Chapter 191: Keep Mouths Shut
"Let me know when you guys want to do a quest. I can't wait to do my first one as an adventurer," Kim said as we parted ways, a wide smile on his face.
"Do we really need to bring him along, Alan?" Bob asked as we entered the guild.
"Didn't you see him? He looks really motivated. If we ignore him, I'll feel bad. Besides, I'm the one who told him about the life of an adventurer. It would feel like I betrayed him if we don't bring him along."
"You'll be the one responsible for teaching and covering him, okay? I don't want to babysit newbies." As usual, Bob pushed the responsibility onto me.
"Alan! You're back!"
"How are you?"
The guild members immediately greeted me as they saw me. Familiar faces like Selene, Rei, even Lunar, and others joined in as well. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was being welcomed as part of a family.
"Hello, Uncle Alan." Michael walked up to me with Yui. He had been staying here with his sister. He handed me a small flower.
"Hi, Michael. What's this? A flower? Thank you very much." I patted his head.
We had a brief conversation before Bob and I headed upstairs toward the Guildmaster's room.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in!"
Both of us entered, and we saw Mirinda, Beltimore, and Ida already inside. They were the top members of the Dawnbloom Guild.
"Please, have a seat," Mirinda said.
Bob and I sat down beside each other. It felt like déjà vu, as I reminisced about the first time we met Mirinda, and it hadn't ended well. She sat on the sofa in front of us, with only a small table separating us.
"First of all, I apologize to both of you. I wasn't able to visit you. Many things have happened, so please forgive me." Mirinda slightly bowed her head.
"It's nothing. At least you know your mistake," Bob said nonchalantly.
Beltimore and Ida raised their eyebrows.
Ahh, Bob! He's doing it again!
"It's alright, Guildmaster. I don't really mind. I understand you're busy, so there's no need to apologize," I said with an awkward smile.
"Thank you." Mirinda raised her head.
"And secondly, Alan. You have broken your promise. Do you know what you've done?" She suddenly looked at me.
"Broken the promise?" My mind raced, trying to recall what she meant. Then it clicked.
I immediately stood up and bowed to her.
"I am really sorry! I had no choice at that time but to use time magic! I'm really sorry!" I remembered it now, I had used time magic in front of Reymond and Reika.
"Sigh. I am not that cruel. I will forgive you. I believe you had your own judgment when you chose to use that magic. And as a result, many lives were saved," Mirinda said, calming me down.
"Next, here, take this." Mirinda placed two pouches on the table in front of us. We picked them up, and I felt their weight, along with the clinking sound inside. I opened mine and saw shiny gold coins.
"Wow! Is this all gold? Is this for us?" Bob exclaimed, reaching into the pouch and grabbing a handful of coins.
"Yes. This is the reward given by the palace for your actions against… Azul, and for saving the prince and princess."
"They're so generous!" Bob said.
"I don't think so," Beltimore suddenly spoke.
Bob and I immediately turned to him. He stood behind Mirinda, while Ida remained silent.
"That is actually payment to keep our mouths shut. What happened inside the hall is known only to a handful of people, including all of us here. They credited the victory and the defeat of the mastermind to Prince Reymond, not the two of you. They do not want their house's honor to be tarnished if other nobles find out they were saved by adventurers… and G-rank ones at that."
I remained silent. I already knew this. Reika had told me. The Salvation Light, the light that defeated the darkness had been attributed to some divine descent. And they intended to keep it that way.
"Honestly… I don't really care about that. Even if the masses don't know what actually helped them, it's fine by me. Actually, I prefer it that way. At the end of the day, what matters is that many lives were saved. That's enough for me," I said.
Bob nodded.
'What a kind heart. These two are really different' Ida thought.
Beltimore simply smiled while correcting his glasses.
"Well, if that's what you think, then the matter is settled. Right now, we need to focus on what's ahead of us, the tournament. We need to go all out and win this time!" Mirinda said, trying to lift the mood.
"Err, Guildmaster… about Azul. He is still alive, right? What will the King do with him?" I suddenly asked.
At that moment, I sensed a subtle change in Mirinda's expression.
"That… just leave it to them. They will decide what punishment to give him," Mirinda replied with a forced smile.
We then left the room, leaving the three of them behind.
---
Sigh.
Mirinda let out a long sigh. She always had difficulty when dealing with those two.
"Good job, Guildmaster. You handled it well. They didn't react as we expected," Ida said.
"I don't know about that. I feel like I've failed as a Guildmaster." Her eyes drifted toward the picture of her late husband on the table.
"Russ…"
---
"My bed! I really missed you!" I fell onto my stomach as I jumped onto my fluffy bed.
Bob sat on his bed, checking the amount of gold, while I hugged my pillows.
"150 gold! We can survive for months even without doing quests. Oh wait a minute! I can treat Yui to a luxury dinner. Hehehe."
"Don't waste all your money. Keep it for the future," I said as I sat up.
"Fine… ah, before I forget. Go check the system. There's something interesting happening."