The Maid and Her Princess

The Guild Lady and the Mage (Spring 2)

II.

The two stood before a busy mess hall with many people of different shapes and sizes going about their business. Some rested at knotted wooden tables or gathered around scrappy message boards with tarnished sheets of parchment nailed hastily upon them. Audrey's eyes looked overwhelmed at the sheer volume of bodies but began to twinkle in excitement. Don't these people have work to do? Madoka wondered. This voluminous forest of people seemed inert. There were some with tails and some with heavy weapons strapped to their backs.

Each had a story to tell and Madoka wondered how the two of them would start theirs. Audrey looked amazed at it all. The maid scanned the room. This must have been after hours or something. A man who looked like a merchant stood on a platform next to one of the message board.

"Requesting assistance in slaying a Forest Lagrine! Four menacing eyes, the horror stalker of the Rustaze forest!" He called out. Madoka realized that cat was the same creature she rebuked awhile ago and felt guilty for some reason.

She eventually turned her gaze to a desk at the end of the busy Hall with several uniformed women standing quietly behind it. They seemed like they had information that Audrey could use, the maid thought. There were peculiar bars of metal hanging above each desk like ornaments. Are those necklaces? Before they could make another step a hand pushed her aside.

Or, rather, it tried to.

"Move it!" Shrieked a shrill voice. Other adventurers stared Madoka's direction. Audrey restrained her arm from going to her swords. "Get out of the way, weaklings!"

Madoka turned around to see a cloaked woman with orange hair standing beneath her. A mage? The woman's hand gripped ornate staff and her face wore an arrogant look like a dirty stain on a window. Madoka had experience in cleaning those stains. A mess on a person's face would be no different.

"A-Apologies," Audrey's voice blubbered from beside her, in reverent Noble. Madoka was forcefully guided out of the way of the mage's victorious path.

"Reverent Noble?" the mage looked at Audrey incredulously. "As if I am one of those! Disgusting. Get the hell out of my way!"

Audrey was putting on a show but Madoka was still angry over how the haughty mage was treating her princess. Her hand moved to her sword's grip but again Audrey swatted it. The mage glared at them one more time for good measure before she strode to the desks. Madoka could hear the murmers of other adventurers.

"It's Rin!" one whispered to his friend. "So powerful!"

"She's the one next in line for Gold rank! Wow!"

Enough with her backstory, Madoka reached for Audrey and tugged her shoulder. She seemed unbothered by that commoner's rudeness. The maid was incensed but calmed down as she looked to the princess's smiling face.

"How was my acting voice?" She giggled. "I am totally blending in like a commoner, right?"

"You are without a doubt NOT blending in," Madoka told her with a sigh. Audrey scoffed. "Those women over there... They seem like they might have the identification we're looking for."

"I spent weeks practicing that commoner accent in the Estate," Audrey muttered. Madoka recalled no such thing but ignored her silly statements. There was much more trouble afoot: Talking with others. "Back to the drawing boards."