A New Partnership is Formed

I wasn’t expecting Niall to stand in my way like this. Just when things were looking up, we had to get a new obstacle, didn’t we? Even if he’s well-meaning, an obstacle is still an obstacle and needs to be dealt with as such.

“You’re really not giving me a choice, are you?”

“Fraid not, Kid,” He frowns, disappointed it’s come to this. “If I have to make a choice between you keeping your job or you keeping your life, I’m going to pick your life.”

I nod my head, pretending to play along. Niall doesn’t know I have an in with Duke Gloomcrest, and I see no reason to inform him otherwise. Should the situation present itself, I could likely overturn anything a simple town Mayor could do to shut down my Guild. Best to keep that card close to my chest so that Niall will still help me in the short term.

“In the meantime, you’ll sign off on ways to help the Guild?”

Losing all his gravitas, he smiles again and gives me a reassuring thumbs-up. “Yep, you needed local requests to start coming in again, right? I can put it out there among the townspeople and start having ‘em brought to you again. Not to mention I could probably wrangle up some quests of my own for you guys, being the Mayor and all.”

“That would help a lot. You’re sure you aren’t worried about the Duke of Dewhurst, though? He’s liable to go on the offensive as soon as you start publicly helping me.”

“The Duke of Dewhurst is the person I’m least afraid of in the entire Realm,” Niall laughs, slapping his knee as if the idea was almost offensive. “Some shadowy jackass hiding in the dark doesn’t scare me. I might not have been in a fight for a long time, but I used to be a Gold-ranked adventurer, Kid.”

So was Pimpington, and if I recall correctly, he said his fall was only ten years ago. Niall’s pseudo retirement was two decades prior, so by that logic, this alcoholic should be significantly weaker than the villain we recently overcame. That’s not exactly reassuring, but if Niall is willing to set himself up as a sacrificial pawn like this, I have no reason not to use him.

Not that I actively want anything terrible to happen to the man. I’m just in no position to turn his generous offer down.

“Alright. As long as you’re certain it won’t be an issue, then I’ll accept your proposal. Let the townspeople know they can start to submit quests again. You can have them delivered or send the client to the Guild to register their desired quests themselves. Additionally, there’s another matter I could use your help on while you’re here.”

“Let’s hear it. I don’t got much else on my plate today other than going through some documents back at my new office.” He says, somewhat weirded out by the idea of himself owning an office. I hope for Niall’s sake that someone cleaned up all of Abner’s porn.

“Several weeks ago, during an unrelated quest, my adventurers discovered a dungeon in the Gnarled Woods. To properly register it and begin exploring it, we need to submit a report to the Association, and-”

His brows twitch angrily when I mention the Association. He interrupts, “Don’t think that’s a good idea, personally. To register a new dungeon, they’d have to send an adventurer to come to check it out and give it a proper ranking, and they’d probably send a stuffy official along with ‘em. Kid, I don’t blame you for letting it get to this state, but this Guild is a shithole. Assuming you keep your job, your priority should be fixing this place up. Work on making it presentable, because mark my words- the Association will be really curious about all the business your little branch has been turning in as of late. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already planning to investigate.”

I stare at Niall, uncertain about what I just heard.

“What? Just cause I’ve been out of the game doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how it’s played.”

“No, I’m just a little shocked. I’ve been worried about the same thing myself for weeks, actually. You’re right. I’ll hold off on reporting the dungeon.” I was testing to see if he’d sign off on it. I was wary of actually registering it for those exact reasons, but it’s nice to see just how in-depth Niall is thinking on my behalf. Having someone else around with knowledge of how the Association works is handy.

Niall looks away, a seedy smile creeping upon his face. An idea of ill-repute strikes him, as they so often do. “Course, if you wanted to check the dungeon out off the books, it’s not like I’m gonna tell anyone...”

“Tempting, but best not to risk it. I’d be in enough trouble as it is if I’m put under scrutiny.”

Niall offers a counter-proposal. “You could send the girls up to the Labyrinth of Light if you were desperate to get some more dungeon crawling in. Figured they might be sick of it after that golden prick palace, though.”

“I was thinking about it before all this nonsense with the Duke of Dewhurst started, but that dungeon is a few days of travel to the north-east, not to mention we’d have to register the girls for clearance. Neither of those facts is ideal.”

“Right, right. Fucking ‘clearance’... an adventurer needing ‘clearance’ to go on an adventure is the damned stupidest shit I’ve ever heard.” Niall rolls his eyes and scratches his stubble. “Swear to the Gods, you think being an adventurer will get you a life of freedom, but it’s nothing but a pain in the ass thanks to all those rules and regulations, you know what I mean? And if you step out of line, the Association’ll take away your license or saddle you in fines...”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this man so wistful and pointed in his annoyance. “What a scathing critique. Something you’d like to get off your chest, Mr. Mayor?”

“Nah. Just thinking about all the bullshit hoops I had to jump back when I was still fucking around the realm with both of my arms.” He starts laughing, holding his left arm’s missing joint through the rolled-up sleeve of his coat.

I stare at Niall, thinking back to the first time we met. I was only five years old at the time, naive and innocent, and he was in his early twenties, anything but. He had just arrived at the Dewhurst Adventurer’s Guild and was off in a sad little corner away from everyone else, nursing a tall mug of ale. He was drunk, and I was curious. “You ever going to tell me how you actually lost it?” All these years later, I echo the first thing I ever asked him.

Niall stands up from the guest’s chair, smiling yet gazing into the middle distance. “Not much of a story. Accidents happen, especially when you least expect them.” He mutters more or less the same answer he’s always given me. I expected nothing less.

The newly elected Mayor starts making for the office door. “If there’s nothing else I can help you with right away, then I should probably get going. Got a lot of other stuff to attend to, now that I’m not a homeless bum anymore and all that. Maybe find one of those ‘bath’ things you keep going on about.”

“See that you do,” I offer him a sarcastic smile which is met by a sizable silence.

Before he leaves, the man asks me a simple yet weighty question. “Are we good now?”

Considering it for a moment, I nod my head and give him a reluctant smile. “I’m sure I’ll always hold some minor resentment towards you, but... yeah. I don’t think I mind having you around again, Niall. Stop by when you aren’t too busy, and I’ll mix you a drink sometime.”

I watch as the seedy thug makes an emotional face, blushing like a maiden and smiling wide. “Aw, shit. Mind if I come over there and give ya a hug?”

“Touch me without bathing, and I will issue a quest myself to end you,” I warn the formerly homeless man.

“Fair, fair. Careful though, you don’t wanna go making me your enemy! This old bastard’s still tougher than he looks, I’ll have you know.” He laughs himself out of my office, leaving me in high spirits to finish the rest of my paperwork.

I regret that I have to keep secrets from him, but I need Niall’s co-operation and there’s no knowing if he’d still attempt to help if he knew about my upcoming meeting with Duke Gloomcrest. If possible, I would like both on my side. The support of House Gloomcrest is far more important than anything else, though.

Only one thing here is for sure, Niall will not be shutting down this Guild. I’m still riding the high of taking out one of the Duke of Dewhurst’s most important allies, sure, but I’ve already proven that the dominoes can fall.

We just have to knock down the rest of them.