Rachel was on her bed after the long discussion with Jeff and the other two founders of the guild. The realization she was weeks behind in planning compared to the others became all the more apparent. Not only was Jeff more physically fit than before, but you could tell his mind was sharper too. The other two also seemed to have vast improvement from what she guessed was their base from when they all arrived. With a firm resolution in her mind, she decided it was time to weed out the chaff from her own group and start getting stronger as well. Because she would be damned if she returned to being helpless again.
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Duke Randolph kept his face straight as he sat in his meeting room with several other nobles. Perhaps one of the few things he was grateful for that came from the hero’s of his generation was the way to communicate with multiple people over long distances. It was not cheap, but that was a fair price to pay to skip days to months of travel. Not to mention being able to reside in your own home after a stressful meeting. Of course, that also made more clandestine action harder as well. In this case, trouble was coming to him.
“ It has been well over a month, are you telling me that you still have not got these otherworlders ready? I find it hard to believe one such as your renown can not wrangle a bunch of children.”
The duke raises a finger at this comment.
“ I shall address this issue in two parts. First, I was given six months to prepare them, which I might re 2mind you, was the agreed-upon time limit. We already have reports that the majority that have left early have already been slain or captured and put into slavery. By some of the nobles who are under the people in this very room no less. So we have factual evidence of how useful these mere children are right now.
My second part is the interference done by outside forces. From sabotage to coercing one group of heroes to charm others then forcing them into slavery contracts to them. All this in the first week. Already I have had to put nearly half the staff under high scrutiny as I have confirmed over twenty individuals are working against the very reason this place exists.
So, tell me King Jamison, what do you think will happen when a bunch of noble brats show up expecting to recruit...”
“ I would watch your words very carefully Duke Randolph. My daughter, the crown princess, is not some mere brat. She is an acknowledged A rank adventurer that...”
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A cough comes from an elderly-looking elf interrupting the king.
“ As fascinating it is to hear about your daughter's exploits once again. We are all on a schedule. The truth of the matter is Duke Randolph, I am afraid you have no choice in this matter. The movement of nobles has already begun. Kickstarted by some human twat too eager to please his spawn.”
The elf eyes the human king as he smiles meekly like a child with his hand in the jar.
“ And as you know, when one egotistical brat moves, it quickly becomes a herd of overly hormonal children who do not want to be the uncool one last to the party. Even my lines successor is not immune to this.”
With that said, there was a pause that allowed the duke to take a brief drink.
“ Very well, it is not like this situation was not foreseen either. However, I refuse to allow them here for at least a few more weeks. They can stay in Nigal till the first of the cobalt moon.”
King Jamison opens his mouth, clearly about to protest but a miniature dragon on the table lifts her head.
“ This is acceptable. Two weeks should be more than enough time for the fledglings to be prepared to meet. Now tell us of the prospects our younglings might meet.”
The duke acknowledges the request by nodding his head and subtly shifts around his papers.
“ Of the initial near thousand otherworlders that we pulled, in total we have a confirmed ninety-eight dead, one hundred and forty-four have been deemed to need their debts called in. With an additional thirteen more that have been ruined by the charm event. With the two hundred and seven remaining alive who chose to immediately go to the front lines, that leaves five hundred and twenty-eight still in my care and watchful eye. Of them, there are four groups that have formed. The first group is those who have decided to be independent.
The largest and best organized of these is called Guild Eighty-eight. After the total number of original signatures on the first draft of their charter. This group has since grown to one hundred and sixty as of this morning. The newest members are more along the lines of associates, a group of twenty-three led by a saintess and has all the other clergy members under her as well as several others. Another eighty-two members are also crafters or considered nontypical combat classes. Such as miners or blacksmiths.
The next largest group is an association of fighters, mages, and auxiliaries called The Association. This group of seventy-seven individuals is led primarily by the hero and royal class holders.”
The duke eyes King Jamison distastefully.
“ Needless to say, this group is also the cause of most of the issues we have here at the resort. A group of these individuals was the cause of the charm incident for the first week. There are also reports of other lesser incidents that caused no less than twenty otherworlders to sacrifice their bonuses to this group and enter their slavery debts. As they already claim to have a powerful backer behind them, I can do nothing to them directly beyond the scope of my responsibility.”
Duke Randolph then shifts to a new page.
“ Up next is much smaller groups ranging from four to fourteen. For a total of two hundred and thirty-six collectively. The majority of these groups have either deemed to enter the adventurer guild directly or go independent but with an adventurer license.
Of those that remain are individuals or pairs working together to try to keep their actions secret. The one double reincarnate we found in this batch of otherworlders has already been taken care of.”