Chapter 16: Making A Report

Early the next morning, Talon headed to the guild branch in Bluefeather City. It was a large building, with architecture that proclaimed the grandiose of the Aurumia kingdom. It had many tall, colorful, translucent windows. There were no guards around, but hundreds of people entered and left the place, creating a bustling atmosphere. Tall opaque crystal boards hung on the northern wall, with words flickering in and out of existence. As a mission was completed, it vanished from the board. Whenever a new mission was available, the content appeared on the board as well. Talon was flabbergasted; this was far more impressive than the chalk and board used by the small guild branch in Eryndor.

The general hall of the guild building was buzzing with conversations, people calling out here and there, trying to rally others to join a team with them, and so on. It was like a raucous marketplace.

Talon was soon face-to-face with one of the dozen attendants stationed in the general hall. It was similar to a bank.

“What can I do for you?” The attendant didn’t bother to look up, clearly bored from handling so many adventurers every day.

“I want to make a report,” Talon said, lowering his voice. “...Someone broke the guild rules.”

The attendant looked up to face him. “Do you have proof?”

“I do.”

She studied him. Messy brown hair, greyish blue eyes, skinny physique, and light skin—at most, 18 years old. She looked at his clothing and saw that he was very poor. Although he wasn’t in tatters, he was clearly someone who struggled to eat well.

“Your adventurer token?”

Talon rummaged through his pocket and brought out a palm-sized nameplate with special grains etched into it, which could be read using a type of enchanted scanner known as The Difference Engine.

The attendant placed the grainy part of the token into an open spot in a printer-looking crystal box. After flashing a few times, a holographic image of Talon’s profile appeared above the box.

When the attendant saw that he was just a rookie adventurer, she passed his token back to him with disdain, saying, “If you just want to make some quick buck with some useless information or petty crimes, go back to whatever village you came from and disturb the guild branch there.”

“But I am not doing this for the money. I swear this is important.”

“Everyone likes to believe their troubles with other adventurers are important… unless the person did something like killing innocent civilians or tarnishing the name of the guild, you can just refer it to the Resolution Office.”

Before Talon could speak, someone stopped behind him. He could feel the person’s presence, and the widened eyes of the female attendant were enough for him to know that someone was behind him, and she was shocked to see the person.

“Any problems, Beau?”

The attendant, Beau, gave a pleasant smile. Her former scowl vanished, and she now looked like a blooming daisy as she stood up.

“Your Lordship.”

“Huh?” Talon looked back to see a beautiful young man standing behind him. ‘Nineteen years old at most, handsome and charismatic with sapphire blue eyes. A lady's man,’ Talon thought.

“How is work going, Beau?” the young man asked.

“As always, Sir.”

The young man sent a glance towards Talon. “And he is?” he asked Beau.

“Just a nobody, sir. I can take your order right now. You don’t need to bother about him.”

The young man smiled. “I’m Magnus Aerindel.” He stretched out his hand and shook Talon’s hand.

“Talon, no last name,” Talon replied, feeling the need to point out that he didn’t have a surname to avoid looking disrespectful. The young man, Magnus, was respected like a noble. It would be suicidal for Talon to just reply with his name when Magnus had given his own full name. It was common knowledge that only orphans lacked family names unless they were adopted, so Magnus understood Talon’s situation.

Magnus gave a light smile before turning back to Beau. “Take care of his issue, and then we can start mine.”

“But sir, you are more important. I can’t delay you for someone who is only here to get scraps.”

Talon’s eyes turned sharp as he stared at her. She choked on her words, looking like she had been drenched in water.

Magnus noticed this, so he intervened. “What is your complaint, Talon?”

His sharp gaze became soft, and Talon replied with respect, “I want to report a group that broke the guild rules.”

“Hmm? In Bluefeather City? What group would be so audacious?”

“It… it isn’t in Bluefeather City…” Talon then explained the entire event. He didn’t mention his death, only that he heard the Verdant Brothers start a slaughter but had escaped before they could reach him. After all, he only helped carry the loads, so in order of importance, he was naturally put at the end of the death row.

After listening to everything Talon had to say, Magnus’ lips pulled into a sneer, while his eyebrow quivered. An intangible aura suppressed both Beau and Talon, making it impossible for them to breathe; they felt like a load of bricks had been placed on them.

Magnus was livid and amused at the same time. “A group of nobodies dare steal from a Duke?” he asked with an icy tone. Even Beau visibly gulped beside them. Talon nodded; he found it impossible to even lift his head to look Magnus in the face.

Magnus took a deep breath. The suppressive aura vanished like it never existed at all, allowing Talon and Beau to release a breath they didn’t know they had held.

“Take his report,” Magnus commanded. Even though his aura had calmed down and didn’t oppress them, they both felt like rats in front of a snake. Beau didn’t dare dally.

“Yes, sir.”

The report took just a few minutes to type out with a typewriter. It was then sent as a correspondence to the head office in the guild branch using a network of pressure-powered relay systems. Once the report was made, Magnus patted Talon on his right shoulder.

“The guild will send people to investigate, and those bastards will get what they’re due.”

Talon could only smile weakly. He gave a small bow and gave his thanks before turning towards the Quest Board to see if he could get some small missions to gain money.

As he left, he could hear Beau saying with a shaking voice, “...Sir Tomas is dead?!”

He didn’t linger to hear more. He still couldn’t get over the fact that he almost felt like he was about to die when Magnus got angry.

Talon could only sigh. ‘Big cities are truly a meeting ground of great figures,’ he thought, shaking his head. Even a young man like Magnus already felt far more powerful than the aged veteran Eren ‘Sun Fire.’ At least, he never saw or heard of Eren being able to release an aura.