"Right, gather round children." The tall, statuesque woman looked around at the five people standing around the small room they'd been led to and waved them close with both arms. "I'm Matilda and I'm the leader of the little group that's going to be keeping an eye on you today." She waved her hand over the two people standing next to her. "With me are Douglas and Eive."

  The short thin man holding a staff and the lightly armored woman with a pair of daggers on her belt both nodded without saying anything.

  "We're not a permanent team but we've worked together multiple times and we have good track records both as a team and as individuals. Now," He jovial tone dropped away and her eyes turned dead serious. "The three of us have two jobs today. The first is to make sure the contract is completed. Since this is one that was selected deliberately to act as 'baby's first bounty' that won't be a problem for the three of us. The second job we have is making sure you don't die. Now most people understand this next part, but there are some idiots here and there so I'm going to say it out loud. We know better than you do."

  She grabbed both of her knees with two simultaneous smacks as she eyeballed them. "We are experienced bounty hunters with many, many completed jobs under our belts and many bounties turned in. You are not. If we tell you to do something, you do it. I know this isn't the military and some of you might be here specifically to get away from being told what to do, but I don't give a shit. I will not have my record blemished by letting some kid die on one of the easiest bounties the Agency could find, so do what you're told, because the only reason we'll be shouting anything at you is to keep you alive. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes!" Dryth chimed in, along the rest of the young adults with him. Even Sindri was pulled into the woman's orbit and nodded fervently while agreeing, although only Dryth could hear him.

  "Good!" She shot back up with a smile back on her face. "Now, this job is a fairly standard one for the capital. As much as everyone would hate to admit it, the barriers around the capital that keep out monsters aren't perfect. Will giant monstrosities that could level a block show up on their own? No, of course not. But some of the the little shits that no one wants around because they're nuisances and eat pets do pop up now and again. That's where less experienced bounty hunters come in. The army isn't going to tromp through the streets crushing giant rats nests and the guards are too busy dealing with criminals to worry about some idiot Summoner's escaped imp harassing the local cats."

  Matilda grabbed a piece of paper from off the table she was leaning on and waved it at them. "Today we're going to take care of one of those little nuisance problems so you can see what its like to be a bounty hunter, at least on the low end. There's a pack of gremlins that have holed themselves up in a warehouse and the owner wants them cleared out so he can get at his goods. Now, this is the point where you ask any questions you have. Normally you'd ask one of the receptionists what information the Agency has about the job when you go to accept it, but today you have use three."

  A small woman with blonde hair tucked behind both her ears stepped forward. "Can I read the job posting?"

  "Of course you can." Matilda held it out to her. "Pass it around when you're done, actually."

  A tall man wearing what looked like actual full plate made some clanking noises as he raised a hand. "What kind of warehouse are we going to?"

  "I have no idea. That's something a receptionist might be able to answer or they might not. Sometimes you'll meet with the person putting up the job or bounty and they can answer questions too, but in this case we're going to have to find out when we get there."

  Dryth halfway raised his hand, his instincts after years of schooling telling him he needed to but the casual way people were asking questions here warring against that. "What are gremlins like?"

  Everyone turned to look at him. Matilda looked like she was confused by the question, the four other folks there for the excursion looked at him like he was an idiot, and the short bounty hunter with the staff gave him a look that felt disappointed for some reason.

  "I know what gremlins are." Dryth insisted. "They're small, vaguely humanoid monsters that gather in groups. They're frequently found near forges and workshops because they like to play and mess with crafted things and they especially love to muck up enchantments. But that's just a textbook answer. I've only ever seen a gremlin once and I've certainly never fought one. So what are they like as enemies?"

  A grin wiped away Matilda's confused look. "Oh, good thinking, mage boy. Gremlins are sneaky little shits that like to bite and scratch. They're not very strong, but they're faster than they look and it's rare that you'll see one by themselves so watch out for them ganging up on you. Not much to say about them than that, other than the general stuff you'd get about any fight. Don't let them ambush you, don't get cornered, all that."

  Whether it was him displaying that he was taking this seriously or just Matilda complimenting him, the looks of disdain or pity from the others went away. Dryth took a step back to look over the other four people he'd be apparently fighting gremlins with today while they kept asking questions. The blonde girl had a sword almost as tall as she was strapped to her back, the armored warrior looking man had a mace and a small buckler, the third person was a skinny guy with one dagger who was constantly shifting his weight and glancing around the room, and the final figure was a man who stood head and shoulders above everyone else and had a large hammer gripped tight in one hand.

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  "Alright, that's enough questions. Let's get this bounty on the road." Matilda declared after answering several that Dryth couldn't see the point of. Some of the questions just weren't for him, like how well a gremlin dealt with crushing force versus being stabbed, while some just seemed nonsensical, like asking the female bounty hunter with the daggers if she knew the armored man's mother.

  The large muscular woman led the way, with the two other bounty hunters staying near the back of the pack and keeping an eye on the newbies. They headed out of the bounty station with no fanfare and then started walking in the direction of the stone walls that loomed over them and separated the area outside of them from the capital proper.

  "Did you have any questions?" Dryth checked with Sindri. "I can still ask them if you need me to."

  "No, I couldn't think of anything. I haven't heard of gremlins before but if she didn't bring it up when she was answering your questions then I doubt they have magic, which is what I would have asked about. Biting and clawing things I've dealt with before."

  "Alright. Any thoughts on what to do when we get there?"

  "Depends on the situation, I guess." Sindri rotated around so he could get a look at each of the other prospective bounty hunters. "And it depends on what those three want to do. I think you should suggest working together since the point of this is to complete the bounty, but who knows what they'll do?"

  "I'll try at least. What do we do if they don't want to cooperate with us?"

  "Again, depends on the situation. But we can always make some general plans."

  They silently discussed what their general plan of action would be, without getting too hemmed in by any one plan or concept. Sindri repeatedly pointed out that they didn't know what they were going to be walking in to, so it was pointless to act like things would go exactly how they wanted.

  The short bounty hunter with the staff sidled up next to Dryth while he was teasing Sindri about his switches between an enthusiastic adrenaline junkie and a cautious observer. "I bet you're wondering how Matilda knew you were a mage." He said without prompting.

  Dryth looked over at him, a little startled by the man suddenly speaking to him in the middle of talking to Sindri. "No? I'm the only one not carrying any weapons and I have a magic snake wrapped around my neck like a scarf. I think most people would be able to figure it out."

  "...Oh." He looked put out and slowed his pace, letting Dryth pull ahead of him again.

  Sindri climbed up Dryth's face and flopped down on top of his head to watch the man. "What was that?"

  Dryth had to reach up and push Sindri's body away from his eyes so he could see. "I think he wanted to show off? I'm the only other mage here, I guess he wanted to do some 'I'm your senior look at how impressive I am, things?"

  "Why didn't he start showing us cool magic, then? That would have impressed me!"

  "I don't know, I can't read his mind."

  Sindri flopped his head down on Dryth's face again. "You can't read my mind, you only hear me when I'm trying to talk to you."

  "Will you stop that? I'm trying to walk here. And it's close enough with the emotion sharing."

  Matilda suddenly stopped in front of a long building that was only one row over from touching the city wall. "Alright, this is the place." She pulled out the job listing from earlier and skimmed it till she found what she was looking for. "Okay, looks like the door I was given a key to is on the far side, so let's hustle over there and get started." She jogged up, forcing everyone else to speed up to keep pace with her. The other side of the building did have a normal sized door, as opposed to the ten foot tall ones that were probably for pulling cargo in and out, which was locked with a padlock.

  Matilda stepped in front of the door and turned to look at the group. "So, this little jaunt that all of you are on is basically a test run to see for yourselves if you can hack being a bounty hunter. I'm just letting you know that while the Agency only rejects people that are truly unsuited to this profession, the three of us will be watching your performance today and reporting it to the Agency. If you do anything stupid like try and kill each other then there's going to be a big problem and anything else that might make you a less worthy candidate will be known by the people in charge."

  "Has anyone ever tried to do that?" The nervous looking candidate asked as he gave the other four worried looks.

  "Not any time I've run one of these, but I get told to mention it so I'm sure it's happened at least once. But other than telling you not to be a crazy person, how you get the job done is up to you, within the limits of the law of course. If you damage anything you're going to have to pay for it and that'll make you less attractive as someone to hire, but we won't stop you from doing it. Any last questions before we start?" She waited a moment. "Alright." The lock popped open with a solid thunk and the door swung wide as she pushed it. "Go wild, kids."

  "Before we start-" Dryth started to say.

  Without even listening the big guy with the hammer and the small girl with the sword both moved for the door. They ended up bumping into each other and exchanging glares, but the smaller woman managed to slip ahead of the much larger man and make it inside first. The armored man hurriedly put his shield on his arm and ran to catch up with them, clanking as he went. When Dryth turned to look at the nervous guy he found that he'd already vanished, presumably into the warehouse.

  "What were you going to say?" Matilda asked, looking at Dryth with interest.

  "I was going to broach the idea of working together. We don't know how many there are, what the layout is, or anything else important."

  "Oh, yeah that'd probably be the best move. Too bad that lot doesn't seem interested." She glanced over her shoulder into the dark warehouse. "Sorry, kid."

  Dryth shook his head. "You didn't do anything. I appreciate you confirming that my plan was feasible, at least."

  "Oh, it was more than feasible, you're getting a big 'thinks ahead' written on your evaluation, while they're getting the opposite." She turned and waved for him to follow he into the warehouse. "Better get a move on though, you need to take care of at least one gremlin while you're here or we won't count you as completing the bounty.

  "You still have me!" Sindri encouraged him.

  "I know I do. At this point I think you're definitely worth a lot more than those four will be, but it's still a waste." Dryth sighed out loud and followed Matilda in the gloomy building to take on his and Sindri's first bounty.