Two days after the guild announcement had gone out, Marie stood rearranging a display in one of the previously-unused ground-floor rooms off the main guild hall. It hadn’t been an easy forty-eight hours, but for every Silver-ranked adventurer griping about the new taxes being levied, there were ten barely-Bronze-ranks smiling and shaking her hand as they took one of the ‘adventuring packs’ she’d put together.

  A backpack with a sleeping roll, a waterproof blanket, some short wooden sticks, and half a dozen rolls of cloth that could be attached to the end to make torches, or used as bandages. A rudimentary mess kit consisting of two small tins and a fork and spoon. A short iron bar that could wedge a door open or be used as a crowbar in a pinch. Tinderbox, waterskin and a long length of rope.

  All the essentials I’d have wanted in Forcastera.

  She stood back and examined the display. An odd but useful collection of items covered the shelves and table. All samples and examples of what the guild’s new partners offered. She’d bought them herself, with the budget she was growing from the new taxes and what little business she was doing. [Efficient Reciprocity] had been a particular boon in getting it up and running. It was a pity it only affected the guild’s business.

  “What do you think, you two?”

  The others that had been helping her stopped and appraised the setup, one wagging a bony tail and the other idly scratching at a fungal growth that had begun sprouting out of her neck.

  “I like it.”

  Greeleena’s statement was backed up by Napoleon turning in a circle and sitting on his haunches. At least, that’s what Marie took from it.

  The myconid [Guild Clerk] straightened a rack of potions from Perdy’s alchemy-brewery and sighed.

  “It’s a lot easier for everyone to see what we’ve got rather than having to keep it in boxes under the counter. We can still stash a few bits on the desk though, right? People are always after fresher rations, and those dried fruit pouches that you got from Rinholl are already a hit, as are those hangover cures. We need to get Rudi to do another run to pick up more. Or Biff if the little devil is free, but neither of them like going to the allagi quarter.”

  Marie frowned. Little Biff had instantly offered to help carry round more than laundry orders for his grandmother, but she didn’t like the idea of him going to a tavern. He wasn’t even a teenager. Rudi would have to suck it up for now. Or she’d go herself if she could find the time.

  “I will take over her payment and get a new batch this evening. No, wait. Tomorrow. I am going to investigate those quests this afternoon. Oh, remind me that I also need to stop in at Rinholl’s and talk to her about an idea I had too. The nuts and fruit are good for snacking, but I think there are better options she could work on.”

  If energy bars do not exist here, we could make a killing introducing them to adventurers. Nuts and fruit mixed with honey for sweetness and maybe with some oats for consistency. Maybe she can create peanut butter. If I knew how to make it…

  She could remember the ingredients list on a tub she’d brought years before with clarity - her [Improved Recall] seemed to be getting better as she levelled - but she’d never been shown how to make it, and she wasn't sure all of the ingredients existed here. Was [Chemist] a Class?

  I guess mashing them all together and seeing what happens would be a start.

  “Brilliant. Do you really think we can get a raise if this all starts to sell well enough?”

  That was how she’d got even Wilhemina on her side - nominally at least. The officious [Secretary] with the multicoloured hair seemed to have a personality as changeable as her coiffure, but after Guildmaster Thror’s [Mass Announcement] had gone out she’d stopped what Marie had suspected was a subtle sabotage campaign. At least, Marie hadn’t caught her doing it since.

  “It might mean a few extra hours manning the stores or restocking, or expanding the staff to cope, but yes, I hope so.”

  After paying for a few more minor luxuries, and buying Greeleena and Rudi some thank-you drinks at the Grinning Broccsus (whilst also trying to figure out how to get the owner to sign on to her reciprocal reward scheme), she was down to less than 12 gold. And that was including the bonus she’d got from leveling again. At least she’d be able to take her weekly wage in a couple of days, and if no one noticed her sleeping in the guild…

  Putting monetary concerns from her mind, she addressed her rumbling stomach and turned to the guild's de-facto cook.

  “What’s for lunch?”

  —

  If she kept skipping breakfast, Marie reckoned she could make up for it with Greeleena’s lunch portions. Food wasn't that important as long as you had enough to fuel yourself through the day. Okay, some of the things she'd eaten here had been delicious, but it was an expense she didn't need to spend more on than necessary right now. So it was useful that the myconid woman seemed to assume everyone ate the same amount - which was enough to satisfy everyone except perhaps Brunalda.

  With Wilhemina on desk duty, Marie took her bowl of soup-stew to an armchair in the corner she'd been favouring when she wasn't in her office, pulled out a piece of paper and began to go through it with Greeleena as she ate, adjusting her glasses as they began to slip.

  “Okay so someone with a background in cookery or crafting would likely be beneficial, but no one too high levelled or it will take them too long to pick up a new Class?”

  The [Guild Clerk] nodded, the caps of the mushrooms that covered her upper torso wobbling.

  “You’re probably looking for a person who hasn’t reached level 20 in their Class, but make sure it’s because they’re young, not lazy. Who’s signed up so far?”

  Marie scanned further down as she read out some names.

  “We’ve got a twenty year-old man who says he’s a level 13 [Chef]. A level 11 [Mage] - a half-tabaxi woman around my age. A level 14 allagi [Hedge Witch] who I’m not sure is even eighteen yet, and a boar-beastkin [Apothecary] though he’s almost thirty and only level 9...but he’s also a level 8 [Shopkeeper] and a level 6 [Gardener].”

  Greeleena frowned.

  “If the [Chef] is who I think he is, turn him down - he’s just got a crush on Wilhemina and wants to work with her. [Mage] is quite a difficult Class to level so that’s not the worst option. I’d hesitate at employing a [Witch] type. They’re not the most sociable, and an allagi too…”

  “I’m not looking for sociable, Gree. I’m looking for [Alchemist] potential.”

  “I know, but still, you need to think of how people will react.”

  A frown grew on Marie’s face. Greeleena dropped the subject and returned to safer ground.

  “The beastkin would worry me. Not a single Class level 10 when he’s approaching thirty - suggests he doesn’t commit. Although, all three he has do point towards a common goal, and surely some [Gardener] Skills would be useful.”

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  Making her way slowly through a stack of buttered toast and a bowl big enough to drown a small child in, Marie added notes to the list. She attempted to carry on the conversation with a mouth half full.

  “‘ll stop by ‘m ‘n’ see th’m t’morrow.”

  “You should get them to do a trial run with Perdy. See if they take to it at all.”

  “Th’ts n’t a b’d idea.”

  Marie swallowed and felt something slide down her throat.

  Probably just a vegetable…

  Ever since the curry, she hadn't asked Greeleena what went into the meals. If she didn’t know, they tasted good enough and filled her up, and that was all she cared about.

  That and the fact that it was free.

  Greeleena herself had one of her feet dipped into a bowl, a fact that Napoleon found endlessly interesting.

  Finishing the meal and draining a light beer, Marie patted down her mouth with a napkin she’d found in one of the stores to spare her new uniform, and got to her feet, which made Napoleon leap up and dance around her.

  “Right. I need to go and scout out these quests that apparently hold more danger than we expected. I am not hoping for violence, but is there anyone you recommend I ask to accompany me? New pay rates.”

  Most of the Silver-ranked adventurers had gone with Sirro and Eldun to take on the council-issued bandit quest, and with the current disdain she and her policies were held in by the others, she suspected she’d end up taking Bronze-ranks with her. Her plan was to ask Algar for a few of his [Hunters]. If they came across trouble, she'd tell them to run, but it didn't hurt to have a few sets of eyes out, and the hunters would surely have Skills for tracking and moving quietly to compliment her own.

  The look on Greeleena’s face said more than her silence at Marie's chances of finding help, but then as Marie prepared to go and ask the few adventurers sitting round the room before checking in with Algar, the myconid reached up and grabbed her arm.

  “Oh. You could ask Dusty Brow. She’s been out of things for the past few years to have kids, but I heard she was getting itchy feet. You’ll have to swing by her house. Hold on and I’ll get you the address. I’m sure it’s not far out of your way.”

  She hurried off to the room behind the counter where Marie had been collating all the records the guild kept - which wasn’t much before she’d arrived - leaving a trail of soup-stew in her wake.

  —

  Half an hour later, having been rejected by the adventurers in the guild, and remembering most of Algar’s crew was out working, Marie was walking down a street in the east of Wayfarrow, with a meagre team in tow: Ulfran, Ashe and a younger hunter called Sprig, although Marie suspected that was a nickname. They were wandering through a well-to-do area where their combined tracking Skills and experience amounted to precisely nothing, and the three allagi were all giving appreciative glances at the state of the homes they passed.

  Is the empty space around us from the presence of the allagi, or Napoleon?

  Her three companions weren't exactly dirty, but their rough-and-ready appearance stood out in contrast to her own far more than it would have done before she'd bought her uniform.

  Marie was looking out for a ‘green door with the brass knocker’ and wondering how postal workers managed to get anything done in this town, when she finally spotted it. Disguising a relieved sigh, she looked round at her companions.

  “You may as well keep on going and wait for me at the gate. Even if this Dusty Brow is up for the mission, she’ll still have to get ready.”

  They strolled off to the east as Marie gestured for Napoleon to heel, then set her glasses straight, raised her hand and rapped the brass knocker down in a quick retort.

  Before she had time to move her hand away, the door was flung open and a faintly frazzled tabaxi woman with grey fur stared up at her, one arm holding the door and the other mixing a bowl, which she was stirring with a wooden spoon held in her tail.

  “Yes? What you want?”

  “Dusty Brow? I’m Marie, from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

  There was a crash behind her and the tabaxi turned round for a split second.

  “Proud - what did I say about playing with mummy’s things? Gordan!”

  “On it dear.” A man’s voice came out of the back rooms and the tabaxi turned back to Marie.

  “What’s this about the guild? I got the message but I was bathing the kids so I ignored it. Wait, are you that Marie? You best not be here to tell me I owe something.”

  “Actually,” Marie said, trying to get a word in edgeways as the tabaxi stirred, caught a running child, turned them around, and nudged them back into the house, “I was wondering if you’d be interested in a quick mission this afternoon, but if you’re bu-”

  “GORDAN! Where’s my armour?”

  Marie flinched at the volume which made a picture on the wall shake, and barely made out the reply as Dusty Brow ran into the house, the conversation continuing as she passed out of sight.

  “What?”

  “Where is my armour?”

  “Oh - I put it away.”

  “Where?”

  “Why do you need to know?”

  “I need it.”

  “Oh no! Not when it’s finally your turn to prepare dinner.”

  “The guild needs me!”

  “Your family needs you to make dinner.”

  “I’m sorry honey, there’s danger.”

  “There’s always danger. Get someone else to do it.”

  The frazzled tabaxi reappeared in the front room of the house, lugging a spear as tall as she was and a shield that seemed plain but sturdy. Her voice dropped to normal conversational levels and she sent a quick smile Marie’s way.

  “Sorry dear, won’t be a moment. Just need to find where the bastard’s hidden my armour. Ah, sod it. [Armour Up].”

  Marie flinched as segments of steel began to snap out of thin air around the tabaxi’s form, and a few seconds later she was coated in metal armour from ear to toe - including bands that ran the length of her tail.

  “Okay. Sorry for the delay. Hey, cool dog! Fill me in on the way to whatever it is. Let’s go!”

  —

  They caught up with the three allagi before they’d even reached the end of the street.

  “Hey guys, what’s going on? Need a [Resonance Striker]? It’s been a while but I’m good for action. Who we fighting? We getting paid for this or is it a favour to old Thund’rous? Fish and bells it’s good to be out of the house.”

  The allagi looked at each other, and then at Marie.

  “Uh - it is a scouting and reconnaissance mission. Stealthy.” She emphasised the word.

  “Oh nice and sneaky like. Gotcha. Let me know when we’re close. Any idea of where we’re going or what’ll be there or no intel at all? What sort of timeline we looking at? Do I need to run to the market and get something to eat before we leave? I can catch you up. I’m okay with being out all night if we have to. Although - hey, when’s the full moon?”

  Ulfran and Ashe didn’t react, but Sprig’s face flushed. Marie stepped in before any offence could be given.

  “I don’t know what’s out there, only that my [Threat Assessment] thinks that some quests in the area rank as Silver, not Bronze. It flagged two missions: escorting librarians along the eastern road, and gathering some herbs that we know grow around the natural springs to the north-north east, so we will need to be careful as soon as we leave the town and head in that direction.”

  “Okay, well Silver is right up my street. I hit level 23 before I had my first kid. Yeesh, should have put that off a bit longer. How about you lot? What sort of team we put together? You said you had [Threat Assessment] - you some sort of [Tactician] or [Squad Leader]? Always good to have brains running things. Lots of handy Skills. I’m better in tight spaces by the way but I’ll make do anywhere.”

  “I - actually I got the Skill from my [Secretary] Class.” Marie said, her face taking on the same hue as Sprig’s had a few moments before. Dusty stopped in the middle of the street to stare at her.

  “A [Secretary]? Hold on a minute. I gave these other three the benefit of the doubt, and if I didn’t say anything about the lack of gear that’s only because mine’s nothing to {Message} home about, but please say I’m not babysitting some non-combatants solo on a Silver-ranked mission? I could do that with my own family.”

  Ulfran stepped forwards with a grunt as Marie choked back a reply.

  “Marie said we were just going looking, not looking for a fight. We stay back and run if we have to. I’m no Silver but I’m a level 16 [Hunter] - good in the wilds, and I can hold my own if it comes to it. Ashe’s level 13 but she’s got [Double Draw] and [Quick Quiver]. Sprig’s newer, but she’s a [Trapper] so she’ll cover our way out in case we’re chased.”

  These were all things Marie realised she probably should have asked them about herself, and she added to the end of it.

  “I’m not just a [Secretary] either. I’m a level 17 [Scout] and a level 13 [Ruins Delver], although I am not sure if there will be any ruins where we’re going. I don’t have any magical items but I’ve got [Proficiency: Improvised Weapons], so…”

  She trailed off as she realised they were all staring this time, but in a good way. At the revelation of her levels, all four of her companions had given her an appraising look, and now Dusty started walking and talking again.

  “We can make do with that. Not the worst I’ve been with and as you say it’s recon, not battle. Besides, we’ve got a boney dog creature too. What could go wrong?”

  —

  The sun was beginning to get low in the sky after silent, tense hours roaming the wilds, drawing further and further away from Wayfarrow, relying on Marie’s [Dangersense], and her and Ulfran’s [Basic Tracking]. Marie found herself belly-down on an outcropping of stones that sat near the summit of a low rise overlooking a dell, ignoring the blood pounding in her sore feet.

  Underbrush rustled as someone crawled through the low bushes and grass behind her, and she winced, hoping the sound wouldn’t carry.

  A moment later, moving surprisingly stealthily despite her armour, Dusty Brow’s head shuffled into view next to her. The tabaxi was holding herself an inch off the ground on her fingers and toes. She glanced at Marie to see what she was looking at, then sent her gaze down to the dell too.

  After a few seconds, the tabaxi spoke in a whisper.

  “Oh. Right. That’s why it’s Silver-ranked.”

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