Dungeons Online

Chapter 120: Stirring up the mess

'Now, that's what you call a fantasy world,' Tom thought, making his way through the crowded insides of the guild. 

This was the first place when the aura of another world could be felt. In contrast to the city's streets, populated mainly by humans, the guild was filled with people from all sorts of races. Just by looking around, Tom could see a variety of elves, dwarves, and even folks that could only be described as demon folk. 

'I better steer clear from calling out anyone on their race,' Tom thought as he marched towards the counter conveniently placed at the building's side opposite to the main doors. 'Who knows who would take what names for insults,' he added in his thoughts only to stop right at the counter. 

"Hello," a young man sitting behind the table said while slowly raising his eyes to Tom's face. "How can I help you?" he asked. 

'How about you pay me your full attention first?' Tom thought, his lips slightly twisting. 

The man's hand that he approached continued to move, scribbling some strange marks on the paper hidden from Tom's view. 

"I came here with my companion to register," Tom said in a calm voice, trying his best to use as few words as possible. 'In this world, who knows what kind of random word could be a pitfall betraying my lack of local common sense,' he thought warily.

"Register as who?" the man asked, putting a small, smuggish smile on his face. "Perhaps you are here to take on the job offering of the conservator of the flat surfaces?" he asked as sparks of amusement appeared in his eyes. 

"Should I kill him?" Claudia asked, nudging Tom in the side with her elbow. 

'Isn't she quite fond of this kind of abuse?' Tom thought, glancing over to his side. 'Ever since we entered this world, she started to nudge me like that quite often,' he thought before putting his attention back to the topic at hand. 

"Nah." Tom shook his head, denying the girl's suggestion. "If we were to kill every clueless idiot, we would turn into genocidal maniacs," he then explained his reasoning behind his restraint. 

'Still,' Tom thought, looking back at the man. 'I thought that only a civilization like mine could bother to come up with fancy names for clearing services,' he thought, recalling a joke that exploded in popularity just a few years ago. 

"If you are not here for the job, then scram," the young man said, lowering his eyes back to the paper he was scribbling at. 

"Oh?" Tom squinted his eyes before putting a wide smile on his lips. "I heard that I would be able to sell this here," he said, pulling the grade five stone from his pouch and smashing it into the counter. 

Sadly, amidst all the power that he had, Tom has yet to learn one thing. 

Restraint. 

Used to use his strenght against monsters and walls of the dungeon, Tom didn't account for just how fragile the wood of the counter could be. Or maybe it wasn't a miscalculation on his part at all?

The counter snapped in half. No longer supported from both of its ends, the table fell down, sending all the papers stacked on it flying. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" the young man behind the counter screamed, jumping out from his chair and away from the devastating table. Then, his eyes moved on to the stone in Tom's hand. "Huh?" he gasped for air, shocked by the sight before his eyes. 

"I came here to get my license and to sell this shiny rock," Tom said, keeping his smile on his face. "But if that's too much trouble for you to bother with..." he said, pulling back his hands with the stone. 

"GUARDS!" the receptionist shouted even before Tom could threaten to take his business elsewhere. "Take this thief down!" the young man shouted, pointing his finger right at the otherwordly duo. 

"Can I kill him already?" Claudia asked, looking up at Tom's face once again. 

"For now, take care of those guards he is calling," Tom replied, shaking his shoulders without care. "As for you," Tom said, turning his attention back to the young man, "how are you going to compensate for calling me a thief?" Tom asked with a lovely expression on his face. 

"They are coming," Claudia said before striking her fists together. With the corner of his eye, Tom could see a wide smile brimming on her lips. 

'I guess she is pretty excited to fight with some other humans,' he thought, noticing a group of well-armed men heading their way. 

"You will die like a dog, you damned bandit!" the young man screamed out. 

"Is that all you have to say for your defense?" Tom asked politely, reaching out with his hand to the side and conjuring a magical spear. 'For the likes of him, there is no need to call for the real thing,' he thought before pointing the spear's tip at the young man's throat. 

And here he froze, staring at the young man with a lovely smile on his face, one that he would typically wear during the aftercare of his intimate moments with Claudia. At the same time, the guards that the receptionist called for finally reached Claudia's spot. 

Yet, a single look at the scene was enough for them to stop in their tracks. 

"You," the man at the front of the group pointed his hand at a random person in the crowd. "Go and fetch the guild master," he ordered before moving his eyes towards the girl that stood between him and Tom. "I don't think there is a need to fight here, is there?" he asked, keeping his hand steady at the handle of his sword. 

"That depends," Claudia answered as her smile soured. "Tom?" she asked, keeping her eyes stuck to the group of guards in front of her. 

"You know, in the place where we come from, calling someone a thief always leads to someone losing their hands," Tom said, coming up with a random story on the spot. 

'I guess that's one of the advantages of reading a shitload of novels back in the days,' he thought only to smile at his own thoughts. 

"Either by taking the thief's hands or the hands of the one falsely accusing him," the guard said, smiling gently. "Am I right?" he asked as he threw a peculiar look at the young receptionist. 

"It's nice to know that you are a fellow man of rules and culture," Tom said before leaning his head over his shoulder. "How is it going to be? Should I kill everyone in this building outside of you to prove that I have the strenght to obtain this stone on my own?" Tom asked without any regard for the local common sense. 

There was a time when he had to pretend and hide with how little he knew, but it wasn't now. With the mess already stirred, he could just claim that everything he said so far was nothing more but a part of his tough act. 

"That won't be necessary," a new voice appeared in the fray. This time, it belonged to a middle-aged woman, dressed as plainly as one could ever attempt to dress. 

In a sense, her sense of clothing made her look like a genuine member of medieval times. But instead of wearing robes that would make her look noble, she only had simple pants and a white, coarse shirt. 

"Are you going to cut his hands off then?" Tom asked, unwilling to let go of his agenda. While he was a little worried about letting Claudia see something as brutal, unless he marked his presence in this place in a forceful manner, there would be no end to the problems in the future. 

"If that's really your wish," the female shrugged her arms, keeping her slow yet steady tempo. She only stopped when no more than a meter separated her from Claudia, who stood guard at Tom's side. "But I believe we can somehow come to a less bloody agreement. What do you think about it?" the girl asked, leaning her head while her lips formed a small smile. 

"First of all, don't you think it only makes sense for you to introduce  yourself before attempting to negotiate?" Claudia asked, proving that she wasn't only good at fighting off any enemies. It was something that Tom managed to forget over all the time they spent in the dungeon doing nothing but killing monsters. 

"Ah, that's right," the female shook her head before looking up and turning her smile wry. "I'm the witch of the north, the bane of the undead, and a fifth-class adventurer. Coincidentally, I currently serve as the guild master of this branch of the adventurer's guild," the female introduced herself in a way that clearly didn't fit her appearance nor her title. "Now that you know who I am, may I know who am I dealing with?" she asked. 

It was as if someone took your average Joe, slapped him with some glorious title, and then dressed as a commoner. 

In other words, every detail of how she looked, acted, and spoke didn't match the rest.

"I'm Tom, and this is Claudia," Tom said with a straight face, deciding not to come up with any titles for themselves on the spot. Not because he was incapable of proving them, but simply because of how much it would contrast with the woman's introduction. "Now, what do you propose?"