Chapter 88: The Guild Wars
Nathan left Selene’s house at midday.
He had woken up late. The accumulated fatigue of the previous forty-four days had fallen on him with the specific efficiency of someone finally in an environment where he could sleep without checking Soul Sense every two hours. He slept approximately ten hours straight. He had a calm breakfast in Selene’s kitchen. And around eleven, he decided it was time to resume Hunter activity.
Liaraen came down the stairs as Nathan was finishing breakfast.
Dressed in human everyday clothes, not elven. A simple gray dress with green details that matched her eyes. Hair loose with a single side braid. No sword at her belt, though Nathan knew she’d left it in her room with all the ceremonial paraphernalia stored away. And with a slightly more relaxed posture than she’d begun practicing the day before.
"Nathan."
"Sprout."
"Are we going?"
"We’re going."
They left.
The two elven horses had been taken to a stable in the neighborhood that Selene had recommended. The large cart was parked beside the house. And Nathan and Liaraen walked toward Greywall’s center on foot.
Approximately thirty minutes later, they arrived at the guild building.
Nathan stopped for a moment before entering.
He looked at the facade. The statue of the open eye over the crossed sword. The adventurers coming and going with their usual naturalness. The specific smell of beer and sweat and mission herbs coming from the open doors.
He turned to Liaraen.
"Sprout."
"Yes."
"Prepare yourself. The guild dynamic is different from the elven kingdom."
"Understood."
"There are no formalities. People speak directly. Mira specifically speaks directly. And apparently today there’s going to be more of an audience than I’d like, considering the forty-four-day absence."
"Understood."
"Let’s go."
They entered.
---
The guild was considerably active.
Approximately forty or fifty adventurers distributed throughout the main hall. Some eating at the long tables. Others drinking at the bar. Others checking the mission board at the back. Others chatting in small groups, sharing details with their teams.
Nathan and Liaraen entered.
No one noticed them immediately.
Nathan walked toward the main counter.
Mira was there. In the same work clothes. With the same brown hair pulled back in the same simple bun he remembered from his last visits. Processing papers and reviewing missions that other adventurers were turning in.
She didn’t look up when Nathan stopped in front of the counter.
Nathan waited five seconds.
She still didn’t look up.
Nathan cleared his throat slightly.
She glanced at him sideways. Without moving her head. Just with her eyes. With her expression specifically calibrated to "what do you need?" mode.
"Can I help you?"
Nathan looked at her.
Then he spoke with his voice projected so most of the hall could hear.
"Honestly, I’m dismayed."
Mira raised an eyebrow.
"Dismayed?"
"Dismayed. By the terrible service this guild provides to its members. Apparently an adventurer can disappear for forty-four full days, and when he returns, the person responsible for records won’t even look him in the eye. Apparently guild members are considered disposable. Apparently no one cares when someone doesn’t come back. Apparently this is a place where professional relationships have the quality of a second-hand cart you forget after selling it."
Approximately twenty adventurers in the hall turned to look.
Nathan noticed.
He didn’t comment.
Mira set down the paper she was holding. Put her elbows on the counter. And with the calm voice he remembered specifically:
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"It happens all the time."
"What happens?"
"Adventurers disappear. Some come back. Others don’t. Most come back with exaggerated stories about why they disappeared. This world is hard. Adventurers come and go. And the guild can’t go chasing every person with a Seal to verify why they didn’t return in forty-four days."
"Understood."
"Welcome back."
"I appreciate the warm welcome."
Mira looked at him with her still-calibrated expression.
Liaraen spoke then.
"Excuse me."
Mira looked at her.
"Yes?"
"Your adventurer records include information about active assignments, correct?"
"Correct."
"Do they include information on whether an adventurer is on an international diplomatic escort mission?"
Mira thought for a moment.
"It depends. If the adventurer formally registers the mission, yes. If the adventurer accepts a mission that isn’t officially registered in the guild system, no."
"Understood. And in Nathan’s case, the mission he accepted wasn’t officially registered for strategic reasons related to the escorted person’s safety. However, that lack of registration doesn’t mean his disappearance was unjustified. And apparently your specifically warm welcome doesn’t adequately reflect the merit of the completed work."
Mira looked at her for a full moment.
With her eyebrow raised.
With her calibrated calm.
"And you are?"
"Liaraen. The person Nathan escorted."
"Understood."
Mira looked at Liaraen. Then at Nathan. Then at Liaraen again.
And with the specific smile he remembered from conversations before the journey—the one that appeared when Mira had registered something that specifically interested her:
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"She’s the reason you disappeared?"
"Correct."
"I didn’t expect you to be a ladies’ man, Nathan."
Nathan froze for a second.
"What?"
"Yes. A ladies’ man. You’re just starting to take responsibility for your illegitimate daughter. Apparently that’s why you disappeared for forty-four days. Apparently now you return to the guild with her so they can recognize you as a responsible father. Apparently that considerably explains the erratic behavior of recent weeks."
Liaraen straightened.
"I’m not his daughter."
Mira looked at her.
Then at Nathan.
With her eyebrow raised even higher.
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"She’s not your daughter?"
"No."
"She’s considerably younger than you."
"Yes."
"And you’re with her and she defends you?"
"Yes."
"Nathan."
"You just called me by my first name."
"Apparently you’re one of those perverts."
"What?"
"The kind who dates younger girls with specific intentions."
Nathan froze for a second.
*Apparently we went from ladies’ man to pervert in the space of approximately ten seconds.*
*Good.*
He recovered with his calibrated cynical smile.
"It’s not that, Mira."
"Sure?"
"Sure. I’m going to explain."
He was going to explain.
But Liaraen intervened.
With a specifically firm voice.
"He doesn’t need to know that."
Mira looked at her.
Liaraen returned the look.
And for approximately three seconds, the two women looked at each other with the mutual assessment of two women who had internally decided that the other represented variables they hadn’t anticipated and would probably require additional processing over the coming weeks.
Mira spoke first.
"You’re right—I don’t need to know that."
"Correct."
"Acceptable."
She turned to Nathan.
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"We’re going to assume that the relationship between you and this young elf is specifically what the limited information suggests. And we’re going to move on to other matters."
"Acceptable."
"However, I have a general observation."
"Go ahead."
"Apparently over the last few months you’ve demonstrated that you take too many risks. You’re too unconcerned about the consequences of your decisions. You don’t take the adventurer’s work with the seriousness that corresponds to someone who is also apparently assuming informal guardianship of another person."
Liaraen spoke again.
"Nathan is actually responsible."
"Yes?"
"Yes. Throughout the entire journey we shared, he made decisions that prioritized my well-being over his own. He has demonstrated the ability to face threats of considerable level successfully. And he has developed his skills with the efficiency his Class allows."
Mira looked at her.
"And you’re the official evaluator of his performance?"
"I’m a direct witness."
"Understood."
Mira turned to Nathan.
With her eyebrow still raised.
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"Apparently you have a defender now."
"Apparently."
"It’s specifically unusual for you."
"Apparently."
"And it’s more useful than your own defense usually is."
"I can defend myself appropriately, you know?"
---
The adventurers at the nearby tables began murmuring among themselves.
Nathan caught fragments of the conversations. Comments about the young elf. Comments about the apparent relationship with Nathan. Comments about Nathan’s status as "the hunter who disappeared and returned with an elf." And specific, more provocative comments that Nathan internally decided to ignore.
Liaraen also caught them.
She didn’t react visually. She just maintained her posture and attention on Mira.
Mira apparently also caught them but decided not to comment while keeping her eyes on Liaraen.
A millennia-old battle that only happens once every thousand years is happening right now.
And what is the cause of this warlike conflict? Well...
Nathan seized the moment.
He approached the mission board.
About two meters from the counter.
He looked at the available missions.
And without further consideration, he took from the board a mission with the large red seal of A-Rank.
He turned.
He returned to the counter with his smile at maximum.
And placed the parchment on the counter in front of Mira.
With Liaraen beside him.
With half the guild hall watching.
Mira looked at the parchment.
Then at Nathan.
Liaraen looked at the parchment.
Then at Nathan.
And both, simultaneously, in the same second, with the same tone:
"You’re an idiot, aren’t you?"
Nathan looked at them.
"What?"
Mira spoke first.
"Hunter Voss. You’re F-Rank."
"Yes."
"That’s an A-Rank mission."
"Yes."
"You can’t accept A-Rank missions. You need to be B-Rank to even consider applying for a C-Rank. And none of those ranks could do this mission alone."
"Why not?"
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"Why did you take this mission?"
Nathan smiled.
With the specific calm of someone who’d been waiting for exactly this moment for days.
"Because, considering everything that happened over the last forty-four days, surely my rank is no longer F. Check my card, Mira. Update it. Surely my current rank is considerably higher. Probably A. Maybe even A-plus."
Mira looked at him.
With her eyebrow specifically raised.
With her calm calibrated to "I’m going to consider this ridiculous but I’ll verify because it’s guild policy" mode.
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"You’re too confident."
"It’s reasonable evidence."
"Understood."
"Verify it."
Mira sighed.
"Guild policy says that if an adventurer requests a rank verification, we have to do it. To avoid formal complaints."
"Correct."
"Don’t make me wait. Give me your card."
Nathan took his Hunter card from his jacket’s inner pocket. He handed it over.
Mira placed it in the verification device on the counter.
The device activated with its characteristic glow.
It began processing.
Mira watched the result on the device’s screen. Her face showed first surprise. Then confusion. Then something different that Nathan couldn’t identify. She sat processing for approximately ten seconds.