Sarah's Story Chapter 046 - Promotion

Sarah flinched, and looked at the Artist.

“Who are you really? You’ve spent three years training on being a Brawler and a Scout, but that’s not all you are. What do you like doing outside training? What are your hopes and dreams beyond finding your brother? Who are your friends and what kind of people do you like? How do you intend to spend your time after finding your brother? Will you marry, and have children? Will you be an Adventurer your whole life? What do you want to accomplish? Sarah, who are you?”

“I… I don’t know,” Sarah admitted, tears springing to her eyes.

Clara got up and sat next to the young girl and pulled her into a side hug.

“Sarah, you should talk to your parents again before you commit to a Class,” Gregory said.

“And you should figure out who you are, too,” Delphi advised. “Don’t take an entire Class just to accomplish one goal. Pick the right Class for your entire life. Find yourself.”

Eventually, the party finished their meal, tidied up, and proceeded back out of the Dungeon. Delphi let Sarah identify all the traps that had started to re-form after time had passed, and Sarah didn’t miss a single one.

The sun was close to setting when they emerged, and most of the stalls outside the dungeon entrance were closing up shop. Only a stall with a healer and emergency supply of healing potions and tonics stayed open at all times, a safety measure put in place by the Kingdom and Adventurer’s Guild working together.

“We’ll keep an eye out for your brother, Sarah. If we find him, we’ll send word.”

“Thank you.”

And so the Golden Swan departed the capital city of Asufal, to delve into older, more powerful Dungeons within the Kingdom, now with a Scout who pulled her own weight.

Upon satisfactory completion of the Golden Swan’s request, Sarah was promoted to B Rank.

When she returned home to their inn late that night, she found that her mother had departed to visit home.

Sarah was alone and adrift, unsure what to do. She fell into the world of her soul, checking her Class options, but committed not to pick one until she conferred with her parents and better understood herself.

There, among her Scout Class options, was now a specialization for trap finding, a specialization for treasure finding, and a specialization for both, just like Delphi.

But still not one for finding people. Still, none of the options save Avenger said they could help her find her brother.

And none of the other options, now numbering in the hundreds, seemed to really fit her. She couldn’t imagine living as a Baker, a Farmer, an Equestrian, an Explorer, a Scholar, a Merchant, a Banker, or any of her other options.

She opened her eyes and stared at the dark ceiling above.

But no matter how long she stared, the answer never appeared.

For a week, the days dragged on.

In the morning she would check at the Guild to see if a Bounty Hunter had arrived in town, but one never did.

The rest of the day she would wander the streets of the capital, people-watching. Observing how other people lived their lives. To her surprise, she found that very few people seemed happy on the surface.

There were a few, smiling as they went about their day. But the majority were tense, absorbed in some small problem or task they were engaged with.

The delivery boys moving boxes.

The merchants struggling to sell their goods and make a profit.

The laborers focused on their tasks.

The weary mothers tending to multiple young children.

Among them all, there were a few who smiled and seemed to truly enjoy what they were doing.

Nothing Sarah saw spoke to her soul, however.

Inevitably, her thoughts would circle back to James.

Where was he? What was he doing? Was he okay?

Every minute, every hour, every day she was wandering around, lost, was time that he was spending missing, possibly suffering.

It ate at her.

But then she forced herself to imagine him found and safely returned home: what then? What would she do?

She didn’t know.

In the evenings she met with her Aunt Nadine, and her Aunt began instructing her in the side of the city from which her mother had shielded her.

The dark side.

Criminal organizations, independent burglars and thieves, thugs and enforcers and smugglers.

Her aunt didn’t participate directly in the dark side; rather, she was a bodyguard to protect people from them.

But Nadine had her connections.

And, eventually, a week after the Golden Swan departed, Nadine found Sarah wandering the city aimlessly.

“Sarah! Sarah!”

Sarah turned, surprised to see her aunt during daylight hours.

“Come here, quick!” Nadine pulled her niece into a small cafe, and paid for a private room for them.

A Bounty Hunter had arrived in the capital of Asufal.

Sarah’s pulse quickened, though her aunt waited until their tea had been served and the waitress departed before explaining further.

“This is a secret, okay? It’s not going through the Adventurer’s Guild.”

An A Rank Adventurer, double combat Classed, had racked up a mountain of debt at an illegal gambling parlor and fled the Rhingian Kingdom to avoid repaying the debt. The syndicate that owned the gambling parlor, furious, had hired a Bounty Hunter to track the man down, all the way to Asufal.

“He’s strong, which is why the Bounty Hunter, Sven, reached out to me once he got here to the city. I’m well known for my strength and discretion in the underworld. In exchange for my help in bringing down this Svalbard guy, Sven said he’d give you training in Bounty Hunting.”

Sarah swallowed thickly. Finally, she could get training that really would bring her closer to her goal.

Nadine’s expression tightened. “Honestly, I don’t want to get you involved more, but this Svalbard guy is bad news. He’s a Tank and Fighter combo, and something about what he does seems to involve ice magic. I wish your mother was still here… But since she’s gone, would you be willing to help bring this guy down? It should just be a supporting role…”

Sarah nodded eagerly. “Of course I’ll help! This is wonderful! Thank you, Auntie Nadine!”

They finished their tea and then left to visit one of the taverns with a bar that was open early in the afternoon. There, they met Sven. He was a large, broad man with a hawkish face and piercing gaze. His hair was nearly white blonde, long and tied back in a ponytail, and his eyes were the palest blue Sarah had ever seen.

Sven glared at Sarah, then turned to Nadine. “This is her? The girl I’m supposed to train?”

“Yeah.”

He squinted at Sarah again, frowning, then nodded. “She seems strong. This is good.” He turned back to Sarah, still frowning but no longer glaring. “You want to become Bounty Hunter?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, but I want to be able to find someone who went missing a long time ago.”

“Same thing,” Sven replied. “Finding people is hardest part of Bounty Hunting, most times. People hide, people go missing, people run away, other people want to find them. Hire me. I find them, bring them back, get paid. Is good.”

Sarah licked her lips unconsciously. That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

A barmaid brought them drinks and when she left, the Bounty Hunter continued.

“Svalbard is here, certainly. Trail ends in this city. Now just need to find where he’s hiding and capture him. But Svalbard is strong. Stronger than me. So I need help.”

Sven pulled out several rectangular pieces of paper, with strange designs drawn on them in ink. “Svalbard uses ice magic, somehow, despite not being a mage. These talismans will seal his magic if you stick them to his body. After that, need to bind him tight without breaking him. Clients want him in good condition, so he can pay his debt righteously.”

Nadine nodded. “I can certainly get the talisman on him.”

Sven grinned savagely, revealing surprisingly white teeth. “Very good. I have several Skills for subduing strong fighters. Once he is knocked out, I can keep him down until I deliver him to the clients.

Sarah frowned. This sounded an awful lot like kidnapping. It sounded an awful lot like what happened to James.

Sven noticed the Brawler girl’s expression. “Ah, is good, you are thinking critically. Bounty Hunters must be careful of the bounties they take, make sure they are legitimate.” He sounded out each syllable of legitimate like it was a foreign word. He passed a sheaf of papers to Nadine, who skimmed them and nodded.

“Sarah, the gambling parlor may not be legitimate, but these debts were taken out from official, above-board lenders.”

“Not the only debts, either. Svalbard owes a lot of money to a lot of bad men,” Sven added.

Sarah looked at the documents, and although she didn’t recognize the names or the seals, they certainly looked legitimate.

“The Kingdom of Asufal also has an agreement with the Rhingian Kingdom for Bounty Hunters, but I’ll ask you to trust me on that until we have Svalbard captured. If you ask around, word might get back to him and he might try to flee. Besides, we’ll have to confirm the bounty when Sven leaves the city with Svalbard anyway,” Nadine reassured Sarah, and Sven nodded.

“Ah, is good to work with wise woman. You understand.”

“Now, about Sarah’s training…” Nadine began.

“Yes, yes, the training. We do that first. Still don’t know where Svalbard is hiding, might as well get training out of the way first. Not good idea to do training after Svalbard captured anyway, risk of escaping.”

Nadine was surprised that Svalbard was willing to provide the training up front, before she assisted him. But his reasoning made sense, and Sven was an honorable man, despite that he often worked with criminals and operated in a grey area of the law.

Sarah looked down at the documents again.

Svalbard, A Rank Adventurer of the Rhingian Kingdom.

Tank and Fighter Classes.

Known to use some kind of ice magic, despite not having a mage Class.

Primary weapons are a club and a round shield, but known to use his fists as well.

Wanted alive and uninjured, to work as an indentured servant until his debts were fully repaid.

“Is good? Ready to learn now?” Sven asked.

Sarah met his gaze and nodded firmly.

This was it.

This was what she had been waiting for.