The group walked into the Traveler’s Guild, Maki in the lead. He felt official, wearing his new leather breastplate, greaves, and vambraces. They were imitations of what the Royal Guard wore, tweaked just enough to avoid impersonation charges. He’d been debating buying personal armor for a while now, and felt no regrets.

  He especially felt no regrets when the cute girl working the front desk saw him and her ears perked up.

  Sadly, Maeve noticed, and immediately went to the not-cute older lady who was also working the front desk.

  “Hello, we were looking for information on how to join the traveler’s guild,” Maeve said in her Official voice. It was a copy of their mom’s Official voice, and always made Maki slightly annoyed.

  “Solo, partial party, or full party?” the lady droned.

  “Partial and full party, please,” Maeve said.

  The lady handed her two sheets of paper with teeny tiny writing on it, and waved Maeve towards a row of chairs along the wall.

  Knowing Maeve would make a good decision, Maki followed Cali to an information board. Luke took a seat next to Maeve, reading along with her.

  “Maki,” Cali whispered, pointing to a poster. It advertised a spot for a Beastmaster in a team capturing wyverns.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “No, you don't want to be a part of that trade,” Maki told her, shaking his head.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s called a ‘high-risk, high-reward’ job. If you make it out alive, you’re rich. But you might not make it out alive,” he explained. “The people who take those jobs don't care if they die or not, so they’re not very nice.”

  “Oh, ok.” She scanned the board again.

  Maki spotted an ad for a traveling circus, and debated telling Maeve it was the perfect place for her. Although he suspected that if she joined, she’d end up owning the thing within a year. Or at least handling all the finances.

  Then he saw a notice for a Runesmith wanted to put protection runes on every wagon in a caravan. He pulled it off the board and walked over to Luke.

  “Partial has more benefits, but we have no choice of who we’re put with,” the Runesmith was saying.

  “True, and full does pay enough to replace those benefits, just after the job is done instead of before,” Maeve mused, glancing at Maki. “What?”

  Maki handed the notice to Luke. Luke scanned it, a smile growing on his face.

  “Let me do this job, and I'll have enough to buy all the recommended equipment,” he told Maeve.

  Maeve nodded, getting to her feet. “Ok! Let’s see if we can get approved as a full party!”

  Cali walked over, holding a paper. It read, “Help needed!!! Someone with experience dealing with rabbits invading crops!”

  “Think I could do this?” she asked Maki.

  Maki checked the location; about half an hour’s walk outside the city. “Yeah, absolutely.” He looked at the group. “We’ll get registered here, then Maeve can show Luke where the caravan is, and I'll take Cali to play with bunnies. Meet up tonight at Risa’s?”

  Everyone agreed, and they went back to the front desk.