Isekai #1 The Dragon Warrior.

4- Preparation

Ryoto walks over to the adventurer's guild, which is only an arrow's flight away. Heading through the door, Ryoto notices a few new faces scattered about the main hall. He takes note of them as he passes. One familiar hooded woman, with a white and black tail, stands at the counter and is quickly escorted to a back room. 

'Was that the same woman?!' Ryoto thinks as he approaches Lina. "Hey!"

Lina looks exhausted as her eyes meet his. "Oh.. hey Ryoto. I am still waiting for your paperwork, but I have everything else in order.."

"That is fine! I actually was hoping to speak to you privately." Ryoto replies.

Lina points to a nearby door. "Wait in there. Someone is ahead of you, in line.."

Ryoto nods and heads into the other room. There he waits for what seems like an hour. Finally, Lina enters, looking more exhausted and frustrated than before.

She sits down in her chair with a thud and rests her head on the desk. "SO! What did you need?!" She says with a weak groan.

Ryoto props one foot on his knee. "First, I have a question. Are slaves allowed into the adventurer's guild?"

Lina looks up curiously. "That is a touchy subject for the adventurer's guild. Sure, adventurers can have slaves as their party members. Likewise, said slaves can accompany their masters into the guild. However, slaves are not allowed to do direct business with the guild. That includes making requests, accepting missions, collecting payment for their masters, etc. Why do you ask?"

Ryoto looks away in relief. 'So that woman was not a slave!' "Oh.. no reason.."

Lina glares at him. "What did you do?!!" She asks in a low growl.

Ryoto's eyes never meet Lina's as he looks up at the ceiling. "Yesterday.. I.. may have.. rescued a young beastwoman from a few harassing humans. But she ran off before I could ask if she was okay."

A book quickly flies across the room, at Ryoto's face, which he again catches.

"Will you please stop doing that?!" Ryoto sighs.

"I thought I told Samual to talk to you about that!!" Lina growls.

"In his defense, this happened before that little talk. On top of that, the woman in question entered the guild hall ahead of me and apparently made a request." Ryoto explains.

Lina sits back down, crosses her arms, and turns up her nose. "Well, you can rest assured she is no slave. That being said, I can not divulge any further information about her."

Ryoto shrugs. "As long as she is okay, that is all that matters. Back to the matter of business, I would like you to send my armor contract to Wilham, the new blacksmith."

Lina's eyes narrow. "Why?"

"Because I wish to support his new shop!" Ryoto replies.

Lina sighs. "Okay.. But I would like you to remember your position as a hero. If you show any one business favoritism it could sway the general population to send their business there too. This could put all the other businesses out and cause that one to gain a monopoly."

Ryoto quickly turns his head and looks Lina straight in the eyes. "I am counting on it!" He says in a gruff tone.

Lina jerks back in surprise. "Then, why would you do such a thing?!!!"

"Because Wilham is in possession of a beastman named Michal who is a royal from the western kingdom. Not only that, he is a Royal Beast! Wilham intends to free him so he may return to his kingdom." Ryoto's eyes narrow in clear defiance of any contrary advice to come. "And I will support that effort."