The Deity Entertainment Network Chapter 17 – Not The Cologne I Was Looking For

The sll of food, cigarettes, and cheap beer assaulted John as he stepped through the door. The sa grey steel that dominated most of the station lined the walls, with only a few oddly shaped decorations hanging here and there broke up the monotony of the drab colour. In front of him was a counter with a few receptionists sitting behind it, and three lines of people waiting to be served.

The rest of the room however was packed full of people, sitting at nurous tables or standing at a long bar along the far wall. The room itself was 'L' shaped, with the small side being where he entered, and the larger side being where the bar and tables were.

This place looks more like a restaurant or a bar than a guild office.

That was his first impressions upon entering the rcenary guild anyway.

Not knowing what he should do, he stood in one of the lines and people watched while he waited. The first thing that ca to his mind was he was severely over dressed for this establishnt.

Pressurized flight suits like the one Katrina was wearing when they first t were quite common, along with so weird paramilitary style gear straight out of 'Mad Max'.

The colours of the outfits varied like a box of crayons, with one hulking bald man wearing a pink and golden combat vest and pants, while the girl beside him had bright pink hair with gold highlights. She was wearing a tight fitting black flight suit that did nothing to hide her massive breasts, black lipstick and way too much black eyeshadow. They were both laughing loudly, deep in their cups, which was mixing well in the calamity of noise in the room. He could barely hear himself think.

Where in the hell am I?

The rest of the room was no better, like it was one big party. He did notice there were only a handful of n compared to the won, maybe 5 to 1 or even more.

Why would there be more won in a pseudo military organization? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

As the line slowly moved forward, so people would leave the guild, others would go join whatever the festivities were in the main area. John was seriously considering returning to his ship and coming back tomorrow when an arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Saaaaayyyy... yoouu don't look like like yer a rc! Are ya so rich rchant? Ya hiring guards?" slurred a feminine voice beside his ear, obviously drunk.

He looked over to the owner of the arm and blinked. There was a beautiful woman with a platinum blonde head of hair, pointy ears, fair skin with a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks, and a set of sharp yet beautiful green eyes, which were currently staring up at him from his chest level. She was leaning on him heavily, a drink in her free hand waving around. He couldn't tell how tall she was since she was leaning on him, but she was probably between five foot seven and five foot ten.

" and friends *Hic* will work fer ya if its a good job. We just got back and are celebrating! C're and join us!" She continued, then gestured to her friend. John didn't have ti to look, as she had shifted her weight again, and his back decided it needed to lay down right then.

John collapsed to the deck, now the second ti he fell over since DEN reincarnated him, due to so drunk idiot. She followed him down, their limbs tangled together, her beer poured out over his chest and face. The pain wasn't as excruciating as last ti, but still caused him to yell out angrily.

"Jesus, Fuck. Get off you sloppy cunt!" he bellowed, then pushed her off him. He grabbed her chest and pushed, his hand engulfing her small perky breasts, no larger than a B-Cup at best. He had no ti to dwell on this woman's feelings on the matter, as he leaned forward and reached behind his back to cast a heal spell.

"Whoa? You can cast magic? Are you an Elf too mister?" The sloppy woman said, the indignity of being groped by a stranger forgotten. She was wearing a white flight suit with red highlights, though the chest was cut low to show off what little cleavage she had. By her side was a small pistol, and a sheathed combat knife.

"Fuck no, I am a Human. Now please let be, I have an old injury the Auto-Docs can't fix and you just aggravated it." He growled, then cast his heal spell again.

John managed to get the pain under control, then stood up. He was now soaked in beer and didn't have a change of clothes with him. Great way to start a business eting. He ignored the drunken girl, who was just standing up, and moved back in line.

I really need to get a more permanent solution for my body soon. I can't keep falling over every ti soone bumps .

He was trying to recall what Alec said in DEN, that the Eroge 'got ya' would have permanent fixes for him or sothing like that. He was considering returning soon. Even if he only got a few points, it was steady progress. He still had plenty of doors he needed to try. Maybe there was a door where he didn't have people leaning on him all the ti.

He also wanted to unlock his magic to get back to Highschool of the Dead, let out so of this building aggression he was feeling on so zombies. No one cares if you kill zombies.

The woman didn't co annoy him again thankfully, and John moved up to the counter. A man greeted him, dark skin, short cropped hair, wearing a loose fitting white shirt and brown slacks.

"Welco to the rcenary Guild, my na is Jahred. I saw that little incident earlier and we apologize for our mbers behavior. How can I help you today?" he asked, tone all business.

"Good evening, my na is John Wayne, and I would like to sign up as a rcenary and get a contract reviewed and ratified." he said, putting the business of returning to DEN out of his mind. He just wanted to leave now.

"You already have a contract?" The man asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah. I am...new to the area and had so special circumstances, so the INP offered a contract." John said, bringing up his ID and the contract with his Link. He wasn't in the mood to explain his circumstances again...hell he was ready to return to The Great Cleric for a vacation instead. He really hoped one of the other worlds was quieter.

Jahred took the contract from his Link sohow and went over it, nodding as he read and whistling occasionally.

"John...no Captain, I see nothing wrong with this contract, and the pay is great though do you have a capital class vessel or sothing? Even if you do nothing, your earning every month what I earn in a decade. Plus free docking, full salvage rights, full bounty rewards, 25% of bounties any of your assigned fighters take, and cost plus ten percent for all ammunition replacent used while under their employ. Sothing like this is normally reserved for Platinum Ranked rcenary companies, not for an individual Captain of a ship." he said, a shocked look on his face.

John was a bit shocked as well. He thought he had been 'Honey Trapped' by that ebony goddess with her silky voice that made him lt for so reason. Instead, it appeared to be a good deal for him. He didn't even know about docking fees, or what was considered a good wage here. Long as he flew his ship for the INP, it sounded like he would be in a good position for whatever this world was about.

"Well, that is good then. Now, can I join the guild?"

"Of course. Assuming you are just a pilot, we have two options for you. The first, you start off as at Copper rank. This is the beginner level of a rcenary. You can accept Copper ranked jobs, and get all the bonuses that joining a guild nets you. As your ID says you're a refugee, that ans we will act as your representative if you get in trouble with the law, though that shouldn't matter for you too much since you will be working with INP directly for your job." He said, transferring a docunt of so sort to John's Link.

"The other option is you can take a test in our simulators and we can adjust your rank according to how well you do. This would normally open other, more lucrative jobs for you, though your current contract prevents you from taking anything else for a year."

"Yeah, I'll just go for option one. I have no need for a test right now." John said, his beer soaked clothing still wet.

I need to learn how to use my weapons first. I'll check to see if there is a training program on the ship later. Not to ntion I need to find the washer and dryer on my ship...probably should do that first.

"That is no problem. If you change your mind, stop back in here and you can take the test. That docunt will tell you everything you need to know about being part of the guild. Among those things, the guild also offers simulator training for both pilots and dismounted operations if you want to brush up your skills before challenging the test. The rates are quite reasonable at your rank level Captain."

"Thank you. I'll consider it." John nodded.

"If you want to go more in-depth into anything, co here around noon, the guild is usually pretty quiet until 1400." he added.

I think he knows I just want to get out of here now.

Jahred took about five more minutes to process John's application, then sent him a digital ID with the na Captain John Wayne with his picture on it. The 'card' was Copper in colour, signifying his rank. With a nod of thanks, John turned around and left the guild, the drunk Elf woman nowhere to be seen.

He let out a huge sigh when he left, and was making his way over to the conveyer belts when he slled sothing delicious. Nearby the guild was a street at stand. Street at, being a portable hot dog or sausage cart, often found outside of establishnts where people are drinking.

A old man stood behind the cart, squashed looking face and a set of thick black glasses. It almost reminded John of the old man from a kids movie he watched with his grandchildren often, the one where he filled his house full of balloons so the developers didn't demolish it.

He resonated a lot with that old guy.

He walked over to the stand. "Hi, what are you serving?"

"Feasga math mo bhalach, gabh e no fáge." The man replied, but John had no clue what he was saying.

Didn't I have a language translator?

"Sorry, I don't understand."

"Chan tusa an sgian as gèire anns an drathair a tha thu?" More garbled words.

"Can I just get the food please." John was beginning to regret coming over.

"Gabh aon dhiubh no fáge á tighinn direach suas! 10 GSC."

John transferred him so money. The man grunted and handed him a couple burgers. John looked over the condints, and put a little ketchup on one and the other mustard. After the pizza and steaks, he wasn't sure what they would taste like, but he was going to start trying things a little at a ti to see what tasted like what before he doused his food with strange sauces.

He took a bite of one, and it tasted amazing. One of the best pieces of food he tried since he ate Gulgar's cooking.

Wasn't that only days ago? It feels like its been months for so reason. Dying has that effect on the body it seems.

"This is really good!"

"Toilichte gun do chòrde riut a bhalaich, is e uan talmhainn fuadain a th' ann leìs á mheasgachadh spìosraidh agam fhèin."

He wolfed down one, then asked the man for another couple to go. He grunted and spat out another long line of the unknown language.

"Cho fad 's a chumas ta thairis air a' bhalach a tha á pàigheadh, faigh na tha thu ag iarraidh. Feumaidh a bhith snog an airgead sin a bhith á losgadh tuill nad phócaid."

Then he smiled, packing another two burgers in a bag and handing it over. John threw him a hundred credits and started walking, forgetting that there was a conveyer belt nearby he could jump on.

He walked for a few minutes before his tired back reminded him that it wanted to lay down. He closed his eyes and stretched out his arms in a yawn, recalling that he didn't need to walk back to his ship he could just ride when the bag in his hand suddenly disappeared.

He looked around and running away from him was a short, white haired young woman, his bag of burgers in her hand.

"HEY! Bring those-" He shouted, but gave up, the young woman already lost to the crowd.

He didn't get a good look at her face, but he did notice two things. She had a pair of cat ears on her head, and a long white tail flowing out of her skirt.

"Are beast folk treated poorly enough here too that they need to resort to stealing food?" he said aloud to himself. It reminded him of the people in the slums.

He looked around, and didn't think that was the case. There were plenty of beast folk walking around, many obviously well off.

Whatever it was, she was hungry, and he wouldn't deny soone a bit of food. He knew where he could go to get more, and his ship seed to make food from the cartridges. He wouldn't go without.

Hopping back on the conveyer belt, he headed back to his ship, thoughts of a nice hot bath making him forget the poor little Neko who just robbed him of a couple burgers.

Two won sat in a far corner of the guild, piles of empty steins covering the table. The blonde elf was bemoaning the earlier incident to her friend and partner. She was even deeper into her cups than she was earlier when she tripped over the handso, silver haired man.

"I'm ruined!"

"Why would you be ruined? He just pushed you away." The other woman said, a very short red haired dwarf, downing another pint of the water they called beer here.

"He grabbed my breasts and didn't say anything. Not a sorry, not a nice, nothing. Like they were not even there!"

"You did just spill a drink on him, he probably had other things on his mind than groping you."

"That isn't even the worst part though. Hager saw the whole thing, and now he is making fun of for not being able to find a man with these tiny boobs. Everyone heard him and its embarrassing."

"Hager is an idiot who thinks pink and gold go together with his complexion. Girl, yours are bigger than mine, what'cha worried about?"

"I've been an adult for twenty-five years now, and I haven't found a man."

"You know that is due to the plague, not due to your looks, you're beautiful."

"I should have stayed ho. My mother had set up with soone, but nooo, I just needed to play rcenary."

"Ash stop ya belly aching, brudder and sista have been gone for twenty years now doing the sa thing, it's a drop in the hat of ti for us. You will be fine. You're young and beautiful. You are a successful Silver ranked rcenary at the young age of 76. You will find another handso man soday and join his harem and have a family. No forced invitro for us okay!"

*Sniff* "You an it Tanya?"

"100%. Flat is justice! Rember that!"

And with that, the two crack rcenary pilots clinked their glasses together, ready to take on the galaxy.