Chapter 76 - New Party Member… Check?

<p> "So? You going to let me join?"<br/><br/> My automated response to her request, when she repeats herself, is less confident than I had hoped.<br/><br/> "Uhhhh… Ask my party leader, maybe?"<br/><br/> She nods in agreement. "I respect that." She pats my back, but the slight touch is so powerful it easily knocks the air out of my lungs, sending me into a coughing fit. "So, where is she, then?"<br/><br/> When I finally regain my breath, I respond. "She's on her way here. We can wait outside for her if you'd like. Wait, how'd you know—"<br/><br/> "Sure. Let's go, scrawny."<br/><br/> "Scrawny? But—"<br/><br/> "I said let's go."<br/><br/> "Bu— can I— wai— … Okay, sure then. Right away, ma'am." The decision is quickly made for me with a warning glare from the short woman, and I scramble to my feet.<br/><br/> "Wait!" Espin calls, getting up as well. I take in a sharp breath of relief. 'Am I saved?'<br/><br/> "I have to update your Rank before you go." <br/><br/> Not… quite.<br/><br/> I look at her in confusion. "But… Why? I didn't do any quests or anything. I've literally just done the tournament in Galeise before coming back here."<br/><br/> She giggles. "Anytime a town or city is breached, whatever caused it becomes an emergency quest target, and the Adventurer who completes that quest is entitled to a reward, which the mayor has tended to, and depending on the difficulty, the Adventurer may obtain a Rank Up!"<br/><br/> The Tank Saint snorts, crossing her arms. "That's common knowledge. Are you a bit slow in the head or something?"<br/><br/> Ignoring the mean lady as best I could, I hand Espin the small black square that holds my ranking inside of it, and she skips vibrantly over to her desk, plopping it inside a small orb there. It floats vertically, the flat sides spinning around slowly in every direction. Espin simply hops up and leans over her desk, laying her stomach on it and dangling her legs back as she reaches to adjust my Rank. <br/><br/> Of course, the floor was looking very floor-y, so I inspected that rather than look somewhere I shouldn't. She may have been wearing something that looked like denim jeans, but it still felt wrong to stare at… that.<br/><br/> Finally, with a small 'hup!' coming from in front of me, I look up to see Espin skipping back to me. "Here ya go! Orange Rank!"<br/><br/> I don't even bother thinking about it now, and instead take the chip back with a smile of my own, and she holds her hands on mine for a second, her eyes that perfectly match her hair gazing at me for a moment before she lets go. "Let's hang out soon, okay?" She reminds me before disappearing around the corner. A few moments later she reappears behind her desk, closing the glass and waving frantically at us.<br/><br/> I feel a nudge on my back which sends me stumbling forward. "Come on already, beanpole," the tiny woman says, heading for the door. "We got things to do and shit to see."<br/><br/> "We?" I reply quietly. But with no other choice, I trudge after her.<br/><br/>- - -<br/><br/> The silence is very much not comfortable for me, and it is a long few minutes before Eniyala finally arrives.<br/><br/> It would have been fine if I could just wait there patiently, but several passing people whispered loudly while looking at us, usually saying something along the lines of "what a good-looking couple they are." Of course, it was sometimes just the occasional, "wow, she's so short," but either way, whenever I tried to glance over, she would harshly go, "what?!"<br/><br/> And, each time, I replied with an, "ah, sorry, my fault," before looking away quickly.<br/><br/> I think the only other time I was this happy to see Eniyala was my first time experiencing Mana Rejection. What an angel. Sadistic and has an odd love of her middle fingers, but an angel nonetheless right now.<br/><br/> "That's her!" I yelp, hopping up to dash over to the girl, a big green dopey giant following in her steps like a child on a leash.<br/><br/> "And who is that?" Eniyala asks, arching her brow. I give her a pleading look, my fingers intertwined and my hands held close to my chest.<br/><br/>But before I can even say anything, a small ball of spunk forces past me. <br/><br/> "My name is Termi Foartiff, the next Tank Saint. I wanna join your party, FireMage Eniyala Ignios."<br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/> Kie Forrest plops into his comfortable office chair with a heavy sigh. <br/><br/> "Got to love all these mayoral duties," he groans quietly, skimming through a few pages he needed to look over regarding the damages. "Those damn idiots — how does a damn cow find itself all the way over here from Galeise?!"<br/><br/> Just then, his phone rings. "Ugh, not even five minutes," he complains, holding it up to his ear after checking the caller information.<br/><br/> "Espin! My favorite receptionist! Give me some good news."<br/><br/> He listens for a moment, before a devilish grin spreads from under his thick mustache. "The Tank, huh? No, no, this is good. Keep an eye on the potential Mage candidate too, alright?… She's just arrived? Perfect. Let me know. I have to make a call now. Yep. No, thank YOU, my girl. Mhm. Alright, bye."<br/><br/> Kie ends the call, unable to repress his grin. He quickly dials another number. <br/><br/> "Hello? Stringmaster? I have some news you'd like to hear."<br/><br/> The person on the other end of the phone grins in the shadows of its dark room, where it spends most of its time. Its gray skin glows bleakly from the dull glow of a Manaphone held up to its cheek. As the mayor of Estraia passes the information along, the grin grows unnaturally wide. <br/><br/> "Runt found the Sword Saint. He may not have succeeded in luring the Mage candidate to her death, but we gathered more information through following the Sword. Orange says that the Tank has met up with the Sword now. That's two confirmed and one highly likely, in one area."<br/><br/> "That's a good Doll," the Stringmaster cackles. "Prove to me you've earned keeping your will, and I may even soon move you up to Puppet, Kie."<br/><br/> Kie does his best to suppress a sigh of relief, bouncing his leg. "Yes, Stringmaster. I will be passing the two images along now. If you would excuse me."<br/><br/> The Stringmaster ends the call, and less than a minute later, the phone buzzes, and two new images are sent. Immediately porting them over to a flat white stone, about the size of a mini fridge, the stone flashes, then pops out two pieces of leathery paper. <br/><br/> The Stringmaster uses two thin, wrinkled gray fingers to pick up the papers, tacking them to the wall with two sewing needles, right next to one already there. "It's coming together, heh, heh."<br/><br/> The one hanging on the wall is a side profile of a pretty girl with wavy blue hair cascading past her blank face. The first freshly printed paper next to it is a woman with numerous different color streaks ranging from a reddish brown to a blond, and a stern look in her rock brown eyes.<br/><br/> The newest picture is a boy with white hair, and one purple eye in an odd shape, staring in wonder at something the camera didn't capture. His mouth hangs slightly ajar, and the whole look clearly shows the boy's lack of experience with the world.<br/><br/> "How… Excellent," the Stringmaster muses, then cackles slightly, before returning to his work: manipulating handfuls of strings attached seemingly into tiny straw dolls.<br/><br/> One of them has a large brown mustache and a poorly drawn white suit with three needles in it, while another has short orange hair drawn upon it, also with three needles.</p>