Shapeless Hero

25 - No Attorneys

"I need to take care of other matters, before I can decide that.", I answer. I wouldn't mind working here, but that's supposed to happen after Alya has recovered.

Smiling, Kella presses an unsigned work contract into my hand. "Tomorrow's absolutely fine too! Now then, I have my own matters to take care of..." As she pulls up her sleeves and cracks her knuckles, she comes out from behind the counter to head towards the crime scene in the shadows.

She was a bit too eager for my tastes to hire someone, who's practically a stranger. The guild desperately needs more hands on deck, but is it really that hard to find capable office workers in Ryelope? The town might have more than half a million inhabitants. Surely, they could find somebody, right?

I walk up the stairs back to our rooms. I hear Kella's visceral yells from the guild hall. I hope I'll never end up on her bad side. 

"Welcome back, lady Fylka.", I get as a mock-greeting from August, who just opened the door for me.

I roll my eyes, as I walk in. "Oh, shut it."

The commander still sits at the table in our room. After finalizing a letter with her signature, she looks over to me. "Welcome back. Was that an explosion, I heard?" She glances at the papers I hold. "Don't tell me this is an damage invoice..."

I wave my hand. "Far from it! This is about the job at the guild."

August cackles. "A job hunting shapeshifter. Gods, I wish, all of'em could have been civilized like you."

"Wait, you were there, during the purges?"

August looks away.

"History connects us all.", the commander interjects and turns to me. "So, what happened?"

"When I walked in, somebody tried to shoot me. I deflected the attack and it exploded in their face."

The commander holds her chin in thought with notable amusement. "Ah, getting tested by the shady types right away? Didn't think they'd be so brave..."

I hold up the papers, I received. "That aside. Kella was very eager to hire me. She said, I'm fast with paperwork. I think, she might be coaxing me into that job with compliments, though."

"They did seem understaffed for a guild branch." The commander chuckles. "Let's take advantage of that. Having you work here was the plan anyway."

"What about the 'Alya-situation'?"

"Maybe you can volunteer for the nightshifts, considering how little you have to sleep. That should free up the daytime at least."

"Right."

We go over the contract together. Paragraph by paragraph, the commander breaks it down for me, so I can understand, what I'm getting into. Who would have thought, being a commander takes more than military knowledge, right? 

About an hour later, somebody knocks at the door. "R-Rev here!"

I open it. "Good evening. How can I help you?"

"H-help me...?" He tilts his head up to meet my eyes, before averting his gaze quickly. "Kella asks for you. It's about th-that explosion."

I lock eyes with the commander. She nods, so I comply with Rev's request. "Alright, let's go." 

The guild hall is back to it's serenity that it had before the adventurers returned. The tables are now vacant for the most part and the subtle smell of sweat, blood and oil lingers in the air. The corner, in which the explosion had happened, had been cleaned up by now.