Death's Favorite Child

49. My people

Daniel and his group were gazing at the walls of Asteria, the main town in this area, and where the Adventure Guild and the Baron ruling this area had their headquarters.

Getting into the city was easy. Daniel and Alis used their adventurer's tag, and the Prince's group paid the paltry entrance fee without revealing their identities.

"We'll head straight to the Guild; you go find an Inn for us to stay. Let's meet in that tavern in 1 hour," Daniel instructed, and he split off with Alis heading to the Guild.

It was a small city, smaller than Alaiza but bigger than the Thanatos' barony capital. A cobblestone road traveled the main commercial street, with two-story buildings on each side. It was wide enough for three carriages to stop side by side. People were cheery and happy, going along with their lives. Nothing compared to the death and destruction they witnessed on their way there.

Alis wore a long robe that also covered her head, hiding her feline characteristics from prying eyes. It was the usual approach when in public to avoid issues with the ones that hated beast people. She glanced over at Daniel and sighed. She had noticed his bad mood in the last few days. Their training was getting harder as well. Everyone was happy with the respite provided by the city.

The adventure's guild was relatively empty at this time of the day. Most groups had already received their tasks and left the city. The ones that didn't could be found at the taverns having drinks and eating.

Daniel walked to the counter and addressed the young man behind it, "We want to exchange these crystals," he said, putting a huge bag on the counter along with his adventure's token. "I also need a list of all the cross-border quests with the Calliron kingdom".

The guild employee nodded and took the token to verify the identity.

"Hmm, I see here you have a party. May I see the other member?"

"I'm here", Alis responded and produced her token.

"Can you remove your hood? I need to verify the identity," the employee asked, and Alis complied.

"Wow, this is quite the hall you have here! Let me do the numbers, and I'll get back to you. I need to get someone to evaluate these. Have a seat, please!"

Alis and Daniel sat near the counter as the employee returned to his calculations. A second employee, that was standing in the back looking intensely at the two, disappeared in the back.

Behind the guild building, the same employee exited swiftly and nodded to one of the messengers, "You need to take this letter to Lord David. As soon as possible!" he said, slipping a letter and a silver coin to the young messenger.

Daniel took the time to talk to other adventurers and glean information about the city and the beast tide. He learned things he didn't like.

"Here you go," the employee called to Daniel after 30 minutes. "You netted almost 1,000 gold coins! You had several A- and B-rank crystals in there! You must be a strong group, the E-rank doesn't suit you. We are happy to have you here in Asteria. Here is the information you asked about the cross-border requests. I deducted the cost from the crystals."

Daniel took the list and scanned the quests available. They had a secret code to communicate with the Barony. Only the Wizard's Guild, the Adventure's Guild, and some royal families had a way for fast communication. So, Daniel had put together a list of quests that the Barony could submit to the Adventure's Guild to communicate with Daniel if ever it was necessary.

A quest to exterminate rats at the border of Thanato's territory. A laughable task to be put on the expensive cross-border list, but Daniel knew it meant enemy movements on the Barony border. The quest was Rank-D, though, meaning the danger was low -- for now.