Previously on Centaurus: The band complete their goblin slaying job and return to town. On the way there they find a bedraggled Kayla and Lily and after some discussion they are made apprentice adventurers to the band.
Now, Chapter 13:
Ellaria stepped into the Adventurers Guild and paused. An awful lot of people were looking at her, in fact, every adventurer who happened to be in the guild seemed to be looking her way. She narrowed her eyes.
"What are you looking at? Never seen an elf before?"
The adventurers hesitantly turned back to their drinks.
"Hmpph." She strode toward the main desk but paused partway. Glancing around to check she wasn't still being watched she surreptitiously pulled the job for the pack of royal slimes down from the job board then continued onward to the counter.
The clerk was there,
that
clerk. Ellaria pursed her lips as she stepped up in front of her.
"I'm here to turn in the goblin job."
"Oh? Are you the only survivor? How sad, the adventurer life is often so tragic," said the clerk, clearly faking sympathy.
Ellaria glared at her. "No, my band is perfectly fine thank you. We successfully beat the goblins with no loss of life."
"Ah, is that so. Hmm.'' The clerk seemed mildly disappointed, although that was difficult to tell with how inexpressive her face was. She pulled out a large book from under the counter and placed it onto the dark wood surface. The thick leather cover was flipped open and perused, the clerk wetting her finger as she turned each page. Ellaria had the vague suspicion that the clerk was doing it at the slowest possible speed that she could manage without being slow enough to cause comment.
"Goblins and hobgoblins threatening the town and waylaying inter-city caravans. A simple enough beginner or amateurs job, very well."
Ellaria furrowed her brow, she had a distinct memory of the clerk playing up the job as being above the band's skill level and now she was quite clearly playing it down. This clerk truly had a stick up her butt about Magic Mog.
The clerk fished below the counter and then bought up a green uncut crystal on a leather cord. The crystal refracted hypnotically in the soft light of the room.
"Did you, Band Captain, Ellaria De'loquint the Third of House Starry Oak, along with the registered band Magic Mog, eliminate the goblin and hobgoblin threat you were contracted for?"
Ellaria remained silent for a moment, then she looked directly into the crystal.
"Yes, we took care of the threat, there will be no more armed goblins or hobgoblins attacking the people of this town, or anyone travelling nearby."
The crystal remained as it was, and then after a moment it flashed blue.
The clerk looked at it suspiciously, obviously wondering why it had taken so long to change colour.
"If that is as all, I would like the reward please, I did not intend to spend my entire evening here in your ever so wonderful company."
"...fine."
The clerk ducked down and the sound of shuffling and clinking coins filled the air.
Ellaria put the paper for the royal slime job on the counter and casually slid it forward.
"I would also like to claim this job's reward."
The clerk glanced back up at it and snorted dismissively.
"You are not registered for that job, no one is. If you don't register the job you don't get the reward. Sorry." The clerk stood and dumped a brown leather purse on the counter that clanked with metal.
Ellaria held up a finger. "That is factually incorrect."
"No, it's not. It's an Adventurers Guild policy. If you unknowingly complete a job then that is your bad fortune and our good luck. The guild is not in the business of handing out money to every schmuck who stumbles on a monster and accidentally squashes it."
"That policy also has a sub clause that states that any officially designated job from the AG itself is culpable for fifty percent of the reward if done off the books. Third party jobs have their own rules, but this isn't a third party job, it is an officially sanctioned job from the AG itself, therefore we are eligible for half the reward."
"This is-
"You of course were perfectly aware of that, you simply chose to conveniently ignore it in the hopes of making life more difficult for unknowing amateur bands because it fulfills your inner desire to make people suffer out of a bitter sense of entitlement over your own failed career as an adventurer. What was it? A faulty Class? Trauma from losing your bandmates?"
For the first time genuine anger crossed the stoney faced clerk's vizage.
"My personal affairs are none of your concern elf and I suggest you take a step down from your elven high horse, not everyone takes kindly to be talked down to by a snotty knife ears."
"Nevertheless I want my reward."
The clerk glared at her but then held up the crystal.
"Did you, Band Captain, Ellaria De'loquint the Third of House Starry Oak," the clerk spat Ellaria's name, "along with the registered band Magic Mog, eliminate the slime threat described in this contract?"
"We neutralised the problem."
The crystal flashed blue.
"That is not eliminated, be specific."
"The king and queen slime and their pack no longer exist."
Blue again.
The clerk seemed irritated that she hadn't gotten what she was looking for but reached below the counter and angrily stuffed a fistful of coin into the purse already sitting on the counter. She shoved the purse toward Ellaria who smoothly scooped it into her dimensional bag.
"One last thing. That job should have given us enough points with AG to be moved up to silver plate."
The clerk who had been closing the book jerked and her hand nearly ripped out a page.
"You?
Silver?
"
"You can look for yourself, the AG will have given you our numbers."
The clerk slammed the book back open and furiously flipped through it until she found what she was looking for and ran a finger down the page.
She blinked and then snorted. "Unfortunately for you, no."
"Wait, what do you mean? Taking care of the goblins should have given us what we needed!"
The clerk held up her index finger and a smug look appeared on her face. "One singular point away from ranking up."
"What about the slime job? That would have pushed us over easily!"
"Sorry but that's not how it works. While the AG does reward it as an unofficially completed job, as you so defiantly stated, it doesn't count as points toward your ranking."
Ellaria rubbed her brow with the side of her finger and frowned. The worst part was she knew the damned clerk was right. If the clerk wasn't such a jerk she might have been able to convince her to tweak their numbers and push them over to silver. As it was, they were going to be stuck with bronze plate until they got around to completing another job. She had wanted to rank up today, she had ambitions for her band and she was irked that she was being snubbed- wait...
She looked up at the clerk who raised an eyebrow.
"There are other ways to get points apart from jobs."