"Oh, not bad, missy." Garrick said as he held the pouch full of moongazing flowers, examining each one with his eye. "Not bad at all."

  In total, I'd managed to collect around a dozen of them.

  "Normally even experienced gatherers only bring back seven or eight per session," Garrick continued, his scarred face showing what might have been approval. "You do good work."

  I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed. "I had help," I admitted. "Nox has a really good sense of smell. Once he caught the scent, tracking down the clusters was easy."

  Garrick nodded knowingly. "Aye, that's the thing about monsters. Folk think they're just for fighting, but a good beast can make all kinds of work easier. Tracking, hunting, even construction if you've got the right type." His gruff expression softened slightly. "Smart of you to use his abilities properly."

  At least something went right today…

  The basilisk's death still sat heavy in my chest, but there were other things I needed to worry about. Like paying for my room at the inn and figuring out what came next.

  I can't keep dwelling on what happened. There's nothing I can do to change it now.

  Garrick spread the flowers out on his desk, sorting them carefully. "Let's see here... most of these are prime quality. Five silver each." He paused at a small pile of slightly crushed ones. "These five are a bit damaged though. Three silver each for those."

  I winced. Those were the ones I'd dropped when the basilisk had appeared, when grief and shock had made my hands shake so badly I could barely hold onto anything.

  Fifty silver. It didn't sound like much, but I was starting to understand the local currency better. Ten copper coins made one silver. One hundred silvers made a gold piece. From what I'd overheard at the inn, an ordinary family of four could live comfortably on about fifty silvers for a week.

  Which meant I'd just earned enough to cover my basic needs for seven days with a single afternoon's work. Not bad for a first job.

  "There you go, missy." Garrick slid the coins across the desk toward me. "Clean work, good quality, There should probably be no complaints from the client. Keep this up."

  Coming from him, that was practically a glowing endorsement.

  "Thank you," I said, scooping the coins into my pouch. The weight of them felt reassuring somehow.

  Garrick studied my face for a moment, and something in his expression shifted. The gruff mask slipped just enough for me to catch a glimpse of genuine concern underneath.

  "Something wrong?”

  I shook my head quickly. "I'm fine. Just tired."

  He didn't look convinced, but he didn't push. "Well, get some rest. You've earned it."

  Garrick might act like a cantankerous old bastard, but I was beginning to suspect he actually cared about the adventurers who came through his doors. Even the rookies.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  "Board'll have fresh postings in the morning if you're looking for more work."

  "I will. Thank you, Garrick." I headed for the door, already planning my next stop. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  After leaving the guild my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since this morning. I needed food, and I was starving after the long day in the meadows.

  ‘Time to hit the market.’ I thought as I stepped outside into the late afternoon bustle of Oakenford's main street.

  I needed clothes desperately. Besides the dress Marta had sewn for me and the two simple garments the clinic had lent me, I had nothing.

  My clothes from Earth, my only real remembrance of home, were gone too. Somewhere back in the wreckage of that battle, probably scattered and blood-soaked beyond recognition. Now they were probably nothing but rags rotting in the forest.

  I sighed.

  There's nothing I can do about those. They're long gone.

  Then I also need other essentials too. Like soaps, which thank god existed here. And maybe a proper traveling pack then food, lastly basic supplies that I'd taken for granted back in my old life.

  At least I didn't have to worry about feeding my monsters. They were self-sustaining, capable of hunting their own food in the wilderness. Right now they were back at the inn in their usual spot in the courtyard, resting after the long day.

  Thank god for that. Feeding two massive creatures would've bankrupted me within days.

  As I made my way through the streets, I heard someone speaking loudly over the general bustle as a crowd was gathering near the town square.

  "...and through the Light's grace, we shall find salvation in these dark times! The Sanctum offers healing to the wounded, hope to the desperate, and purpose to the lost!"

  I paused, curiosity getting the better of me. A man in white and gold robes stood on a small wooden platform, his arms raised as he addressed the growing crowd. He was middle-aged with graying hair.

  A priest. I realized, moving closer to get a better look. People were gathering around him.

  "The Sanctum of Light calls to all who would serve the greater good!" the priest continued. "In these troubled times, when kingdoms war and monsters ravage our lands, only through unity and faith can we find our way forward!"

  Sanctum of Light?

  Curious, I edged closer to an older woman standing beside me, a resident by the look of her practical clothes and market basket.

  "Excuse me," I whispered, trying not to disturb the sermon. "What's the Sanctum of Light?"

  The woman turned to look at me, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "You don't know about the Sanctum? Where have you been living, girl? Under a rock?"

  I felt my cheeks flush. "It's... complicated."

  She studied my face for a moment, then seemed to soften. "Ah, you're one of those displaced folk from the border troubles, aren't you? Makes sense."

  I nodded, grateful she'd provided her own explanation.

  "Well," she continued in a lower voice, "the Sanctum of Light started to appear maybe fifteen, twenty years after the Mage Wars ended. Began as a small religious movement, but they've been growing ever since." She gestured toward the priest. "They preach about healing, unity, serving the common good. And I'll give them this, they do good work. Set up hospitals, help refugees, feed the poor."

  "That sounds... noble," I said carefully.

  "Oh, it is. They've performed genuine miracles too.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. "Of course, they've also got some strict ideas about how society should work. Very organized, very... hierarchical, if you know what I mean."

  Of course they do, I thought sourly. Having read plenty of history back on Earth, I knew how medieval religions tended to operate. All that talk about serving the common good usually came with a hefty side of control, suppression, and convenient excuses for those in power to stay there.

  "They've got temples in most major cities now," the woman continued. "Even the nobles listen when their high priests speak. Some say they've got the ear of several nobles and even the king."

  And there it is. Political power wrapped in religious rhetoric.

  "Thank you.” I said to the woman, who nodded and turned back to listen to the priest.

  But I'd heard enough. Whatever good the Sanctum might do, I'd seen how organized religion played out in societies like this. The more powerful they became, the more they'd expect everyone else to conform to their vision of how the world should work.

  And given my... unique situation, the last thing I needed was the attention of religious fanatics who might have strong opinions about tamers and their monsters.

  I slipped away from the crowd, my appetite for market browsing suddenly diminished by the reminder of yet another complication in this world I was trying to navigate.