Through the Angel’s Smile

I was overwhelmed by nostalgia. Tears still dripped down my cheeks. However, the receptionist didn’t say anything. She continued looking at me, joy brimming from her face.

She didn’t understand why it made me cry, but she seemed to read me better than I did myself.

It didn’t hurt.

Those were definitely tears of happiness for what I had managed to overcome, without ever forgetting what I had done.

She wrote something down while I waited for my tears to stop.

Why did I cry so much?

“I wasn’t even her fa… I wasn’t even…” I couldn’t finish that thought without tears pouring out, so I simply didn’t.

Now calmer, I looked at her, my eyes reddish. She then pointed at the door to the right, below the stairs, and signalled for me to wait there.

She got up to talk with the female receptionist in the back, who then disappeared behind the back wall.

She then began talking to the male receptionist and showed him the piece of paper she had been writing on.

I grabbed my things and walked towards the door.

A loud clunk echoed from it, followed by a sharp creak as the door slowly opened to reveal the other female receptionist.

She told me, “Ver gokare~ siger lhantire,” the same thing she had said when she wanted me to follow her last time.

She closed the door as I stepped inside.

The cramped space led to a staircase ahead.

On the wall to my right, there seemed to be a height chart etched onto the wood. Strangely, it seemed to be divided following the metric system, with nine smaller lines followed by a bigger one.

Beside it, a worn-out poster also hung on the wall. It showed seven different symbols, each one on a different layer of a triangular shape.

Could those be the guild ranks?

A steady cadence of clacks on the wooden floor neared from the left.

Turning to face the sound, I saw Talira~ approaching, carrying a wooden support to write with a holder for the ink bottle and pen.

She smiled at the other receptionist and whispered, “Henbo,” bowing her head, and walked towards me as the other receptionist left.

Talira~ then put her back against the chart and looked at me with a smile before getting away from the wall.

Understanding she wanted to measure me, I put my things down and did the same. I stood against the chart, straightening my posture.

She stepped to the side to get a better look at the carved lines, wrote it down, then smiled.

It felt odd.

I had always been bullied for being myself, but here nothing of that seemed to matter.

She always smiled at me before and after writing anything down, with no judgement behind her expression.

I was still anxious, but it also felt comforting.

It felt strangely humanising.

She looked me in the eyes and grinned, lifting her free arm in the air as if showing that I was tall.

She was quite smaller than me, but I definitely wasn’t tall.

I smiled back.

Stepping further to the side, she approached the poster I had previously noticed. I grabbed my belongings and followed her.

She first pointed to the symbol at the lowest level of the triangle, then moved her hand up and down, as if telling me it was the bottom rank.

Then, slowly going up the chain, she stopped at the character at the top.

She brought her open hand to her chest, straightened her posture, then pulled it to the side in a closed fist. A fierce glint shone in her eyes.

It looked like a combat stance, likely wanting to tell me that rank was the strongest.

I let out a small grin, making her lose focus and start giggling.

I also began laughing.

Calming down, she pointed at the staircase at the end of the corridor. The rank testing area was probably on the lower floor.

I paused.

Did I truly need to get my skills tested for them to determine my rank?

I was weak. I knew it more than anyone. I didn’t deserve anything other than the lowest rank.

It might be me coping with my weakness, or maybe being too afraid to be seen as such, but I also saw it as an incentive to get better.

Knowing that I was at the bottom would be a constant reminder of how much I still needed to improve, as well as a simple way to track my progress.

I pointed to the weaker rank and then to myself, nodding.

There was no need for testing. I wanted to be assigned the lowest rank and grow out from there.

She furrowed her brow and stared at my emotionless expression for a few seconds. However, she smiled. She smiled at me and wrote something down on the paper sheet.

She appeared to understand what I wanted and didn’t seem against my decision.

She just smiled, a hint of sadness in her expression.

Hesitating briefly, she turned back, walked to the door and opened it. Extending her arm outwards, she pointed at the counter.

As I walked out the door, I heard the soft clack of the gently closed door and the same metallic clunk from before. It was as if my decision had been locked.

The lively atmosphere of the guild had softened.

There were far fewer people by the quest board, but the cheering howls and hollow glass clanks still echoed from the bar.

Looking at the front windows, the blurry sun’s smudge descended behind the buildings on the other side of the road. The pattern made it impossible to see clearly outside, but the light slowly dimmed.

Fragments of light wandered inside, shining curving patterns onto the floor and the walls.

Even in the bigger cities, dusk felt the same. The same comforting light falling everywhere equally.

I lost myself in thought under the soothing atmosphere of the now-more-serene guild, but doubt spread inside me.

I still didn’t have a place to sleep.

The counter closest to me was already open. The people from before had already left. However, I still made my way to the leftmost desk, the one I had chosen before.

When I got there, I put my things down once again and waited, looking inside the reception.

Talira~ was talking to the male receptionist in the back while he used a bright metallic ink to write on a piece of metal.

She handed him the paper sheet she had been writing on and stored the wooden-support board before walking in my direction.

The sadness I felt had vanished from her smile.

She sat back down as she reached the desk and looked at me, pointing to the guy in the back.

She traced once again the same rectangular shape from before and pointed at me.

The guy in the back was most likely making my guild card.

What they wrote about me wasn’t just for the guild. It looked like it could identify me anywhere. But I still didn’t understand how it worked.

Was the guild active in other cities?

I hadn’t seen it in Tristte or Mida. They were probably only present in larger cities, but I didn’t know.

Talira~ grabbed the second, less worn-out paper sheet the male receptionist had handed her and slid it in front of me. It was a different map, this time a more detailed one, but focusing on a single city.

The crossing paths formed a grid, larger roads leading to a central round spot at the end. The city was enclosed by a massive curved wall that ended near the ocean.

It was a map of Riges.

However, some of the structures I had passed by didn’t appear. Most of the houses closer to the gate, and even the poorer area I had entered hours ago, weren’t present.

It was most likely outdated.

It also meant that the city was yet to stop growing even though its walls were already set.

Could the wall be moved for the city to continue growing, or were the walls built this large from the start?

Knowing that magic existed, I couldn’t really throw out the first possibility.

She pointed at a wide, clearer area breaking the grid formation and blurted the word “Shirko”, raising her head to face me. She then repeatedly pointed to the centre of the guild.

She was probably telling me that area was the guild.

Seeing the confusion clear off my face, she proceeded to point at a smaller square, one of the buildings, not too far from here. It was on the left side of the road leading to the sky I had passed earlier.

She once again lifted her head to face me. Letting her head droop to the side and closing her eyes, she began mimicking a snore.

I briefly chuckled, quickly hiding my smile.

They had also found a place for me to sleep. Tension steadily slipped away, flowing down my body.

Seeming to catch on to my attempt to conceal my laugh, she puffed her cheeks and furrowed her brow before giggling as well.

Behind my laugh hid the painful stab of a needle.

Her smile began resembling Yrish’s.

Even though I was trying to move on, it still hurt.

I was grateful, but it hurt.

I hated myself.

I bowed to thank them and was met by a warm smile when I raised my head.