Silverleaf

As Mouse watched the worker make her way around the counter and up the stairs with their paperwork, Mouse’s hand slid to the hilt of his wooden sword, and his eyes narrowed. Taiga watched his body language shift into what he called ‘attack mode’, and smacked him lightly on the back.

“Absolutely not.” Taiga watched him shift his weight, his shoulders relax, eyes back on him. Taiga sighed, “there’s no reason our application will be refused. They need any recruit they can get now that quarrels with Monx have increased.”

Mouse took a final glance back towards the stairs, but the worker disappeared down the hall. Turning away, Taiga followed the scent of meat and spices. They had enough money for one meal, right? He quickly ran through some simple calculations while his feet pulled him closer to the vendor set up on the other end of the hall.

A sign to the right of the vendor read ‘discounts for guild members’. Taiga paused, re-reading the sign a few more times before the weight of savings overpowered his cravings for grilled meat. Mouse was close behind him, glancing around him to see why he’d stopped.

After a moment, he whispered, “want me to grab some?” Mouse left their funds to Taiga, so by ‘grab’, he meant ‘steal’. Morally, Taiga should lecture him. This, he knew. But the tantalizing smell made his morals waver.

“Only if we get rejected.” Mouse nodded, accepting Taiga’s words as an order. He’d always been like this, ever since Taiga met him when they were young. Back then, Mouse resembled a duckling, following Taiga around wherever he’d go.

Instead of eating, Taiga watched a couple playing a game of chess. There were several onlookers, and with each move made, someone would put down more coins in typical betting fashion. Taiga never learned the rules of the game, but he enjoyed watching their expressions change, studying the board, before confidently moving pieces around. A few knights routinely played on night watch when he’d been stationed at the west’s wall.

“She’s back,” Mouse nudged him with an elbow. Taiga turned as the worker approached them.

“If you’ll follow me back to the counter,” she was already on her way. Taiga and Mouse followed behind her. Without glancing at them, she put their passbooks and identification papers back onto the counter, along with two smaller papers. They beared seals from an official of a sort, and two stamps of approval.

“Keep these with you at all times. These licenses will serve as passes through checkpoints and will provide discounts at affiliated inns and taverns. They also give you access to the Grand Pall Library in the Capital City, Pall. You will also be allowed to request audiences with specific people of prominence. For further on that, you can hear more over there,” she opened her hand towards another counter a few meters away with a sign stating ‘services’.

“For listings and current available jobs,” she opened her hand towards the left, “you can check the bulletin board and talk with the Missions Master for jobs available and to accept or decline them.”

Glancing towards the bulletin board, Taiga realized Mouse already wandered off. The worker cleared her throat, waited for Taiga to look back to her, before continuing.

“Since this will be your trial mission, the Missions Master will prepare a group for you and your… friend to join. After your first mission is completed, you’ll be granted the final stamp on your license which will give you access to select missions going forward.”

Taiga nodded, and thanked her for her time. The worker hesitated a moment, before bowing and leaving. He found Mouse just outside the archway, leaning against a pillar and watching a few birds chirp on the ground a short distance away. He knelt down, broke pieces of his uneaten biscuit, and sprinkled them near the birds. They cautiously inched towards the crumbs.

As Taiga approached, the birds glanced at him, watching him for a long moment. He smiled at them, and put a hand on Mouse’s head, ruffling his hair a little. The birds glanced between them before confidently approaching in range of the crumbs. Mouse puffed up his cheeks a bit while Taiga tousled his hair.

“I wanted to see if they’d come to me on their own. Without your influence,” he whined, but his eyes eagerly watched the small finches.

“Next time I’ll leave you be then,” Taiga lied. Mouse would be disappointed if they fled. The only reason a wild bird or animal came as close as it did now was due to Taiga’s lingering magic and influence from being around Mouse so often. If he hadn’t, they’d likely have taken flight the moment Mouse drew near. Afterall, Mouse was not one to attract the living to him.

“She said we can talk to the Missions Master for our first job.” Taiga rested a hand above the hilt of his sword. Mouse grumbled something about not wanting to work with strangers, and Taiga responded by messing his hair up some more. “Would you like to wait here while I go figure out the details?”

After a few long moments, Mouse nodded. Looking up at Taiga, he added “I can grab us some food.”

“With money,” Taiga reached into a small pouch he kept in his slung over bag. He pulled out a few coins, sorting out two small silver coins with square cutouts in the center. “Wait for him to give you some change back. Don’t just leave after you get the food this time.”

Mouse rolled his eyes, but nodded. He held out his hand, and Taiga gave him the coins. “Don’t lose the money this time? Please?” Mouse simply waved off his concern as he stood. The birds didn’t flinch, and instead pecked at their snack.

Taiga was sure they’d have at least a little more savings in their pocket if Mouse paid a little more attention. But well, he never had and Taiga didn’t expect him to change anytime soon. While Mouse could count money to a degree, he didn’t see the point of human societies' reliance on small pieces of metal. And therefore, lacked attention towards it.

Taiga lingered with the finches while Mouse wandered back into the hall. “Be good to him when he comes back, yeah?” He spoke softly, leaning down towards the small birds. One of them cocked their head before pecking at another crumb. Taiga let out a small laugh. As if some birds would listen to him just because he asked.

Back in the hall, he eyed the mission board. A few small town requests for guarding from bandits, supply runs, exterminating pests. They were about as Taiga expected. Most towns were issued knights and guards based on population size. So if a town didn’t meet the minimum needed, it was hard to request for stationed guards or knights.

Personally, Taiga wondered if people only became of value when their towns could be taxed for a specific threshold. Suddenly they were worth protecting. It made mercenaries vital to the kingdom’s prosperity, despite most official knight’s views on the matter.

A poster with a drawing of a woman on it caught Taiga’s eye. The woman seemed a little older than himself, glasses balanced on her large nose. The listing stated a bounty for capture, and the order placed by the Gale Order, a squad Taiga knew stationed in the capital. They usually dealt in information, gossip, and rumors, with direct contact to Queen Nolara.

“See something you like?” A large bear of a man came up beside him, smelling delightfully of filth, ash, and beer. His cheeks rosen, he watched Taiga until he made eye contact.

“Ahh, sorry. I’m a new mercenary. I’m just… surprised to see an order from the knights, I suppose. Are these posters for wanted criminals?” Taiga softened his voice and loosened his stance.

“Oh, fresh meat, eh?” The man laughed, slapping his broad chest with a thickened hand. “Some of these are criminals. Some of them aren’t. If they’ve got the money to pay, then near anyone can get a poster up.”

“Isn’t that… illegal?” Taiga lowered his voice to a whisper for the last word.

“What, this a knight or something?” Another man came up between them, smacking the bear man lightly. This person had thick red hair, knotted into a bun. He was younger, and eyed Taiga narrowly.

“Nah, he’s a recruit,” The bear man replied before turning back to Taiga, “kid, if you want to be a mercenary, you better get used to not doing everything by the law.”

“Take this guy for example,” The red-haired friend tapped his knuckles against another poster, “commissioned by the guy’s neighbor. Turns out, he’s a murderer.”

“What?” Taiga took a step back, a bit shocked.

“Of goats,” The bear man amended, nodding joyfully with his eyes closed.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, but of his neighbor’s goats! So the neighbor commissioned a wanted poster for the guy.”

“I see.” He looked over and saw the Missions Master free. “Well, thank you for the information. I need to speak with the Missions Master now, so—”

“Oh, yeah you’re new, right? Have you had your trial run yet?” The red-haired man asked.

“Ah, not yet. I was just about to check on it—”

“Perfect! We can take you for a spin!” The red-haired cackled, already making his way over to the Mission Master’s counter.

“Well, it’s not just me. My friend and I joined together, so we’re going to see about finding a mission we can both join.”

“No problem there, we can take the two of you.” The bear man turned and waved towards the Missions Master, “you hear that Ali? We’ll take the recruits, so you’ll compensate us, right?”

The bear man moved over to the window, and started talking details with Ali. Taiga wasn’t sure when he’d agreed to this, but he didn’t mind going along with it. If he appeared a push-over, he’d blend in as a human farmer better. Mouse was the problem.

“No one likes taking on the recruits, but Ali clears our bar tab when we agree to it.” The red-haired man flashed Taiga a toothy smile, and swung an arm over Taiga’s shoulders, “it’s a win-win, right?”

Pushy, interrupting, no physical boundaries, drunk, loud laughter, unhygienic… Taiga laughed with the man, knowing full well they were everything Mouse hated.