Chapter 11 – Meeting the Guild Master

Nozomu gently held the woman’s hand and kissed the fingertips. He spoke as she was gasping in surprise, “If you consider hitting my head against a rock and losing my memory completely as a nice change, then I guess I am indeed a different person. I have no idea if I ever met you, and that pains me because forgetting your amazingly beautiful face should be considered a crime. I don’t know if I ever treated you badly or if I was rude to you. If I did, I apologize and I hope you can forgive me for that. I will do everything I can to atone for my rudeness if I ever angered you.”

The woman gulped and felt her heart skipping a beat. She spoke after an awkward silence while Nozomu was still holding her hand, “I am not sure if you are serious or if this is another one of your jokes, but I like the way you talk! If I were younger, I would go after you after what you said, that’s for sure!”

Nozomu made a slight smile, “Age is just a knot that binds our freedom. Happiness and respect for one another are what truly matters.”

“Darn, I am about to jump over this desk and kiss you, if you keep on flirting with me! Things sure will be interesting around here, if this is your new character! You are kinkier and wiser, way more than is expected from someone of your age.”

She slowly retrieved her hand from Nozomu’s hold, and he said with a serious face, “I do hope I am not stepping over some unspoken rule, but a beautiful woman such as yourself deserves to be flirted with and complimented all day long. If no one is doing that, maybe all these Adventurers are completely blind.”

“Well, they in fact compliment me from time to time, but not like you are doing, for sure. They are more brutish and unmannered. You, on the other hand, are very polite and nice to talk to, even if you are younger than me. That’s a pity indeed because if I were younger or if you were older, things could be different. As it is, it will be quite difficult. I may need to advise you not to flirt so much with younger girls, most are not used to being treated like that, with so much politeness and kindness, and they might easily fall for you. Unless you intend on collecting girlfriends, that is, and that is not a very nice thing to do.”

“Thank you for the advice, I will be very careful as to not mislead any girl I meet.”

The Priest cleared his throat to call for attention, “Ahem… We came to see the Guild Master, he is here, I hope?”

“He is in his office. He is expecting you, you can go right in. I will see you later, Nozomu. You too, Taisetsuna.”

Nozomu made a slight bow with his head and winked as he was leaving. The Bovine-kind woman threw a kiss at him, receiving a frown from Taisetsuna. She tilted her head and asked, “What? I am not married, and neither is he. I can flirt with him as well. Stop being jealous Taisetsuna, you will get some ugly wrinkles.”

“I am not jealous! I just…”

She quickly turned away and went after the Priest, leaving behind a mumbling receptionist, “I could swear… Nah, she can’t be… or can she?”

While the receptionist was looking at them, the Priest knocked on the door, and upon a shout from a familiar voice inside, he opened it.

Nozomu and Taisetsuna followed him, and the enormous Guild Master got up and pointed at the chairs in front of his desk, “My dear Priest, welcome! Nozomu and Taisetsuna, I am happy to receive you two in my humble establishment!”

The Priest shook the Guild Master’s hand, and he then shook Nozomu who stared at him in absolute silence while increasing the grip on his hand so that it was not broken by the strong squeeze of the muscular Guild Master.

He then shook the hand of Taisetsuna, quickly retrieving it with a grimace of pain, “Careful with those claws, Taisetsuna, you can hurt someone with those sharp things!”

“Maybe next time you remember not to squeeze so much, and I won’t pierce you again. It’s very rude to shake someone’s hand like you did unless you were aiming to show your strength. There is no need for that, everyone knows that your muscles are not inflated goats' stomachs.”

“You are right, sometimes I forget my own strength. So, have a seat and let’s talk for a while.”

The Priest sat and he spoke first, “Like we talked last time, I brought them with me. Are you still willing to give them a roof and a job?”

“Of course, you know very well that I reached where I am after leaving the Orphanage where I was raised, and a Guild Master gave me a job. It makes perfect sense if I do the same for these two. Nozomu can work in the kitchen, learning with my cook, and Taisetsuna will serve at the tables and help at the front desk when needed. Nozomu will also serve at the tables if his work in the kitchen is done. They will receive the usual salary of one gold coin a month, together with a room that they will have to pay for one copper coin per day and that also includes two meals. If they save their money, they can buy fruit or bread if they want a snack during the day or new clothes. They can also do some errands for the Adventurers and gain a tip. If they want, they can pay for a lesson with an Adventurer. There is always someone around willing to teach the next generation of Adventurers.”

Nozomu nodded at Taisetsuna, and she grinned, “I just have one question, if I may. How much do you normally pay for a Healing Potion? Because we have some vials to sell, and we could use some pocket money for future expenses.”

“Well, the average price for a Low-Grade Healing Potion is one gold coin, and a Medium-Grade Healing Potion is thirty gold coins. Why do you ask?”

“What about a High-Grade Healing Potion?”

The Guild Master raised one eyebrow, “That can go up to one hundred gold coins, sometimes, even more, considering the number of Potions available and the market for it, at any given time.”

Taisetsuna took a small package from the one-shoulder bag that she was carrying and placed it on the table. She unravelled it and there it was, five small vials of a Medium-Grade Potion. She grabbed one and gave it to the puzzled Guild Master that pulled out the cork and smelled it. He took a tiny drop with the tip of an unused writing feather that he quickly grabbed from a drawer and tasted it.

“A very good Medium-Grade. Did you make this? Because if you did and you want to sell, I can buy it.”

“We did it, and we are indeed selling it, for the small amount of thirty gold coins each vial.”

“Make it twenty gold coins, and we have a deal.”

Taisetsuna grinned, “Pay twenty-five for each vial or I will sell it outside. There are a lot of Adventurers that I bet are always looking for Potions. If you buy them all, we are willing to give you a chance of buying two vials of High-Grade Healing Potions, for the average selling price, of course. We may be young, and you may very well be our new boss, but we are not stupid.”

The Guild Master widened his eyes, “You know how to make High-Grade Potions? Having so many Medium-Grade is already surprising considering the rarity of the main ingredient, but you also made High-Grades? How did you do it?”

“Our Unicorns found the extremely rare bush and brought us some leaves. As for the High-Grade, neither of us knows how we did it, it was an accident. We spilt in the pan a few extra ingredients that fell from the upper kitchen cabinet, and everything got mixed. I doubt we would be able to make more.”

Hearing about Unicorns, the Guild Master was even more curious, so Taisetsuna told him how Nozomu and her were attacked by two angry Unicorns when they were training, and that led to the capture of the rare and powerful Magical Beings that were resting in the stable.

When Nozomu took out the vials of the High-Grade Potion, the Guild Master tested one as well, and he made a big smile, grabbing a purse from the safe and taking out a pile of gold coins that he placed on the table in front of Taisetsuna.

“I am not even arguing the price. Twenty-five gold coins for each Medium-Grade and one hundred for each High-Grade Potion. A huge sum of money for two youngsters. I hope you don’t lose your mind and spend it unwisely.”

Taisetsuna divided the gold coins into three exact piles and gave one pile to Nozomu, and another to the Priest, putting her pile in her purse. The Priest argued that he didn’t need it, but Nozomu and Taisetsuna told him that it was a tiny retribution for raising them, and they would for sure keep on sending him a part of their earnings that he could use for his expenses or his work.

The Priest put the coins in his purse with tears in his eyes, and the Guild Master broke the awkward silence that followed, “Taisetsuna and Nozomu, your bedrooms are on the top floor, the last two doors on the right of the corridor. The first two doors on the right and the two at the left are for renting to anyone that wants a good night’s sleep, but the last ones are all yours. Maybe it’s better if you go put your things in there and get ready to work. It’s already the middle of the morning, and in a few hours, lunch will be served and you two will have a lot to take care of, considering the number of Adventurers that are in the City today. I think I am going to have a look at those Unicorns of yours since Taisetsuna said they were in the stable. Which Magic types they use?”

Nozomu spoke with a slight smile, “The red is ‘Furnace’ and he uses Fire and Healing Magic, and ‘Rampage’ is the white one, and he uses Lightning Magic and Healing Magic as well. I don’t advise you to get too close to ‘Rampage’, he has a bad temper.”

“Lightning Magic? That’s absurdly rare! That means you can use that type of Magic as well?”

Nozomu scratched his head with an awkward smile, “Not exactly. I am rather useless with Magic, actually. But ‘Furnace’ is a good partner for Taisetsuna, considering she is also able to use that type.”

“That is a bummer indeed. Having such a powerful Magical Being and not being able to use the same type of Magic, means that he can’t boost your Magic. Well, at least he can fight for you if needed. Now I am even more curious! I really want to check those Unicorns for myself! I will be careful, don’t worry, I got my share of attacks from angry Unicorns, I am not going to put myself in danger. Got enough of that in my younger years!”