The blonde woman walked into the room and sat in the chair behind an imposing desk before rummaging in the drawers. "Grab a seat, Kid. Since everyone else seems to be taking their sweet time coming back, I'll be your liaison for the day." She pulled out a stack of papers and slid them over. "Lucky you. Not many get the fortune of being served by the great Aurelia herself."

  Vaan took the papers and frowned. "Aurelia?"

  The woman... Aurelia's face froze. Then she gave a level gaze to Vaan, her crimson eyes focused. "What? Did you live in the sticks your entire life, Kid? Or... did your party get wiped so hard you don't remember anything? Seriously? You don't recognize me? Or my name?"

  "Uh... probably the second thing there." Vaan rubbed the back of his neck and said, "I actually don't remember much and I had to frantically run away from that dragon back in the forest, so..."

  A mix of lies and truths.

  Vaan was also leaving a lot out, hoping that Aurelia would fill in the gaps herself.

  And Aurelia did. She sighed and said, "Another kid who thought he could make it big just by coming to Bruegel, huh?"

  "Pardon?"

  Bruegel? What sort of name was that?

  It definitely didn't ring a bell in Vaan's head...

  "Nothing." Aurelia sighed and pulled out a notebook from her desk, along with a pen. "Got a name, Kid?"

  "Vaan."

  "Vaan... Hm." Aurelia flipped through the notebook and frowned. Then she pulled out a small metal card and tapped on it before shaking her head. "Looks like we don't have you on record... you new here?"

  "I... think so?"

  Aurelia groaned and rubbed her face. "Right. Amnesia... Tch. What a hassle..." She stared at Vaan and hesitated before shrugging. "Well, whatever. Nobody's here to notice anyway." She pulled out a folder from the dresser and quickly wrote Vaan's name on it before tapping on the papers. "Sign those quick and toss them in here."

  Vaan blinked. "Wait. Can you at least expin-"

  "Look, Kid. I'm annoyed and want to get hammered already, but you're dirt poor, trashed, and amnesiac. Just hurry up and sign so I have the legal grounds to give you the stuff you need and send you on your way."

  "...Alright." Vaan knew better than to poke a sleeping dragon-

  Ah, maybe that wasn't a good metaphor considering what he had just gone through not long ago.

  But anyway, he knew better than to question a good thing, so he quickly signed everything and handed it over.

  "Good boy." Aurelia tossed everything into the folder and tossed it all into the dresser. After that, she tossed a glittering silver card over, along with a beat-up book. "There. Your status card and my personal guidebook so you don't end up dead in a ditch somewhere. Since I signed off on you, can't have you ruining my good name... Now, with that sorted out-"

  "Wait. Sorry, Miss Aurelia, but-"

  Aurelia narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "What? You gonna compin now after all the shit I just did for you?"

  "No, it's just-"

  Well, there were a lot of compints. Especially with the way she was acting...

  But Vaan set those aside. Instead, he pulled out the handful of diamonds and other gems he made from his pocket and set them on the table. "I was wondering if you knew where I could exchange these?"

  "Hm?" Aurelia flicked her hand, causing the gems to glide through the air towards her, carried by an invisible force.

  Vaan's eyes widened when he saw that. 'O...kay. Note to self. Do not piss people off in this city...'

  First the guys who casually talked about putting a dragon to sleep, now this beautiful woman who could move things around with her mind...

  ...Yeah. Vaan might have a special 'legacy' or whatever, but it was starting to seem like there were a lot more crazy people around with even crazier things...

  > Notice: The legacy you inherited is the greatest of all.

  > Notice: It is not the system's fault that the vessel is cking.

  'So you're saying it's my fault?!'

  > Query received. Answer: Yes. Train your body to unlock greater usages of the system

  Vaan resisted the urge to sigh.

  Aurelia finished examining the gems and hummed. "A hundred gold coins." She tossed a bag filled to the brim with glittering gold coins and said, "It's a bit below market price. But you don't mind, do you?" She grinned. A smile that showed there wasn't really an option to refuse.

  Vaan slowly nodded. "Okay. But you aren't taking advantage of an amnesiac, are you...?"

  Aurelia ughed. "ME?! Taking advantage of an amnesiac? Oh, that's rich. As if I would waste my time-" She ughed again and waved her hand. "I'm doing you a favor, Kid. Here, we have some rules and morals because we're strong enough to enforce them. But out there... Do you know how many people would-" She paused. "Right, amnesiac. You wouldn't. Damn." She groaned. "Whatever." She waved Vaan off and said, "Just take it and get out. Dammit. I really need a drink now, and those bastards still aren't back yet..."

  Vaan slowly picked up the silver card, bag of coins, and notebook Aurelia handed over earlier. "Um, is that-"

  "Just get out of here already before I decide to toss you out the window, Kid."

  "Leaving right now, Ma'am!" Vaan quickly got up and left. As he did though... he couldn't help but think.

  'Okay, I don't remember much of anything at all. But... is it me, or is this world crazy...?'

  A quick dash down the stairwell, a walk across the lobby, and then Vaan was standing out on the street again.

  The moment Vaan passed through the entrance, there was an audible click from behind. The sound of the doors to the Guild Hall locking. Vaan blinked and said, "...I guess I really was lucky?"

  Aurelia... from the interaction with her and her attitude, she seemed to be someone important, and also someone without a lot of patience. Especially from how she had immediately locked the Guild Hall up the moment Vaan walked out.

  And while Vaan acknowledged that she was a great help and definitely had gone out of her way to do things for him... "What do I do now?"

  Yes. There was still that issue.

  Vaan examined the silver card that Aurelia called a 'status card' and then idly flipped through the journal. "...This is incredibly in-depth. And I guess this is all stuff I need as an adventurer, but..."

  The immediate problem wasn't solved.

  Vaan still didn't have a pce to stay for the night. And from how Aurelia reacted when Vaan questioned her about taking advantage of him... especially from how she casually implied people WOULD take advantage of Vaan's ck of knowledge...

  "I guess I should read through this journal, huh?"

  Vaan sighed and walked around for a safe pce to read through it properly.

  Since Aurelia said it was a guidebook, there should be a map with things like inns marked out, right...?

  Vaan leaned against the rge sword in front of the Guild Hall and flipped through the journal for a bit. And then he found it. "Ah, here we go."

  Near the back, there was an incredibly detailed map with markings, notes, and even a small box sketched up to expin each marking.

  "Now, the closest inn here is one called the 'Ancient Dream' which is... that way." Vaan oriented himself and then quickly headed off.

  The sun had completely set now, and the moon was starting to rise and take its pce. The crowd of people had thinned to just a few here and there, no doubt heading home for the day or to find a pce to spend the night like him.

  And as always, Vaan's sorry appearance drew pitying gazes. Still, he pushed forward, ignoring the embarrassment... Until he arrived at the inn and realized it was the same pce he had used to check his reflection. And the same pce someone definitely caught him doing that.

  Vaan sighed. "One thing after another..."

  When would he get a proper rest...? When he was dead? Sheesh...

  But like always, Vaan shoved his feelings to the side and walked inside the building.

  A bell chimed, and not long after, a smooth male voice called out. "Oh? A customer? That's quite rare."