Chapter 37: Chapter 36: sending a letter

“And why does the lord want to meet with me?” I ask the butler, while staring at him.

“He did not specify, only that I am to fetch you.” He answered calmly.

“Then you may inform him that I decline, as a matter of principle, until he states a reason.” I answer back, with the intention of postponing a meeting for as long as possible, preferably until sometime after we leave the city.

He looks a little befuddled, before continuing “All citizens are required to listen to the lord, and thus cannot deny such a summons.”

“You’ll find that I can deny such a summons, and neither am I a citizen of this city.” I continue to deflect, with a serious face. Since the letter revealed that I would be welcome back into my family, I am pretty sure that I outrank the city lord, with the exception being if he is also a king of this county, though then the butler wouldn’t have addressed him as simply ‘lord’. Though I sincerely hope I do not need to pull that move. There was a reason I left, after all.

The butler seems to stop to think for a moment, before informing us that he will tell the lord my answer. While he leaves, I silently hope it takes more than a day for him to return, giving us time to leave.

As I contemplate what just happened, Jo speaks up “what was that about?”

“That was the reason I asked if we could enter without showing our ID’s.” I answer with a sigh.

She doesn’t quite connect the dots, so I continue “I don’t like to deal with politics, which always happens when my true identity surfaces. Even being an S-rank adventurer is less troublesome. I just hope he takes until tomorrow to come back with a reason. Anyways, what were you playing before he so politely interrupted us?”

They were playing one of the card games we have played on our journey so far, which I’m not particularly good at yet, with the victories mostly going to James and Jo in equal measure. I take out the mead and offer some to the two of them by making three glasses. They both accept, and we continue to play until the bottle is empty. I did manage to secure a victory during that time, which would have been impressive, hadn’t we played like two dozen games.

Afterwards, I set out to find Guillards messaging guild, or failing that, a shop that carries writing utensils. The others are content to do their own thing, so we go our separate way. The mead might have had a say in the decision to not change into something more reasonable before going out, but it’s not like I need to be inconspicuous. I mostly got used to the stares and glances when we stayed in Draumr.

After walking for a bit, I sigh as I realize that one of the others have the atlas. That means I have to look for the guild by asking around. It takes a while, but thanks to a helpful wandering mage who pointed me in the right direction, it didn’t take too long.

The messaging guild is located on the southern side of the city, and as I approach I can see what appears to be a stable on top of the building, housing what appears to be a wyvern. The rest of the three story building seems to be function over form, though thanks to the material, it’s still quite good looking.

Through the windows at the front of the building, I can see the front desk and the queue of people, who probably use the guilds messaging services.

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As I enter, a bell chimes, and the attendants look in my direction, before one of them shouts what appears to be a code word to someone in the back of the building. I take a bit of time to study the interior of the building, which is made of the common agate, as well as dark polished wood for the counters and shelves.

While I’m still studying the interior, someone with more mana than the clerks and dressed in more formal looking clothes, comes out from the back. Her eyes lock on to me and she proceeds to walk confidently up to me and asks me “Anything I can help you with, miss?”

Slightly stunned at the polite tone, I answer “A friend recommended your guild, would you give me a rundown of what you do?”

She gives me a rundown of their services which includes a few things such as dictation and message delivery. Most people use their mail routes, which are a handful of messengers that travel fixed routes at a regular interval. They also do a few express routes, which is handled by the wyverns on the roof. For some extra money, they also do direct delivery.

When I ask how seriously they take secrecy and safety of the mail, they only guarantee the safety of express routes and better, and secrecy is only guaranteed for direct delivery. I guess that means I have to go with the direct route. 

She leads me to a quiet room with writing utensils, when I ask her if they have that kind of stuff. I tell her I want a little while alone while composing the letter, to which she obliges, and tell me to open the door once I’m done.

I sigh as I realize I don’t know what to write about. Taking a piece of paper and a pen, which is magical in nature. In the end, I write a short summary of my memories from Zena, omitting the ones from George, since I left. I add more details as it gets closer to now. I even mention James and Jo as a powerful warrior, and my apprentice, omitting their names. In the end I mention the city I'm currently in and that I hope to get a reply.

At the bottom I make my signature, and start to contemplate how to add the seal. I take out my royal insignia and the letter I received from Dallard, as they are my primary leads. The insignia matches the seal on the letter, and in a moment of inspiration, I take a blank piece of paper and press the insignia onto it and channel some mana into it. That turns out to be a correct guess as it leaves the same seal.

I put the new letter in an envelope after applying the magical seal. Then I apply the wax seal on the envelope and write down the receiver. I address it to my mom for some reason that I’m not quite sure of. While doing it, I feel tears forming in my eyes, and feelings swelling up in my chest. I didn’t know that I missed them this much. I’m longing to hug my mom, either one of them, ideally both if I’m being honest.

After taking a moment to compose myself, and wiping the tears from my eyes, I let the attendant back in. I hand her the letter and ask for it to be directly delivered to the Zendor royal family, and that I’m expecting an answer. Her eyes go wide from that, but otherwise she holds her composure. 

She informs me that The delivery time is approximately three days by air, which means that there will be at least a week until the answer is back. I acknowledge that, and state that I will return here in about a week, and hand her the fifteen gold she said the exchange would cost.

I then leave the Guillard messaging guild with a weight lifted from my chest that I didn’t know was there.

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