"Good, good. So in accordance with our rules regarding refugees… aha, you simply have to provide proof that you are qualified to be a Hunter. Normally, that’s a vague criteria which requires us to simply confirm you are physically capable of taking care of yourself— which can easily be done from knowing your age. And while that’s not possible with you however, that"— the man and I craned our necks to look at the head of the dead Chimera sitting on a table— "does prove you are fit for this job, and we would not just be letting you get yourself killed. So I believe it’s settled then."
I smiled at that. Only when I realized I was wearing a mask and he could not see me did I quickly give a curt nod. "I do believe it is."
"It’s not a problem at all, Miss. Now to get you licensed…" the Guild Master trailed off. "Hm, unfortunately we’ll have to draft you one of our old contracts. Unless you suddenly feel like having a picture taken of your face would not be a problem?"
When I shook my head, he continued.
"Of course. As one of the bigger branches of the Hunters Guild, all the forms we have currently prepared are for the new ID cards— which require a photograph to be taken of you— and we won’t be able to use those. If you don’t mind returning in an hour or two, we’ll have all the documents prepared for your license to be complete. You’ll just have to pay the registration fee of a single silver, which can be subtracted off your reward from killing the Chimera."
"And how much is that?" I asked, pleasantly surprised that I was actually getting paid; I was not a registered Hunter when I did that job, so I was fully expecting them to withhold payment due to some sort of minor loophole.
"We’ll have to check what our last posted offer was, but I believe it was somewhere in the range of 10 gold? Maybe slightly less," the Guild Master answered, getting up from his seat and offering out a hand. "I’m glad we could resolve that issue, Miss."
I gratefully accepted it, bowing my head slightly. "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate your help." I was unsure at first, but now I knew he was trying to help me the entire time— even if he still had to ensure all the rules were properly followed. Maybe I should stop being so rude. I’ve been a bit of a jerk for the past few days.
"It’s no problem at all. I’m always happy to accept a new Hunter, especially one who got rid of a problem that has been weighing down on us for weeks."
With that, I politely exited the Guild Masters office, resolving to be a nicer person; although I could not blame myself for having been a little bit annoyed at consistently getting rejected from becoming a Hunter, I should not have taken it out on people just doing their jobs. Instead, I should have taken it out on Chimeras going around and killing innocent people.
I hate Chimeras.
This might come off as surprising, but nearly dying was not a fun experience.
The lobby of the Hunters Guild was emptier now than it was an hour ago when I first arrived; it was still full of dozens of Hunters looking through the job board, discussing their plans for the day, or just going about their business, but it was noticeably less packed than before.
When I came out from the hallway at the side, I saw heads turn from what they were doing to glance over at me. Apparently, word must have spread about my little scene earlier in the day, as various groups of people began whispering and pointing at me. I blushed.
Oh my God, this is so embarrassing. I tried to be as dramatic as possible when I made my entrance to prove the point that I deserved to be a Hunter, yet I never stopped to consider the reaction it would garner after I completed that goal. And it just made me want to crawl into a hole and never come back out ever again.
I tried to play it cool— pretend I was unbothered by all the attention I was getting. But when I nearly tripped over absolutely nothing on my way to the closest empty table, I could only curse under my breath at my past self for thinking it was a good idea to draw attention to myself. Although it seemed that that little slip up may have ended up working to my favor, as I heard a few scoffs, and half the faces staring at me turned back to what they were doing.
I took a seat at the corner of the room, nearby the television, and a server came up to me as I did; I ordered a quick meal, since I was feeling hungry after being out the whole night, but when my food arrived I realized the folly of my ways when I brought the spoon to my face and heard a dull thud.
I slowly lowered the spoon back down to the plate, and carefully wiped the mashed potatoes off my mask. This… I’m going to do this a lot from now on, aren’t I? I sighed, and leaned back on my chair.
At this point, only a handful of people were paying any attention to me now, and if the snickers were any indication, it was probably for a vastly different reason than before; to put my mind off the sheer embarrassment I was feeling at the moment, I decided to watch some television.
The TV screen was blank, so I got up and walked over it to turn it on; after spending about a minute trying to figure
