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The capital was bustling as always.

The city of Chrana, located on the coast of the powerful Magocracy of Entei Bahara, had been a center of trade and the study and advancement of magical technology almost since the area had first been settled. That coupled with what would later be discovered to be an absolutely [i]ridiculous[/i] density of aetherium deposits in the surrounding area, and the city was all but destined to become a melting pot for all manner of cultures.

Nowhere was this better represented than in the central bazaar, a section of the city designated specifically for merchants to set up their stalls and pedal their wares to anyone who happened to pass by. No matter what a person might need, whether they be weapons, food, ancient artifacts or simply useless magical knick knacks, odds were that it could be found there. Whether you could haggle well enough to actually purchase it for a reasonable price was another matter altogether, but that rarely stopped most people. In fact, it seemed like it only drew in even more people, with hundreds of people, possibly even thousands, passing through each day.

“It’s too loud…”

Honestly, Argo wasn’t a fan. Every time he’d enter the bazaar, it’d just remind him about how peaceful most other marketplaces were, mostly in the smaller towns and villages. Not that he didn’t regularly end up visiting it whenever he was in the city anyway, because you could find [i]all kinds[/i] of field guides on monster ecology and other neat stuff in there, but that didn’t make it any easier to actually go in. Thankfully however, that wasn’t actually necessary this time. No, what he was actually going for was only located near the bazaar. Depending on who you asked, it was also [i]far[/i] worse.

The Chrana Guildhall.

Honestly, Argo agreed with that on some level. It somehow managed to be louder and rowdier than the bazaar half the time, and brawls in the common area were a lot less uncommon than he would’ve liked. However, he’d noticed an interesting looking job advertisement in a town just a few days away, calling adventurers to the capital. He still wasn’t sure what to expect though, as the ad had been pretty vague. A lot of travellers probably would’ve thought it was kind of sketchy, honestly. Argo didn’t mind that as much though, he was just hoping to find something to keep him out on the road. Besides, if he decided he didn’t approve of the job when the details were explained, he could always back out then, right?

Upon entering the building, he almost felt himself wince as he was assaulted by an even louder racket than what he’d faced while passing the bazaar. It was difficult to make out anything distinct, although a few complete sentences managed to stand out.

“Hey, didja hear? That catgirl’s still hangin’ around askin’ people to make a contract wit’ her!”
“Ya mean the one who keeps tryin’ to convince er’ryone she’s a spirit? I ‘member she tried to come up ta me jus’ th’other day! Barely made a few snowflakes an’ tried ta tell me she was an ice spirit! As if a kid like that could be one’a dose monsters!”

He did his best to ignore it, honestly. It wasn’t something he really felt like thinking all that much about, and even if he did, what was he going to do? It sounded like some Lesser Beastfolk kid was looking for someone to take them in, trying to trick them into it by using their animal features to convince some poor adventurer they were a spirit. Not only did he not particularly feel like being taken advantage of today, he also knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be able to take care of a child with his current lifestyle.

And on the off chance it actually [i]was[/i] a spirit… well, that was also impossible…

“Well well, do my eyes deceive me, or is that actually Argo Lecht approaching my quest counter?”

Argo snapped himself out of his thoughts at the sound of a voice that he could only describe as ‘impeccably refined’, looking to the quest counter to see a wirey, well-dressed man, with a smirk that seemed too large for his face.

“Nivaan.” He greeted, nodding to the man. The guildmaster of Chrana’s hall was just as he remembered him, always doing his best to remain as well-dressed as he was well-spoken. He would’ve been surprised at the fact that he held so much respect among the other guildmasters if he wasn’t so well aware of what the man could do. “I’d rather have met you somewhere less…” He gestured to the area around him, particularly the crowded tavern area. “But the poster said I should come here.”

“Oh?” Nivaan asked, the surprise in his voice not quite making it to his face. “You actually came here for a job this time, hmm? Let’s take a look then.”

He took the paper from Argo’s hand, his eyes flicking across the page for barely two seconds before he glanced back up to him. Argo felt the sigh welling up within his lungs as soon as he saw the guildmaster’s face. The bastard looked even more smug than he had before.

“I must say, out of every job we’ve registered in the last few months, this has to be the one that I’m [i]least[/i] surprised at you bringing me.”

He hopped over the quest counter, earning a small scowl from one of the nearby attendants, before gesturing to Argo to follow him. After travelling down a few different halls and corridors, he found himself in a nice, surprisingly quiet room, lit only by the large window at the back. A number of empty chairs were set up not far from the door, and he was actually a little surprised at how many there were.

“Don’t worry.” Nivaan said, catching the nervousness on Argo’s face before it could even really emerge. “We aren’t expecting a big crowd. Honestly, I doubt we’ll fill even a quarter of these.”

He then gestured to the seats.

“Anyway, I’ll just have you take a seat while we wait for anyone else who might have accepted the job.” He gestured to a pair of bookshelves lined up against the wall. “Feel free to look through the books I’ve collected. I’m sure you’ll find a fair few monster manuals to hold your interest while you wait.”

And then he was gone, heading back down the hall to greet anyone else who might have been drawn in by the ad. Argo watched after him for a moment, before turning to the bookshelves. A grin of his own appeared as he found a guide to the monsters of the Tulleyan caverns, one which had only been published recently, and subsequently eluded his attempts to track a copy down.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all...