Chapter 16: 14 – [A chance encounter]

I spent some time discussing how the guild handled work for the smiths and met a few of the human smiths who had come over with the guild opening. They seemed pretty happy with their dwarven co-workers, almost treating them like celebrities. It seems that the dwarves were training the human smiths in better ways of controlling the heat of the forge with Ether spells, someday there might be a human smith with a C Rank Fire Ether manipulation skill thanks to the training.

I informed the dwarves that I had delivered personal barrels, a personal barrel for dwarves being the size of a grown dwarf, of our finest whiskey to the depository upstairs and that they could pick them up with their daily rations after the guild closed. I suspect a few human smiths might be invited to the party that will follow, I do not envy humanity's lack of alcohol tolerance.

My next stop was to be the adventurer's guild, sadly I was unable to even make it to the door given the display going on outside. It seems like two adventurers got into a dispute over reward shares and took it outside. I politely pushed my way to the front of the circle that formed around their fight, many noticing my circlet and swallowing some choice words they were about to throw my way when I asked them to step aside.

In the middle of the circle I witnessed something I had not yet been able to see, but had read about from the library in my study. Two adventurers were having an honest fight with wooden practice weapons, that much was normal. But one of the adventurers was a member of the feline Beast-kin clan. It was truly a welcome sight to see her flipping about with her ears and tails twitching in response to the fight. The outcome was as expected, she won without many injuries whereas the man she was fighting was beaten black and blue due to her acrobatic skills allowing her to hit him from multiple angles.

It appears the guild hires dedicated healers to mediate these spars, might have been easier and cheaper to let them beat the snot out of each other in front of healers instead of letting them attack each other in the middle of town and get the guards involved. I approached the lady who won as she was discussing something with a guild official, likely her reward distribution that this fight had decided. She was rather tall and fit, looking just a bit taller and more muscle-bound then the humans that surrounded her. She was wearing rather decent equipment, nothing unique but just good enough to match her rank in the guild I would imagine.

"Excuse me miss, do you have a moment?"

She turned to me looking slightly bothered about the number of people wanting to talk to her before her eyes caught on my circlet and she froze.

"No need to be worried, quite the display of skill you showed there of course. But I wanted to ask you about how you think the guild here in Brimstone holds up against the guild in the Traisanian capital. Nothing for you to be worried about."

"Of course your majesty!"

She went to a single knee, I have to admit that she would look amazing in knight armor with those ears and tail.

"Stand up lassie, I am not here on any official business nor is this a formal setting. Speak to me as you would any dwarf in this town."

I pulled her to her feet and nodded towards the guild doors.

"Let's take a seat with some quality refreshments before we begin though."

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I began walking towards the guild and I could hear several people moving to follow behind me. I walked through the doors and straight to the bar counter set to the left of the entrance. The dwarf behind the counter noticed my approach and prepared two of the finest steins of mead after I signaled to him. I pulled up a stool and gestured to the one next to me, waiting a few moments for her to overcome her nervousness before sitting.

"So, lassie, I can see you are an adventurer of considerable skill. Perhaps B or A rank? How does our guild compare to the other guilds you have seen, in your experience."

"I am Elvinia, a B rank adventurer, your majesty. This place is truly breathtaking, never imagined living underground could be so peaceful. Also, we have no shortage of decently made equipment thanks to the local smith's guild, so our hunts have been going rather well lately. I myself just reached my B rank status after arriving here due to the excellent conditions of the city and food combined with the plentifully available hunts to be had."

I guffawed and slapped the bar before turning towards the lady.

"I am glad you enjoy my town enough to use such flowery words to describe things. But lassie, tell me truly without any fancy speech, what do you think of them truly?"

She grimaced and sighed before turning towards me as well.

"I find your city and your people to be exciting, the only time I have lost in a dispute was after coming here and fighting one of your kin. The strongest I have ever met walk these streets, nothing is more boring than having nothing interesting to play with!"

Just like a cat, needing something interesting to catch her attention.

"Ah, there it is. Glad you enjoy it so lassie. I am sure that any free dwarf would gladly spend their time sparring or drinking around here, so I hope you enjoy yourself to the fullest. We dwarves are not ones to hold back in anything, so make sure you come prepared for both spars and drinks."

I finished my stein before slipping off the stool and nodding towards the group of dwarves not too far away from me who were itching for a good time and eyeing the lady with interest on their faces while resting their hands on their preferred method of battle.

"Looks like you have a few challengers for both already. When you have free time, let the master know. I would like to go traveling with some knowledgeable companions not too long from now."

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