Assimilate All Talents

Trevor headed to inform the Guildmaster. It didn’t take long for him to come back and escort Sol to her office.

“Welcome, Sol. Trevor already informed me of the girl. I hope you don’t expect me to simply give her a C-Rank card for free just because you asked.”

Sol shook his head, “I don’t, but I hope you will lend a helping hand as it's something you're involved in.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is one of the people who were brainwashed by Cane. While I know you can’t help her regain her memories, I am hoping you could at least help me speed up the process of getting her an adventurer's card. I am going to help her find someone who can restore her memories.”

Loraline looked at Amber in surprise as she didn’t expect to meet one of the victims so soon. She was more focused on punishing the noble families involved and left the task of finding the victims to her guild staff.

“I see… Fine. I’ll help you with this, but don’t expect any other favors. I’m not running a charity here.”

Guildmaster Loraline took out a paper to write down the specifications for Amber's card. For the rank, they decided on C-Rank. While Amber was as strong as a B-Ranker, Sol didn’t want to push the Guildmaster generosity too much, and it's fine with just C-Rank; they could both rank up together if anything. For the talent section of the card, Sol didn’t know what to put; he asked Amber for her first talent as he still couldn’t use [Analysis] on her. She still had the item that deceived his skill, so it was pointless to check.

“[Hidden Blade].”

“Alright, [Hidden Blade] it is. What name do you want for the card? Her current name or her old name?”

“Wait, you have her old name? Do you have any other details about her?”

Sol completely forgot the guild had records of all the victims, and they could track her past that way. It wouldn't be the same as restoring her memories, but it was a good solution if they couldn't find his father.

Loraline shook her head, “The guild only keeps track of their status page and quest records. Rarely do we go out of our way to investigate someone's background. For only her name, it will just take some digging to find it in the records.”

After one call from her secretary, Loraline produced a thick list of files. She began to quickly skim through them while talking.

“These are all the victims we know so far, but if we narrow down the list based on registered talents, there is only one [Hidden Blade]. Ah, here it is. Leah.”

Sol looked towards Amber, “Do you want to go by Leah?”

After a moment of silence, she shook her head and spoke, “Amber.”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“Amber.”

Sol couldn’t read her thoughts, but it appeared to him that she had grown attached to the new name she had chosen for herself. What Sol didn’t know was that one of the commands Cane gave to Amber was to forget her old name and never use it. Although the brainwashing had weakened over the years, her subconscious was rejecting the name as it was commanded.

Loraline finished writing the last of the details before delegating the rest of the process to her secretary.

“Go downstairs; Trevor will give you the new card. I am sorry to cut this short, but I have to go meet with the Verhearts regarding the corrupt nobles.”

“Don’t let them off easy. Thanks for the help, Guildmaster.”

“Trust me, I won’t.”

Sol and Amber headed back to the main reception of the guild where Trevor promptly arrived with the new card.

Name: Amber

Race: Human

Talent: [Hidden Blade]

Guild Rank: C

“Thanks, Trevor, can we both take the quest now?”

“Yep, give me one minute.”

In less than a minute, Trevor was able to process the necessary work and gave Sol two similar quest papers, one for each of them.

“You're all set. I would suggest buying food and supplies before meeting with your employer. They are not required to bring supplies for you, so you are probably going to have to manage on your own.”

“Will do. Enjoy your honeymoon, man. I’m happy for you. I don’t know when we will see each other again, but let's swap stories when we do.”

“Haha! I doubt I’ll have any interesting ones to share, but sure.”

With one final wave, Sol and Amber left the guild to make preparations for the long trip. The timing of the quest lined up perfectly with them having to meet with the employer in a few hours, which is just enough to buy all the essentials they will need.

Sol already had most of the essentials for surviving the outdoors, but with the addition of Amber, he needed to get more for both of them. New sleeping bags, cooking utensils, clothes, and more. Sol also stocked up on spices, which he now considered an essential for the outdoors.

Sol didn't care about spices or even food for that matter. Back when he lived alone in that tiny house, Sol lived day to day with what he hunted outside or cheap food. Even before then in the orphanage, Sol ate whatever they managed to find for the kids, which usually was donated food or very cheap. Ever since he came to Kerman, Sol had been enjoying good food more, and he had developed a more expensive taste. He didn’t mind, though, as he had the money to spend on such luxuries.

During their shopping, Sol noticed Amber didn’t have a spatial ring, and although he didn’t have the money to buy another ring, he had two thanks to Weaver and the one he bought from Chloe. Sol kept Weaver’s ring as he already transferred most of his stuff to it and gave Amber the other one.

“Here, with this, you don't have to carry all your personal belongings.”

She accepted the ring and mumbled something, but Sol couldn’t catch it.

“Huh? What was that?

This time Amber spoke a little louder, “Thanks…”

Sol didn’t expect her to actually thank him.

‘Maybe I was right, and she is improving from hearing and experiencing normal conversations.’

“Of course! If you need anything, let me know. Oh and take this.”

Sol gave Amber 5 gold and 100 silver.

“Here, with this, you can buy some things for yourself; don't worry about it and spend it as you wish.”

Amber accepted the money and stored it in the ring as the two continued shopping. Two hours later Sol was done with buying the things they would need on their trip. Sadly, the money Sol gave to Amber sat in her spatial ring untouched the entire time. Sol tried to encourage her to spend it, but she wouldn't budge.

With their preparations complete, Sol and Amber headed towards the meeting place with their employer who they will be protecting all the way until the capital.