Winter is almost at an end, as the frigid season makes its last dying gasps, spring starts to shine through. And with spring around the corner, preparations are well underway across the small trade route stop known simply as Frontier Village. Snow is being cleared off rooftops, orders are being put in for items to be obtained from other towns and cities, work is being done to prepare for the spring influx of tourists and merchants making their way along the Golden Road. Each person has their daily routines, their routes they take. There’s always something to do, and even if someone were to claim they have nothing to do...why that would be a lie of course, there’s just finding that something to do!

Ah but as spring draws close to its first day, there’s more bustle than usual. A few of the locals were already planning to travel to the upcoming trade festival, where people of both the Kingdom of Norad and the Sechs Republic(Along with the other two nations of a more minor note) were to come together and celebrate the arts. However, tragedy has struck, in the form of a natural disaster befalling the site where the tents were to go up, as a sudden uptick in monster spawning has forced the site to be shut down. With the festival delayed an unknown amount of time until the monster infestation, rumored to be quite bad, is cleared out, many of those who intended to go are now stuck in town, and well, tensions are bound to flare. Hopefully no one will take advantage of the ruckus to cause some trouble?

So begins another day in Frontier Village…



”My, would you look at that, what a shame. I was looking forward to the stories from travelers. I suppose it can’t be helped though, ahaha.” Standing in the village square, James sighed softly, the elder Innkeeper rubbing his chin at the news given to him by the town news board, before turning, shrugging as he did, and walking back down the short distance to his inn. At least those stranded at the village until things at the fairground cleared up would be paying for their rooms, though he’d lowered the prices out of respect for those who were coming through. Innkeeper he may be, he was no highwayman, nay, he cared dearly for his patrons. At least this meant he could do some spring cleaning. Sure, he was getting up in years, but keeping the inn running, combined with a good diet, kept him in shape. Still, part of him was concerned about the infestation news. He hoped it wasn’t a sign of something worse. Hopefully an Earthmate would come through and fix the presumably imbalanced Runes, and go on their way.

Walking up the short steps onto his porch, James moved to the rocking chair he kept just outside, to the left of the two door entrance to his inn, and sat down, taking in his surroundings, the well dressed keeper crossing one leg over the other, starting to rock the oak wood chair back and forth with the other hand. Nothing to do for the moment but enjoy the quiet, before someone else in town lost their head over the news. He was silent now, the only sound that of his chair, rocking back and forth, creaking as it did so, the rustle of fabric as his clothing shifted. Just enjoying the time that an old man like him could get between customers, or shipments.


So begins the first “arc,” Festival Tension. This will be a backdrop tale, unless players decide to directly interact, as it will sort itself out on its own, but of course, you may use it to your advantage. That said, with this up, the rp has begun! Do enjoy yourselves, and feel free to begin your own character story arcs. Bon voyage!

Another fruit was plucked up from the soil in which it had grown. Shikoi was working hard on harvesting all of the remaining crops."There we go," Shikoi thought to herself as she plucked the remaining fruit left. Rubbing her arms for a little bit of warmth, before bringing in the basket full of fruits and flowers into the house. After setting the basket on the counter, she left through the front door. Walking outside she took a few steps down until she was on the flat ground.

Looking around, she noticed a person looking at her. She shot them a glare in which they promptly turned away, quickly. Sighing, she shook her head and proceeded to take a walk. Why did they have to throw her a look of pity, or curiosity. It was none of their business to give her intruding stares. Besides she didn't want anything to do with them, so much so that she felt like she needed to slam her head against the nearest hard surface in order prove a point. The only person who she tolerated was the old man, and even though he was slightly annoying. Shikoi continued her walk down the road, relaxing as she enjoyed a moment of peace while ignoring everyone around her.

Auron Lockhart

The trading festival was cancelled. Great. Auron sighed as he sat at the local tavern, sitting on a bar stool as he sipped on some rum. At least the weather was a bit nicer here. Auron wore a white dress shirt that was opened and has the sleeves cut off, dark blue trousers and some brown boots. His blonde hair was swept to the side, a bit of a mess in all honesty. He was detailed with going all this way to escort the merchants to their destination. Sadly, monsters have overrun the site and there's been a delay. For how long, he has no idea, but they were to stay in town until they could attend the festival. Being mostly a trading city, the storm coast got a lot of good allies and money from this festival, and a lot of income was depending on it. And so he sat, with nothing to do but sit at the local tavern and waste his day away. Besides training, there wasn't a whole lot to do that he found.

Well, there was gambling, which he had done plenty of. As a coast guard, he had passed lots of times with card games, and it was a great way to pass the time. He didn't gamble all the time, but he was good enough at the game to win some kind of money. And so he sat down at the poker table and bought himself a hand. With a straight face and his sword on his back, the coast guard grabbed his chips and cards and took a good look at them. Hopefully the people around the table didn't make too much of a fuss, because if all his hands started like his first one, he'd be doing quite well for himself.

"Annnd..." the girl gave one strong, final pull on the rope she was holding. It made her fall flat on the ground, but it also caused the large outside roof, made out of tissue, from her caravan to raise in the air and finally come to cover the counter she had brought out earlier. On the side of her caravan she had a compartment that opened where she could display some goods outside, which also closed and could be locked if she left. Most of her wares, however, were inside the caravan. "...there you go! Done!"

Hina stood back up, clapping her hands together to remove the dust and dirt from her fall, then put both fists on her hips in a proud manner, looking at her now set-up caravan-shop-home. "Haha! Now all that's left is customers!" Turning around, Hina found the part of town where she had set up be unusually empty. It was a trading town before anything else, after all, and the Trade Festival had been delayed. That's right! Delayed and not cancelled. Which meant...

A few moments later, after safely locking up all of her wares and belongings, Hina almost kicked open the doors of the Inn saying; "Hello, locals! I'll take..." raising a hand in the air to announce what her order will be, Hina missed the step and fell flat on the wooden floor, her hand still raised above her head...but! in a flash she was back on her feet, laughing nervously while scratching the back of her head. Finally, she sat at a table. "I'll take one Ale, please!"

The Merchant put down a rather big looking bag for her size, and out from it she got all the equipment necessary to write letters. A delayed Trade Festival only meant more opportunities.

Stepping outside the front door, Ailred takes a big breath of the morning air. With the winter season coming to a close, the anticipation of the spring was seeming to emanate out of every seeming aspect of nature itself. And with spring returning, it meant that materials that had waned in the winter should soon be making a comeback. After spending the last few days finishing setting up his home after moving into the town recently, he knew now was the opportune chance to start checking out the woods for useful herbs and other plants.

Ailred looks himself over, going threw a mental checklist. Material bag at his side? Check. Bow across his back? Check. Nodding to himself as he sees everything is as it should be, Ailred locks the door and begins to go on the path in the direction of the nearby forest. Nothing to deep today, he reminds himself. This first excursion is more for scoping the area out for later trips in the future, after all.

As he walks, his mind wonders about Frontier Village he now calls home. Having settled into the village just recently, there wasn’t much he knew about it. He had heard of the upcoming festival from overheard gossip of other villagers. Sadly, it was to be delayed due to the increase in monsters cropping up he had also heard. Outside of that, he was still too new to know the in and outs of the village. But that will be rectified in time, so he didn’t worry on it for too long.

---

---

From the moment he first heard the news, he knew he had a long couple of days ahead of him; At least that was his estimation from his lengthy experience, though it was under the assumption that the teams sent in to clear out the monstrous incursion were capable enough. It did stand to reason however, considering the level of importance resting on the festival. Mind you, that was his impression even before the onrush of whining merchants barged into the building and demanded he take action.

The amount of self control it took to patiently hear them out aside, Rowan did indeed see little recourse but to issue an open contract for anyone so able to join the village's hunting party, members of which will travel together to the festival grounds and coordinate with other hunting teams to rout the intruding monsters. Applications have been coming in steadily, and it is estimated that around a dozen hunters will be set to depart tomorrow morning.

Till the festival's finally underway, the guild hall would continue to have its hand's full. One couldn't ignore the sheer number of people who came this way only to be stranded due to the delay, and that only meant more problems that needed sorting on top of the usual amount of jobs that always comes their way. It therefore hardly came as a surprise that the guild employees that requested time off for the festival had said petitions temporarily suspended until the predicament was handled, while everyone on the whole saw an increase in their hours. Rowan needed all hands on deck, a matter he made next to no effort to sugarcoat to his staff, though he did mention a fair bonus to their next paychecks.

The frail older gentleman sitting across the table from Rowan chuckled loudly as he lifted the cup of coffee to his white bearded lips, clearly having the more enjoyable time out of the two, having taken to one of his anecdotes that danced around the line between truth and hyperbole. He is known as Mr. (Isaac) Cullen, an old friend of the former guild master, who had agreed to stick around to show a newly arrived Rowan the ins and outs of managing the hall, that is... when he wasn't strolling down memory lane and generally doing his part to ensure his protégé wound up just as bald as he is.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny. And why did you pick here to spend your morning telling stories and not at the pub again?" Rowan replied, not even bothering to look up from the clipboard of trade documents that an assistant handed to him, many of which needed his sign off. This meeting of theirs wasn't exactly a private one, as to their side were the descending stairs that led to the ground floor of the hall.

"Because my stories are for the ones that need them, and there's no one that needs a good story more than you, hehh heh," the man returned with a wrinkled smile. "Seriously now, you're still the same stick in the mud you were when I first took you under my wing. You know you could have at least invited your dear old teacher to your lovely office so we could reminisce in peace." Cullen leaned forward expectingly with his hand resting on the walking stick at his side, trying to look as innocent as he could.

Rownan did look up from his work at that, though with an annoyed, almost unbelieving look in his eyes. "And have you in the same room as the wine cabinet. Not a chance. Some of us learn from our mistakes, thank you very much."

"You're no fun..." was the old man's dejected retort before taking another sip of his coffee.

Kumiko

^@Mangrale

The news that the festival was delayed due to the monster invasion were disappointing, especially for Kumiko, who was looking forward that year's festival, but the second she received that notice, she knew very well that she would have to pretty much work twice as much on the guild hall. Rowan would probably have even more things to take care of, so her aim for today was take some work out of his hands to make things a bit less exhaustive for him.

That said, she wasn't expecting that it would get so confusing. The guild hall could only be described as being pure chaos right now. While the adventurers who wanted to apply for the hunting party were behaving... as well as adventurers usually do, the real problem were the merchants, who were flooding in the guild hall and incessantly complaining about lost profits and demanding something to be done. No matter how much the other receptionists tried to explain things to them and calm them down, they simply wouldn't hear them. It was honestly more stressful than what she had imagined that day would go.

"Everyone, please! We are already doing everything we can to solve regarding the monster invasion. That said, Guildmaster Rowan is currently organizing a hunting party. Due to the size of the problem we have at hand, anyone who is able to and wants to can join the hunting party." Kumiko said with an exhausted smile as she raised her voice.

"For the adventurers who wish to join the hunting party, as usual, be careful and don't overexert yourselves. Good luck and good hunting!~" Kumiko completed, trying to organize things a little bit as she directed the adventurers to the other receptionists while she dealt with the merchants.

While she really wanted to simply kick out all the merchants from the Guild Hall, without Guildmaster Rowan's approval, she couldn't and had to hear all their complaints and demands, no matter how absurd they were or how many times they repeated themselves. Luckily, when she started actually writing down their complaints, the merchants, who were accustomed with bureaucracy and those type of things, seemed to be satisfied that their complaints were actually being heard and would be taken to the guildmaster. It took a lot of time, but little by little, the merchants had their complaints heard and left the guild hall, making the other receptionists work much easier.

Taking the heavy pile of papers with all the complaints and requests from the merchants, Kumiko went to the second floor, to the room where Rowan was together with Mr. Isaac signing documents and organizing them.

"Excuse-me, Guildmaster Rowan, Mr. Isaac." Kumiko said, gently knocking on the door before coming in.

"These are from all the merchants. There are a few requests, but they're mostly complaints. Honestly... Quite a few are basically the same thing. Since they wouldn't leave the guild hall and were making everyone's work much harder, I thought about writing down everything they had to say. Luckily, merchants seem to trust documents much more than words so they finally left." Kumiko said, carefully putting down the pile of documents besides Rowan.

Sitting down on a vacant chair on the same table where Rowan and Isaac were, Kumiko crossed her arms on the table, resting her head over them.

"Oh, if you want you can throw them all away or burn them. I promise I won't say anything to those annoying merchants~" Kumiko said, with a mischievous smile towards Rowan with a giggle.

The musical sound of a hammer striking metal rung out from the smoothed boulder that was Kaze's home. The large man was pounding a nice iron ingot into the shape of an axe. The metal shifted by tongs from the face to the horn to make the beard of the heavy axe. The hammer struck the red hot metal, shaping it easily. Getting the curve just the way he wanted it he stuffed the metal back into the burning coals. His tongs snagged another piece of metal, the makings of a dagger, and laid that on the anvils table. Using the table allowed him to clean up the edge for where the cross-guard would sit before he slid the whole thing into some cool sand.

Setting down the hammer Kaze curved his back, making it crack loudly, as he exhaled a waft of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. The other corner holding onto a cigar, the source of the smoke. "Damn slow days..." He muttered to himself. He was only making things to keep himself occupied since the delay of the Festival. Sure he could go hunt the monsters loitering about the place but there was a Guild here. Why have them if they didn't do something? He'd let them do their jobs considering they ordered enough gear from him.

Sighing he set back to work, pulling the head of the axe from the forge he set it back to the horn. Picking up a heavier hammer he started to pound it onto the pointed portion of the horn, making a hole through it for where the haft would be when he made it. The crude hole was made, and with a tap the head was off the horn. Reaching down he picked up an oval rod and stuck it in the hardie hole. He slid the head onto it and started to pound it into a proper smoothed shape. Sliding it off with a tap of the hammer he had the metal back in the forge fires to harden it. All that hammering was ringing out to the surrounding forest. The dwarf actually living outside of town and in the woods where beginners started their wanderings. Normally a bunch of kids growing up from the town.

He was about to take up the dagger to sharpen it, but something thudded outside. "If those damned orcs are back I'm gonna rip off their faces..." He growled as he undid the leather apron and set it on the anvil. His hand went to his belt and he pulled up a strange looking weapon. It looked like a hammer, but on the back side was a rather large pick with a blade on its underside. What he called a warpick. Shouldering open his door the burly man looked around, but didn't see anything. Scratching his beard the large mans eyes were narrowed. "Maybe I'm starting to hear things..." He muttered to himself as he went back in. He was living in a boulder at the bottom of a large hill, something probably tumbled down. Nature made noises after all.

Well, he had been enjoying the silence. Up until the young woman who had pulled into town one day and wound up stranded ran past, almost kicking in the door to the inn. A soft sigh left James, but not long after did he chuckle. Oh the strength of the youth. With a smile on his face, he pulled himself to his feet, and stepped over to the pair of double doors, and opened one, noting the young merchant who had scrabbled to her feet and run off to the bar to get seated. He chuckled again, having clearly heard what she wanted. Watching her descend into the bar, James took a moment, seeing no one in line to get checked in, before he walked down after Hina. Sliding behind the bar, he quickly grabbed the drink in question, a local blend, before he poured out a mug of the ale in question. With deft movements, James came back around the bar, to Hina's tab, lightly setting it down, mindful of the other's work. But given the quiet, he lingered, before a smile curved his lips upwards.

"Bit early in the day to start drinking, I'd say. Real shame about the festival, I was looking forward to it." He could have said more, but he wasn't senile, he wasn't about to talk the other's ear off unless she wanted it. In other words, he was offering his services as someone to talk to, if she so wanted it.

@SimpleWriter

@Mangrale

As she traveled down the dirt road, the outskirts of a town became visible to the wanderer. Al'nehak rustled her coin purse in her hands again. She had heard the sad clink of a few loose change once more and sighed.

"Might be enough for room and board for a day or two. Tch, traveling is rather difficult without money. Seems like I'll need to stay here for a bit and earn some coin for the road. Frontier Village eh? I'm looking foward to this place. There's a festival going on too from what I've been told."

She continued to walk without any particular direction, her gaze darting left and right to familiarize herself with the surroundings as she followed the flow of the ever increasing crowd towards what appeared to be the center of the town.

There was energy in the crowd of people she was walking among yet there was tension too. Had something happened? She stopped by a fruit stand and peered at what the vendor had to sell. Wild berries, apples, the usual of course.

"Madam," Al'nehak asked as she picked up a bunch of berries to inspect, "What's the occasion today? Seems like a lot of hustle and bustle today."

"It's the trade festival! Lots of merchants from both Sechs and Norad are displaying their wares here. Well, that would've been the case were it not for the monster's sudden appearance. Hmm, your not from around here are you?"

"Is it the clothes? Must be the clothes. Yes, I've been on the road for some time now. It's a shame, I'd like to see this festival in action. I hope it isn't canceled?" Al'nehak inquired as she put down the bunch of berries and picked up another one.

"Just delayed. The Guild has already sent out a subjugation notice. I'd expect the festival to go back up within a few hours."

"I see," Al'nehak stated plainly, "How much for these berries?"

Al'nehak paid the vendor. She plucked a berry from the vine and plopped it in her mouth. It was firm and sweet, freshly picked. "Any inns you'd recommend? And where would I find the local guild?"

"You're in luck. The guild and the best inn are right across from each other! See that street? Follow it and make two rights. You'll see the Golden Hind Inn and the Guild right across from each other!"

Al'nehak gave a small bow. "That's convenient. Thank you. I wish you the best in your sales."

"Hey, you aren't-"

Al'nehak had already disappeared back into the crowd and followed the vendor's direction and in no time at all, came into view the guild and the inn. Upon entering the guild hall, chaos was an apt description of what was happening. From all the shouting and hollering, there was one voice that stood above everyone else and there was a hint of authority with this one.



Al'nehak continued to gobble up her berries and her gaze fell upon the one shouting, organizing and directing people. It was a receptionist...a kitsune! How interesting! She wasn't the first Kitsune she had seen but it was certainly a surprise that there was one out this far in the mainland.

I should get to know the guild better. Yes, especially if I want the good paying jobs. Get chummy with the guild. By that token if I'm close enough to that kitsune, she'll let me fluff her tail? That'd be exciting. Hah! I wonder if there will be more people showing up for this hunt?"

---

---

The room that the two men were in wasn’t that large at all, it being just one of a few private spaces on the second floor meant to allow that little extra privacy among clients and hunters, though they are open to any parties seeking a secluded correspondence… or a guildmaster wanting some level of peace and quiet while he worked, while also having someone like Mr. Cullen to look after.

“Come in, my dear!” answered the gleeful old man as Kumiko made her way inside.

Rowan was taken aback by the stack of papers she brought in, a clearly aggravated sigh upon hearing what they were. “Don’t tell me they came back. I thought they got the message last time,” he said with some exhaustion in his voice, rubbing his eyebrows as his elbow stood against the table. He was clearly not happy to have anyone, least of all Kumiko, dealing with some bothersome traders in his stead.

“Well that’s what you could expect when it comes to merchants. They don’t get far in that business sitting patiently on their thumbs,” Cullen advised, trying to be sagely about it, but he wasn’t exactly trying to hide how happy he was to not be the one in their crosshairs. “They say you should never get between a merchant and a sale… unless you’re another merchant, of course… But then again, they do seem pretty united when it comes to this delay thing, eh?” he rambled a bit with a silly smile, already knowing how little help he was being.

Rowan set his clipboard aside and listlessly started to flip through the stack of complaints as best he could. Kumiko will easily tell from his face that there could be an honest to the gods offer for a generous donation to the guild hall among them and he still wouldn’t care to give them the time of day. Needless to say, there was no such deal in all she had recorded, but Rowan did key in to a sizable group of requests. “Seriously? Not only do they want the monsters cleared out, but some of them also want an escort to the festival itself. They could just hire their own escorts if they’re so scared,” he said with a dry shake of his head.

“Another thing about merchants: They can be very stingy at times,” affirmed the old gentleman, feeling at liberty to say such things because some of his good friends are traders. “Still, well done my dear. I do believe I see a generous bonus in your futuuuure,” he suggested playfully with a toothy grin, leaning over towards Rowan.

Looking to Kumiko, the guildmaster let out a small sigh, one that looked an awful lot like he was stifling a tired yawn. “Yeah, you did good Kumiko, handling that like you did. Burning all of this would be a treat for me to be sure, and once this mess is over, I think I’ll do just that. Might as well have something to look forward to…”

“That should be good enough.”

Normally, a wanderer or traveler would go straight to an Inn when they reach a village or town or any sort of established civilization. Not Leroy. No, he was content with camping somewhere with clean water if he could help it. It’s not that he didn’t like Inns, it’s just that there’s easier access to materials out in the wilderness. Besides that, there was supposed to be a festival! He definitely needed all the money he could save to enjoy that event in full.

“Alright...Check one more time.”

The dark elf inspected his tent. It was larger than necessary for sleeping, but it was much more helpful when he was working his profession. A bedroll was on one side, his bags on another. All he would need to do is open them up, get his equipment out and he could just get to work.

“Everything good here? ...Yep.”

He walked over to his campfire site. It wasn’t lit yet, but he needed to make sure that it would set fire to the forest if he did. After that he looked up into he trees. He had set up a hammock just in case he ran into some forest predators. It’s safer, and plenty of things were available up there to shoo the intruder away. Finally, he returned to his bags and checked if he dropped everything.

“Pan, knives, cup...medicinal herbs, grasses, vials, bottles...”

It was early in the morning where the sun was barely up in the sky. A lone figure strode through the wilderness with the crumpled bodies of monsters slowly fading. The figure flicked its wrist before trudging through the depths of the forest as the light dappled dimly through the canopy and onto the floor. The monsters which inhabited the area have been reported to swollen to noticeable numbers. Somewhere in the depths there was something behind the numbers being increased. Already, there were sightings and reports of attacks by particularly dangerous monsters roaming the area adjacent to the town.

Deeper and deeper the figure traversed into the woods. There was confidence in the stride and the figure deliberately walked in a manner to get attention. It was still quiet save for the sound of unseen birds chirping elsewhere. Two goblinoid monsters in hides wielding axes and a sword rushed the figure. The figure dodged both of them and then rushed the axe wielding monster and wrenched the axed before kicking it to a tree and slamming the axe into the chest.

The figure danced around the frantic monster's swipes. Attempting to cleave the monster with the axe, it merely broke when said monster blocked with the sword. The armored figure would circle the monster from behind and barrage it with punches. An energy pulsed through the arms and when contact was made a forceful discharge happened which would send the monster flying and crashing into a rock before it disappeared.

Finally, the true target revealed itself, a greyish muscular humanoid monster with gnashing teeth and a cunning glimmer in its eyes. It towered over the figure as it brandished a giant sword of some shiny black substance. The blade cut through the vegetation and smaller trees through its arc. The figure didn't have much time to react outside of jumping over the blade. The monster's recovery was deceptively fast as it swung again rapidly, but the blade caught itself in the side of a tree trunk. The figure rushed and punished with some hits, enraging the monster as its eyes glowed menacingly and it attacked. It was like a dance between the two, of near hits and close defending until the armored figure backed away. Another pulse of energy went through the leg. The figure ran at the monster and leapt into a flying kick. The monster would try and block with the massive sword. It would fail. The sword shattered and the monster was smote as it petrified and crumbled into dust.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Pisco's day was like every other day, uneventful and short. Having automated most of his brewery, it left him with quite a bit of freedom as the only thing he needed to do, was wait. That is when not selling his wares to merchants or other places in town that needed some drinks. So, he would find himself in The Golden Hind Inn, face pensive as he nursed a glass of whiskey. His attention was lifted when this new woman, a merchant it seemed, arrived to the Inn. He barely lift his head at her loud declaration. Yet, he still smiled very slightly at her direction while staring at the table as he drank. He then got up and approached her, "No need to be so loud, but you got my interest. You're merchant aren't you? Perhaps I can offer some things to sell."

Meanwhile, the news of an increased monster population would have the local guards on high alert. A contingency plan was being drawn up. They needed to act before people got hurt or worse. Also, the monsters were a threat to not only public safety, but the town's economic livelihood as well. To combat the monster threat, they decided to team up with the adventurer's guild to create a joint task-force dedicated to patrols,investigations, and of course monster hunting.

Meche Logge entered the guildhall and was surrounded by all sorts people. She could tell it was about the monsters. She sighed and made her way through the crowd keeping a low profile. This matter would need to be taken care of soon. She made her way upstairs, but found no receptionist at the moment. Meche just took a seat and waited for someone to come out.

Agnes

Spring has come again, the trading festival should have a couple of good books on the caravans. Putting down her quill to her ink reservoir, Agnes sprinkled a handful of sand to blot out the excess ink away from the copy of her manuscript.

Delayed due to the increasing monster and attacks, still. That wasn’t really a thing to worry much about for the Elf Agnes. She had a lot of books to deal with from the current collection. Better clear the upstanding ones, she thought.

And on now to talk about books, there was a copy that she had to return for today. She doubted that the books from the festival would go anywhere, it was about time to return to those to the inn owner, the few books that she had borrowed for the ease of her reference.

Placing her stationery to one side, she walked to the town streets towards the inn.

“Morning,” Agnes entered the doors of the inn, expecting to find the innkeeper of the village. The library collection of those had always intrigued her, often useful for her references. More so than those random sorts of the trader caravan.

One of those traders is also at the Inn, Agnes’ eyes narrowed a little at the sight of the jug of ale. Quite a time of the day to start drinking, but to each of their own, she suppose. Placing her books on the side of the table, she took a seat beside the merchant Hina. "Here are the books that I'll be returning,"

Kumiko

Kumiko almost felt guilty when she saw Rowan's reaction as she laid down the pile of papers near him. It was obvious that he had already so many things to deal with yet he didn't have the luxury of taking a small break, due to the current situation with the monster invasion.
At least she hoped the merchants wouldn't return for some time now. They did seem to be... moderately satisfied when she said she would deliver the complaints directly to him.

"To be honest... I was almost thinking I would have to forcefully kick them out of the building... So insistent..." Kumiko said looking to both Rowan and Mr. Cullen.

"They always seem to be really... vicious when the matter is money... I wouldn't be surprised if they started growling to one another when on a business meeting or something like that..." Kumiko said, giggling as she compared the merchants to wolves.

"Anyways, I hope they won't return here so soon. Things are already hectic without them trying to further slow down everything. Even the adventurers were starting to get lost with all those merchants making such a fuss inside the guild hall." She finished, rolling her eyes.

When Mr. Cullen praised her, mentioning a raise, followed by Rowan, Kumiko couldn't help but smile. Despite her subtle reaction, if one paid close attention to her, it was obvious that she wasn't trying to hide that she was happy and proud for being praised. Her ears standing up, her tail and her posture.

"I did consider being a little bit more... persuasive in my attempts to make them leave, but I'm glad that it worked!" Kumiko said, with a chuckle and a mischievous expression, clear indications that she wouldn't have any problem in using other means to make them leave.

"I don't know about a raise, but I would be pretty grateful if someone let me take on a few requests occasionally..." Kumiko said, putting her hands on her waist and looking at Rowan with a slightly annoyed expression.

"A bit of exercise helps me to keep me in good shape and to sharpen my claws~" Kumiko said, giggling in a playful tone. It was incredibly obvious that she was teasing Rowan. Other than that, both Mr. Cullen and Rowan knew that the little... exercise Kumiko was talking about wasn't something most people would consider as normal.

"Anyways, I'm sorry for interrupting you, Guildmaster Rowan, Mr. Cullen. I'm sure one of you still have a lot of work to do." Kumiko said, returning to her 'receptionist' mode, with a chuckle and a teasing smirk towards Mr. Cullen as she headed towards the door.

"I remember seeing some adventurers around the guild hall that still seemed to be a bit lost even after the merchants were gone. If you need anything, you just need to call me Mr. Rowan." Kumiko said, with a discreet bow towards Rowan and Isaac as she went back downstairs towards the guild hall.

^@Mangrale

@Kazemitsu

---

"Diggy diggy hole, digging a hole~♪" Not far outside of the city, just a little ways up the hill outside of Kaze's little boulder, was a girl dressed in white. A hammer was in her hands, and she was whacking away at a few rocks with a sizable hammer almost comically large for her. She raised the hammer, smashing it into the ground, grinding up the rocks into nothing but pebbles with impressive seeming strength.

"A hole right into the mountain~♪" Seemingly not finding what she was looking for, she moved to another rock on the ground happily continuing to sing her song as she brought another rock to its untimely demise. A large part of it tumbled down the hill, likely causing some of it to cause a bit of a ruckus elsewhere.

"Gonna smash some rocks, gonna crack them open~♪" She emphasized the point unconsciously by smashing open another rock with one swift, powerful motion. The poor, defenseless rock was shattered in an instant, its remains tumbling down the slope. Still nothing it seemed. Hm. Her intuition was telling her there was something around here. She could feel it in her boney bones, but it was playing hard to get!

"Gonna find some shinies, gonna find some ore~♪" Turning to a rather sizable boulder, Alfy hefted her hammer, placing the head of it onto the face of the rock, testing the angle of impact. She gave it a few light taps. Hmm...her intuition was telling her this one was going to sparkle! Yep yep, it was a good rock! It was probably hiding all kinds of valuables in it.

"Gonna make 'em sparkle," Grabbing the hammer with both hands, Alfy raised it behind her shoulder, still singing her little song. "when I smashy smash the rock, smashing a rock, YAAAH~♪" With a mighty yell, she brought the hammer full force into the rock. At least, that was her intent.

The rock was precariously perched right on the ledge.

A rather rocky ledge with poor footing.

"WAAAAH?!" As soon as she swung, she tripped right over a rock, flinging her hammer off into the distance down the mountain, towards Kaze's shop below. The hammer slammed into the roof of Kaze's boulder, creating a loud thunk noise as it slammed into it before twirling up into the air. Alfy wasn't very far behind, tumbling down the mountain, and getting just enough momentum to get airborne as she slid off another ledge, slamming into the ground below face first, followed shortly by her hammer landing right next to her as the head buried itself in the ground, the handle whacking her right in the back of the head.

"...owie."

Kaze has just closed the door to his house and shop before he heard another thump. Except it was the sound of something hitting dirt, not his dwelling. Growling he slammed the door open to be greeted by the sight of Alfy face first in the dirt with the handle of her hammer across the back of her brain pan. Rolling his eyes he went over and reached down, plucking her from the ground by the back of her clothes and planting her on her feet. Once she was standing he scooped her hammer up into the air with his boot and caught its handle before holding it out to her.

"You need to watch your step and your ground more than your singing." the large smith growled out as if she had done this before. He knew the land above his Boulder home, it wasn't the most stable which was why he decided to live inside of a giant rock. Once he was sure she was stable he turned and started to head into his home. "You find anything good? Or just the basic ores again?" He questioned, leaving the door open for her to follow him inside.

Once inside he was back in his workshop. The two projects were nearly done, they'd be finished tomorrow. He already had an ingot heated up and ready to be hammered into whatever shape he decided to go with. Maybe Alfy would give him an idea.

@Kazemitsu

---

Alfy didn't protest to being sat straight, she was a bit dizzy from just having taken a tumble down the mountain. Once she was sat up straight, she dusted off her dress lightly and turned to Kaze.

"Silly Kaze," Alfy giggled brightly, following Kaze into his shop. "Didn't you see? I totally was watching the ground just now. Soft, squishy, and brown." Obviously referring to the fact she had just been face planted in it. She may have only been here a week at most, but she certainly didn't mind spending time with the Blacksmith. She may not be able to smith weapons - but he did share her affinity for ores and digging at least. A bit of comfort to find a bit of a kindred spirit after all this time.

"Nnnope, no ores or anything though," Alfy pouted lightly. "This ground is all soft and not good for it. Not even a tiny little jasper stone." Noticing a few things being worked on in the forge however, Alfy immediately took interest, waltzing over and placing herself right in front of the forge. "What ya making here?" She was dangerously close. Enough to probably cause slight concern.

Kaze cast an eye to the bubbly girl when she entered the shop and mentioned she had no ores or gems or anything this time. Of course she had to crack a joke as well making him shake his head. "That's unfortunate. We'll have to start going further out to get more ores if it's starting to dry up around here." He said while using a steel rod to shift the coals about. She went about asking what he was making, which earned her a shrug.

"Nothing yet. Not enough metal to make a larger axe head now a hammer. Too much for a dagger or knife." Kaze stated as he snagged the ingot with a pair of tongs. He set the glowing metal on the face of the anvil and gave it a few good pounds. The metal was so hot it was easy to shape. "Maybe I'll make a scimitar." He continued, sending sparks flying with each pound of the hammer.

"Unless you have an idea for something." He said, casting his golden colored eyes towards Alfy.

---

---

While Mr. Cullen took Kumiko’s jab at the merchants with his usual bit of indecorous laughter, Rowan would unsurprisingly find her insistence towards forcing them out the old fashioned way to be altogether less amusing, a small groan when she mentioned it the second time. “You made the right call this time, but don’t let it go to your head. If nothing else, I expect you to tell the difference between people who can be reasoned with, and troublemakers who won’t listen unless you make them listen,” he admonished, by now knowing just what she’s capable of when it comes to the foolish and disorderly who find their way to the guild on occasion.

The guildmaster would immediately hold up his hand to keep either of them from interrupting him before he continued. “Even so, I can’t blame you for getting restless. Once all this pest control is over and done with, I’ll see about wrangling up a job worth loaning your expertise to,” Rowan conceded a tad, his expression letting her know he was both genuine and at the same time not about to budge further than that.

To her quip just before she moved for the door, Mr. Cullen would smile widely and raise his coffee mug appreciatively. “Not a problem, my dear. I’m never so busy that I can’t make time for you, (chuckles),” he jested before taking a big swig.

After Kumiko opened the door to leave, there’d be an assistant who’d peek his head in and address the guildmaster. “Um, sir? There's a guard representative here. I believe she’s here to see you.”

Rowan would languidly lift himself to his feet at that, picking up the complaints and other paperwork in either arm. “Only the one, huh? Suppose my time in here is at an end regardless,” he said, making sure Isaac was following his lead. Far be it from him to let the old man take up a whole room by himself.

In mere moments, the Guildmaster would emerge from the room, handing off the clipboard and documents to the aforementioned assistant before stepping toward the tables of the second story balcony, the pile of merchant demands still under under his arm when he recognized Meche’s uniform and approached. “If you’re here, I doubt it’s for the coffee. If it’s a private meeting you’re after, step into my office... though I suggest you make this quick,” the spoke frankly, taking to the usual drill when dealing with official village correspondence.

Prior to leading the officer to his office, he’d turn to Kumiko one more time if she was nearby. “Looks like I’ll be preoccupied for the time being. See to it that we’re not disturbed... in as civilly a manner as possible, if it isn’t too much trouble,” he suggested with a wary lift of his eyebrow.

Lowering his hand into the pouch at his waist would produce a rather garish gold key, with which he’d unlock the broad ornate double doors which unmistakably distinguished his office. Rowan patiently opened one of the doors for the woman, after which he himself proceeded inside, slamming the door shut before Isaac could weasel his way in. “Drat…!”

“Don’t mind that. Have a seat and say what you came here to say,” the man told Meche in reference to one of the two chairs standing in front of a large desk. Behind it was a more distinguished armchair, one that Rowan sat down on before lowering his elbows on his work station, the new stack of papers being set to the side. His hands calmly folding together as he listened to her state her business.