Yer' A Lancer, Kid! (Or, You Are A Lancer In An Anime Fantasy Setting, Good Luck)

And with this, the joke has finally reached it's logical conclusion... The Joke Is Dead; Long Live The Next Joke!

And also, yay, escort Mission! The most fun type of missions in existence

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'Tch! Of all things...!' You glare at the hand besides your, reaching for your soon-to-be source of income.

In general, when it comes to adventurers and requests, the regular etiquette for it is a simple 'first come, first served' system: the first person who takes it is the one who is going to deal with it, so long as they do it according to the guidelines marked by the client.

It is expected that, in case of any issue regarding this system, that the adventurers involved deal with it on their own, and avoid making an scandal about it.

'Alright, calm down, breaths in, out, and deal with this as an adult.' With that as a mantra, you turn to look at the person in front of you... And, of course, you are forced to look upwards.

What you see is a young man clad in blue: blue clothes, blue eyes, blue hair... In fact, you could swear that the only thing that isn't blue on him is the tiara atop his head.

"Uh..." He is the first to speak, his eyes shifting between looking at the request and you, "Excuse me very much so, but if you were so kind..." He speaks slowly, yet his hand reaches out for the request quickly.

'Not on my guard.' But your hand is just as fast, and before his can take away your income, you grab hold of it – or more precisely, one side of it – just as his grabs the other.

You look at him straight in the eyes, "Excuse me, but I do believe this belongs to me." There's steel in your voice as you claim authority over the request.

His eyes go wide, and for a moment you believe that he is about to relent, yet the very next moment, his gaze grows in intensity, challenging yours mettle by mettle, as he not only refuses to back down, but in fact, hardens his grip on the paper, "I apologize, but I'm completely sure I saw it first."

'The gall!' You think, as your eyes engage in a duel of resilience, you swear that you can feel sparks of lightning going on between you two.

Amber eyes meet blue, as your duel goes on.

'Give up.' Its the message your gaze delivers.

'I refuse.' Its his answer.

'Surrender!'

'Never!'

You don't know for how long this has gone forth, all you can think of is in attaining victory over this pitiful fool who dares to stand between you and victory.

'Haaah!' You (mentally) roar.

'Grk!' He flinches, and you smirk.

But he refuses to be defeated, and he strikes back, 'Kah!'

'Hmph!' Damn him! 'Give up, yield, you damn fool!'

'I will never yield!' His eyes are filled with determination, and yet, you can see it, he cannot mantain his eyes open for long, and although you can feel the burning pain of yours, you just need to hold on a bit longer, just a few moments—!

"Ahem." A deep, cold voice brings you both back into reality, you feel a shiver crawling down your back, as the atmosphere of your surroundings seems to have become far colder than before.

You can feel the blue man's(?) face turn as white as a sheet of paper, as you both slowly turn towards the source of the voice... And once you're met with the dark steel of an armor, you are forced to look upwards in fear.

The man towers over both of you, his icy blue eyes seem tready to suck the life out of your body by daring to cross eyes with him, his long white hair gives him the look of a regal, tyrannical king ready to crush any and all opposition by force, with his face looking as if it had been chiseled from stone.

"Now," He speaks slowly, the intensity of his gaze making you shrink underneath its weight, "you may call me Hansel, I have been informed of a disturbance in order here, about two rookies seemingly preparing to fight against one another, and obstructing the use of the request board," he taps the board behind you twice with his red gauntlet in order to make his point, reminding you exactly of where you are, and making you conscious of the fact that you are making a scene, "for as long as ten minutes."

He takes a moment to really focus on you two individually, "Now, I am sure that this talk about a fight is but a mere misunderstanding, of course, as you two seem like fine, decent people, but you must understand that obstructing the use of the board for as long as you have is a very rude thing to do, and so, I am forced to ask you to vacate the space, or else..." He says nothing else, crossing his arms, yet you are completely aware of what comes next if you disobey.

"A-Ah..." Once again, the blue man is the first to speak, his voice desperately trying to mask the terror present in it, "A-Actually, we were just discussing what to do with this, um, request!" He turns to you, his face set on a facsimile of a smile, fear clear in his eyes, as you enthusiastically nod along with him, "Y-yes! Um, we are working t-together now!" You do not dare to raise any complain.

"Oh?" The man's face shifts into what you believe to be satisfaction, his lips raise slightly, showing off his teeth , in a face that once upon a time believed could only be found in the face of Death itself, "how delightful, I am always overjoyed to see young adventurers joining forces to increase their odds of success in the face of adversity... Very well," he put one hand on the shoulders of you both, as you feel the hands whose strength could surely crack your bones as if they were wet tissue, "I shall bid you two farewell, and wish for the best in your journeys. May the heavens smile upon your tales, young warriors."

And with that, he walks away, his chilling presence slowly lifting from your surroundings.

'Ah...' It takes everything you have to not faint nor collapse on the spot, as your heart threatens to burst inside you chest.

Suddenly, you feel a hand, far smaller and weaker than the last, attempting to push you away, "Wha...?" You see the blue man, his gaze focused away from you, attempting to move you from the spot.

You turn towards the direction he is looking and you notice it.

Stares.

Many, many stares.

A good chunk of the people in the reception are looking at you two, some derisively, looking down on two troublemakers, some disappointed, as if the show they had been enjoying had ended in an unsatisfactory note, some are laughing, having found joy in the spectacle you two had created.

"Let's move." Are the blue man's whispered words, and you follow without complaints.

---

"Well," he says, as you two find a quieter place outside of the guild's building, "that was definitely something else, and not in a good way, like, at all, you know?"

You nod, "Yes, I... Would like to avoid a repeat of that, if possible."

"Hey! I actually thought it was fun! Well, until, um, you know, that guy appeared, but still!" He looks at you in mock anger.

You snort, "Well, I can say that it was... An interesting sort of nonsense, if nothing else."

"Yeah, yeah, sure..." He shakes his head, before seemingly being struck by a revelation, "Ah! Right, um, the quest, yes," he shows you the wrinkled paper, "sorry about saying that about being a team without consulting you, I was in panic and, well, you know, it was not a fun place to be, so... Well, that."

"I understand, do not worry." That was the most awkward situation you've been in... Ever, you suppose! "If anything, I should be grateful, it was... Overwhelming, to say the least."

"You can say that again! Heh, but still, what about the job? I mean, I do want it, but if you don't want to..."

"It's fine," You assure him, "although I will say that I would like to known the name of my, ah, associated for this job, if that is not too much too ask."

Suddenly, as if he had been waiting his whole life for this single moment, his face lights up, he straightens his posture, with his hands on his hips, he speaks again, full of vigour and excitement, "I am Cedric! Cedric Lowell, and I," he points at the sheated sword on his hip, "have a sword, and a dream! To become the greatest Knight this country, nah, this whole word has ever seen! A true hero!" He declares, his voice filled with conviction.

For your part...

"That's, um," You are left flabbergasted at the scene, "truly a dream...?" Is the only thing you can offer.

"Thanks!" He accepts your words wholeheartedly.

Still, you shake your head, and proceed anyways, "Call me Kara, I'm a mage... A fantastic one if you would ask me, but still, you'll see soon enough, I suppose," you smirk, "remember the name, you'll hear it a lot in the future, and you might wish to know you were my first companion once legends about me start appearing." You state simply, for there's no doubt in you about the glory you are sure to attain in the future.

Cedric, for his part, shows you a smirk, "That is truly a dream."

You chuckle, "Surely, but I'm confident, sire Lowell." You offer your hand.

Cedric is quick to grab it, and seal the deal with a handshake, "Likewise, um, future legend Kara...?" You roll your eyes at that one.

Oh well, even if this whole team tthing doesnt work, you can still go your separate ways afterwards, no issue.

---

Going back into the guild is, by far, the most uncomfortable thing you have done so far in your life.

You can feel them in your back, those damn stares, looking down on you, like an entertainment to be enjoyed.

'Still...' You are grateful, however, at the fact that most people didn't really cared all that much. The stares you are feeling right now are a few interested eyes, not the entire hall like before.

You suppose that's just how things go, people see something to mock, and they do, and once that's done, they just move on and find something else to do.

Regardless, this just means that your journey from the entrance to the reception is a smooth one, and before long, both of you are speaking to the receptionist as if nothing had ever happened.

"We would like to register this as our quest, please!" Cedric is the first one to present the paper, the receptionist herself being fairly professional the whole time, which means she's either a true professional, or that she wasn't there to see you make a fool out of yourself before.

Either way, thats good in your book!

The receptionist just takes a moment to look over both of you before taking the paper out of his hands, "Alright... Ah, could I take a look at your identification? Just to make note of it."

"Ah, right!" Cedric pulls from his pocket a tiny badge made of wood, his name, age and other information etched in it, and gives it to the receptionist, it only takes a few moments before the receptionist gives his badge back, and for her to look at you as you do the same as Cedric.

Wood. Stone. Iron. Copper. Silver. Gold. Platinum. Those are the ranks the guild uses to identify the capabilities and experience of the adventurers under its wing, requiring both power and renown to climb the ranks of the organization.

Wood, the lowest, is the rank given to starting adventurers, while Platinum is given to only the highest of the highest, monster capable of turning entire wars around by their mere power...

The place where you'll someday stand.

"Uh hu... Cedric, Kara... Alright!" The receptionist gives back your badge, as she happily takes the request from Cedric's hands, "the client will be informed of both of you, and they'll be asked to appear tomorrow at the city's gates early in morning, so please be on your best behavior! Here's a picture of your client, so don't confuse them for anybody else!" She gives Cederic another piece of paper, "Have a nice day!" She politely waves you both goodbye, which Cedric enthusiastically returns as you both walk away.

You nudge at Cedric, "So? Who's our client?"

Cedric pulls out the paper in order for both of you to look a it and see—

[ ][CLIENT] An... elder Lak'za with white scales...? What...?
[ ][CLIENT] An... Alba...? Why is one of them...?

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