Despite being powerful enough to wipe out an S-rank threat in an instant, she knew she had to start here.
"That Oozewell... I dealt with the slis there without knowing the guild had already issued a quest to subjugate them. I just ended it, and they classified that as S rank. I can feel that I am strong, but I need to learn about this world naturally. If I understand the mundane parts of Prothean life, I can mimic them better."
Lucy responded:
[Response: The most important reason is to avoid suspicion. If a brand-new adventurer imdiately jumped into high-rank missions, people would talk. The guild staff would watch your every move. Rumors would spread through the taverns, and powerful individuals would co to investigate your past...]
Maddy answered:
"Right. But if I quietly finish F rank tasks? I will beco invisible."
To the world, she would be just another struggling rookie trying to make a few copper coins.
Maddy reached for the quest board, her fingers grazing the rough parchnt of the F-rank notices. To the passing adventurers, these slips of paper were trash. They were chores for those who lacked the fire of a true warrior. But Maddy saw them as a tactical map.
"I’m not taking just one, Lucy. I am taking all of them..."
[Response: Identifying strategic value. By accepting multiple low tier requests, you maximize human interaction. This is an efficient thod to map the social hierarchy of the capital.]
Maddy began to pull the slips. A delivery near the west gate. A request from the church. A search for a lost wedding ring in the square. She gathered five different missions, clutching them to her chest.
"If I do one job, I et one person. If I do five, I hear five different sets of rumors. I need to know how these Protheans think. I need to know if they are all like that rchant, or if so of them have souls worth... saving."
Maddy stepped up to the counter, slamming the stack of five F rank slips onto the polished wood. The guild receptionist, a woman who had spent the previous day sneering at Maddy’s plain appearance, looked down at the pile and then up at Maddy with a look of pure, unadulterated pity.
"Still here, are we? I thought I told you yesterday to save yourself the embarrassnt and just go ho. Being an F rank in this nation isn’t a career, girl; it’s a slow way to starve. Or a fast way to end up in a gutter."
Maddy didn’t flinch. She kept her posture slightly slumped, her eyes looking tired and desperate, playing the role of a woman with nowhere else to turn.
"I need the coins... Please. I’ll do them all today."
The receptionist let out a harsh, mocking laugh that drew the eyes of several nearby adventurers.
"Look at you! Grabbing five at once? You think volu makes up for a lack of talent? These are chores for children and failures. You’re basically a glorified maid with a large sword."
"I just want to work. Is there a problem with the paperwork?"
"No problem, just pathetic."
The woman sighed, reaching for her stamp. She slamd the seal onto each paper with unnecessary force.
"There. Go find your lost ring and fix your little fences. Just don’t co crying to us when you realize that five piles of copper still won’t buy you a life worth living. It’s sad, really—so people are just born to be at the bottom."
"Blah, blah, blah... Maddy, just let her talk. Her insults are the best camouflage you could ask for. If she thinks I’m a pathetic failure, she’ll never look twice at where I go or who I talk to."
Lucy responded:
[Correct. Her naivety is our best defense.]
Maddy gave one last forced smile to the receptionist.
"Thank you for the advice, ma’am. I’ll try my best not to fail. I am a very fast worker, and I really need the copper."
The receptionist rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "What in the hell does Johnn see in this piece of... sh*t. I am far more beautiful than her. I bet hiding under that cloak is just an ugly old witch!"
Maddy turned away from the counter, tucking the quest papers into her belt. She walked past the laughing adventurers, her head bowed just enough to sell the act of the humiliated rookie.
Inside, however, her mind was already moving past the insults. The "ugly witch" and the "bottom feeder" were masks she would wear gladly if it ant she could move through the city like a ghost. She had a girl to find and a "father" to investigate, and the less the Guild expected of her, the more room she had to strike.
Maddy spent the next several hours moving through the city. She kept her pace steady, walking like a normal, tired adventurer. Her first stop was the warehouse district, where an elderly woman stood surrounded by heavy crates of supplies.
"Careful with those, dearie. I need every scrap of grain and salt stacked tight in the cellar."
Maddy nodded, wiping fake sweat from her brow.
"You’re stocking up quite a bit for just one shop, aren’t you?"
The woman looked around to make sure no one was listening. She leaned in,
"The city is cheering for that boy, Johnn. They think a new hero ans peace. But I’ve lived long enough to know the pattern. When a hero of that rank arrives, it only ans one thing: the Demon Lord is here."
Maddy froze for a split second before continuing her work.
"You think there’s a Demon Lord?"
"I know what this ans. The others are out drinking and celebrating, but I’m stacking my supplies now. Soon, the roads will close. Prices will skyrocket, and food will be limited. A hero is just a lighthouse that tells you a storm is coming. I’d rather be prepared than hungry when the sky turns violet."
Maddy stayed silent, her mind racing. The "Demon Lord" the woman feared was likely the very presence Maddy was trying to hide. To everyone, she was the bringer of the apocalypse.
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