Sentient (Reign of Malevolence)

Hostile Eyes

                     (Chapter 5)
                              *
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He grasps her wrist but she doesn’t even turn back to look at him when he asks her to wait. That’s because her eyes started tearing up sooner than she anticipated. She tells him that they could talk later so he lets her go. He stays frozen in thought for a while. Valentina’s words thaw him out.
“Don’t tell me she’s the one you were talking about earlier.”
“…You just said don’t tell me.”
“It was verbal irony. I don’t need to know that anyway but what’s the big deal?”
“She asked me first.”
“Asked you what?”
“She had about twenty ideas for the name of our Raid Unit.”
“I see. That must be a disaster. I’m sorry. I know I tend to talk a lot when I’m not supposed to.”
“Let’s just forget about it for now and go inside, shall we?”

[>]
They find themselves on the interior side of the guild hall. (Note that I’m only giving a better description to compensate for the lack in Chapter 1 (^_^).) After moving a bit through the doorway, it opens up into a grand hall. It looks quite old but you can see little attempts at refurbishment. Right overhead the doorway is a reindeers head. A bit to the left and right are the back sides of U-shaped stairs which gives the entryway a bit of a zigzag. There’s also a red carpet straight from the door, all the way to the wooden reception counter where the Guild Girl sits.
Forgot to mention that the U-shaped stairs give way to the upper deck. The middle of the upper deck is open so you could view the floor below, just like a theater. There are a few pillars supporting the building that also pass through the upper deck just at the middle opening. All the tables are round, wooden tables that are clamped to the floor but the chairs are movable. There’s a massive chandelier hanging up in the middle. It’s black so it doesn’t attract unnecessary attention during the day. The main part of the Guild hall seems to be cut off from the rest. The only to get to the hinder-quarters is to go through the Reception. However, the hall shouldn’t sound so big; it’s quite small compared to others.
They make their way to the reception. Eyes slowly start to fall on them. She breaks the silence between them to avoid feeling odd.
“What’re those two places up ahead?” she asks, pointing forward.
“Can’t you read the signs?”
“They’re barely visible. I assume it’s YOUR handwriting?” she asks rhetorically a she folds her arms.
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Answer the first one instead.”
“Alright…”
To the right of the Reception is the bar. It has shelves with a wide assortment of drinks: non-alcoholic to intoxicating. The bartender and waitress’ name is Alice. She’s a light blonde. The left side is the armory. The Guild Blacksmith Erin, normally aids the black haired Rex. Rex doesn’t beat weapons like Erin. He actually buys weapon parts which he either assembles to make new weapons or uses them to customize other people’s Raid Gear.
You might probably be wondering what the difference between a Raid Gear and a weapon is. A Raid Gear is the just the Primary Arm taken on a Raid. Of course, the Primary Arm is the one with the mana crystal. But, there are instances where you are disarmed and you might need some extra arms to defend yourself until you can retrieve your Primary. That’s when you’ll need an ordinary weapon; your Secondary Arm.
“Makes sense.”
“Are you done talking?” Anika asks. She does have a tall stool behind the counter but she prefers to stand out of courtesy.
“Sorry, my bad!” he exclaims.
“How may I help you?”
Valentina takes over from there. “I found somewhere.”
“Alright. I’ll be right back… On second thought, could you help me?” she asks as she points to the young Harmonie. She withdraws the lock on the Reception barricade to let him through. He follows her through the hall way.
“How do you know what she wants?” he asks.
“She made all of her luggage distinct. Here, open the door and let me show you.” she says as she hands him the key when they stop in front of a door to the left. He wonders why she gave him the key when she could have just opened it herself but he soon understands.
The instant he inserts it and tries to turn it, it gives him a terrible shock that makes his legs feel like jelly. “OWW!” he shouts. “What the hell was that for?”
“Just so you could let her know that her items are safe,” she says as she opens the door. It’s a large cargo room that is lined with a very visible mana field. “Why don’t you touch the walls as well?”
“Have you lost your mind? I can barely walk straight.”
They walk a bit further into the room that’s full of all sorts of cargo that has been given to them for safe-keeping. It seems like each person was supposed to have a whole shelf all to him or herself but when he asked her where Valentina’s stuff were, she pointed out three.
“How does she have three?”
“She paid for them... As I was saying earlier; she put her valuable items in trunks; black for money and red for other metallic items or jewels.”
“What do you mean by black for money? One whole shelf is black!”
“That’s the point. As for the suitcases, she gave me red for her first night if you can remember, brown for when she finds a good place and black for when she purchases a property.”
“… but I see a white trunk... Is it on mine?”
“The white trunk seems to be items with high sentimental value. She asked me to place it separately in case of any emergency.
“… Are the black ones safe here?”
“They’ll have to be moved to the vault.”
“Shouldn’t I help you since I’m already here?”
“It’s not humanly possible to lift them alone. Dad will help me with them. Just take a brown suitcase. I’ll take one too.”
They soon get back to where Valentina was supposed to be but she seems to have left. Guillelmus spots her but decides to wait for her at the Reception.