As they stepped inside, they felt like they were walking into a tavern in an old wild-west movie, the way silence descended and all eyes landed on them.
It was perfectly understandable, not only had an angel just cast a shadow in their hall, in the company of an Orc and human girl, but "The Captain, an Angel, an Orc and a girl walk into a bar..." Sounds like a set-up to a joke.
"Come on, get back to your own business everyone!..." Kieran laughed. "...Jonah may be able to sense lies, but I don't think he cares enough to bring all your boasts to light."
Everyone chuckled lightly and went back to their own business as instructed, Kieran half-turning and gesturing for Jonah and the others to follow.
The guildhall was a cacophony of noise, including: metallic scrapes of blades being sharpened, wooden thuds of mugs being slammed and the booming voices of men telling the boasts Kieran mentioned.
"Captain Kieran, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The voice was flirtatious, but even Jonah's stunted empathy could tell the woman was genuinely interested in him.
She was behind the counter, wearing a neat white shirt, small round glasses tightly hugging the bridge of her nose as her curly orange hair framed her pale, freckled face.
"These are a few of the foreigners, as well as who we have to thank for the early warning about what happened to the others."
"Oh really? Apologies Lord, I am a guild receptionist, Lottie Helman. Please tell me if I can ever assist you with anything." She gave a shallow curtsey to accompany the acknowledgement.
"Hopefully we will prove easy guests, you can start by dropping the titles, I have no need of them. You may call me Jonah, the ladies and I are in need of lodging."
Lottie looked at Kieran for confirmation, who nodded as subtly as possible, then walked back into the rather hectic looking administration area behind the counter and retrieved a large battered ledger.
"Well Jonah, we do have a few rooms available, but if you and your charges cohabitate you can save a fair bit..." She trailed off as she spoke, realising she was talking to an angel like the average adventurer and Kieran was grimacing.
"We don't cohabitate, no. However I would appreciate our rooms being close. I wish to monitor the state of both of their minds as a matter of caution, so if my room could be between them, I would be grateful." As Jonah spoke he withdrew a gold coin and placed it on the counter top.
"Jonah, that's too much, you could all stay for a year on that!" Kieran put his face in his hands as Jonah played the confused immortal and watched the ensuing back and forth.
"Well we don't know how long we're staying, so simply treat everyone with whatever is left when we leave."
"Jonah that's too much, what if your charges need anything, med- no you can heal, lodg- no that's wha-"
"Lottie..." Kieran finally said when he was ready to interrupt. "...Stubbornness doesn't work on beings who will outlive you." Kieran laughed as she grew flustered and her eyes darted between him, Jonah and the gold coin that now mocked her from the counter.
"Fine. We thank you for your generosity." Lottie said with the most forced smile she had ever seen, dragging the gold coin towards herself as she started looking in the ledger to see what rooms were available.
"Don't mind her Jonah, she likes things to be precise. I find it a very charming quality, if everyone was like her the world would be a better place, at least that's my opinion." Kieran whispered, remaining just loud enough for her pale skin to find some colour.
"Apologies, Miss Helman. I didn't mean to upset you, most people are happy to receive these small discs. You mortals have some truly bizarre fascinations, if you don't mind my saying." Orcette was dying inside as she restrained her amusement.
"Sorry Lottie, speaking to him about money always leads to expending effort. I don't think angels have much of a concept of currency." Orcette said, chuckling to hide her amusement behind a facade of common ground.
"I see, well, no matter. I'll go grab your keys and then show you to the rooms." Lottie said with the overly polite tone of someone in a customer service role having to deal with a difficult customer, a tone Jonah had a long history with in the old world.
When she was out of earshot, Jonah leaned toward Kieran, who leaned back with a good deal of curiosity at what could make him act with any kind of subtlety. Jonah then politely apologised and briefly explained that such things should be handled with discretion and asked outright if he and Lottie were involved.
Kieran coughed as a gulp got caught in his throat, then he leaned back in and politely asked if there was a reason for the question and Jonah replied with as much vagueness as he could. "Fortune favours the bold."
As soon as he finished Jonah returned to his original position and watched the cogs turning behind Kieran's eyes.
A moment later, Lottie returned and in an attempt to act casual, Kieran stumbled as he went to lean on the counter and missed. The comedic scene quickly turned sickly sweet as Lottie seized the excuse to fuss over him a little bit and as she did Kieran caught the briefest of smiles catch on Jonah's lips.
"Lottie, thank you for your concern, but maybe you should show them to their rooms. I have duties to attend to, but I'll be back tomorrow to see you..." More than a few people caught his slip of the tongue and opened their ears. "...Sorry, I mean I'll be back to see them tomorrow, not that I won't see you though..."
Kieran continued to trip over his words for a bit, then he flashed Jonah a look that no one but he and Jonah understood and bid everyone a good day, not so sneakily using opening the door as a reason to look back at her.
Lottie was completely shell shocked, her face so flushed she didn't even try to hide it and judging by some of the background chatter, the only thing that seemed to surprise people was the fact he seemed to be acting interested.
After an awkward amount of time of Jonah, Orcette and Kayla staring wordlessly, Lottie blink-snapped herself back to reality. "Oh, right! Sorry Lord Jonah, Lord, Jonah..." She ended up biting her own tongue and taking a deep breath before trying again. "Sorry. Jonah, if you and your charges would like to follow me, we'll get you settled."
Jonah offered a warm smile in return and Lottie lifted the counter top, stepped through and lowered it, then led them through the crowd of patrons and up a set of stairs they couldn't see from the counter.
They could all hear a good amount of chatter and Lottie stopped to scold a few of them, asking them to remember that as casual as he seemed, Jonah was still an angel and should be treated with respect before another patron continued.
"...Keep your hands off his charges too rogues and charmers, I have no desire to watch you piss him off. Lottie, I'll go speak to the guildmaster and let him know."
"Thank you Lucas, I was going to go after showing them to their rooms."
"No, you should get them settled, then have some food and water brought up for them. Take a break yourself and make yourself available to answer some of the many questions they seem to have."
Lottie thanked him and then continued, whilst the man she called Lucas simply gestured for them to follow.
The rooms they had were directly at the top of the stairs, the ones that were avoided because of the noise from traffic and Lottie apologised for it and explained that it was the only three rooms in a row available.
Jonah waved the apology away and Lottie opened up the door in the middle that would be Jonah's, then showed them all in.
It was simple, a table with two basic chairs, a double bed and a small chest, all of which were made from old, worn wood.
The first thing Kayla did was lay down and immediately fall asleep, then Orcette took her daggers and removed her boots, before shifting her over and storing her own weapon and boots using the inventory.
The sight of her equipment simply disappearing made Lottie's eyes widen. "What was that!?"
"Oh right, it's been a long day. Magic like this is pretty common in other countries, regions and realms."
It was the start of what could have easily become a long conversation, but Jonah changed it before Orcette got tongue-tied and said something they had to commit to. "I know that new experiences are interesting, but could I ask who that man was please? He seemed to be quite important in the guild."
Lottie adopted a horrified expression. "Apologies, that was Lucas Balthazar, he is an incredibly renowned adventurer and sub-master of our branch. He specialises in spiritual weapon manifestation and lightning magic."
"I see, so that's why he went to fetch the master..." Jonah trailed off and looked to Orcette. "...He likely sensed our weakness."
Jonah told her that they were affected by the events of the ceremony and he was unable to completely neutralise what he sensed with his aura, continuing to explain that that was why they sought to leave before they could get caught in the panic.
Lottie listened carefully but couldn't conceal her shock, especially when a knock at the door made her jump, Jonah however was expecting as much. "Come in Master, Lucas..."
The door swung open after a moment, and Lottie shot up from the chair she was occupying as Jonah and Orcette stood more calmly.
"Judging by th-..." The guild master stopped speaking when Kayla stirred, then nodded for Lottie to come outside the room, closing the door behind her and then a second later she chuckled before reentering.
"The Master has asked if you would mind leaving the young one in my care while you speak in his office, he is a bit soft with children." Lottie chuckled as the guild master cleared his throat quietly and Jonah nodded.
"If you could ask someone to bring some food up for her when she wakes, I would be most grateful, but please don't let her awake alone."
Jonah and Orcette then followed the guild master, whilst Lucas brought up the rear and it was clear they were not trusted, Jonah didn't need to be an empath to pick up on that sensation.
The hallway on the second floor seemed far longer than the downstairs, something they attributed to the lack of people, though it was still lined with more doors than expected. At the end of the hallway, it opened up into a larger space with two doors on the wall opposite, a staircase on the left which the guild master started to climb.
As they followed they saw that there was a second hallway running parallel with the one they walked that was also lined with doors, but they couldn't see down it clearly as they climbed.
The guild master opened the door and gestured for them to enter, before closing it as Lucas entered and moved to the side.
"Now who are you really? Lucas said you seemed weak for an angel and I happen to agree."
Orcette and Jonah turned to face the two men whom they had both avoided observing too closely to avoid seeming suspicious, but now it only made sense for them to study men who had trapped them.
Lucas was a middle aged man, though his voice sounded more youthful and he wore mostly ornate plate mail with light joints and hand protection. In many ways, his attire was the opposite of what Kieran wore.
His hair was cut short and blonde in colour with streaks of grey, which hung over his intact left-ear and what was left of his right which looked like it once carried earrings that were ripped out.
He was a tall man with a powerful build, though it was difficult to be certain as to whether it was his actual frame or just his armour.
The guild master on the other hand was of a more mild stature, somewhere between fifty-five and sixty-five, with seemingly a scar for every one of those years.
His grey hair was pulled into a band at the back, with the front combed over from a scar on the left of his head where his hair's partition would have been and left his face clear to see for them.
He had three scars on his face, two running from his left-ear down toward his mouth, barely missing his eye and the third running along his jawline. All of them looked well healed and decades old, but the scars pulled the left-side of his face into a permanent half-smile that made him seem much kinder.
He wore an intricately designed leather overcoat with luxurious trimming bearing the guilds mark on his left breast and Jonah could make out straps lining the inside that held something metallic that glinted whenever the leather creased and exposed them to light.
His hands were covered in scars almost completely, from the part of his wrists that were visible, to the tips of his fingers and his boots and leather trousers were well-worn in a way that helped tie it all together whilst showing that he was far from a pencil pusher stuck behind a desk.
"I assure you I am an angel..."
"...I'm an Orc too for the record."
Lucas and the master eyed them suspiciously, shared an almost imperceptible look, then the master gestured to a rather modern looking couch and asked them for the whole story as they obliged him.
"We were in the courtyard for the ceremony, then things suddenly changed, the king was nowhere to be seen and two beings began spreading intense negativity through the crowd.
I reflexively tried to block it, but I found myself lacking and Orcette grabbed my wrist so we could flee before it took hold and a riot started.
I assure you I am an angel, but I seem to be largely incapable of performing the kind of feats that other angels could achieve with little effort. I hope they will come to me in time, but I need to know exactly what we can do at the moment."
"As for me I'm struggling too, I am both a shaman and a hunter and yet I have no clue whether or not I know it but need to discover that knowledge, start from scratch or am simply not that good with it. My senses are still sharp though."
Lucas and the guild master looked at each other, not completely sold, but appeased enough for the courtesy of introductions.
"Unde-... Forgive us, we seem to have forgotten our manners. I am the guild master of this branch, Aiden Cornell. This is my second in command, the platinum-rank adventurer, Lucas Balthazar..."
"...Yes, sorry for the rudeness, could you continue please?"
"We have told you just about everything, the last thing I guess is that we met Kayla only as we were returning. She seemed to respond to my aura and I couldn't stand to leave a helpless child to fend for herself.
To make it worse, she would be easily influenced by the mood of those around her and I would hate to see a life so young thrown away with the others who had given up and will likely try cutting life short."
Jonah wasn't trying to be stubborn, but he wanted to get them to a point where they would at least give them the benefit of the doubt.
"I see, I admire that, not many would trust a stranger in that situation..." Aiden groaned. "...Sorry for treating you with suspicion, I hope you understand our skepticism."
"Please, no need for apologies, I'd rather avoid suspicion from a man in your position. It means those who follow you will be ready for everything." Aiden was surprised at how much Jonah's words spoke to him.
"I know we don't have any right, but as fellow foreigners who were in the courtyard with her, we are going to be looking at houses tomorrow and want her to come with us. Is there anything we can do to avoid authorities thinking she was kidnapped?"
"Technically not, but I had already agreed with Kieran to get you registered for IDs, so I could make you each other's known family. It would make her what we call a guild-daughter, since more parties than you'd think end up adopting orphans they meet.
"That would be great, thank you. Speaking of Kayla, would you mind if we returned to her? I don't want her to panic if she wakes up." Orcette was already prepared to stand and Aiden nodded for her to leave.
"Are you not going?"
"I hate asking this, but I can't protect them if I don't know what I am and can do. Lottie mentioned you use spiritual weapons that are similar to the angels. Could you help me with them?"
A twinkle found its way into Lucas' eye. "Sure! How many people will ever get to say they taught an angel to fight?"
Jonah's head tilted to one side. "Apologies, but how many people will believe that you did?"
As the pair standing before him started chuckling, Jonah stood. "I told Kieran, but you should increase patrols through the forest and along the river. From what I sensed of the foreigners, I fully expect at least a couple of suicides."
The tone of the conversation changed immediately and they both nodded, which was when Aiden and Lucas both gestured for him to follow Orcette.