The room Iris led Chloe into was kind of fancy. It had shelves with weird shiny objects, and a bench that looked way too clean to sit on. Of course, she sat anyway.

  Iris turned to her. “Wait here. I’ll bring the elf.”

  Chloe blinked. “Wait here? Like… by myself?”

  Iris gave a nod, then swept out of the room without another word. The door clicked shut.

  Chloe immediately flopped backward onto the bench, arms hanging over the sides. Boredom soon set in. Why is she taking so long?

  She sat up and glanced around. The room had plenty of objects, but none of them looked remotely edible. Or dangerous. Disappointing, honestly.

  Still, she was Chloe. So, naturally, she started poking things.

  One table had a small wooden block with a little metal nub on one end. She gave it a tap, and it rolled slightly. When she pressed the pointy end against the table, it left a faint dark line. Hey, this thing is kinda neat. I can use it to draw lines and stuff.

  She dragged it across the surface in wild swirls, then tested it on her arm. It left squiggly marks and tickled a little, which was fun for about twenty seconds before she got bored and dropped it behind the bench.

  Next, Chloe grabbed one of the books from a shelf. This one had tiny letters packed in all boring-like and, unfortunately, no pictures. She flipped through a few pages, frowned, turned it upside down, then sideways, then tried reading it while lying flat on the floor and balancing it on her forehead. None of it helped.

  “This is dumb,” she muttered, tossing it behind her onto the bench.

  Chloe wandered over to a nearby cupboard and yanked open a few drawers. One of them was stuffed with stacks of thin paper. She pulled a few out and started folding them into triangles. That went fine. Kind of.

  Then she got ambitious. She tried bending the corners, creasing here, flipping there, maybe it’d turn into a bird? Or a brain? Or whatever people usually made out of paper. But her folds ended up all crooked, and one sheet tore in half when she pressed too hard.

  She stared at the mess in her hands, then shrugged and stuffed the paper scraps back into the drawer like nothing had happened. Then, she looked to a nearby table, where a long flat stick was placed under a stack of books. It had markings all along its edge and looked important.

  Chloe picked it up carefully, inspected it, then grinned. With total focus, she balanced the flat stick across her upper lip and tilted her head back. Her arms stretched out for balance as she focused on keeping it steady.

  She was in the middle of this majestic display when the door creaked open behind her. Chloe froze mid-pose, arms still raised, the stick wobbling dangerously on her face. She didn’t move, just slowly peeked toward the doorway with her eyes.

  Iris stepped in, and behind her was a guy wearing a leafy green cloak. His shaggy green hair stuck out, and his face had this calm, smiley look to it. There was something weirdly peaceful about him, like he had never once yelled in his life. This guy definitely talks to trees.

  The guildmaster stopped just inside the room and gave a small nod toward the moss man. “Chloe, this is Raenof. He’s the client I mentioned earlier, and he's the elf you’ll be escorting.”

  Chloe tilted her head, squinting at him with narrowed eyes. The flat stick slipped off her nose and hit the floor with a soft clack.

  She pointed straight at Raenof. “Wait. So elves are just humans with pointy stabby ears?”

  Iris chuckled gently, the corners of her mask tilting with amusement. “That’s one way to describe it, I suppose.”

  “But you said they were, like, rare and special. He just looks like a normal guy who smells leaves.”

  “Appearances rarely tell the full story, Chloe. Why don’t you talk first before you decide?”

  “Hmm. I guess I could do that.”

  Raenof stepped forward with an easy smile and extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Chloe stared down at the hand like it had just grown a second hand. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He blinked, hand still hanging there. “This? It’s a handshake. A human gesture to express trust. Or, well, that’s what I’ve read based on my research on human culture.”

  Chloe turned to Iris again, raising an eyebrow. “Do people actually do that?”

  Before Raenof could answer, Iris stepped in smoothly. “Where Chloe’s from, they don’t really do handshakes.”

  “Oh. Got it,” Raenof said with a small nod.

  He pulled a thick book from under his cloak. Chloe wasn’t sure where he was keeping it though. He opened it, revealing pages packed with neat handwriting.

  Chloe craned her neck to peek but couldn’t make out the words. The writing was way too neat and tiny.

  She leaned closer and jabbed a finger toward the page. “What’s that book all about?”

  Raenof paused, his pen hovering mid-air. “This? It’s just a journal. I like to keep notes of any interesting things I learn.”

  “Like what kind of things? Stuff about monsters?”

  “Nothing quite that exciting. Just odd bits of history, culture, behavior patterns, little things people don’t usually notice.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Okay, give me one. One weird thing.”

  “Sure. Did you know that in southern Ishgria, some people greet each other by touching foreheads instead of shaking hands? It’s seen as more respectful. Especially during festivals.”

  “Huh, that's… kinda interesting, I guess.”

  “To them, a handshake is considered too formal. Like you’re setting up a deal instead of a relationship.”

  “So what do they do if someone has, like, a really sweaty forehead? Do they still go in?”

  Raenof chuckled. “That I’m not sure about.”

  He flipped a page and continued. “There’s also a region near the Rimeflow River that thinks sneezing three times in a row is a sign of good luck.”

  “Wait, seriously? That’s actually kinda fun.”

  Raenof’s gaze lingered on her for a moment, thoughtful. “And where are you from, if I may ask?”

  Chloe didn’t hesitate at all. “Oh, I'm from a dungeon.”

  Raenof's eyes went wide, and he slowly turned his head toward Iris. “Is it... normal for humans to be raised in dungeons?”

  “Some cultures do raise their children in dungeons, especially in regions where the line between survival and ritual is thin. It fosters resilience.” Iris explained.

  Chloe blinked, tilting her head slightly as Iris spoke. Wait… people actually raise smaller humans in dungeons? I didn’t know that was a thing.

  Raenof’s expression shifted into something halfway between concern and fascination. He scribbled something quickly in his journal. “Fascinating. Chloe, you’re already one of the more unique humans I’ve encountered.”

  “Uh, thanks?”

  Iris stepped toward the table and gestured for them to sit. “Let’s make ourselves comfortable. Raenof, you may ask Chloe anything you feel is important. I’ll remain here to monitor, as agreed.”

  Raenof gave a polite nod. “Understood.”

  He took a seat across from Chloe, placing his journal neatly on the table. Chloe plopped into her seat, folding her legs up onto the cushion. She glanced between the two of them, then shrugged. “I'm ready whenever."

  Raenof flipped a page in his journal and looked up with a thoughtful expression. “Chloe, if you found a talking mushroom in the forest and it asked you for directions, what would you do?”

  “I’d probably just ignore it. Unless the mushroom has a brain now that it can talk. Then I’d try to eat it. But also, like, what if it screams? That’d be weird. Hmm… yeah I dunno.”

  Raenof jotted her answer down, unfazed. “Alright. What if you were offered a cursed sword that doubled your strength but whispered nonsense to you while you slept?”

  “Oh, easy,” Chloe said with a grin. “I’d take it and love my new shiny sword. Who cares if it’s rude? I don’t even need sleep anyway.”

  “You don’t sleep?”

  “Eh, not really. Sleeping sounds super boring.”

  “And you’re absolutely certain you’re human?”

  “Um, yeah! Totally! I just, y’know… had a rough time. Rough enough to skip sleeping forever.”

  Raenof gave her a look but didn’t press further. “Alright then. Next question. You’re walking through a market and spot a shiny gem just lying on the ground. No one else sees it. What do you do?”

  “I take it, obviously.”

  “What if someone told you the gem was haunted?”

  "Don't care, I'll just deal with it."

  Raenof actually paused at that, head tilting ever so slightly, but then he chuckled softly and jotted more notes. “Alright. Last one. If you had to choose between saving your parents or your lover, who would you choose?”

  “Wait. What are those?” Chloe asked.

  The silence in the room was immediate and kind of awkward. Raenof stared at her, unsure if she was joking or not.

  Chloe scratched her cheek. “Like, are those… monsters? Are they strong?”

  Raenof looked utterly stunned, but before he could ask more, Iris spoke up. “Raenof, that line of questioning is getting a little too personal. Chloe’s circumstances are… unusual. Perhaps it’s time to move on.”

  Raenof blinked, then bowed his head slightly. “You’re right. I apologize. That was insensitive of me.”

  Chloe tilted her head, still not understanding why everyone got weird all of a sudden. Was it a trick question or something? Maybe both options were traps?

  “I do appreciate the answers, though,” Raenof continued, looking back up with a small smile. “And now, there's just one last thing I want to check."

  Raenof raised one hand, and with a soft shimmer of green light, a long wooden staff appeared in his grasp. He offered it to Chloe. “Here. I want you to hold this.”

  “Uhhh… no thanks.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s gonna explode in my face. That’s why.”

  “It won’t. I promise.”

  Chloe did not trust that staff. At all.

  It wasn’t really Raenof’s fault, he looked nice enough, in a weird kind of way. But magic sticks? Nope.

  “So, the first time I held a magic stick was right after I crawled outta my dungeon, yeah? The thing sparked once and then blew up right in my face. Then there was that goblin’s staff I found. I thought it looked cool. Guess what? Also exploded in my face.”

  Iris, sitting calmly off to the side, gave a casual shrug. “And yet, here you are. What’s the worst that could happen?”

  Chloe narrowed her eyes. "A lot."

  But Iris didn’t seem worried. Raenof didn’t seem worried. And it was true that the exploding magic sticks did little damage to Chloe, even back then when she was weaker.

  With a groan loud enough to make her feelings very clear, Chloe reached out and grabbed the staff. “If this thing explodes, I’m sooo going to punch at least one of you in the face. Especially you, elfy.”

  The staff felt weird. Warm, but not hot.

  Raenof nodded. “Good. Now try channeling some of your magic into it. Just a little.”

  Chloe stiffened, feeling really iffy about all this. Still, she focused.

  Magic pooled in her chest and trickled down her arms, slow and careful. The staff started to glow, soft green light pulsing near the center. Oh no. Nope nope nope.

  She yelped and shoved the staff away from her like it was about to bite. “It’s gonna pop, I know it!”

  But instead of blowing up, the staff just… shimmered. Then, gently, tiny flowers bloomed along the wood, colored in soft pinks, blues, pale yellows.

  Chloe blinked. “Wait. It didn’t explode?”

  Raenof smiled. “No. That staff reacts to the user’s intent. It mirrors your energy.”

  She stared at the flowers, then at him, brow furrowed. “So my energy is… planty?”

  “Not quite. The way it reacted means you’re not only strong, but pure of heart.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  Raenof laughed again, quiet and polite. “I could explain, but it’d take a while, so best to save it for another time. May I have the staff back for now?”

  “Sure, whatever.” Chloe passed it over, still half-expecting it to detonate in his grip. It didn’t.

  Raenof turned toward Iris. “I’d like to take Chloe as my bodyguard.”

  “Wait, seriously?” Chloe asked.

  Iris tilted her head slightly toward Raenof. “Are you sure about this decision? If so, I’ll prepare the contract right away.”

  Raenof gave a calm nod. “I’m completely certain.”

  “If you insist. Just wait here, I’ll return shortly with the paperwork.”