“And why are you asking me?” snapped Gloria Bishop the appraiser, looking annoyed.
“You don’t seem to have anything better to do.”
“I’m incredibly busy.”
The process of taking over the position from her predecessor was finally complete, and she had her own office. But before she could celebrate her newfound freedom, there had been a sudden influx of adventurers, which meant many more items being hauled out of the dungeon, including monster materials and magical items. Most of them were garbage that idiots mistook for treasure. Ultimately, it meant a lot of her time was wasted on pointless busywork.
“Please. I’ll get out of your hair once we’re done.”
The guild staff hated me. Dez and April were the only ones who’d give me the time of day. Dez was too gruff and taciturn to be any help, and April couldn’t explain anything without crying.
Scowling, Gloria said, “He was held responsible for the stampede. Basically, he’s a scapegoat.”
Levi, the mastermind behind the stampede, had been a carrier for the guild, meaning he was staff. Whatever his background, it meant an official guild member had caused the stampede, leading to massive damage. Levi was dead, but that was cold comfort to the survivors in town. They wanted to know why they were forced to suffer like this. They needed someone to blame and punish.
Naturally, the lord and other important figures had heard their rage. If left unchecked, such sentiments could lead to rebellion, which might result in them being hanged. Someone had to be the sacrifice and be held responsible to quell the agitation. It wasn’t based on law or what was right, just a feeling of injustice. Therefore, the boss of the culprit was being blamed for the trouble. It made a certain kind of sense.
“Plus there are plenty of stories about bribes and other illegitimate actions he’s been engaged in,” she said.
The old man had done anything and everything he could to maintain his power. He’d done himself in without needing Donald’s reporting. I’d have happily laughed at him for creating his own downfall, but the situation was too serious for that.
“So what happens to the guild now?”
In other guilds, they had senior officers who could serve as proxy leaders or heirs apparent, but the old man hadn’t elected to place anyone in such a position. He hadn’t named an heir to take over, either. He had removed all those obstacles out of fear of being betrayed and overthrown. That was why he was so busy all the time. Being a dictator was like being a slave to one’s work—a leader like that was too paranoid about everyone else to delegate.
He should have been retired, taking his granddaughter to see the theater and whatnot.
“They’re saying someone will be dispatched from elsewhere, but I don’t know anything more than that,” Gloria said.
“Let’s hope everything’s still intact by the time they arrive.”
Even without the old man, certain daily duties, like mediating jobs for adventurers and buying materials from them, would continue as normal. But if there were a major incident like the stampede again, chaos would ensue. No one was in charge to make decisions. This was a real mess, especially when preachers and sufferers were involved.
“What are you going to do now?” I asked.
“Nothing. Same thing I’m already doing.”
Gloria had been kicked out of her last guild for shady behavior. The old man had chosen to hire her anyway, but she didn’t seem indebted to him for that. The lady kept her business cut-and-dry.
“Especially after I heard he’d been pocketing the appraisal funds his customers were paying the guild.” Yeah, the old bastard was good for stunts like that. “If push comes to shove, I’ll just move on to another place,” she said.
A good appraiser was always in high demand.
“But enough about me. What about you, Mr. Kept Man?”
“Me?”
“Aren’t you in a spot of trouble, being without your benefactor?”
Gloria seemed to think I was a guild inspector of sorts. It was convenient for me not to clear up her misunderstanding.
“My boss isn’t that horny old goat.”
“Oh, it’s someone higher,” she said, looking at the ceiling. She was probably imagining some kind of guild headquarters muckety-muck.
“Yes, much, much higher,” I said, taking her hand. “I think we can get that much higher together—all the way to heaven. What do you say?”
It had been a while for me, and I was with a very beautiful woman.
“Oh, what a lovely suggestion.” Gloria laughed, pointing over my shoulder. “But I think she’s going to take you somewhere even lovelier.”
Slowly, horrified, I craned my neck to look over my shoulder.
A woman was standing there with a vicious, bloodthirsty smile on her lips.
“When the guildmaster was arrested, all the folks who panicked went down into the dungeon to pull out the busy people down there. Silly, isn’t it?” Gloria chuckled to herself.
Indeed.
And I was staring at a very painful punishment.
“Things have really gotten wild.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, rubbing my reddened cheek.
I was in Dez’s room. I’d been in my friend’s place so often, I pretty much had the run of the place. I figured someplace quiet was best to help calm down April. First I managed to get her to stop crying, then I gave her some cold water to drink. I’d brought the cup and pitcher up. I also had a cold compress to place on my swollen eye.
Thanks to the chair I’d snuck in, it was much more comfortable to spend time in. All I was missing was a bottle of booze, but it was tricky to stash one without Dez finding it and drinking it.
“What will you do now?” Arwin asked gravely.
April was the old man’s granddaughter, not an official member of the guild. Everything she did was just volunteering. Now that he was arrested, she had no reason to come to the guild.
“I’ll still come here, of course,” she said brightly, folding up the lukewarm cloth. “There are people who need me around.”
Many adventurers were uneducated. April’s scribing and reading skills most certainly helped them with some of the finer aspects of the business.
“No,” I said. I had to say it. “You shouldn’t come to the guild anymore. In fact, you shouldn’t leave your home for the time being.”
She rose to her feet, clearly unhappy. “Why would you say that?”
“I’m not picking on you. I’m thinking of your safety.”
While she had a bad habit of roping me into work I didn’t want to do, April was a good girl who spread cheer and charm. Many of the staffers simply loved her.
But no one is beloved by all.
For one thing, adventurers were by and large an unsavory group. Many of them were filth who wouldn’t think twice about harming women and children. The reason April hadn’t been hurt yet was because she was the guildmaster’s granddaughter. Any funny business would get an adventurer’s arms chopped off.
And that extended beyond the guild. The power of the guildmaster could compel those uncouth adventurers with the twitch of a finger. Even the criminal underworld was likely to suffer greatly if they crossed him.
April’s safety and freedom were enabled by the old man’s presence—his money, power, and violence. An umbrella of fear spread by these three factors shielded April from the malice and cruelty of the world.
Now that umbrella had been taken away. People who had bowed and scraped would turn their backs on her. Without the old man, April was just a girl. Many people would take a dramatically different approach with her. She was going to get a real taste of harsh reality.
And that wasn’t even the half of it. All the idiots in this town were bound to have their eyes on April. She had used her grandfather’s authority to get away with whatever she wanted. Plus she was pretty and had a lot of money. Having been kept at bay, they would descend on her like starving wolves.
Even if she had guards, there was no guarantee they could keep her safe. The level of evil targeting her made me sick to think about.
April laughed shortly, though her face was stiff and tense. “You’re overthinking it. I mean—”
“Sorry,” I said. She didn’t appreciate the ramifications of the situation yet. She needed to hear this. “If all the people of this town were good at heart, I wouldn’t be beaten and kicked and robbed of my money so often.”
“……”
April hung her head. She had no rebuttal.
“You should stay safe in your home until the old man gets back. At the very least, don’t go walking the streets like you’ve been doing. If you need something from the guild, send someone to do it for you.”