[IC] I Was Summoned to A God's Office and his Secretary Transported Me to Another World?! (Accepting!)

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

"Why are you a little elf girl? That's... Actually a pretty good question. Maybe the world's just trolling you right now," Aaron quipped, watching as the group decided to split up instead of checking out any location in particular first.

That was fine, though. Divide and conquer, right?

"Well, if you need me, then, I'll be in the guild, fishing around for info," he called out to the rest of the group as he walked into the building, glancing around furtively before noticing a very familiar face at one of the receptionist's desks. With a bit of a furrowed brow, Aaron walked up to the desk to get a closer look.

"Hello," the woman responded, her voice as businesslike as ever. "I see you've arrived. Welcome to the town of Lopel; this is the Guild Hall. Are you taking to your new equipment well? Any complications with the transferral process?"

Oh, yep. It was that secretary--Wyn. Of course.

"I'm fine, but a few others... Aren't, per se. One's a little elf girl now, and the other's a priestess who's gone off to get a drink at the tavern," he responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hm. That... Is strange. In any case, your first official assignment from Ferim is still not ready. We will send a message via guild card to you once it is ready, but until then, you are free to explore and take up other requests at your leisure. Let the other members of your group know to come here and obtain their card when you get a chance, please," she said in turn, handing over a piece of paper with a bunch of information written all over it--his, incidentally. "If I can make contact with them, I may be able to diagnose the origin of the problem... Though likely not reverse it--I do not have the strength to do any such thing, sadly."

"Gotcha. I think they'll come in here soon enough, though; anything to note in here?"

"Certainly. You can accept requests from either the board in here or within the tavern, then submit the proof of completion to obtain rewards. This location also has the functions of a bank, a storage, and a post office, so make of that as you will."

"That it?"

"Yes."

"Aight, thanks for the info. I'll go check out the board, then," Aaron finished, thanking Wyn as he walked off to go check out the job listing.

"...Huh. Hunt kulas for food... Kulas? The heck is a kula?" he asked, eyeing the notice in confusion before noting the illustration below.

"...Oh. Those Kyubey-like things... Eh, I'll put off taking any requests for now," he said, walking out of the guild to try and find the rest of the group.

---

The tavern was, even at this time of day, a tad raucous; people were getting drinks at the bar, food was being served as the norm... And so nothing quite seemed that unusual.

The bartender, an older man with greying hair and a moustache, nodded as Sophia ordered a drink and promptly filled up a mug with beer before taking the coins off the countertop and handing the drink to her.

"Ah, damn it all!" one man, whose larger body type mixed with less ragged clothes made for a strange sight in the middle of the tavern, shouted, slamming his own drink onto the wooden table in front of him. "Freakin' bandits raiding my carriages. Hard enough to get those goods from the north, and those so-called 'bodyguards' turn tail and run at the first sign of a fight. Goddamn cowards..." he grumbled, downing the tankard in his hands before tossing a few more coins to the bartender (who caught them rather deftly). "Another one!"

He didn't seem that drunk, all things considered, but his irritation was made well aware to those in his general vicinity.

[VitaVitaAR]

In a way, knowing that the only other person who had undergone this process had died prior to it made it worse. Akira had not died. Akira had been going about his day quite normally, and now she was a little elf girl. With no dying anywhere in there, she couldn't fathom why she had also been completely changed. However, the other matter that caught her attention was the fact that multiple people just wandered off to the damn tavern.

The amount of 'unimpressed' in Akira's expression was quite frankly unprecedented, as her right eye twitched slightly.

"... Do we have a bunch of drunks here?" she asked aloud, flatly. In fairness, she didn't exactly ignore how gathering information was useful, but how the hell was it useful when no-one had any useful supplies yet? The guild would be more useful then going to the tavern! ... At least some people had gone to more useful locations, which-

Wait. Wait wait wait. That voice... that face...

Aaron. Aaron was here and he was totally unchanged in any way. The tiny elf girl marched straight for the doorway of the guild building, and... well, that guy exited the building moments after. For now, Akira had totally forgotten her plans to attempt to purchase supplies in favor of taking out her frustration on someone she actually knew.

"Aaron-kun, I'm going to strangle you in your sleep."

Well, that wasn't a very cute comment coming out of a very cute, tiny girl, to say the least. One could almost see the angry fire burning behind her even though it was entirely a metaphor.

[TheFake]

— A Tavern? —

She sipped the beer which wasn't bad and was quite refreshing after the walking that they had done. She could get used to this world, so far things weren't really all that strange and it shouldn't be too hard for her to find work, even work that suited her.

This bandit thing sounded interesting. She'd certainly fought through her share of ambushes and if she was lucky then some of the individuals that had arrived with her would be of some help. Sophia looked over and watched the mans progress through this fresh glass. As it neared empty she slid another couple of coins across the bar.

"Another for him, and tell the gentleman who it's from. I'd like to have a few words."

[Ryougu]

@PKMNB0Y
Left behind as Sophia was immediately drawn to the bar, Raymon decided to take a good look around. The tavern was pretty crowded and the bar itself even more so. Wandering off along the walls and the edge of the crowd, Raymon came across some shady individuals. But since they glared at him the moment he neared, Raymon rapidly moved on, eventually finding himself near a bulletin board. Looking it over once or twice he realized he'd found exactly what he'd come here for.

Memorizing a few that seemed interesting, he returned to the others. Or well, he would have. When he turned around he couldn't see the people he'd entered the tavern with. Going back the way he'd came he managed to find his way back to the entrance, but he still hadn't seen his companions.

Exiting the tavern Raymon couldn't see any of the people in the group. "We probably should've agreed on a time and place to meet up again." he mumbled to himself "Sh**". He was about to decide on the next destination when he saw Aaron. Raymon vaguely remembered him and kept looking for a little longer, just to determine whether or not he really had met this person. Then, he approached him and asked "Say, you were part of Wyn's group too, right? So uhh...Any clue where the other's went? I found some quests, but lost track of the others..." Raymon spoke in a defeated voice, accurately describing how he felt. After all, what good is a quest if you lose your party?

[Hammerman]

Leaving the weapon shop, with nobody buying anything thus earning the ire of the shopkeeper, Maria headed to the item shop next. Fortunately, the shopkeeper this time, a middle-aged pudgy woman, was far kinder than the previous guy. She readily explained the various available herbs and potions that she could purchase.

"I take it that you people are new adventurers?" the shopkeeper asked with a kind smile. Unlike the weapon shopkeeper, she seemed to tolerate people who barely know a thing about adventuring and the like.

"Y-yes, something like that," Maria replied. There was no way she would explain everything that had happened to them! And it wasn't like the woman would believe it anyways.

Maria ended up purchasing a good amount of healing potions and all sorts of anti-status effect herbs. She was pretty sure her spending was quite overkill, but she wanted to be safe anyways. Poisoned, paralyzed, all that nasty, nasty stuff, she wouldn't ever want to get caught with them!

After her visit to the item shop, she headed towards the armor shop, but in the way, she went pass the tavern and she saw Raymon and Aaron conversing with each other.

"Ah, you two are here," Maria said with a smile after she walked up to them. "So, got anything nice from back there?" she gestured towards the tavern. "I just purchased some supplies from the item shop myself. And I even bought myself a nice little bag to carry them in," She showed off the red handbag that was slung to her body.

@Ryougu@PKMNB0Y

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

"...Ah?"

Aaron came to a halt right outside the doors to the guild as the elf girl that had tagged alongside the group stopped him and... Ominously threatened him.
By name.
Wait. Hold on a second. He hadn't given out his name to anyone here. But then how...?

It took a few moments of digging through his memories to realize it, but once everything clicked, the young man couldn't help but laugh at his friend's predicament. There was a certain level of unluckiness that had been crossed here, and he'd be damned if he let this chance slip by.

"Oh, Akira! You're on a bit of a short fuse today, huh? Well, really couldn't tell it was you, given the whole elf thing. Or the genderbending. Oh man, this just ain't your day, is is?" Aaron laughed, taking the chance to amuse himself for a moment at Akira's expense before wiping a tear from his eye. "Sorry, sorry, couldn't help it. But seriously, though, this is a heck of a weird situation here. Salty you got changed and I didn't?"

With a smirk on his face as he patted Akira's head (oh god, he was totally going to get it later), Aaron's attention was pulled away by two people, both of whom had come with them to the town earlier.

Well, this was convenient, too.

"Well, first things first, you three might wanna check inside the guild. Don't have a clue about what's in the tavern, but you'll probably be wanting to gra- wait, did you say two? Not three?"

Aaron look at the young man opposite himself before glancing down at Akira again, stifling a laugh.

"Looks like the downgrade in size also gave you an upgrade in presence concealment, huh?" he joked, fully aware of the bear he was (metaphorically) poking--or, at this point, slapping in the face.

Okay, maybe it was time to dial the schadenfreude back a bit.

"...But in any case, uh... Right. Guild. Guild cards. ID. Important. Grab one," he said, showing his own to the group before slipping it back into his robes. "Akira, you in particular might wanna check it out. There's someone inside who wants to speak with you, anyhow."

---

"Of course, madam," the bartender responded, politely taking the coins off the countertop and moving over to hand the merchant his refill and passing on Sophia's comment for her. The man paused for a moment, then took a large swig of his alcohol before getting up from his seat and moving to the one to the left of the woman who had called for his attention.

"Hm? I haven't seen your face around before," he said, glancing at Sophia's face for a moment before shaking his head. "...Well, whatever. What is it that you want to ask? You paid for my drink, so the least I can do is hear you out."

Of course, that didn't necessarily mean he would answer any question, but... Well, anything within reason would do well enough.

[VitaVitaAR]

"..."

Oh, that was really what she needed. For her friend to make fun of her. Yes, of course, she absolutely needed that in her moment of distress. It's not like she was suddenly both an elf and a little girl, now, was it? Oh, oh wait, it was. Gritting her teeth angrily, the tiny blonde elven girl glared up at her currently very human and very unchanged friend. And then he had the audacity to pat her on the head like that. Sure, okay, the sensation of a hand coming down and brushing against her soft, silky hair felt somehow satisfying, but that didn't change the fact that this entire situation was outrageous and embarrassing and most of all infuriating! Akira's pale cheeks were flushed with her embarrassment as Aaron raised his hand away to keep talking...

... Guild cards, fine, okay. Sure, she'd do that. Right after this.

"Aaron-kun you idiot!"

Akira spun on her heel, her leg raising up and snapping out. Certainly, this body was small and frail, with no particular strength behind it. But a sharp kick to the back of the knees tended to stagger anyone, provided it made its connection.

[TheFake]

— Tavern —

"You've got that right. I just got into town and decided to look for some work."

She swirled her drink around for a moment and took a sip before continuing.

"And I hear that you're having trouble finding reliable help. I think that myself and a few of my friends could help you out with that."

[Hammerman]

Maria entered the tavern. She immediately noticed the soldier girl having a conversation with the bartender. She couldn't help it, since the very first thing you would look at when you entered a tavern would be the bartender, no? And the soldier girl herself wasn't exactly inconspicous.

"Ah, you're still here," Maria said as she approached her, interrupting their conversation. "I've purchased some healing potions and herbs from the item shop. Got them all in this little red bag." She pointed to the bag slung to her hips.

@TheFake

[AtomicNut]

Celeste just let a long groan, before slumping headfirst on the counter, admiring the grain of the woodplanks up close for a while. "Hababajhga" She mumbled incoherently, letting her ears be immersed in the crude talk and jokes.

Bandits? Sounds like a plan. Celeste registered mentally as she raised her hand. "Add another drink for me. Rough day being a priestess of the Lady of Light." She groaned, as she eyed the troubled individual.

"Those bandits seems like they could use some spiritual guidance, aswell." She half-cracked a joke, blatantly ignoring the third girl coming to announce what she had done with the money. Supply talk, already? Pah! She scoffed ever-so slightly. This seemed like a first quest in the brewing, so it was worth listening to whatever the other woman with the beer was saying.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

"...!!"

The immediate shock from having his knees kicked in cause Aaron to crumple to the ground, biting his lower lip in pain as the pain began to bounce around his body.

Mostly on the point of impact, though. Damn, who knew little elves could hurt so much?

"...Okay. Okay. That one was on me-ow. Hahahahaowohgeezthatsmarts. Though, uh..." Aaron apologized through the pain, raising one arm to his neck and motioning to cut it out. "...It just me, or did your speech patterns change too, man? I've never heard you say such a tsun line in your life, and that was the epitome of tsun right there. Oh geez okay no no no please don't swing again I swear this body has lower pain tolerance than my original one."

Sucking in air through his gritted teeth, the young man grabbed the nearest wall to hoist himself up, his legs still shaking a little from the kick.

"Note to self: learn mana barrier ASAP, or I'm going to be so screwed in the future."

"But, uh... Yeah. I guess we should... Head inside...?"

---

As requested, the bartender handed the priest a drink in exchange for those coins, though with a slightly judgmental look as he did so. The man said nothing in the end, though, and returned to his business as usual. The merchant, on the other hand, stared into Sophia's eyes for a good few moments before nodding his head.

"...Hmph. Well, you don't seem to be the cowardly type, at least. How about thi-"

Before he could finish his statement, though, the sudden appearance of another young woman threw off the flow of the conversation. THe merchant took a moment to process the spontaneity of the incident before writing it off as the naivety of the young. It wasn't as if he couldn't understand that much, but... Couldn't they at least have a little sense about the flow of conversation?

"...Ahem. As I was saying... How about this? If you and your... 'Friends' manage to safely escort my goods from here to my destination, I'll give you 25 silver to split among yourselves. Not too bad a deal, right? Most fresh adventurers only get a few coppers a day gathering herbs or hunting kulas for food or whatever, so I'd say this should be fine. If you think you can handle it, that is."

[VitaVitaAR]

"... S-speech patterns? L-like that'd ever happen, you idiot!"

To be fair, prior to becoming a little elf girl, Akira had been quite a surly guy with a sarcastic streak. But it wasn't entirely likely that he'd ever have voiced his dissatisfaction in quite that manner. Now she had, well, rattled off quite the tsundere line with quite the tsundere reaction. However, the tiny elf wasn't about to acknowledge the way she had just reacted so openly. Instead of winding up for a chop to whatever part would hurt and was easily accessible, Akira simply folded her arms with a huff. Such a reaction did come awfully naturally to her, it seemed.

"Well whatever," she began, "If I'm going to have to deal with this-"

The tiny blonde elven girl gestured to herself.

"-Then I might as well see whatever the guild wants. Hopefully it won't be nearly as humiliating."

With that, Akira turned on her heel and marched right for the doors of the guild, without even a moment of hesitation more. She wasn't in the mood to wait around any longer.

[TheFake]

— Tavern —

The ex-soldier ignored Maria for the moment. Along with the piestess, who seemed to not be much of a drinker. She listened to the merchants words. It sounded reasonable but there was always a way to sweeten the deal. Sophia held up a hand with two fingers extended.

"Add two silvers for every dead bandit. Consider it an investment in the future. When does your next shipment go out?"

Then she took the drink that the bartender placed in front of celeste and drained it in one long pull. They had work to do and she was in no mood to carry anyone anywhere.

"And that's enough for you."