A Serpent's Tale
Chapter 259: Becoming an Adventurer

Chapter 259: Becoming an Adventurer

I got a few stares upon entering the building, but they went away pretty quickly, allowing me to feel at ease and head towards one of the receptionists on duty.

There were a total of five receptionists, each of which had a line of several people lining up to either officially take a job or turn it in.

I however, was here to register. There didn’t seem to be any sort of special que for it, so I just assumed that I had to get in line to register. So, I got in the que with the shortest line.

And whilst I was waiting in line to get to the receptionist, I felt a shadow cast over me, and when I turned back to look, I saw a very tall Minotaur standing right behind me at about two point eight metres tall.

"Hmm?" He noticed me staring and looked down. "... You new here or something?" He asked.

I became flustered as I realised that I had been staring rudely at him, so I quickly turned around.

But I also realised that it would be even more rude to not answer him, so I said, "Yeah. Arrived in the city a couple of months ago. I’m here to register and become part of the guild."

"Hmm... For combat classes, right?" He astutely guessed.

"Eh? Uh, yes. How did you know?"

"Your uniform gave you away." He answered plainly.

"Huh? Oh right." I had forgotten I was wearing it.

"Yup. That’s what gave you away. But, aren’t you supposed to be in class right now? School officially started again today if I’m not wrong."

"It did. I just have special privileges is all."

"Riiiigghtt. I understand. How’s about I help you register then? You’ll probably need it." He offered a helping hand.

"Uhh, sure, if you’re not bothered by it." I accepted his proposal.

"Good. Now we just have to wait." His voice deflated upon realising that we’d have to wait.

"Oh! Where are my manners? Names Garrick by the way." He said introducing himself.

So I returned the favour, "My name is Traytora."

And we would probably have to wait a while since we would need to wait for at least for more people to be received before us.

And that wasn’t including the person that was already currently being served.

I sighed and steeled myself to wait, knowing that this would take a while.

_

_

_

Eventually though, it was our turn after like an hour of waiting, it was finally my turn.

"Hello, what can I help you with." The woman with, and I’m going to be honest, a suspiciously large rack greeted with a fake smile and false enthusiasm.

"Yeah, she’s here to register as an Adventurer." Garrick answered for me in a blunt and honestly flat tone, as if he couldn’t be bothered to deal with the woman.

"... I’m sorry sir but-"

"Shut up and do your fucking job." He said aggressively, cutting her off rather violently.

"... Very well then." She accepted that rather easily. She then returned to address me, "You are here to register as an adventurer, correct?"

"That is correct. What do I need to do to do so?" I asked in a semi polite tone, as I could tell that this woman was a bit of a bitch. A crafty one at that.

"Just sign these forms-"

"HERE." Garrick cut her off again and practically ordered me to just fill them out where we were.

At this point people were staring, but not as much and not for as long as I thought they would.

Either way, I began filling out the form and Garrick helped me out in doing so as well, not letting the receptionist woman say a word whilst doing so.

He mainly just helped me by explaining a couple of things to me that I didn’t understand and also pointing out some things that I could’ve potentially written wrong and to double check it just in case.

And soon, I had filled the form out and returned it to the woman in front of me. She then went over it, and at some points she seemed to want to say something, but I think Garrick was staring intensely at her to shut up.

She finished it shortly after she began checking everything and said, "Everything seems to be in order so, I’ll go and make your guild card now."

"Oh! One more thing!" I shouted out to her before she left. I’d almost forgotten why I came here really.

I could see her body visibly flinch when I called out to her and even slouch? Slump? I couldn’t quite tell. One of those things before she turned back to face me with that fake forced smile of hers.

"What is it?" She asked in a rather sickeningly sweet voice if I’m honest.

"I was recommended to register by mister Berkez."

Silence dropped upon the reception. You could still hear the boisterous laughter of those at the bar or hanging out with friends, but the receptionist area was completely silent for some reason.

"I-I’m sorry, could you please repeat that? I think I misheard." The receptionist woman stuttered. And I could tell that this was a genuine reaction and not a fake or forced one of some kind.

"Mister Berkez said to say that he recommended me whenever I registered."

I could hear the background noise slowly fade away from a boisterous atmosphere as it turned into a quiet murmuring one.

Obviously what I just said was apparently very shocking, but I didn’t know why. What kind of authority or image does Berkez hold here for everyone to react like this?

"B-B-B-Berkez... A-Actually r-recom-mended y-you?" The sketchy receptionist woman was now trembling intensely as she spoke.

"Yes? Why is that so surprising?"

"Kid... Do you not know who that person is?" I heard Garrick ask behind me in a serious and heavy tone. One filled with grievance.

"No? Like I said, I only arrived in the city a couple of months ago. And today’s my first day going to school."

"That uh... That makes sense now why you don’t know him." Garrick sighed.

"So, what about him is it that shocked everyone."

"Well it’s a rather simple fact. He’s an Adamantium ranked adventurer."

’What?’

"What?"

He was ranked that high? But then why did he recommend me? Was it something he saw within me? Did he see potential in me or something? What reason does he have for recommending me?

I won’t exactly get answers waiting around, so I guess I’ll just ignore that for now.

"Yup, he’s one of the top five adventurers in the city. And to be recommended by anyone of even Mythril rank is an honour. But you, you were recommended by an Adamantium. That’s never happened before. Not in this city at least." Garrick explained, clarifying why this was such a big deal.

"Oh... Okay..." I wasn’t sure how exactly to move on from this.

I mean, I never expected to be recommended by someone of such a high calibre. Who would? Right?

I think I’d like to just get this over with and go home already.

Turning back to the receptionist, she was visibly shaking in fear? She flinched when my gaze turned to her.

"Wh-What is it?"

"Shouldn’t you be getting my guild card right now?"

"A-Ah! Right, I shall go do that." But before she actually left, she asked one last thing, "Umm... I don’t suppose that he said what rank to register you as?"

"Uh, he didn’t say anything like that, just to say he recommended me."

"I-I-I See. Wh-Where uhh, where were you when he said that?"

"I was in the hand-to-hand combat training class. Which was meant for silver ranks in case that helps."

"I-It does. P-Please wait here, I’ll get you y-your card now."

She then hastily rushed off into the back to get my card ready.

"That was weird." Garrick commented.

"What was weird?"

"The way she acted just now, never seen her act like that before. She’s always had this eery and off-putting aura around her. It’s nice to finally see her break her façade."

"Oh so you could feel it too?"

"Yeah, nobody likes her because of it. Yet for some reason, she hasn’t been fired over all her decades of working here despite the many complaints made about her to the higher ups."

Garrick and everyone around us sighed in a unified frustration, as if they all knew what Garrick was talking about.

I just stayed silent and waited for the receptionist to return to me with my card.

_

_

_

And after a long time of waiting, the sketchy receptionist came back and this time, she felt even more fake. I even thought that her boobs were another size bigger as well.

"Here, your guild card. Because of Berkez’s recommendation, you have been given a little boost and get to start off as a Silver rank adventurer." She explained as she handed me my guild card, her façade having returned.

I barely registered all that though as I took my card into my own hands as I just continued to stare at her.

Until I realised something. I’d seen this before. When that old Sly fox did the same thing at the entrance ceremony.

"You’re fake."