Guild Summons
“Aghhghh…aaAAhh…morning…”
My body felt heavy. My muscles hurt. I was still riddled with wounds after waking up, which made getting out of bed a pain.
This was the infirmary in the western guardhouse. It was just yesterday afternoon that I helped the adventurers who were losing against the wyvern, it was almost night when I finally killed it. But I had no time to rest, I had to walk all the way back to Spiris. Thanks to Harold’s kindness, I was treated here, and the wound on my right thigh was closed up. But I was completely drained by then, and just fell asleep right here.
And now it was morning. What time was it?
“Ah, Asagi. I see you are awake now.”
“Harold. Good morning.”
“Morning! Though, it is really midday now!”
Wha-what… It appeared that I had overslept by quite a bit.
“Well, with so many injuries, it could not be helped.”
“But it feels like a waste of time…”
I sighed at the loss of my valuable morning hours as I got up from the bed. Ouch… I was sore all over. I wasn’t sure, but I had a suspicion that it was an effect of overusing ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’…
“Ah! I had forgotten!”
“What?”
“You have been summoned to the guild. You are to go as soon as you have regained your consciousness!”
“The guild, eh?”
Uhh, I can’t help but feel like this is going to be very annoying. Something the guild master will be involved in.
“Well, might as well go then…aghhgghh…”
“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard…”
“No, I prefer to get these unpleasant things over with as soon as possible.”
I was the type who did the bad stuff first. Kind of like how I washed the cooking wear first during my night shift.
My clothes had been completely drenched with blood, so they were thrown out. I pulled out a new pair from the hollow bag and got changed. I would have liked to take a bath but was told that there was a possibility that my wounds would open again. So I had to make do with wiping myself down with a wet towel. After finishing the bare minimum of self-grooming, I collected my things and left the guardhouse.
“Well, good luck to you, Asagi.”
“Hahah. It’s like I’m off to war.”
“Battles are not fought with swords alone!”
Harold’s nostrils flare as he offers me his hand. Oh, are we going to do this then?
“I agree. I will gain whatever victory that suits me.”
I accepted his hand and we shake. Our hands clamped down on each others. I was not in peak physical condition, but this was a fight in itself. I couldn’t let go. This second battle between us lasted for over a dozen seconds, but Harold was the ultimate victor. And now my hand really hurt.
“See you.”
“Be careful!”
It was a good sort of pain that lingered even after shaking it as I walked away. I was headed for the guild. I had a bad feeling about this. Like I was walking alone into a battlefield.
□ □ □ □
Just as I was almost out of the street stall district, I found Daniela among a crowd of people. She held two skewers of meat in her hands. I was quite sure that I had asked Harold to relay a message to Daniela. Ever since I woke up this morning, I had a feeling that I had forgotten something. But that’s what it was. Daniela wasn’t there.
“Daniela!”
“Hmm, is that voice Asagi?”
Daniela turned around, and after confirming that it was me, pushed her way through the crowd of people.
