“Bzzt. Bzzt. Enter. Enter.”
“Sky, grab my hand. Bzzt. Bzzt. Hold tight, alright?! We’re about to land.”
Ting! Ting! Ting!
“Cloud, connect. Currently on the location. We arrived successfully. Bzzt. Bzzt.”
“Sweet. Is everything fine?”
“About our landing?”
“The surroundings, Cloud. I know you both are alright.”
“That’s mean. Anyway, something’s off here. The- Bzzt. Bzzt. ace… not Bzzt. Bzzt.”
“Crap. I’m losing you. Wait a minute, I’ll check the line. Don’t end it, ‘kay?”
“Bzzt. I will ho… Sky... here…”
“Is everything okay?”
“No. Can you check his status on the screen? I’m occupied here.”
Thud!
“Let’s change positions. I’ll check it.”
“You have reached the maximum limit.”
“You have reached the maximum limit.”
“You have reached the maximum limit.”
“Shut up. Sister, can you hand over my keyboard? Yours is barely working. Did you smash it?”
“Not exactly smash it.”
“You did.”
clack-clack-clack
“Found it. Check his status. It should be alright now. Bzzt. Bzzt. Cloud, can you hear me?”
Bzzt.
“Oh! Loud and clear! Everything’s fine here. It’s as we expected.”
“Good. It’s settled then. Good luck on the mission, soldier.”
“Right. We probably need it.”
“Should I get ready now?”
“After we re-check everything.”
[birds chirping]
What an odd dream.
I yawned and realized I was not in the room I rented. I groaned.
“Imagine seeing yourself tightly tied up as soon as you wake up,” I uttered as I moved my arms for a bit.
I must’ve been deeply asleep to not notice being carried out and tied up. Ahhh, they must’ve wanted something from me to not kill me when they got a chance. Hmmm. They’re quite a lot.
“You’re finally awake. Did the booze last night hit you so hard?” It’s a female voice. Who?
I looked down and noticed a faint magic circle below me.
“You can obviously tell yawn~” What kind of magic is it?
“Cali was right about your arrogance.” The woman hiding in the corner finally stepped out. Hmmm… Kinda familiar… Cali’s girlfriend?
“Ohhh! Did your boyfriend send you here?”
She scoffed and pulled her sword out. Man, I’m telling you, this guild has some serious anger issues.
“I will never forgive what you did to him.”
Oh please, I only made him faint.
“Clara, perhaps?” I asked as I twisted my wrist so I could get the rope out of my hands to no avail. “Is this rope fused with magic?”
She walked closer and pointed her sword at my neck.
“Yes, it is indeed. And you could never get out of it, not with your low attributes”
Sweet.
“How did you know my attribute is low? Did you check it?”
I bit my tongue before she could answer and Gandi’s magic dissolved all of the magic around me. It was a precaution I put on myself last night before I slept, in case something like this happens. Guess who did the right thing?
She quickly jumped out to widen our distance.
I started stretching my body. “Ahhh~ I should order some of the booze from that man before I left for Aswain. I got a good night’s sleep last night because of it.”
She only stared at me with an expression filled with annoyance and bewilderment.
While she was in that state, I leaped out and closed our distance. “You shouldn’t space out while fighting. Wasn’t that the basic rule they taught you in your training days?”
Her response to my sudden attack was quite slow but still managed to widen our gap, however, I wasn’t gonna let that happen.
I reached for the knife I was hiding on my back as I followed her footsteps but a bit quicker, and sure enough, I managed to put her in the corner in a matter of seconds. I throw the knife at her knuckle, making her lose her grip on the sword.
“Do you hate me?” I asked as I picked up the sword that flew from her hands.
“If our guild leader deemed you as an enemy, you are my enemy.”
“Hmmm. Is that so?” I walked closer and stopped when I was an arm’s reach away from her.
She mumbled several words that seemed like incantations and her body glowed as she did it. Moments later, the room became pitch black and she became a human glow stick.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
She raised her hand and was about to shoot some powers or whatever but I straight out punched her stomach making her cough in pain. Is she really a magician or a knight? Didn’t she cast all that magic stuff earlier to make her tough?
Look at her coughing. She’s like a fish that was thrown on the land.
“YOU! Kerggh… fucking arrogant weakling!! That was underhanded!”
“What was I supposed to do? Wait until you finish casting all that flamboyant magic? Do you take me for a fool?”
Her facial expression twisted. If there is news of an asteroid falling, I won’t need a high-end telescope to get a better view because what she is doing right now is the perfect demonstration of how it is when it falls.
“What a destructive magic,” I uttered as I glanced around. Look at the walls crumbling!
“DIE, YOU PATHETIC WEAKLING!” She shouted as she continued throwing fireballs in my direction. She kept doing that for 10 minutes straight before she gave up, panting.
I inhaled deeply and sighed. My god, Honey Badgers can fight better.
“Say, Clara, did you actually entertain the thought that you are powerful enough to kill me?”
She hissed and attempted to throw a fireball in my direction but her mana must’ve run out because all that was left was a tiny flame enough to light a lamp.
“I wonder who’s the real arrogant here.” It was a provocation. Who knows, maybe she still has some tricks left.
Thud!
Ah. It was my fault that I expected too much from this guild.
“What a drag,” I uttered under my breath as I watched her unconscious body on the floor.
“Hey, isn’t it about time that you all step out of the shadows and take this woman?” I shouted, enough to be heard by surrounding people. There are at least 20 of them and they did not even help this poor woman here.
The shadows shifted. One of them jumped on Clara’s body and took her. They then disappeared without saying a word.
I looked around and immediately followed the faint trail of the shadows.
“You all carried me out of my room, gave me a show, and then leave me in god knows where?! WAIT FOR ME, YOU BUNCH OF RUDE SPECIES!!!”
“Sluuuuuuurrrrpppppp~~~”
What a lovely day.
“Slurpppp~~”
What shall I do today? My plans of intruding secretly are obviously foiled. No matter where I go, there are shadows that would follow me. I can’t even escape from them.
“Sluuuurpppp~~”
Hmmm…Should I just end their lives? No.
“Sluuurrrppppp~”
Mhhmnnn. Yep. Still as good as last night.
“Want another mug?” The voice that’s becoming familiar to me, uttered.
I nodded and placed the mug on the counter.
“Man, you serve the best beer! I should bring you to Aswain when I get back.”
He laughed loudly as he poured beer to the brim.
“Depends on what you offer, I might agree.”
My eyes twinkled upon hearing his words.
I raised my right hand and signaled him to come closer. I leaned closer and whispered the most enticing thing ever to a brewer. His eyes glowed in excitement and returned to pouring beers to other customers while humming. Well, looks like I got him.
Anyway, when will they leave me alone? Should I resort to Gandi’s teleportation scroll?
*thud*
And here comes trouble.
“I don’t think you should be drinking here happily, intruder.”
I raised my mug and turned around.
“Oh, what a huge guy,” I uttered and took a sip from my mug.
His expression turned sour immediately. I sighed exaggeratedly and put the mug back on the counter along with the reales I had in my pocket.
“Thanks for the beer! I will be back.”
I immediately exited the tavern and as I expected, a couple of guys followed me behind.
“How much is the bounty put in my head?” I picked my nose purposely to annoy them.
“It’s more than enough to feed 3 generations! How dare you get this relaxed when there’s a huge bounty on your head! Prepare to die!”
Hmmm… They are decent fighters compared to that Cali boy. They sure can put up a fight but…
“How can you all kill me if this is all you got?” Feeling a bit sluggish, I dropped the last body I hit on the floor. I yawned and went back to the tavern to continue drinking.
Adam and Lyra would kill me if they learned about my habits here. Hahaha!
“You took care of them already?”
I looked up and tilted my head. I burped and scratched my neck.
“What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you big man in my head.”
He laughed and touched his beard. “I’m Philip, young lad.” He extended his hand, initiating a handshake.
“It was no brainer, Philip. My name’s Lea.” I answered while grinning as I reached out for his hand.
He touched his beard again and nodded. “The head guild won’t let you out now, that’s for sure. It also looked like you have no plans on killing someone. I want to probe more into it to suggest a good exit in this guild but that would be useless, no?”
I chuckled and chugged down the whole mug of beer. The vibe I am getting from Philip is unlike any of the people here. In more than one way. He thinks rationally and is easy to hang out with. While it is hardly noticeable, I can tell that he’s been observing everyone’s behavior inside this tavern, and he’s observing me more closely than others. It’s as if-
Ha!
That is hella smart of him.
“Two more people arrived in Cerres with me,” I uttered as I put down the mug. He chuckled.
“I see. They must be cleverer than you to not be spotted until now.”
Oh~ hitting my sides directly? This is exciting.
“Must be. We haven’t contacted each other for more than 48 hours already. They must be doing well.”
The strong smell of beer entered my nose as he passed the mugs to other customers.
“Hmm. Are you going to share some stories with me now? I apologize but I have work to do, young lad.”
I nodded. “Well, of course, I can’t stop you from doing your job, Philip. You can just listen to what I would say.”
He pulled a lever and a new cask rolled in front of him as the other was already emptied.
“The moment I arrived here, I was sent to the dungeons for stealing the guild’s insignia.”
Philip laughed. “Did you?”
“Course not. Some weak-looking kid handed it to me as a thank-you gift for helping him pick up the tomatoes that fell on the ground. Isn’t that a bit suspicious?”
“It is indeed… but you accepted it.”
I’m certain he is currently thinking it is something only brainless people would do. I pushed the mug in front of him for a refill.
“Well, it shines like crazy. It was beautiful.”
He eyed me unbelievably. “You are being chased right now because of that.”
“I wonder if it was all because of that,” I uttered while smirking at him. He stared at me for a while and burst out laughing.
“You are indeed interesting, Lea! Not only do you like my booze, but you are also against killing individuals! You are a young lad with morals!”
“Booze? Well, I do like drinking but I’m not so sure about killing individuals. I quite had a fair share of stories about that.”
He stopped wiping the mugs for a while and gave me a melancholy smile. “That’s how it also goes with you, huh?”
Hmm…
I let out a small chuckle. “Gotta do what I have to do to survive. I’m actually envious of people who can live innocently for the rest of their lives. Our experiences in life are poles apart.”
“So, what changed your mind to suddenly not kill individuals?”
I suddenly remembered what Trevor said when I dethroned the King of Aswain.
I tapped my fingers on the countertop.
“Let’s just say, someone warned me about my future when I kill again?” I let out a sigh. Trevor, Trevor. I wonder when will he appear again. It’s been quiet lately.
“They must be precious to you for you to listen,” he quietly uttered.
Hey! Don’t go around giving me goosebumps!
“Not really. I killed him without any hesitations.”
Philip turned his head to me and nodded as if he understood despite not asking why. Well, well, let’s see if you can still pretend after this.
“He was after my life.”
He froze for a second and scratched his neck.
“What do you think will happen if you send more of your members to me, Cerres’ Guild Master, Philip?”
He flinched a bit before laughing loudly. He’s the total opposite of his members.
“HA-HA! That is considered treacherous in this guild. Don’t go around telling people that.”
In my short time of roaming around this place, I noticed that the colors of the stoles are given to limited numbers. The lightest stole is given to 50 people, 45 to the next, and so on. There are 5 number gaps in every color aside from high officials. How can I forget that black is the darkest shade there is?
“I don’t think I am. I never lie about serious matters,” of course I do. Deception was my middle name at some point. Can’t remember which world was it but that ability sure is handy sometimes.
“I see,” He smiled but this time, it was something that belonged to someone powerful. “There’s no point convincing you otherwise, huh? Tell me, how did you arrive at such a conclusion?”
“Take a guess,” I replied to which he only sighed.
“Young lad, I am too old to play silly mind games with you.”
I put the mug down and raised both of my hands as I shrugged.
“I have my own ways. Though, it only dawned on me a minute ago. During the meeting, I assumed it was Mr. Burdman’s wife standing beside him during his glorious speech because they wore the same color,” I chuckled. “It was a mistake on my part. Is it all right to wear your stole as a belt?” I asked as I pointed his black ‘belt’. He looked down and laughed loudly.
“Amusing! To think that an outsider noticed this first! You are commendable, young lad!”
I squinted my eyes at him. “First?” I asked, not even bothering to hide my suspicions.
He put his index finger on his lips, signaling me to stay silent.
“I reckon there is something else you want to know. Why don’t we proceed to the upper floor?” He suggested as he snapped. A guy appeared beside him and nodded. Philip gave me a look telling me to follow him so I did.
Seeing how he hushed me so quickly, it must be a delicate topic.
Heh, looks like this guild is under special circumstances.