goblin Slayer split up the purse and divided the reward. "Plenty of goblins to hunt, so there's more than enough opportunity to make more coin," he added.
"Well, given how you two have been clearing out goblin nests lately, you might be waiting a while," Guild Girl told them with a nervous smile as she glanced at the notice board.
"No goblins?" Goblin Slayer chirped innocently, but if you knew the man you could hear the tiniest sound of disappointment and disbelief in his tone.
"No," Guild Girl said in confirmation. "You two have been working around the clock clearing out all the goblin nests in the region. It'll take some time for goblins to build up their numbers again."
"I prefer when there are no goblins," Goblin Slayer admitted.
"What other quests are there for us to take, Miss Guild Girl?" Warden then asked.
"There's one or two," Guild Girl intoned as she walked over to the notice board and picked out one or two notices. "There's a pack of wild wolves attacking sheep and cattle herds and there's a horde of giant rats in the sewers that need clearing out," she said to Goblin Slayer and Warden.
"Wolves and giant rants, eh?" Warden said. "How much are they offering each?" he asked professionally.
"A bit more than what a goblin hunting quest would offer," Guild Girl admitted sheepishly.
"Interesting," Warden said with a slow nod of his head. The tall knight then looked at Goblin Slayer and asked him, "What do you say? Want to try your hand at hunting something other than goblins?"
"But there are no goblins," the silver ranked adventurer said blandly.
"Yes, I am aware of that, but there are no goblins lately," Warden said patiently to his partner. "Besides, didn't you tell how goblins sometimes use wolves as mounts and watch dogs?" he pointed out.
Goblin Slayer was silent for a moment before slowly nodding his head. Warden nodded in satisfaction and said to Guild Girl, "We'll take this one." He indicated the wolf hunting notice.
Guild Girl smiled and said, "Very well. I'll mark it down in the books." She leaned into Warden and whispered to him, "This is the first time I've seen Goblin Slayer take something other than goblin hunting quests."
"Well, every man needs money," Warden said with some humour. "But first, I daresay we could do with something to eat. Don't want to do this on empty stomach," he stated knowingly.
Warden then headed into the adjacent tavern with Goblin Slayer following him inside the establishment. Guild Girl resumed her position at the front desk, smiling to herself more widely. She was pleased that Goblin Slayer had made a good friend who was getting him to open up a little more and take something other than goblin quests.
Warden and Goblin Slayer found an empty table and sat down at it. Then walking up to them almost timidly was Padfoot Waitress. "Can I take your order?" she asked them politely if nervously.
"What do you have?" Warden was then handed a menu and he took but a moment to browse the selection before making his choice. "I'll have the chicken and potatoes," he said to Padfoot Waitress. "What will you have?" he asked Goblin Slayer.
"I'll eat when I get home," Goblin Slayer said neutrally.
"Hm. Very well, but you wouldn't want to insult the hospitality of Miss Padfoot Waitress, would you?" Warden pointed out.
"I-It's fine. If he doesn't want to order anything, then he doesn't have to," Padfoot Waitress said with a nervous smile at Goblin Slayer.
Warden glanced between the silent and stoic Goblin Slayer and the nervous Padfoot Waitress before shrugging. "Very well. I'll have the chicken and potatoes," he said dropping the subject.
Padfoot Waitress nodded and skittered off to prepare Warden's offer. Warden then looked at his partner and said to him, "I think we both made her nervous."
"Did we?" Goblin Slayer asked in mild confusion.
"We did," Warden confirmed to him. "And I think Miss Padfoot Waitress was a little insulted that you didn't order anything," he added.
"Did I?" Goblin Slayer chirped in surprise.
"You did," Warden told him. "Were you not taught manners as a child?" he asked.
"Hrk!" Goblin Slayer stiffened up awkwardly before nodding stiffly. "I was…" he admitted.
"But did those lessons take, I wonder?" Warden said sardonically as Padfoot Waitress returned with a plate of steaming hot roast chicken, potatoes and gravy. "Thank you, Miss Padfoot," the knight told her before he removed his helmet to reveal his face.
Underneath the Warden's helmet was a handsome but worn looking face. His age was hard to determine given his weather beaten and scarred countenance; from one angle, he looked to be nearing middle years, but from another, he looked to be younger than thirty. Numerous scars riddled the Warden's face adding to his age. His hair was a golden almost brown-blonde colouration with one or two whisps of grey making one think he was nearing middle-age. His eyes were a hazel-green colour that spoke of a man who had seen a little too much and had gotten a little too comfortable with it. His jaw was clean shaven and looked like it could chisel granite. Picking up his knife and fork, Warden began to eat his meal. Sensing eyes staring at him, he looked up to see Padfoot Waitress and many of the other adventurers in the restaurant gawking at him.
"What?" he asked and he got some embarrassed looks and flushed faces as the other adventurers awkwardly went back to their meals, although a few kept shooting Warden glances.
Padfoot Waitress was gobsmacked as she watched Warden eat. The man in question looked at her and asked, "Is something on my face?"
"N-N-No! I just – this is the first time I've seen your face!" Padfoot Waitress blurted out stupidly before blushing red as a tomato.
"Is it all that surprising?" Warden said blandly as he continued to eat.
"Umm…" Padfoot Waitress blushed harder and shuffled her feet on the spot.
Then a voice interrupted. "So, you do take your helmet off." Warden looked up to see Heavy Warrior and Female Knight walking up to their table. The two silver ranked adventurers were looking at Warden's face with surprise and curiosity.
"From time to time, I do. Such as now," Warden stated as he resumed his meal.
"Guessing I lost the bet," Heavy Warrior muttered as he handed over a purse of money to Female Knight who pocketed with a smug smile. "Still, looking at you now, I can see you're a seasoned warrior," Heavy Warrior then remarked as he looked more closely at Warden. "You look like you've seen your share of battles," he added.
"More than I care to admit," Warden said enigmatically.
"What kind of battles have you been in?" Female Knight asked curiously.
"A senseless war where a warmonger incited conflict between the nations of my lands to weed out the weak, to separate the wolves from the sheep," Warden said with a grim bitter air.
"Wolves from the sheep?" Female Knight repeated. "What does that even mean?" she asked in rising dread.
Warden shook his head silently, refusing to say anything further on the subject. Heavy Warrior sensed this and nodded in understanding. "It's fine. You needn't say any more." Nudging his partner and looking at her seriously, Heavy Warrior then led them away to another table.
Warden resumed eating his dinner before he looked at Padfoot Waitress who was still gawking at him in fascination. "Don't you have customers to take care of?" he asked her and the young woman blushed and bowed her head in embarrassment before hurrying off to take care of customers.
Giving a small smile of satisfaction, Warden finished his meal and paid for it. "Let's go. Those wolves aren't going to hunt themselves," he told Goblin Slayer who nodded, rising to his feet. The pair of adventurers then left the Guild to take a carriage to where the notice said the wolves would be near.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There! After a long wait, I finally updated this. I apologise for it being so short and for the lack of action, but the next chapter will hopefully have enough action to keep you all satisfied.
There isn't too much to say about this particular chapter, it's really just a filler, but it does set up the premise of the next chapter nicely, so keep an eye out for it.
In other news, I've set up a romance poll for my A Young Griff's Guide to Skyrim story, so if you haven't already, feel free to cast your vote. And some new story ideas on the brain are an Elder Scrolls/Outer Worlds crossover; basically the Dragonborn from Skyrim joining the Captain/Stranger in their journey to take down the Board of Halcyon, so would that be something you'd all be interested in reading? Let me know in the comments if it's something I should write and publish.
And that's about all I have, so I'll see you all in the next one.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.