"No need, we know how to read. Thank you," Samael said.
He picked up the agreement form and scanned it.
It briefly outlined an adventurer’s duties and income models, along with a summarized list of prohibitions from the Adventurer’s Codex—no robbery, theft, or infighting, with violators subject to lawful judgment.
He glanced at the form Talia had filled out and followed her format. For his name, he put down the alias "Samo." For identity, he wrote "Ascetic," and for class, "Warrior Knight."
"Also, the processing fee is two Ederic Empire Silver Coins," Miss Lillian said as she took the forms back, double-checking the details. "If you two aren’t from the Ederic Empire, you can also pay with two Floren Kingdom Silver Coins, four Silver Akche from the Supar Empire, or three Silver Holy Coins from the Holy Light Church Country."
Talia and Samael exchanged an awkward glance.
Talia subtly shifted her wrist, bumping the back of her hand against Samael’s to signal, "I’m too embarrassed to say it. You do it."
Samael nodded back, signaling, "I’m shameless enough for this. Leave it to me."
"Miss Watson, could we put this on a tab for now? Let us take a simple mission first to earn a bit of money, and then we’ll pay you back..." Samael gestured as he spoke. "We come from a Monastery. When we set out, our mentor warned us not to care too much about worldly possessions, so we’ve been begging for charity... I mean, undergoing ascetic training all the way here. Sorry for the trouble."
Talia silently turned her face away.
"This... I can cover the cost for you both for now..." Lillian hesitated.
"No, no, I’ll pay," Randall insisted, quickly placing the Silver Coins on the counter. "It’s no trouble at all. I’m just glad I can help you both."
"Thank you so much, brother Randall," Samael said, happily throwing an arm around Randall’s shoulders. "Once we make some money, we’ll definitely pay you back."
"Oh, there’s no need to be polite, Samo Cultivator. It’s just a few coins, don’t worry about it." Randall shook his head. "I’m the one who should be thanking you two Knights for deigning to help us."
Lillian put away the forms and brought out two small iron tags attached to chains. Using an iron stylus that glowed with a faint blue light, she carefully etched their fake names, "Samo" and "Talan," onto the tags.
"Please keep your identity tags safe and carry them with you at all times. They contain specific Magic Rune codes. Accepting and turning in missions, as well as claiming bodies, must be done using these tags." She bowed slightly, handing the two tags to Samael and Talia with both hands. "If they are lost or stolen, please report it to the hall immediately. We will void the lost codes and issue you new ones."
"Also, according to the Alliance’s regulations, novice adventurers must join an existing team and shadow them for at least one mission before they are officially allowed to work solo. We ask for your understanding in this," Miss Lillian said. Her gaze shifted to Randall, then back to Samael and Talia. "Will it be Randa... I mean, Mr. Riska’s team accepting the mission to lead the novices’ internship?"
"Yes," Randall nodded. "Please write up a mission slip right here. There’s no need to post it on the wall; I’ll just take it now."
Skipping the procedure of posting the mission slip on the board was clearly a case of pulling strings, but Lillian merely smiled and didn’t say anything.
Miss Lillian Watson took out a blank mission slip. After filling out the details for Samo and Talan’s novice internship mission in the name of the Alliance, she stamped the bottom with the circular seal of the Adventurer’s Alliance, which depicted a pair of iron-cast hands crossed in an X and a giant eye.
"Accepting the novice internship mission, reward amount: 25 Ederic Gold Coins. Please..."
Just as she let go and pushed the slip forward, a hand reached over from the side and fiercely snatched it!
"Whoever gets the slip first has priority. That’s the Alliance’s rule. I’ll be taking this mission slip." Luken Roster, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, smugly waved the parchment in his hand. "Hey, you two! Come intern with my three-man team! We are the Split Claw Bird of Luojie City, which is far better than a certain someone’s Garbage Beast."
"You..." Randall frowned. Even though he was usually good-tempered and slow to anger, he instinctively reached for the large bow on his back.
Talia’s Claw-shaped Hand Armor twitched slightly toward Luken. But before she could actually do anything, Samael firmly grasped her Claw-shaped Hand Armor with his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go.
"Don’t worry, brother Randall. We just need to tag along with any team and complete a simple internship mission to officially become adventurers, right?" Samael asked. "Once the internship is over, we’ll form a team together. This won’t change anything. We promised to team up. Monks don’t tell lies... I mean, Knights don’t lie."
"O-Okay," Randall sighed.
"Don’t be in such a rush to make a decision, you two! Perhaps after interning with us for a mission, you’ll realize my team is far superior, and you won’t need to bother with some Garbage Beast at all!" Luken Roster chewed on a blade of grass, flashing an infuriatingly arrogant smile.