As they made their way in hurried silence, they got a good distance away from the house when Kieran stopped and turned to face them. "Is it a sin to kiss an Angel?"
"No, but it is a sin to cheat on a girl you have only just confessed to. Just treat her well and be happy and that will be payment enough." Jonah said, looking at the girls that Kieran had forgotten about.
"Hey, don't mind us, it's a good sign he's forgotten that other women exist." Orcette chuckled.
"I don't really care, but Lottie's nice, so you should be too."
Kieran just nodded, surprised and a little concerned about how unaware he was. Jonah sensed this and approached, ready to be hypocritical again for the good of the kingdom. "Love is blind, but you will reach new heights if you cultivate your desire to protect it properly. You will need to learn to balance your work and personal lives and by you, I do mean the both of you."
Kieran nodded, then turned and continued to lead the way back to the guild. "Well, here we are, I need to get back to the barracks and prepare for my usual duties. Enjoy your first dungeon dive and make sure you're prepared."
With that, Kieran went his own way, an unmistakable bounce in his step.
"So, Mr. Love-Guru..." Orcette cooed as she slithered forward next to Jonah. "...How many lovers did you have?"
"None. I lived and died a vi-..." Jonah caught himself as Orcette raised her eyebrows and looked back to Kayla. "...I died a victimless romantic, I knew I would be bad with it and I avoided it like the plague."
"What's a victimless romantic?" Kayla asked, barely overhearing.
"A cheap cop-out..." Orcette explained with a lingering gaze fixed on Jonah as she opened the door and entered the guild. "...Come on Kayla, we can't keep Jonah waiting."
Jonah stood speechless and unmoving as he tried to figure out what point Orcette was trying to make, though as he heard the door click shut behind them, he shook the thought away and followed after them.
When he entered, he found the place mostly deserted and then not long after the city seemed to burst into life suddenly around them. Jonah stopped and turned back to observe and sure enough, people were filing out of buildings all around them.
'What the hell, is it still synced to night and day cycles?' Jonah thought to himself, then as several people stopped upon seeing him and bowed, he went inside and closed the door before he caused a scene.
Orcette and Kayla were standing next to an unmanned counter, facing back towards Jonah. "Sounds like it got lively out there all of a sudden, something happen?"
"Simple!..." Lucas exclaimed as he appeared on their side of the counter and a woman that clearly fetched him returned to the counter.
"The king issued a curfew yesterday, only guardsmen and adventurers are exempt. After what happened when the celebration went south, the king wanted people off the streets and out of harm's way.
Anyway, how did it go with the property hunt?"
"Amazing, We're in a house overlooking a park about an equal distance from Purifying Brew and Weapons Of Might And Magic. A house in the Crulaharan style, I think he said." Orcette reported with no small degree of excitement.
"I think I know the one, it's a fine property, however did you afford it?"
"I have access to my own funds, but they weren't necessary and judging by the fact every skipped out before curfew lifted, I'm guessing that they scarpered the moment Roderick showed up and you already know what he did." Jonah deduced as he looked around the desolate hall.
"Yeah you caught me, after I gave him the feather I figured as much would happen. For what it's worth, they're good people and I couldn't not help them when presented with the means to do so." Lucas explained where he knew he didn't need to and willingly offered his apologies.
"It's fine, it paid off. If you hadn't I may have accidentally caused trouble for people, which would have made things difficult for us. Regardless, I think we should get prepped for our journey." Orcette said, eager to get on with their adventure.
"Prepare, do you not have supplies from your journey here?" Lucas asked with a hint of confusion.
"You'd think so, but strangely enough we don't, I've been wondering how we survived the journey here..." Orcette was doing her best to de-arm the annoying obstacle that came about because of the developers, but considering they made a world and trapped people in it, it struck them all as a pretty disappointing oversight.
"You were wondering?" Lucas said, looking to Jonah and clearly wanting him to explain with his inability to lie.
"...We've been wondering, because we don't know how we got here, my earliest memory in this life is a white, almost completely empty void, nothing but a chest, a wardrobe, a mirror and a table with a piece of paper and a quill on it, accompanied by someone called Greeter who seemed agreeable enough."
"I see, so even that memory is nearly wiped clean. Why didn't you mention it sooner?" Lucas asked with a glimmer of pity in his eyes.
"With everyone calling me "Lord", how would you reasonably expect someone to react, if I told them I don't remember anything?" Jonah had to respond carefully, the last thing he wanted is for people to start worrying that an Angel was slowly losing his mind.
"I understand. If you showed too much vulnerability you risked putting your charges in danger..." Lucas rubbed his face, then patted Jonah and Orcette's shoulders at the same time. "...Right, well then we had best get you equipped, at least you still have your money thanks to Duke King-Mason."
The trio nodded and followed after him, after a while though he felt bad for how people were averting their eyes from and bowing to Jonah.
"Hail, good people!..." Lucas shouted with incredible volume and his hands cupped around his mouth. "...The Angel beside me is a humble one, he doesn't enjoy or wish to be considered your Lord, whilst living amongst you he wishes to be nothing but your neighbour and equal."
The moment he was done, he bowed as if to apologise for the commotion and continued, apologising to the trio for making the scene as well and asking what equipment they have and what they think they need.
"Well, we have weapons and the clothes we are wearing. I think we need some camping supplies; some basic cooking utensils for when we're on the road, some travel rations and a tent with bedrolls."
Lucas shook his head. "We can if you want, but that stuff weighs a lot, most of the time you just hope the weather is pleasant and you don't get dirt in your mouth."
"Did Lottie not tell you? We have the ability to store things magically, it doesn't weigh anything, but I think that has something to do with how we don't have that stuff anymore."
"I guess she mentioned it, just assumed it would be pretty limited. Anything else you might need?"
"A spy glass, paper and pencils for our scout. some poison remedies and some knowledge of what we're fighting..." Jonah continued listing things until Lucas turned and grabbed his shoulders.
"I am sorry, Jonah. I shouldn't have asked a guardian angel what his charges need for a whole day..." Lucas looked around at the people gasping at the audacity he was showing by man-handling a celestial being, then pretended to sob. "...I just can't take it anymore, I'll take you to the general store, buy what you want, then we'll go to Dubio's, buy what you want and then we go."
As Jonah started laughing, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and continued with their business. "Sorry, Lucas. I didn't mean to repay your assistance with discomfort and frustration."
"It is really hard to be annoyed with someone so grateful, just remind me to tell the guards to send a messenger requesting the criers to make an announcement about you guys. I can't deal with all this attention." He gave Jonah a play jab in the shoulder and continued on their way.
When they arrived, they were greeted by a woman, a woman that had exactly the same reaction that everyone had...
"A-A-A-Angel! Lucas, bow you dullard, behind you!"
"Granny, they're friends and Jonah doesn't like titles, straighten up or you'll be offending him." Lucas joked as the woman stormed over and weaponised a cloth to whip him.
"Well why didn't you tell me!" Ironically, she was so invested in punishing Lucas as he pretended to flinch, that she started ignoring the others.
"So yeah, this is Granny, at least that's what all the adventurers call her. As soon as she realises she's neglecting customers and guests she'll calm down." Lucas chuckled as she threw the cloth and apologised for Lucas' nonsense.
Now standing still enough for the trio to see her properly, she was clearly designed as one of those ageless old ladies that has apparently been around forever but no one really knows anything and she doesn't appear too old.
The only thing that might have been considered a sign of age on her, was her silver hair. Other than that, her skin was flawless, body in good health apart from a couple of subtle scars and her clothes were probably the most modern they had seen since arriving.
She was in an apricot-coloured blouse hanging over what seemed to be a floral summer dress and wore a simple pair of sandals on her feet.
"I assure you, Granny. Lucas has been an exemplary member of the guild since we met him and supported us to the best of his abilities and more."
"Well I''ll be damned, someone who can't lie called you exemplary, maybe you have grown up, Brat. Anyway, enough about the dolt, how can I help you three today...
They listed everything they needed and paid for it as they went so they could store it and make sure there wasn't a capacity limit they could reach.
"Well that's certainly an impressive spell..." Lucas and Granny said together as they stored the final thing.
"...It's certainly handy, but I think you brought more than you'll need for your first adventure, where are you going?" Granny continued, looking at Lucas as if expecting him to have something stupid planned.
"A dungeon not far away, he hasn't told us much." Kayla answered as she was looking at some other bits around the shop.
It felt weird seeing her turn to Lucas with a concerned expression. "Lucas, don't get arrogant because you got a few wins under you, dungeons are dangerous regardless of level. Don't get yourself killed, don't get them killed and don't let them get you killed. You three, same for you. Go slow, quests aren't races and corpses don't get paid."
The three of them nodded and Lucas gave a fleeting hug and said goodbye before leading them away.