System Change

It was still quite early in the morning when Derek exited Roman’s alchemy shop. It was always nice to visit Roman, but he preferred visiting him at his bar instead. Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards as Derek was there to conduct a little bit of business instead of just chatting. Next time, I’ll have to check when he’s working at his old, run down bar and visit there. He doubted Roman actually had a lot of time to work in his bar or sell his brews with all the Void Beast materials and other assistance that was provided by Derek and Alanah.

The halfling Alchemist did, after all, only run the bar and sell his brews to help him be able to afford all the different materials and other items that he needed to progress in his real passion. It was the same as with all the virility and fertility potions that he had a knack for crafting.

Derek shook his head at the thought of those potions, then looked around. After standing outside the shop for a minute, and thinking about the first time he met Roman, he figured out where he wanted to head to next while he was making his rounds after returning. With a smile on his face, Derek turned and began walking toward the center of the city.

Not long after, Derek found himself outside the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild. I wonder if Shae’s still alive. He seemed pretty scared to come back after leaving Judy with all that work for over a year, he thought as he pushed the doors open and walked inside. Looking around, he was happy to see that the place wasn’t busy so early in the morning. That actually may not be the case, he thought. The place was more than not busy. It was practically deserted. I bet the guild has been severely lacking in missions since the war started—this could just be a result of that.

Shrugging, Derek walked over to the counter to the person that he was just thinking about—the person who single-handedly held the life of the Savannah Adventurer’s Guild Master in the palm of her hands. Judy still had her head down going over something, and hadn’t looked up since Derek entered. He wasn’t sure if she was ignoring him or if she was actually busy, but, being the polite person that he was, Derek waited. Soon, the woman looked up and met Derek’s gaze with her own.

“Derek Hunt,” Judy said, monotone. “What can I help you with?” She sighed, exasperated. Judy definitely saw him when he came in because she didn’t look surprised to see Derek at all. And with her dry delivery, it didn’t seem like she was all too interested in helping him, either. She obviously knew that Derek was there for Shae, and that he wasn’t actually there for any Adventurer’s Guild business.

“Wow…” Derek said in mock shock. He looked around again, but at the moment, it was just Judy and him in the lobby. “The customer service of this place has taken a turn for the worse since the last time I was here. It must have really suffered while Shae was gone. Such a shame…”

“Yeah… a shame,” Judy said. “Now, what do you need? I’m busy, and as you can see, we’re shorthanded at the moment.”

“You’re short customered, too,” Derek said with a chuckle. “Why is that? Surely it’s not just because it’s early. Is it because of the war?”

“Yes,” Judy confirmed Derek’s suspicions with a nod. “Since the war started, most adventurers either went on ‘vacation’ or joined the rest of the army to fight. Because of that, the Guild Leader issued orders that missions requiring an adventurer to go outside the city walls were not to be assigned. So, all we were left with were bronze ranked missions inside the city. Other than some bronze-ranked kids looking to make a quick bronze or silver, the guild has been… slow.”

“Ah, I see,” Derek said. “And the Guild Leader hasn’t changed those orders back yet?” he asked. “I don’t know if you know this, but the war’s over, and Indria, Cydaria, and Indaria—formerly Astrus—are even allied. I imagine you’re going to be swamped with work any day now.”

“No,” Judy said, her face still impassive. “But as you can see, even with very few people coming here, I am already ‘swamped with work’ because I am having to do everybody else’s jobs on top of my own,” the brown-haired woman explained. “And no. The news of all that hasn’t arrived yet. But seeing you here, it doesn’t take much to figure it out. So now, I have to add more work to my list to make sure everything is up to date for when everyone comes back. Though, it will be nice to call back the rest of the workers once we can post actually missions again. This place is boring alone.”

“Maybe try reading a book?” Derek said with a smile as he remembered Nia from the Adventurer’s Guild in Torith and wondered how she was doing. Torith’s Adventurer’s Guild was always pretty slow because of where it was and the fact that it wasn’t a full city, so she always had a book ready to read. I hope she’s still alive, he thought. Nia had told him in the few times that they met that she enjoyed her job there because the pay was decent and she never had to risk her life for it. Now, he knew that her manager had died, so he wasn’t sure about her status.

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“I’m already staring at paperwork all day. Why would I want to stare at more words? Besides, like I said, I’m busy. I wouldn’t have time to read a book even if I wanted to,” she said.

“But you have Shae back now. Surely he’s taken some of the load off,” Derek said.

“Yeah,” Judy chuckled, almost evilly—it was the most reaction he’d been able to get out of her yet. “He’s not going to be seeing the light of day for some time. He has very much work to catch up on.”

“So… you’re saying he can’t come out to play?” Derek asked. He wanted to see how Shae and his Astral Viper companion were getting along.

“Not a chance…” Judy said. “I didn’t even let him leave home today—made him stay home with stacks and stacks of paperwork that require the Guild Master to fill out instead of me. I made sure not to fill in any of that information for him, too. So he has to do more than just slap his signature on things.”

“Oh,” Derek said. “I can honestly say that I don’t envy him right now.”

“It’s his own fault,” Judy said. “He volunteered for that mission, and so soon after spending all that money out drinking.” She sighed. “However, I can call him for you if you have proper business with which he is needed,” she said, still the professional.

“Hmm…” Derek rubbed his chin in thought. “No chance you’ve changed your policy or rules and are able to issue diamond-ranked badges yet, is there? I’m pretty sure I won’t have any problems getting one now.”

“Actually,” Judy started, almost mechanically. “There is some paperwork that we received and Shae has to fill out that will give us the ability to issue diamond-ranked badges. The capital’s Guild Master Cain Ibarra just sent it in. My idiot husband seemed to have impressed him during the raid, and since his strength has increased quite a bit, the Guild Leader agreed with Cain that Savannah should be able to issue all adventurer ranks as long as Shae is here.”

“Oh, great,” Derek said. Then, thinking back to his and Judy’s first introduction, he said, “One diamond-ranked badge, please.” He held his hand out with his index finger pointed up.

“I said he has to fill out the paperwork. It’s just one of many things he has to do,” Judy replied. “At his current speed, I imagine it will be finished sometime within the next few weeks. You can either come back then or go to the guild in the capital to earn it. Either way, it’s not something either of us can help you with at the moment.”

“Dang,” Derek said and snapped his fingers. He really didn’t need the adventurer’s badge at all. There wasn’t a reason for him to get it. He didn’t need anything the guild or people issuing missions could offer—especially money.

Derek was already friends with Alanah, and if there was something he needed, he was sure he could find a way to get it by talking to either her or Stella. Still, he kind of wanted the badge. He also wanted to finally meet the elusive Guild Leader. He didn’t even know the person’s name, but he could only imagine that the person was strong. “I guess that’s that…”

“Yes… that’s that,” Judy said, her face still blank. “Is there anything else I can assist you with, or will that be it for the day?”

“Oh, I know,” Derek said, then slightly leaked his aura a bit. “Would you like to see how my aura has changed since the last time? I think you’ll be impressed.”

“No!” Judy’s eyes widened, and she held out one hand, palm forward, to motion for him to stop. “Don’t do that, please. The last thing I need is to have to spend part of the day recovering my senses after a monster like you releases his aura.”

Derek withdrew his aura—which he hadn’t even released enough of to turn the whites of his eyes purple—and laughed. “Finally,” he said. “A bit more of a reaction. For a second, I thought you may have been replaced by a machine or something. It’s good to see that you can still act like that. I was getting worried.”

“You’re an idiot, too,” she said. “Just like Shae.”

“It’s not terrible company to be in if you think about it,” Derek said. “He’s a good idiot, at least.”

“That he is,” Judy sighed and finally let her face form into a soft smile. “Is that all?”

“That’s it,” Derek said. “Tell Shae I stopped by to say hi, will ya? And at least leave him some food and water before you go out.” The poor guy is perpetually in the doghouse. But I guess it’s his fault, Derek thought. Shae was a man who enjoyed fighting and adventure, but he also fell for Judy, so he had to make some sacrifices.

“Sure…” Judy replied. “I’ll think about it.”

Derek chuckled. “Then I guess that’s it. You have a good day,” he said before turning around and making his way back through the lobby, then through the door leading outside.

As the doors closed behind him, he was surprised to see a young boy walk past him and enter the building. Must be a bronze-ranked kid looking to get a mission, he thought. There were only a few missions even posted on the mission board that he managed to sneak a peek at as he was leaving. I bet those low ranked adventurers like it, at least. They don’t have to stand in line forever just to pick up a mission to go sweep Ms. Anne’s floors.

Huh… Derek thought back to earlier at Roman’s shop. I wonder if Roman had any of the same problems at his shop that the Adventurer’s guild has been having. He did notice that the old man who worked as the shopkeeper for Roman hadn’t been in, and Freia had taken his position instead. If the old shopkeeper had been there, then Freia wouldn’t have had to rush that customer out, and the old man could have taken care of him.

Well… it could have just been because of how early it was. Maybe he just hadn’t arrived to work yet, or it could have been his day off or something. The fact that Roman did have a customer so early in the morning showed that he probably wasn’t hurting. Then again, his business could be at an all-time high. He could have been selling tons of those ‘potions’ to bored nobles and people who had nothing better to do because they were trapped inside the city. Just look at Jacks and Rayna—the prime examples. I’ll have to ask Roman the next time I see him.

Derek chuckled and looked across the way from him. I wonder what Stella is up to.