Chapter 7 : Repercussions
Ashvale Guild Headquarters smelled like burnt parchment, cheap coffee, and stress. The kind of place where dreams came to be politely crushed beneath bureaucratic boots and signed off in triplicate.
Elias stood in front of Guildmaster Tyrin's desk, hands behind his back, sweating slightly through his collar. Behind him, Rhea sat cross-legged in a chair, trying to look small—which wasn't hard, since she was barely taller than a sword rack.
"Let me see if I have this straight," Guildmaster Tyrin said, slowly. His voice was the kind of tired that only decades of paperwork and broken adventurers could shape. "A former demon queen—reborn, feral, probably volatile—bonded to you. And your brilliant response was... to bring her home and teach her how to eat soup?"
Elias cleared his throat. "Well, it wasn't soup, it was stew. There's a difference."
Tyrin blinked at him. Slowly. Like a man deciding whether to fire someone or lob them into the sun.
"I'm not sure if you're brave," Tyrin said, "or just the dumbest healer to ever pass basic guild orientation."
From the corner, Rhea piped up, voice timid: "He's brave."
Elias looked over at her, smiling softly. "Thanks, kiddo."
She beamed back. Then turned to Tyrin. "And he's not dumb. I mean, he's kind of squishy and bad at directions. But not dumb."
Tyrin folded his arms. "That makes me feel so much better."
He turned back to Elias.