Chapter 12: Arc 2 Ch. 1: The Villainess Returns

Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead asking how to find a newbie guild, but there was nothing wrong with asking a guard for directions so I could meet up with a ‘friend.’ It was almost true, in a way!

I hadn’t expected much when Alice mentioned it to me in passing yesterday, and a brief walk and one glance later validated my suspicions: The Roach and Rat lived up to its name. The exterior seemed to proudly advertise it as one of the oldest wooden buildings in the city, and the interior didn’t fare much better. When I stepped through the door, a waft of stale air welcomed me as I quickly scanned the large room. Various groups of adventurers wearing mismatched outfits and armor of dubious quality filled nearly half the tables in the dining area. An unremarkably average man in a simple uniform waved at me from behind the front desk.

“Welcome to The Roach and Rat!” the clerk greeted cheerfully.

He actually said it with a straight face!

I replied with a friendly wave of my own. “Hello, have you seen anyone by the name of Alice today?”

His face abruptly lit up with a hint of… admiration? “You just missed her!” he said. “She left on another quest a minute ago.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Now I could get the gist of this without having to…

“Wait, she’s doing quests?” I asked.

The clerk nodded. “Registration is a breeze if you’re interested in some easy coin. You can take a look at our solo offerings over there!”

He pointed to a board on the wall jam-packed with pinned papers. A strange desire to not be outdone came over me; was Alice more than just a highly inquisitive girl with a penchant for weird mischief? I rushed over to see what she was getting herself into and skimmed through some of the listings.

Fix a broken wall, find a lost cat, clean up some rubbish, catch a stray cat, lay some bricks, adopt a litter of kittens…

“What do you mean, ‘quests?!’” I complained. “These are all practically manual labor and community service! And what’s with all these cats?!”

The clerk wore the pained expression of a man who had endured that same reaction many times before. “Ah, yes… I believe the new guild master called that ‘marketing.’”

Marketing? Was that really a medieval thing here?

“Come on, you’ve got to have more listings than that,” I said. “I’m far more capable than the average adventurer, you know. And I’ve got a really high-end enchanted weapon!”

He frowned. “I’m afraid only registered parties who have proven themselves have access to our more challenging offerings. But there are plenty of other opportunities,” he continued with a renewed smile. “The Miners' Guild is recruiting! Mana crystals are always in demand; the Magic Academy can never seem to get enough lately.”

“Do I look like a miner to you?” I chided. The clerk was taken aback, giving my fancy dress an awkward reinspection and looking rather foolish at his recommendation. “Ahem, pardon me. I must respectfully decline, you see.”

“O-Of course,” the clerk replied, letting his shoulders relax. “By the way, you can call me Pascal!” He pointed to a nametag on his collared shirt like he was eager for a distraction.

Well, it would be useful to have some kind of adventuring experience in this world. There was no use berating the customer service rep, but at this rate, I was just going to run into all of his ‘scripted’ responses without getting anywhere.

What would Lady Beryl do…

I leaned toward him over the counter and stuck out my chest. “Hey Pascal, you look like a nice guy. I’m sure you can help a girl out.”

I played with my hair as I watched him helplessly steal a glance at my chest, then he blushed and turned away.

“I’m sorry, there’s not much I can do, miss. After that one incident…” He winced, remembering something he probably wished he hadn’t. “A-Anyways, you’re free to ask around and see if any parties here are recruiting. I could even put in a good word for you.”

Damn, the clerk was too much of a small fry.

“You don’t even have anything like a low-level goblin cave that needs clearing?” I asked.

“Fortunately not!” he smiled. “Thanks to the legendary hero Lucia, goblins are believed to be entirely extinct!”

At this point, hearing that barely even surprised me.

“That reminds me, I might have something you’d find interesting,” Pascal continued, retrieving a paper from behind the counter. “There’s a new offering I haven’t posted yet. Apparently, last night a pair of scam artists swindled a small tavern out of some coin. Something about a pretty lady putting on a show and then disappearing…”

That, that sounded like…! Christ, I could almost hear that cheesy bastard chuckling right now!

“I think I’ll just ask around, thanks…”

I took a closer look at the adventurers scattered around the guild, sharing drinks and a meal or just chatting among themselves. Yeah, this definitely looked like the place where newbies gathered. Rather than battle-scarred veterans, most of them appeared to be fairly young and inexperienced with cheap, unimpressive gear.

At the far back of the room, an interesting group caught my eye. Seated at a round table were four figures dressed like a female ninja, a huntress, a shieldmaiden, and a priestess.

My heart skipped a beat—an all-girls adventuring party, and they even lacked a mage! This was almost too perfect. Considering my competition in this world, there was no way they could deny me if I just…!

No, Lady Beryl knew better than that; in this situation, the direct approach would be suicide.

I sat down at an empty table while I considered my move. Their table had an empty fifth chair, but I needed an angle, an entry point to break the ice. I ran through all the options I could think of in my head. If I couldn’t find a natural opening, maybe I could make one…

I noticed many new pairs of eyes fixing themselves on me. A trio of lightly armored guys whispered to each other while looking my way. I shot them an intimate wink, and two of them egged on the third to get up and walk over. His chainmail clinked and clanked as he nervously sat down next to me.

“So, do you come here often?”

***

To his credit, he put up a decent effort, given the circumstances. While he was clearly intimidated by my aura to some degree—and I couldn’t blame him—Lady Beryl humored the would-be knight and politely laughed at his underwhelmingly delivered jokes. He never did manage to come across as more than just a guy who lost a bet or something rather than a man who was genuinely interested. Still, I made him feel as though his time wasn’t fully wasted until he finally took enough hints that nothing was going to happen between us.

After he admitted defeat, a loner in leather armor with a bow strapped to his back tried his luck. As a slightly older man with a modicum of experience, he managed to put up a better showing, which honestly wasn’t saying much. He knew how to tell a good tale or two, but eventually he too got the message and bid me farewell.

At that point, the rest of the gathered adventurers seemed to have figured out that Lady Beryl was not so easily wooed. I had noticed the group of girls glancing my way every now and then, and with no one else occupying my attention, I decided it was time to make my move.

I sauntered over to them with an air of frustration and joined them at their table, gesturing around us. “Can you believe the men around here?” I huffed. “Utterly shameless, the lot of them.”

The four regarded me warily until the ninja spoke up. “And you are?”

I gracefully brushed back my hair with a hand. “Haven’t you heard? I am the one and only Lady Beryl, at your service! I happen to be feeling generous today; ask, and you shall receive.”

I gently shook my satchel to unleash the fanfare of hundreds of jingling coins.

A flash of desire betrayed the ninja’s stoic façade for just a moment. “Well met, Lady Beryl. You are speaking to Sheena of The Nightblades.”

The Nightblades? That was their party name? Well, I wasn’t exactly against a bit of roleplaying now and then; I could live with it.

The priestess spoke next. “We were just talking about how we needed a new…”

The other three glared at her until the priestess fell silent and shrunk back in her chair.

Ouch.

“We don’t take in just anyone,” the huntress noted. “We’ve already had to kick out too many newbs who couldn’t pull their own weight.”

Great, they’re elitist role players. The stakes just skyrocketed.

“Good riddance!” I scoffed. “If the peasants can’t keep up, let them eat cake.”

The shieldmaiden nodded sagely. “One of us, one of us!”

Sheena leaned forward, steepling her hands. “Your abilities, then?”

I flipped my hair back again. “Ha! As if my silver tongue wasn’t enough? I’ll have you know that I’m a mage with vast potential, skilled in the art of teleportation!”

I channeled my mana toward my hand, making a ball of light dance between my fingers. That really didn’t mean much, but right now I’ll take what I can get!

The four of them paused as they pondered my words. “Teleportation?” the shieldmaiden asked. “You mean like, Recall?” I nodded. “That’s not bad.”

The priestess spoke up again. “That could be pretty useful when we…”

The other three glared at her until she shrunk back again.

“That spell doesn’t work for more than two people at a time,” the huntress noted.

Crap, I didn’t know that…

Sheena tapped her fingers together. “That is not quite the utility we have been looking for.”

The bad vibes I was getting were off the damn charts, but the priestess was kind of cute… I mean, maybe I could change their fucked up social dynamic if I got to actually join this group. The last thing I wanted was for them to find out that Recall was literally the only thing I could cast. However, I still had that ace up my sleeve!

You are reading story Weird Shift at novel35.com

I couldn’t help it. “Very well. I didn’t want to say this, but I will reveal my secret to you: I am the champion of the Demon King, and he has granted me his power!”

I produced the dark sheath bearing my obsidian dagger with a flourish and placed it on the table before me. I studied their expressions, waiting for that passioned reaction of awe that would finally tip the scale in my favor. And yet, something was… wrong.

The shieldmaiden growled, her face a raging storm. The huntress clicked her tongue with a grimace. Even the priestess anxiously bit her lip while a spark of malicious glee flickered behind Sheena’s dark irises.

“You just tipped your hand, newb.”

Slowly, she reached into her own bag and pulled out a small, dark sheath that looked just… like…

Mine.

What?!

My heart skipped another beat—for all the wrong reasons. “How?”

Sheena drew her obsidian dagger and deftly twirled it in her hand. The huntress retrieved her own similar pitch-black blade and did the same.

“Didn’t you know?” she sneered. “Mao gives one of these to every Outworlder who meets him.”

The shieldmaiden pulled out a third obsidian dagger. “Pfft. You almost had me for a minute there.”

God damn that old rotten drunk! He was bullshitting the whole time!

“H-Hang on, that means you’re all from Earth too?!” I uttered. “That means we all go way back! You guys know how crazy this place is!”

“So?” Sheena smirked. “We get to make the rules here, and only newbs pick magic affinity. If you're not a noble, you're screwed!”

“You should go see Vexina,” the huntress chimed in. “I’m sure she’ll take real good care of you.”

“Why don’t you pair up with that crazy cat chick?” the shieldmaiden snickered. “Bet you can use your ‘silver tongue’ chasing pussy all day long!”

“What the fuck! Even you’re all perverts?! And you totally just crossed the line with that—”

I cut off at the approach of a new figure stomping toward us. A familiar girl with raven-colored hair wearing cute robes that looked suspiciously witchlike quickly loomed over the ninja, except the usual cheerfulness in her eyes was replaced by a chilling… rage.

“The Dayloafers, living up to their name once more?” Alice challenged. “Shocking.”

Sheena shifted in her chair to scowl up at the new arrival. “You again? Haven’t you already learned to shut it and keep your head down?”

Alice crossed her arms. “I’m starting a new party today, and the Noonspoons aren’t invited!”

“Why the hell do you think we would ever team up with you?” Sheena snarled.

“Hmph! You couldn’t join even if you did want to!”

The ninja sprang upright with inhuman speed, launching her chair to the floor with an earsplitting clatter that nearly made the whole room jump. “Now listen here, you little—!”

The shieldmaiden lunged for Sheena’s wrist. “I told you she’s crazy. Come on, let’s just go.”

She tilted her head toward everyone in the guild and their currently undivided attention. A curious guard strolled into the room and raised an eyebrow at the scene.

Sheena wrenched her arm free with a furious grunt and motioned for the other three to follow her. Before she left, she turned her head back one last time and muttered something I didn't even want to hear. The priestess offered me an apologetic nod of her head, then she scurried after her companions.

And with that, they were gone.

“That was… pretty amazing, in a way,” I said after a deep breath.

Alice was still fuming when she dropped down onto the chair next to me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She didn’t respond.

We sat there in silence for a painfully long time, even after the rest of the guild had lost interest.

“You really came,” Alice finally said, barely louder than a whisper. “You really came here… and you didn’t even wait for me!”

“What? That’s why you’re mad?!”

“I’m not mad!” she cried. “It’s just… Am I not good enough for you?”

Well, technically… no, that’s too far!

I gave a sheepish shrug. “Hey, you know me. Making friends with the locals is just what I do!”

A short laugh escaped her before she hardened her expression.

“And… I might be kind of glad you showed up when you did,” I added.

“Kind of?” she prodded.

“Okay, really glad. You’re totally my hero now. Better?”

“Better!” she agreed, her smile suddenly finding its way home.

Why did I get the feeling she just wanted to hear me say something really sappy?

Alice cast a quick glance at the solo ‘quest’ board. “Say, now that you’re here—”

“No.”

“You didn’t let me finish!” she pouted.

“Look, not… not right now, okay?”

I really did not want anything to do with those menial tasks at all, and the fresh memory of what had just gone down lingered in my mind. My first encounter here with others from Earth made me wish it were my last. Was there any way that could have ended better? And in the end, to think that they each had their own copy of that obsidian…

Huh? “They weren’t enchanted.”

“What was that?” Alice asked.

“Never mind. Actually, there’s something I was wondering. Have you heard about anyone called Vexina?”

She scratched her chin. “Someone here ‘recommended’ I go visit her for magic training. Supposedly, she’s a reclusive female mage who lives in the forest west of the city. I wanted to go, but…” Alice stared at the floor.

“A reclusive female mage?” I asked. “Doesn’t that sound like a witch who wants to be left alone?”

“Probably,” she frowned.

“So… doesn’t telling newcomers to go see her sound like some kind of hazing ritual?”

“Probably…”

I groaned. If Alice really was in the same predicament as me, our options were already limited without a source of magic training, and nobles were basically a no-go. I’d never risk it on my own, and even the two of us going to see that witch would definitely be asking for trouble. But the alternatives? I couldn’t help thinking about Alice taking up all those crappy jobs every single day for weeks. Or months? I still didn’t fully trust her, but…!

“Alright Alice, you win. Do you want to try to learn some magic?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” she cheered, reaching for my hand and clasping it tightly in both of hers.

She leaned closer with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Hey Beryl, can you show me a new coin trick today?”

“Please don’t make me regret this…”

You can find story with these keywords: Weird Shift, Read Weird Shift, Weird Shift novel, Weird Shift book, Weird Shift story, Weird Shift full, Weird Shift Latest Chapter