The city of Artemis was much larger than I expected. Though the look of it made me recall medieval towns from games and books in my past life, something about it had an even stronger air of familiarity. I still couldn’t remember the name of my old hometown, but I knew it also had buildings made of wood and iron and stone. Some nearly as tall as the giant tree in Artemis.

  As we approached this massive city underneath an even larger tree’s canopy, we were engrossed by the sights we expected to see within. However, Frey and I initially had trouble entering through the outer walls. It apparently wasn’t common for individuals to travel from city to city without escorts or not as part of a convoy.

  The guard stationed by the entrance, wearing plate armor emblazoned with a crest in the shape of a green tree, seemed wary about who we were and why we were there. When he questioned Frey on his origin and allegiances, I got the sense that it wasn’t just monsters that could threaten travelers. There was clearly a lot of concern and instability running through the country. While there was no war or conflict at the moment, considering the guard’s fear, it didn’t seem far off.

  “What? Where did you say you were going again?” The guard at the city's front gate asked. He was nearly twice the height of Frey but almost as skinny, which reminded me of my new snake body with how long and lanky he was.

  “T-to the Artemis Guild. I’m hoping to become a tamer, Sir.” Frey answered.

  “What? Oh, yes, of course.”

  “So…I can come in?”

  “What? You can, yes. We are more on edge here than usual. There are reports that someone recently snuck into the city. Duchess Brauronia has ordered us to be on our highest alert.”

  “That must be tough-”

  “What? Of course it is! I’ve been on guard all day trying to solve it. The Duchess wants this taken care of. I’m just not sure…how…to do that…” The guard, who hadn’t given his name, seemed to trail off the more he spoke. “...perhaps if I…no, that won't work…maybe…”

  “Okay?” Frey said with raised eyebrows and walked through the front gate quietly. The guard was looking off into the distance, a long slender finger resting on his chin. Something told me, despite his look of intense thought, there was very little going on in the guard’s head.

  Such a mystery. How could someone sneak in with such an amazing guard on duty?

  The Almanac has been updated with the entry for the word “sarcasm”.

  Once inside the city, even when asking for directions from those nearby, Frey took the long way to the Artemis tamer’s guild. But I didn’t think it was just to look around. He had clearly never been in such a massive town before, and I had to admit the streets were a little confusing. Sometimes a street you thought was leading you straight towards the center of town would end abruptly, cut off by a twisting root the size of a building. The giant tree at the center of Artemis seemed to dictate the entire city’s layout. It took both Frey and I a while to realize that, but, in time, it ended up helping navigation to know the city was built with the tree in mind.

  Having eyes that could see great distances and a tongue that could smell the air better than any nose helped a lot too.

  There were several times I tugged on Frey’s shoulders to help steer him in the right direction. Thanks to and my powerful sense of smell there was very little I missed in the city. From the scent of honey-covered fruit in the market stands, to the sight of a distant castle tower next to the tree’s base, I took everything in. While looking for the tamer guild, we passed guilds for merchants and crafters, as well as barracks filled with soldiers wearing the same armor as the guard by the front gate. Though some of them had the same crest of a tree, others wore armor emblazoned with one of a crimson setting sun. We also saw schools and training facilities, and shops that sold everything you could imagine. From weapons to equipment to books to food, it seemed like Artemis had everything.

  Whoever I was in my past life, they had really wanted to travel and see new places, but never got the chance. And here I was, finally doing it!

  All I had to do was die first.

  Unlike the forest of death or the bunny-infested road to the city, our tour around Artemis was very calm. In addition to my excellent vision and sense of smell, I decided to take a moment to try out another skill of mine. While had a passive effect, thanks to my Twiceborn title, to give me information on nearby monsters, it also had an active effect. It gave me enhanced telescopic vision. When combined with the temporary increase to the perception stat from also activating the skill, it allowed me to see accurately from extremely far away. When Frey wandered to the top of a relatively tall building by mistake, I took the chance to try it out. I got a great sense for the layout of the city, and finally found a direct path to the guild.

  But that wasn't all I saw.

  Not far from the path to the guild, I saw someone wearing a large cloak. It was only for a second, so I couldn’t say for sure, but it reminded me of the cloak I saw in the forest of death. The one that hid whoever had stopped the Harrowhawk in its tracks. The one that covered the masked figure. As much as I wanted to confirm what I had seen, no matter how much I looked around the area, I couldn’t find them again. They had simply disappeared.

  With no way to communicate what I saw to Frey, he soon turned around and continued walking to the guild.

  After a morning spent wandering around Artemis, Frey and I finally approached the tamer’s guild. The organization that my own tamer, Meebur, belonged to.

  The building was near the castle, which was next to the base of the giant tree in the center of town. You could see the castle towers right behind the guild. From asking locals, Frey discovered the castle was home to the city’s leader, Duchess Brauronia. The one who had given the slender guard the monumental task of…doing his job.

  Despite the guild’s proximity to such an important building, the tamer’s guild was quite small. It would have fit in very well with Meebur’s cottage in the forest of death. It was a two-story inn and extremely quaint and humble in its appearance.

  I’m surprised a tamer like Meebur is associated with such a small place, I thought, but immediately shook my head. If Meebur worked here, then it would be great. Considering I'm still in my cute form, I should understand better than anyone that appearances can be deceiving.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Frey smiled wide, like a student finally returning home after a long semester away, and walked confidently forward. However, once he took a few steps, his nerves began to take over and make his knees wobble.

  He froze in front of the door, stopped dead in his tracks and unable to open it. I could tell from his face how nervous he was. This was clearly a very big deal to him.

  I was about to nudge him and try to get him moving again, but before I could, something else woke him back up. The door opened, and a person walked right past us. They stomped away so quickly, I barely got a look at them. Like a blur covered in weapons and armor, one second they were there and the next they were gone.

  But regardless of who it was, the passing person had left the door open. Which meant all Frey had to do was step inside. And after a moment, he took a deep breath and entered.

  The interior was as simple as the building's exterior. There were tables, chairs, and a bar like you would see in any tavern, and also a staircase on the right side that went up to a second level loft. I could see there were private rooms and couches up there, so it must have been used as a meeting or waiting area. There was very little in the way of decoration, and also very few windows. Much of the light came from a decent sized fireplace to the left. The light didn’t have much to illuminate, but it did shimmer against a door on the opposite side of the building that was nearly twice the size of the entrance door and made of pure metal. It was at odds with everything else in the building.

  I had expected to see a lot of tamers sharing stories and drinks while they prepared for their next adventure with their monsters, but there were only two people there. A young woman was behind the bar, her back turned as she wiped down two freshly used mugs, and a man sat on a couch at the top of the staircase with his eyes down reading a book.

  “Sorry, kid, like we told that last guy, we're not looking for new members today. Maybe try again next season.” The woman behind the bar, who was wearing an apron and a displeased expression, said without fully turning around. She wasn’t much taller than Frey and had purple hair that was pulled up in a messy bun that bounced with each wipe of the dirty mugs. It kind of looked like she had a bouquet of flowers atop her head. Frey stepped towards her slightly, but looked like he wanted to turn tail and run.

  “Uh, no, you see, I was told, well he said I could, and I wanted to, but this was a terrible idea, I'm sorry to have-”

  “Start over. Who are you?” The man upstairs called out without taking his eyes off of his book. He had long, green hair in a slicked-back ponytail, and wore a very distinguished, tailored suit made of brown leather. He was also wearing a thin pair of glasses that rested at the tip of his nose. “Well? This is not the kind of place to loiter.”

  “I was told I could come here to stay. M-my name is Frey. I want to be a tamer.” Frey said with as much confidence as he could muster.

  “Who said you could come here?” the green-haired man exclaimed and closed his book. He stood up and began walking down the stairs. It was only then that I realized just how tall he was. Like Artemis’ massive tree over the city buildings, this man must have stood taller than every other person he met. But unlike the lanky guard by the front gate, this man’s height didn’t hinder his ability to move with poise and strength. He also spoke so clearly and succinctly, I couldn't tell if he was mad. But I worried what he was capable of if he ever did get angry. “Who believes they have authority over who we admit to the Artemis Guild?”

  “Oh! Ah, here. This is for you.” Frey said and handed the man the letter Meebur had written. Frey then bowed his head to what was clearly a very important person.

  I wonder if this is the leader of the guild?

  “That’s Meebur’s seal…” the green-haired man said, and opened the folded letter. He read it extremely quickly. To Frey, it probably appeared like the letter meant nothing to him. But to my skilled eyes and high perception, I caught the slightest hint of a reaction. For a fraction of a second, his eyes dilated and sweat moistened his forehead. Almost imperceptibly, and for just a moment, the letter made the man panic.

  He turned his back to Frey with the grace of a dancer spinning to the beat of a drum. An emerald light flashed and suddenly a large bat appeared in the space before him. It was nearly half his size and was covered in brown and green fur that had the texture and look of moss.

  “Take this letter to the couriers and make twelve copies. Have them send their fastest Snap Squirrels to the other leaders. This takes priority over absolutely everything else.”

  The bat made no gesture of understanding, but obeyed immediately. It flew out an open window in the loft with surprising speed. As though its wings made no wind at all, one moment it was here, and seconds later, it was outside. The moment after it was gone, a text box appeared before me, giving some detail on this monster.

  Species - Corinth, the Bog Bat

  Type - Earth > Forest > Swamp

  Rank - A

  Level - ??

  Tamer - Gregory of Eversight

  Status - Normal

  Skills - ??

  “You may stay here for now.” The man said, and walked over to the bar area, where the woman turned around to look at him. “See that this boy and the…snake…are given proper lodging here. Await further instruction.”

  “What’s going on?” She asked, but the man walked away from her without another word. Just as quickly as the bat had left through the window, the green-haired man was up the stairs and back to quietly reading his book.

  “I…I’m confused and scared.” Frey said, still standing near the front door.

  “Get used to it.” The woman said and beckoned him over to the bar. “He never means any offense. Gregory is just a frighteningly efficient person. I hear he tracks his life by the second, and dreams only of spreadsheets.” She whispered that last part, and if the green-haired man heard it, he gave no indication. “My name’s Violet. Frey, was it?”

  “Yes, nice to meet you. I’m here to be a tamer.”

  “We all are.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “You’ll meet the others later. Maybe. Follow me.”

  Violet jumped out from behind the bar, hopping over like it was nothing, and walked up the stairs. She led Frey and I past Gregory to a small room tucked away at the end of a narrow hallway.

  “Make yourself comfy! I’ll be up with something for you to eat and drink in a bit.” She said and walked back down to the bar area.

  The room itself was pretty cluttered. There were boxes, crates, rolled up scrolls, and a small cot. Everything was covered in dust, and without any windows to open it was kind of stuffy. The only decoration on the walls was a very old painting half covered by some boxes. It was of a group of seven people standing in a field with a bunch of monsters. I recognized one as my tamer, Meebur. But he looked much younger. Frey noticed the painting too, but after looking at all of the faces of the tamers in it, he quickly turned away and sat on the cot.

  I wish I could ask if he recognized anyone in that painting, I thought as I slithered over to join Frey on the cot.

  If Meebur hadn’t been the one to suggest we come here, I honestly would have felt like a prisoner.

  When Violet came up later with a tray of food, I looked out and saw that Gregory was gone. Despite his apprehension and desire to ask Violet a million questions, Frey fell asleep just before sunset. He had clearly exhausted himself making it to Artemis, and no amount of worry could keep the body going forever. A part of him must have been immensely relieved to even be here.

  I wonder how long it's been since he's slept in a bed? Even an old rickety one like this.

  Following the example of my tamer the evening before, I kept watch in the room all night. I was also curious to know what would happen when Gregory returned. However, if my heightened senses were to be trusted, no one came into or left the guild all night long.

  Not Gregory, not Violet, not Meebur, and not the cloaked person I had seen in the city.