Aila had insisted on paying for the late breakfast, saying it was the least she could do considering how Jay, Dys, and Syd had saved her and her uncles from the demon ambush. A small token of gratitude, but one Jadis felt was entirely unnecessary. Still, Aila did insist and had taken care of the bill. Seeing the local currency exchange hands for the first time did help Jadis understand prices just a little better, at least.
After breakfast, Aila had given Jadis directions on where to find the magistrate’s office, then parted ways, saying she needed to get ready if they were indeed going out of the walls on an excursion.
Jadis needed to get ready, too, not just sign up for her mercenary license or whatever it was. With Jay’s maul split in two, she didn’t have a full complement of weapons anymore. At the very least she needed to see about purchasing an appropriate replacement before heading out. A more in-depth shopping trip was on the docket for sure, one involving weapons, armor, survival supplies and gear, however those could wait for now. Buying just one weapon that could serve Jay was the minimum requirement. But before she browsed any smiths or stores, she had to register as a merc.
Finding the magistrate’s office was simple enough. Felsen was laid out in a grid pattern with easy to navigate streets. There were even street signs, though Jadis couldn’t read them, the local script alien to her. She still had no issue finding the large building in what looked like a posh side of town, with larger, more decorative buildings in abundance. Most were clearly closed up and not in use, just like much of the city Jadis had seen, but the ones that were in use looked like they were more than just mansions for the wealthy. Guild headquarters, if she had to guess, but didn’t investigate more than a few with curious glances.
Upon reaching the large four-story structure, Jadis passed by several guards who watched her selves with careful curiosity before entering the building. Inside was a marble-floored lobby with tall standing desks running alongside one wall that reminded Jadis of a bank. A few men and women were behind the desks, talking with different people, some dressed like fighters, other in more practical clothing that gave Jadis old-fashioned European vibes. She was fairly certain at least one man was wearing lederhosen…
Conversation didn’t exactly stop when Jadis entered, but more than a few eyes turned her way, her presence causing a significant distraction for a few people at least. Before Jadis could decide where to start, a voice she hadn’t expected called out to her in a familiar greeting.
“Jay, Dys, and Syd! Good to run into you three here,” Ludwas called with a smile, approaching the mirrored women. “Saves me a lot of trouble hunting you down. Not that I think it’d be hard to find any of you.”
“I doubt you’d have to search for long,” Syd agreed with a smile, taking the lead. “What are you doing here?”
Ludwas had walked over from where he’d been talking with an older blonde man in a nice coat. He motioned the three to the side, out of the way of the open double doors of the office entryway. Patting Syd on one arm, he pressed a small sack that jingled metallically into her hands.
“I was here for this. It’s the pay for turning in bounties on the demons you all slew yesterday.”
“Nice of you to give us a cut, but you didn’t have to,” Syd looked at the bag in surprise.
Jadis hadn’t thought about the bounty for the grundwyrm and wretches. She’d just assumed it would go to Bernd’s Blades since the fight had happened as part of their supply run or whatever the wagon was called.
“Nay, not a cut. That’s all of it,” Ludwas corrected, nodding his head at the sack of coins. “We talked it over last night. Without you three yesterday, we’d have been slaughtered to a man. That reward is the least you deserve.”
Hearing that, Jadis tried to pass the bag back, feeling that taking it all wasn’t fair to Ludwas or the other mercenaries who’d fought just as hard as she had. He refused to bend, however, explaining that his brother as well as Specht and Volker were in agreement that the three giants were due the reward. They were getting paid by the company in any case while the three of her wouldn’t get anything otherwise.
“Quit your humble ways and just take the coin,” Ludwas insisted, ending the argument with finality. “We’re not the ones walking around in rags, remember.”
“Fair enough,” Syd sighed in acceptance. The reward was a total of twenty-four eagles, a coin she had been told of but hadn’t yet seen. On one side of the silver coin was an eagle crest that looked exactly like the one that was visible on the flags hanging from the face of the magistrate’s office, as well as emblazoned on the armor of the various guard’s Jadis had seen.
“Here to register, right?” Ludwas asked, satisfied that Syd had finally taken the money.
“We’re going to sign up as independent mercenaries,” Jay affirmed.
“Thought you’d do as much,” he nodded. “Shame not to have the three of you in the Blades, but who knows what the future might bring? Many a man has started out an independent and joined a company later.”
“True, you never know,” Jay smiled in pleasant agreement, though Jadis already knew there wasn’t much chance of her joining a company.
Pointing towards one of the desks that didn’t have anyone standing before it, Ludwas said, “You three head on over there and they’ll get you sorted. I won’t hold you up any longer, and more to the point, I’ve still got the rest of the day on leave. I’ve got a sharp-tongued healer I need to see about buying a drink for.”
All of Jadis’ selves smiled at that, though Dys was the only one to comment.
“A drink? It’s still morning, you know.”
“Aye, and not a moment to spare in it. It’ll be like haggling a penny-pinching merchant to take a price half of what he wants to sell for. Might take hours! But by the gods is that woman a fine one to fight for,” Ludwas explained enthusiastically.
“Good luck,” Syd patted the eager merc on the shoulder as he left. Jadis wished him well in his wooing endeavors.
Striding over to the indicated desk, Jadis was greeted by an elf. She was a cute, slender woman with light purple skin and glowing green eyes. Her silver hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her long ears were perked up and out, facing towards Jadis’ selves as she approached.
“Hi. We’re here to sign up as independent mercenaries,” Jay said, smiling down at the woman who was looking up at her with the consummate professional’s mask of customer service friendliness.
“So I overheard. I have the paperwork here. If you need it, I can help fill the forms out for an oak each,” the elf politely explained.
Taking her up on the offer, Jadis paid the worker the coins she asked for, asking her to read the form aloud so Jadis could understand what she was signing.
The contract wasn’t particularly complicated, nor was it filled with the excessive legalese speak Jadis feared it might contain. Straightforward and to the point, it outlined what was allowed and what wasn’t, what her responsibilities to the law and to the empire were, her liabilities and protections, and so on. It all lined up with what Aila had outlined for her during breakfast and since nothing seemed to be hidden in the language of the contract to try and trap her into some onerous duty or unreasonable demand, Jadis had no trouble signing the documents.
There was a fee to sign up, amounting to two eagles each, but the cost was easily paid with the money Ludwas had just presented her with. Once the price was paid and the ink dried, the elf attendant whisked the contract and coin away and disappeared behind a door, bidding the three to wait for a few moments. She was back after a short wait, followed by an older man with a pointed beard and a twirly mustache.
“Greetings,” he said, gazing up at the three of Jadis with a raised eyebrow. “I’d heard talk of some giants entering the city, however…” he trailed off, one hand twiddling his mustache.
Jadis wasn’t surprised to hear that she was being talked about. She guessed it wasn't everyday that a trio of pale women nearly twice as tall as most men came visiting the city.
“Ah, but never mind that,” he said with a shake of his head. “My name is Hugo. If you three would be so kind as to follow me, I will take you to where we will make the badges that will mark you as mercenaries of the Alfhilderunn Empire.”
“Sure,” Jay agreed readily. “Mind if we ask what’s involved?”
Hugo was already leading them away and through a door further down the line as he talked, taking them down a long hallway with many doors.
“Certainly. We have an enchanted circle that will link the badges to your status sheets. Once the spell is completed, you will be able to show the badge to anyone and it will confirm that you are the correct holder linked to it. You’ll also be able to share your status sheet with others, giving visual confirmation of your status should you so choose or be required to for some legal purpose in the future.”
“Does that mean you’ll be able to see our classes and stats?” Jay asked, trying to keep the sudden nervousness out of her voice.
Jadis hadn’t been told anything about the magical badges before now. Maybe it was such a common practice it hadn’t seemed worth bringing up to Aila or the others. However, if the badge was linked to her stats and other people could look at it, wouldn’t that instantly reveal her true nature as one person? Could she even have three badges?
“No need to worry,” Hugo said as he opened up a door on his left, ushering the three inside. “No one will be able to see your status sheets without your permission, not even officials like myself. The privacy of a status sheet is sacrosanct, after all. However, what I or any other official of the Empire with the proper enchanted device will be able to do is check the badge you hold to confirm it is in fact your badge and not someone else’s.”
The room the man had brought her to was large and mostly empty, windowless, and made of bare stone. A large circle was inlaid into the smooth stone floor, complicated arcane runes and symbols outlining it with more taking up the middle space. Other than the circle, there was a pedestal with a large glass ball on it to one side, a faint amber light glowing inside.
“Please, take these,” the mustachioed man presented a steel circular badge to each giant. They were palm sized for him, but much smaller in her hands. Each one was identical, with strange runes carved in silver on one side, the imperial heraldry on the other.
Jadis was feeling more than a little uneasy thinking about all the possible ways this enchantment or whatever it was could go wrong. She dearly hoped she wasn’t about to reveal her true nature to this Hugo guy in a few scant moments, but it felt like it was too late to back out now. Would her hiding the fact that she was one person count as fraud? Did the empire even have laws applicable to her situation? She wasn’t eager to find out, not via any method that had her on the wrong side of those laws.
“Do we do this all at once or…?” Jay started asking, motioning towards the circle.
Hugo shook his head, moving to stand behind the pedestal with the glowing glass orb. “One at a time, please. This will take but a moment.”
Trying not to show her hesitation, Jay walked into the middle of the circle and faced the older man. Before she could ask what to do next, a sudden, blinding flash left her blinking.
“All done!” Hugo announced, smiling up at the disoriented giant. “Please, present your badge to me so I can confirm it took, if you would.”
Jay rubbed her eyes, grumbling a bit at the lack of warning before walking over and letting Hugo see the little metal disk in her hand.
He pulled a small disk of his own from his pocket, waving it near the badge. It glowed blue and Hugo nodded, satisfied. “It appears to have worked without issue. Next, please!”
Taking her place in the circle, Dys managed to close her eyes before Hugo could blind her, though the flash was still so intense it left Dys blinking. There were no warning bells or signs of any other problem the moment after, and when Dys showed her badge to Hugo, it also glowed blue when he inspected it.
As Syd took her turn, Jay asked as casually as she could, “Would it cost extra to get a second badge, if we lose one of ours?”
Hugo nodded after the blinding flash enveloped Syd. “It would cost another two eagles for a replacement badge to be made. Do try not to lose them but worry not if you do. They will only work in your hands. Others cannot use them to gain information about you without your consent, nor can another use them to pretend to be you.”
The man smiled ruefully as he checked Syd’s badge to make sure it worked. “I cannot tell you how often I’ve made replacements for mercenaries. So many stories of narrow escapes in monster-infested caves or demon-haunted ruins. All with the same ending of having to flee, necessitating leaving belongings behind, thus requiring a new badge be made.” He looked over the three, motioning to the little disks. “I suggest purchasing necklaces or the like you can attach those to. Far cheaper than a whole new badge. Of course, I’m quite sure most of the stories were exaggerations, the true villain perpetrating the loss of the badges was likely a mix of strong liquor and loose morals. But I digress.”
With a wave of his hand, Hugo escorted Jadis out of the room and back out to the lobby.
It seemed her true nature hadn’t been exposed, thankfully. Jadis didn’t know the story behind it, but class privacy was clearly taken extremely seriously on Oros. She made a note to investigate the reasons further at a later date. Perhaps Aila could explain?
Speaking of the pretty redhead, with one necessary errand completed, Jadis was keen to move on so she could meet the woman at the company headquarters. The registration hadn’t taken long at all and she still had plenty of time before noon.
Taking her leave of the magistrate’s office, Jadis headed for the market square she’d passed through with Aila before. Reaching it quickly, she split off in three directions, searching the shops and stalls for anything that looked like it would be large enough for her to use in battle. Surprisingly, it only took a couple of minutes before one of her spotted a merchant selling something that could possibly do the trick.
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