After Xivira had finished leading the inquiry about the Dread Burrower, she relaxed her posture and looked towards the guild master in charge of Borealia.
“Very well that concludes the questions we have for the two of you in regard to the doomsday monster that recently appeared. Now if you two would not mind giving us a bit more of your time we have some other matters we wish to discuss with you.” The guild master said with a glint in his eyes.
He had seemed to not have much of an investment in the topic they had been discussing before, but now he seemed to be quite interested.
“To start, the two of you are both platinum rank adventurers, but neither of you have done any work for the guild in quite some time. Do the two of you no longer wish to be affiliated with the guild?” He asked before waiting for Marcus or Mrazivý to respond to his previous statement.
It was quite obvious that he was hoping to force them into this conversation by making it sound like their membership was on the line.
However, both of them had already been expecting this..
“No, we do not mind talking for a bit about our status as adventures, but as far as I know at the platinum rank there is no time requirement for completing any quests. We are free to be on hiatus for as long as we like, no?” Mrazivý said as she put a hand on her cheek and gave a practiced worried expression.
“Yes, you are correct, your highness, the guild master was merely wanting to know if either of both of you planned to resume activities with the guild soon. It has been a while since your last activity and the two of you are very promising adventurers that are stronger than your rank would suggest.” Astrid said, answering Mrazivý’s question in the guild master’s stead.
‘I see, good cop and bad cop, huh.’ Marcus thought seeing the guild master and vice guild master’s act.
It was quite clear that the guild master was going to try and push them with heavy handed or uncomfortable questions, while the vice guild master was prepared to answer any questions Marcus or Mrazivý had in a way to make it seem that they were just misunderstand the guild master’s harshness.
“I for one do not have any plans to take on any requests for the time being. I have other duties to deal with now with my increased status, and therefore am indisposed until I have things have settled down. Perhaps in a couple of years I may begin doing guild work again when I have the time.” Marcus said giving a noncommittal answer.
“I too am afraid that I have other matters to attend to. As I am sure you know we are to be engaged and then wed, so our time will be taken up with preparations for that. Also, as much as it saddens me, my party has already unofficially disbanded for a manner of personal reasons.” Mrazivý said as she grabbed Marcus’ arm to show their closeness and hammer home the point about their engagement.
They both wanted to make it clear that neither of them was currently looking to continue acting as adventurers, but that in the future they may use the guild again in order to not cut off the connection.
Now anyone with any amount of tact would have picked up on this, but the guild master either did not have any or chose to forgo it in this situation.
“So, you do plan on continuing to serve the guild after the two of you are wed. In that case would you both whish to be advanced to the mithril rank. There is no doubt that your levels are more than high enough for this honor.” The guild master said not giving up so easy.
Naturally with two promising talents in front of him he would be remiss to not take his shot and try to recruit them.
Normally most people would jump at the chance to become mithril rank adventurers since it was a status that came with a lot of perks and very few downsides.
Yet while the drawbacks were few and far between, the main one of having to be at the guild’s beck and call should there be an emergency was enough to dissuade Marcus and Mrazivý right now.
They had enough to deal with at home, and Marcus in particular had already made a deal with the kingdom and was beholden to them for a few more years.
“I am sorry but while it would be an honor to be counted among the rank of mithril adventurers, we are both devoted to Borealia at the moment. If a time in the future presents itself where we are no longer needed here, we may take you up on your offer.” Marcus said with a fake smile.
Really, he just wanted to get out of here now that they had finished the inquiry.
Yet it was not over yet, and the next person to speak was not the guild master, but the grand master in charge of the entire northern region of the guild.
“I believe from what I have heard is that Borealia only has a low level and mid-level dungeon within its borders which the two of you are most certainly beyond now. However, there are dozens of dungeons suitable for the two of you within the other nations that are in collaboration with the guild. If you both became mithril rank adventurers you could use the guild’s teleportation system and visit all manner of places with amazing training spots. I could even put in a good word for wherever you go first and instruct them to allow you into a group aiming to fight a boss monster.”
Hearing this both of them were quite astonished. Valerius who was one of the strongest men within the guild had just said he would put in a good word for them. That was pretty much like having his endorsement which would go a long way in the guild.
‘And I might have been tempted to take him up on that offer if not for the special dungeon we found.’ Marcus thought.
Still, while it was an impressive offer it was not like it gave them anything absolutely necessary. They could easily visit any other nation afflicted with the guild on their own with their current rank, and while teleporting might be faster, both of them could fly at impeccable speeds anyway so it was not really necessary.
‘Not to mention that while it may not be in a developed area The Great Gome Woods Dungeon is a high level one.’ Marcus thought realizing that it had been omitted as one of Borealia’s dungeons.
“As generous as that is, again we must decline. We are both royalty of Borealia, and as much as we appreciate our current positions in the guild we are wholly devoted to our kingdom. At this present time as we said we have much to do here before thinking of venturing to other places.” Mrazivý said, hoping to put an end to this.
Valerius seeing that he was not making any progress sat back and began stroking his beard in contemplation.
“Very well, I am willing to offer the two of you each a unique skill orb if you come join under me at the guild. We have had a drought of new talents here in the northern quadrant and it would be foolish of me not to try my all to recruit the two of you.”