The young receptionist seated opposite the counter glared at Zayn. It wasn’t the first time someone asked for the manager today, but the young man standing before her was even more daring than most. Even the lower-ranked nobles living in Spyro wouldn’t dare to ask for the Merchant Guild’s manager like this.

Her lips parted to tell him to leave before she called the security, but no word escaped her lips. She found the Guard Captain’s pin attached to Zayn’s shirt and stared at him for a few seconds. The receptionist was known for being fierce, but Zayn didn’t avoid her eyes. Instead, he stared straight back at her with unbending confidence.

“You said that the manager is waiting for you, but he doesn’t have an appointment right now. Are you sure that you know him?” She crumbled underneath Zayn’s intense stare for a moment. That was enough for Zayn.

“I didn’t know when I would arrive in Spyro, otherwise, I would have made an appointment with Levi Zenot. If it’s not too much to ask for, could you tell him that someone with good news has arrived? You don’t need to tell him my name. He doesn’t know who I am.”

Zayn’s words didn’t make any sense in the receptionist’s opinion, but she found herself picking up the messenger crystal to notify the manager. The messenger crystal was a fist-sized crystal. It was ocean-blue in color and covered with dozens of runes. It was used for short-distance communication between two messenger crystals. The runes were interwoven to create a runic network that granted the function of connecting the messenger crystal with another messenger crystal.

The runic network glowed dimly as the receptionist poured energy inside them.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your break, but a young man with the Guard Captain’s pin said that he wants to talk with you. He said that you would be waiting for him. Yes, I know. I didn’t trust him either, but he said that he had good news. I don’t know what exactly he has to say, Sir. Well, I don’t know–...”

Zayn observed the receptionist intently as she spoke into the messenger crystal. He heard what Levi Zenot said faintly but couldn’t make out too much. The receptionist did most of the talking.

“Igor Brecht,” Zayn said loud enough to reach the receptionist and the messenger crystal.

The young woman stopped talking and looked at him uncertainly. Levi Zenot, on the other hand, didn’t utter a word. It felt like he was waiting for something.

“Is that your name?” The receptionist asked after a few seconds.

“I’m not Igor Brecht, but I came with letters from him. I have even better news if the negotiations work out.”

A faint cracking noise rang through the messenger crystal before a sonorous voice resounded, “Negotiations? Who are you, and how did you find Igor Brecht? What happened to him? Is he fine?”

Zayn inclined his head a little as more questions resounded through the lobby.

‘Are they friends? If I remember correctly, Igor said they weren’t friends but business partners. Their relationship doesn’t seem to be that simple. That’s good for me though.’

The corner of his lips turned upward.

“You must have many questions. I can answer all of them if you have enough time,” He said after clearing his throat.

“How about you invite me to your office to talk? You shouldn't keep me in the lobby if you’re curious about Igor Brecht’s whereabouts and what happened to him in the last few years. Or do you think I’ll talk to you through the messenger crystal the whole time?” Zayn asked with a smile.

The receptionist’s eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. Who was this rude guy?

“You’re right. It was rude to ask you about personal matters through the messenger crystal. Please come upstairs,” Leni Zenot said quickly before talking to the receptionist, “Please bring him to my office…and cancel my remaining appointments for the day. I will be busy.”

The receptionist’s jaw dropped to the ground. At least, that was what Zayn imagined, given the look on her face.

The runic network on the messenger crystal dimmed down, and the receptionist put it back into its original spot. She looked at Zayn for a few more seconds before pointing to the other end of the room.

“Please follow me, sir.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Zayn was led to a small construction that looked like an elevator. The doors of the elevator opened, revealing a massive runic network that covered the elevator’s interior entirely.

Zayn wanted to touch and inspect the runic network because it had been a while since he had seen such an intricate runic network, but the receptionist was already glaring at him. She pressed her hands against a specific spot and poured some energy into it. Thereafter, the elevator doors closed. The elevator moved upward and opened again, revealing a large, luxurious hallway with a single, double door at the end of it.

The receptionist gestured for him to move ahead. She followed after and knocked on the door first to wait for her sign to enter. Zayn didn’t notice any major signs, but he noted that the receptionist twitched lightly right before opening the door leading to the office.

Zayn entered the office and looked around with little interest. The office was luxurious, as expected. It was filled with bookshelves containing a wide variety of books. A large glass table highlighted the center of the office. Various snacks had been neatly placed on the table, but the middle-aged man brewing tea on the other side of the room was most surprising.

The moment he saw Zayn, he smiled brightly and was about to rush over when he noticed that the tea was about to be done.

“Who is that, and what happened to the manager?” The receptionist asked in a whisper, hoping that Zayn didn’t hear her. She glanced at Zayn, who ignored her. He heard everything the receptionist mumbled…and more. She was having a hard time hiding her true feelings. Her expression exposed the receptionist.

But Zayn didn’t care too much bout the receptionist’s disbelief. He was more focused on Levi Zenot. The middle-aged man had long brown hair that was bound back to a ponytail. He had a lean physique and wore neat clothes. Despite that, Zayn wouldn’t have expected the man to be Levi Zenot if he met him in the middle of Spyro’s streets. The manager of Spyro’s Merchant Guild didn’t exude the aura of a wealthy man, let alone a noble.

That could be good or extremely bad for Zayn’s plans.

“You can leave us alone,” Levi Zenot glanced at the receptionist, his eyes eerily sharp suddenly. The receptionist bowed deeply and excused herself. She left the office in a hurry and closed the door behind her.

Silence filled the office for a few seconds as Levi Zenot appraised Zayn. Fortunately, it didn’t take long before he spoke up.

“Please make yourself comfortable. My name is Levi Zenot, and I hope you can give me satisfying answers to the questions that have been tormenting my mind for years,” He smiled gently at Zayn, but deep down, there was something else.

A fierce and merciless businessman was hiding behind the gentle farce of the version of Levi Zenot he’d gotten to know. Zayn decided not to think about that. Instead, he bowed lightly toward Levi Zenot.

“My name is Zayn. I’m the Guildmaster of Golden Age, and I’ve been in contact with Igor Brecht for a while now,” He introduced himself before sitting down.

Zayn didn’t think that there was a need to sell his information to Levi Zenot. Instead, he began to speak about Igor Brecht’s past, the incident with his daughter, and the reason he left Spyro all these years ago. Zayn was not sure if he should tell Levi Zenot everything, but the Manager of Spyro’s Merchant Guild bombarded him with questions. It was difficult to hide anything from Levi Zenot as time passed. And that was a lot.

It felt like seconds, but several hours passed until they finally reached the point Zayn had been aiming for.

“I’m planning to move Golden Age, but I’m missing a suitable location to start out in Spyro. We might have to wait a few weeks or months before we can move everyone to Spyro. That will push back Igor’s progress quite a lot,” Zayn complained barely loud enough for Levi Zenot to hear.

“Igor Brecht will move back to Spyro as well?” He asked, his eyes glimmering brightly. There was no sight of the menacing manager of the Merchant Guild anymore. The last traces had been consumed by the hours of talking about Igor.

‘I was right. This is too easy.’

“Of course. Unfortunately, Igor Brecht and the other members of Golden Age will require a large piece of land. We have to construct a proper smithy for a future Grandmaster Blacksmith, our Alchemists, and fighters. But that won’t be easy.”

He sighed deeply.

“Ah, right,” Zayn’s head flicked upward. He retrieved the first letter Igor Brecht had written to Levi Zenot a long time ago, “Igor told me to bring you this letter.”

Levi Zenot’s hands trembled as he retrieved the letter. He opened it slowly and unfolded the letter. His exhilirated expression turned somber and Zayn could have sworn that he heard Levi Zenot sob once or twice. He looked up from the letter and sighed deeply, only for Zayn to retrieve the second letter.

“This is a new letter,” Levi Zenot mumbled. The letter wasn’t crumbled and looked new. It wasn’t difficult to tell that the letters had been written at different times.

“He wrote it right before I left for Spyro,” Zayn answered honestly, picking Levi’s interest.

He scanned the second letter, his eyes widening as he reached the end of it.

“You got rid of his daughter’s murderer?”

Zayn merely nodded, but that was enough for Levi to turn serious.

“You need a Guildhall, right?” He asked while retrieving a scroll from underneath the table.

He unfolded the scroll, revealing Spyro’s map. It was colored with some greyed-out areas – most, to be precise – but some were marked in several tones of yellow, green, and red.

“How about this place? Is that land large enough?” Levi pointed at a particular spot, and Zayn’s eyes began to twinkle brightly.

“That’s perfect!”