Despite all the negative things that had happened, there was at least that small positive. Well, also the fact that the reflection was familiar... at least a little.

  "Hm..." Vaan kept staring at the reflection, thinking.

  It wasn't a stranger looking back for sure. Instead of 'who the heck is this,' Vaan felt more like, 'oh yeah, that's me.'

  So at least Vaan didn't have to worry about completely dissociating or any sort of mental problems with an identity crisis. Maybe.

  As Vaan was thinking, there was a sudden fsh of light green hair and violet eyes.

  Vaan flinched, surprised. And then he remembered that he wasn't looking into a mirror, but a window. A window that was probably part of someone's house.

  Someone who had just seen Vaan's disheveled state and also him staring at the reflection for a while.

  Vaan coughed and turned around, quickly continuing his way to the Guild Hall. 'Let's try not to embarrass ourselves any more...'

  ===

  Like the guard said, it was hard to miss the Guild Hall. After all, considering how gleaming white it was in comparison to all the other buildings, it would be near impossible not to notice it. But then there was the fact that two giant swords were pierced into the ground next to the entrance... and by giant swords, the kind that were at least ten people tall.

  Vaan nodded. "The guard was right. If I missed this, I must be blind or something..."

  Still, despite how eye-catching the building was, nobody was around.

  But that made it more convenient for Vaan. So, squashing any doubts or hesitations, he pushed through the doors.

  The interior of the Guild Hall was just as gleaming as the exterior. Polished bck marble floors, clean enough to be a mirror. Crimson carpet with golden embroidery. Decorative swords hung on the walls, and fgs embzoned with an emblem of crossed swords over a golden sun...

  'This pce is a bit over the top, isn't it...?'

  Was this the right pce?

  Vaan was starting to think that he might have walked into somewhere super important and somewhere he shouldn't be. Even so, he was already there, so he kept walking forward. All while doing his best to ignore the fact that he was very much underdressed to be here.

  A long countertop greeted arrivals on the opposite side of the entrance, spanning the entire length of the room. Dividers separated the countertop into various sections with small signs showing what each section was. Things like 'Exchange,' 'Requests,' 'Administration,' and more.

  Overall, Vaan thought it was oddly bureaucratic... Wasn't this an adventurer's guild? The impression he had of an adventurer was a bit more rough and tumble than this...

  On the left after walking in, there was a giant noticeboard with various pinned papers. And on the right, there was a waiting room with velvet cushioned chairs and fancy dark oak tables.

  Vaan did his best to squash his growing sense that he was definitely in the wrong pce and walked up to the only receptionist at the counter, at the Administration section. "Ahem...?"

  The receptionist, a beautiful blonde woman wearing a white button-up shirt and bck skirt, didn't notice. She yawned, idly flipping through a book as she kicked her feet up, bck leather heels dangling against the edge of the countertop.

  Vaan got a clear 'do not disturb me' atmosphere from her... but there wasn't anyone else around. So he cleared his throat again, louder, and said, "Excuse me."

  The blonde woman grumbled and snapped her book shut. "I told them to- The hell happened to you?" Her crimson eyes widened as she took in Vaan's appearance.

  Vaan coughed. "Ah, well..." He trailed off, wondering if he should stick to the story the guard offered with being part of a rookie adventurer party that got wiped. But he wasn't sure what, if any, information the Guild had on him, so...

  The blonde woman sighed and rubbed her nose. "Whatever." She waved her hand and said, "It doesn't matter." She pulled her feet off the table and then walked around the countertop. "Just follow me upstairs. I don't want anyone else barging in this te."

  "Yes, Miss." Vaan lowered his head and followed after her. It was a bit humiliating since he felt like a kid being guided off by a teacher or something... but he wasn't about to let his pride get in the way of someone who was at least moderately interested in properly helping him.

  The blonde woman gnced back and said, "Got enough money for an inn, Kid?"

  ...She really was treating Vaan like a kid, huh? Well, if it helped him...

  "Yeah." Vaan nodded. "The guard outside gave me some."

  The blonde woman hummed and said, "Jon did that, huh? That bastard. I gave him money to use for his brats, not charity." She sighed and shook her head.

  Vaan hesitated and said, "Did I come at a bad time?"

  The blonde woman stopped at a door and opened it to reveal a stairwell before turning back to Vaan. "Absolutely terrible timing. But..." She gave Vaan a once over again and said, "Seeing how trashed you are, it can't be helped. The old man would get pissed off if I ignored someone like you this te at night..." She sighed. "Just when I caught a break too..."

  Vaan didn't know how to respond. So since he didn't, he just decided to stay quiet.

  Thankfully, the woman didn't seem to be in much of a mood to talk and just walked up the stairwell, guiding Vaan.

  Since she wasn't interested in conversation, Vaan took the time to take a look around.

  It was a curved spiraling stairwell leading straight up. Along the walls, there were pques with various names and titles. A few of them were simple and pretty straightforward, like 'Bel Kuranul, Rookie of the Year.' But there were some oddballs in there too like 'Orcbolg the Goblin Vanquisher.'

  ...Was this really okay? That feeling Vaan had that he didn't belong in this area was only growing the more they went up. Especially as it seemed like the walls were reserved for famous people, judging by those titles...

  But the higher they climbed, the pques were repced by fliers with notes on them. 'Remember to maintain your weapons,' 'buy healing potions,' 'you only live once... unless you party with a priest...'

  ...Wait. That st note. So you could die and come back then if you had a priest? Hold on-

  "We're here."

  Vaan was snapped out of his thoughts by the woman suddenly coming to a stop.

  She opened a door to a corridor and immediately walked to another door just a few steps over. She waved her hand over the handle there, causing golden light to fsh, and then a soft click echoed. She turned the handle and kicked the door open before gncing back. "Well? You just going to stand there gawking or what?"

  "Sorry." Vaan quickly followed. '...Maybe coming here wasn't the best idea after all...'

  Vaan was starting to get the sense that he had gotten wrapped up with someone troublesome...