II.
The two stood before a busy mess hall with many people of different shapes and sizes going about their business. Some rested at knotted wooden tables or gathered around scrappy message boards with tarnished sheets of parchment nailed hastily upon them. Audrey's eyes looked overwhelmed at the sheer volume of bodies but began to twinkle in excitement. Don't these people have work to do? Madoka wondered. This voluminous forest of people seemed inert. There were some with tails and some with heavy weapons strapped to their backs.
Each had a story to tell and Madoka wondered how the two of them would start theirs. Audrey looked amazed at it all. The maid scanned the room. This must have been after hours or something. A man who looked like a merchant stood on a platform next to one of the message board.
"Requesting assistance in slaying a Forest Lagrine! Four menacing eyes, the horror stalker of the Rustaze forest!" He called out. Madoka realized that cat was the same creature she rebuked awhile ago and felt guilty for some reason.
She eventually turned her gaze to a desk at the end of the busy Hall with several uniformed women standing quietly behind it. They seemed like they had information that Audrey could use, the maid thought. There were peculiar bars of metal hanging above each desk like ornaments. Are those necklaces? Before they could make another step a hand pushed her aside.
Or, rather, it tried to.
"Move it!" Shrieked a shrill voice. Other adventurers stared Madoka's direction. Audrey restrained her arm from going to her swords. "Get out of the way, weaklings!"
Madoka turned around to see a cloaked woman with orange hair standing beneath her. A mage? The woman's hand gripped ornate staff and her face wore an arrogant look like a dirty stain on a window. Madoka had experience in cleaning those stains. A mess on a person's face would be no different.
"A-Apologies," Audrey's voice blubbered from beside her, in reverent Noble. Madoka was forcefully guided out of the way of the mage's victorious path.
"Reverent Noble?" the mage looked at Audrey incredulously. "As if I am one of those! Disgusting. Get the hell out of my way!"
Audrey was putting on a show but Madoka was still angry over how the haughty mage was treating her princess. Her hand moved to her sword's grip but again Audrey swatted it. The mage glared at them one more time for good measure before she strode to the desks. Madoka could hear the murmers of other adventurers.
"It's Rin!" one whispered to his friend. "So powerful!"
"She's the one next in line for Gold rank! Wow!"
Enough with her backstory, Madoka reached for Audrey and tugged her shoulder. She seemed unbothered by that commoner's rudeness. The maid was incensed but calmed down as she looked to the princess's smiling face.
"How was my acting voice?" She giggled. "I am totally blending in like a commoner, right?"
"You are without a doubt NOT blending in," Madoka told her with a sigh. Audrey scoffed. "Those women over there... They seem like they might have the identification we're looking for."
"I spent weeks practicing that commoner accent in the Estate," Audrey muttered. Madoka recalled no such thing but ignored her silly statements. There was much more trouble afoot: Talking with others. "Back to the drawing boards."
They drew towards the first empty desk where a Guild Lady stood tall. The lady was slender, her black hair was symmetrical and tied into a bun. Nothing was out of place and she was clean and orderly, except for that disdained look through her own lenses that glared down upon the red haired girl and then to her princess. Madoka noticed the both of them had their hoods on but that did not stop the Guild Lady's rude behavior to her princess. She scoffed at their shabby appearance.
"Here to post a commission, honey?" The Guild Lady asked Audrey with a mocking tone laced within her voice. "We don't do berry picking commissions, I'm afraid."
Madoka heard a hushed wave of laughter from nearby adventurers but Audrey interrupted the tension by speaking, lowering her hood as she did. The Guild Lady nearly straightened up when she noticed Audrey's hacked hair.
"We're here to join the guild," she said in Noble. The laughter ceased and the room grew quiet.
"You... disgusting Noble!" A horrible, shrill voice came from nearby. It was the mage girl, Rin. "Treading upon this Hall? Know your place!"
Audrey simply ignored her and looked to the Guild Lady.
"How do we join?"
"T-The requirements are strict, you know," the Guild Lady started, but Madoka had enough. She placed her hand on the table with enough force to cause tiny cracks.
Audrey looked at her for a second but then glared at the Guild Lady. She jumped but simply sighed and pulled out a hexagonal board with rune etchings on it. It had an intricate array of mud plates, with small golden gears that ticked as they shuffled. Each corner of the board had slots reaching towards the center. A grey jewel rested in the center of it. She was reminded of that strange tablet Ella used in her visit to the afterlife. It was a beautiful magical trinket, Madoka guessed.
"This is for your identification," the Guild Lady glared at Audrey, who appeared to be puzzled over the strange board. "Place your hand on the jewel and we can begin from there. I am assuming the both of you are joining?"
"A trigram...? No, that can't be right," Audrey muttered and placed her hand on the gemstone. Madoka was curious to see what strange things would happen to the board. The Guild Lady kept her arrogant look on Madoka but said nothing. The maid simply shrugged, knowing it would bother the woman even more. The board swirled with color from each corner of its hexagon. The gears shifted and the mud plates rotated with mesmerizing clicking, then red and green slots narrowed in at the jewel from the corner. The jewel glowed brightly.
The board itself was unremarkable, Madoka decided on with sudden boredom. The glow is what caught her eye. Red and green mana strands gathered at Audrey's finger tips. It emanated with power, barely fading when Audrey removed her hand. The other onlookers gasped in awe. This isn't a show, fools, Madoka wanted to yell at them. Move along!
"Is that a good thing?" Audrey asked staring at the odd red mana strands. Madoka has never seen red mana strands before although she was sure it would not be the last time those arcane strands would be seen.
"Two...!" Rin's voice shook with fury. "Disgusting noble. You don't even know how gifted you are!"
"Wow," the Guild Lady gasped. She looked at Audrey's hacked blonde hair pensively. Madoka felt her friend's hand smack her butt to stop her. The maid squeaked. She did not even realize she had her hands on her weapon to keep the Guild Lady from prying. "Your house must have fallen on hard times, milady?"
"Eh, something like that," Audrey laughed it off.
"The war's taken a lot from all of us, hasn't it? I take it this is your slave, yes?"
"Yes," Both Audrey and Madoka said at the same time. A raised look came from the Guild Lady but she gestured for Madoka to place her hand reluctantly.
"It cannot be helped," the lady continued. "Get it over with."
Madoka was hesitant. She was plagued by thoughts and worry. This board would tell her what she already knew, but now the whole guild would find her weak. Did she like that idea? What was that term Audrey explained to her awhile ago? A show of force, huh? She determined that she was more powerful than everyone in the Hall the moment her foot stepped in the door. How did she know that? Perhaps the rune burning on her shoulder gave her a strange ability to tell, but more importantly perhaps she wanted to wipe those smug grins off their faces.
"Go on," Audrey whispered. Madoka snapped out of her thoughts and now wanted to complain about the girl smacking her butt. Focus, Madoka, the maid thought to herself for a moment. Then she placed her hand on the odd board's gem. It sprang to life, rotating slower than when Audrey did it.
At first, nothing happened. Madoka expected that but everyone looked on to what would come next so she let her hand linger on the the board's wooden surface. It began to glow and her eyes widened at what she saw. No, no, no! Madoka felt the familiar strands of mana link to her fingertips. This was her magic all along? Instead of all the slots glowing like Audrey's, only three yellow slots glowed out of all of them from the faint golden mana charged jewel.
Her hand tingled so she released it from the board. Its mud plates and runes ceased their gyrations. The Guild Lady looked astonished.
"A slave with magic?"
Madoka glared back with a hint of triumph on her lips. She knew her lack of response must have sent the Guild Lady into a fit of rage and disbelief though she could not show it. Audrey beamed at Madoka.
"See? I told you!" Audrey said. "You have magic!"
Madoka simply said nothing. Audrey must have shown her magic on purpose, she thought as she glanced at the board. The Guild Lady cleared her throat while writing things on a separate scroll.
"We shall now be taking on the physical test," she said with a threatening hint. "Please sign here, as mock battles will be taking place."
"Mock battles, huh?" Audrey said, scratching the scroll with pen and ink. The handwriting she did was beautiful to the maid. Madoka tried to do the same although since she did not know how to write her handwriting was just a simple line.
"This form is simply signing that you're responsible for your injuries in the upcoming tests, see, I pray you are successful or else it will cost a lot of gold to heal you." The Guild Lady scoffed but the girls were undeterred. Madoka scooted the scroll across the table to her with confidence, no doubt infuriating the Lady.
"Rin," she called. Rin stepped forward and glared at the maid with disbelief and anger. She simply returned the glare with a smile. "Take it easy on them. They are children. Just teach the slave a lesson and be done with it, okay?"
"Just how depraved of a noble do you have to be to use a slave in battle? And with that paltry amount of mana strands? She barely counts as fodder!"
Madoka shrugged after she noticed Audrey did the same. The two were getting impatient, she guessed, since the crowds began to jeer at them and whisper amongst themselves. Even the other Guild Ladies eyed the girls. Madoka saw the same looks of concern and disdain on their faces.
"How useless!" The mage yelled. Her fellow members laughed along with her. "Surely you won't allow her in, right?"
"She still has the practical exam to go. Which is why we need you," the Guild Lady said half-heartedly. Madoka nearly groaned. Enough of the chatter, she wanted to say. The Lady flashed concern. "How are you to fight with barely a trace of magic? Even commoners have some magical connection. Yours is the lowest the Guild has seen."
Madoka chuckled, making the Guild Lady stop her questions. It was news to her that she even had magic in the first place.
"Enough talk," Audrey finally had enough. Her voice was cold and commanding. It reminded the maid of her time in the palace whenever Audrey got angry. "Take us to the exams at once."
"Yes, milady," she stammered. She pushed her glasses up and straightened her hair out. Had she not treated her princess so rudely, the maid would have found the Lady to be attractive. Now, she wanted nothing more than to destroy that look off her pretty face.
Sweat beaded down the Guild Lady's cheeks anyways. Madoka did not notice whatever the Lady saw Audrey do but it appeared to do the trick. They might be children, but she swore she would place even more fear in their hearts soon enough. A smile formed viciously at the thought. Rin strode by them to an exit but stopped.
"I'll show you this Guild has no time for children and greedy nobles," she said with a dark tone in her voice before entering the practice field. Madoka kept a polite yet menacing smile on her face but the mage did not see her.
Later, the two found themselves following the Lady into what seemed like a barracks.
"Please," the Lady said, stopping before she opened the door for them. The other adventurers were busy and getting riled up to watch the exams. "What you're doing, it's all wrong. Milady, I implore you to reconsider. You're going to get hurt."
"So, uh," Audrey ignored the statement. "Is this where the weapons are?"
"If you don't take this seriously you could end up injured for life," she snapped at her. Madoka put a hand on the door and opened it for Audrey silently as she always had opened doors for her in the past. "Take what you need but please heed my—"
"Sheesh," Audrey said as they entered. Madoka realized that the Lady followed them in with complaints and cautions but Audrey spoke in English. "I'm surprised we even got this far."
Confusion settled on the Guild Lady's face as she heard words she could not understand. Madoka sent a dark look to her, which shut her up. Before her, racks stood before them with shoddy excuses for weapons on display like historical relics.
"Mm," Madoka grunted, lifting up the biggest weapon she could find with ease. It was a massive sheet of metal. The Guild Lady looked like she was going to faint but Madoka switched to English. The maid never took her eyes off the poor woman while she spoke. "What do you think about this one?"
"That notch in the sword," Audrey smirked but then she inspected it. "It would definitely affect impact toughness. It would probably cause issues cutting things and would definitely snap if it was used on a less frequent basis. If used as a club, you would totally break it easily too."
"Hmm," Madoka nodded. Audrey's sudden knowledge in weapons was slightly unnerving but she made several compelling points. She picked up a two-headed battle axe that was twice her size, with one hand of course. "What about this one?"
"I think you'll need something faster to go against that spell caster. An axe will do well, but we don't need to use our best weapons," Audrey said, taking the axe and putting it back. The Guild Lady gasped in shock from her strength. Audrey glared at her. "This woman was rude to you, Madoka. How dare she—"
"It's not about me," Madoka sighed. By now, both girls glared at her. The poor woman whimpered. She must have realized she was mere prey surrounded by dangerous predators. "They were rude to you!"
Madoka tightened a fist on the sword grip so hard it started to crack the blade.
"It's okay! Calm down," Audrey gave her another sword. "When they doubt, knock 'em down! It's what I always say."
"You never say that," Madoka muttered. She drew her own swords and handed them to Audrey. "Here. Maybe you can use these."
"Psh," Audrey complained. The blades were from those Esmeralda soldiers. Bad memories exceeded their usefulness to Madoka so she took up the Guild's short sword and a regular length sword. Both had their edges dulled for safety reasons but Madoka could break people with them all the same. "I'm a support mage. What am I going to do with two swords?"
"Look cool, I guess," Madoka shrugged. Audrey placed them in the portal and took a small wand off the rack.
"Cool? Who taught you that word—"
"E-Excuse me," the Guild Lady spoke up. Audrey turned to her. "Are you two finished?"
"What are you doing? Why are you interrupting us?" Audrey glared daggers into the woman. The woman was too stunned to speak so she waited by the doorway. "You good?"
Madoka nodded. The two marched up to the Lady. Madoka stood up at her full height and looked down at her with a polite smile.
"Please take us to the exams, miss," Madoka said. Audrey looked at Madoka and then back at the Guild Lady expectantly.
"H-Hai," she said as she pushed her glasses up. She was dwarfed by Madoka.
"How do you do that?" Audrey asked Madoka. "You, like, appear small but suddenly you're hella tall."
"Beats me," Madoka smirked. She did not feel taller but if Audrey said she was than she would give it some thought. It must have been the rune Pelé gave her and talismans Audrey used on her. The Lady led them to where the physical exam would take place.
A shoddy arena awaited them under the pale glow of grey sunlight but Madoka's heart beat with excitement. She will finally get to show these fools an important lesson: Never insult her princess.