Chapter 161: Meeting (3)

The purple shine immediately faded, returning the beauty's eyes to their normal, but still perplexingly mesmerizing state. The leader had an apologizing expression on her face as she spoke.

"I am terribly sorry, Aiden, it was not my intention to offend you in any way. You see…" She sighed and looked towards the window. For a moment she remained silent, lost in her sea of memories.

After a brief moment, she looked at the boy again, with a sad look in her eyes. 

"You see, this ability of mine sometimes activates without me wanting it to. It is just as much of a blessing, as is a curse. Please do not take offense, I did not mean harm. I honestly wanted to have a talk with you."

She silenced for a second and kept looking at the boy. She had to admit, she still slightly underestimated him while she did not hope that her [Charm] would have any effect on him, but to still remain completely calm and collected, that was unexpected of someone of his age.. 

Her face revealed a friendly, comforting smile, her purple eyes had a kind shine in them, as she spoke again after a few moments of silent contemplation.

"Aiden, tell me, do you know the current state the city is in?" She asked.

Aiden did not answer immediately. Thinking back of the last time he was in the city, he ended up infiltrating that horrendous den and had to fight his way through to free his sister, the Norton's, and a long-lost princess with Drake. While they did not really bother with the rest of the events, he had already heard a few scraps about a change in the City's Leadership that also had an effect on the guild. In fact, his current talk with the leader of the newly joined examiner group is also related to that. 

Would this leader and her group still come and change how the ranking processes work? He couldn't know. What are the group's real intentions? What are they after? Aiden had no clues on this front, but to be perfectly honest, he couldn't really care. The schemes of the human world are not something he would like to be involved with. As long as it doesn't concern him or his loved ones, he would not care.

After some thinking, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I don't. I just heard that the guild's registration and rank up processes were changed with your group's sudden arrival. As for whatever reasons you came, I don't know. I just came to this city two days ago."

Although his calm attitude carried a tinge of coldness in it, this did not seem to affect the Leader's attitude much. She retained her friendly smile and gleaming eyes on Aiden, as she continued.

"That is perfectly fine, Aiden, don't you worry. You see, the reason we came and did what we did is related to the same cause. Our intentions are not bad, believe me, we all want for this fine city's Adventurer's guild to continue to shine and be a strong backing to the city." 

She stood up from her seat and walked to the window. As she turned away from the boy, her expression changed from the polite friendliness to a solemn look as she gazed out on the city.

"As you may have heard, the previous leadership, the City Lord, was involved with a very nasty and illegal business in the city. He and his House were one of the leaders of a Slave Trading Enterprise that had its roots set deep in the Slums area. Nobody knows how, but suddenly a bit more than a week ago, the City Guards received a royal decree and raided the establishment, freeing hundreds of poor, unlucky souls overnight."

She stopped for a second, waiting for the boy if he had any questions or remarks. Seeing how he remained calm and did not even flinch, a small smirk flashed through her face for a moment before she continued with the same melancholic tone in her voice.

"They also managed to round up and arrest many of those involved with managing that ring. They did a lightning-fast investigation and by the dawn of the next morning, they already surrounded several nobles' households in the city. Several of these had high positions in the City Council as well, let me tell you. I still do not know what happened, how did they manage to uncover and solve all the mysteries in a manner of a few hours… But I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?" She looked back at the boy with a wry smile. The boy still did not seem to be affected by the least of her words, which just further confirmed her theories. 

Leaning against the window. With her arms clasped together, she continued on. Her focus was the boy, trying to read out anything from his expression.

"This leaves us with the current situation. You see Aiden, during the time of such a crisis, our currently available force was weak and pathetic. They couldn't help out the citizens in their times of need. While one could argue that the adventurers did not swear to protect them, what good we are when our strength is needed, we can't even offer it? Do you know that there is only one person that's at Rank 3 currently? One single person! Our 'veterans' that are Rank 2, are weak and worthless, most of them would barely even qualify as a Rank 1, much less called with such illustrious titles!"

A look of contempt flashed through her face that quickly vanished, returning her expression to the serene friendly smile. 

She took a breather, which she then slowly exhaled to calm down before continuing.

"You see Aiden, these so-called Rank 2 'veterans' would barely be able to hold a candle to the ones at the Capital. Not to mention they have Rank 5's and even a few experts almost at Rank 6!"

At this point, Aiden's calm expression finally shifted, showing a thoughtful look. Looking into the leader's eyes, he insipidly spoke.

"How does all this relate to me? Is this the reason you immediately upgraded me to Rank 2? Or is there another reason behind it?"

With a brighter, knowing smile on her face, the Leader nodded at his question.

"Yes, you are right for both questions. One of the reasons I wanted you to be a Rank 2 from the start, is that you are already much stronger and seemingly more capable than our entire roster of veterans."

"And as for the second reason? What do you want from me?" Aiden interjected with a suspicious stare.

"I'm not going to lie to you Aiden. I need you." Seeing how he raised his eyebrows, she raised her hand, and with an elevated tone, she hurriedly spoke. "Sorry, let me rephrase that! I need your power. I really need someone like you, with such overwhelming strength, and an untainted mind to work for me directly. Together, we could make this place and this city as well a better place!"

"Why should I bother? These issues you are referring to is your guild's problem, not mine. As for the city, I'm just a traveler, I don't have any reason to be involved with the schemes and machinations of others." Aiden responded with an insipid stare.

"I know that, and that is perfectly fine. I am sure that there is something we could offer you that could change your mind… Just let me know? I already know you are not affected by political power, money, or fame… But there must be something that you are interested in, or maybe looking for? Just let me know, give me the chance to prove that I am really honest about all this." The leader spoke as she slightly bowed. She stayed in that posture with her eyes plastered on the ground. She waited for the boy's words, hoping to showcase and prove her good will.

"Hmmm… There is something…" Aiden spoke after a few seconds. Although he did not hope for much, he still wanted to try his luck. After all, his main reason for coming to this city was to find information about the place that was mentioned by the Main Quest he was forced to take on.

The leader looked up, waiting for the boy to continue with bated breaths.

"You see, I did come to this guild in hopes of finding clues about a place. If you could help me with it, I could offer my help in return. What do you say?" Finally, Aiden gave his offer, which caused the first bright and honest smile to express itself on the Leader's face.

She straightened her back and looked at the boy in the eye. 

"Certainly! I am sure I could be of help, whatever place you would like to find. While I'm not a local resident of Higrove, I do know almost all the surrounding area, and even some of the neighboring countries as well. Tell me, what place are you hoping to find?"