The Sword and The Shadow

Vera only opened the door to her room after a few minutes. In that span of time, Cyranos heard sounds of scolding, slapping, scratching, and cries of pain.

When he entered the room, he saw two people that looked just slightly familiar to him, forced to sit on a chair.

Hmm, if I take away the red hand marks on their faces, and the scratch marks on their limbs, as well as their messed up hair, those two should be people I know… They must be Kurdak and Leguna, thought Cyranos, before he looked at the two of them and back at Vera and formed a guess about the situation.

“Were the two of you roughed up?” asked Cyranos in a low voice.

“No shit!” cried the two in unison as they each gave Cyranos a slap.

“We fear not godly enemies,” began Leguna.

“Only godforsaken allies!” finished Kurdak.

Vera braked at the two of them, “You’re still blaming it on someone else?! It was the two of you that came into my room when you got drunk in the first place!”

Leguna was hurting so bad he started to tear up.

“It’s not my fault, Sis! I was knocked out yesterday. It was Boss who brought me here! I don’t know anything! Look at me, I’m still clothed. I was too deeply asleep to do anything! Look at Boss’s clothes… If anything did happen, it’s his fault!”

“The heck… I even thought you were a loyal person when you asked me to escape… I didn’t think you would sell me out this quickly!” cried Kurdak, feeling like the whole world was his enemy.

“Boss, this is a fatal moment. I’ll be more than thankful if I make it out alive myself! I’ll definitely find a way to collect your corpse after I escape!” countered Leguna without the slightest hint of shame.

“Cyranos can collect my corpse all the same!” cried Kurdak like a swine about to be slaughtered.

“Boss, you really expect too much from me! If I escaped myself before Cyranos came, I would’ve escaped unscathed! I actually doomed myself by trying to save you, so you have no right to complain!” cried Leguna in a similar tone.

“Can you close the door for me? I have something I need to deal with,” said Vera with the brightest smile.

“Can I go outside first?” asked Cyranos, feeling as if he had learned something he shouldn’t have.

Cold sweat poured down his back.

“Nope,” Vera said with a smile as she closed the door herself.

Kurdak and Leguna yelled like madmen, “Hahahaha, come, Cyranos! Die! Die together with us! Hahaha!”

……

When Leguna left the inn, he looked at the sunny skies and people walking along the illuminated streets and couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of life.

According to their former plan, he would have followed Kurdak to the Mercenary Association for registration before he headed to report to the Moonshadow Thieves’ Guild himself. Since Kurdak wasn’t a part of the guild, it wouldn’t be good for him to be present.

However, after Vera dealt with the three of them, Kurdak went looking straight for a mirror and said he could no longer show his face in public.

“Stop joking around! If I head to the Association looking like this and let blabbermouths like Maver or Kedor see me, I will never be able to show my face again!” exclaimed Kurdak before he locked himself in his room.

Having no other choice, Leguna went to look for Cyranos, who no longer dared to face Vera head on. However, when he saw Cyranos’s face, he shook his head of his own accord and left the inn without saying anything.

Even though he was Kurdak’s ‘accomplice’, perhaps because he was still young, Vera wasn’t as harsh on him as she was on the others. Apart from the two pulsing slap marks on his face, he didn’t look that different. That was why he still dared to head out. He followed the directions Kurdak had given him to get to Belir Street.

I didn’t know the branch of Lance’s largest thieves’ guild would be like this, thought he a little anxiously.

Currently, he felt no different from a student on his first day in school.

A dark alley, a hidden, heavily guarded entrance that required a password, and hasty-looking guild members were all Leguna could see. It took him some time to find the secret entrance before he got past the guards using his recommendation letter and entered the building. He was rather dazed by the busy looks of the people within. After a moment, a well-trained receptionist came to lead him through the process of filling in some documentation and identification papers before filing them away. From that moment onward, he was a member of the continent’s largest thieves guild. He thought his journey to work hard for promotions, to become a manager, emerge as a CEO, and attain a life of luxury, was about to begin.

But it wouldn’t come to pass. The picture he had of the guild was entirely his imagination. As if being dealt with by Vera wasn’t taxing enough, he was to be surprised yet again by how the guild actually looked.

Is… Is this really Moonshadow’s odd job department? Where are all the guards? Forget it, even without them, they don’t even look professional! What the heck is with that large sign with ‘Moonshadow Odd Job Department’ written on it? Are they running a shop? Aren’t thieves and assassins supposed to hide in the shadows? It’s like they’re trying to vie for attention to get clients! Even if this were the case, you should at least change the freaking sign! Half of the word ‘department’ is already falling off! I wonder if the chairman knows… The largest thieves guild in the eastern continent? Way to let people down, Moonshadow!

After seeing the odd job department, Leguna suddenly had the urge to properly research the various factions and powers on Lance.

After he commented harshly on the place in his mind, he sighed and calmed his thoughts before he entered.

Who’s that chubby guy sleeping on the desk in the sho– Ahem, I mean odd job department?

Seeing the guy sound asleep, he cleared his throat to try to catch his attention.

“Ahem!”

“Huhii?” mused the chubby man as he opened his eyes.

A high-pitched voice broke out of his mouth.

“Oh my, welcome, fine customer, to the odd job department of Moonshadow Thieves. Might I inquire what kind of service you seek? You need somebody tailed? Or something delivered? How about having something or someone located? Moonshadow promises to provide the best service we can at the fairest price, honest!”

The chubby man finished his sales pitch before he noticed the state of Leguna’s face.

“Dear customer… What’s with your face?”

“It’s nothing… That’s my… birthmark,” said Leguna as he lightly felt up his still-hurting face, before bowing slightly and saying, “Good day, I am a new recruit, Leguna, here to report for duty.”

“Oh, I see. I knew there wouldn’t be customers so early in the morning,” the chubby man mused with a disappointed look before sitting back down on the chair.

“Well, come on. Show me your recommendation. You brought it with you, right?”

“I did,” confirmed Leguna as he took out a rolled-up piece of paper from the pouch in his shirt.

Laughing dryly, he explained, “Um, well… I didn’t remove my clothes before sleeping yesterday, so this letter ended up crumpled.”

He would never admit it was actually crumpled by Vera’s wrath.

“Ah, don’t worry,” said the chubby man as he received the letter dismissively. He had originally wanted to make sure the letter wasn’t a forgery, but he was thoroughly shocked when he saw the signature at the bottom.

Arikos Zabaki!

As a member of the guild, unlike Kurdak and the rest, he knew what the name represented.

He’s the guild’s chief executive. He reports directly to the chairman! He’s so far above me… and now he sends someone my way with his recommendation… I have to take this seriously.

The chubby man no longer wore his lazy expression. Instead, he smiled as friendly as he could. He took out a form from the drawer behind him.

“Ah, so you’re the talent Mister Arikos recommended. Fill this in, please. Feel free to ask if you have anything with which you need help. Oh, I’m called Soram Terwin, Starfall branch’s manager. Feel free to call me Soram.”

“Nice to meet you, Mister Soram,” greeted Leguna with a smile before he began filling in the form.

Soram looked at him.

“Little friend, you’re an unfamiliar face.”

“Yes. I’m from Chino,” answered Leguna as he wrote.

“Oh, the western continent? How’d you get here?” asked Soram.

“I guess I came here to make a living. It’s hard to survive over there, you know.”

“You’ve found yourself quite the backer. I’m sure you already know about our guild’s influence. There isn’t much we can’t do.”

“I’m very curious about something,” Leguna said as he raised his head, “Isn’t the guild really powerful? Why does the odd job department look a little… well…”

“All the recruits ask the same question,” Soram shrugged, “Are you curious why we are ‘setting up shop’ this publicly?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll just tell you outright. The odd job department is, as its name implies, where the miscellaneous requests are sent. We usually find people, deliver letters, and stalk. If anyone requires services such as information, assassination, and other stuff, they have to reach out to headquarters. If they can’t reach them, they can also come to us. That’s why we don’t bother hiding; so the public can reach us easily. You should note that, while our department isn’t that high in the guild’s hierarchy, we’re actually relatively safe. That’s why we’re more laid back than you expect.”

“Ah, so that’s it,” said Leguna with a smile before he handed back the form.

Soram gave it a quick read to make sure there weren’t any mistakes before putting it away. He then sat on his chair again.

“Alright, filling out that form is all you have to do right now. I might as well tell you the basics while you’re here.”