Chapter 365: Staring Match.

Chapter 365: Staring Match.

“...”

“...”

Two men were staring at each other while not exchanging any words. One of them was Wayland who was wearing his dark-crimson armor. Thanks to its bulky appearance he looked more comparable to the much taller and wider Guild Master. The giant of a man was part of the Goliath race and was still dwarfing Roland whose height had increased to two meters inside of this new armor.

Two unforeseen forces surrounded the two men which soon clashed against each other. These two torrents of hidden energy started pushing and tugging at each other in a bout of strength. At first, it seemed that the guild master’s force was superior but suddenly it was repelled as the armor’s runes lit up.

“Hoh?” T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

“Are you satisfied or do you want to continue?”

“Oh? Did you figure me out?”

“You won’t attack me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Aurdhan puffed out his chest and took a step forward. There wasn’t much more than around twenty centimeters between the two. Roland’s personal space was being invaded but he didn’t react. He knew that the guild master couldn’t really lift a finger but if he attacked first, then it could become a problem. The man was just testing him, it was nothing more than pure intimidation to see where both of them stood.

“Yes I’m sure but if you want to surprise me, then go ahead, hit the Head Knight of a Valerian noble, be my guest.”

A twitch appeared on the bald man’s face after he heard the response. To Roland, it seemed that this was all just posturing or a failed attempt at intimidation. In the past, the guild master could probably play such games but things had changed. His opponent was not someone he could just start fighting in his office with one hand tied behind his back. He also had no lawful reason either and considering that Aurdhan had been sent here for some past transgression, his enemies were probably just waiting for him to slip up again.

“Haha, you got me good.”

Thus instead of Aurdhan’s fists landing on the glowing armor, he grasped his belly and started laughing. Just as Roland assumed, the guild master was only bluffing. In the past, the power balance was too much in his favor but now it was shifting back towards the side of the noble estate. The Union had also started favoring Arthur and this bald man here proved already that he was unwilling to go against large organizations with a lot of money.

“But you... have you always been hiding it or...”

“Do you think that I’d tell you?”

“Good point, now. What do you want from me? Do you really expect the guild to be responsible for what the adventurers do down in that dungeon? I heard that you also took care of them by yourself, so what is this about?”

Aurdhan asked while giving Roland some personal space. The man leaned his body against that large desk of his and crossed those tree trunk-like arms over one another. His gigantic frame was more similar to an orcs than a human's which made the whole earlier pissing contest even more stressful.

“You know as well as I do that it’s not that simple whenever the nobility is involved. If I do nothing then Arthur and the entire estate will look weak.”

“Didn’t you already show that you aren’t? Being a tad greedy aren’t we?”

The guild master snorted but Roland wasn’t about to let up. The adventurers needed to see that even something like their guild couldn’t go against the nobles and that possible sanctions were coming if this behavior continued.

“Are you talking about yourself? Guild Master, I’m sure you’re already aware of situations like this and how they went, I’m not really being unreasonable here ... and I’m willing to lower the price in exchange for something else.”

“Oh? Now you got me interested, what did you have in mind?”

This wasn’t the first time an adventurer attacked or killed a party related to nobles. There was one particular case that was really famous around the kingdom. A sole heir to a viscount estate went on a training expedition into a dungeon and never made it out alive. It was all in his father’s territory and some adventurers were the perpetrators. Soon after they were at the gallows along with the guild master.

Even when he wasn’t directly involved in the case, some people blamed him for fostering the sort of adventurers that would kill a noble's son. Though most people were sure that the reason didn’t really matter and the Viscount just wanted people to pay. Thus paying a small fine to keep the nobles happy would not be seen as much of a hit to the guild's reputation. It was just to remind people that Arthur was the one in charge here.

“Some of our accountants looked over the numbers and found that there are some discrepancies when some parts of the city are involved, one district in particular...”

“Oh, do you mean the Red Light District?”

“Yes, you probably have some connections that could help us with that problem...”

“Me? Connections to the Red Light District? Who do you take me for?”“A man that is capable of giving an aspiring runesmith access to the thieves guild...”

“He doesn’t really have that many friends out there, most of the people I know want him gone but...”

“But there is a reason that such a hated man managed to remain in the place he is?”

“You do catch on quick, are you sure you don’t want to work for me instead? Working for nobles sounds nice until it doesn’t...”

“I’ll have to refuse, could you tell me more about this Ivor? Is someone protecting him or is he just strong?”

“Strong? I wouldn’t call him that, he is just a crafty son of a bitch. Money talks and he has a lot of it.”

It made sense, the amount of money that went around in places like casinos and gambling dens was tremendous. Some people just couldn’t help themselves and would gamble away all of their savings. He never understood those types of people as he never liked taking chances on anything. Everything in his life revolved around increasing the odds of his survival without being risky.

‘If he has so much money, then buying some competent bodyguards probably won’t be that hard. I need to expect multiple higher-tier people to be there...’

Before the group of adventurers attacked him he would probably take his time to strategise over everything. Now, on the other hand, waiting several months before making his move didn’t sound so appealing. Time was important and giving enemies it to grow would only allow for more trouble down the road. It was better to squash a rat before he evolved into a lion.

“Okay... could you tell me more about this man...”

“Sure but I expect to be off the hook for that little Dungeon incident~”

Aurdhan laughed while moving over to his desk from which he pulled out some unsuspecting-looking booklet. It looked old and used and was printed over or at least that's what it looked at first glance. For Roland that was attuned to magical wavelengths, he could sense that some magic was involved. The letters were probably under some type of illusion spell and would shift to something else when activated.

“Do you have something to write?”

“That won’t be needed, I have a good memory.”

‘And I’ve been recording the whole conversations from the start but he doesn’t have to know that...’

Even before coming to this room, he had activated his armor to record the entire conversation he was having with the guild master. Normally, Aurdhan would have been able to tell that magic was being used but due to the friction between the two his scheme went unnoticed. While spells that could track previous conversations existed they were different from his approach.

Whatever items the Guild Master was using to detect them, Roland could either deactivate or switch up the signal to go around them. He didn’t want to make an enemy of this man but it was better to have a backup plan. Soon the names of important Thieves Guild members and their addresses were at his fingertips as the magical booklet was activated. The two men spent some time inside the office discussing the issue and they agreed to a few compromises.

“I guess I can part with a hundred gold coins...

“Just don’t forget to use a fake chest when you present it.”

A quick deal was made of the guild paying a fine. On the surface, it would look like they paid a sum of five hundred golden coins but ninety percent of it would be nothing but air. Arthur would look like he put his foot down and the guild master wouldn’t need to pay that much. In reality, it would make him look good with the adventurers as on the surface, the fine would be mostly paid from his own pocket.

Normally the gold would have been taken out of the annual earnings that the whole organization made and could even affect the wages of the workers. By paying the bulk of the fine himself the guild master would offset that and look like a saint. Thanks to this deal Roland would be able to guarantee future business ventures as he wasn’t really keen on angering this bald muscle head.

...

‘That about covers it. I have all the information that I need. Now I just need to run it by Mary to confirm everything. I wonder if she was successful.’

Roland left the adventurer guild’s office which he spent around an hour in. When he arrived at the bottom floor a lot of people scattered the moment he and his men opened the back door. Quickly they pretended like they weren’t trying to listen in on their conversation but the awkward movements made everything too obvious. While on his way out he encountered Solana who he nodded while they were passing. She headed up the stairs to probably ask about what had just transpired. He on the other hand had other business to do and headed towards the Valerian estate.

“It’s the Knight Commander!”

“At ease.”

People continued to back away and greet him. Getting used to this preferential treatment was something that he still needed to work on as it felt stiffening. His work needed to continue as well as this charade until Arthur had gained a better foothold.

“Hm?”

As he was about to walk through the door he noticed something. There was an odd presence that wasn’t there before only now after he approached was he able to discover it.

“Sir Wayland, the Lord is expecting you.”

“... Mary?”

He didn’t need to activate his analyzing skill to figure out that this maid had changed. Her whole demeanor felt different and her presence almost nonexistent. Other people that were walking around the estate didn’t seem to be able to see her. It was clear that she had finally taken a step into the next tier.